S03.E06: Under The Big Top

[Door County Cherry]

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The hot shop meets the big top in a circus-themed challenge filled with whimsical creatures, from a bearded dragon lady to a dapper walrus

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Airs July 22, 2022

[Taeolas]

Binging these now. 

I liked the Orange elephant and the detail of the eyes was VERY nice.

I did like the walrus too; very much an odd duck trying to fit into a place it isn't normally seen. (And the deflated balls was a great touch). I'm fine with that being the winner. 

The bear was great too; really any of those three would probably have been worthy winners.

The seal and the bearded dragon lady IMO were the two weakest, and sending the seal home was the right call. While a nice piece by itself, it did feel weaker compared to the rest.

The dragon lady's head was fantastic, but the collar/dress was a fail. If she had made it more oval shaped, so you had a sense of shoulders it would have been MUCH better. 

I noticed they've now started showing the piece of the leaving person, by having the lights go off on their piece. And sometimes they do remember to show the winner's piece too. :) 

[Door County Cherry]

I liked everything about the bearded lady except for the spikes. I thought the bear sat awkwardly on the ball.

I did love the elephant--such great detail.  In fact, I would've  done an elephant too.  But I also loved the walrus and I am glad it won...especially since it was a breakthrough for John.

I am a little surprised they had two water creatures. 

[dleighg]

why oh why do they make the hosts make stupid puns? I could really do without them.

[TVbitch]

The puns are so stupid! I could also do without the canned banter with the guest judge, but for some reason these things seem to be a necessary staple of this type of programming. 

[Iseut]

Ugh, yes, the puns, they are too much.

Does it seem like the host, John, is acting like a judge more than he used to? I especially noticed it in this episode; I had thought that he was supposed to serve more as a liaison between the main judge, guest judge, and the artists/audience, but this time he had commentary for each piece. More than just "I like this!" He was talking about proportions and such. Does his opinion have sway over the final decision?

I guess it doesn't matter too much; it's not like this is a blind juried exhibition or anything, so Catherine, at least, probably pretty much makes her decision as soon as she walks into the gallery (and probably even before; it was pretty clear that she hadn't really taken Trenton seriously for most of the series until he finally got the boot in this one).

[HurricaneVal]

I knew Trenton was a goner as soon as I saw how bad the join was on his ring of fire.  And the bullshit story about the spoon.  I thought the ring of fire was an interesting concept, and the flames were nice.  The iridescent brown color on his seal was also really well done, I thought.  It really looked like seal fur to me.  But....ooof....that join on the ring.  That was bad.  He would have been better served if he flipped the stand and converted the spoon into something like an I-bolt and mounted the ring with the bad join concealed by the I-bolt.  Perhaps that's what he was intending, but accidentally attached the stand at the wrong point, and then was screwed.  It isn't like there's do-overs without, you know, doing it over.

Lots of *wink*wink* bear comments in this episode.  Could Dan be trying to tell us something?  At least it offered an opportunity to explain the necklace he wears, which I've been wondering about since the first episode.  The tears were overdone though.  Why does everything have to be grim and full of pathos in order to be "art?"  Huh, Catherine?

The winning sea lion was my favorite, and though Catherine seemed pretty grudging to let something so whimsical and accessible win, win it did.  I loved the fat rolls and the tusks, and the expression on the face.  The busted and deflated balls also offered some extra humor.  And pathos, Catherine....pathos.  Those deflated balls represent despair and failure and broken dreams.

Is it just me, or does Catherine seem particularly humorless this season?  If it isn't dark and grim with layers of obscure symbolism, Catherine dismisses the piece as gift shop pedestrian.