justawatcher

That little blurb at the end about how the judges have the final decision and it might be influenced by the producers (or some such) was pretty prominent at the end of the episode. It made me think how much of this all comes down to editing and what happens behind the scenes just as much as in front of the cameras. For instance- they didn't have to tell us about Frankie sleeping in the car with the crappy boyfriend. Nor did they have to show us how much the other designers chose to help her. They could have just showed that tragic blue garment. She could have been edited way different. As could Cavanaugh- they didn't have to include the part about the bed, the iPhone, the fabric budget. But they made a point of doing so. In each case, that was how they wanted us to interpret that person. Cavanaugh must have been a real...handful...to the production staff to have gotten that edit on the first episode- there wasn't even time for that to build up.

+1 a small mini-rant, if you will, because I did it to myself. Part of the fun of the internet is that we get to have instant access to other people who are also enjoying the same thing we are- no longer do we have to ask in a bar or around work to find the folks who are watching and enjoying the same things. The downside to that is that on every single subject, there are always a few "I know things" or "I am smarter than you are" or "Let me tell you what I know". I came to the forums after the first episode to see what others thoughts were. We have a few "tell you what I know"'s on here. So far- the spoilers have been 100% accurate and that saddens me. Instead of being able to throw out a guess and have fun and enjoy a community, people like the poster I quoted get beat down because their guess didn't match the Google rabbit hole. Can we collectively agree that if you have to go Google to see if a clue matches, then it's not in the sprit of the show and maybe, just maybe, you should post that thought under a spoiler with the lead in of "I Googled and found this:" rather than just out there? Probably not, but I'm going to throw it out there anyway.

I have to remind myself the title of this season is Rookies vs Veterans- so will it be Mia or Motto up against Ariel?

Christina and Jocky go skydiving = 3rd interview Ariel wins Although I have been wrong twice now this season (Kevin and then Heather) so what do I know?

I love the posted who said Donnie Wahlberg for the Monster, but maybe The Rabbit instead and its New Kids and not NSync? I am realizing how much of this show is smoke and mirrors (costumes, pre-recorded vocals, fake audience) and yet I still cannot pull myself away. And the costumes are awesome!

I'd like to change my winner prediction. Brett, however, will get a black jacket. Kenae does not get one- that's my guess.

Interesting that Christina went with them to Vegas. Was that her doing a job interview?

I really thought Kevin had it in the bag. I wonder what the casting thought was this time? Did they have some past contestants they really liked who needed screen time for insurance or something? There really aren't any jerks on this season, just loud mouths. Since Kevin is gone, my money is on Motto. The "head chef" prizewinner from last year is very young, very cute Michelle. I don't see him choosing Kenae or Mia- too similar. And I don't see it being a woman with Christina overseeing all of Vegas. That's a lot of women stacked in there. Motto or Jose.

World Series

I predicted in the thread for episode 2 that Kevin would win. I stand by that. The team switch up thing was the only way to not eliminate him.

I'm going to make a guess that Jason and Adam basically switch jobs for a while and Adam runs the team and Jason does Green team until his kids beg him to go find himself and save the world again. And why, all of a sudden, are they calling Blackburn "Havoc" at every opportunity? Is it their way of portraying that he too is a SEAL or something else?

Kevin's going to win it

There was a lot of shirtless in this episode. Also, did anyone catch when Clay and Stella came back from jogging she said something about either a husband or married? Did I miss something?

My pick for Benjamin winning this still stands (from the 1st episode). I have to admit though- I really thought on episode 1 it was going to be Jared as the winner.

At the beginning, I predicted the winner would be one of the following four: Benjamin, Jared, Jennifer, or Van. I'm down to one left LOL! I am going to go with a Michelle win, but any of them would be okay. The reason is- this chef will be the face of a new restaurant. Any of them would represent him well. Even Robyn.

wouldn't it be amazing if next season they stunt casted the usual suspects and then he started the first episode by saying "I am tired of all the drama. You make my brand look bad. Therefore, behave in an un-head -chef fashion and you're gone. I will move forward someone who is professional and cohesive over someone who cooks well but is loud and obnoxious. I don't want you" and then watch all the divas' heads explode.

