Jump to content

Type keyword(s) to search

S08.E04: Royal Flush


Recommended Posts

Daniel was definitely the right one to eliminate. Honestly, he shouldn't have been cast in the first place - how desperate was the show to fill the cast, anyway? He had eight months of experience, total? He freaked out over having to do a beauty makeup because he'd never so much as "held a lipstick" in his hand before? A waste of time for the judges and the audience, although obviously not for Daniel. I'm glad he "learned so much." I'm a little sorry that his takeaway lesson from the experience is that "you can do anything you want to." I don't care how much he wanted to do it, he wasn't ready for this show.

Edited by Ketzel
  • Love 7
Link to comment

Well, Face Off: Pale-Imitation-Of-The-Original Edition continues. Once again, contestants show that they do not understand the meaning of the word 'whimsy'.  Fond memories of Rayce's cello player and RJ's bellhop (my absolute favorite makeup ever). Those 2 set the bar so high I don't think anyone's going to match them again - at least on this show.

 

Didn't really care for any of them. The red queen just looked like a plaster of paris mask to me. And I would have sent both Daniel and Anthony home.

  • Love 6
Link to comment

The Queen and Jack of Hearts definitely my favorites tonight. I'm thinking Darla and Emily will be the ones to watch this season (the rest of them seem… less impressive). I'm glad the Queen won (the asymmetrical hair and collar made a great silhouette) but I could've lived with the Jack winning, too.

 

Daniel's was a mess alright - interesting Ve mentioned he could've/should've gone with a monster-look, with diamonds sticking out of the face or the like, considering that sounds a lot like his original concept. Though I doubt he could've pulled it off...

 

Definitely not the best crop of talent this year. hopefully we'll get a couple of gems out of the bunch.

  • Love 4
Link to comment

As of now, I believe that Emily's talent is on par with Alana's and she totally would've been a regular competitor on any of the other seasons if they hadn't already run out of talent.

 

Poor Anthony, his team is full of suckage.

  • Love 1
Link to comment

Sadly, some real stinkers this week, although most were rightly in the bottom. I agree with the elimination, that guy was just totally lost (shocking, after only 8 months of experience?), although every time they showed Jamie's I laughed out loud because it looked just like the Burger King. The coaches, especially Rayce, we're being perhaps too diplomatic about reinforcing the "whimsy" element. I'm not ready to toss the whole season; it's still a great show and there's always a few each year who struggle with anything non-monster.

I liked Darla's sculpt, but something about it felt... unfinished. and too plasticine. Still, she's obviously going to be a top competitor.

I gotta say... Ben is growing on me and starting to stand out from the crowd, which is surprising given those hands we all saw in week one. Since then, he's been pretty darn solid. I adoted the brief glimpse I got of his "patience" Jack, it looked to me totally like a tired old man that stepped out of a da Vinci sketchbook wearing fading carnival facepaint. I really enjoyed the touch of realism; it didn't look like a mask. Beautiful work, and personally I thought it should have been in top looks, certainly over Julian (IMO) who had kind of a similar design, and those weird oval-shaped lips were giving me fits.

I don't know what it is about that one model Megan, but she seems disproportionately to be in top looks. Usually, she makes the pieces she's in come to life, but even when standing still, it somehow it looks movie-ready. She must just have the perfect bone structure for sculpting on or something. In any case, Emily's Queen was miles ahead of everyone else in terms of Burton-like creativity and detailed finish. It seemed more like a two-person job. And no crying or worrying needlessly this week! That's the Emily I want to see. :)

  • Love 3
Link to comment

Well, Face Off: Pale-Imitation-Of-The-Original Edition continues. Once again, contestants show that they do not understand the meaning of the word 'whimsy'.  Fond memories of Rayce's cello player and RJ's bellhop (my absolute favorite makeup ever). Those 2 set the bar so high I don't think anyone's going to match them again - at least on this show.

