S12.E04: Dante's Demons

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

The artists create demons that would oversee a specific circle of Dante's version of Hell.

[enoughcats]

Isn't this the kind of challenge you'd give to the final five?  Expecting newbies to differentiate among demons?  C'mon the odds for this being successful are not good. 

Does anyone even get exposed to Dante's works in high school? 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Sneak peek:

Apparently someone forgot to tell the Syfy intern who handles their youtube channel that there was no new episode this week due to the Fourth of July holiday because they already posted the face morph for S12.E4. I'm putting it under the spoiler cut in case you don't want to see the screencap.

[Linderhill]

finally!  Miss Passive/Aggressive, low-speaker is gone!  

[mjc570]

13 minutes ago, Linderhill said:

finally!  Miss Passive/Aggressive, low-speaker is gone!  

Finally, is right.  Certainly the right choice to go home.  For the reasons people have expressed previously, I really hate this shop format, especially given the clear inbalance between the teams.  I was completely turned off by Ms. Faina, who hogged all the leadership credit, ("I lead my shop/team to victory" etc etc) when what I saw was that she didn't contribute much at all.  Although, I do admit that in this particular challenge, using one base paint made sense.    The one I really feel for is Joseph, who seems like such a nice guy, as is Phil.  I'm not really blown away by anyone, though, a part of that is that is came so soon after the all-star season.  U'll keep watching, but I don't enjoy it as much as I used to.  And, let me say how much I hate Mackenzie's cape. 

[sourpickles]

I was shocked Jill went home, I thought it would be suspender guy (Phil?) only because I figured she'd be around a bit.  I've been watching the reruns all day and I have to say I like Faina and Kiersten (?) as well. 

[Frozendiva]

I'm still not impressed by anyone either. No real idea who some of the facetestants are.

I wasn't exposed to Dante until university. Some of the contestants are still very young and aren't that well-read or have been exposed to great works of art or have many literary or cultural references. It's not everyone, though. Maybe some need to take an art history course or two and even visit museums online.

Thought Jill would last another week or two. Thought Suspender Guy would be gone, but he lives to see another challenge.

The talent and skill level seems to have seriously dwindled.

[Maelstrom]

Meh.

I'm not all that into demons, and this challenge didn't really do much to change that. I would agree it seems like a better challenge to give closer to the finale, but with this bunch I don't think it really matters one way or another.

Can we give the freaking trophy to Ethereal already and just drop this damn team thing? It's getting painful watching Twisted suffer through each challenge. Not that the contestants in Ethereal are necessarily all that great, but sheesh. Agree with the judges that Kasey's was the best of Twisted, and Andrew's magma-horn demon turned out good enough. I'm still not sure how I feel about Kiersten's giant mouth demon, though. It was clever, but the chest portion didn't read like a mouth to me. It could've helped IMO if she'd used some dark paint in the center of the red to give the impression of depth.

Looks like next week they move Andrew over to Twisted (judging by the shot of the other four members of Ethereal standing there without him). Hope it doesn't drag him down the way Joseph seems to have been dragged down.

This season, I swear.

Quote of the night: "It looks like the night-night sleepytime cow that licks your head and puts you to bed." -Glenn Hetrick, master wordsmith

Edited July 12, 2017 by Maelstrom

[PhoneCop]

2 hours ago, Maelstrom said:

I'm still not sure how I feel about Kiersten's giant mouth demon, though. It was clever, but the chest portion didn't read like a mouth to me. It could've helped IMO if she'd used some dark paint in the center of the red to give the impression of depth.

All of this. I've seen the concept before (Pearl from RuPaul's Drag Race, for one), so I could roll with that, but I'm really surprised the judges gave her the win with an unfinished-looking cavity of flat red and teeth that looked like they'd come straight out of the bag without even a hint of weathering.

[GaT]

So glad Jill is gone, I couldn't stand to listen to her voice any more.

Have they run out of ideas for challenges? It seems like the challenge ideas are really vague this season.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I got so bored during this episode that I started reading a book and just waited for the end of the episode so I could see who won and who lost. I've been watching this show since S1 and this has never happened before. I'm not sure if this season sucks or if this challenge sucked or what. It's only the fourth episode and I'm already bored. I'm just glad that Jill is finally gone.

