S07.E14: Creature Carnage

[Tara Ariano]

The four semifinalists are given the task of creating giant city-crushing monsters.

[bilgistic]

The scariest thing I've ever seen on this show is George's vest.

[Rhetorica]

Dina was the clear winner here. I'm impressed with her creative uses of everyday objects. She used a screen to make the Praying Mantus' eyes this week ... crap, I forgot the other example I was going to use. This post concussion forgetfulness sucks. M'Kay, I'm done...wandering off. 

[Winnief]

Not sure I'd have eliminated George before Drew...I did NOT like the whole burned sloth thing, and in fact couldn't get figure out why he chose a sloth over a pterodactyl in the first place unless it was sheer laziness.

 

As usual Dina killed.  That mantis was great-and this is a girl who's purportedly not into monsters.

 

No question she'll win it all next week.

[Ketzel]

I wish I were sure Dina will win, but I think Cig is coming up fast.

I was actually kind of disappointed in all of the concepts this week. None of them looked very scary to me. Dina's was the best executed, but when I first saw the model in the makeup, I burst out laughing. I thought it looked like a children's marionette. Why was Drew's sloth smiling? Why did George's monster looked like a stuffed toy that had been run up on a mother's sewing machine? Why was Cig so committed to a simian face for a crab/yeti hybrid? And having the models bumble around a set of miniature buildings didn't add much to the desired effect.

[Maelstrom]

Another beautifully executed makeup from Dina this week. She's officially joined Laura and Anthony in my personal hall of faves, with her sleek sculpts and beautiful use of color. Cig's was the next best put-together makeup, though I'm with Neville - I didn't like Cig's literal take on the yeti/ape thing at all. Even though I like both George and Drew - they both seem like nice guys with some talent - I thought both of their makeups were equally dreadful this week (too much to do and not enough time). But all things being equal, I would've gone with George for the finale just because I enjoy him and his sense of humor so damn much.

 

Next week should be interesting, what with the jousting and all.

[HunterHunted]

I was about to type a response about Drew being more consistent and that's why they went with him over George, but I checked Wikipedia and that's untrue. The two were pretty comparable in their scores from week to week. I would have kept George just because he's funnier. Dina looks like the one to beat, but Cig has definitely improved over the last couple of challenges.

Edited October 22, 2014 by HunterHunted

[mlp]

Dina's mantis was terrific.  She deserved the win.  I liked Cig's creature too but I didn't really see "crab" in it.  I was surprised by all the positive comments about the sloth.  I wouldn't have had any idea what animal it was supposed to be if I'd seen it with no explanation.  The squid was really bad too. 

 

Next week is going to be crucial for Dina and Cig.  I like both of them so I won't be unhappy with either winning.  I like George and Drew also but they just aren't as good.

[drmka9]

Why was Cig so committed to a simian face for a crab/yeti hybrid?

 

The yeti is often pictured or described as looking a bit like an ape. I think his cross was more between an actual yeti and a yeti crab. 

 

When it got down to Drew or George, I was really wishing Rachael was still around. George is fun in the lab but seems to miss the mark more often than he hits it. Drew seems to overthink his concept without thinking through whether or not the concept itself is actually good, and he seemed to have sculpted a potato this week. A cuddly and/or unique potato, but still a potato.

[GaT]

Please tell me I'm not the only person who looked at George's sculpt & thought "penis monster" instead of "squid monster".

[Mr. Simpatico]

I'm thinking they went with Drew over George because George has been consistently at the bottom down the stretch and has only been saved by the fact others were just a bit worse. I actually think Drew's sloth wasn't overall better (the "burn" paint job was sloppy) than George but really neither of them came close to Cig and Dina (who really has been the best overall talent this season).

[PepperMonkey]

DINA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I was sorry to see George go, but I think I would have been sorry to see any one of them leave. I LOVE the contestants on this show.

