By Jeff Long
We begin on the runway, right after the last runway show. Heidi is carrying the lovely velvet button bag! She says that it's time to mix things up. They will be working in smaller groups. Samantha gets to choose first. She goes with Daniel. Then, Heidi starts choosing from the button bag. It's Richard and he chooses Stanley. Patricia is and she chooses Layana. Layana is not psyched. Matt is and chooses Michelle. Kate chooses Tu. That leaves Benjamin and Amanda together.
That night, Amanda tells Michelle and Layana that she is hurt that her team said she was the weakest link. The day, they go to honky tonk bar Johnny Utah's. Tim greets them and tells them that they will be designing for Miranda Lambert. Each team will create a performance look and a red carpet look.
At Mood, Benjamin didn't get enough stuff. While they are designing, Tim comes in for his consultation and hates what Tu is making. He thinks it's more Lady Gaga instead of Miranda Lambert. He is thinking about enhancing her curves, something Miranda Lambert needs no help with. Layana and Patricia are also not getting along, as Pat is making a dress that Layana feels might be to ambitious. Richard's look shows a lot of skin and Tim warns him about that. Amanda gets a lot of enthusiasm from Tim for her idea of a fringe dress. He also likes Benjamin's look a lot, so that is encouraging.
Michelle reveals an EXCELLENT Nina Garcia impression. Truly stellar. Amanda reveals that her brother is a member of Maroon 5! She wants her overachieving family to be proud of her. Michelle gets worried because Matt is super slow making his look.
Everyone thinks that Daniel's wins have gone to his head, because he is in love with his manipulation of his textiles while they think it's not that great. Richard uses some Mood t-shirts that he purchased for personal use as a way to line his garment and not show so much skin.
On the runway, Amanda's dress turns out great. Benjamin's is lovely too. Tu's dress is super interesting. Daniel's dress actually looks really cute on the runway. Matt's look is really simple and short, but Michelle's look is cool. Patricia pulled off her look as well. Richard/Stanley and Amanda/Benjamin are the top teams. They all say that they enjoyed working with each other. Michelle/Matt and Samantha/Daniel are in the bottom. Nina yells at Daniel about his look being cheap-looking. Richard wins the challenge! The bottom three are Matt, Daniel and Michelle. Matt goes home, which is so sad.
Previously: The designers worked with items from a flower shop and a hardware store to create two cohesive lines. Dream Team finally woke up from their nightmare (see what I did there) and won a challenge. Everybody essentially did a nice job, so they had to kind of makeup reasons to put Amanda and Joe in the bottom. I stand by the fact that Joe's look was really cool and thoughtful, but he got the boot. As far as Amanda goes, it looks like her team sort of glommed onto this idea that her look had been a time suck for the team, which she was surprised to hear. I think it was a stretch to say that she dragged everyone down, but bygones. Moving on. Samantha won the challenge! After Joe left, Tim came in and told the designers to get back to the runway. This isn't over.
The designers make their way back into the runway area. Heidi appears behind the scrim and everyone sees that she's carrying the button bag. Uh oh. They're all nervous and hate the bag. Heidi explains that they are going to be working in smaller groups and they are going to choose their design partners. Stanley says that he is excited to be free of the group dynamic. He's eager to work with just one other person. Tim says that they should consider which designers will complement them and push them to up their game. Samantha gets to choose first. She interviews that she doesn't know who to choose, but she chooses Daniel. He's very excited. Samantha thinks that it's a good idea because they both like shapes. Then, Heidi chooses a name from the button bag. It's Richard's. Without hesitation, he chooses Stanley. He interviews that his vibe with Stanley is great. This is destiny. OK, he looks just a little creepy when he says that, but that's fine. Patricia is chosen from the bag and she chooses Layana, maybe because she's standing to her. Layana is a little worried because she says that she and Patricia don't get along that well together. This could be disaster. People really don't like Patricia very much. I sort of dig that she seems to have no idea that she's not popular.
Matt is chosen and he chooses Michelle. They seem like they should be a good pair, but I worry about Michelle being the total Dark Princess of the workroom all of the time and potentially bringing him down. Matt seems like a bit of a delicate soul. Michelle worries that he will be his worst enemy and they will somehow end up in the bottom. Now, that's just negative. Also, worry about yourself. Obviously I've been dancing around it for a while, but I just think I don't like Michelle very much. There's something simultaneously tight and strident about her. It's an ugly combo. Kate is and she chooses Tu. That's kind of an adorable pairing. I feel like we don't hear enough of what Tu has to say, which is unfortunate because his designs so far have been really creative and I'd love to hear more about his influences and how he approaches the challenges. If the problem is that English isn't his first language, they should just hire a translator and let him speak unencumbered. That leaves Benjamin and Amanda together. Benjamin interviews that he doesn't know much about Amanda, except that her entire team hung her out to dry during the last judging. So, he's feeling a little nervous.
Back at the workroom, we see some more footage of Miranda. I have to say, she looks like a lot of fun, though I don't know her work at all. Amanda looks around the room and tells Benjamin that a lot of country artists resent the fact that everyone thinks they wear denim all the time. Michelle already seems like she's second-guessing Matt's choices, but maybe he asked for her to do that. I feel like my gut tells me to not like her, but pragmatically there's nothing super wrong with her. In fact, she's a hard worker and is driven and doesn't seem to want bad things to happen to other people. It's just this sour part of her that really turns me off. Richard picked this net fabric that he feels is very rock goddess and, of course, it's "everything." Tu has decided to make a dress that is reminiscent of Lady Gaga. When I think of giant country stars, I think, sure, why not make them look like something that would likely alienate them from most of their audience. So, Tu sounds like he's really on the right track.
