S12.E02: Hive Queen

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

Inspired by hive-minded insects, the artists must create queen, worker and drone aliens

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Clip:

[Frozendiva]

I was disrupted for part of the episode.

Liked Mackenzie's reveal stage dress.

The winning look was the only one that I thought was pretty good. The rest - not so much. Was kinda happy to see last week's foreman go. Still don't really know who is who.

[Maelstrom]

Loved the cowl on the wasp queen. And the paint jobs on the termite worker and drone were nicely done, and I thought Faina was a good choice for the win. (though why in the world would you cover a beauty like Nayeli in bug makeup?!) The rest of the makeups on both teams ranged from Meh to Suck. I'm still not sure how this team thing is going to work out. So is Twisted Six still going to have to do three makeups even though they only have four team members to the Ethereal's six? What happens if (when?) they lose another person?

Even though the final makeups were largely lacking, I thought Jill was smart in how she divided the work among her team, by keeping weak link Nick with her to keep a close eye on him, and sending Al "Six Boobs" off on his own. Can't say I'm sorry to see him go.

Mackenzie's reveal stage dress certainly was revealing. Like the adult version of Heidi, lol. I hope Ve is back next week, I missed her!

Edited June 21, 2017 by Maelstrom

[enoughcats]

I am a science geek.  Something about the critiques really bothered me tonight.  It started with Mr. Westmore and continued with the judges.  
None of them had a clue about the relative size of different types of hive inhabitants.  Queens are big, bigger than any other members.  

Bee queens can be twice the size of a worker.  Not just 10% larger, TWICE the length and width.

Now let me gross you out about some ants.  A tree lost a major limb, one that had the big black wood burrowing ants.  Those ants are maybe 1/2inch long. But their queen, I'll never forget her.  Four inches wind and about 13 inches long.  We used a shovel to kill her. 

So when the judges were complaining about using the largest model to be the queen....well, it's a good thing that I really like the judges and allow them to have slept through botany class.

[Richness]

The Twisted Six Four loses another member. I don't think loosing Six Boobs Al is a big loss. If they continue to have to create three make-ups for the challenge, I hope they'll ease up and only make them do two. However, I hope I never have to sit through another episode with Jill as foreman. All her soft-spoken talking heads annoyed me. I'm just glad that Phil didn't go home since I think he looks totally adorable. Glad to see Nick do such a good job on the cowl.

[Cotypubby]

1 hour ago, enoughcats said:

I am a science geek.  Something about the critiques really bothered me tonight.  It started with Mr. Westmore and continued with the judges.  
None of them had a clue about the relative size of different types of hive inhabitants.  Queens are big, bigger than any other members.  

Bee queens can be twice the size of a worker.  Not just 10% larger, TWICE the length and width.

Now let me gross you out about some ants.  A tree lost a major limb, one that had the big black wood burrowing ants.  Those ants are maybe 1/2inch long. But their queen, I'll never forget her.  Four inches wind and about 13 inches long.  We used a shovel to kill her. 

So when the judges were complaining about using the largest model to be the queen....well, it's a good thing that I really like the judges and allow them to have slept through botany class.

I was thinking the exact same thing! I thought it was common knowledge that insect queens are huge compared to the rest of the hive. I couldn't understand the judges problem of the guy as the queen since the larger queen with the two smaller worker/drones is entirely accurate! (And btw, didn't the other team also have the guy as the queen?) 

[Quilt Fairy]

I appreciate that the queen is much larger than the workers or drones, but both the queens just looked like guys in drag to me.  Maybe that was what the judges were really commenting on. 

Another awful episode, IMO., showing the lack of experience of most of the contestants.  There also don't seem to be any contestants I'm even interested in as people.  I'm really think about taking this season off.

In other news, while McKenzie's reveal stage dress was definitely the most, um, "revealing" she's worn in a while, it has to be the ugliest dress I've ever seen her wear.  It might be the ugliest dress in the history of ugly, and I've watched most of the seasons of Project Runway.

[GaT]

I'm not really feeling it this season, nothing is connecting with me.

[SirOsisOfLiver]

I didn't think episode 2 could be worse than episode 1 but I was wrong. Total fail. Totally amateur-looking, like one judge said, they all looked like people with masks on. I may not last the season, either. Last week bored me and this week annoyed me - that's not what I expect from Face Off.

The team concept might be the worst twist this show has ever tried in all its history of, "Must change things up! Must do something different!"