 

Didn't really care for any of them. The red queen just looked like a plaster of paris mask to me. And I would have sent both Daniel and Anthony home.

I agree, & it's not that just that their work isn't interesting, the people aren't interesting either, I can't even remember them. When they first showed Jamie (and I just had to Google the cast to get her name) my first reaction was "who's that?" I didn't remember seeing her before, & I feel like that about most of the other contestants. In previous seasons even if I couldn't remember the person's name, I very often could remember their work. Not this season. They need a Roy or a Laura or a Rayce, not a bunch of "who's thats?"

Edited by GaT
  • Love 1
Link to comment

Have to admit, most of the stuff was a letdown this week. I really missed the whimsy in the vast majority of them.

 

I loved Emily's but it did remind me a little too much of Burton's Queen of Hearts. Still it was well-done, she did a great job on the wig and I loved the spiked hearts as a detail.

  • Love 2
Link to comment

Am I ignorant for not knowing that each of these cards have an elaborate backstory? I do realize that different royals are in different positions in different suits but I wasn't aware that each could have such relevance reaching back to the David vs. Goliath story. Maybe these contestants should have been more concerned with studying up on the definition of WHIMSY yet again. (Didn't Laura win a whimsy challenge or at least come in the top three? She should know better.) And personally, I think they should have taken the Queen of Hearts out of play altogether.

  • Love 2
Link to comment

Maybe I'm mean but I was laughing at Daniel stressing over doing beauty makeup. Suck it up, buttercup.

 

I just loved Emily's. And, yeah, given a choice, I'd grab Megan for my model every time. I was happy she got to be a "pretty" character for once. I also really liked how Emily did the wig -- using paint to add depth -- duh, people. Anthony's was just so sad. The hair on his looked like a lhasa apso was butchered at the groomer. And the paint on the face just awful. But Daniel was the right choice to go.

 

But there was a whole lot of lame-i-tude and awkward scuplts and bad paintwork out there. Most were just so messy and unfinished. No wonder we have mentors this season. They need them.

  • Love 2
Link to comment

Overall I liked the results this week. It's the first non-team challenge so some really sucky pieces are to be expected(the chaff usually isn't fully thrown off until you're down to the final 8). But I really liked Emily's Queen of Hearts, Darla's Jack of Hearts, Ben's Jack of Clubs, Kelly's Queen of Spades and I thought Alan's King of Clubs was hilarious, even if for reasons he didn't intend. I didn't find them to really have any problem with whimsy here, even the bad make ups were whimsical. 

  • Love 2
Link to comment

I don't know why I think this but I see the Kings as old men and the Jacks as young knight/studs.  But all of these Jacks (except the top-look Jack of Hearts) were old.  I don't get that so much.  Hmmmm.

  • Love 1
Link to comment

Not at lot of Burton in any of these pieces, honestly. Hence a disappointing challenge, once again. I probably would have given the win to Darla's creation, which was the only one that really had an arresting, striking look, mainly due to its paintjob. That said, the Queen of Heart wasn't too bad, although she looked a bit stiff/rough in the face.

 

As for the bottom three, well... the less said about those, the better.

Link to comment

I liked the top looks, but other than that, it was a real mess.  Emily and Darla do seem like the ones to beat.  I really liked Emily's - it looked the most professional, and I thought the shapes were great.  It stood out in a good way  I thought Darla's was weaker than the judges did, but overall I've really liked her work so far.  I do agree that there wasn't much Burton going on here, at all.  Definitely weak on whimsy on all fronts - I kept waiting for a bright costume or SOMETHING to jazz things up.

 

I like individual challenges but this did feel early.  The presentation went on forever, and I only know about half of their names.  Maybe we need to wait a bit on individual challenges.

 

Rob's design with the big floppy hat (that is Rob, right?) was V for Vendetta meets Captain Hook. I like him, so I'm fine with him being safe, but he needs to step up if he wants to avoid going home soon in the Parade of the Older Male Boot-offs they're working on so far.

