Project Runway: There's No I in Team
October 15, 2016 9:18 AM - Season 15, Episode 5 - Subscribe

The season's first team challenge brings out the best in everyone. With extra prizes from Mary Kay and a new 'investment' gimmick swiped from Shark Tank.
posted by bq (13 comments total)
 
I was wondering about the swimwear challenge and why Granny Stripper didn't get Jenni sent home....then she laughed and I was like, ooooh, saved by the producers.

It was great to see people being nice to each other.

I wish they weren't doing so many one day challenges though. It's too rushed.

I bet Dexter's rapport with the MK guy tipped him over the top to win the challenge and get the MK spread.

here's the I in team
posted by bq at 9:23 AM on October 15, 2016


I wonder if Tim will us his save on Alex?
posted by bq at 9:24 AM on October 15, 2016


Okay, my feed cut out in the last few minutes so I don't know who went home from the losing team, I assume it's Alex. (On preview I see that I missed the winner as well.)

I think the single biggest factor in their loss was their awful color scheme and that metallic fabric in particular; Alex's model looked like someone from the 80s. They thought they would win with all the tricky seaming but it just looked overdone.

The winning team (Laurent's jacket, yum) just looked so much livelier with the neon yellow, a color virtually no one wants to wear but which does say: au courant. Pairing it with mauve mohair should've been a disaster but it looked more like beige on my screen and I've seen neutral beige work very well with brights.

Nina was being disingenuous asking, whose idea was it to put the appliqués on the garment. Jeez.

Don't know who the guest judge was; they really need to cut out these random choices.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 9:34 AM on October 15, 2016


It's too early in the season for Tim to pull out the save card. I'm not sure what the "rules" are about how late in the game he can bring back a contestant.

While I agree that Team Unity didn't really follow their pitch outline (and I put that squarely on the judges' shoulders--they said they didn't like the collection and it was too boring and the space was too crowded, so the team did gigantic pivot.) I think the members made a more cohesive collection. I don't think they deserved the loss. I'm not saying there weren't bad pieces in the collection (there absolutely were) but I think there were an equal number of bad pieces in the other one. (I really disliked that yellow coat.)

The more I watch this show the more ticked off I am with the way the challenges are run. Okay, if this was the Mary Kay challenge, then why didn't Mary Kay give the teams a brief of what it wanted as a client? And why wasn't somebody from Mary Kay on the "investors" panel and/or on the judges' panel? (I have no idea who the "celebrity" judge was. She was a bit better than the guy from last week, but I didn't feel she added anything or provided a unique perspective.)
posted by sardonyx at 9:34 AM on October 15, 2016


We thought this episode stank of producer interference. I couldn't believe Alex's team didn't win, particularly given how much less money they were given. I did think they were a classy group on the runway, though.
posted by wittgenstein at 11:07 AM on October 15, 2016


Jenni and Brik dodged a bullet this week. I didn't like Alex at the start, but I warmed to him this week. I, too, wonder if Tim will use his save on Alex, given that this was the first week I can recall it being mentioned.

I think the 'right' team won, because the losing team's looks didn't meet their stated brief at all - and Alex's dress wasn't good. I'm really glad Mah-Jing's work was praised by the judges. I'd wondered, from the edit at the start, if the others might have thrown him under the bus (wrong again, they turned out to be honourable in defeat).

I'm also glad we found out the backstory to Mah-Jing's name. I'd been wondering.
posted by essexjan at 11:23 AM on October 15, 2016


Alex's dress looks kindof like the one Heidi is wearing on the Project Runway promo photo
posted by likeatoaster at 2:04 PM on October 15, 2016


It was just nuts to see most of the members of Team Unity to say they were the weak link and perhaps they should go home. My inside source (final contestants at airport bar) hinted that it's a total mind-duck but that's extreme. How many contestants in the entire series said they were responsible for a losing team challenge? Like 2, maybe?
posted by Lil Bit of Pepper at 9:16 PM on October 15, 2016


I was sort of wondering if the rest of the contestants didn't just follow suit after the first person said they should go home. It seemed like only Mah-Jing was brave enough to say that Alex was most responsible, maybe because they weren't super close to begin with.

I don't understand how the Tim Gunn save works. I thought he had to save them right then and there but now it sounds like he can bring them back later? Or just the very next episode?
posted by bobobox at 6:11 AM on October 16, 2016 [1 favorite]


Hasn't it happened both ways? He pardons someone on the spot, ie in the backstage room during the goodbye hugs (Justin) and at the beginning of the next episode (Char). I am inclined to think it's too early to use it.

Also, I believe Heidi mentioned the TGS during the judging in the second? third? episode.

The mass self incrimination is a first but I put it down stress and lack of sleep and that Alex's team was primarily his roommates who seem to have bonded with each other. In previous seasons, designers who fell on their sword were chastised for not having confidence in their work, for not being able to sell their idea to the judges. Eh, it can go either way.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 7:58 AM on October 16, 2016


Final looks here
posted by TWinbrook8 at 2:50 PM on October 16, 2016


Yeah, the save was first mentioned last week. I remember cause this is my first season watching Runway, and after Heidi mentioned it I basically turned to my (long-time fan) girlfriend and said "wait, that's a thing?"

I can very much get why Dexter won, though I kinda wish it had gone to Laurent (oh man that jacket). Sad to see Runway Dad Alex go, though.
posted by Itaxpica at 10:47 PM on October 16, 2016


I'm also glad we found out the backstory to Mah-Jing's name. I'd been wondering.

Explain? I've watched it twice now and didn't catch this tidbit.
posted by chainsofreedom at 6:32 PM on October 21, 2016


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