[Rammchick]

Quote

I am a science geek.  Something about the critiques really bothered me tonight.  It started with Mr. Westmore and continued with the judges.  
None of them had a clue about the relative size of different types of hive inhabitants.  Queens are big, bigger than any other members.  

enoughcats, me too.  Glen and Neville are always going on about problems with inconsistent human anatomy, but clearly don't know as much about other animals.  I get that these are aliens inspired by "bugs" (and btw, none of these species are actually bugs but whatever ;)), but why were the mandibles of the wasps up above their mouths, next to their noses?  And what about the one that had human eyes as well as "bug eyes"?  That was just weird, and Glen was right to say that it looked like someone wearing a bug hat.  Some very good work interspersed with dreck this week -- I hope they start stepping it up.

I love me some Mackenzie but girl, that was definitely not your dress.

[sourpickles]

I'm liking everyone's posts because I honestly checked out for most of the episode.  Nothing held my attention.  Yay that everyone got something out there, boo to the fact that these challenges have been WAY over the skill level of the contestants.  And to reiterate, like it hasn't been said enough, I HATE this shops thing.  How is this going to go down the line?  Everyone from Shop A goes home and so then Shop B is individual?  IDK.  I'm really tired of NOT having any idea what each person can do on their own, really.  I have no idea who most of these people are, and I don't really care.  I need to watch the reruns....

[Lugal]

Faina was definitely the right choice for the win and it was smart to have someone step back and make sure the paintwork matches on all three.  Al was the right choice to go and I noticed the judges really didn't have much to say to him when he left.

Both teams work looked unfinished, which I would blame the foremen for with the lack of time management.

The queens did look like guys in drag.  They tried to have it both ways where the queen was feminine and they used the biggest male model to make them larger.  If they used the male model they should have dropped the feminine touches, they are aliens after all, and you could have a non-mammalian species female without breasts.  Or they could have used a female model and made her feminine.  Instead they got the worst of both worlds.

So Twisted Six Minus Two is down again.  When do they declare Ethereal the winner and go to individual challenges?  Also curious: What movie is Ve working on?

[sourpickles]

14 minutes ago, Lugal said:

Also curious: What movie is Ve working on?

I hopped over to IMDB and hopefully I'm not giving away state secrets or ruining anyone's day, but she's preproduction on an Untitled (Robert Ameckis) project, and post in A Star Is Born and Shock and Awe, both 2017.  And please tell me ASIB is not another remake.  I couldn't look.  Hope this is helpful.

Zemekis!  Dang!

[Frozendiva]

A Star is Born is a remake - Bradley Cooper (directing?) and Lady GaGa.

[enoughcats]

1 hour ago, Frozendiva said:

A Star is Born is a remake - Bradley Cooper (directing?) and Lady GaGa.

Oh. Isn't that special?

Jokes about masks are just too easy.

If we knew the specific date this was filmed, we could (maybe) go to the LATimes and see what movies, etc. were shooting where in the LA basin those days.  (How's that for trivial knowledge for someone not in and never will be in the business?)

[Brynnjk]

Joining in the widespread dismay over this season.  After last season where I truly loved the cast and enjoyed every ep, this season is well . . . . . . . .kind of dreadful.   I hate the shop concept.  I dislike the team concept and I just really want to get to know the contestants and watch their individual work.  There was nothing broken on FaceOff.  Why make this huge change?  Boo.  So disappointed.  

[sourpickles]

1 hour ago, Frozendiva said:

A Star is Born is a remake - Bradley Cooper (directing?) and Lady GaGa.

Damn.  I was hoping for one this year that wasn't.  But you learn something new every day.

 

8 minutes ago, Brynnjk said:

Joining in the widespread dismay over this season

And that should be the title for the season.....FACE OFF SEASON WHATEVER.........WIDESPREAD DISMAY. As my friend from CA would say, "I like it!".  That's her go to saying.  I'll vote yes on that, even though I love my East Coast.............
"

[Merneith]

I was annoyed that they kept suggesting that the Queens needed to look feminine. Why? They're alien insects. Why on earth would they replicate human femininity with delicate features and smaller size?

I'm starting to think they had the costumes made ahead of time and just assumed they would all be humans in bee suits.

I'm still bugged by the quality level on this show but I've decided if you asked each of these people to make 1 look, they'd never finish in a week.

Not sorry Al went home, but really think it should have been the Foreman, whatever her name was. I don't get why Team Twisted Six :eyeroll: can't figure out that they need to have everyone looking like they're on the same movie set.

Edited June 23, 2017 by Merneith

[Mabinogia]

37 minutes ago, Merneith said:

Not sorry Al went home, but really think it should have been the Foreman, whatever her name was.

Couldn't they both just go? Or all of them since I dont' know a damn thing about what any of them can do, except Faina who's into color.