  • Love 1
Link to comment

This the second "Burtonesque" challenge they've had and there's only been 3 challenges. And the third one was a Hunger Games challenge. I'm starting to think it's not just on-screen talent that's lacking inspiration this season. The suckage is coming from inside the house!!

 

Oh well, I guess every show is allowed to have an off-season some time.

Link to comment

Technically it wasn't a 'Burtonesque' challenge, it was a challenge to make characters based on the suit of cards with the Queen from Alice in Wonderland as the example. Unlike the Burtonesque challenge there was no expectation to follow in his style(which makes sense given the Queen of Hearts from the Wonderland is one of the least Burtonesque Burton creations), just to incorporate your card and symbol.

  • Love 1
Link to comment

I agree with the judges this week for everything. As much as I'm all about individual challenges, I found myself wondering if the runway show was ever going to end. Also, I giggled more than I should have when Logan commented that his bearded lady had a goatee, and then the camera lingers on Glenn and his goatee for a bit.

 

Emily's big 80's hair still irks me, and she even put it on her queen. D'OH! I was flabbergasted by the HUGE compliment that Glenn paid her. It started out as a slam, but turned into one of the nicest things I things he's ever said on this show. While I wasn't won over by the judges special episode last season quite as much as everyone else, they seem to have mellowed since then, or at least gotten more personable.

Edited by Richness
  • Love 1
Link to comment

Finally an individual challenge! I hate team challenges because I want to see what each of the contestants are capable of. I knew that I would have to look forward to the weeks when the number of contestants are a prime number this season. I do wish that all the designs were critiqued instead of only the top and bottom looks since it was their first time working separately.

 

The jack of diamonds is the virtue of patience. Really, Ben? Is that one of those common knowledge things that I just never learned? And the jack of hearts represents jealousy? The king of spades is traditionally seen as David and Goliath? The jack of club represents wisdom? Were the contestants given some sort of book about what each of these cards mean? Or are they just making this stuff up?

 

Kelly's sketch of the queen of hearts looked a very similar to Queen Amidala so I was curious as to how it would turn out in the end.

 

I was offended on Daniel's behalf. Did we really need subtitles? I have no trouble understanding what he says. And why do they only subtitle him sometimes?

 

I really liked Regina's idea of having two faces. I would love to have a challenge where the contestants have to do two faces. I'm not sure what the rest of the concept would be but I would love it to somehow require one to be a beauty makeup. Maybe a good/evil challenge?

 

Ha, I LOVED when Logan said his queen was elegant and beautiful and bearded and then the editors cut to a shot of Glenn.

 

Darla's makeup application is gorgeous every week. It looked great from far away and it looked beautiful but subtle and detailed close up. The judges loved the sculpted hair but I thought the sculpted beard looked even better.

 

ITA that Jamie's face sculpt looked like carved wood. I thought it looked like a marionette head or a plastic doll head. The paint looked like it wasn't blended enough, like she just slapped some on and then shoved her model on the stage.

 

I thought Emily might get dinged for having her queen of hearts look too similar to the recent Tim Burton version, but I think that she did a great job creating a head to toe look from the hair to the face to the costume. I think she won over Darla and Julian because everything was well done and it was very dramatic.

 

I agreed with the guest judge who said that he would want the eyes on Daniel's to be more readable. Using those red eyelashes really washed out the eye area completely. But more than that, it read like there was very little sculpting or makeup technique. I'm not saying that all of the designs need to be over the top, but the face was so humanesque that it looked like he just slapped some white makeup and huge eyelashes on her and called it a day. The only noticable part of the face was the weird diamond thing on the lips which didn't look good either.

 

Anthony's was just a mess. The face was terrible, the makeup looked messy, the hair looked like a cheap Halloween wig, and the costume was lazy.

 

I liked how Julian used the spade shape on the face and he did a good job creating a complete look from the sculpting to the makeup to the costume.