I have to agree with whomever said they know they could all be working together in the future so they're helpful and supportive of each other, with small exceptions (Sasha's flashes of selfishness, but she is young). Compared to other show of this ilk, though, the talent far outweighs the drama and that's how I like it.

 

Stella, Rachael and George will definitely work in the industry, as will the three finalists, I'm sure. I honestly think it's between Dina and Cig next week; hoping for Dina, but I'm almost never disappointed with a Face Off winner, even if it wasn't the one for whom I was rooting.

Edited October 22, 2014 by PepperMonkey

[jbrecken]

If Drew didn't want to do hair, he should have based his monster on the hairless drowned sloth photos that went viral on the internet as an unknown alien creature.

[Ananayel]

I would have gone the other way and kept George. I did not get whatsoever how the sloth was perfect or well-executed or anything - it just looked sloppy. Whereas George's squid got praise for several of the elements and had a place within a certain aethetic (cheesy Japanese horror monsters.) Oh well, it will all work out and I'm sure we'll see George again at some point, when they can't find enough new talent to do an all-newbie season.

[Toaster Strudel]

Dina's mantis was a thing of beauty.  The head shape and the painting was magnificent.  Not only that, but she made the whole creature without drama, rushing, and staying cool as a cucumber.  Go Dina!

[Portia]

Meh, this entire challenge was a miss for me, and I thought Dina's was the only one that wasn't dreadful. I was more than surprised when the judges found things to praise about all of them. Drew was fighting a losing battle trying to make a sloth look menacing, anyway, but making the sloth a burn victim seemed like a huge copout to me. It made ZERO sense for Cig to insist upon a yeti-crab hybrid when the Yeti Crab is an actual crab that has a fur-like appearance, and I was really surprised he didn't get dinged for all that Fun Fur. George's squid didn't look remotely squid-like to me; its stiff legs were downright laughable, and I'm glad I was not the only pervert who found the shape of its head overtly phallic! I'll miss George, but I think it was his turn to go. I was happy with Dina's win, but I think I may be pulling for Cig to win the whole thing.

[Bella]

Portia, I'm firmly in Dina's camp, but Cig would be a good winner. I just like Dina better overall.

 

Once Drew ripped off the fur, he lost me. Even wet fur, as someone above suggested, would have been better. His sloth wasn't sufficiently slothlike for my tastes. And George's squid was worse. I was baffled by anything the judges praised on either of those two looks until I reminded myself that this is an extended, very public job interview, which the judges probably had in mind all along.

 

This wasn't the strongest challenge for any of the contestants. Dina has a distinct style, and even though she can rise to the occasion for other challenges, she's at her best when she has the option of designing for her style. Cig does, too, and it seems like he does best when there are construction elements - he's very creative in that regard. But he seems like one of those contestants who will do even better without the time pressures of this contest environment.

 

Both of them, and probably others from this season, will go on to have brilliant careers. 

[Pandora]

Dina was the clear winner here. I'm impressed with her creative uses of everyday objects. She used a screen to make the Praying Mantus' eyes this week ... crap, I forgot the other example I was going to use.

 

When she made a piping bag and did some spikes on the leg extensions? They didn't show near enough (for me) of how she made her mantis, but I'm glad they put that bit in. I love how she's transferred her skills from cake decorating to makeup.

[caprice]

Please tell me I'm not the only person who looked at George's sculpt & thought "penis monster" instead of "squid monster".

Hell, I think that when I see a squid, monster or not.

 

I cracked up seeing Lois standing next to Neville during judging. I couldn't decide if she's just tiny, or if he's crazy tall.

 

Dina's mantis was beautifully complete. Her creature's eyes were amazing and she did a great job of hiding her model's eyes in the sculpt.

[tobysmom]

Well, I am firmly in the Dina for the win camp.  Her mantis was really great and I loved how she made it so that arms bend.

 

I have been on the Cig for the win train; but lately his finish product never seem finished or as neat as Dina's have been.