[SirOsisOfLiver]

Nothing stood out, other than how boring and lacklustre this episode was. I also noted that Andrew wasn't with the group in the preview of next week, so it looks like they're going to beat this team thing to death.

How very sad.

[Rammchick]

None of the demons had any read that told you which Circle of Hell it was from.  And it would've been nice if the name was on the screen when we saw the reveals.  Too bad the offerings were so poor.  Hey, did you know that KC's specialty was horns?  Sheesh.

[Monty9]

Quote

All of this. I've seen the concept before (Pearl from RuPaul's Drag Race, for one), so I could roll with that, but I'm really surprised the judges gave her the win with an unfinished-looking cavity of flat red and teeth that looked like they'd come straight out of the bag without even a hint of weathering.

I think it needed a tongue. But I think it helped hugely that it was the only one that you could figure out what sin the demon was related to.  Throughout the whole reveal I was going" What the he... is that? What? Help me out show! Give me some text at the bottom of this screen."

Suzanne, Suzanne, I DO believe that people should mostly wear what they want and heck with everyone else but you're a grown ass adult woman dressing like a 5 year old.  You are testing my open minded-ness.

Thank God Jill is gone. People can't help their voice and mine is nasally as hell but I was half convinced she would retire to a corner for a nap at any moment.

[Lugal]

This one was not good.  They looked like a bunch of generic demons.  Andrew and a few others on Ethereal did a solid enough application and I appreciate Joseph actually reading the Inferno and trying to take inspiration from it, but to make a lust demon not in any way sexy but more like some kind of rock creature.  Kiersten was the only one who really did any kind of creative thing by making her gluttony demon with a giant mouth.  There is so much the others could have done.

Not surprised Jill was gone, her days were numbered anyway.  She just doesn't have a high skill level.

The team concept just isn't working. Either declare Ethereal the winner since they've won every single challenge or declare Twisted 6-2+1-2 the winner because everyone will have been moved over there.

11 hours ago, Maelstrom said:

Quote of the night: "It looks like the night-night sleepytime cow that licks your head and puts you to bed." -Glenn Hetrick, master wordsmith

Don't forget: "You don't cry from your eyebrows?"

[enoughcats]

Drinking game "So stressed out".  

Too easy to notice and noticing it made it painful to listen to. 

I, for one, do not give a generic demon's last bump if you are stressed or not, if you think you are going to be stressed in the future or not, or if you can even say stressed in two additional languages.  

You've got three days.  It's not as if the days ends at different hours and comes as a surprise each evening.  

In the forgotten words of Tim Gunn, Make it work.

[DEL901]

Faina may not have many decisions as foreperson, but 2 decisions she made were smart:  All demons were to wear the same base robe and the same base skin tone and then they could be custotmized.  It helped tie their work together.

Edited July 12, 2017 by DEL901

[enoughcats]

15 minutes ago, DEL901 said:

 It helped tie their work together.

But the winner of the episode won, in part according to what Glenn (?) said, for using a color palette that was different and it stood out in a good way.  Or was that the runner up?

[RedRockRosie]

12 hours ago, Maelstrom said:

Quote of the night: "It looks like the night-night sleepytime cow that licks your head and puts you to bed." -Glenn Hetrick, master wordsmith

 

What does it say about this episode when the best parts are Glenn Hetrick quotes?

46 minutes ago, Lugal said:

Don't forget: "You don't cry from your eyebrows?"

These both cracked me up.

Demons? What demons...didn't really see any "Demons"...altho Andrew's was kinda cool in a generic demon kinda way.

[Brynnjk]

I didn't watch the show live.  I didn't rush to see who was eliminated.  I didn't care who won.  This is the first season of Faceoff that I just want to be over.  I just want to forget this season exists.  What a trainwreck.  Yea passive aggressive breathy untalented (I"m sorry but seriously) is gone.  Yea someone who steps a little outside the box wins.  What are we rooting for this season?  Who are these people?   Why should we care?  This format takes away our investment in anyone.  

[Mabinogia]

1 hour ago, Lugal said:

Either declare Ethereal the winner since they've won every single challenge or declare Twisted 6-2+1-2 the winner because everyone will have been moved over there.

