S11.E10: Cursed Covens

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

The two teams must create a coven of warlocks or witches at war with each other.

Sneak peek:

[hincandenza]

Wow, Emily looks so different with her hair tied back and... did she dye it black?!?  I suspect she and Tyler will bounce back nicely, especially since witch covens == hair work and costuming, which plays to her strengths.

Wait, so they don't even get a chance to repick the superteams, and one is operating with one less team member?  This seems odd.  It would be a damn shame if their team of 3 didn't win and thus lost someone else- possibly Emily or Tyler- due to this weird superteam grouping.  I hope when they get to top 6 they'll do individual/pairs again until the finale, because I don't want some silly Pagonging in my FaceOff!

Edited March 24, 2017 by hincandenza

[sourpickles]

You know, I'm kind of bored now with this challenge, though I thought I'd be super excited.  I'm more fascinated/offended by the matching sport coats of (Super)Team Cig/George/Ben/Evan.  Shockingly, I don't think I'm going to have a lot to say this week (feel free to clutch your pearls LOL).

[starri]

#BasicWitch

[Primetimer]

The superteams do witches -- and not the kind with eye shadow and nose rings. The gross kind.

View the full article

[sourpickles]

Flattest episode of the season, by far to me.  I couldn't get into or behind any of those designs, they felt so uninspired, I don't know what is going on.  I knew Ben was going the minute he said he thought he was and really, did anyone think they weren't going to even out the teams?  I was surprised Tyler won though, but good for him, everyone knows he's my favorite!  Well, him and Auntie Em there.  Anyone else see how onstage he was standing by her a bit more than Logan?  Ah well. On to another week, this one was a dud to me.  Could have been good, and I don't even think it was all on the artists, could the initial description have been MORE convoluted?  That's an awful lot of things to choose from, the Gherkin says.  Indeed.

Edited March 29, 2017 by sourpickles
Tenses iz hard. Sigh.

[Canada]

I feel like this was a week where no one should have gone home.  I thought they were all pretty good, so I really don't agree with the decision of the judges.  And I say this as someone who's been begging from the start for Ben to get off my screen!!  Bad decision.

[Frozendiva]

They had to send someone home and probably from the team that won last week, to even things out. Both witch sets were good, but the Emily/Tyler/Logan team had a slightly better product.  I would have preferred the more classical witch look with the warts and all. Down to the last six so I expect three more will be kicked out over the next couple weeks.

[sourpickles]

I think part of the reason I was nodding off was the sheer lack of power in many of those make ups.  The rat/snake whatever looked like Splinter from early TMNT.  I did not get witch/warlock out of that, curse or no curse.  And the other team, I would have got it if I hadn't seen that branch/tree thing before.  I was expecting far more oomph/magic from these teams.  As a total aside, Logan's mustache in some of those shots was genius, and does Ben have himself tattooed on his arm?  Inquiring minds want to know.  The best part of the night was George saying something about the makeups looking like "crack addicts" scratching themselves (which could also be meth) and I had to laugh at that.  Ve looked so pretty, Mckenzie was ice skating again, and what was with those gloves someone was wearing?  Ok, think I'm done now.

[mlp]

Despite some of my all-time favorites being left, this was one of my least favorite episodes - ever.  I didn't even get the challenge when McKenzie explained it.  I'm glad the teams understood it better than I did.  I like to think that the judges make their decisions based strictly on merit but I figured the team of four would lose and Ben would be eliminated and........... sure enough.  I hope they go back to individual creations for the rest of the season.

[GaT]

Why are they still working in teams? I want to see individual challenges at this point, not watch who plays well with others.

[DEL901]

Did the show end with Neville offering Ben a job? 

[Merneith]

Those weren't bad makeups, overall, but if you stood them in a corner, I'd never guess they were supposed to be witches. Much less rat & tree witches. Who were cursed. And feuding.

I don't think this superteam thing was an improvement on their original format of teams of two and off/on eliminations. Especially combining the superteam with individual elims - It's just awkward, with uneven numbers. If they were determined, then they should have switched it up. Put the losing singleton on the winner's team, and make them the 3 man team, and then put the four middle guys on 1 team. That would have been fairer.

