Ready, Set, Redemption!
Season 22
Episode 2
Editor’s Rating
4 stars
****
Significant time in the workroom and a strategic twist make for a satisfyingly gamified Project Runway episode.
Photo: Heidi Gutman/Disney
What a difference some time in the workroom makes. This felt like a proper episode of Project Runway, didn’t it? Christian is giving detailed feedback. A designer is holding on too tightly to their original idea and then pivoting into something surprisingly great. Alliances are already forming among contestants. Tears, so many tears! This was a melodramatic episode made even more so by the twist that the six eliminated contestants from last week would be able to save one of their former competitors on the chopping block this episode, and I totally understand if that gamified twist is not for everyone. (Please let me know in the comments.) I also totally understand if the return of Plane Jane in an absurd wig and knockoff Lady Gaga sunglasses irritated you. (Please let me know that in the comments too.)
But I think for all of Project Runway’s silly changes, like the addition of Tyra Banks and the clear reduction in budget, injecting some more strategy and gameplay into the structure of the show isn’t a bad thing. The days of Project Runway being only about the designs are long gone, and I’d rather the show shake up how the contestants interact with one another, while still allowing them to focus on the work, than continue to rely on gimmicky judge casting or slashed resources. Plus it’s kind of fun to see the Project Runway contestants do their own version of The Dark Knight’s ferry scene. When Jude said he’d be voting on merit only and wouldn’t agree to tank a designer in order to elevate himself? You’re rising up my list of favorites, kid!
“Ready, Set, Redemption!” picks up the cliffhanger from the season premiere, and I’m as shocked to type this as you are to read it: Jeffrey is safe for his candelabra-shaped, pearl-adorned gown, and R’Bonney, Plane Jane, and Robby are all out. I thought R’Bonney’s denim look was well made enough to keep her around, but the judges see some promise in Jeffrey’s maximalism, and he’s really moved by it — swearing that he’ll do better to design more from a fashion perspective than a costume one. He’s not the only person intent on doing better once Heidi announces this episode’s challenge. I’m going to combine Heidi and Christian’s voting reveals here: Of the remaining 16 designers, six won immunity last week, leaving 10 up for elimination. Of those 10 contestants, five will be eliminated at the end of this episode. But the six winning designers from last week, and the six already-eliminated designers, will vote for one of the five eliminated designers to stay. So basically, we’re getting down to 12 contestants in total. Oh, and the challenge itself is that the contestants will have $500 and one day to create a “redemption look showing personal style under pressure and on a budget.” “Under pressure and on a budget” really is the mantra for this current iteration of Project Runway, so it just feels repetitive for Heidi to say it out loud, doesn’t it?
Joseph McRae, who says his name more often than he says any other words in the English language, is having déjà vu — he was voted out in the opposite version of this challenge last season, when the contestants had to kick someone out instead of keeping them around, and he doesn’t want any possibility of going home again this time. All of the nonimmune ten are freaking out, and I do think Christian is giving good advice as he walks through the workroom, where faux leather seems to be breeding. Anna’s butter-yellow fabric and her insistence that she re-create a dress she made at 10 years old are misguided, and Christian is right that the judges won’t understand her inspiration and she needs to not be so literal. She eventually goes to a producer and asks to use the fabric she brought from home, which is a pink, purple, and blue lace. Yangyang is doing a laser-cut bird overlay again with her fabric, and Christian says her look is too similar to what she previously presented. Christian is worried about Aaron’s gray jersey sportswear look because the fit will need to be perfect, and then, uh-oh, Aaron sews the bodysuit incorrectly and needs to start again. Octavius’s overcoat in a beautiful oversize floral fabric is quite chic, but Christian doubts that he can make an entire women’s tuxedo to pair with it — tailored correctly — in just eight hours. But he can give credit where it’s due, and I laughed out loud when Christian praised Bi’s speed and offered him a job if he “can do pin tucks in ten minutes … you don’t need this show.” Christian has really settled into the mentor role, and I like his mix of half-razzing, half-praising the contestants.
