SPOILERS
Okay, so here we go onto the next day. We start with a foundation challenge, and it's about superheroes. The lab is set up like the Fortress of Solitude. The dude who got an Oscar nod for Hellboy 2 is going to be a guest judge for this challenge, and lets the artists know that they have to create a makeup that's inspired BY the costume. And of course, immunity is on the line. Everyone then makes the crazy-ass mad dash to the prosthetics bin to find stuff they can use for their characters. Cig starts creating INTENSITRON, part man, part machine, alllll intensity. I don't know if the model is laughing with him at this description, or rolling his eyes. He's just kind of shaking his head. So he either thinks it's funny, or that Cig is a giant douche.
Vincent is working on my fave of the male models (Matt W. is his name. Yes, I freeze frame to find out the models' names from the life cast shelf. Shut up), who was wearing a purple costume with a hood. He's creating a layered makeup from pale to purple to black going up to the forehead. It looks REALLY awesome. So does Rachel's. She has a woman in a black leather kind of get-up with a gold choker, and is doing an alien assassin. It's a close one, but Rachel wins the immunity.
So, the next day, the lab is transformed again, where McKenzie gets to share the stage with six monitors and a giant tree. Since there's a tree in the lab, and the episode is titled Twisted Trees, that leads me to believe that they're going to be doing....
Or maybe trees. It could go either way. And... totally trees. Six different species of trees show up on the monitors - Giant Sequoia, White Birch, Bristlecone Pine, Silk Floss, Weeping Willow, and the Banyan tree. It's a team challenge where they get to pick their partners. Doc and Jason pick each other, and they've both been bottom feeders so far this season. Doc says that they'll combine their forces of being terrible into something awesome, which is hilarious and very self-aware.
And, then McKenzie fucks with their minds. She's so sadistic. Now she tells them, after each team has chosen a tree, that each of their trees is also afflicted with a malady that is common to trees, and are either evil or angry. I think that trees would definitely be angry if they became sentient. They'd have every reason in the world to hate humans as much as I'm sure every other species in the world hates us. Doc and Jason, who took the Bristlecone Pine, get Lightning Strikes as their malady. I don't know if I'd call that a 'malady' though. It's not a sickness, it's an act of nature. But whatever. Cig and Drew have the Weeping Willow, and it's infested with bugs. Dina and Rachel I think get the easiest malady to convey with their Banyan tree, which is fungus. Vince and Damien get rot for their Giant Sequoia. Vince immediately says Zombie Tree. Sasha and Stella have the White Birch, and they have burls, which are tumor-like growths that trees get. And George and Keaghlan get choking vines on their Silk Floss tree.
Rachel and Dina decide to add an aspect of twisting to their tree, but when Mr. Westmore comes around to mentor, he's so not digging it. He points out that it doesn't look like their tree at all, and actually doesn't look much like a tree at all. It looks more like fire or vines. So, they're pretty bummed and have to start from scratch, which can work out great, or be a huge disaster. It's more the latter, and I'm worried for Dina, since she's the person I chose to win. But... to be honest, I never choose the winner, except for Laura in Season 5. Right now I'm kind of wishing I'd chosen Stella. And Rachel has immunity, so that's even more troubling for Dina. Doc and Jason haven't really gone far enough according to Mr. Westmore, and he tells a couple teams that their faces are too human and to maybe change that up a little bit.
George and Keaghlan's tree is very feminine, so they decide to make a skirt out of latex using a 'gang mold', which is a flat mold that you can brush latex over. The Silk Floss has thorns on its trunk, so they bring that concept into the latex skirt. They're talking about anything else pressing that needs to be done before Keaghlan works on the flowers. George says just dance, and they both awesomely bust out into a mini-dance. Yes, sometimes you need to stop life and just fucking dance. I also notice this season that they have a skeleton in the lab. If it was ever there before, it was never shown. I watch all the episodes multiple times, so I'm thinking this is a new thing - and about time! I know they have Grey's Anatomy copies in the lab, but having a 3D model can really help get that anatomy down.
Cig and Drew now have to open their body mold, and it starts REALLY cracking, so they might be in some trouble. 'What the fuck happened to it?' kind of becomes this team's theme throughout the rest of the episode. And Doc's also having big issues. He tries to open the arm molds, and they're breaking. They have no arms, and that was Doc's thing, so he's kind of in huge trouble right now.
On application day, Doc and Jason looked like they were in huge shit, but things start coming together for them, and they're just as surprised as everyone else. Stella and Sasha are pretty excited about their tree. Things go pretty well for all teams, but Last Looks is where everything can fall apart. Vince and Damien are having issues with their paint job, and Cig and Drew are having big problems with their weeping willow branches. Jason and Doc are having some issues with parts of the leg showing, so they just slam pine needles on it.
Okay, so here are the looks. I'm including images (why is this only the first time?) of each one. I downloaded them from SyFy's Face Off site.
Sasha and Stella's White Birch with Burls:
It looks VERY much like the texture of a white birch tree, and the burls give it a very sad, bumpy look. The face is sympathetic, but without being too human, and the eyes on the tree are really cool, as is the twig crown, which looks very Native American. The judges really like this one, minus the burl boxing gloves.
George and Keaghlan's Silk Floss with Choking Vines:
I'm not nuts about this one. I think it looks like a witch face, and the paint is pretty monotone. It's safe, though.
Vince and Damien's Giant Sequoia with Rot:
I was really looking forward to this makeup, and it's kinda disappointing. I don't see a zombie tree here. I see a trunk helmet. The judges HATE the concept on this one, so it's going to be in the bottom looks. Even when there are well-done pieces on a makeup, like the hands and the top of the head on this one, if they hate the concept, there's really little saving it.
Doc and Jason's Bristlecone Pine with Lightning Strikes:
This one turned out AWESOME. Maybe Doc was right - their power of terribleness combined into the power of awesomeness. Even with all their problems, it turned out really, really well. One of the best instances of turning lemons into lemonade since Ian's bat character from way back in Season 2. The judges are fawning over this one, too. Great job, guys! You won't be bottom feeders this week. The face shape and the brow almost have a Groot thing going on.
Dina and Rachel's Banyan with Fungus:
Oh Dina honey, what the hell happened to this thing? It doesn't look like a tree. The fungus pieces look kinda cool, but it looks like a rubber suit. Rubber tree...? It's safe, though. If it were in the bottom, Dina would have been in some major shit, since Rachel had the immunity.
Cig and Drew's Weeping Willow with Bug Infestation:
What the....? At the end of Last Looks, they got the willow tree branches on the model, and she comes out on stage without them. Cig and Drew are just as confused. Without the branches, the model just kind of looks naked, and not really like a tree. The bugs are weird and slug-like. They should have been more like beetles or termites, and the arms look incredibly bare. I think these boys are in some unfortunate danger. Lois immediately asks them if something is missing, because it's obvious that something is, but they can't judge on ideas that didn't make it on stage, which sucks for Drew. But good on him for admitting that the branches were all him.
Top looks go to Stella and Sasha, and Doc and Jason. Team Blonde Power who were both top looks last week vs. Team Terrible-Awesome, who haven't been in the top until now. Bottom looks go to Vince and Damien (Damien's been in the bottom a couple times in a row now....) and Cig and Drew. Doc and Jason get the win, with Jason taking the actual win since he did the face and they love that it conveys so much haunted emotion with the red paint around the eyes.
Vince is the one going home for his bad concept on the Sequoia, which I'm kind of bummed about. I really have dug a lot of his looks, and I think he would have had a lot more to offer in future challenges, but he was just unlucky this week that his concept was a giant turd.
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