Maelstrom

I’ve never heard of wind and fire wheels but they are impressive weapons without a doubt. I was glad to see Rebel win, though I’m sorry Chuck’s weapons broke. Rebel had a great attitude and a clever way of approaching things from a fresh, unique style. I never would’ve thought of riveting those wheels together from smaller pieces, that was pretty cool. All of the contestants seemed like good guys tonight (though really, assholes are generally the exception, not the rule on this show, thankfully).

Ugh, this show is making me glad it’s ending. What a giant mess. Walter’s should have won over Matt’s, hands down. The seal/walrus face he did was perfect, and the paint job was beautiful, especially considering the time crunch. Clearly the judges have picked Matt as their favorite no matter what he does. They lavish praise on him and I just don’t see what they do. Well, Jordan finally found the right challenge for a static mask. It sure was creepy as hell underwater, I’ll give it that. Damien should have gone home last week, sorry but it’s true. His makeup missed the boat last week, and this week it literally fell apart. Poor Mel, now I just feel sorry for her. I had a bad feeling about this episode when Michael Westmore walked in and basically said, “Um, no” to every single contestant. And then I kept remembering past episodes with water creatures that were much, much better than these. In fact, pretty much everything about this season has had the effect of making me remember past challenges that were much, much better.

Next up: Nayeli Morales According to IMDB, Nayeli has been appearing on Face Off since 2014, starting in season 6. She is a multi-talented lady, with credits as a visual artist to her name. On her Facebook page, she describes herself as a model, dancer, rapper/singer, actress, musician, and entertainer. She is a dynamic presence on the Face Off stage, always performing each character to its fullest. Last month she posted the following, which I thought was cool enough to share here: Nayeli is another familiar face who's modeled so many makeups over the years that I have trouble recalling all of them. Some favorites include Darla's faun from the season 8 finale: And from the season 8 premiere (Kelly did a makeup I liked, who knew?) And from season 11 (Emily and Tyler made a great team!) I couldn't find much information about Nayeli online, but you can visit her on Instagram and Twitter.

Since the show won't do any features on the models, I decided to start things off myself. Introducing... Matt Chris Wood (aka Pretty Pretty Matt) According to IMDB, he first appeared as a model on Face Off in the 5th season. He's been one of my favorites for many years because of his total commitment to performing each and every makeup as if it were a starring role (no matter how bad, ugly, or goofy the makeup may have looked). And, in fact, Matt's standout performance to me was in the finale of season 9, where he appeared as the Captive in Evan's mini movie. I found his short scene with fellow model Kerstin Lechner so compelling that I wished the story could have been developed into a tv series - I wanted to see more of these characters and their world, and I would have loved to have watched their story unfold. Matt's modeled a lot of makeups over the past eight (!) seasons on this show, and there are too many to recall here, and likely quite a few good ones I've forgotten. In fact, I had forgotten until writing this post that one of my very favorite of his makeups was performed by Matt - Laura's living artwork in season 5: Originally from Georgia, Matt has worked in films and theater in addition to his time on Face Off. Featuring quite a few Face Off makeups as well as a demo reel and a short bio, Matt's official website is here: http://www.mattchriswood.com He can be found on Instagram and Facebook as well.

I've started a thread about the models - hopefully I will continue to feature more of the show's regulars in the coming weeks.

This challenge is right up my alley (I love both nature and mythology) and should have been full of amazing, beautiful tree ladies. Instead we get a few monsters, a few fish faces, and a couple of utter catastrophes. So damn disappointing. Not a single one of these looks were fully successful IMO. Most had an element or two that I liked, but taken as a whole, yikes. Derek’s (?) had cool armor but I think a wig instead of a twig mohawk would have greatly improved it. Walter’s had a pretty paint job but the nose and mouth screamed amphibian to me, and certainly weren’t beautiful. Why would you cover Megan in random pieces of bark makeup?! Especially her face? They should have sent him home for that. And really, I’m surprised they sent Graham home instead, considering he won last week. Once again the claims of taking both challenges into consideration go out the window when it suits the judges. Also, i’m sorry to see him go because he seems like a really nice guy who’s always having a blast no matter what he’s doing. Matt’s was a giant mess (literally) and I find it telling they made very little mention of that. More proof in my eyes they’ve decided he’s their favorite. Mel’s wasn’t bad but I thought it’d be better. I hate to see her go just because she’s the last woman. Aaaaand we’re back to monsters next week. Peachy. I’m actually becoming more and more glad that this is the last season. Such a shame.

^^IIRC, with the condition that should Nate fail to bring down Moreau, he would go back to jail and the other four would likely be at the mercy of Moreau.

I would imagine he has to be tired of the BS a hundred times over by now, but probably stays because soap gigs are hard to come by these days with only four shows left on the air. It’s not like he can go back either of his previous shows since OLTL is gone (sniff) and GH has a strict No Quartermaines rule in place. Regardless, I totally agree it’s a shame to see SC wasted in this horrible role. I gave Liam a lot of leeway because I like SC, but I just can’t anymore. All of these people need to fall out of a helicopter’s gondola into the Seine and never resurface.

Some Firebenders would greatly improve the show at this point. Or dinosaurs rampaging through town. You know Stefano probably had a secret dinosaur lab hidden away somewhere.

Awesome, thanks for sharing! Too bad Caity didn’t get to keep her ginger hair though.

