It seems like this season of ‘Project Runway’ is the season of group challenges. That’s OK, since the group challenges really bring out the bitchiness in the designers, and what would Reality TV be without some good old-fashioned bitchiness?
In last week’s episode, the stakes were amped up even more. With ten designers left, the groups were split into five each. I don’t ever remember a group challenge consisting of such big teams. This was sure to make personalities clash like never before.
Almost like it had been planned by the producers, all the troublemakers were put onto one team. While Anthony Ryan and Joshua M. were not officially captains, they were each allowed to pick their first teammates. After they picked, then the people they chose got to pick next, and so on. So, there didn’t seem to be that much outside influence, but the serendipitous way that all the contentious relationships ended up on one team was really fishy. That’s how it seemed to me, at least.
Anthony Ryan’s team was made up of Anya, Viktor, Bryce and Oliver. If you’ve been watching this season at all, you know that this is the dream team. There’s no sense in doing the challenge, because they’ve already won. The other team was like the Island of Misfit Designers: Joshua M., Laura, Kimberly, Becky and the grouch of the group, Bert. Joshua has already blown up at Becky and Bert in the past, which is why this team was doomed from the beginning. Joshua is also a bully.
The teams were tasked to make a full collection full of five cohesive looks. Not only did they have to do that, they also had to put together their own fashion shows, which meant picking music and recording video to be projected on a backdrop as the runway show happened.
In his infinite weirdo wisdom, Joshua M. thought that it would be prudent to make his team’s video full of Laura’s legs stepping in and out of NYC cabs wearing a variety of different high heels. Judge Michael Kors described it as looking like a hooker convention.
Fights, disagreements and whispered curse words filled the time for the dysfunctional team. Meanwhile, the other team went right along creating a perfectly fine line of clothing. Anya won in the end, although I thought that Oliver’s jacket should have won hands-down.
Becky, and her inability to do anything except try to please everyone around her, ran out of luck and got sent home. I’m still holding out hope that Bert and his smugness will get sent packing soon. All I know for sure is that the three designers showing at Fashion Week will all be from the team that won in this episode.