The only good thing about the team challenge concept is watching Twisted 6-2+1-2's name evolution. LOL. Wait, I shouldn't laugh. I'm serious. That's like the only good thing about it.

 

12 minutes ago, Brynnjk said:

I didn't watch the show live.  I didn't rush to see who was eliminated.  I didn't care who won.

Pretty much sums up the season perfect.

[Thog]

I'm actually still enjoying it, but that may be because I've seen only a few seasons. I do agree that this one suffers from coming right after the All-Stars season.

Jill's voice sounded so much like Julie Benz that I kept expecting her to ask for Dexter. It wasn't the voice so much as the defeatist attitude that bothered me about her.

I love that most of the guys get bleeped when they're frustrated, but suspenders guy shouts "Gee Frickin' Whillikers!" That's my new favorite curse.

Glenn rocks. I've loved him ever since he declared his devotion to his kitty cat, but the nighty-night cow reference just made this episode for me. Is that really a thing? I read tons of bedtime stories to my son when he was little, and never ran across this one. Google doesn't help. If Glenn made that up on the spot, I love him even more.

Those horns were all so beautiful.

[seacliffsal]

I am enjoying the season, but am completely bewildered as to why so many more talented artists were seemingly placed on one team, and weaker artists on the other.  I also don't really understand what the judges expect the "foreperson" to actually do.  Help someone else finish their work and not complete their own?  Discipline the team?  I just don't really get it.  

I am so glad that Jill went home.  When she spoke about possibly quitting, I just couldn't with her anymore.  It also seemed to me that the judges spoke very gently with her when she was eliminated, so I wonder if she had some kind of mini-breakdown that wasn't shown.

[April Bloodgate]

I thought Kiersten's demon looked kind of cartoony. Good concept, but I don't think she completely pulled it off. I agree with those above who noted that it needed the illusion of depth.

[sourpickles]

I'm going to be either the voice of dissention, or the voice of hope this week, but I actually enjoyed this episode more than I have any other one this season.  I get not knowing/caring about who is still here (or had been) but this epi to me showed a lot of promise talent wise.  I felt like there was a small breakthrough in communication and the ultimate product.  Or maybe I'm hopelessly optimistic.  I would like to think we've hit a turning point here, cause I hate to think of the alternative. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

I appreciate Joseph actually reading the Inferno and trying to take inspiration from it

I totally appreciate that he wanted to use the source material and I loved that he had his team read the text. I just wish that had translated into more interesting demons. 

Quote

Jill's voice sounded so much like Julie Benz that I kept expecting her to ask for Dexter. It wasn't the voice so much as the defeatist attitude that bothered me about her.

For me, it was a tossup between Julie Benz (who played Darla the vampire on Buffy/Angel, both of which featured hell demons) and Joey Lauren Adams (who was in Clerks which has nine scene breaks which signify the nine levels of hell in Dante's Inferno). I kept waiting for her to breathe "Angel" in that Darla way. But yes, it was Jill's hangdog attitude that annoyed me, not her voice. 

[sourpickles]

I'm not a big fan of defeatists (MEL).  I spent all day watching that season, which was not a great leadup to the reruns of this one.  I've seen the more recent seasons of Rob, Norah, Rasheed, and Dina lately.  They need to admit that better seasons have happened, and for the love of gravy, change the opening credits.  I DID think this week was an improvement, though I was shocked at the team member who went home.  The Gherkin is now watching again as well, and I kept telling him......team that has more is going to have someone go.........I was stunned when it turned out the way it did. 

[Chyromaniac]

3 hours ago, sourpickles said:

I'm going to be either the voice of dissention, or the voice of hope this week, but I actually enjoyed this episode more than I have any other one this season.  I get not knowing/caring about who is still here (or had been) but this epi to me showed a lot of promise talent wise.  I felt like there was a small breakthrough in communication and the ultimate product.

At the very least, everyone made their own demon.  That alone makes this episode a step up from weeks 1-3.  I also think that Jill was (hopefully) the last contestant that really had no business being on the show - everyone else seems at least... competent?

4 hours ago, April Bloodgate said:

I thought Kiersten's demon looked kind of cartoony. Good concept, but I don't think she completely pulled it off. I agree with those above who noted that it needed the illusion of depth.

