By Potes
Final three! The girls take a brief moment to celebrate Alexandria's ouster, then get to work in a challenge connected to The Insider or Access Hollywood or one of those shows. Each girl has an hour to research and report on a Moroccan fashion trend in a 90-second live shot. Brittani does a relatively disastrous job in presenting on henna, and is not helped by the fact that her interviewee totally does not speak English. Hannah has taken a journalism class, but though she's adorable she doesn't exactly burn up the world with her spot on argan oil. Despite the major faux pas of saying in her last second that her take was horrible, Molly does a fine job in telling us about kohl and is surprisingly natural on camera. She wins the challenge and her video will be featured on the website of whatever show they were reporting for.
Tyra pays the girls a little visit at home so that she can prove she cares about them in four minutes or less. We finally get to hear some of the sob stories that we've been deprived of all season. We already know about Molly's adoption and abandonment issues, of course, but we learn that she also suffered from depression and anxiety and even went to rehab! She loves her adoptive parents and feels bad for putting them through all her junk, and also has clearly been to plenty of therapy as she is able to easily identify her pattern of sabotaging relationships because of her abandonment fears. Brittani has also had a hard time of it. Her mom has a panic disorder that prevents her from working, and also was agoraphobic for a time. People were not nice to Brittani about this, which is the way of people. Hannah was…insecure? I don't know. She really doesn't have any sob story that rated, though she's adept at out-crying the other girls for the most part. After the heart-to-hearts, Tyra shoots the girls and then they dance in hats.
The photo shoot for the week has the girls dressing in traditional Moroccan wedding garb and posing with a male model as Nigel photographs. Tyra liked the film so much that she chose two photos for each girl at panel. Hannah's pictures were good, but despite her contention that her very strong emotionality is a strength, the judges wondered if she was tough enough to withstand the modeling industry. Brittani was very weird about the male model, and started crying after getting some negative feedback from Nigel. This led to a good shot, but he was a bit put off by Brittani's history of crying on set, especially when he's photographing. Molly just plain rocked it, as usual. She was the first to make it to the final two, leaving Brittani and Hannah in the bottom. In the end, Hannah versus Molly just wouldn't be a fair fight, and so it's Brittani who will face off in the finale, featuring a Vivienne Westwood runway show!
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Previously on ANTM: The girls had tea with Franca Sozzani and then had to balance tea on their heads. It was a real tea-themed episode, I guess. Molly dropped all kinds of shit from her head-based tea tray and then got mad about it, as she is wont to do. Brittani won the tea tray challenge, but Molly remained confident that her pictures were better than everybody else's. Happily for her, she was right. Hannah looked a little lost in her photos, but it was Alexandria's tense mouth pucker that revealed her control-freak ways, and she was sent home. Three bitches remain! Three! We are almost there, people.
So, we're still in Morocco, obviously. I wonder if the Top Models had any overlap with the Real Housewives of New York? I would have enjoyed seeing Alexandria take on Ramona Singer. In the bus back to their house, Hannah expresses surprise that Alexandria is gone, but Brittani and Molly say that they expected it. Moreover, Brittani is quite glad to have her crazy drama bitch nemesis out of the house. Being down to a mere three people puts on the pressure, though, and Brittani says that Molly has her beat in photos and Hannah is better at commercials. So what is Brittani good at, you may ask? Hopefully she's good at not screwing up while others screw up. In other words: keeping her shit together. I am sorry to tell Brittani that history is not on her side with this one.
Hannah, meanwhile, is traumatized after being in the bottom two for the first time. She feels like her pictures haven't shown progression lately, and that the last two in particular are not up to her capabilities. That camel from the photo two weeks ago is really serving it though. It's giving us the one-eye smize and half-grin, like it's a moment away from spitting fiercely. And the neck extension is divine. Salon-worthy, even. A very tearful Hannah (which is always a dead giveaway) interviews that being America's Top Model would enable her to get out of Houston. We see some photos of Hannah in her hometown, and she says that it's hard getting out of a city that doesn't have a lot of opportunities for models. It is? I mean, I thought you just took your shopping allowance and hightailed it to New York. Hannah feels like she's more dynamic than Molly and Brittani, is more commercial, and can also do high-fashion. She is, in her own estimation, the best of both worlds. But can she sell eye makeup more convincingly than the camel? I mean, those lashes!