 

Poor Drew and George.  I didn't like either of them and was shocked that the judges like the sloth face so much and said they could tell he spent most of his time on it; because it didn't look that great to me.

 

And George - those colors were bad and the material he used just made it look Halloween costume.

[Primetimer]

Giant monsters invade Face Off and wreak horrible carnage (in the form of a sad elimination).

Read the story

[Mindymoo]

Too bad Drew didn't know about the prehistoric giant sloths. There were at least 23 different types of them, related to both the modern day bradypus and choloepus sloths. They weighed around 800 lbs, were between 2.5 and 3 meters tall, were herbivores, and existed in South America prior to the ice age.  (Sorry, I'm obsessed with sloths. They are my favorite animal on the planet.) He could have used that for some inspiration. I was really hoping for a well-done sloth, and was so disappointed with the result. You could have even made a cute sloth monster, whose cuteness blinded hypnotized you and threw you off guard so it could destroy everything in its path. Not that a sloth would ever do anything like that- they are kind, gentle, slow, and only poop once a week.

 

Dina is amazing, is in my top three favorite contestants of all time, and I hope she wins the whole shebang. I wish that the judges would have commented on the mantis butt though. She put a lot of work into that!

Edited October 22, 2014 by Mindy McIndy

[Rhetorica]

When she made a piping bag and did some spikes on the leg extensions? They didn't show near enough (for me) of how she made her mantis, but I'm glad they put that bit in. I love how she's transferred her skills from cake decorating to makeup.

Yes! And the tongue depressors for scales, I think.

[Nutjob]

I'm still on the Cig train, but Dina's mantis was gorgeous. I love me some mantises, too, and hers just worked on every level. Agree that they likely kept Drew over George because George has been in the bottom so much lately. That said, I hope George goes on to land a big gig and have a great career, because he's talented and seems like a genuinely awesome human being.

[LoneHaranguer]

 

Not sure I'd have eliminated George before Drew...I did NOT like the whole burned sloth thing, and in fact couldn't get figure out why he chose a sloth over a pterodactyl in the first place unless it was sheer laziness.

It wouldn't have been possible to do good pterodactyl wings in the time available.

[Lorimac]

I kept thinking of Josephine Baker in Paris with the banana leaves. I mean, I know her skirt was made of bananas, not banana leaves, but it brought Paris into the equation for me and explained the whole leaf thing.

Also I loved how Dina gave her model high heels - again, I started thinking Paris fashion model, but it was probably to emphasize her height and make her look even loner and twiggier.

My favorite moment was George's model sitting in the chair reading the fake newspaper and saying "...they took me in for questioning?!! I'm 3000 feet tall, so how'd they do that?" He was seeing himself as the actual giant squid!! Loved it. And, farewell, George, you are this fan's favorite!! (Sorry - no money comes with that.)

[jbrecken]

If they're going straight into the final challenge, it was weird that George got a scene about packing up his stuff and going back to wherever he's from when we all know he'll be right back out to work on one of the finalists' teams.

[dialyn]

If they're going straight into the final challenge, it was weird that George got a scene about packing up his stuff and going back to wherever he's from when we all know he'll be right back out to work on one of the finalists' teams.

Wouldn't he still have to move out of the main house and to wherever  the defeated contestants go?  Other shows don't return the contestants back to their original homes but have them stay nearby until the finals are over.

[drmka9]

If they're going straight into the final challenge, it was weird that George got a scene about packing up his stuff and going back to wherever he's from when we all know he'll be right back out to work on one of the finalists' teams.

I think they do that more as a courtesy than anything else. George gets his 'goodbye' scene like all the previous contestants despite everyone knowing he'll be right back for the finale portion.

 

 

Dina is amazing, is in my top three favorite contestants of all time, and I hope she wins the whole shebang. I wish that the judges would have commented on the mantis butt though. She put a lot of work into that!