I don't mind her win because I thought she applied her makeup really well (especially considering the sizing issues she had) - but cartoony is an apt description.  To me her demon looked a bit like the mascot for a satanic basketball team.

[Black Knight]

Kiersten's model helped camouflage the lack of depth with the body rolls he (or she? I don't remember) did. Like the judges, I was just appreciative that she didn't go for the obvious choices and yet the sin of her demon was still clear.

I actually liked this episode the best so far, because at least everyone had their own creation to work on and the instructions allowed for more variation between the individual designs.

KC scored a lot of points with me for continuing with an honored Face Off trend of helping competitors - she didn't have to show the other team how to do skullcaps for horns. The constant reiteration of the show about how she knows how to do horns overshadowed what I really would have liked to have heard more of, which is how she managed to do the best look of her team, considering that her situation was not good going in - the only one who had to have her mold run the day of, and then the mold turned out all shredded despite Andrew's best efforts (I'd hate to see what his worst efforts would result in!). That speaks to her having some talent, and in more areas than just proper horn affixing.

[LittleIggy]

Sorry but I thought Horn expert was stupid to give the other team a tutorial on her method for horn affixing. It's one thing to help others, which is great, but to hand the other team a possible advantage is ridiculous. Her team foreman called it a "secret weapon." So much for that.

Anyway, once again I was underwhelmed. I agree that there should have been a caption for each demon at the reveal. Accept for Gluttony, I couldn't tell who was what. I guessed who was Greed based on its props only. Can't anyone do beauty makeup? Lust and Treachery could have been sexy. Yes, Glenn cracked me up with the nighty-night cow, too.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Even though I found this episode dull, I agree that FINALLY we got a challenge where each contestant was responsible for their own look. More of that, please. Mr. Westmoreland made a comment about the cow not being scary either during his time in the workroom, so you'd think that would have been a big enough hint to make some major changes, but apparently not since we ended up with night night sleepytime cow. When will these kids learn? ALWAYS LISTEN TO MR. WESTMORELAND.

[Mabinogia]

So, watched this last night. Um....

Really, didn't leave much of an impression. The winning look was my favorite and possibly the only one I actually liked. Based off the fact she'd always been on a team I didn't know she had that in her. I thought it was something like Tim Burton's version of Dante's Inferno. That is not a complaint, at all. I like that she went a different direction than the rest since I don't give a rats ass about the "cohesion" they keep wanting from the teams. If she had been cohesive with the team we wouldn't have gotten that pretty cool character.

Glad The Voice is gone. I am sure she is a lovely, talented lady, but OMG that stoner voice of hers was driving me up a wall.

Other than the winning look and the fact there was some kind of cow like thing, and there was a red one, there was a red demon I think...the rest made absolutely no impression on me at all.

I know that the odds of ever getting another flocked ballerina level character is slim but this group is so uninspiring. If they have exhausted the effects makeup pool or applicants, then rather than taking the show into a more competitive typical reality show, why not veer more towards a mentor type show. Have a "master class" where a pro demonstrates some amazing technique, then present a challenge that uses that technique somehow. IDK, I just won't last long watching mediocre talent facing more and more restrictive challenges.

[diebartdie]

I found it really odd that almost all the sculptures looked really cool but the final products all looked either boring, goofy or terrible. I didnt understand how a stone faced demon was supposed to represent wind (ive never heard of wind = lust either). I was baffled when suspender boy's face mask did not fit his model at all, like he made that face for a different person all together, so weird? Finally, Jill. WTF. Everything about her creation was terrible, every bit of it. It made no sense, it was ugly but not deliberately so, it was blandly colored, that giant ridge at the top made it look like a fake mask I didnt understand what she was trying to go for with that. Tell you what though, it was so good to finally see individual creations.

[sourpickles]

Someone mentioned the reference point of Dante's Inferno.  I'll say straight out, I'm old, but by the time I was in high school (early 90's) we did not have that as reading, unless it was in the advanced classes.  I got The Scarlet Letter and Great Gatsby and the like.  Howevah.  I'm assuming that if you are in the industry and sculpting any type of demon, you should have a jumping off type. 