Daniel is nervous because he doesn't often work with leather. But, he's using a soutache technique. The kind folks at Project Runway are thoughtful enough to provide a definition of soutache. It is a narrow braid used as a decorative trim. Well, that sounds delightful. I'm growing a soutache. Stupid. At lunch time, Michelle describes her rock n roll look to Amanda. They discuss Benjamin and his time management problems and Michelle tells Amanda to push him because he is truly capable of making some beautiful work. Well, that's nice of her to say, though it drips with a condescension. I'm not crazy, she's a monster. I know that very little that has come out of her mouth has been actually horrible, but there's just something about her. Amanda says something about how Benjamin is making a straightforward red carpet look, but she's not going to say anything about it. Isn't that the way that Benjamin feels about her? Physicians, heal thyselves. My computer doesn't like the word "thyselves." I can understand why. It's pretty unwieldy. Benjamin is feeling confident though. He's on schedule and says that his mother would be very proud of him.
Tim comes in to consult with everyone and reminds them that the top-scoring team will have the winning design and the lowest-scoring team will have the losing design. Well, that certainly makes the whole team situation seem more fraught. Now, your fate may be in the hands of one other person. Say you're having an off day but don't really deserve to go home, this would make your failure front and center. Scary. I want to share that Tim says you could have the most stunning outfit, but if it's to a "stink pot" you will still end up in the bottom. Stink pot. Somebody's been reading their Thackeray. That shit just ROLLS off the tongue.
After he's gone, Matt tearfully laments feeling insecure, even at his age. Hold up- he's 30, right? I hate to break it to him, but age has NOTHING to do with insecurity. I think that shit's genetic. Or, at least, it's some immutable thing we learn at a young age like language. I do think we maybe reach an age when we're so exhausted that we can't be bothered to feel bad about ourselves about certain things, but maybe that's just another way to describe cynicism. I mean, I don't know the answers really to how we can remove insecurity from our lives, but I know it's certainly not going to help to make yourself feel old and immature on top of it. He says that he has to remind himself that he is one of sixteen designers that made it to the show. Good luck with that.
Layana says that she is concerned for Tu. She doesn't feel like his look fits Miranda, plus she says that he has time management issues. Tu says that he is going to follow Tim's advice, but he is actually worried about how much time he has. Amanda thinks that Richard is not going to have time to finish his dress, but he's less worried himself. Michelle is planning a weird necklace and does an impression of Nina hating it. Everyone loves it. It is pretty good.
The models come in for their fittings. Matt is nervous because his bodice is not fitting properly. Stanley is nervous that Richard's look isn't nearly finished. Apparently, Daniel is over the moon about his design, but Kate says that it's really not that good. She's not being a jerk either. She just thinks that maybe all of the winning has gone to his head. He's like the opposite of Matt, crippled by his own confidence.
Amanda is nervous about her fringe. She thinks she may have gotten ahead of herself with her design. She tells us that she is an overachiever and her brother is a rock star. He's a member of Maroon 5. This is such an odd thing to hear. Because of his success, she spent a lot of he adolescence feeling like she was in the shadows. She wants her family to be really proud of her.
Matt is really far behind. Michelle is very concerned, because she is almost finished. She's worried about being in the bottom. You should be. The morning, Michelle tells everyone how nervous she is. She says that his skirt is going to be sad because there is not much time to finish it. Richard is a little worried because his look being so different.
At the workroom, Matt starts making a dress that he's not really excited about. Tim comes in to tell everyone that they have two hours before the show. The models come in. We see Daniel shredding the hem of his skirt with a fork. Eh. Stanley thinks that it cheapens the fabric. It looks pretty hokey. Richard finds a t-shirt that he bought at Mood to be the liner below his mesh dress! That is some smart thinking there. In hair and make-up, Matt tells the hair guy that he wants sorority hair for his girl. Scott Patric, hot make-up daddy is there in full effect, per uzh. Kate's model is a full two feet taller than her. Tim comes in and Stanley is still dressing his model. He is super nervous.
Miranda says that she can't even tell that Daniel's look is leather. Nina thinks that it looks like a tablecloth. She hates the cheap center seam though. She's surprised that he presented this. Heidi says that he just got officially yelled at by Nina Garcia. Zac worries that a lot of his work is starting to seem referential. Zac doesn't think that Samantha's look is nearly as interesting as the clothes that Samantha is wearing herself. Miranda agrees.
The judges confer. Heidi is happy that Amanda has bounced back. Heidi feels that Matt could do better. Nina agrees that he clearly has taste. They all hate how cheap Daniel's look was. Zac wonders if Daniel just isn't cool. The designers return and Miranda tells Richard that he's the winner of the challenge! She's going to wear his dress in performance. He's so excited. He and Stanley are in. Amanda and Benjamin are in. Samantha is in because of her immunity. That leaves Matt, Michelle and Daniel. Matt is out. Ah, that's sad. He cries in his interview that nothing as sad as his design had ever come out of him. He doesn't know why he wasn't confident. Boo. Michelle and Daniel are in. Tim comes in and says that he is sad that Matt almost seemed to send himself home. He interviews that he is so proud of himself for trying this. He thinks that showing up with a clear head was winning for him. I like him so much and I really hope things go really well for him.
Jeff Long is a writer/performer in Brooklyn. He can be reached at jeff.long75@gmail.com and followed on Twitter at @jblong.