Too bad they took an interesting idea and set up the challenge to guarantee that everyone churned out the same damn monstery-looking Death. Graham’s was the only one I actually liked because it looked different - I really appreciated the simple beauty makeup approach. Matt’s had some good qualities to it but why the fuck does he always put teeth in the wrong damn place? It bugs the shit out of me for some reason. And they keep rewarding him with wins. I’m starting to feel like Matt winning the season has already been decided. I hate to see this show go out with a whimper. Was I the only Good Place viewer who chuckled every time someone said Derek? Hee. (Maximum Derek!) Dryads next week could be really cool. I mean, it probably won’t be, but it could be!

I’m finally caught up with my backlog of episodes! Totally agree that this season has been a huge improvement over last year. The PCS storyline has been very interesting, the serial killer less so. Alfredo!! I’d love it if we could get more Alfredo on a regular basis, he really adds so much to the show. His relationship with Sherlock is unique as they’re both addicts and therefore on equal ground, which is apparent in how Sherlock interacts with him. And it makes Alfredo one of the few people who seems able to get away with calling Sherlock out on his BS, and actually getting Sherlock to hear him. I’ve been a big Mycroft and Rhys Ifans fan over the years even though I feel his story was largely mishandled back in season 2, so I’m devastated they killed him offscreen. I was really hoping to get an episode with both Mycroft and Morland, but clearly that’s not an option now. Sniff. Nice throwback with Sherlock waking up Joan, we haven’t seen that in awhile, even though it wasn’t in some ridiculous manner. This entire episode felt like a callback to the early seasons - the only element missing was a certain beloved turtle.

You know the show is bad when the former serial killer is the character you most enjoy watching. Then again, with everyone else I like either ruined, backburnered, or leaving the show, I guess there aren't a lot of other options left.

The entire Benchgate incident sounds completely, utterly ridiculous. I hope clips of it turn up in season 3. Love Mike and Leah’s determination to expose this sham.

At this point I’m just happy when they use ballistics dummies and not carcasses. I just can’t with the animal carcasses.

Same here, AudienceOfOne, I got so burnt out after six years of nonsensical plots and dropped stories that I haven’t been able to rewatch it either. Once in a while I think about going back to my favorite eps, but the idea of re-exposing myself to all that BS just makes me so disgusted I can’t do it.

Also, Abigail is immediately forgiven for anything, whereas Ben is vilified. The whole town rallies around Abby to excuse, justify, or outright ignore her crimes but the Salemites practically line up to spit in Ben's face. And at this point, every damn person on the show has committed horrible crimes so no one is in any position to judge anyone else. Talk about a town full of glass houses.

So do I! ? Very good point. It’s not a positive sign when the unique grooming choices of the contestants are more interesting than the makeups. I almost hope they decide to do another final season to redeem themselves from this season (and last year, too).

VintageJ, Mackenzie played the evil doctor who tormented Annie in the psych hospital when she was falsely committed (and before they ruined her character and made her into CrazyAnnie). I forget when, but maybe mid/late 2000s or so? I think she was on Passions too but I never watched that one.

Matt the model always sells the makeups no matter how gross or terrible they are - one of the reasons I’m always glad to see him. IMO Matt, Nayeli and Meghan are the most charismatic models the show uses. I still wish they’d do little bumpers before or after commercial breaks that tell a little bit about some of the regular models - they’re such an important part of the finished makeups, yet the show never gives them any love. If this really is the last season, i’d love to see something like this.

I don’t know which was more entertaining during the paint can chop - watching Doug and Wil do the Roxbury Guys headbop or J splattered in red paint looking like a serial killer. It was nice to have a final challenge without a catastrophic failure for once.

First, I'm with HurricaneVal, I immediately thought of RJ's Burton-esque bellhop from season 2, which has to be one of the coolest makeups ever done on this show and puts the makeups from tonight's show to shame: Anyone here who hasn't watched season two, go watch the Burton-esque episode, featuring not one but two iconic makeups. You're welcome. I'm totally bummed that Yvonne got sent home. I've always liked her - she seems like a genuinely nice person, and frankly her makeup tonight was no worse than Mel's. Damn. I'm thrilled Kelly left (how many weeks too late?), but now Mel is the only woman standing? Sheesh. She'll probably be gone next elimination, since I can't see her sticking through the end, so looks like it'll be a boys' clubs season. Which kinda sucks. I must be missing something, because I thought Matt's chef looked terrible. The teeth were completely fake looking, not to mention in the wrong spot on the face. The paint job was way too purple, and I don't think the character told a visual story just by looking at it, the way some others did. I can't believe it won its own battle, let alone the episode. Neville didn't seem to like it much either, which makes me feel slightly better. I definitely would've given the win to Kevon's maid. Why did Jordan think making a giant static mask with a baked-in expression was a good idea? And when did Glenn stop being Mr "Oh noes, a baked-in expression, I shall now smite thee"? I'm actually shocked he liked it. Also, Mackenzie seemed to have fun doing the little skit at the beginning. Her acting's improved a lot from her All My Children days. And finally, speaking from the shallow end of things, I'm bummed that pretty pretty Matt the model got covered in pounds of latex fat rolls - what a waste!

I’m torn between feeling really nostalgic and really old. Ha, the age of autocorrect would make Claudia an even worse speller!

Ha! That is awesome. Thank you for that ;)

It was, wasn’t it? Especially knowing that either of them could kill you five times over in about three seconds.