The girls arrive home to see Molly's best-of-week picture digitally doubled, making her look like Siamese twins joined at the hand. Everyone coos about it good-naturedly, even though inside they want to punch Molly and rue the day that her crunk wig was removed. Brittani tells us that it's a mindfuck to think about being in the final two, and that since she came from a trailer park people don't expect much of her. We see a shot of the trailer park, likely from her audition video, and it's totally a trailer park nestled in the mountains. I mean, I'm sure she had, like, shoes and stuff. If she could get Vogue in the mail, the situation is not that dire. Brittani notes that Molly has been kicking ass for the past few weeks, and is wondering how she might make Molly mess up so that she can win. Way to compete on your own laurels!
The girls arrive home to see Molly's best-of-week picture digitally doubled, making her look like Siamese twins joined at the hand. Everyone coos about it good-naturedly, even though inside they want to punch Molly and rue the day that her crunk wig was removed. Brittani tells us that it's a mindfuck to think about being in the final two, and that since she came from a trailer park people don't expect much of her. We see a shot of the trailer park, likely from her audition video, and it's totally a trailer park nestled in the mountains. I mean, I'm sure she had, like, shoes and stuff. If she could get Vogue in the mail, the situation is not that dire. Brittani notes that Molly has been kicking ass for the past few weeks, and is wondering how she might make Molly mess up so that she can win. Way to compete on your own laurels!
Molly, meanwhile, interviews that she deserves to be here more than the others, and she knows it. She then goes on to tell us AGAIN about her abandonment issues, which, we got it. Had you heard that Molly is adopted? By awesome parents? I know, how horrible. Molly wants to show young girls out there in similarly horrible situations that there's a light at the end of the tunnel. That light involves displaying all of your issues for a national audience on a fourth-rate network. See! It gets better! Molly says that she understands life a little more than Brittani and Hannah. Brittani has practically never been outside of her trailer doors and Hannah is the innocent girl door who gets really emotional about things. To wit, we get a montage of Hannah weeping. First she weeps at that weird acting challenge as she says she doesn't want to come off as spoiled. Then she weeps in interviews. Her tears could fill up a hot tub. Molly points out that people in the fashion industry are mean, and she's not sure if Hannah can handle it. As Brittani tries to figure out how to eat a giant lamb chop, Molly says that she needs to figure out how to stop getting so angry. Hannah tells us that Molly doesn't make lemonades out of lemons, and if she ever did she'd complain about how sour the lemonade was anyway. People don't want to work with assholes, Hannah says. Though that's true, they almost always have to because the asshole to non-asshole ratio in the world is so high. There's a life lesson for you, young readers.
There is Tyra Mail! "Tomorrow you'll know beauty inside, out and about. Love, Tyra." Brittani wonders if they'll have their beauty shot and commercial for Cover Girl. It is about that time, isn't it? But this is the season of surprises! And so the day Jay Manuel visits the girls at their home and tells them that he has a special news announcement from Hollywood. A video from The Insider then pops up, featuring Lara Spencer. I know her mostly in the context of being Kathy Griffin's unofficial decorator, which I think is awesome. Lara tells the girls that as models, they might be booked for jobs as a spokesperson or have to talk about fashion trends. As you may have guessed, this is all related to their challenge. Each girl will choose a fashion or beauty trend in Morocco and report back to The Insider in what is called a "live shot." They'll get one hour to research and write up questions, and then get to ask them of experts or other folks who have experienced the trend. They'll need to fill 90 seconds of continuous airtime in a single shot. This doesn't sound so hard, but I'm sure that if I had to do it I'd look like a total ass. The winner of the challenge will have her video shown on theinsider.com.
The girls get to choose from three possible topics: argan oil, black kohl, and henna. Molly picks black kohl, thinking it's eyeliner, but then freaks out a little at the possibility that it might be something different. Like, maybe she'll have to report on the first Moroccan Kohl's. Jay gives the girls advice in the form of his "Three Ws": 1) Where are we?; 2) What are we talking about?; 3) Why are we talking about it? As always, Jay's penchant for giving unique and targeted advice is staggering.