[Rammchick]

I agree with everything that's already been said, but when Neville told Ben, "I like everything about you, and I like nothing about this decision" I simply melted.  What a sweet thing to say.  My love for this show grows every week.

Edited March 29, 2017 by Rammchick

[Reishe]

7 hours ago, mlp said:

I didn't even get the challenge when McKenzie explained it

I've always felt that the Face Off Powers That Be get too cutesy with the challenges. "The two covens are battling each other"? What is that supposed to mean, and how do you think it would be represented in a makeup? Isn't it enough to say each coven is cursed?

5 hours ago, GaT said:

I want to see individual challenges at this point

They kind of backed themselves into a corner, starting out the season with the teams-only concept. It gets to be unfair at this point when an individual will be sent home based on his/her contributions to the group assignment. Cig made all of the finger pieces (among other things, but that is what they focused on); is that an advantage, b/c it isn't a standout element that could catch the judges' attention if they don't like it, or a disadvantage, b/c it won't stand out enough for the judges to reward the contribution if they do like it? The uneven team sizes also bugged; it is wildly unfair, from a time-management standpoint, that one team has 90 person-hours for a three-day project to create three makeups (just guessing here) and one team has 120 person-hours to create three makeups. The only reason it was balanced out at the end was that Team Facial Hair appears to have scrapped their first day's work to adjust their designs.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I agree. I'd rather they just do individual challenges at this point.

[DEL901]

2 minutes ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I agree. I'd rather they just do individual challenges at this point.

Ditto and check out the thread for next week.

[qtpye]

The super team thing is not working, but this was a silly challenge.  They could have just gone with coven and the results should have been pretty cool.  However, these covens are battling each other and cursed with being rat snake tree people with plague...I think?  The description was even worse then the special snowflake ice queen challenge.

[Thog]

I was actually sorry to see Ben go, because he was one of my favorites in his season. He seems to have this really subtle, dry sense of humor that doesn't always play well on TV, and I think he's extraordinarily talented but sometimes has trouble getting motivated by other people's ideas. He was the right one to go because he really hasn't been bringing it this season, but I'm glad to know the judges see his talent and expect him to be successful. I wonder if the others will continue to wear his T-shirts?

One problem I've always had with this show is that I don't get how certain props they are given would realistically play into the way a character looks. For example, why should an alien match its planet? (except for needing to adapt to the climate, etc.). And since when do the ingredients of a witch's spell translate so literally into the curse they inflict? Eye of newt doesn't turn necessarily people into amphibians, so I don't see why rat tail should make people into rats or willow bark would give them branches. I do love the creativity and know they need to give them a jumping-off point, but it so often feels like a stretch to me. I guess that's why I'm not a makeup artist.

[lilwhitelion]

22 minutes ago, Thog said:

I was actually sorry to see Ben go, because he was one of my favorites in his season. He seems to have this really subtle, dry sense of humor that doesn't always play well on TV, and I think he's extraordinarily talented but sometimes has trouble getting motivated by other people's ideas. He was the right one to go because he really hasn't been bringing it this season, but I'm glad to know the judges see his talent and expect him to be successful. I wonder if the others will continue to wear his T-shirts?

One problem I've always had with this show is that I don't get how certain props they are given would realistically play into the way a character looks. For example, why should an alien match its planet? (except for needing to adapt to the climate, etc.). And since when do the ingredients of a witch's spell translate so literally into the curse they inflict? Eye of newt doesn't turn necessarily people into amphibians, so I don't see why rat tail should make people into rats or willow bark would give them branches. I do love the creativity and know they need to give them a jumping-off point, but it so often feels like a stretch to me. I guess that's why I'm not a makeup artist.

Thog, look at the previews for next week.  Cig, George, and Evan are all wearing his t-shirt when they show up for the next challenge.  Sounds like he was very much admired by his fellow contestants.

[Lovely]

Gotta agree with most everyone here. The makeups were nicely sculpted and applied but they were all pretty uninspired. I was actually surprised at how much the judges loved the rat witches because they looked so unoriginal and so derivative. At least the other team tried to think outside the box and for that reason I am happy they won. I did like Tyler's makeup the best out of all of them but even then it wasn't something I'll remember years from now the way I do some with some of the more iconic makeups.