I love that she was actually trying it on and making sure it would be feasible for her model to wear. It seems like the better contestants take the model's abilities and comfort levels into account when designing and fabricating. Cig did something similar, IIRC, earlier in the season (the fat suit for his gangster character, maybe).

[OakGoblinFly]

Not sure I'd have eliminated George before Drew...I did NOT like the whole burned sloth thing, and in fact couldn't get figure out why he chose a sloth over a pterodactyl in the first place unless it was sheer laziness.

 

As usual Dina killed.  That mantis was great-and this is a girl who's purportedly not into monsters.

 

No question she'll win it all next week.

 

 

Drew said he liked sloths, thought they were "cute" - Lois and Neville both commented on the "cuteness" of the sloth face.  I thought that the face was particularly good.  While I'm not a fan of the "burn" look, understand why Drew went that direction.  He laid hair on one arm, commented that Lois was going to tear him apart for bad hair work and opted to continue the burn look across the entire upper torso.  Drew said it was a risk, one that he was willing to take because leaving the bad hair work was not an option.  I commend recognizing what wasn't working and changing direction.

 

I thought Dina's monster was beautiful  - I loved how she thought of the overall picture and worked to bring that concept to life.  I liked how she really thought about the mantis' anatomy and how to transform her actor (elongated arms, compound eyes, abdomen piece).  A few episodes ago Dina mentioned that Anthony encouraged her to try out --- that makes sense as it seems she takes the same approach in her creations that he did.

 

I do think it is a question on whether or not she'll win ... Cig has been very strong and created some wonderful pieces.  I think that Drew is a long shot; he would have to create something stellar AND have Cig and Dina both miss the mark.  I do think Drew is talented, has a wonderful attitude, and would not be surprised to hear he is working with one of the judges at some point in the future.

[Captain Asshat]

Please tell me I'm not the only person who looked at George's sculpt & thought "penis monster" instead of "squid monster".

No. No, you are not. I mentioned it, and Mrs. Captain Asshat mentioned that the tummy mouth looked like a vagina to her. So, I guess someone could tell the monster to go f*ck himself...and he could. Thank you! I'll be here all week!

[Kaoteek]

Not much to add to what's already been said. Dina's mantis was great, and I can't help but find her incredibly likeable ; Cig's 3/4 Yeti & 1/4 Crab felt more like a Mugato with a shell than a giant yeti crab ; I didn't like that sloth at all ; and even though I get why he's been eliminated, I really liked the sentai/kaiju vibe of George's penis monst.... err, squid monster.

 

It will be Dina vs Cig in the finals, for a Knight of Life & Knight of Death Challenge. Curious to see who's gonna win...

Edited October 22, 2014 by Kaoteek

[Xazeal]

I like Drew, mostly because he's cute, but he might as well have been eliminated. This is between Dina and Cig, and although neither of them have been my favorites, I'm definitely rooting for Dina.

I was unfortunately not a big fan of the makeups this week. The season overall has been passable, so I at least hope it can finish with a strong finale.

[LadyMustang65]

I am firmly in the Dina for the win camp.  I have loved almost everything she has done.  Cig has been hit or miss for me, and last night's was a miss.  I was nowhere near as impressed as the judge's were.  I love both Drew and George, so I would have been sorry to see whichever one leave, but I did think Drew was the right choice to say.  He's been doing well the last couple of weeks, and I thought his sloth was better than the squid.

 

Really looking forward to seeing a lot of folks back next week for the finale.  Go Dina!

