BurntWaffle

The finale was okay, but it really did feel rushed. I wasn't as connected to the characters and their eventual fates, when it's basically a giant flashback recap. Teasing the big concert over the previous couple of episodes, and to not deliver....well, I have to mark the show off for that, sorry. I was also distracted by the idea that the concert stage would still be standing in such decent shape after 30 years!. If it wouldn't have been looted already by opportunistic eBayers, then surely the online community would constantly have bloggers out there snapping pics and YouTubing what would still be a macabre landmark. It was a serviceable finale, but it felt very lacking in the payoff.

Well..... Hmmmm. I thought Thumbelina was a "cleaner" piece, but I didn't get the story, didn't feel like it was scary at all...and, yeah, from the concept drawing on, all I could think of was french fries. Like, how could they not get that those looked like french fries?! Unfortunately, the Ghouldilocks piece had its own problems. I didn't care for the character design, and Caleb made a great point: the room looked too clean for the struggle that would have been. Still, that being said, at least the Ghouldilocks story was obvious from the display, it was scary, and it apparently had the best tasting element of the night, to the point of giving Shinmin an orgasm (not that I'm jealous of a cookie, but....). Really conflicted on the finale. Maybe it's more that I didn't care for either Spine Chiller effort in the end...

So, this is all obviously coming down to ?

It's actually spelled "Krampus", and you can read about him here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krampus Through four episodes, I've agreed with every decision by the judges. I feel as though the correct teams are moving on. I liked all the Spine Chiller displays tonight, for the most part. I do agree that the Jack Frost piece needs to be explained to be understood. It looks great, but as a storytelling moment on its own, it's just not there. The Easter Bunny sculpt kept bugging me, because they got everything right except the feet. Those were not bunny feet, they were small stubs. I was surprised that no one brought that up. That complaint aside, the rest of the character work was amazing. The Santa one deserved to win. It was simple, but well-done, and the contrasting of the background and foreground characters worked really well. It definitely popped with the colors.

I don't think anyone had ever heard of her. They were all going through the motions like she was Elvira or something. *L*

Someone mentioned on facebook that they should have some type of voting system for the public to choose the winners. That would be pretty awesome! However, you would get votes from people crushin' on certain contestants (Shelby! Shelby! Shelby!) too, I'm sure. : P Seriously though, I thought both final pieces were kinda neck-and-neck. Zesty Zombies had a piece that was loaded with activity, probably too much activity, but their creature was, to me, almost lost in all the colors. Candied Cadavers' piece felt kinda empty in the background, but their creature was pretty awesome. If I had to choose, I probably would have given the slight nod to Candied Cadavers. I do agree that some of the pieces seemed a little lackluster compared to previous campaigns. Some years are better than others, some worse. I wonder if they could tweak some of the format. Maybe offer bigger prizes, MULTIPLE prizes? $50,000.00 after taxes is roughly 35 grand, then split three ways. Ehhhhh... They should have a random selection option at times, where teams can create whatever they want, in secret. That would be pretty cool!

Yes, just the crafting of the pieces alone would entertaining enough. Some of those tasting elements alone would be awesome to see completed in detail. I can buy all of your examples as being plausible. The part of the conspiracy that I struggle with is with examples like the Shelby salt for sugar mix-up. I just don't see any way that someone would be in on a staged mistake that hurts their own reputation (and livelihood), which leads me to think that mistake honestly happened.

I really hope none of the drama is staged. A cooking competition show should be interesting enough on its own without scripted drama bits. As I have said before, I'm a Shelby fan, and she's kinda playing up to the vibe she gives off at times, maybe not "flighty", but careless when that clock is ticking down. When she has to literally paint their entire display on top of her other duties, then it's easier to see how the time crunch made her overlook the basics, like taste-testing and wearing the proper gloves. I couldn't believe the Chinese Takeout won the Small Scare competition because, outside of the skull stamp, it was really blah and bland. I thought the fortune cookies looked bad too. Zesty Zombies Pizza creation deserved to win, with only the box lid really being the weak point of the display. So, maybe Zesty Zombies would have had that extra helper, and maybe that would have helped them avoid the tasting element fiasco? Who knows. I do think the King Arthur display was the best of the final displays, with only that Slip 'N Slide moat water being the weak point. Did anyone catch how they made the ghost float? I feel silly asking, because it's probably something so obvious, but it's an awesome effect. Maybe it was a real ghost!

I thought the Dealer-"Ship" piece should have won. The level of detail and cohesiveness was some of the best I've seen on the show. Although the Big Beastie ride was pretty cool, it had an unfinished look to it. Something felt disjointed about it. I'm pulling for Zesty Zombies*, but their piece was kinda a mess. The witch looked really generic, especially compared to the other witches. I do like how they put a bandage around the witch's hand, in tribute to Shelby's injury. * Full Disclosure: I'm slight-crushing on Shelby, even though I don't know where that girl's head is at times. *LOL*