Face Off – It’s Casual Friday!

Everyone should have learned from last week that the Face Off playground is a war zone that needs to be taken seriously. It’s not a romping station where you hang your ego up on the wall to admire it. You do that and that ego is going to lose its luster toot sweet, something glaringly evident from the two intense challenges this episode.

The first — a timed relay foundation challenge where the contestants had 15 minute increments to lay down their wares without consulting their team mates based on the type of contacts their models were wearing — was a kick to watch. Some shown brightly, others failed in their mediocrity. (Beki won this challenge, awarded by Emmy-winning make up artist and guest judge Jennifer Aspinall.)

Then things got jiggy. The spotlight challenge was noticeably stirring for some contestants as naked bodies came out and stood in front of canvases of scenery. (A few candidates really needed to steel their resolves before delving into the task.) Teams of two had to incorporate a pair models into the backdrops intelligently and innovatively … in 6 hours. Talk about “rocking a body.” This was an invitation to disaster … and certainly was for a couple of teams who flailed spectacularly in drabness. The kicker was the background of tennis shoes which wasn’t picked by anyone, instead awarded to Team Brea and Matt. In the back of my mind, they were either going to Choke Mahoney or rise to the complexity of the challenge. And the former didn’t seem too likely with Brea’s model collapsing from whatever it was he collapsed from. (The specific cause of his collapse wasn’t entirely clear, but I personally think he was overcome from hip hop artist Asher Roth’s inspiration “Is This Too Much Orange” which was the inspiration for the challenge. I mean, the dude was all dolled up in “door hinge” to the hilt. Saturate your privates in paint and something’s gonna give … you know?)

I’m not going to dissect each individual project showcased on this episode other than to state some were pretty spiffy with a couple gunmetal gray (literally). Suffice to say tears don’t make good adherent for prosthetics and Miranda — having been harshly lambasted by that Siegbarste judge Glenn Hetric (*heheheh*) — got the heave-ho for her schlocky work. And deservedly so.

Next week? Night Terrors! Hideous creatures of bad dream stuff! Creations of horror! *Woot!*

Notes:

• Here’s my deal with Jerry: The dude has been talking big talk from day one, but as far as I’m concerned he hasn’t put his money where his mouth is yet. Too many excuses and a whole lot of finger pointing at his fellow contestants makes him look like a big fat whiner who likes to flap his jaw more than anything else. Just zip it and bring it, Jerry.
• Tears (especially drama tears) belong on The Bachelor and The Biggest Loser. They do not belong on Face Off where you know your work is going to be scrutinized and critiqued with an eagle-eye. I’m talkin’ to you, Tara.
• The most monkey business in this episode was the blather from Roth’s inspiration for the spotlight challenge, his latest album “Is This Too Orange.” The entire “orange” and “chakra” and “creativity” dialogue was akin to a Peanut’s cartoon where off-camera adults “waa-waa waaaaaa-waa” incessantly.

Clacked by Michael Noble
on Jan 26, 2012 @ 13:54 EST5EDT