But the contestants themselves … they are mostly razzing, especially as they try to strategize about who to save. Bobby and Andriy have already formed a judgmental clique. Bao is sniffing about how “there’s not a lot of luxury designers” in the mix. Bryan is telling anyone who will listen about how Bi was his intern. (We get more of an explanation via Bryan’s talking-head interview; he says he demoted Bi from his second-in-command premier to intern after Bi was gossiping about him. We don’t get Bi’s side of the story, though.) And both the immune and eliminated designers are high on their own power; Elizabeth, in particular, is acting mighty haughty for a woman whose ruffled scarlet satin dress looks like a reject from the Westworld costume department.
Runway time! The contestants join the judges by the stage (Ice Spice is in Nina’s spot, already making me worry how little we’ll see Nina this season), and of the six safe designers, I don’t like a single look except for Jude’s plaid mid-thigh coat and minidress. Chloe’s white eyelet two-piece looks like bedsheets; Bobby’s paint-splattered halter dress is weirdly proportioned; Bryan’s quilted crop top and skirt evoke an inverted ice-cream cone. None of them are in the judges’ top looks, which is gratifying, but I wish the judges had at least given the six some critiques. It feels like they got off easy. Meanwhile, all ten other contestants get called onto the runway for judgment — and the three in the top are Joseph McRae and his half-gray, half-rainbow bomber jacket; Jeffrey with a reversed sharp-shouldered dress that’s full coverage in the front, crisscrossed in the back; and Anna, with the multicolored lace gown that she sewed only on the second day. Good for her! And I guess good for Joseph for securing the win and immunity for next week, thanks to praise from all the judges, even Law, who we know mostly doesn’t like Joseph’s style. Another week of third-person Joseph McRae speech awaits us.
There’s a lot of disagreement between the judges about who’s on the bottom from the remaining seven designers, though; two will be in, five will be out (and one of those five will be saved). No one likes the sloppy tailoring of Octavius’s open-back suit, but Law loves the jacket. I wish Octavius had taken Christian’s advice to present just the jacket, as he had advised Bi last week. Law thinks Bi’s pin-tucked top is “fucking incredible,” but Tyra doesn’t like the color. (Which is black, so this was a really weird critique. Who doesn’t like black and is asked to judge a fashion competition?) Naheim’s oversize army-green military jacket and superwide cropped pants were Ice Spice’s favorite look, but Heidi calls it “Robin Hood meets Sherlock Holmes, but make it street style,” and I agree (and thought the look was goofy). And Aaron gets really ripped apart for his miniskirt with an elastic waistband, but I appreciated Law’s observation about the older, more experienced designer: “We need people like you in this competition, because you are full of knowledge, and it’s a shame that this is what you presented us.” It is a shame, because who knows what Aaron’s bodysuit would have looked like if he had sewn it correctly. However, the look and maybe Aaron’s years in the business are enough. At the end of judging, it’s Aaron and Naheim who are in, and Bao, Bi, Dani, Yangyang, and Octavius who are out.
Which of those five gets saved? Based on Bryan’s shit-talking of Bi earlier, you would think that during “jury deliberation,” Bryan would advocate for his exit. Instead, after getting in one more “Bi was my intern” dig, Bryan bursts into tears and says that Bi’s loyalty and workmanship mean he should stay. Andriy wants to save Bao because he thinks Bi is tougher competition, but Jude, bless him, refuses to do that: “This is not a popularity contest. We should keep it about the work.” Do the other 11 designers vote the same way? We won’t find out until next week.
• I was really impressed with Anna this week. Pulling out a dress in three hours can’t be easy, but I do worry about how soon she’s already used her fabric from home.
• Favorite chyron of the week: Plane Jane, staggered into silence by her elimination, described as “gagged.” (Also: Was she dressed like a Flintstones character when she returned from elimination? What in the Sarah Squirm was that outfit?)
• I laughed very much when Law told Tyra, “I don’t really visit those sites,” when she referenced fast fashion. I fear Law and Tyra will quickly get grating as they try to outdo each other with pithy commentary, but I’m on Law’s side for now. (Aside from how he endorsed the pillaging of ancient Iranian artifacts for Zendaya’s Odyssey red-carpet earrings. Not a fan of that.)
• I do feel bad for Robby, who says he had a positive reputation for his Drag Race designs, and now he’s been publicly criticized for said designs. I hope he’s made his peace with this process; it really seemed to weigh on him.
• Bobby and Andriy are giving high-school bullies, and I do find it annoying already, sorry to say.
• “Christian makes me nervous, I guess.” Oh, Jude. Better get over it soon!
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