I do agree with the winner. Faina's little alien was probably overall the best, followed by the back head of the losing teams queen which was really interesting. The bottom two should have been the queen on the winning team and, well, really I thought that was the worst. It looked like a mask that didn't quite fit on the guys head with a bad glue job. But, this being a team season, the worst look isn't in the bottom because it is on the winning team. This season for me is Face Off: The Beginning of the End because unless they realize this concept was a total bust, it does not bode well for the enjoyability of this show for me. I liked Face Off because you didn't get three people coming up to a teammate and bitching about how she's doing her mold, or people talking about "if so and so doesn't get their work done we might end up in the bottom". I miss them talking about their work and not how their team is doing. UGH!

I'm curious how these teams were picked. I heard that last season, the pairs, they had some say in who they were put with or could at least say who they wanted to be paired with and it felt like the show honored that, and put people together not for drama but hoping for amazing output, which is what they got. This, the teams, doesn't feel like it is set up to bring out the best in these contestants and that is what I don't like. I want to see people putting out the best work they can, not this shit show.

Sorry Neville. This season sucks so far. But I don't blame the contestants for their mediocre output. Sure they aren't terribly skilled, but the real problem for me is that this season isn't allowing them to be individuals. I don't know what any of them can do, I don't get to see their vision but some kind of compromised team vision. I can't help but wonder if I'd like any of them better if they were working on their own, or at least I'd start to know them better.

I will try again next week in the hopes that things will start to get better, but having seen the preview I am NOT optimistic. Just looks like more team drama.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Morphs:

[diebartdie]

I was really glad Six Boobs Al went home, he was the worst. If you really pay attention to the episode you realize he did the most minimal amount of work possible. For instance, he made one set of mandibles for all three creations, in the end I think only two of his team's three even used them. Every scene he was just sitting somewhere playing with his itty bitty mandible forms. Then his egg baby.....man that shit should have been all gooey and nasty looking, the baby could have been spitting bug juice, I mean if that's ALL you're doing, do it all the way! (Same goes for the other team's bug baby, make it gross, make it stand out, make it perhaps even the focal point of the thing!) Out of all the makeups, I only liked that one really elaborate cowl, it was very interesting with all those sculptural details but it seemed poorly applied and the paint just could have been better. I mean it when I say I thought this episode was ok, especially compared to last week but overall, Im not enjoying this season very much. Might be time to put this old hoss out to pasture.

[LittleIggy]

I hope they'll do some beauty makeup soon. I'm sick of the ugly masks. Remember Stargate: Atlantis (Jason Mamoa!)? The Wraith had insect-characteristics, but their queen was beautiful.

[azshadowwalker]

23 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

I appreciate that the queen is much larger than the workers or drones, but both the queens just looked like guys in drag to me.  Maybe that was what the judges were really commenting on. 

Yeah, I had a bit of problem with the way Westmore reacted to the idea, but no problem with the judges. They did nothing to feminize that dude. He didn't even look like an effective guy in drag. The corset without breasts did nothing for the effect.

[Kaoteek]

I ended up doing something else during most of the episode. Nothing compelling, whether in the shop, among the teams, with the challenge or the final creations. This season is really starting off on the wrong foot, as far as i'm concerned.

[Mabinogia]

Six Boobs should have made a breast piece for the queen. That would have removed some of the "man in drag" vibe and would have made a lot more sense this challenge than last. Hell, he could even have gone for his precious six boobs and if they questioned it say "they're aliens!" Instead we got two drag queens instead of two insect alien queens. But then, I fear creativity is not this groups strong suit so I'm not going to have any expectations this season of seeing anything good.
 

I'm pretty much just watching to see how bad this season gets or if they can manage to drop the battle aspect and get back to design.

[sourpickles]

7 hours ago, Kaoteek said:

This season is really starting off on the wrong foot, as far as i'm concerned.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and hope to all beings that at some point during filming they realized that and corrected.  Not sure how that would come about, but there has to be a way.  I adore this show and I WANT to see it succeed, but I'm not above criticizing.  Clearly.  They had a year to get their schmoo together, either they set the bar too high or the concept isn't working.  We'll see. 

[staphdude]

Why did they even cast Al. He was not responsible for the most egregious mistakes on the team and yet he had to go...almost as though it was a for gone conclusion they were going to keep mister monotone and the inept foreperson.

i am really surprised that after running a show that focused on collaboration and lack of forced drama (to the point that even celebs were giving shoutouts on twitter) they decided to go with this mess of a format filled with mediocre artists and judging shenanigans.

 Oh and Mackenzie has decided out with the ribbon dresses and in with psychedelic stripper wear?

