Face Off 07x02 - American Gangster

SPOILERS


Okay, so we get to our first 'real' episode.  The 14 people who get to stay in the house are properly stoked about how awesome it is.  I wouldn't want to know the person who stuck their nose up at that house.  It's so awesome.  This is the first time too that I think we've seen a really good shot of the kitchen - it's really awesome.  I watch a lot of shows like Love It Or List It and The Property Brothers, so cool kitchens are becoming something I love seeing.  Even though I don't cook.  I CAN cook.  I just really don't like doing it.  I'm sooooo not domestic.

Anyway, after a mass jump into the pool fully clothed, we go to the next day and the gang is at Universal Studios on their 1920's New York street, complete with awesome vintage cars.  McKenzie's standing next to what looks like a mini open-air market, and nobody gets it.  Turns out, it's a Dick Tracy kinda challenge, where they'll use the colorful nicknames of old timey gangsters to create some over-the-top Dick Tracy gangster.  That's a pretty cool challenge, especially considering some of the weird items that McKenzie is standing next to.  I'd hate to be the badass crime boss whose nickname was Bananas.  "You're gonna be sleeping with the bananas" just doesn't have the same ring.

So, they get paired off and choose items representing nicknames.  Gwen and Drew choose the shark jaw.  Rachel and Vince choose the old fashioned typewriter.  Doc and Stella choose needles.  Barry and Sasha choose the clock (which will become a big issue later on).  George and Cig choose the giant plastic (at least I hope, or else it would REEK) tuna.  My girl Dina and Jason choose peanuts - another stupid nickname that I totally wouldn't want as a gangster.  Keaghlan and Damian choose the truck.  I'm gonna be confusing Drew and Damian up for a couple more weeks, I think.  They look kind of alike and their names both start with D.

Right off the bat, Barry and Sasha are having issues, since Barry wants to go a bit more obscure and make a rat, since their Tick-Tock Tannenbaum dude was a rat who snitched out other gangsters when he got arrested.  But, they're not really embracing the challenge.  Sasha really wants to make essentially Cogsworth from Beauty And The Beast, and her concept isn't 'gangster' enough for Barry, but he's going to have that thought bite him in the ass.

The drawing for the shark guy looks AWESOME, and I can't wait to see that one.  It's so totally Dick Tracy, and also even has a Batman villain vibe to it.  And I LOVE LOVE LOVE the concept that Vince and Rachel have for The Typewriter.  He's also very much in the vibe of a Batman villain (Zsasz to be exact), where he has the names of his victims typewritten into his flesh, and his brass knuckles are keys from a typewriter!  I'm pretty worried for my babe Dina - they're doing a Mr. Peanut type looking head.

Sasha and Barry are in more trouble because Michael Westmore is like 'WTF' when he finds out that they don't have anything to do with the clock.  Sasha just wanted to work well in a team and trusted Barry - big mistake.  It never works out when one partner just rolls over and dies on a concept if they're not on board with it.

Oh good, the stupid molding speed-up.  Hopefully that's the only time we'll see it this season.  I mean, I get it if this is the first time you're seeing Face Off, but there are some seasons where they show it all the damn time.  They also kind of have new background music that REALLY reminds me of Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes.  In Day 2, there's lots of molding happening, and Dina and Jason are in trouble with a locked and cracking mold.  We also see the first example of the awesome teamwork that I love on this show.  Vince and Rachel have to clean their mold out with not much time left, and since they're The Typewriter team, their mold would be very hard to clean out with all the lettering, so everyone in the lab is helping them clean it out in time.  I so, so, so love it about this show.

In application and last looks, Rachel and Vince feel really far behind, and Doc and Stella - who are doing Needles - are having issues with their cowl edge.  Stella decides to cut it and just make a hard line, but it ends up looking wonky, and she admits to 'screwing the pooch' on it.  Dina and Jason's peanut has serious issues with air pockets and bad edges and such, so they're kinda in trouble.

On the reveal stage, I love the shark and tuna dudes.  McKenzie also lets them know that the judges' immunity feature is back, which is good.  We probably won't see it until much later on though, because the judges would want to know who deserves it over time.  I also like the oxidized, rusted paint job on Keaghlan and Damian's mack truck dude.  Sasha and Barry's paint job looks awful, and you do not get 'bomb damage' from it AT ALL.  The Peanut is bad - none of the skintones match, and I'm worried for Dina.  It would suck if my choice for this year went out in the first week.  With Stella and Doc's hard edge - it actually kind of looks cool, like a stylized hair line.

Keaghlan and Damian (I typed Drew and had to change it - that's gonna happen to me a few times I think), and Gwen and Drew are safe.  Lame that the shark guy isn't in the top.  I liked him much better than the Needles dude.  Needles is a top look, but they have issues with it, so it's kind of a weird choice.  Not saying that it sucks, but it's kind of a polarizing top look.  Cig and George get high praise for their Big Tuna, rightly so.  They worked really good together, and it shows.  He's the 'catch of the day', according to Lois.  Rachel and Vince are also on the top with The Typewriter.  The judges comment on the flat-ish paint job, but they LOVE the concept.

Now for the bottom looks - of course, Barry and Sasha with their rat.  They hate the concept, but love the bomb.  Dina and Jason also get ripped up for their different skintones and how it looks like Mr. Peanut.

Cig and George are the one true top look, and Cig wins because he was the one who did the fat suit, which distributed the weight below the face perfectly.  Cig is the winner.  Then, we have Barry, Sasha, Dina, and Jason on the bottom.  Nooooo, not Dina!  When I was watching it live, I guessed that Barry would be going home because it was his concept that veered so away from the challenge.  And I was right!  Barry is going home.  It always sucks to be eliminated so early, since you don't get a chance to show your work.