S02.E01: Mirror Mirror

[Door County Cherry]

Airs Jan. 22, 2021

Quote

It's time for self-reflection.  The competitors look for mirrors for inspiration, creating deeply personal pieces that express how they see themselves. 

 

[Aulty]

'I've never seen so many glory holes in my life' - So glad this show and its very specific jokes are back!

Nice that they have a few international artists in the second season. I also find it interesting that people seem to know each other and their work - and that there is some teacher - student rivalry (they have that a lot on Forged in Fire). I trust that they filmed this following the Covid guidlines.

Sorry to see Aussie girl Teigan eliminated first, but I was not surprised. A Teddy? First I expected some camp souvenir piece, but he final piece just plain terrible.

Loved Jason's - those vessels are usually done in earthenware, aren't they?. And I liked Chris' minimalist approach, although I can see why they had issues with the execution. Andi's also ticked my boxes (I like sleek, minimalist, scandinavian glass) - whether she reached a bit with her story or not.

Funny that they criticised the artist who did the slug head for not stepping out of his comfort zone in a challenge that asked them to represent themselves.

Elliot did A LOT for the first challenge and was a worthy winner for the first challenge.

Edited January 22, 2021 by Aulty

[dleighg]

1 hour ago, Aulty said:

Sorry to see Aussie girl Teigan eliminated first, but I was not surprised. A Teddy? First I expected some camp souvenir piece, but he final piece just plain terrible.

 

as soon as she said she was doing a teddy bear I suspected she would be gone. I was expecting the comment we heard early on last season: "it looks like something you would get in the airport gift shop." Unfortunately it wasn't even of quality to be found in the gift shop!

[Michichick]

13 hours ago, dleighg said:

as soon as she said she was doing a teddy bear I suspected she would be gone. I was expecting the comment we heard early on last season: "it looks like something you would get in the airport gift shop." Unfortunately it wasn't even of quality to be found in the gift shop!

Yes! I suspected the same when she said she was making a teddy bear, and then when I saw the work I would have been shocked if she weren’t eliminated. The judges tried to throw in some doubt with their comments about the slug thing or that glass jar with the rings next to it, but their reactions to the bear made it pretty obvious.

[yourmomiseasy]

I have not watched the episode yet, but had to post because I'm so excited.  I didn't even know there was going to be a season 2 and I just got the email from Netflix saying it was there to watch.  Happy birthday to me!

[yourmomiseasy]

17 hours ago, dleighg said:

as soon as she said she was doing a teddy bear I suspected she would be gone. I was expecting the comment we heard early on last season: "it looks like something you would get in the airport gift shop." Unfortunately it wasn't even of quality to be found in the gift shop!

Yep!  I was on the same page as all of you.

The piece with the murrini, I think it was Cat's, really moved me.   

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I loved seeing Alexander from S1 as a judge! He had some good comments so I would like having him back.

Cat's murrine piece was very striking. The way she used it gave a lacelike effect and I liked the contrast between the light and dark colors.

Elliott's piece was so beautiful. The spine was so dtailed and I loved that lovely pop of colors at the top.

Chris has a lot of confidence because he has a lot of experience, but his attitude has crossed the line from confidence to obnoxiously cocky. I liked his piece but I didn't love it. The red watermarks of glasses that were no longer there was a good idea, but based on all his bragging, I was expecting something that would really blow me away. Instead my reaction was ehh, it's fine.

Nao's flower breaking through the shards of glass was a simple concept but it was well executed and I loved the contrast of the bright red flower with the clear glass.

I really liked the blue colors that Andi used. I understood how the pieces represented her concept so I thought it was odd that the judges said they didn't see her in it. Normally the host guy says things like "I love the color!" and other everyman/non-expert type things so I was surprised that in the first episode, before they've gotten to know the contestants, he said it seemed like she made what she wanted to make regardless of the brief. Where the hell did that accusation come from?

Mike's slug was exactly what he said it would be - ugly. I wish he had used a different color because some of the detail got lost in the pale blah color he used. I honestly don't know the difference between glass blowing and flame working so I hope to hear more about that.

Brad's blue and red figures were simple but I loved the shapes. I felt bad that his original piece broke.

Ben's was another piece that wasn't quite what he had hoped to make after that giant spiral didn't make it. I agree that it would have looked better with a larger spiral but I liked the very thin stripes of color on the ball in the middle. I liked that he admitted to the judges the made some mistakes (unlike Chris whose lid didn't fit but told the judges he did great).