 

Logan was really lucky that he wasn't in the bottom for having a face that wasn't glued down.

  • Love 2
Link to comment

I agree - why subtitle when he is understandable and then only do it sometimes anyway? who is deciding which things are able to be understood and which are not? nonsensical and insulting I thought - that being said he was the right choice for elimination this week.

Link to comment

I have to say, I was largely unimpressed by almost every design other than the beautiful Jack and the Queen of  hearts.  Hubby and I laughed at the one guy who was deluded enough to think he should be in top looks.  I forget which one it was, but it was really awful.

Link to comment

 

I do agree that there wasn't much Burton going on here, at all.  Definitely weak on whimsy on all fronts - I kept waiting for a bright costume or SOMETHING to jazz things up.

If you look at Tim Burton's work overall, not that many characters could be described as bright or jazzy. If mentioning Alice in Wonderland was a hint that that's what the producers wanted, it was too subtle.

Link to comment

Technically it wasn't a 'Burtonesque' challenge, it was a challenge to make characters based on the suit of cards with the Queen from Alice in Wonderland as the example. Unlike the Burtonesque challenge there was no expectation to follow in his style(which makes sense given the Queen of Hearts from the Wonderland is one of the least Burtonesque Burton creations), just to incorporate your card and symbol.

 

No, they specifically referenced Burton and Alice multiple times. They showed multiple clips and stills of the movie, they had Alice's designer as the quest judge. Mackenzie & Ve both talked about Burton in judging. Mackenzie framed the whole challenge as a Burtonesque challenge when she introduced it at the casino.

 

Here's the video of the show from Syfy's site. Mackenzie challenge introduction is at about 2:30 mark (although you have to sit through two commercials. - She specifically says "Now in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, Helena Bonham Carter's highly exagerated version of the Red Queen of Hearts played a pivatol role in establishing the film's outlandish style and tone. With that in min, your first individual challenge is to choose a card and bring that character to life in an outlandish and quirky way worthy of a Tim Burton film."

 

http://www.syfy.com/faceoff/videos/804-royal-flush

 

And here's a screen clip I made of Syfy's blurb about episode:

D3qgOHr.png

 

So Burton references were all over that episode. I'm hoping for the last time. I do enjoy the Tim Burton Family of Products but I've had my fill of them.

Link to comment

The top 3 deserved it but I thought the one that one (sorry can't remember names) was more accessories than sculpting & paint as well as the look seemed familiar. Still a great job but I thought it deserved 3rd place. The  other 2 that were in the top 3 should have won, either one. They both were unique, with a wonder light controlled paint job. 

 

I don't like that are given a king or jack to do but are given a female model. I understand in gender swapping challenges or even in monsters but when something is clearly supposed to be a king it's very hard to make a women's build fit the bill. 

 

I know the show has to show originality in make ups but I would love to see them have to replicate something to show us if they can do it. In this industry which my sister's friend is in for many years & teaches classes, a lot of the work is working on things other people have created.

Link to comment
Fond memories of Rayce's cello player and RJ's bellhop (my absolute favorite makeup ever).

 

 

Totally, right?  I still think of that bellhop all the time. For my money, that may well have been my favorite look ever on the show.

 

I laughed out loud because it looked just like the Burger King

 

Hahahahaha, Exact same reaction, exact same reason.  The resemblance was so strong I thought it was deliberate.

 

Mostly I think these artists are talented in the extremes, and have already forgotten more than I will ever know about make up.  But overall this week, I think their designs showed a real lack of imagination.  It makes me wonder if there was something that was edited out that constricted their options somehow.  They just all seemed so literal.  The only one that strayed at all from the obvious was the Queen of Hearts,  guess that's why she won.

  • Love 5
Link to comment

When Emily's makeup hit the Reveal Stage, both my husband and I said at the same time "Well, she's going to win, she's got Megan."  Can't fault the judges though, the look was terrific.  Emily also did the thing the thing that sets a good contestant from a great one:  she thanked Megan after she'd had her time to speak with the judges.  I also think it's good for Team Laura after being the first to lose a member to end up running the table on the Top Looks this week.