[mlp]

All these comments are just sad.  After multiple seasons of a great show for reasons we can all spell out, I feel bad seeing board comments deteriorate to nothing but negatives (all of which I agree with)  in the course of two episodes.  I hope the producers and judges are tuned in to viewers' reactions and realize the show wasn't "broke" and didn't need to be fixed.  If they do another season after this, I hope they go back to the original format.

[LadyMustang65]

So glad we're not the only ones disappointed in this season so far.  Not one single make-up has really grabbed us.  There have been parts of make-ups that were good, but overall the quality, in our humble opinions anyway, has been dreadful.  And the team concept, as others have pointed out, keeps you from really getting to know these contestants.  And I miss the camaraderie of previous seasons.  It seems like these guys working together are having less fun and gelling less than the individuals did.  Nope nope nope.  :(

[sourpickles]

I think fans are disappointed because this new season is coming off an All Stars, AND we had high hopes for new blood.  I don't think we expected the format that is being shown.  I prefer seeing individuals (even twitching on finale help) and I may not be the only one.  I don't think we're being unduly harsh here, I think we are expressing our long standing,  justified, and constant upset.  As we should.  I'll take the hit on being too old to be a demographic anymore, but I won't on being a fan.  I might not know what I'm talking about all the time, but I sure as hell have a good reference.  But I'll still watch, and support a show that showcases people with talent, and with their clothes on.  That is all. 

Edited June 22, 2017 by sourpickles
Still can't spell

[enoughcats]

8 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

Six Boobs should have made a breast piece for the queen.

Heck, he could have made a huge ovipositer to hang off the queen like the bustle from hell. how different ovipositors are

[SirOsisOfLiver]

I'm trying to visualize these people performing in the standard Face Off format, and I'm still underwhelmed. Combine that with this drama-inducing team concept, and no wonder we're all ticked off.

[SherriAnt]

Okay, I will confess I didn't read every comment here, so if I repeat someone without quoting, I'm sorry.

Here goes...No. No to the shop concept. No to making props. No to only 1 makeup per episode. And finally, no to Mackenzie's Play-Doh/Silly Putty/ Crocs looking dress. Bleh. Suddenly Face Off goes from Yay! new episode, to Oh, new episode.

[Merneith]

Yeah, Mackenzie's dress was really heinous this round. And the side braid made her look about twenty years older than she really is. She's a beautiful woman. She doesn't need to be so desperate about it.

 

Are we not getting recaps, this time? That's a bummer. I like these forums but I visit the site for recaps, not podcasts. I've started reading recaps over on Vulture. I'll miss them if Previously cuts back.

[The Companion]

I have to agree that the team concept is flawed. It might have been neat to have people competing with a team under them (give us some interaction with whoever is doing the overnight work), but by forcing teams you are forcing all of the designs to look the same. Some of my favorite designs in the past have been from one person doing something totally different with a concept. You cannot get that under this format. 

Despite theoretically having more people to work on these, the quality is not there either. Huge eye holes two weeks in a row, unfinished looks with bare unpainted skin, etc. Everything is by and large a hot mess. 

[Quilt Fairy]

With one "shop" still at a full 6 and the other one down to 4, they're going to have to do something next week to even things up.  This isn't Survivor where you can have extra people sit out a challenge.  (At least, not yet.)

Edited June 23, 2017 by Quilt Fairy

[Mabinogia]

7 hours ago, The Companion said:

Some of my favorite designs in the past have been from one person doing something totally different with a concept. You cannot get that under this format. 

Yeah, I miss seeing each person's unique (at least sometimes) take on a challenge. Having all this cohesion is really pretty boring. Sure, IRL this career would require them to work in teams, but this isn't real life, it's a show and it's first priority is to entertain. All teams all the time is not entertaining to me. But who knows, maybe they are getting a slew of new viewers who are looking for the drama....at the cost of a lot of long time viewers who enjoyed the show for it's rare lack of interpersonal drama.

[BlackberryJam]

I am also not a big fan of the format because instead of getting 12 (11, 10...) completely original designs, we are getting 2 sets of three similar designs. It's like we are seeing two visions per episode and it's dull. 

[azshadowwalker]

19 hours ago, Merneith said:

Are we not getting recaps, this time? That's a bummer. I like these forums but I visit the site for recaps, not podcasts. I've started reading recaps over on Vulture. I'll miss them if Previously cuts back.

I actually rarely read the recaps, as I don't need someone describing something I already saw. However, I occasionally do. I never listen to podcasts. Not here, and not anywhere else. If podcasts become the go-to, I won't visit anything but the forums. 

