The sleeping designers are woken up by Tim Gunn, who has snuck into their hotel room. He's wearing a striped referee shirt and is blowing a whistle. It's a fairly abrupt way to wake up. Except for Justin, who can't hear the whistle. Everyone is hustled out to go meet Heidi somewhere. In the vans, everyone agrees that they hate sports. Karen points out that shopping is kind of an endurance sport, and people feel better about it.
In what the establishing shot claims is Central Park, the designers have all been outfitted in product-placed shirts and shorts. They arrive at a playfield that has some obstacle-course stuff around it. And also Heidi and Tim! Alexander claims they're wearing "activewear," but Heidi's in jeans. She says they're having a "field day." Tim gets very specific here: there are five identical obstacle courses, each with four stations. The designers will be working in five teams of two. That is a lot of numbers. The challenges are the three-legged race, the tire run, the wheelbarrow race, and the flag grab. That last one is just a tub full of junk, but I guess there's a flag in it somewhere. The winning team will get to choose their fabric first, plus an extra hour of work in this one-day challenge.
So the challenge will be to make "fashionable activewear." Heidi uses the word "performancewear," which makes me worry that they'll have to use crazy high-tech moisture-wicking fabrics. Heidi's goal is "to bring the runway to the treadmill." The winning look will be sold by a particular athletic clothing company. Tim clarifies that today's teams are only for the obstacle course, not for the part where they design clothing. That's important, because who you want as your partner probably changes. But the teams are random: Justin/Dom, Jeremy/Alexander, Helen/Bradon, Alexandria/Kate, and Karen/Ken. Ken's a little mopey about being paired with Karen, but it doesn't seem like it's because he doesn't like her. It's because he thinks she's got the athletic ability of his grandmother.
There's some stretching and trash-talking. The three-legged race goes quickly, and they're not stopping at each race. Bradon and Helen run right past the wheelbarrow portion and have to go back. Soon, everyone's piling through their tubs. Dom finds the flag first, so she and Justin win! Heidi yells at people for not knowing what the flag looks like. Jeremy and Alexander finish last. Tim warns everyone that Helen's immunity in this challenge is the last immunity in the season. Helen makes the usual promise about trying hard even though she has immunity. Heidi will be joining Tim on his workroom advice trip, which is unusual. But this look will be sold as part of her line, so I guess it's fair for her to be more interested in it.
There are some giant bolts of fabric laid out. Everyone gets ten yards and will be charged fifty dollars. When Tim tells them to start sketching, he blows his whistle, apparently on the theory that it's fun to blow whistles. Kate is working on pants that she says are inspired by her little brother being into motocross. And then she's also got a hooded sweatshirt. Helen is doing cropped pants (good idea; they use less fabric), a muscle tee with a kangaroo pocket, and a mesh jacket. Ken is doing a jacket inspired by motorcycle jackets. So it'll have padded elbows, and the tights will have padded knees. Karen describes her pants as "very well fitted, but with an interesting element of design," which makes me think she doesn't have a real plan yet. Tim announces that their time is up.
Back to the workroom! All the mannequins have garments already on them. Tim explains that they're examples of Heidi's collection and are not to be cut it up. When he leaves, there's a weird quiet moment. Helen goes out to ask Tim a rules question: are they allowed to use these existing pants to "spec from," or determine the preferred fit. Tim thinks that's an excellent idea. Alexandria asks Helen what she asked, and she declines to say. Ken finds this shady, but I think it' just good game play. She thought of an angle and verified its legitimacy with the judge. She is under no obligation to tell her competition what she plans to do.