[dialyn]

I thought the judges were very generous in their assessments.  If Dina's beautiful mantis had not been in the mix, then I might have understood their comments better, but hers was so much more refined than the rest.  Once I got used to it, I got to like Cig's yeti creature and it seemed to deserve the second spot.  Drew's sloth had a lot of problems (and I said it before the episode and I will say it again, sloths no matter how big are just not that scary and the burn makeup was unsuccessful).  But I thought the one they were really kind to was George. It looked like a giant mess to me, but the judges were able to find kind things to say about it.  A class act group.  The knight theme for the finale could be a bit of a challenge for the remaining contestants...that doesn't necessarily fit into either beauty (for Dina) or monsters (for Cig and Drew).  Personally I think it is going to come down to Dina and Cig, since Drew, nice guy that he is, seems to be faltering.  I would think Dina would win unless she has a complete breakdown (she is so clever and focused that I don't see that happening), but Cig has been known to surprise so I'm not counting him out.

[rho]

I wish I were sure Dina will win, but I think Cig is coming up fast.

I was actually kind of disappointed in all of the concepts this week. None of them looked very scary to me. Dina's was the best executed, but when I first saw the model in the makeup, I burst out laughing. I thought it looked like a children's marionette. Why was Drew's sloth smiling? Why did George's monster looked like a stuffed toy that had been run up on a mother's sewing machine? Why was Cig so committed to a simian face for a crab/yeti hybrid? And having the models bumble around a set of miniature buildings didn't add much to the desired effect.

 

I thought they all kind of looked like villains from the old Power Rangers TV show. It was very campy but I liked them.

[snakenax]

I thought Dina's was beautiful but they all suffered a problem of not being kaiju enough. Kaiju used a lot of exaggerated features and had a lot of character to their design. These were pretty basic giant humanoid animals(I would have loved seeing someone tackle a non-standing kaiju, like one on all fours), straying a little too much into the realistic make up in a challenge calling out for the exaggerated and unreal.

 

I thought they were really kind to George's. I love both classic Doctor Who and Japanese tokusatsu shows, his was crummy even by comparison to the 'spray paint bubblewrap' budgets of those(and modern tokusatsu actually have some pretty amazing make up and fabrications in them).

[Richness]

I loved Dina's mantis, except for the horrid 2 piece leaf bikini. It was the most believable as a giant animal, as opposed to a man in a suit. But I was brought out of the illusion every time I saw those hideous leaves. Of course, I kept on giggling every time I saw the fabulous mantis meme picture.

 

Cig also did a lovely paint job with some nice, subtle colors and stripes.

 

The train wrecks that Drew and George put out were so disappointing and laughable. I would have had a hard time saying anything nice about them, especially George's. If he had been TRYING to go for a monster suit throwback homage, it might have worked wonderfully. Unfortunately, I don't think he was. It was only when the judge pointed that out that it gained anything positive in my eyes. And while I didn't see penis head, I did see the vagina dentata.

 

I can at least be comforted in the fact that we'll get to see the George and Cig show for the entire season since George will be back with most of the others to help next week. While Vince has long gone as a very early boot, my other pick for winning, Cig, is in the finals. As much as I like him, I think Dina will have to have a really bad day and several catastrophes to befall her to lose.

[hincandenza]

Also I loved how Dina gave her model high heels - again, I started thinking Paris fashion model, but it was probably to emphasize her height and make her look even loner and twiggier.

My favorite moment was George's model sitting in the chair reading the fake newspaper and saying "...they took me in for questioning?!! I'm 3000 feet tall, so how'd they do that?" He was seeing himself as the actual giant squid!! Loved it. And, farewell, George, you are this fan's favorite!! (Sorry - no money comes with that.)

 

Omg, yeah, I laughed loudly at that.  Love these little candid moments in what is consistently one of the most good-natured shows on TV, and it's a shame George won't make it to the finale for one last episode of his comedy shenanigans, but it was past time for him to go. 

 

Honestly, both he and Drew were deserving of the ouster this week.  It was nice of the judges to act as if Drew's sloth head was the second coming of Michelangelo's Pieta, or make it sound like George was trying for a cheesy 60's-era homage.  I still might have given the edge to George on this one: it was bad, but at least it was a full makeup.  Drew basically created a mask and some sloth gloves, and an hour in last looks applying mediocre burn effects.  His model's nearly unpainted, naked torso was clearly visible with all its human muscles and shapes.