[ratgirlagogo]

On 6/20/2017 at 11:45 PM, enoughcats said:

None of them had a clue about the relative size of different types of hive inhabitants.  Queens are big, bigger than any other members.

Yes, here are queen and worker ants:

https://www.livescience.com/10635-queen-ant-sacrifice-colony-retain-throne.html

It is quite extreme with termites.

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/running-ponies/long-live-the-morbidly-obese-termite-queen-and-her-terrifying-army-of-sweat-licking-babies/

The queen is the size of a four or five story building compared to the other termites including the king.  I vividly remember the time I was running around the back yard with my brother when we were kids and accidentally put my foot through a rotten tree limb and exposed the GIGANTIC termite queen.  I was a  total biology freak from forever but I do remember screaming in surprise.

Queen bees on the other hand are close to the size of the other bees - but nobody chose bees.

Edited June 23, 2017 by ratgirlagogo

[Diane Mars]

On 21.06.2017 at 7:57 AM, Quilt Fairy said:

... just looked like guys in drag to me.  Maybe that was what the judges were really commenting on.

Yes, if I remember correctly, it was said something like : "a guy with a corset".... If they'd thought about FILLING the corset / give the guy some boobs, it would have been totally different and really better looking, IMHO.

[diebartdie]

Why would insects have boobs at all?

[April Bloodgate]

On 6/24/2017 at 10:34 AM, diebartdie said:

Why would insects have boobs at all?

You could also ask "why would insects walk upright on 2 feet or wear clothes?" But they're not making exact replicas of insects--they're making imaginary aliens inspired by insects. So I have no problem with the teams giving their creatures human features to convey a concept the challenge requires, such as "queen". 

[azshadowwalker]

And you could ask why they would specifically wear corsets, which are inspired by the shapes of female breasts. If you are going to use clothes meant to accentuate a specific feature of the female body, that feature should probably exist. 

[sourpickles]

1 hour ago, azshadowwalker said:

And you could ask why they would specifically wear corsets, which are inspired by the shapes of female breasts. If you are going to use clothes meant to accentuate a specific feature of the female body, that feature should probably exist. 

Just on Face Off makeup though, right?  Cause I just had a Rocky Horror recall..................

[Merneith]

On 6/23/2017 at 4:59 PM, azshadowwalker said:

I actually rarely read the recaps, as I don't need someone describing something I already saw. However, I occasionally do. I never listen to podcasts. Not here, and not anywhere else. If podcasts become the go-to, I won't visit anything but the forums. 

Yeah, I'm uninterested in the podcasts, too. I might spend five minutes reading about a show I don't watch, like the Bachelor stuff, but I'm not going to spend 30 minutes listening to people talk about a show I'm not watching. Reading recaps have gotten me into new shows, sometimes.

Heck, half the recaps are for shows that aren't even on air, any more. It's cute to do 90210 or Little House recaps, but when the retro stuff out numbers the news stuff, it's kind of sad.

[sourpickles]

Podcasts are a PIA for me, I have an older, slower computer.  I like the recaps cause I have a smaller tv and sometimes those close up pics really gave me some details I hadn't seen before.  Seems like there are a lot of shows missing recaps now, as well as the quotes on the front page.  There were like four for Great Baking Show last week and none for Face Off.  Wonder if it because we are a smaller community of commenters.  I assume there are lurkers, but overall, I see the same thirty, forty people comment week after week.  Which brings me to tomorrow, SyFy must hear the hisses, cause there are no reruns, just the new epi. 

[SirOsisOfLiver]

I never listen to podcasts and I rarely read the recaps. Unfortunately, the recaps often seem more like an exercise for the writer to say, "See how cool and clever I am?" rather than telling me something useful. I don't care about who the writer thinks is hot, and I'm not interested in reading about your politics.

[Mabinogia]

I seriously miss the recaps. Like today, I missed the next episode because I was camping. In the old days I'd go to the recap, skim over what happened but mostly look at the cool designs. It was kind of fun to see the finished product then go back and see how it was made. I will never, ever listen to a podcast. I am also sick of 90210 and this site's obsession with it. But that is not about Face Off.

I still don't like the team stuff. What I do appreciate, that this show does, is if 6 people are picking something, they have 7 options, so that even the last person has a choice. That, to me, speaks to the heart of what this show was about. It's not about screwing them over and making them face these pointless hardships *cough*being on stupid, predetermined teams*cough* but about challenging them to be creative and do great work. I feel like that is missing this season. I know I'm missing it.

I'm not even excited to see the next ep because I just don't have the same happy feeling watching this season as in the past.