Molly gets to her main location, which is something called a spice pharmacy. You can get all sorts of concoctions made up for you here, if you're sick or having digestive problems or want to give Naomi Campbell warts all over her face or whatever. There's a man there named Abdul, who wears a lab coat and is thus some sort of specialist. Molly shouts, "I just need to know about the black kohl," with her typical charm while totally avoiding eye contact. He tells her that black kohl is a stone that you get in mines, like coal or granite. That doesn't sound like something you'd want near your eyeballs. Molly takes notes, and then tells us that in their hour they're not only supposed to do research but find some random person off the street to interview. It's harder than it sounds, because not all that many people in Morocco speak English. This is where an appearance by the Countess LuAnn would be a Godsend. Money can't buy you kohl! Argan oil is lea-earned, my friends!
We switch over to Brittani, who is also trying to find some English-speakers on the street. Her beauty trend is henna. I'm kind of sad that Hannah didn't get henna. Brittani spins around and yells, "Shoot me!" Even worse than getting shot, Brittani finds a street vendor who replies, "No...yeah," when she asks if he speaks English. He agrees to be interviewed. Brittani also seems oblivious to the fact that he's a middle-aged dude with a moustache and tan sweater. Maybe not exactly the beauty trend representative you'd seek in a situation like this. When Brittani drags him back to her henna parlor and asks if he's known many people with henna, the guy just looks over to henna expert Youssef El Mahi, who points out to Brittani that he does not, in fact, speak English. Brittani's new plan of action is to not allow anyone to speak during her segment besides herself, which will also prevent the scenario of folks talking too long. Except for when she inevitably talks too long.
Hannah, meanwhile, has eighteen minutes to prepare and so tries to run through her segment on argan oil. Hannah notes that she studied journalism in college, and so could potentially nail this one and win her first challenge. Her expert talks a little about how you can actually eat argan oil and then points to a dish of almonds. So is argan oil almond oil? Wikipedia tells me no. What do almonds have to do with anything, then? This segment already is raising more questions than it's answering. In any case, Hannah's expert talks too damn long and Hannah is concerned about it. Still, however, she thinks that she might be able to rock it. As Katy, an ANTM producer, explains how she'll give 60 and 30 second warnings, we see each of the girls with minutes left until they shoot. Brittani has zero confidence in her ability to complete this task, which also means that she's not the whole model package and could go home. Molly, with her typical glass-half-full demeanor, says that the whole thing is going to be fucked. Hannah tells us that at this point it's about who's going to break down under pressure, because any little error can kill you. With that, we head to commercials.
When we return, the girls head back to the house where Jay waits to review their videos. First we see Brittani, who says a whole bunch of Moroccan words with aplomb but then seems to forget that she's in Marrakech. From there, things start to go downhill. We see a lady painting another lady's hands with henna in the background, and Brittani's expert standing by, but none of these people say anything. Brittani then walks outside with cameras following her, thereby making things really awkward and wasting about 15 seconds. Brittani then totally interviews the street vendor dude in the tan sweater! She just asks a bunch of leading questions and he nods and replies with a slow, "...Yes." We do learn that henna symbolizes beauty and tradition and that almost every woman is obligated to wear it at a wedding ceremony. Brittani's 90 seconds is up and she's cut off just before she can say her name. Jay tells her that she set up where she was and what she was talking about, which was good, but her expert was underutilized. Then running outside was weird, and used up time needlessly. It was not great.
We see Molly's spot . She starts off sounding totally confident and actually remembers that she's in Marrakech. Which: point one. She introduces expert Abdul and interviewee Nadia. Points for Molly for having Nadia speak and getting Abdul to translate. We learn that kohl, in fact, is used as eyeliner, just as we all initially suspected. Molly then turns it over to a demonstration about how to apply kohl to the eyes, and gets bonus points for noting that it can give you an extra-fierce smize. With ten seconds left Molly is basically done, so just says thanks and the camera person lingers on the rows of spices for a while. Molly then, with one second left, says, "That was horrible." All the girls crack up, and Jay tells her that she's on until it's cut. Hannah thinks that this will totally knock Molly out of the running, thus leaving her as the default victor.