[lilwhitelion]

I got the impression Joseph was smart in being really kind to Jill as Jill was sculpting her face, although he mentioned he was stressed that she was being so slow that she wouldn't be able to get it molded that night.  I think her knew that he should just let her do her own thing (he didn't give her any suggestions about changing how it was looking), and she would be eliminated (finally).  I agree with everyone that there should have been labels when the works were revealed.   Although gluttony wasn't my favorite, I did know what sin it represented when revealed.  Hoping Andrew does well - he's from my hometown of Glendora, a smallish city east of LA, along the San Gabriel mountain range.  I left Glendora for college on my 18th birthday, have fond memories of the town but am glad I moved.

[SirOsisOfLiver]

Since I went to high school in the early 70's, I must be REALLY old, but I never studied Dante's Inferno in school either.

[sourpickles]

55 minutes ago, SirOsisOfLiver said:

Since I went to high school in the early 70's, I must be REALLY old, but I never studied Dante's Inferno in school either.

Ya'll didn't have to, walking uphill in the snow both ways and all that.  Plus dodging dinosaurs ;).

[qtpye]

On 7/11/2017 at 10:11 PM, Linderhill said:

finally!  Miss Passive/Aggressive, low-speaker is gone!  

Yes, last week she really gave a fudge about the team and just wanted to do things her way.  Here again, someone told her to make the cowl higher for the horns and she did not listen.  The person just disgustedly walked away, instead of trying to help her (like they usually do on this show)

I am hoping I am not confusing her with someone else because no one has really been memorable.  I still do not remember the names.

On 7/12/2017 at 4:44 PM, April Bloodgate said:

I thought Kiersten's demon looked kind of cartoony. Good concept, but I don't think she completely pulled it off. I agree with those above who noted that it needed the illusion of depth.

I love that she thought outside the box, but I really was not that impressed with the result.

15 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Even though I found this episode dull, I agree that FINALLY we got a challenge where each contestant was responsible for their own look. More of that, please. Mr. Westmoreland made a comment about the cow not being scary either during his time in the workroom, so you'd think that would have been a big enough hint to make some major changes, but apparently not since we ended up with night night sleepytime cow. When will these kids learn? ALWAYS LISTEN TO MR. WESTMORELAND.

It really just looked like a goofy calf with pink eye.

[enoughcats]

1 hour ago, sourpickles said:

I never studied Dante's Inferno in school either.

Back in the olde days, we weren't allowed to say Hell, much less study it.

[Richness]

Thank goodness Jill is gone. If I had to endure her breathy talking heads much more, I was going to scream. I was afraid she was turning into this season's cockroach contestant that refuses to die no matter what you throw at it it. I really like lilwhitelion's idea that Joseph let Jill hang herself after seeing how doing the opposite got Nick eliminated last time.

 

Otherwise, Twisted Failure continues its death spiral. I haven't seen such epic team failure since Ulong dwindled down to one on Survivor: Palau. (Yes, I looked that up.)  However, I'm glad it was Jill that went home instead of Phil. He may not be much better, but he's adorable in a mascot sidekick sort of way.  Unfortunately, that cow demon was about as violent and scary as a Mr. Rogers Neighborhood puppet.

 

Kierstin definitely won for her concept, and not for her execution. I thought the paint job was bland, and the face looked like a Halloween mask. I really wish she had placed some sclera contacts to cover her model's eyes. At the very lease, put a partially transparent something to hide the human eyes. It also seemed to be an emaciated version of Fullmetal Alchemist's Gluttony. 

 

Not that I thought Andrew's was all that and a bag of chips. Of course Neville would put that demon on camera. To me, it screamed vampire face from the Buffy and Angel TV shows, but with Neville's horns.

[Kaoteek]

Uh. I forgot to watch this week's episode until just now. Shows how much i'm enjoying this season, really.

Anyway... it wasn't a total disaster, the right person left, and some of those creations were okay, but.... overall, meh.

The show better be planning something big next season, cos right now, i'm afraid I'll forget to watch next week, once again.

[ratgirlagogo]

On 7/13/2017 at 1:10 PM, diebartdie said:

I didnt understand how a stone faced demon was supposed to represent wind (ive never heard of wind = lust either). 

Paolo and Francesca, condemned (or rewarded?) to embrace each other forever in the whirlwind, maybe the most sympathetic sinners in all of Dante, subject of many romantic treatments in art, poetry,  theatre,  and music over the years:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesca_da_Rimini

except that Joseph's makeup looked like an unhappy tree.    

