| Season AS3 | Episode 4 | Aired on 11.14.2013
The designers are forced out of Parsons so they can be herded onto a school bus. There are some very mild shenanigans on the way to wherever they're going, largely instigated by Seth Aaron's need to make people pay attention to them. Viktor's worried that they'll have to design for children. The bus stops at an elementary school, where Alyssa Milano is waiting. It's "the unconventional challenge." There were like four of those in the last regular season, so maybe ease up on the "the" here. Anyway, it's time for weird materials. The designers have to create "high-impact runway fashion" out of the stuff they find in a classroom. Alyssa makes it clear that the origin of the materials should not be clear. I appreciate that, because judges sometimes go back and forth on this.
The designers get a backpack and four minutes. They rush inside and go nuts Jeffrey just loads up on whatever's near the door. Mychael goes after shiny objects. Nobody has time to have a plan, so it's just mayhem. And the time runs out, so they start sketching on comically low tables. Viktor thinks his sketching is only speculative, because he's going to wait until he's at the workroom to let his materials tell him what to make. Christopher tells us that he was bullied in school, so he wants to make a black outfit with a pop of rainbow. The rainbow represents him, you see. Jeffrey is trying to be fun and playful, but he might be too stressed. <,p>The sketching is over and they return to the workroom. It's weird that there isn't a host here telling them this. Alyssa welcomed them to the school, but then she vanished. If they'd taken five minutes gathering materials instead of four, no onscreen personality would have told them to stop. There are a lot of holes in this show where Tim Gunn should be standing.Elena is worried because she finished in the bottom in her season for the unconventional challenge. So she starts cutting folders up right away and gets mad when everyone else is goofing around and trying to double-dutch in the workroom. I'm with Elena; this is going to take every second you have, so you better get on it. Viktor starts with jump ropes, but he's worried that it's too obvious. Elena recommends testing his glue early in the process, which is a great suggestion. She's doing a constructed dress, and she's planning on breaking up a lot of plastic rulers. She strongly recommends that Viktor not use all the neon colors at his disposal, and then remembers that he's the competition so she shouldn't help him. They decide not to help each other. It's cute.
| Season AS3 | Episode 4 | Aired on 11.14.2013
Mychael doesn't have a plan, although he's starting with piping made out of jump ropes. I want someone to get ridiculously ambitious and break the jump ropes down to their individual threads so they can weave a new fabric. That's probably not going to happen. Jeffrey has a silhouette in mind, but he's not sure how he's getting there with his floor mats. Elena accurately points out that the only reason Jeffrey's still here is that he's good at defending himself on the runway. Also because he was a reliable source of drama on his season, although he's not really bringing it this time out.
Irina tells us that it's insane to have only one day to do an unconventional challenge. Tell it to the last season, sister. Korto misses her daughter, which is reasonable. She's doing a bold, colorful dress, which is the sort of thing she's good at. Christopher is having trouble hot-gluing crayons to his neckpiece, because they just melt. Then he snipes at Viktor for using the same ruler technique as Elena. Elena, meanwhile, is having trouble breaking things into the right shapes.
Zanna is here, and she repeats the line about "high-impact runway looks." She starts with Jeffrey, who's making a skirt out of playmats that interlock. Elena is already in tears, and everyone is over it. Zanna tries to tell her she's been in the top every week, but it doesn't help. Get your shit together, Elena. Viktor is making a neat feather effect out of shards of rulers, and he claims that it just came to him out of the blue. Elena is glaring at him, because his entire design is based on the technique she told him about. Seth Aaron tells us that he wants to win, and that takes up the entire time Zanna is talking to him. Hey, show? Really quick: the time that the mentor talks to the designer is interesting to the viewer. You should show it to us.
Irina is also brushed past, although we see some of Zanna's skepticism about Mychael's design. His table is just covered in crayons. Zanna likes a detail on Korto's mannequin, but it's the only think Korto's done so far. Christopher immediately talks about how he was bullied. Zanna says that making this dress will be easy compared to the bus rides he used to take, and that's an interesting stab at inspiration. It looks like it just depresses him, though.
Zanna is about done, but there's an extra twist. Two celebrity makeup artists come in, and they'll be giving one-on-one consultations. Don't care. And the winner will appear in an ad in Marie Claire. Also don't care.
| Season AS3 | Episode 4 | Aired on 11.14.2013
The models come in, and Mychael has his model start smashing crayons. Korto's model cuts up rubber bands. Seth Aaron is almost done, so he has time to do an ad for the accessory wall.
Makeup consultations are boring. Did you know there was a thing called a "lip crayon"? Well, there is.
The models leave, and Jeffrey decides his dress isn't enough fun. So he attacks it with a glue gun. We see that Irina has created what looks like a big pink paper flower to stick on her dress. It looks awful. Mychael is giving up on his crayon plan and will have to make most of his dress tomorrow morning. I've just realized someone should have melted their crayons. You could use that to dye a material, or you could make a solid wax piece.
Runway day. Everyone has two hours to go, and there is a certain amount of panic. Korto has to finish both her top and her bottom. Mychael has a corset made of jump ropes and nothing else. The models come in. Elena swears she's done freaking out, and at least she has a dress to work on. Jeffrey describes Viktor's dress as "the most couture Big Bird I've ever seen in my life," and it has some things in common with the test tube dress that Justin made for last season's finale. Except it has color in it. And some weird stuff in the middle. It reads as a dress, which is more than some people have managed so far. Like Mychael.
