S06.E15: Heavenly Bodies

[ElectricBoogaloo]

The remaining contestants have to create two dancing aliens who are able to perform without breaking.

[EC Amber]

What I love about this season is that once we got to the final three I had no idea who was going to win. All three are incredibly talented and put out some amazing work. 

George had the best sculpt, but the worst painting. His sculpting has been over the top all season. He would certainly be an asset in any studio. 

Rashad did well, but the male looked more like an action figure from the 80's (I kept thinking it was Skeletor). I thought the lighting was too bright. While he got accolades for it from Neville, I thought it was just too bright and uneven. It was more distracting than anything else. 

Tyler did some really innovative conceptualization. Glenn put it best, he's a visionary. I especially liked the female character. He always seems the most well rounded in his work. 

Of all of them I thought Rashaad did the worst in this given challenge. Granted, his portfolio was spectacular... If won on that merit I can't complain. All three did great jobs and seem to really good approaches. I loved how well they took the results and I think we'll see more from all of them in the days to come. 

Another great season... I'm looking forward to this summer!

 

[Portia]

I found this final challenge pretty underwhelming.

Rashad's very talented and deserving, so I'm happy for him. I was really disappointed it wasn't Li'l Tyler, but naturally he was super cheerful, so yay for him!

[Ketzel]

Can anyone explain to me the point of the dance performance? It was incomprehensible to me on the screen - all the lights and lasers made it impossible to see what the dancers were actually doing, and the camera work didn't help at all. If the idea was to see if the makeup and appliances could withstand being part of a video dance shoot, I wish they had (a) explained that at the beginning and (b) used it as a judging criterion.  Otherwise, it seemed to me like random filler with an added bonus of potentially triggering epileptic attacks in the audience.

[EC Amber]

Can anyone explain to me the point of the dance performance? 

I tried to ignore this element once it started. Honestly, when I heard this big guest is a dj I felt a bit deflated. I saw no connection between the music, the stage direction, the dancing and the make up. Most of that I put on the music which has a habit of demanding the same techno-dance atmosphere... and that is in itself really limiting. It certainly doesn't lend itself to aliens. 

I liked the challenge, but the reveal itself was too disjointed, I tuned out with some sudoku until the music ended. Maybe if there were supernatural street fighters/villains it would have been more coherent? Speculation...   

[mlp]

Every season has ended with a performance I think.  I didn't see season 1 but every one since has.  The stated reason has been to test the creations under stress.  The unstated reason is probably entertainment for the viewers - which it isn't IMO.  I agree with everything Ketzel said above.  I had no idea what was going on or why the DJ  was jumping all around or why the contestants were laughing at various points.  I just sort of tuned it all out. 

I thought the connection between the constellation animals and the creations was tenuous at best.  I really couldn't see much relationship in any of them.

I liked all three finalists and would have been happy whichever way it went.  I'm thrilled for Rashaad.

[90PercentGravity]

I skipped the dance number. Those things just don't interest me.

The models all looked miserable during the final critique.

I'm happy for Rashaad, he seems like a cool guy.

George's sculpts are interesting, but they also tend to look alike to me.

[coloradoqt]

I'm glad Rashaad won. Does anyone know what the prize is?

[Monty]

The dancing was the worst thing ever. We couldn't see the makeup or the dancing. And if you're not into this particular genre of music, it just sounds like robots farting. Even the silly high-dive thing from last season (if that was last season) made more sense.

[Joystickenvy]

Glad Rashaad's won. Wasn't over the moon about any of the aliens, but Rashaad's color choices made his somewhat more interesting to me.

I think Goerge's could have been really good if the paint had been better, which is a real shame, since he had one of the season's best painters on his team, but couldn't make much use of her since they did the entire paint job in last looks.

I liked the paint on Tyler's female alien, but I didn't like much else about either alien and the male's head was weird shaped in a not good way.

Agree with everyone that the dance was both not interesting and didn't make sense for the characters or show off the makeup. Since they were supposed to be rivals, some sort of fight scene would at least make some story sense.

