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Project Runway<\/a><\/p>\n Ready, Set, Redemption!<\/p>\n \n Season 22<\/p>\n Episode 2\n <\/p>\n \n Editor\u2019s Rating<\/p>\n 4 stars<\/p>\n ****\n <\/p>\n \n Significant time in the workroom and a strategic twist make for a satisfyingly gamified Project Runway episode. What a difference some time in the workroom makes. This felt like a proper episode of Project Runway, didn\u2019t 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<\/a> 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.)<\/p>\n But I think for all of Project Runway\u2019s 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\u2019t a bad thing. The days of Project Runway being only about the designs are long gone, and I\u2019d 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\u2019s kind of fun to see the Project Runway contestants do their own version of The Dark Knight\u2019s ferry scene<\/a>. When Jude said he\u2019d be voting on merit only and wouldn\u2019t agree to tank a designer in order to elevate himself? You\u2019re rising up my list of favorites, kid!<\/p>\n \u201cReady, Set, Redemption!\u201d picks up the cliffhanger from the season premiere, and I\u2019m as shocked to type this as you are to read it: Jeffrey is safe for his candelabra-shaped, pearl-adorned gown, and R\u2019Bonney, Plane Jane, and Robby are all out. I thought R\u2019Bonney\u2019s denim look was well made enough to keep her around, but the judges see some promise in Jeffrey\u2019s maximalism, and he\u2019s really moved by it \u2014 swearing that he\u2019ll do better to design more from a fashion perspective than a costume one. He\u2019s not the only person intent on doing better once Heidi announces this episode\u2019s challenge. I\u2019m going to combine Heidi and Christian\u2019s 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\u2019re 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 \u201credemption look showing personal style under pressure and on a budget.\u201d \u201cUnder pressure and on a budget\u201d really is the mantra for this current iteration of Project Runway, so it just feels repetitive for Heidi to say it out loud, doesn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n Joseph McRae, who says his name more often than he says any other words in the English language, is having d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu \u2014 he was voted out<\/a> 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\u2019t 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\u2019s 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\u2019t 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\u2019s 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\u2019s overcoat in a beautiful oversize floral fabric is quite chic, but Christian doubts that he can make an entire women\u2019s tuxedo to pair with it \u2014 tailored correctly \u2014 in just eight hours. But he can give credit where it\u2019s due, and I laughed out loud when Christian praised Bi\u2019s speed and offered him a job if he \u201ccan do pin tucks in ten minutes \u2026 you don\u2019t need this show.\u201d Christian has really settled into the mentor role, and I like his mix of half-razzing, half-praising the contestants.<\/p>\n But the contestants themselves \u2026 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 \u201cthere\u2019s not a lot of luxury designers\u201d in the mix. Bryan is telling anyone who will listen about how Bi was his intern. (We get more of an explanation via Bryan\u2019s talking-head interview; he says he demoted Bi from his second-in-command premier to intern after Bi was gossiping about him. We don\u2019t get Bi\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n Runway time! The contestants join the judges by the stage (Ice Spice is in Nina\u2019s spot, already making me worry how little we\u2019ll see Nina this season), and of the six safe designers, I don\u2019t like a single look except for Jude\u2019s plaid mid-thigh coat and minidress. Chloe\u2019s white eyelet two-piece looks like bedsheets; Bobby\u2019s paint-splattered halter dress is weirdly proportioned; Bryan\u2019s quilted crop top and skirt evoke an inverted ice-cream cone. None of them are in the judges\u2019 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 \u2014 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\u2019s 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\u2019t like Joseph\u2019s style. Another week of third-person Joseph McRae speech awaits us.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a lot of disagreement between the judges about who\u2019s 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\u2019s open-back suit, but Law loves the jacket. I wish Octavius had taken Christian\u2019s advice to present just the jacket, as he had advised Bi last week. Law thinks Bi\u2019s pin-tucked top is \u201cfucking incredible,\u201d but Tyra doesn\u2019t like the color. (Which is black, so this was a really weird critique. Who doesn\u2019t like black and is asked to judge a fashion competition?) Naheim\u2019s oversize army-green military jacket and superwide cropped pants were Ice Spice\u2019s favorite look, but Heidi calls it \u201cRobin Hood meets Sherlock Holmes, but make it street style,\u201d 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\u2019s observation about the older, more experienced designer: \u201cWe need people like you in this competition, because you are full of knowledge, and it\u2019s a shame that this is what you presented us.\u201d It is a shame, because who knows what Aaron\u2019s bodysuit would have looked like if he had sewn it correctly. However, the look and maybe Aaron\u2019s years in the business are enough. At the end of judging, it\u2019s Aaron and Naheim who are in, and Bao, Bi, Dani, Yangyang, and Octavius who are out.<\/p>\n Which of those five gets saved? Based on Bryan\u2019s shit-talking of Bi earlier, you would think that during \u201cjury deliberation,\u201d Bryan would advocate for his exit. Instead, after getting in one more \u201cBi was my intern\u201d dig, Bryan bursts into tears and says that Bi\u2019s 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: \u201cThis is not a popularity contest. We should keep it about the work.\u201d Do the other 11 designers vote the same way? We won\u2019t find out until next week.<\/p>\n \u2022 I was really impressed with Anna this week. Pulling out a dress in three hours can\u2019t be easy, but I do worry about how soon she\u2019s already used her fabric from home.<\/p>\n \u2022 Favorite chyron of the week: Plane Jane, staggered into silence by her elimination, described as \u201cgagged.\u201d (Also: Was she dressed like a Flintstones character when she returned from elimination? What in the Sarah Squirm<\/a> was that outfit?)<\/p>\n \u2022 I laughed very much when Law told Tyra, \u201cI don\u2019t really visit those sites,\u201d 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\u2019m on Law\u2019s side for now. (Aside from how he endorsed the pillaging of ancient Iranian artifacts for Zendaya\u2019s Odyssey red-carpet earrings<\/a>. Not a fan of that.)<\/p>\n \u2022 I do feel bad for Robby, who says he had a positive reputation for his Drag Race designs, and now he\u2019s been publicly criticized for said designs. I hope he\u2019s made his peace with this process; it really seemed to weigh on him.<\/p>\n \u2022 Bobby and Andriy are giving high-school bullies, and I do find it annoying already, sorry to say.<\/p>\n \u2022 \u201cChristian makes me nervous, I guess.\u201d Oh, Jude. Better get over it soon!<\/p>\n Sign Up for the Vulture Newsletter<\/p>\n Entertainment news, for the pop-culture obsessed.<\/p>\n Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice<\/p>\n
\n Photo: Heidi Gutman\/Disney\n <\/p>\n