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It still all comes down to what the chefs do with a challenge that might seem bland. IIRC, they didn't have to actually use hot dogs or popcorn, just elevate the idea. So pork was a substitute for the hot dog and the chefs could/should have made amazing pork. With all the toppings available for hot dogs to "incorporate", it could have been interesting. The popcorn people seemed to do the best, IMO. The corn soup with bacon (Melissa's?) sounded awesome. Great chefs can rise above any ham-fisted, bland tie-in with some imagination, so the city setting doesn't matter much to me at all.

I'm sorry, but I just don't see this. In the second episode where Sandhya went complaining to Tim that she was being "picked on", her teammates were not picking on her, IMO, but rather frustrated with her complete lack of trying to coordinate a cohesive collection when she had immunity. We were really given no reason why she was crying in bed that morning, but her roommates seemed caring and concerned, if a little confused as to what was wrong. The other designers didn't like her designs. Guess what, designers rarely like anyone else's designs. The editing was so wonky this season, I'm just as willing to believe cultural or linguistic differences played a part, e.g., her statement about Emily being the last to support her is open to either a good or bad interpretation, and Sandhya being a little thin-skinned, as to think she was ostricized.

I agree Kate's dress looked like cheap muslin. I wonder what kind of fabric it was. She also kept telling her model how hot she looked. Kate managed to make a skin tight dress that accentuated the boobs look NOT hot. I was pleased by the diversity in garments the downtown team showed: jumpsuit, pants, separates, dress. It made me hope that at least some of the designers can do something interesting in a one-day challenge. I hope they don't do many teams. It seems unfair in a way to link an All-Star's fate to anyone but themselves. In a regular season, I don't mind teams.

I was further disappointed by Tim's selective statements about how "many fans" agreed with his using the Save on Char. What a skewed interpretation. Even just going by the posting on the Lifetime website, to me it seemed the majority (if not the vast majority) were not in favor. Also the "spontaneous" clips of Tim talking to NY fans (a PR first!). It was also telling to me how Char kept saying that her talent wasn't shown yet, or however she phrased it. She had more than 10 challenges and a FW collection to show her stuff. If it wasn't shown, it doesn't exist (at least in this setting) and the PR audience shouldn't be palmed off with questionable future potential as justification. All above just MHO.

The whole show was about ugliness. The endless Char/Korina drama was like picking a scab. And then picking it again. I guess given the 1 day challenges, the designers just don't have time to do anything that would give the show funny or at least interesting outtakes. Thus, the endless rehashing of Every. Single. Conflict.

I thought the downtown collection was miles above uptown. Chris was right. Except for Alexandria's (which I loved), the women's was a collection of blah tube dresses and one tent. Those darts on Patricia's looked lethal. What happened to her pomegranate seeds or whatever--did she just run out of time? I wish Kate would have gone. I have zero interest in seeing what she can do again.

If Tim really respects the designers as much as he keeps saying, he needs to stop shoveling on the BS. Too much of Char. Enough already.

Although the tie-in to the Boston Tea Party was a little ham-fisted, I liked the quickfire. I didn't know you could do so much with tea.

Another no from me. But I hate denim ruffles or pleating in all shapes and forms. I was wondering if the designers get to chose models anymore or if they are all "assigned." Either way, I thought most of the models were terrible. It's like they had no idea of what to do at the end of the runway for the turnaround. I wish they would show more of the logistics of putting a show together, like choosing models, music, and accessories, instead of endless talking heads about how much they want to win.

Yes. This kind of thing serves no purpose other than to 1) insult the previous designers, 2) insult the intelligence of the audience, and 3) insult the current designers because he SAYS IT EVERY SINGLE SEASON. For the second season in a row, there were four nice people in the finals, making a rather nice finale. Of course, like S12, all the goodwill generated by this will be sucked away by the nasty reunion with Tim refereeing the fights. To me, Char showed she hasn't yet got the concept of what a collection should be, like Wendy back in S1. It was just a collection of clothes without any cohesiveness. This was apparent to me by her running around Mood just selecting fabric that caught her eye, rather than trying to think of how tie the garments together more. As nice as Char is, I just don't see anything special in her clothes at all. Nothing shows me she has any spark to distinguish her from the dozens of other slightly below mediocre designers that have been on. I'd say she's forgettable, except that the only reason I'll remember her is because of the lingering frustration over her being the final four at all. YMMV.

The more I think about Char and Tim's conversation regarding why he used the save on her, the more annoyed I get. While I'm sure it was supposed to be a heartwarming "AW" moment and Char took it as a great compliment, it basically summed up how low PR has fallen. The whole idea that Char hasn't shown her talent yet but still got ushered through as a finalist is quite sad for the show. This is how they are awarding spots to finalists now? Don't demonstrate enough talent all season, but hey, I'm sure they'll wow us with more time. What a far, far cry from the show's heyday.