[dialyn]

What impresses me the most about this group is the comradarie between them  They show how people can be competitive and still work cooperatively together.  I would have been fine with any of them winning, but Rashaad was so consistent through the season, and he took a surge toward the end that showed off his strengths. The ever amiable Tyler lost some energy toward the end, but he seems recovered now.  George did much better than I thought he was going to, and he certainly improved.  I could see the three of them working on a project, and I would hope they all find improve employment now.  And they had enough good will built up with the other ousted artists that it seemed like everyone pitched in to do their best.  Aside from that, I have to admit I wasn't that impressed by their aliens this week (I'd like to give them a challenge of no red paint) though Rashaad salvaging the damage on his alien's head was a good move on his part. The lights were hard to see on some of the characters and seemed to add very little except in a couple of cases. The dance did nothing for me (what was the point of that...yeah, they could dance in the make up and so?).  The finales, overall, seem a little anticlimatic to me.  I don't have a great answer for this, but I'd be pretty annoyed if I was in the audience and that's all I saw.  Congratulations to Rashaad, and to Tyler and George too.  I liked this group even if I was a little disappointed in the challenges (too many monsters, too many masks).  Still my favorite reality show. I'm looking forward to July.

[Reishe]

Did anyone else laugh out loud during the dance number when the camera cut from the contestants, who were dancing and having a great time, to Glenn, looking stony-faced and kinda grouchy?

Yeah, the dance was silly, but a lot of the things they do on this show for drama are silly. Like the stupid cuts pre-commercial where Glenn says: "the winner of this week's challenge is..." and you're left with a car commercial.

What impresses me the most about this group is the cameraderie between them.

 

This. I absolutely love the finalists' enthusiasm and absolute joy to be exactly where they are right now, and I'm sure they've got exciting futures ahead of them. I do think it would be awesome if they started up a studio together, and wouldn't that be a fun place to work!

[Bella]

The camaraderie was particularly enjoyable with this group. I hope they all three go on to have brilliant careers, and I'm sure they will.

 

I FF'd through the dance. 

 

When they were ready to announce the winner, I stopped my TiVo for a moment, because I realized that I wanted it to be both Rashaad and Tyler, and that whichever one won, I'd feel bad for the other. I was delighted to see that Rashaad won, however. And the next time they recycle contestants, I want Tyler to come back and kick everyone's butt. Either that or turn it down because he's too busy working in the profession.

[Rhetorica]

I'm so glad Rashad won. And I loved when V mentioned he was in the top one or two nearly episode.

I did not, however, like the dance. I didn't think it showcased their work. The lighting didn't help. I loved the ballet in last year's finale. 

[Nerdlove]

I use a utility on my firefox that reads things out loud for me (I just prefer listening to reading sometimes), so I just listened to this whole thread and did a lot of giggling and nodding. You guys made a lot of great points.

 

One thing about this show that I don't get is that they're asked to come up with a story for their creations, and it's generally a pretty silly one. It really shouldn't be part of the judging, I don't think, to ask creature designers to come up with a storyline. Did Michael Westmore write the storyline of the Cardassians and the Bajorans? Most likely not. He was told that there would be an evil but precise alien species and an underdog, religious species -- a sort of Nazi and Jew parable. And he and his team envisioned a reptilian look for the evil Cardassians, and a generally human look for the likeable Bajorans. I think it's much more the point of the show that the artists can create a visual that goes along with a story, not a story to explain a visual.

[EC Amber]

You know what bugged me... was the idea that the position of the stars from this vantage point would have any effect on aliens living in that constellation - or that a constellation is even a part of the same star system. So from Earth it looks like a Lion, but from within the constellation it looks nothing like that. If anything, some of those same stars would end up being totally different constellation from their perspective... so this "I'm incorporating some feline elements" got a great big "okay - so?" from me. 

I'm probably being nitpicky, but that kind of stuff is a little irritating. 

[Tara Ariano]

Here's my post on the episode!

[eli]

 

Every season has ended with a performance I think.  I didn't see season 1 but every one since has.  The stated reason has been to test the creations under stress.

Yeah, I didn't notice them say that this time, weird. But IIRC, the last few seasons that stress test has not gone well, so I was impressed that none of these six seemed to be falling apart in any way.

 

Like everyone else, what I love most about this show is the friendship, fellowship, whatever you want to call it that happens between all of these folks. It seemed to be amplified this season, with no one really needing constant handholding, and I honestly would have been happy if any of these three won. But I really am pumped that it was Rashad. He comes across as so grounded but joyous. And I guess he and Tyler are looking at getting their own show on Syfy?