The thing is though- Elise can cook. And she does continue to produce some great individual plates. Of course she's there for the drama. But cynically, there are 6 black jackets (likely already chosen) and the rest can go in whatever order. Manda didn't do anything crazy last week- it was just her time. I honestly thought Van would make it to black jacket, but if that wasn't his script, it really didn't matter which week he went. I have a question- have any of the non-winners gone on to work for Ramsey? I could see him hiring Giovanni or Jared or a few others in a not-head-chef capacity.

My Black Jacket predictions: Milly, Benjamin, Van, Elise, Jennifer, and (if six) either Nick or Dana. Winner prediction still stands at either Benjamin, Jennifer, or Van.

Correct- but I didn't say "Final Four", I said one of those four would win. (MY prediction). The other three are still in play.

In the first episode I predicted one of the following four to win: Jared, Van, Benjamin, or Michelle. Still staying with that.

Reminder of why Margarita is still there: she won the JC Penney challenge with that shirtwaist dress. Hers is likely the only collection they could mass produce for a JC Penney style customer. Brandon may not pull this off...

Let me ask this- what exactly is wrong with Brandon being recruited and then (perhaps) the pre-ordained winner? Let's say you are Project Runway Lifetime- there has been exactly one designer to come out of this show with a definable career- Christian Siriano- and he wasn't during your very long era with the show. Sure, a case could be made for Michael Costello and Nick Verreos, but that would be among people who watch the show and not the general public at large. The quality of sponsors has gone down since that season- no commercial success= no money. The accessory wall has dropped from Macy's and Banana Republic to Just Fab, JCPenney, and QVC (All Stars season). The Season 3 trip to Paris with Catharine Malandrino hosting a boat trip down the Seine never would happen now. So, if you are Lifetime and spent a crapton of money buying this show and have gotten no commercial success from it, how do you make that happen? The talent who are applying apparently suck. What do you do? Go find some talent. Go find some marketable people who look good on TV who can make clothes that appeal to actual consumers. Maybe they thought Seth Aaron would do that (and I would buy every commercially priced Seth Aaron jacket that fit, BTW). Maybe they thought people would buy Ashley's or Erin's or Gretchen's. So why not Brandon? Why not showcase Kentaro and Ayana, both of whom make nice clothes that could sell? EDITED TO ADD: I don't want to give the impression I am advocating a rigged show or a fixed show, but more if the quality of applicants is not to the standards they are looking for but they are not ready to end the show, why not go find some qualified applicants?

Standing by my guess that the winner will come from Van, Jared, Jennifer, or Benjamin.

Yes! I think this may be overlooked. OR (getting excited now) that will come to their attention! The cup should be mentioned, too. Not because she copied the frayed stripe motif but Dixie wants a new design! And this is my point- Remember last week/two weeks ago when Amy Bond had her Instagram up for about 2 seconds with the side by side of the Puma/Adidas thing Claire wore in the opening episode and then the zip shoulder thing she "designed" a few episodes ago. Add to that the over and over with her and her sister referencing their audition clothes rack, referencing things they are already wearing ("pants from her closet"?), copying her sister's grey shirt with the cutouts in this episode? There is potential that she has been copying other designers already in production, copying her own designs, copying pants and clothes she and her sister have back at the hotel, and not even trying to modify it. That black shirt tonight is a direct copy of the gray jersey Shawn wore at the beginning of the same episode. The zip sweatshirt- direct copy. We don't know the wardrobe the two of them brought with them so we don't know if they had a whole closetful of things that have been remade or copied, but with 3-4 already documented, that's cheating. And while I firmly believe that if you play on this game show you ought to be able to pull 20 designs out of your head at the necessary moment, have already made them 100 times each at home, know what fabrics would work and can make them in a day, that does NOT mean you should do a direct copy of someone else's work or not know how to sew a pair of cigarette pants. It means you should know what challenge to pull the cigarette pant look out from your mental inventory of available go-to's.

In college I dated an identical triplet. They were all in the same friend circle, etc. And then they all went into the military. I don't know if they went separate paths after that.