 

I'm torn on whether I think Dina or Cig deserved to win; both had impressive head-to-toe makeups without any real visible technical flaws. I get what Cig was going for with the literal "yeti" crab, but like Neville mentioned it just didn't work for me as well as the mantis: I couldn't reconcile the ape face with the basic crab concept, and it's not like Cig is afraid to make a completely non-human mask and cowl.  On the flip side, his "samurai" yeti-crab was large, hulking, and really felt like the silhouette was perfect for the 60's/70's monster movie aesthetic.  Regardless, given how impressively thorough they were compared to Drew and George, and you wonder if they should have just done a final 2.

 

 

One thing I could do without in the finale: any more of Dina's misplaced humility.  At one point this episode made a comment about how when she first got here, she was worried she wouldn't be skilled or experienced enough.  Argh!  She won the very first "sudden death" challenge, so literally two hours into the season she knew she was plenty good enough, and now has tied Anthony for most challenge wins going into a finale with 5.  Dina should go talk to Gabby and Scott about what it's like to really feel you aren't good enough to be on the show- the "oh I'm so humble and inexperienced!" schtick looks no better on her than it ever did on Sasha.

 

The thing about Dina is that she worked with Anthony at his shop- she didn't just wander on to this show as a cake decorator, although it's very cool when she ad-hocs little tricks like the use of chocolate, or the makeshift decorating bag.  I don't think people are giving enough weight to that kind of experience and mentoring: remember the 5th season when we got a mix of 8 newbies and 8 returning veterans- and the final 3 were all vets, along with 6 of the top 8? Or how our Oscar-winning panel of judges just a few weeks ago admitted that doing the show is much harder than it looks- and those judges each had a pair of some of the best contestants ever working with them as assistants!

 

The skill I see in Dina is the awesome time management, which seems to be the key to doing well on this show.  Anthony was one of the best at that too, so it's unsurprising Dina came out of the gate with a similar calm, and is never really panicking, lagging behind, or obsessing on one part of the makeup to the detriment of everything else.  Quite often, the person evicted each week was someone who had technical problems in one area, overcompensated, and then had to rush the rest of their makeup- badly- on the final day or in last looks.  Heck, that describes the last 3-4 weeks of George, really.

 

That's not to detract from Dina's excellence and artistry, which are undeniable, but let's not pretend she's some kind of cake decorating Face Off prodigy.

[dialyn]

 

One thing I could do without in the finale: any more of Dina's misplaced humility.

Funny, I take her humility as being genuine.  Some people truly are humble about their gifts, talents and/or skills.  I find it refreshing myself.

[drmka9]

Funny, I take her humility as being genuine.  Some people truly are humble about their gifts, talents and/or skills.  I find it refreshing myself.

 

I agree, I think Dina really is that humble. And, honestly, there's a world of difference between saying "I suck" and saying "I'm not sure I can compete with the people around me." Dina's always fallen into the latter group. While she's certainly had training in makeup, she's nowhere near as experienced as some of the competition - some of whom have already worked in television and film, one of whom has won an Emmy. I can see those sorts of CVs being intimidating to her.

Edited October 23, 2014 by drmka9

[OakGoblinFly]

My favorite moment was George's model sitting in the chair reading the fake newspaper and saying "...they took me in for questioning?!! I'm 3000 feet tall, so how'd they do that?" He was seeing himself as the actual giant squid!! Loved it. And, farewell, George, you are this fan's favorite!! (Sorry - no money comes with that.)

 

 

I got a giggle out of that - they really do have wonderful actors/models for this show.

[Portia]

The models usually do a good-to-great job, but I thought all four of them (even the awesome mantis) looked absolutely ridiculous tramping around next to the fake skyscrapers. To me that demonstrated perfectly how "off" this week's challenge was. I can't complain too much, though, because I think whoever's been coming up with this season's challenges has been on fire up till now.

