America's Next Top Recap: And the Winner Is...

The cycle 16 finale of “America’s Next Top Model” was billed as an epic face-off between the Trailer Park Girl and the Adopted Wonder.

Well, no it wasn’t…it just seemed that way because Brittani and Molly were forced to talk about their struggles more often than usual to fill time during the final episode of the season.

I didn’t get a chance to see this episode until a few days after the winner had been crowned — and after dutifully avoiding spoilers — but I don’t think anybody needed THAT many reminders of Brittani’s humble trailer park beginnings or the fact that Molly is adopted. (Followed by her saying is the cause of her abandonment issues.)

It’s just a shame because I think this was the strongest and most closely-contested final two in recent memory. The Editorial-Looking Girl Who Cries Too Much vs. Ms. Scowl-a-Lot Who Takes Great Pictures.

This finale followed the familiar structure of “Top Model” finales: a Cover girl commercial shoot and beauty shot, the magazine photo shoot for the winner (in this case for Vogue Italia), a ridiculous runway show, a cameo from the previous cycle’s winner (hi, Ann!) and a visit from the finalists’ families.

Well, the visit from the finalists’ families wasn’t exactly business as usual. Molly’s beloved, adorable adopted parents made the trip to Morocco, but Brittani’s agoraphobic mom — who had also undergone a recent back surgery — understandably couldn’t make it. Personally, I feel if Brittani’s mom couldn’t make the trip (and they couldn’t get a sibling or a boyfriend or a dog or ANYONE) that Molly’s parents shouldn’t have been there. Brittani, to her credit, put on a brave face, but that was borderline cruel. (And a Skype conversation with her mom IS not the same thing.)

Fortunately for Molly, the visit from her parents seemed to re-energize her after getting off to a slow, scowl-y start.

Both girls seemed to do equally as bad in their commercial shoot. Brittani seemed to be excitedly reading a laundry list from hell, while Molly couldn’t figure out what to do with her hands. The difference is that Brittani was expecting to do poorly since she’s struggled in front of the camera this season, so Molly blew a great chance to gain an advantage.

More importantly, she seemingly carried her disappointment from the commercial shoot to the Vogue Italia photo shoot where the photographers pointed out how sad and tired she looked. (They didn’t know that’s just how her face looks most of the time.)

The boost from her parents carried over to the final, Vivienne Westwood fashion show, which also featured the eliminated models from this season who were still hanging around Morocco. In fact, it may have put too much of a bounce in their step because one of the things the panel didn’t like about her runway walk was that it was too bouncy.

Brittani had the superior walk, but broke character by laughing when she was engaged in a pose-off with Molly. (Me? I don’t think laughing at the ridiculousness of this show is the worst thing in the world.)

In fact, Brittani breaking character seemed to be a MUCH bigger issue with the panel than the fact that Brittani slipped on some rose petals near the end of the show and took a disastrous spill! Of course, a big part of the reason they let it slide is because Molly got back up and returned for the end of the show with a big smile on her face, despite suffering a painful ankle injury.

The panel saw the debut of the Cover Girl commercial (Brittani’s overly excitable spot defeated Molly’s mean girl vibe) and print ad (I liked Molly’s classic shot better than Brittani, who looked startled as two hands groped at her face, except that they were her own hands). It also saw the debut of two fantastic, sleek new haircuts for both Brittani and Molly. (Molly was probably just happy that awful weave didn’t come back.)

Although Molly had better pictures over the course of the season, Brittani appeared to win the judges over mostly with her versatility and a little bit with her personal story.

I’ve been pulling for Brittani this season (even during her Alexandria-induced meltdown), so I was delighted. Meanwhile, Molly decided to wait until she lost to unleash her good-natured sense of humor for the first time in weeks. Hearing her say that she couldn’t wait to go home, take a nap and eat a pulled pork sandwich was the most likable thing she’s done outside of modeling in about a month.

So what’d you think of this episode? Did the show do the right thing by flying in Molly’s family and flying in no one for Brittani? Why would the show chop Molly’s hair off if they weren’t intending to give her modeling work? Finally, do you think the right person won?

Thanks again for watching this crazy show along with me. See you in the fall for the All-Star cycle!