Project Runway: A Difficult Week

Tim Gunn sure earned his paycheck last night.

I don’t know about you, but to me it feels like the beloved “Project Runway” mentor hasn’t been as much of a factor this season. (Except for when Emilio is dissing him.) That’s why it was a weird pleasure to see him so much last night, even if he spent most of his screen time solemnly/gleefully announcing the departures/returns of designers/models.

If you watched any of the promos or have an Internet connection, you probably knew one of the designers was walking away from the competition. The reveal came relatively early in the episode, and the producers did little to hide the identity of the person who was leaving. In fact, they went WAY overboard with the dramatic music and close-up shots of Maya’s empty station, which actually made it seem like she’d been abducted on her way to Parsons.

So Maya Luz — the designer who never found herself in the bottom on the runway — was walking away because she didn’t feel like she was ready or that her point-of-view was as developed as it needed to be. (Cue Nina Garcia telling Maya a few weeks ago that her work was too “referential” of other designers.) This was a big surprise (unlike sleepy Daryl Strawberry walking away from “The Celebrity Apprentice” earlier this week). I wonder if winning a challenge (she came close a few times) during a stint on the show would’ve given her more confidence and caused her to stay.

Maya also cited the inherent pressure and stress from the competition. I actually think this is the sneakiest, most underrated part of “Project Runway” — it’s probably the most stressful reality competition there is. On top of that, it seems (I don’t have official stats in front of me) that the designers have been banging out more one-day challenges than ever this season. Seth Aaron echoed this sentiment in his defense of Maya by telling people, “Don’t judge” and “F--- off!” (Emilio “Mr. Sunshine” Sosa, on the other hand, said it was a copout.)

As a result, I’m bummed to see Maya go from the perspective that she had Top 3 talent/potential, but I won’t miss her terribly from the perspective that she wasn’t an incredibly compelling television character. Speaking of compelling television characters, Maya’s exit opened the door for the return of Anthony, who returned with a triumphant cry of “Here she is, boys!”

Anthony had some catching up to do because he was behind on the challenge, which was to create a red carpet look for an “opinionated” and “difficult” mystery celebrity. I was actually a little mad at myself or not figuring out that it would be Heidi.

During her visit in the workroom (it was weird seeing her there), Heidi particularly took issue with Seth Aaron’s dress (too simple), Jonathan’s painstakingly-made original fabric (which she compared to curtains — I thought it looked more like a couch) and Jay Nicolas’ butt-enhancing outfit (I had more of an issue that it was too short/edgy to be a red carpet look). Oh well, at least Jay Nicolas got a close and personal look at Heidi’s boobs when she insisted on showing him there was no space between them (though I doubt that sight really did much for Jay.)

Not surprisingly, those three joined Mila’s dress (the boobs, which everyone knows Heidi is obsessed with, were going in opposite directions) in an unofficial bottom 4.

That meant the top two were Emilio (who created the most conventional red carpet look, which also happened to be the most beautiful) and Anthony (who created a gown that moved fantastically, but had a color palette that reminded me of Two-Face’s suit from “Batman: The Animated Series.”) Emilio picked up his third straight win (his head is in danger of exploding very soon if they keep feeding his ego) and Anthony got to share in the glory because guest judge Jessica Alba (pictured, with Heidi Klum) adored his dress.

As for the people in the bottom, Seth Aaron and his funereal dress were spared first, followed by Mila, who inexplicably continues to doge the bottom two.

That left things between Jay Nicolas, whose outfit was more misguided than horrible and Jonathan, whose outfit was misguided AND horrible. Jonathan had freaked out after his consult with Heidi and abandoned his original fabric to create a second dress. When that didn’t work out, he created a THIRD dress from the remnants of the discarded second dress. It worked out about as well as you’d expect it to.

I did have to chuckle at Jonathan’s reasoning that the judges had been slamming his taste recently, so why not create something he thought was ugly. Unfortunately, it was simply Jonathan’s time to go. The bright side is he won’t have to endure any more of Michael Kors’ withering putdowns.

So what’d you think of this episode? Is Maya quitting really a copout? When did Seth Aaron become my favorite person on the show? (Even when his model left the competition, he just rolled with it) Finally, was Michael Kors right when he said that “no woman on the planet” wants dress or a piece of clothing that emphasizes her butt? (One word: Kardashian.)