People are still frantically hot-gluing jump ropes to things. Christopher helps Mychael with the bottom of his skirt, because he needs it. Irina sniffs at the idea of cooperation. Jeffrey's dress is a complete disaster. He has not transformed his materials in the slightest. It just looks like a bunch of playmats and jump ropes. And the model's breasts are not really concealed. There are five minutes to go, and Korto's model is nowhere to be seen. She complains, and then her model gets there. She decides that the basic rules of decency have been achieved, so that's going to have to do.
Runway time. Viktor is wearing a salmon suit jacket and a yellow plastic bow tie. It's like he's a technicolor Klaus Nomi. The judges are Georgina Chapman (who has a long list of required products to be mentioned) and Isaac Mizrahi, plus Gabourey Sidibe (whose list of credits somehow doesn't include American Horror Story: Coven) and Michael Urie (who played Mark on Ugly Betty!). Here we go!
Irina's dress is made out of pink construction paper and looks like it. It's super arts-and-crafts-y. Christopher's cocktail dress is made out of black binders and looks neat. But his vision for a rainbow popping out of the neckline has been reduced to three green squares. It looks cool. Korto has made a mess. She mumbles, "Don't judge me." Sorry. It's my job. Elena has made a clean, futuristic dress with interesting color-blocking. It's just like all her other dresses, but at least it looks good.
| Season AS3 | Episode 4 | Aired on 11.14.2013
I already mentioned that Jeffrey didn't transform his materials at all, and I stand by that. It's not even a dress. And it doesn't go low enough to reach his model's undercarriage, which delights Michael Urie. Viktor's dress looks fine. I already described it. Mychael's dress is made of construction paper and is coming apart. That's what happens when you use spray glue ten minutes before the runway. Seth Aaron has a weirdo dress that I can't figure out at all. He used a kickball as a hat, which is fun.
Alyssa has Seth Aaron and Irina step forward. They're safe, and Seth mopes away theatrically.
Christopher talks about how it was nice that they went to a performing arts school where kids can be who they want, and he wanted to make an armored dress because of bullying. Georgina likes some scissors he stuck in there. Isaac was prepared to not care about Christopher being bullied, but he likes that it actually relates to the dress somehow. Gabourey compares the dress to the Sydney Opera House, and I can see that. Michael calls it "hot lady Darth Vader."
Isaac doesn't like the proportions of Korto's dress, and she isn't all that interested in defending it. It's covered in bulldog clips to hold it together, which she was hoping would look like it was on purpose. Alyssa says it's gorgeous and fun, which very, very generous. Maybe a good version of this dress would be gorgeous, but...this isn't that.
Isaac thinks Elena's dress is fabulous. He loves the weird bustline that comes from having to make it out of plastic binders. Georgina wanted to see something a little more avant-garde from her.
Mychael was going to melt some crayons, but apparently they didn't melt the right way and he ran out of time. He does not argue with the judges when they say his dress is obviously falling apart. Isaac loves the colors, which strikes me as him trying to find something nice to say. Which I appreciate, because we don't need to be mean all the time. Mychael knows this didn't work.
Michael tactfully suggests that Jeffrey's dress doesn't fit, so Jeffrey claims he was never told it had to wearable. It's clothes, you freak. Clothes are supposed to be wearable. His concept is "anime girl in a sundress, mid-twirl." Isaac thinks it just looks like a dress made from stuff he got from a playground. Georgina points out that absolutely all of the model is visible.
Viktor talks about how he started cutting up plastic rulers, and Elena gives some great shocked faces. Isaac wishes the medallions had stopped at the midsection. Gabourey thinks Beyoncé could wear this dress, which is high praise.
| Season AS3 | Episode 4 | Aired on 11.14.2013
Judge deliberations. They're concerned that Elena is doing the same thing a lot, although they liked the bust a lot. Gabourey admired the pointiness of the breasts. Georgina wasn't sure about Christopher's scissors, and Isaac wants to dock him some points for trying to manipulate the judges with stories of being bullied. Michael claims that he got the story before Christopher explained it. They like how much work went into Viktor's dress, and it certainly sounds like he's going to win. Michael and Gabourey are both Team Viktor.
Isaac thinks Mychael's dress could look good if you squint, unlike the other two. Alyssa describes Jeffrey's dress as "very circus," and Georgina corrects her: "Not even. Circus costumes can be flattering." They all seem to feel bad for Korto.
The designers come back out. Elena is safe. Christopher wins (take that, guest judges!). Viktor is safe. In the back, the consensus is that Viktor's colors were really great. Elena is still cranky about her technique being used, but she did not use it herself. Alyssa lectures the bottom three about how bad they all are, then announces that they're all safe. Oh, come on! Non-elimination legs are terrible. Especially when they result in Jeffrey, who has been in the bottom so very often, sticking around.
Jeffrey and Korto walk into the back room and claim they're both going home. Then they take it back. It confuses everyone and has very little impact. Just like this episode!
Follow Monty on Twitter at @monty_ashley and read his blog, Mysterious Exhortations.