Edited April 23, 2014 by eli

[starri]

I was really underwhelmed by Rashaad's work on this challenge.  I mean, he absolutely owned the robot challenge, no question, but I didn't care for many of his other creations.

I honestly thought a stronger paint job for George might have tipped the scales toward him, but of course, I was rooting for Tyler.

But Tyler is a good sport, and seems to be really happy for Rashaad, so it all came out in the end.

[Toaster Strudel]

I was underwhelmed by the finale, despite having really enjoyed all the "lesser" challenges.

 

All the face prosthetics looked really heavy, dark and overdone.  I thought that they lacked beauty.  The light elements were clunky and awkward.

 

Looking at Tyler's work, I would have given him the win, but Rashaad was not very far behind.  I look forward to the next season!

[John.G]

what bugged me... was the idea that the position of the stars from this vantage point would have any effect on aliens living in that constellation - or that a constellation is even a part of the same star system.

This bugged me too. I figured this must come under the heading of "The director wants WHAT?!? Well, he's paying the bill, I guess it doesn't have to make sense. Just do it". Still, it would have been hilarious to see someone build an awesome alien without features that remind you of "their" constellation, and when asked "Tell us about your alien, and how your constellation inspired your creation" the answer would be "Well, since evolution on their world didn't know that one culture (of many) living briefly on one planet (of millions) located in a very specific spot in the vastness of space would decide that their star looked like it was part of a lion, I built a lizard instead"

[EsmereldaBuccaneer]

This didn't seem any more special than any of the previous challenges to me.  The 'dance number' was so underwhelming.  I've always enjoyed the special hijinx in the final episode until this season.  What was that??  It was so DARK....a bunch of bodies crashing around in the darkness to music that made my ears sad.

 

 

This is one of my top two favorite shows.  I hope next season kicks the finale up a couple notches.

[ratgirlagogo]

 

But IIRC, the last few seasons that stress test has not gone well, so I was impressed that none of these six seemed to be falling apart in any way.

Really? How could you tell?  I couldn't fucking SEE the costumes with strobing and the blackness, not even in HD.  All I could see were the background dancers in their shiny silver jumpsuits.  I envy your eyes, sir or madam.

 

All the same, I was happy and genuinely surprised that Rashaad won - the editing was suggesting a Tyler win. Go Rashaad from the boogie down Bronx!

[lachesis]

I agree with all of you about the dance segment. My heart sank when I saw the special guest was a DJ. Not my cup of tea on music selection and I couldn't see the costumes because of the strobe lights. Oh well, I'm happy with Rashaad winning. I pegged him to win early on. I kind of wanted Tyler to win because the past few eps I developed a little tv crush on him. His smile lights up the room! Anyway, waiting impatiently for the next season!!

[Nerdlove]

I feel ya, Lachesis. Of course, my heart really only beats for Tate from last season. The vast majority of the contestants on this show are just so likeable!

[Reishe]

The vast majority of the contestants on this show are just so likeable!

 

I have always liked (or at least not disliked) most of the contestants, but I really liked the guys who survived to the second half of this season because of how much fun they appeared to be having and how much they were helping each other. I know that there has always been some cooperation and support amongst competitors, but it seemed like it was stepped up a notch this time. This makes me wonder if the recent batch of contestants was just more energetic, fun and friendly, or if the directors and editors decided to focus more on that aspect of the experience and less on something else. Given that they also gave contestants a little more time on a couple of challenges, maybe they actually paid attention to fan feedback? If so, then please, dear Powers That Be: stop adding that One Impossible Element That Makes Absolutely No Sense to the challenges (like the medical instrument that really didn't fit the mad-scientist challenge--they ended up with torturing physicians and missed the definition of mad scientist entirely).

[eli]

 

    But IIRC, the last few seasons that stress test has not gone well, so I was impressed that none of these six seemed to be falling apart in any way.

 

Really? How could you tell?  I couldn't fucking SEE the costumes with strobing and the blackness, not even in HD.  All I could see were the background dancers in their shiny silver jumpsuits.  I envy your eyes, sir or madam.

 

Oh, I couldn't see a damn thing DURING the dance, ffwded through most of it anyway. I meant as the judges were examining them after. Past seasons I remember some being torn and gaping in various really obvious ways post-performance.