And then we see Hannah's spot. She rambles a whole lot and seems to have a habit of forgetting what she's about to say. We do, however, learn that argan oil has anti-aging, conditioning, and "just wonderful" properties that make it useful for both men and women. Her expert says that argan oil is good for skin, body, face and hair. Her interviewee, who maybe is Dutch, seems to appreciate what argan oil has done to her formerly dry hair. Hannah tries to wrap things up, but the camera cuts her off before she can finish. Jay points out that she also had an issue with time, and that she didn't allow the people she was interviewing to explain anything on their own. Hannah is totally about to cry, per usual.
Jay tells the girls that to decree the winner he's looking for the person who gave all the information, who utilized their people well, and also showed personality. In his opinion, the person who nailed all of those areas the best they could was Molly. Molly is, of course, thrilled, and tells us that she's stepping up her game and is going to win this. Hannah, meanwhile, cries as she tells us that today's challenge was totally up her alley. This is making her second guess herself a bit, though in her heart she feels like she did win. Her prize is a wet, salty face that can only be adequately moisturized with an application of argan oil.
As the girls chill out at home, Tyra enters, wearing harem pants. As Alexandria would say, it's very... cultural. Brittani says that it was awesome, because Tyra was not there as a judge, but rather as...well, I don't know what. "Friend" seems way too generous. Emotional breakdown conduit, maybe? Tyra asks the girls if they are homesick, and basically they all just don't really know what they're feeling. Molly acknowledges that they're always stressed, and then Tyra asks what she opened up about at that challenge where they had to draw stuff about their inner demons on chart paper. She calls it, "Emotion Day." When will Hallmark get on that one? Molly says she talked about her adoption, and the feeling of being unwanted. She also talked about her adoptive parents unconditionally loving her, despite what she put them through. She tells Tyra that she did drugs in high school, and would stay out and wouldn't listen to them, and they didn't deserve that. Molly tells us that she's a brat who bitches and moans, but that's what she does to hide her sadness. Tyra asks Molly if anyone's ever talked to her about what people with abandonment issues do, and Molly has been to enough therapy to know that they sabotage things and push the limits. Dr. Tyra adds that she's almost testing people to see if they'll abandon her, and is trying to leave them before they leave her. But Molly's parents never went anywhere, and Molly says that they're amazing people.
Then it's Hannah's turn to share what she did on Emotion Day. Isn't every day emotion day for Hannah? Hannah says that in middle school and high school she always felt like she wasn't enough for herself. Huh? Basically, she's got nothing. No adoption, and certainly no parental distress like Brittani is about to drop on us. Being here, Hannah has come out of her shell a lot, and she's been able to embrace her goofy side. Tyra says that she can see the rebirth in Hannah's face, and then moves on to Brittani who is clearly more interesting.
Brittani says that her mom has severe panic anxiety disorder and can't work. For the first few years of Brittani's life, her mom was agoraphobic. This means that she didn't even want to leave the trailer. Growing up, other kids would make fun of Brittani because her mom had problems and didn't have a job, which obviously made Brittani feel like shit. She starts crying, and Tyra moves couches to comfort her a little. Brittani says that, especially being away from her mom now, she's realized how much she loves her mom and appreciates everything she's done for her. Brittani's mom is the one who get her into this, she says, though we don't hear exactly how. Tyra says that all of the girls' Emotion Day stories are relatable. Perfection is boring, and a life that's just lah-de-dah makes for a woman who is vapid and doesn't appreciate things. This is why it's been so helpful that Tyra had to live through the painful struggle of going to Paris at age 16 to model. Despite their lovely faces, Tyra says, Molly, Hannah and Brittani are just like other girls. I don't know about you, but my mom didn't have agoraphobia. Molly now feels like Tyra cares about the models as people, which makes her feel good. This is just more abandonment issues waiting to happen, isn't it?
Tyra takes the girls outside, because she's going to photograph them. You know how she likes to do. It's going to be super-duper fast, and she does their makeup, which means that she draws black shit all over them. Then, Tyra puts, like, motor oil in their hair and outfits them in bland cloaks. Molly's picture looks awesome, of course, and then Tyra tells Hannah to make tiny micromovements. Molly says that Hannah and Brittani are both awesome, but she wants Brittani to go home because she's actual competition on the runway. Hannah tearfully says that she hasn't shown a strong picture in the past few weeks, and the others have forgotten her as competition. However, she knows that she can kick their asses. That never sounds convincing when said with a shaky, sobbing voice. Brittani says that the prize package for the competition is fab, and she can't even believe it's a possibility for her. You know, trailer, etc. At the same time, she just has to reach out and grab it.