Edited March 29, 2017 by Lovely

[Ruprecht]

My favorite part of the show is the reveal and judging. I loved how the judges laughed as the models were casting spells against each other. And I would LOVE to take a class taught by Glenn, Ve, and Neville. Even when they disagree, they are engaging and professional. And I loved that last night, they did have different opinions on the success of each makeup. 

3 hours ago, Rammchick said:

I agree with everything that's already been said, but when Neville told Ben, "I like everything about you, and I like nothing about this decision" I simply melted.  What a sweet thing to say.  My love for this show grows every week.

No kidding! Neville was so warm. He must be a wonderful boss. 

[starri]

George and Ben had a bit of an exchange on Twitter where they were joking around about becoming roommates. Neville responded that he'd be over with a keg for the parties. 

[Cowgirl]

1 hour ago, lilwhitelion said:

Cig, George, and Evan are all wearing his t-shirt when they show up for the next challenge.  Sounds like he was very much admired by his fellow contestants.

I wondered if they would do that!  Thanks for letting us know. 

[Rammchick]

I also wondered how they'd make things fair given one team had an extra person.  TPTB should have made one of them work with one hand tied behind his back.  Oh wait, that's another show entirely ;)

[feverfew]

5 hours ago, Thog said:

I was actually sorry to see Ben go, because he was one of my favorites in his season. He seems to have this really subtle, dry sense of humor that doesn't always play well on TV, and I think he's extraordinarily talented but sometimes has trouble getting motivated by other people's ideas. He was the right one to go because he really hasn't been bringing it this season, but I'm glad to know the judges see his talent and expect him to be successful.

Ben was one of my favourites too (actually my favourite), and I'm really sad to see him go. You're right about that low-key, self-deprecating humor not always translating well on screen, but he seemed really well-liked by the rest of the contestants/judges. I wish him all the best.

I know they like their monsters, but I sometimes wish they'd go against that train of thought and go more into beauty make-up. I still remember Ve's beautiful Evil Queen from Judges' Match some seasons ago.

[sourpickles]

1 hour ago, Rammchick said:

I also wondered how they'd make things fair given one team had an extra person.  TPTB should have made one of them work with one hand tied behind his back.  Oh wait, that's another show entirely ;)

I totally saw that show!  It did make things interesting............

 

5 hours ago, Ruprecht said:

Even when they disagree, they are engaging and professional

A big part of why I love this show, and the judges.  ALWAYS as stated above, and I learn from their critiques.  They get really great guest judges, too....

I can't believe I just said totally. 

[Kaoteek]

Welp, I disliked two out of the three make-ups done by the winning team, and they didn't feel like a cohesive coven, so... eh. Sad to see Ben go, even though I wasn't particularly surprised to see the team with the number advantage being the one at the bottom.

[Mabinogia]

I'm entirely convinced that the winning/losing team was chosen based not on the best makeup as Glenn said, but on the worst makeup on each team. There was no way they were sending Emily home, though saying hers was the least successful on her team, so Team Beard is on the bottom and Ben goes. I'm not happy about it because I like Ben better than Logan or Evan, but so long as Cig, George, Emily and Tyler make it through I'm okay. Top four is going to be painful for me.

I'm glad Ben got to do that circus guy last week because that was his shining moment and I'm glad he had that before he left.

I love listening to the judges deliberate. I also love when they look at the models close up. It is interesting to hear what they hone in on, because I didn't care for Team Beards witches, but when the judges talk about the coloration and certain details, I understand why they make the choices they do or give the praise that they give. Little things like Ve basically saying Ben's look was bad but then adding how much she loved the ears. I love these judges. They truly love and respect the craft and seem to actually admire the contestants.

[Ms Lark]

8 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

I'm entirely convinced that the winning/losing team was chosen based not on the best makeup as Glenn said, but on the worst makeup on each team. There was no way they were sending Emily home, though saying hers was the least successful on her team, so Team Beard is on the bottom and Ben goes.

That was my thought, too. It would have been wrong to cut Emily over Ben on this challenge, but that's how the axe falls sometimes. They had to figure out a convincing way to keep her over Ben and I'm not complaining about that.