Ken is making some offended noises in the workroom, so Helen starts to tell everyone what she asked. But he's not even listening to her, because he wants to get into a fight. He tells her, of course, not to go there. Then he starts bleeping up a storm and telling her to shut the [BLEEP] up. Helen tells him, "Dude, you're crazy." And he answers, "No, you're gonna be crazy if I come the [BLEEP] over there, so shut up." What a jackass. The best part is that his tantrum kept anyone from learning what Helen talked to Tim about. Helen is not scared of him, but she is surprised that he's threatening her. As she walks out of the workroom, he calls her an "ignorant-ass bitch." Then he shouts at her to shut up again. She's interviews that she doesn't know what's up with him, but she's not about to get stabbed on Project Runway, so she's looking for someone.
Alexandria interviews that Helen asks people questions a lot, which I guess means that she's obliged to share all her information. Helen meets with Tim in the hallway, and he tells her that if Ken pursues her, she should come get him. He also promises that the production's eyes will be watching the situation, so Helen returns to the workroom. There's an awkward silence. Ken goes out of the room. He interviews that Helen gave him a little bit of attitude, and that pissed him off. Yeah, but dude: SHE WAS ANSWERING YOUR QUESTION. If you'd kept your bleep-hole shut for thirty seconds, you'd have gotten the information you wanted.
He goes into the lounge and calls his mentor to tell her he's freaking out. His mentor (a firm-sounding lady that's basically his mother) tells him that his whole life has been about designing clothes. He tells us that as someone who used to be homeless, he knows that we should never judge people, which is a little rich coming from the guy who was screaming a second ago. Tim sits him down and tells him the process is overwhelming, but that Ken wouldn't be here if they didn't think he could win. He tells Ken, "I'm your ally. Let's do it together."
Tim walks Ken back into the workroom, and Ken goes straight to Helen. He says he's been under a lot of pressure (which Helen obviously knows about, since she is under very similar pressure), and that he flipped out on her for no reason. And he apologizes. Well done, sir! She gives him a hug, and he promises that he's normal now. Dom interviews that Ken just got stressed out and lost it, but Tim calmed everything down. Hooray for Tim!
So! Back to the actual designing! But that took so much screen time that it's already time for Tim and Heidi to check in on everybody. And the caption says there are only four hours until the end of the day. Heidi is glad people are using colors other than black, which makes Ken theatrically panic. Kate uses the phrase "cropped pullover," but Tim thinks it might not need to be short. Helen is planning to gather fabric on the butt to make it look tighter. But her shirt strikes Heidi as too simple, so she recommends working hard on the jacket. Justin is comfortable with Tim, but the introduction of Famous Supermodel Heidi Klum is making him a little nervous. That's reasonable. She recommends being careful with the straps on his top, because she doesn't want boobs flopping all over the place.
Karen's got a neon green sports bra, which Heidi seems to find off-putting. That's certainly my reaction to it! It's also got something she calls "style lines" on it. You can't make something good just by adding the word "style" to it. When Karen starts to describe her theoretical matching pants, Heidi stops her. "It is impossible. It is Martian. Is crazy. I don't see anyone wanting to have this." Tim swoops in to try to be friendly, but Heidi picks up Karen's notebook to make fun of the rest of the Martian look. Tim translates what Heidi is saying into his normal, supportive style of speech: "You need to reexamine your concept and recalibrate what you're really capable of executing in this timeframe." That means she needs to start over with something she can finish in four hours.
Dom says she doesn't like to be fully covered up, and Heidi speculates about a nice, strong back. Alexander gets told to reduce his piping. Jeremy is sunburned, and that's it. Ken is thinking of doing something long, and Heidi thinks his jacket looks like a SCUBA suit. Bradon is trying to tuck the seams back, because that's what Heidi's clothes to. He tells her she can wear anything, but she corrects him: she's always looking in the mirror when she's running, so she wants all the optical illusions she can get. Alexandria says that whenever Tim shows up, she quickly cleans up her area. And she's run fifty marathons, so she's ready for this. She's doing a drop-crotch pant, which Helen sneers at. And she's got some hidden mesh for sweating. She's also working in all black, which Tim thinks will just hide all her work. Tim and Heidi leave.