Before she leaves, Tyra tells the girls that there's one thing about modeling that she wants them to take away, and it's isolation. And no, she's not talking about the desperate loneliness that comes with having a perfectly symmetrical face. The best models in the world can isolate their necks or their ears or whatever, and move one thing at a time. Tyra then moves them through a series of exercises, in which they move their hips, then their necks, and then walk around like Stepford Wife chickens. They eventually wind up on the roof, where a few men are playing traditional Moroccan music. The girls have tasseled hats on their heads and all whip them around and dance with Tyra, and frankly it all gets a little weird and slo-mo. Thankfully, we eventually head to commercials.
When we return, there is Tyra Mail. "Are you really committed? You will be tomorrow. Love, Tyra." Is she going to go the extra mile and commit these ladies to a mental institution? Is that the locale for their final runway show? If so, I'd say that's inspired. As the girls head to their photo shoot location, Brittani says that she doesn't feel good. Someone asks if it's her stomach, and she just kind of grunts. Molly combines her clichés as she tells us that it's all or nothing at this point, and she's been to hell and back. She's gone through depression, anxiety, and rehab, which is probably where she got all that therapy. Winning this competition would be a badly-needed jump-start for her life. Two birds in the hand, etc.
The girls land at the beach, where they see Nigel photographing Jay, who is outfitted like a man who charms snakes using only his neon orange hue. This location is the jewel of the Moroccan coastline, according to Nigel, and Jay tells them that today they're really going to have a chance to prove that they can tell a story in their photographs. The girls will be outfitted in Moroccan wedding gowns, and will also be posing with a male model who could be a groom or a best man or gay best friend or whatever. Brittani is nervous about working with the male model, and says that she doesn't know what she'll do if he gets too close to her face. What a specifically odd concern. Brittani reminds us that she nailed all the lines in the Fierce Roast Coffee commercial -- it was the sexy part that she had problems with. Is that true? I don't recall that at all, but then again I have a special sieve-like short term memory slot especially for all things Top Model.
The girls head to the hair, makeup and wardrobe tents. Make-up artist Vincent Jabes is going to put very light makeup on Hannah, while hairstylist Audrey Lambert wants Molly to have a lot of hair. Male model Younes Tazi enters the tents to say hello and give the girls some cheek kisses. Jay looks all cheesed up about Younes's entrance -- much more so than any of the girls. He suggests that the girls take time to talk to Younes and figure out how he can help them make the photo work. Hannah points out that Jay wants to see chemistry and connection with the male model, and she seems excited to comply with his wishes. Molly has never worked with a male model before, and says that she kind of wants to use him as a prop. She doesn't want him to move around too much. Or get close to her face? I still don't understand.
Molly is up first on set, and Nigel gives her the general piece of advice to not think about things like whether she's going to sit or stand, because those aren't emotions. What she's really going for is a narrative. Molly wears an ornate gold gown that also has some sheer bits to it, and endures a smoke machine. Jay, who continues to spot a turban and extra orange makeup, tells Molly not to ignore Younes. Today of all days, he says, you'd expect Molly to bring it. But there was more of a sensual connection between her and a wall than her and the male model. There's very little chemistry. Nigel gets all up in Younes's jock and tells Molly to feel his body and feel the heat of his body. Molly allows some body contact, and even lets Younes get close to her face. Things seem to go better at this point, however after the shoot Molly is pissed that she didn't do well. She cries a little to Jay and he says that he just wanted to let her know that there were times when she was very disconnected. However, there were also moments that felt quite genuine. Molly is very upset at the prospect of being in the bottom two.
Hannah is , and Nigel asks what her concept is. She says that she wants to pull away from Younes, but another part of her likes having love there. Ambivalence! The easiest emotion to convey in a still photo. Hannah seems to do pretty well, but then Nigel tells her that the struggle is starting to look more like a fight. She worked well with the male model, but the look on her face was so aggressive that she lost her pretty. Still, Nigel liked the concept and the commitment to the role. Jay tells Hannah that the chemistry was apparent, but sometimes the emotion takes over too much. He adds that it's a small note. Hannah, who is gorgeous in her red gown, is pretty happy with her shoot, and tells us that Jay liked what she was doing. She did everything today that she could possibly do.