Jason's black vase had a very nice shape and I liked his story. I liked that Alexander recognized that Jason was relating being one of the few Black people in glass blowing.

Tegan's bear - yeesh. As soon as she said she was making a teddy bear, all I could think of was last season's "airport gift shop" critique. Unfortunately, her bear turned out even worse than I thought it would. It was not well made and looked very sloppy/amateurish.

I was totally fine with Elliott winning. He made a lot of pieces, he used some cool techniques, and it looked really interesting even if you didn't know the story behind it.

[Door County Cherry]

Why did they only share where half the contestants were from.

I'm glad that the person who left did so because of execution instead of breakage. 

[chaifan]

I'm happy this show is back!  Loved the first season.  And, they made the show a wee bit longer - 26 minutes vs. last season's 22-23.  I still think it merits a full hour. 

It looks like a good group of artisans.  Mike (in the tie die shirt) looks like he could be related to Wil Wheaton.  I wasn't crazy about slug man, but he is talented.  I loved Nao & Cat's pieces.  Beautiful artistry there.  I loved the process for Jason's vase, but wasn't crazy about the end product.  Elliot's was amazing, and easily deserved the win.  That spine was crazy! 

And Tegan... I think she was purposely going for "imperfect" - just to get on the show she would have to have more talent than what was presented in that bear if that is what she considers good work, but the imperfection should have been much more obvious.  But I didn't like the concept from the beginning, so I wonder even if it was perfectly executed if she still would have lost. 

I'm confused... one guy said he was nervous to be the only contestant representing Canada.  I thought this was a Canadian show.  ?  I figured anyone who wasn't specifically mentioned as non-Canadian (the Aussie, the Brit, etc.) was Canadian.  Are the rest Americans? 

[Door County Cherry]

1 hour ago, chaifan said:

I'm confused... one guy said he was nervous to be the only contestant representing Canada.  I thought this was a Canadian show.  ?  I figured anyone who wasn't specifically mentioned as non-Canadian (the Aussie, the Brit, etc.) was Canadian.  Are the rest Americans? 

This was originally made for Canadian TV; although they recruited from both US and Canada.

I don't know whether it's still an exclusively Canadian show since, unlike the first season, it didn't air in Canada first.  I suspect it may have been a Netflix co-production which might explain the more international group.

[GaT]

I had no idea this show was back! I turned on Netflix, & there it was. I'm so happy to see it again. It seems like there all very talented, so it should be a good competition.

Like others have mentioned, I was pretty sure the Australian girl was going home as soon as she said she was making a teddy bear, that just didn't sound like the artistic level the judges were looking for.

[truther]

Glad to see this show again and I agree with everyone's comments above, even the ones that aren't entirely consistent (if that makes sense).  It seems like a good group of people and yeah, unfortunately it was pretty clear who was being sent home.  It's a real shame to come halfway across the globe for one 28-minute episode.  

Hopefully Chris replays the episode in his mind and figures out that he's not as strong a contestant as he thinks he is.  

I have to admit, though, to being a little intrigued they brought up gender issues again.  They covered that theme a lot last season.  The chief judge is obviously a woman and the first season winner was female and many (most?) of the assistants are women, so there seems to be quite a bit of representation in the field.  Plus the contestants largely seem to be on the more aware-end of the spectrum.  These aren't bros doing bro stuff with their bros, you know?  I honestly don't know anything about the glass blowing industry but it's never struck me as a [toxic] masculine profession and nothing about this show seems to suggest it would be.  Just wondering if anyone more familiar with the field can shed some light on why the show would have as a recurring theme the idea of women glass blowers fighting to be seen and heard?  Who's holding them back?  (And apologies if this has already been covered elsewhere.)

[dbell1]

I feel like they judged on reputation rather than finished piece. The bear was wretched, but Chris produced something that wasn’t innovative and had an ill fitting lid. He needs to stop bragging about who he taught and realize they’ve all passed him by. 

[Bruinsfan]

On 1/23/2021 at 1:05 PM, Door County Cherry said:

I'm glad that the person who left did so because of execution instead of breakage.

Brad did a good job of salvaging his piece. The finished product was one of my favorites.

I really liked Nao's piece, it was both beautiful and meaningful. Though I think Elliot's was the clear winner.

I was willing to see how Teigan's piece turned out—I think there's too much of a knee-jerk reaction against concepts that are cute or upbeat in the Art world. But her execution would have been bad for a college student just starting out.

Chris really showed his ass in being so proud of that unimpressive bit of work. The coffee rings idea was interesting, but there was no there there for the major element.