 

I think what got Daniel the boot over Anthony was that A) they need to eliminate someone from Rayce's team to keep them even, and B) no matter the number of failings on Anthony's piece, he at least tried, while Daniel was like "Lipstick?  What's that?"

  • Love 4
Link to comment

Burger King!!!!! Hahahahaha! I could not, for the life of me, figure out what about it that irked me. Now I know, though I was thinking a bad version of Don Q. I was all excited for this challenge, for one the idea of cards is just awesome, and Alice in Wonderland (all versions) is my thing. And then....not so much. It was either really good, or Godawful. I've been bad at predicting who would go home this season, I thought it would be Jamie this time. I also thought Ben would go home for those hands the first week. So what do I know. But I love Emily. I owe her an apology, when I saw the cast breakdowns I told my husband "she better go home first. 18??? In cosmetology school???? You're kidding me, right?". As it turns out, she is wicked talented, and is way more mature and well spoken than most eighteen years olds I've ever seen. So, good for her. I love her 80's hair and Phoebe Cates vibe. I love Darla, too. I will say though, for a kickass individual challenge, this kind of sucked. Better luck next week, I guess. This season is going to be nothing if not interesting.

  • Love 1
Link to comment

I also have to give Emily credit for taking time at Last Looks, which has to be the most stressful hour of the entire competition, to apply false eyelashes for Daniel.  I know that's probably a quick job, but it's not like this was during a lull in the lab where people were waiting for molds to dry or foam to set.  But she still managed to help him when she also had to do 100 other things herself.

 

Although she needs to stop shoving things in her hair for the judging.  I didn't like it when Alana and Laney played dress-up each week, and I don't like this, and I like Emily a lot more than I liked either of them.

 

I also wish they'd have given some time to Regina's Joker.  We never got to see it up close, but it looked really cool from a distance, and I was surprised that didn't land her better than Safe.

  • Love 1
Link to comment

The jack of diamonds is the virtue of patience. Really, Ben? Is that one of those common knowledge things that I just never learned? And the jack of hearts represents jealousy? The king of spades is traditionally seen as David and Goliath? The jack of club represents wisdom? Were the contestants given some sort of book about what each of these cards mean? Or are they just making this stuff up?

 

I was offended on Daniel's behalf. Did we really need subtitles? I have no trouble understanding what he says. And why do they only subtitle him sometimes?

 

I was wondering if they were using the meanings from the Tarot major arcana. But it's been so long since I've done anything with Tarot I can't quite remember what the suits meant specifically anymore.

 

Yeah, I could understand Daniel without any problems. Do they really get people complaining about this?

Link to comment

I had long since forgotten what each card meant, and I'm still not sure I retained that info! I had no issues with Daniel's accents, and I'll tell you what, I also understand Morimoto on Next Iron Chef and all and it drives me MENTAL when they subtitle him. Turn on your CC if you can't understand it.

I too though that Regina's joker would get a more in depth presentation. I wonder if all the problems she said she had with it came back to bite her. It did look really cool though, I was surprised she wasn't in top looks. I don't mind the girls playing dress up (as someone said) though I will give that on occasion it can be distracting. There's one girl from last season who I'm still trying to figure out if she had a lot of leg tattoos or they were just patterned leggings! I think it worked for this challenge though, the artists matching their creations. However, I'd like to know when they found time to do all that!

Link to comment

I had long since forgotten what each card meant, and I'm still not sure I retained that info! I had no issues with Daniel's accents, and I'll tell you what, I also understand Morimoto on Next Iron Chef and all and it drives me MENTAL when they subtitle him. Turn on your CC if you can't understand it.

 

Sometimes closed captioning isn't that easy to get.  