[WearyTraveler]

From Glenn's comments that their favourite make-up was the deciding factor in choosing the winning team, I understood that the teams were tied and they decided to give the team victory to the team that had the best make up of the night (Tyler's).  That made sense to me.

I guess one can be tempted to think that they were trying to find an excuse to declare the team with the most people the losing team, so they could even out the playing field, but, according to the preview for the next episode, the competition is now going to be by individuals, so, no more teams.  In which case, it wouldn't have mattered how many members each team ended up having.

I liked Tyler's witch, but agree with a previous poster who said that unless you're told these are witches and warlocks, you wouldn't know just by looking at them.  The make-ups this challenge were not as interesting/original as we have seen in the past.

Still love this show, though.

[Merneith]

2 hours ago, Ms Lark said:

That was my thought, too. It would have been wrong to cut Emily over Ben on this challenge, but that's how the axe falls sometimes. They had to figure out a convincing way to keep her over Ben and I'm not complaining about that.

Enh. I thought Emily's witch, while kind of uninspired, was much better applied than Ben's. None of them were really bad, mind you, but Ben's was clearly the most unfinished. Emily didn't have to put gloves on her witch because she was rushing to finish, for example. Plus Emily did a whole chest & back piece, too. I don't think producer shenanigan's is the only reason Ben went home, here.

[starri]

Face Off has never really struck me as rigging things toward one particular winner.  In the season with Laura, Anthony, and Rayce coaching the teams of contestants, they didn't contrive a way to keep one person from each team in the finale, for example.

[hincandenza]

37 minutes ago, Merneith said:

Enh. I thought Emily's witch, while kind of uninspired, was much better applied than Ben's. None of them were really bad, mind you, but Ben's was clearly the most unfinished. Emily didn't have to put gloves on her witch because she was rushing to finish, for example. Plus Emily did a whole chest & back piece, too. I don't think producer shenanigan's is the only reason Ben went home, here.

I totally agree.  The nettle witches were disparate, but all three seemed to be of the same world if not same coven and the "worst" was still competent if not particularly inspired.  By comparison, two of the rat witches looked really cohesive with that rat nose hybrid shaping... and then the third looked more like a newborn rat with acid burns- I'm assuming rather unintentionally, given the rushing around.

I vaguely recall (and am quite possibly wrong) that in past seasons we've seen someone eliminated from a winning or at least top look team before, due to other factors.  I believe we've even seen the judges in the past say something to the effect of "We're saving you and sending home <some mediocre person> instead, entirely due to your body of work thus far, but that's your one shot.  Step it up".  Here, I think this week was a shitty episode design: only two teams, which weren't the same size, and left zero room for really saying anyone had the "best" or "worst" look- so they probably went with some gut-feeling combination of who, given both the season as a whole and the output that day, would be the fairest boot.  By most any measure, I think they got it right.

[Mabinogia]

7 hours ago, WearyTraveler said:

From Glenn's comments that their favourite make-up was the deciding factor in choosing the winning team, I understood that the teams were tied and they decided to give the team victory to the team that had the best make up of the night (Tyler's).  That made sense to me.

I know he said that but since the winner doesn't actually get immunity or a prize for winning it makes much more sense to use the bottom look because if Team Beard had the best piece, Emily who has done amazing work all season would have gone home and that, to me, doesn't make sense. Since the stakes are highest for the loser, I would hope that would be the deciding factor, not that a great player got booted just because their teammate did the best. I don't get the impression these judges are that big a group of dicks to punish someone for being on a team with the best look.

Though this does illustrate the fatal flaw in team challenges. Because conversely, if the best look is on the same team as the worst look, they won't get the ego boost of a win. Not as horrible as being kicked off for being stuck with the best look, but still. I think when it comes to who individually wins and loses, it shouldn't matter what team you are on.

[sourpickles]

I would personally rather go home for a good makeup/something I could stand behind because someone else has been better than me most of the season, than hover around the bottom, circling the drain, till I'm finally put out of my misery.  Does that make sense?  Cause that is kind of how I see this.  Ben is very, very good.  Emily is better.  She had an off week (frankly, they all did), it was bound to happen, but was it really enough to see her sent home?  I don't think so.  That can't happen again though if she wants to stay, I'm hoping she doesn't start to slide a bit like she did last time.