Brittani, meanwhile, tells us that it's do or die time Wardrobe stylist Maria Cristina Petrone outfits her in gold and red. Is she wearing a dickie? Is that traditional? Brittani's narrative is that she's happy to be with Younes, but also over it. Nigel likes the idea of going to a place of "whatever." Happily for Brittani, she thus doesn't have to let Younes get close to her face. Jay says that it was apparent that Brittani had disdain for the male model, and that she stepped on set thinking that she had it in the bag. Jay tells her that her story isn't being told 100%, and compares her negatively to Hannah. He asks her to dig into a real emotion. A tearful Brittani tells us that when it comes to being sexy and intimate, she just can't do it yet. She's not an actor, and so is frustrated. She starts to cry on set after her critique from Jay. Nigel tells us that she looked stunning, but she can't cry every time she gets photographed in order to truly emote. A flashback reminds us that she did this when Nigel photographed her in week seven. She has to pull from within, he says. Younes gets close to Brittani's face and then thank heaven the shoot is over.
Hannah tells us that she totally said bring it on to the day and kicked the photo shoot in the ass, and so was much better positioned than either Molly or Brittani. Brittani shares that Jay told her that she was too confident coming into the shoot and treated the whole thing like a joke, and that she didn't tell a story. She's not feeling good about the whole thing, and speculates that, based off of the shoot, either she or Molly will go home. As her tears continue, we head to commercials.
When we return, we see Tyra bragging backstage pre-panel that she had to be sewn into her dress, which came especially from London. It's bright orange and makes her look like a really hot, fashion-forward pumpkin. She also wears thigh-high boots without looking slutty, which is really the greatest triumph of models all over the world. There are prizes, there are judges. Ivan Bart, the Senior Vice President of IMG, is the guest judge. For some reason, all of the girls seem to have wet hair. Molly and Brittani's hair is slicked back, though Hannah's is atop her head. Maybe this all happened directly after Tyra put motor oil in their heads?
Tyra tells the girls that she loved their film so much this week that every girl gets two shots. Nigel is proud. Brittani is up first for critique, and says that her narrative was that she and Younes were in a fight, and then she ended by getting emotional and vulnerable because of the distance between them. Tyra assures her that this was a good choice of narrative. I think that Brittani's first shot is pure dreckitude. She's standing with one arm out to the side and the other hand touching Younes's at the fingertips, and the whole thing looks like the cover of Harlequin romance. Nigel tells Brittani that one of the problems he had is that it's best to start with the emotion and let the story follow. It seemed like she was doing the gesture and then saying that she was in love. Ivan says that great photographs are a collaboration between the photographer and the model, and he really likes this photo and feels great energy. He thinks she did a fantastic job. ALT thinks that the delicacy and gesture of Brittani's hand are wonderful. However, Tyra agrees with Nigel that Brittani needs not be so literal with her story. Nigel loves Brittani's second shot, and notes that she cried just before it, resulting in his getting a complex about shooting her. Brittani says that everything hit her all at once, and it just came out. Ivan feels that Brittani didn't quite "go there" and that it's a halfway picture. ALT wants to buy the belt that Brittani is wearing, and says it's beautiful. Tyra says that she's lived this, and the picture tells Brittani's story.
Hannah is up , and says that for her story, she based it on her own tendency to pull away while also wanting to love. She thought that would spark an emotion. ALT says that it's one of her best photos of the entire cycle, and that her belt is fab. Tyra notes that when ALT compliments the clothing, it means that the model is selling it, which is her job. Nigel points out that Hannah, who is currently on the verge of tears, is an emotional lady. Hannah says that she does have intense emotions, but that's what her strength is. She continues to blubber that before she always thought it was a weakness, but being on this show -- where crying is rewarded with more air time and maybe even a tasty snack -- changed her perspective. Nigel bursts her goat's brain by saying that it almost became her problem on set, as she got so dramatic and into character that she lost her model. Hannah's second photo has her up close and personal with Younes, and Tyra thinks that it continues her story well. Ivan agrees. ALT nitpicks on her foot placement, and Nigel agrees that her invisible high heel is gauche and way over the top. What about modeling H2T?