The producers seem to think fans want this kind of thing. I think this is the second time and Kate was the first one brought back last season. Ratings ploy. Fans vote for their "favorite" on the Lifetime website before the season films. This might have worked back in the day for, say, Austin Scarlet, Elise, or Santino (maybe), when the designers had a memorable personality. The choices for the past two times were either insulting (Ken) or bland (Amanda).

I had never heard of either Belks or Aldo before this show. Thing is, nothing I've seen from either would inspire me to go check out their stores. In fact, Aldo is coming off very poorly as a place to get accessories, which is hilarious. They got more bashing last night. It's almost negative advertising.

It has to do with whether or not the finale is for the Fall/Winter shows in February, or Spring/Summer in September. They used to film in either June or August. I watch S1 through S5 every now and again. S1 5 months S2 7 months S3 2 months S4 5 months S5 2 months S6 ? S7 Was a Fall/Winter show so probably 5. After that they are mostly Spring/Summer shows, but for some reason don't even have 2 full months anymore. Seems to be about 5 weeks. Except for that weird season (11?) where the 8 finalists had collections but no one at FW knew whose was whose. On topic: Taking the (at least) 5 days lost to the trip to Rome, this season might be the shortest time yet.

If I remember correctly, Sean wasn't going to put fringe on everything, but Tim advised him to. Did I hear that right?

Amanda: Rome makes me think of the sixties and seventies! Sean: I already have my collection thought out and it's orange, not red. So Julius Caesar had orange blood, right? Kini: I'll say I was inspired by Rome, but you know and I know that's BS. Denim for the win! Char: Pretty fabric. That inspires me to use every color in the print--hey, that will tie my collection together! It was downright laughable that all the designers had pictures of Rome on their inspiration wall and NONE of it was reflected in the clothes. But they can't seriously have expected the designers to not have already thought out their collections with only 5 weeks left. Did they really think the designers would be starting from scratch once back from Italy? Just makes the show look dumb.

Char kept saying how edgy her collection was. I didn't see it. Her stuff was okay, but if you can find it in any mall in America, it ain't edgy. I did not like Sean's white top with the orange skirt. The style was completely at odds with the skirt. Agreed about Kini's styling, but I felt bad for him. So easy for the judges to say, "Get rid of it." Well, what if they can't?

I thought they always filmed in June. Anyone know for sure these days? If they film in June, that would give them at least 2 months. Think what S3 and S5 people did with 2 months. They were both Spring/Summer shows in September. What was the deal with a trip to Italy shown in the previews? I didn't imagine that, did I? Did that cut into their time? Why go to Italy now? I'm confused. If they are going to shorten the time the designers have to make a collection, then have the collection be 6 pieces, not 10.

Yeah, I liked the dog episode too. I just wish this response was heard: Keith: Morgan is such a cool dog. He doesn't need any silly costume. Someone: A good designer could come up with one appropriate for him. Keith: (crickets) Also, check out the TLo Archives for this episode to see their caption under Angela's dog. The dog was particularly mean-looking and the caption said something like "If she puts me in a bubble skirt, I'll rip out her jugular." Remember when TLo used to do captions and imaginary conversations? I miss that. They were hilarious. Now they just put up pictures of anybody wearing anything anywhere.

Jay's Chrysler dress? Jeffrey's couture gown? Leanne's car parts dress? Emilio's circus dress? Chris and Christian's avant garde dress? That they would consider Sean's white thing even in that league is silly, much less better. JMHO.

I wonder how much the other eliminated designers are sick of hearing about how Korina's elimination was the worst thing that ever happened in the history of the world, according to her.

ITA. All I kept thinking was how dirty that white was going to get walking around in the dust and soot on the street. I saw that as nothing but a fall-back excuse to keep from eliminating her, because her work on the show itself (my opinion) would not qualify her to go forward. They needed an excuse to keep the Tim Gunn save and Nina provided it. I could practically see the producers standing behind her making her mouth move. :-). You'd think fashion professionals would have more pride in their work. Such lavish praise for Sean's white thing? Please. YMMV.

I am disappointed that they kept Char in. If they really have "less than a month" as Sean said, yikes! What makes them think Char can make ten looks in fewer than 3 days per look, and have them look finished and polished. Char seems like a lovely person, but she does not belong in the final four, IMO. Regarding Amanda's, I was with Zac: I shouldn't like this but I do. Nina torpedoed the accessories, too, hee.

Did they ever explain why the student was confessing to the crimes? Was he just obsessed/besotted with the teacher? At a minimum, he should have been committed for a psych evaluation. That would have been much more interesting than Garcia's angst. Her guilt was ridiculous. It was like she was apologizing for wounding him, so he got caught, and then sentenced to death. That without her, he'd be out there free as a bird. No thought at all for past or future victims. Part of me wished that the other observers would have noticed the "thank you" and started pointed at Garcia and yelling "Kill her!" like her dream.

They just need to revert her back to how she was at the beginning of the series, minus the "baby girl/chocolate treat (yuck)" talk. She is getting emotionally younger and younger, which makes my eyeballs roll and teeth hurt. Of course, Morgan was there at the end (my eyeballs hurt from so much rolling). A nice surprise would have been for him not to be.