On 7/13/2017 at 3:21 PM, SirOsisOfLiver said:

I never studied Dante's Inferno in school either.

I don't think it was important that anyone really knew anything more than the bare outlines of it.  You're designing a demon, and that demon deals with a particular sin.  That's it.   I liked Kirsten's because I could easily see what sin it represented.  Phil's was a failure partially because he worked  too MUCH from the text, trying to include so many of the symbolic metaphors for Violence that you would have needed footnotes to get what he was doing.  I guess Andrew's was well done but I don't even remember what sin it was, and also it looked like a demonic version of his own face.
 

 

On 7/13/2017 at 0:44 AM, LittleIggy said:

Sorry but I thought Horn expert was stupid to give the other team a tutorial on her method for horn affixing. It's one thing to help others, which is great, but to hand the other team a possible advantage is ridiculous. Her team foreman called it a "secret weapon." So much for that.

It's only a useful weapon if people pay attention to what you tell them. Jill, as we saw, did not - her horns wouldn't stay on because she didn't position them facing upwards the way KC had told her - in fact when she asked KC for help she told KC she didn't even remember that instruction.   I'm glad KC helped everyone - I like that this show isn't about "secret weapons" but about hard work and talent.

Not that I'm also not finding this season a little weak, but I still prefer it to other talent shows.

Edited July 15, 2017 by ratgirlagogo

[lilwhitelion]

I think KC was smart to help the other team.  She is showing future employers the skills she possesses, and that she is a good person to have on a team creating characters.

[mlp]

I finally got around to watching this episode last night and realized I barely remembered most of the contestants after 10 days.  That told me a lot because I'd never have forgotten Cig and George or many others from better seasons, even now several years later.  

The demons were so bad that I couldn't tell what they represented just by looking at them.  I thought I had the one with a cross on his forehead identified as Heresy but I was even wrong about that.  I sort of liked Gluttony's face from the nose up but the rest of it looked to me like a bib with teeth.  The judges seemed to like it or they felt they had to praise somebody.

Producers need to stop trying to fix things that ain't broke.  [See GBBO]

[AAEBoiler]

On 7/12/2017 at 5:56 PM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Quote

Jill's voice sounded so much like Julie Benz that I kept expecting her to ask for Dexter. It wasn't the voice so much as the defeatist attitude that bothered me about her.

For me, it was a tossup between Julie Benz (who played Darla the vampire on Buffy/Angel, both of which featured hell demons) and Joey Lauren Adams (who was in Clerks which has nine scene breaks which signify the nine levels of hell in Dante's Inferno). I kept waiting for her to breathe "Angel" in that Darla way. But yes, it was Jill's hangdog attitude that annoyed me, not her voice. 

She always sounded like Jennifer Tilly (Bound, Bonnie Swanson - Joe's wife on Family Guy, etc.) to me.

[Rammchick]

I wasn't sure where to put this -- here's a new interview with Glenn.  Did we know he got married in May?   http://www.inquisitr.com/4376243/exclusive-interview-with-glenn-hetrick-judge-from-syfys-face-off-on-work-life-weddings-star-trek/

[enoughcats]

1 hour ago, Rammchick said:

I wasn't sure where to put this -- here's a new interview with Glenn.  Did we know he got married in May?   http://www.inquisitr.com/4376243/exclusive-interview-with-glenn-hetrick-judge-from-syfys-face-off-on-work-life-weddings-star-trek/

Great interview, thank you for posting that.  It even has pictures of some of his cats and their multiple names.

[sourpickles]

I did NOT know that, and now I have to take him off my list.  Good to know his hair stood up for him at the ceremony.  No, seriously, love him, glad he's happy and all, congrats all the way.  She looks great, and I hope they have a lovely life together.

[Rammchick]

There's also an interview I ran across at Inked magazine about his tats.  I was having a hard time with the computer yesterday, but I'll try to find it again.  Very cool piece on him as well.

I loved finding out how silly he is!

[eurekagirl mOo]

My poor, poor, Face Off....What have they done to you? Crappy make up, don't know one contestant from another, reality tv hysteria, reduced times to do things........CRAP is what this season is....Pure, Unadulterated, crap.