Karen is starting over. Ugh. And the models are already here! I like the pacing of this episode, because once we got past the fight between Ken and Helen, it's all very quick, which is probably how the designers feel. Bradon's top is very tight on his model. Jeremy is delighted at how hideous Alexandria's drop-crotch pants are. Remember those Etsy pants that were just a sweater turned upside down? They look like that. No one wants to run in those. Or be seen dead. Helen's crotch rips open, so she and her model have a little fun with the question of whether this is the right kind of "Wow" piece. Bradon's seams are done in neon green, and they go in a spiral around the model's legs. He claims it's for an aerodynamic effect.
Ken is starting over. So his model has nothing. He's just doing a halter top and shorts, which sounds lazy at first. But he explains that he's thinking about the woman who's actually working out as opposed to the woman who's sitting around trying to get a date, and I think I'm on board. Although he might want to leave the possibility of a bra. I hear those come in handy if you're working out. Alexander thinks he's doing great, although he admits that it's mostly theoretical, since his jacket isn't even cut out yet. Karen is also starting over on pants and a sweater. Her goal is to make something a little looser than what Heidi already has in her collection. Exeunt models.
Thirty minutes to go. Helen is running out of time. She has leggings and half a jacket. Karen has to sew both of her pieces. Then the time runs out for everyone but Dom and Justin, who are very happy about their extra hour. They're not confident, though.
The morning (already!), Karen is frantically sewing her pants together so she can start on her blouse. Many of the other designers are also panicking. Tim comes in with his usual spiel. I don't think the accessory wall has a lot of sportswear-relevant options. Kate is amazed at Alexander's ability to somehow not have an outer seam. There's a shot of Helen showing Ken her look, and I like that they're able to interact like normal people. She hasn't finished her jacket, and it's supposed to be great. Karen is making her pants a little loose, and her model suggests that she could make them into shorts. She doesn't need any more suggestions at this point. Karen tells the sewing room that it's not a good sign when her model is grimacing. And in the workroom, the model says that Karen is freaking out, and she should stay positive.
Makeup! "A healthy glisten!" Hair! "A braided headband into a side-pony that's kind of tousled!" Lots of ponytails.
More frantic designing. Alexandria cuts vents into the side of her top. Ken will not let someone jump in and use his sewing machine, because he is actually sewing on it right now. That's entirely reasonable. Helen is concerned about how basic her tee is. Justin thinks Ken's look is "functional," which means it's not fashionable. And now it's time to go! Karen tries to talk herself into thinking that she might not be the worst. She's got a point about how awful Alexandria's pants are.
Time for the Runway. The judges are the usual gang of jerks: Heidi, Nina, Zac, and "not really a guest judge" Michael Kors.
Kate's look is fine. It's black and grey with red highlights. I could see someone wearing it. Bradon's look is pretty cool. It's also black and grey, and the neon piping does odd things around the model's legs. There's kind of a Tron effect. Alexandria's outfit has a dumb drop-crotch and it's stupid. So are the vents in the shirt. Helen's black pants have a pop of dark green, and I like it a lot. The jacket has an elastic waist that I'm not a fan of. Dom's outfit looks like a jogging outfit. If she made the hat, I'm totally into it.
Justin's model nods her hood off and walks the runway confidently. I like the shorts, although they're really short. Ken's gone with purple and black, and he's obsessed with his model not liking it. The back is a mess. The shoulder blades are a riot of straps, because the model's bra is fighting with the thin racerback. And there's a weird purple point at the top of the model's butt that is not flattering. Jeremy describes his pants as being made out of "that shockingly disgusting purple." Karen technically clothed her model. The top and pants are loose, which can actually be something you want while working out. Everyone else went super-fitted. But there's not much to her clothes. Alexander's model looks sleek and together. Everyone's impressed by the lack of a seam on the side.