Finally there's Molly, who says that her story involved Younes being less into the relationship than she was, which is a pattern in her own life. Nigel says that it's a beautiful shot, but he felt like he could have been the male model given the way she looked at him through the lens. This is also what the viewer sees, he says. I can't tell if this is a good or a bad thing. Ivan says that photography is Molly's strong point. She's very good at it, and her face is stunning. ALT thinks that Molly's foot works, as opposed to Hannah's ghastly foot. Tyra notes that Molly's body shape appeals to men and women, and that a lot of the subtle actions in her film were really beautiful. Molly's second photo is also great, and Nigel commends her for the good decisions that she made on set. He was able to follow her and dance with her on set, which is what a photographer is looking for. Ivan says that the camera loves Molly, and that she does great things. Boy, she sure has this in the bag, doesn't she? ALT agrees that the face is extraordinary, and also says something about her metaphorically dancing with Nigel that is rather incomprehensible. Tyra dismisses the girls, but not before letting them (and us!) know that the final two will be walking in a Vivienne Westwood show! Wahooo!
The judges deliberate. Brittani has demonstrated over and over again that she can model and produce great pictures, Nigel says, but the actual experience of shooting her isn't that enjoyable. Ivan says that the photographer having trouble shooting a girl is the worst phone call a manager can get. ALT, however, thinks that the photos are fabulous, and Tyra remarks that the quick backyard photo she took of Brittani gave her chills. Hannah is adorable, according to Nigel, and wears her emotions on her sleeve. Tyra wonders if she's strong enough for this industry, and Nigel notes how ironic it was that she said she was strong enough while having a tearful breakdown. Said breakdown totally turned ALT off. However, Ivan says that he's been trained to see a certain type of energy, and out of the three models just standing in the room, Hannah was radiating star quality. Tyra thinks that Hannah's first photo shows a star -- she just doesn't know if it's a star in 2011. So she thinks Hannah would rock silent movies? That's not a bad call, actually.
Molly is showing the clothes, the belt, the neck, everything. ALT says that you want to highlight everything on her with a magic marker. Tyra acknowledges that Molly might not be conscious of what she's doing, but who cares because she looks so good. Ivan says that Molly is a great photography model, but she needs to work on her energy. Tyra talks about her time talking with Molly about Emotion Day and then dancing with her, and says that she was lovely. Nigel says, "So you believed all that energy?" ALT clutches pearls, and with that the judges have reached a decision.
Three lovely young women stand before Tyra, and two will be walking in a Vivienne Westwood fashion show. There are two sets of photos in Tyra's hand. And the best photo goes to... Molly. She's our first official finalist, and also the eventual winner. Do we even have to go through another week? Tyra tells Hannah and Brittani that the judges deliberated intensely, and they had very specific reasons for why each girl was a favorite and should be a finalist. The judges said that Hannah has a face that can sell, sell, sell. Her photos throughout the competition have also shown that the girl door can be edgy when she has the talent and fire inside of her. But what the judges are unsure of is the strength inside. Then there's Brittani. Domestically, she started off quite strongly in the competition and blew everyone away in her first shoot. Since she's crossed the Atlantic, however, her photos haven't been as strong. They wonder if she's strong enough to be an international model. So who is the second finalist? It's Brittani. They just couldn't bear to send her back to the trailer park quite yet. Tyra tells Brittani that one relatively unexplored aspect of the fashion industry is the inner strength needed by models, which prevents them from becoming bulimic coke addicts and also allows them to take criticism. This is Brittani's chance to show that her strength on the inside can be consistent in another country.
Tyra hugs Hannah and tells her that she's stunning and rare -- a girl who is so warm and friendly but also can be fierce. But they want to feel it in Hannah's heart. Actually, don't they want to feel it less in her heart? A crying (of course) Hannah says that she's kind of confused about why Tyra said she wasn't strong enough. She knows that she's an emotional person, but is definitely proud of herself. She says that this has been an amazing experience, and now she has the confidence to take risks and succeed. She just wishes that she would have been more consistent in her photographs, and thus make it to the top two. Once Hannah is out of the way, the other girls celebrate and Tyra tells them that Vivienne Westwood, Italian Vogue, and Cover Girl are in store! I guess at this stage you really couldn't be too upset about one more bitch out of the way.
week: Finale!
Potes wants to know how you're celebrating Emotion Day! Tweet her @traciepotes or email potesypotes@gmail.com.