[enoughcats]

I wish we had see sketches from the judges (yes, I have suggested something for the first time ) of what they would do if given this challenge.

I really didn't understand the challenge OR the teams' solutions to it.  

I wish the judges had said ....we don't know what you meant to do with this contorted challenge.  Before we saw your designs, each of us came up with something to show what direction we thought you might have gone. 

[Eliza422]

2 hours ago, enoughcats said:

I wish we had see sketches from the judges (yes, I have suggested something for the first time ) of what they would do if given this challenge.

I really didn't understand the challenge OR the teams' solutions to it.  

I wish the judges had said ....we don't know what you meant to do with this contorted challenge.  Before we saw your designs, each of us came up with something to show what direction we thought you might have gone. 

Yes, this was an extremely complicated challenge. I think they threw one too many "requirements " in. 

[LittleIggy]

I agree with Cig that rat hands are freaking adorable. When I had a rattie (Smeagol!), I liked to watch him use his cute little hands. I miss him.

[Richness]

While I think the right person went home, I don't think Ben had the worst design. Nor do I agree with the winning team, as I thought the rat witches were a better fit to the challenge. I'm not sure if agree with the winner even. With that said, it had to play out the way it did.

 

As crazy talented Emily is for being so young, her witch was just bland and boring. I thought the make-up/paint was particularly dull. I actually thought all of the tree witches on her team looked more metallic gray than tree bark. However, they do look better in the pictures in the review than they did on my TV screen. Still, I'm glad Debbie Downer Eeeyore went home instead of her.

 

Was there a point in making them name their curse based on the ingredients they chose? That was a horrible waste of time that could be spent on other things. Here's what I think would have made for a better "hook" if they really wanted to go with the curse route instead of the lame naming. Have teams chose curse ingredients (and named it if they must) as they did. Then, have the teams switch curse ingredient choices as if they were actually casting the curse on the opposing team. As it was, they chose the ingredients based on what they could work with the best.

 

Anyway, we seem to have gotten a bit more of Mr. Westmore this episode, though that may be just because most of the people are gone. Please let this be the last week of teams. And who were those people dressed up nicely during judging? ;)

[Mabinogia]

4 hours ago, Richness said:

Have teams chose curse ingredients (and named it if they must) as they did. Then, have the teams switch curse ingredient choices as if they were actually casting the curse on the opposing team.

When I first heard the challenge that is exactly what I thought was going to happen. otherwise, what was the point of saying they cursed each other? I was like, cool, they have to choose what the other team is going to work with. This is gonna get interesting. But no, they just had to come up with some stupid name and make curse makeup that had nothing to do with them being witches.

I prefer a more straightforward brief.

[enoughcats]

3 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

what was the point of saying they cursed each other?

OK, I have no shame.  I wish the two teams had huddled, and decided that on judgement day, their models would stand up and curse the other team out.  "Darn you." "Your mother wears combat boots" "Double dog darn you" etc.  Thus endth the cursing.

And then pick something other than curses to design around.

[Mabinogia]

That would have been awesome enoughcats! I kind of think the judges would have gotten a kick out of it too.

[LadyMustang65]

Glad to see I'm not the only one who thought this was a weird challenge.  Also glad I didn't have to do it because it would never have occurred to me that the ingredients needed for the curse would be anything other than ingredients that would do something else completely.  Like when you bake a cake, you don't end up seeing the eggs or the flour separately in the finished product.  And I've never ever seen a movie or show with witches where casting a spell using eye of newt made a newt eye pop up on somebody's forehead or something.  So that whole thing went right over my head, and if I'd had to do it, I'd still be trying to figure out what the heck they wanted from me.  <lol>

The DH and I watched together, and neither one of us cared for the rat witch makeups at all.  There were individual elements that were nice, but overall we just really didn't like them at all.  So we were very surprised when the judges raved about them and appeared to have a hard time making a decision.  We were on Team Willow Curse witches all the way.  Emily's make-up definitely wasn't up to her usual standards, but it was still good, and we loved both Logan's and Tyler's finished products.  I liked Ben, but he seemed like the right one to go home.