[LoLo]

Dina is fantastic. Her use of colors & painting is on point. I don't know who much of a fabricator she is as she's mostly done females with pretty paint. If it was something big, could she make it?

[dialyn]

Dina is fantastic. Her use of colors & painting is on point. I don't know who much of a fabricator she is as she's mostly done females with pretty paint. If it was something big, could she make it?

It crossed my mind that the finale with the theme of knights might be quite  a challenge for Dina.  Of course there could be ladies of the court, but if she has to tackle decking out a knight, will she be able to pull it off?  My favorite moment was when Dina tried on the mantis wings and she looked back to see how it was moving....she looked like a little green fairy.  What I was taken by with the mantis is how true to looking like a mantis it was and yet it managed to look feminine (yes, I know it was a female mantis but that's not quite what I mean). No matter what happens in the finale, I cannot imagine Dina not finding work in the field after this.

[LoLo]

It crossed my mind that the finale with the theme of knights might be quite  a challenge for Dina.  Of course there could be ladies of the court, but if she has to tackle decking out a knight, will she be able to pull it off?  My favorite moment was when Dina tried on the mantis wings and she looked back to see how it was moving....she looked like a little green fairy.  What I was taken by with the mantis is how true to looking like a mantis it was and yet it managed to look feminine (yes, I know it was a female mantis but that's not quite what I mean). No matter what happens in the finale, I cannot imagine Dina not finding work in the field after this.

I agree, she is super talented. She knows how to apply with a light touch when needed & her attention to detail is great. I also like that she's not a whiner or complainer. I can't stand those that whine & blame everything on their work not being good.

[ratgirlagogo]

 

Drew was fighting a losing battle trying to make a sloth look menacing, anyway

I just could NOT get past that.  Why did he pick the sloth instead of the pterodactyl?  I adore sloths, but they are, you know, SLOW. The maximum speed of a three-toed sloth (yes, I just looked it up in Walker's Mammals) is six and a half feet a minute.  How fucking long would it take a sloth, no matter how big, to rampage through a city?  It reminded me of that old joke Judy Garland used to tell about working on the Wizard of Oz with some of the hornier male Munchkins who'd push themselves under her dress trying to feel her up - that she told them that if any of them EVER did that, and she found out about it, there'd be hell to pay.

 

I really loved Dina's and was surprised how much I ended up liking Cig's.  I did like the judges' attempt to defend George's squid for its nostalgia value, but please - the wrinkly material on the back and the legs alone were just comically bad.

[starri]

I think they gave the edge to Drew over George because even though Drew's fix for his problem wasn't fantastically executed, his idea of taking the kaiju and had attacked it was in keeping with the tokusatsu theme of the challenge.  With George, he clearly realized his idea wasn't working, but he kept going with it without any attempt to problem solve, beyond running his chest piece a second time in polyfoam.

 

Any combination of those four for the final three would have been fine by me, so it's hard to be too disappointed.

[Portia]

I just could NOT get past that.  Why did he pick the sloth instead of the pterodactyl?  I adore sloths, but they are, you know, SLOW. The maximum speed of a three-toed sloth (yes, I just looked it up in Walker's Mammals) is six and a half feet a minute.  How fucking long would it take a sloth, no matter how big, to rampage through a city?  

[OT] When my son-in-law was working at a summer camp a couple of years ago, he was notified that one of his new campers was recovering from a sloth bite. He was so amused by the concept of how that could actually happen that he developed a bit called "Sloth Bite," in which he lunges toward an unsuspecting victim in super slow motion. [/OT] 

[LoneHaranguer]

 

How fucking long would it take a sloth, no matter how big, to rampage through a city?

Nothing is going to rampage through a city all that quickly anyway. There are too many buildings and other objects to limit speed. Of course, if the monster is still out on open land, and somebody yells "the giant sloth is coming this way" you're going to have more time to evacuate than if it's one of the classic Japanese monsters.