Episode Report Card Al Lowe: B- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT What a Woman Needs...
By Al Lowe | Season 6 | Episode 4 | Aired on 09.10.2009
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.Everyone is still reeling from the difficult ordeal of working in teams last week. Just when they think they will be able to work independently on a vision of their own making, they receive the rude awakening that the MODELS are going to be their "clients" for the challenge. The designers are to design looks for the models to wear to an industry event, and they're to do it in one day, for $100.
Of course, many of the models are loons, so their design desires are appropriately crazy and all over the place. Shirin's model, for example, initially wants a royal blue and gold jumpsuit. Early standouts include Christopher, Althea and Epperson, who are showing real innovation in the time allowed. Tim's is concerned, however, about Logan and Carol Hannah. When the models arrive, their reactions are generally positive, though don’t think I didn't notice that Johnny is trying to jump back into his spiral of doom. Mostly, everyone is really stressed about the time element.
Runway day dawns and the nerves increase. The sewing machines are almost in flames. Pre-runway interviews include quite a bit of backbiting about how terrible everyone else's designs are. When the show starts, we see that at least a few of them were right. In a big surprise, Carol Hannah knocked her dress out of the park. Epperson's dress is a huge hit, as is Althea's suit. Logan's fears of making a tacky prom dress unfortunately became a reality, and Johnny's dress comes off as, the kiss of death, "bridesmaid." Though, truly, Althea's suit is not coming off well on my TV, it must be awesome, because she is named the winner. Finally, as we all knew would have to happen eventually, Qristyl is sent home. Brutal guest judge Jennifer Rade makes her send-off particularly straightforward. Her black dress was boring and, the judges said, looked cheap.
Want more? The full recap starts right below! Well, last week, poor Mitchell was sent packing, mostly because he couldn't sew, and... couldn't really function in this competition as it requires designing within a time frame and having some basic knowledge of a sewing machine. Nicolas tells his remaining roommates that he feels like this week, the competition will get serious, as the talentless people will surely all be weeded out. We can only hope the Feather Prince is correct.Christopher hopes they won't be forced to work in teams again, thus being able to show off their individual talents. Epperson agrees, as well he might, since his own team experience with Qristyl was such an unparalleled disaster. He seems to have taken the gentlemanly road about it, however, saying in an interview that he realizes that working in a team was difficult for both himself and Qristyl.
Qristyl, indeed, seems to still be struggling. "Now that I'll be known as the b-i-t-c-h..." she is saying, in her room as she prepares for the new day. I am gratified that she chooses to spell that word correctly and not like, "b-y-ff-qh," in keeping with her alternate spelling theme. Her roommates murmur supportive words, and Gordana remarks that the real problem with the Qristyl v. Epperson showdown was that Q-Y did not stand up for herself early enough, which is a kind way of saying that Qristyl did not take control of the project, ever, as she was directed to do. Qristyl says she is just glad it's a new day and just wants to "forget about yesterday." Yesterday? Do these challenges really happen back to back? Bless these people's hearts -- no wonder they cry all the time. When do they get to sleep?
Heidi dons another leopard print ensemble at the runway. Is this some kind of weird cross-promotion for the hideously-named Cougar Town? If so, I'll gladly watch it, because Heidi looks fantastic, as usual. To the "lucky 13" remaining designers, she announces the next challenge. "Tim is waiting for you in the workroom with 13 women who know exactly what they want," she says. "Your challenge is simple: make all of these women very, very happy." Looking at their scared faces, she adds: "Ees enough. No?" Heee. Nicolas interviews that all they know about the challenge so far is that there are these 13 women. "It could be homeless people... to... Eskimos..." LORD, I love Nicolas. Why is he so funny to me?
In the workroom, the designers are thrilled to see that the 13 women are not homeless Eskimos, but are, in fact, their models. Carol Hannah says in an interview that they all breath a huge sigh of relief, as several of them thought "it was gonna be bridezillas." How I wish. Their assignment, then, will be to design looks for their models to wear to a special industry event. "They need to stand out and be noticed," Tim says, "so that agents, designers and the press see not only their impeccable sense of style, but their ability to wear and sell a look." Logan looks nervous and says in an interview that he is afraid his model, Kojii, might have a completely different style than he does. Everyone is given 30 minutes to consult with their "clients." Johnny opens with a smart question: "Tell me what you don't want." He seems slightly overconfident about the whole thing, though. "I know what Emarie likes," he says. "It's like designing something for myself if I was a black girl." Oh, Johnny. You wish. Too bad Epperson's did not think to ask Johnny's straightforward question of his model, Matar. She wants something simple. But interesting. Sexy. But not too much. Nothing too big. But nothing too small. But tight. Romantic. Punk. Chic. Um, tiger? And... orange. Poor Epperson!