 

We have had one of our TVs for 6 years now (I forget the brand, but it is one of the major ones) and we cannot figure out how to turn on the closed captioning.  There is no button on the remote, I have read the instructions, and have played around with every menu on it.  Online searches have been no help either. 

 

Our other TV is a "smart" TV.  I figured out how to get the closed captioning, but I have to go through a series of menus to do it. There is no button on the remote. And when the closed captioning is on, the sound is off, so you can't just set it up for closed captioning without having to read the rest of the dialogue.  It just isn't worth the effort.  

 

Our old TV, which the smart one replaced, went to closed captioning any time you pressed "mute."  That was nice and easy.  

 

So, I am fine with shows opting to caption some people.  However, it seems like they always caption the wrong people.  I had no trouble with Daniel, but the french judge on Cupcake Wars had me yelling "Subtitles!" at the screen.

Link to comment

needschocolate, are you using a cable box? Because on my older TV, I need to use the TV remote to get the close-captioning, but on my newer TV, I can use the cable box remote to access it's settings and turn the close-captioning on and off. You have to go through the menus, but it's not difficult, and I turn them on and off all the time.  And it doesn't mute the TV when the close captioning is on, which I don't think it should do automatically anyway. If you're like me, you want to hear what's going on, you just need a little assistance with the dialog once in a while (especially on shows from Britain).

Edited by Quilt Fairy
  • Love 2
Link to comment

I think what got Daniel the boot over Anthony was that A) they need to eliminate someone from Rayce's team to keep them even, and B) no matter the number of failings on Anthony's piece, he at least tried, while Daniel was like "Lipstick?  What's that?"

Actually, according to Wikipedia, Daniel was on Team Anthony and Anthony is on Team Rayce. So Rayce has 5, Laura has 4, and Anthony has 3.

Link to comment

Okay, now I understand why the mentors are in the workroom constantly.  This lot, with a very small number of exceptions, are terrible!  This is what they produce with a mentor standing over them, telling them what to do.  Imagine the crap they'd be turning out without help.

 

The only good things about the episode?  Emily and Darla, though Emily is on probation with me since that look seemed way too similar to the example they showed the contestants.  Oh, and glad to finally have an individual challenge.  Hopefully this continues.

Link to comment

Actually, according to Wikipedia, Daniel was on Team Anthony and Anthony is on Team Rayce. So Rayce has 5, Laura has 4, and Anthony has 3.

I wish they were clearer about that.  The way it's laid out on SyFy.com (at least on my laptop), makes it look like they've got each team together, and they've got Daniel under Rayce's picture.

Link to comment

Oh, and glad to finally have an individual challenge.  Hopefully this continues.

I figure it'll be a team challenge this week (12 contestants divide easily into groups or pairs) but next week, when they're down to 11 contestants, will likely be another individual challenge.

 

Am I the only one wishing they'd just let us watch the three mentors do awesome makeups instead of having to watch the contestants?

  • Love 2
Link to comment

needschocolate, are you using a cable box? Because on my older TV, I need to use the TV remote to get the close-captioning, but on my newer TV, I can use the cable box remote to access it's settings and turn the close-captioning on and off. You have to go through the menus, but it's not difficult, and I turn them on and off all the time.  And it doesn't mute the TV when the close captioning is on, which I don't think it should do automatically anyway. If you're like me, you want to hear what's going on, you just need a little assistance with the dialog once in a while (especially on shows from Britain).

 

When I first read your post, I thought "I know I have tried the cable remote...but it was a long time ago...and they have changed other features since then...." So I gave it a try and withing 30 seconds, I had captioning with sound!  Thank you, thank you, thank you! 

 

ETA: Only my newest DVR has the closed captioning option in the menu.  The older DVR does not.  Both are from Comcast.  The newest one is the one I watch most and is hooked up to the TV that I couldn't figure out CC on, so I am still thanking Quilt Fairy profusely.  

Edited by needschocolate
Link to comment
×
×
  • Create New...