FineWashables, I assume that Sam is the one the judges wanted to win. Fresh! Young! (Boring!) Actually, I liked Sam's collection, but it really wasn't for the runway, it was for the stores. That was his POV and I admire him for sticking to it, but I didn't think he should win for simply standing strong.
This finale satisfied partially because we had two GOOD judges who had absolutely no history with the designers. All the regular judges come in with their mind made up, whether they know it or not. Oscar makes "old" clothes and has had taste issues, so he wasn't going to win. Unfortunately for them (luckily for us), strong willed guest judges judged purely on the design and execution, not on the back story or other emotional reaction.
They should do this with regular PR. Bring in some truly tasteful and opinionated judges who will look at the final collections objectively. It would improve the show for us, but may be an ego buster for the regular judges, so it will never happen.