Karen doesn't really have anything interesting to say about her look. Michael thinks her model is going to a buffet on a cruise. Nina says the model looks sad. Karen can't work up the energy to defend the look. Zac thinks the top could somehow have been fashionable, but the pants were too bad. Heidi thinks a loose top needs to have a tight bottom or vice versa. She likes this a lot more than the neon sports bra from yesterday, though. So that's something.
Helen shows off her kangaroo pocket, which she seems to like. Nina loves that it's a jacket that covers the butt and thighs. She'd be willing to pack this or take it on a plane. Michael loves it and thinks all ages could wear it. Zac thinks the jacket is "Elvira at the gym," which he means as a compliment. Heidi is happy that the jacket is the Wow item she was imagining. Helen is quite relieved.
In the inspection, Heidi starts with the bad looks. When they get close to Karen's look, they do not like the quality of the sewing or the fit. Zac thinks it's for a woman who's pretending to go to the gym but actually going to the deli. These people live in a world of very specific outfits. I just put on one set of clothes in the morning and then do a lot of different things throughout the day. Heidi asks Roberta (the model) how she feels, and she admits, "I feel terrible in it." Awww.
Alexandria's look leads Michael to just shake his head and say, "Oh my goodness." Not to be outdone, Zac pipes up that he doesn't even want to touch it. Heidi claims some women would wear it. They examine the back, where it turns out Alexandria has taken some mesh and put a flap of mesh over it. When Michael realizes it doesn't do anything, I love Nina's expression of disdain. It's pointed at Michael for not having immediately realized how dumb this jacket is. Michael thinks Heidi should wear those pants, because everyone (including the paparazzi) will leave her alone. Tim points out that Heidi told Alexandria she loved the pants, and Alexandria very logically stuck with them. Heidi's the host; you do what she says.
Heidi has turned around on the strappy mess on the back of Ken's look. Michael thinks it looks like she's wearing seven bras. Zac is sick of harnesses. Then they make fun of the bottom of the top. This whole time, Heidi and Zac are poking at the clothes while Nina and Michael sit back in their chairs and snipe. Except when Nina got up to demonstrate the stupidity of Alexandria's jacket.
Top looks. Helen's jacket causes raves from everyone. Zac likes how it's "price-effective." Michael doesn't like the top, but he knows it's because she spent all her time on the jacket. Nina is absolutely in love with it, and she takes Heidi's usual role of talking about how she'd wear these clothes in a minute. Kate's look makes them very pleased with the ambition. Michael likes the light grey piping to the red. They like the zipper in the back. Zac likes how many different things are going on at the same time, since they all work together. Tim praises how well she recalibrated her work during the challenge. Alexander's top has an interesting asymmetry at the top. Michael likes the lack of side-seam, but he's not amazed by it. Zac points out the back of the jacket, where the lines match up on one side but not on the other. The top is basically a sports bra. Tim reminds them that Alexander is a costume designer. Zac is pretty impressed with this. Heidi says the top look will be either Helen or Kate.
Aha! This time, they completely skip the part where Heidi says, "So we've reached our decision." Which I think is the right call. The judge deliberations are replaced by the close-up looks. So the designers come out. It's time. Alexander is in. Helen is the winner! And Kate is happy for her, so I'm going to declare her completely rehabilitated from last season. Heidi claims that Nina has already ordered one of these outfits. I'm not sure the infrastructure is in place for that. Helen is basically in tears as she leaves the runway. Everyone cheers for her in the workroom. Remember how the season started with her vowing to be everyone's enemy? She did a terrible job of that. Kate is also in, with a compliment from Heidi. Alexandria is in, because Heidi somehow likes her awful drop-crotch pants.
We're down to Karen and Ken. Karen's out, which was kind of inevitable. She knew it, too. She does claim that Ken should have gone home because he's been in the bottom a lot, but that's not this show. Tim comes into the back room and sends her off.
time: Heidi has a crazy idea to mess with the format.
Follow Monty on Twitter at @monty_ashley and read his blog, Mysterious Exhortations.