Project Runway S3Ep13

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Last week’s Reunion show consisted of mucho Tim love, more villain-izing of Keith and Vincent (yawn), and a rehash of Jeffrey v. Angela. There was also a strange lack of multiple questions from viewers, which was quite disappointing.

Onto this week’s show.

Heidi is wearing that top again. It looks a little garish, like an evening gown from the mid-80s tv show Dynasty. All that’s missing are long sleeves and shoulderpads. Her top would actually make great fish bait. Just throw it on a hook and go. She's also wearing those earrings again.

Heidi and Tim wishes the designers luck as they are off to prepare their collections for a Bryant Park showing in 2 months.

A month later, Tim visits each of the designers to see how their collections are progressing. First is Michael Knight Neon. Interestingly, Michael is using a lot of prints for his Street Safari collection, even though he didn’t work with prints much on the show. His collection appears to be mixing Uli’s style (prints) with Kayne’s style (sparkle sparkle) along with Michael's body hugging sensibilities. As Tim reviews the sketches on the wall, he does not look very impressed. I sense that Michael is not picking up on this. Too bad. He should know that Tim’s silence can say just as much as what he vocalizes. Still, his collection appeals to my bad girl sense of self. More on this next week. And for those of you that liken his collection to Baby Phat, are you kidding? (Baby Phat Spring 2007 show). Note lack of quality, lack of interesting silhouettes and lack of pop. But I digress.

Next, Tim visits Laura in New York. He buzzes her home, and in a great bit of acting, Laura sounds as though she is surprised, even though there's a cameraman in her face, and an image of Tim at the front door is displayed on the security monitor next to her. Laura, if this fashion thing doesn’t work out and you don’t want to go back to architecture, I see a stint on Days of Our Lives in your future. You can play the new police sergeant of Salem, and put Roman, Bo Brady, John Black and Abe Carter in check like the kick ass woman that you are. It wouldn’t be too much of a stretch, I promise.




As I am watching the tour of her fabulous metropolitan space, I envy Mrs. Thang. Her kitchen. Her shoes. Her high cellings. All the light. Don't even ask about me about my metropolitan hubble. I think my entire place can fit into Laura's kitchen. Anyhow, we learn that Laura has arts and crafts roots. Her grandmother was a painter. Her mother was a sewing teacher. Then we see Laura’s collection. No doubt, it’s Laura. I actually like Laura’s green dress. Maybe because it reminds me of the Scarlett O’Hara dress that was sewn out of drapes and curtains.

Oh and hey Laura, the girls called… They love your collection almost as much as I do. Joan wants to know when you open shop. And call Linda. She wants to do lunch on Tuesday. Smooches.

Tim goes on to visit Uli in Miami. We get her story of the difficulties growing up in Germany, her eventual migration to the U.S, how much happier she is and how the American Dream can happen. What a great set up for a storybook ending. Like Cinderella. How quaintly manipulative. I wonder if the editors are setting up Uli for the win. It's a good story. Too bad it’s not original. I’m having déjà vu from Tim's Season 2 visit with Chloe at this same point in the competition. Chloe also discussed her struggles in her native country and her eventual immigration to the U.S. And if you know, she won!

Next Tim visits Jeffrey in LA. Jeffrey expresses concern that Tim may think he’s a hack. Well, that’s not technically what he says, but it’s what I derive from: “I was excited that Tim was coming, but really nervous because throughout the show it didn’t feel like I convinced Tim of what my point of view was.” Jeffrey’s son Harrison is the cutest little boy. Jeffrey’s girlfriend Melanie is rockin a mohawk. Bad girl. Jeffrey discusses his upbringing from a broken home, his dive into drugs and his suicide attempt. He sounds like he’s got a good grip on his demons and that he respects where he came from and all that he’s been through. Maybe someday, he can find it in himself to try to extend that same respect initially to others, no matter what paths they've come in from.

The designers reconvene in NY. All are very confident in their collections. Tim is impressed with Jeffrey’s and Laura’s collections. He wants to see Uli’s clothes on the models for fit and he thinks some of Michael’s outfits are cartoony. Next the designers select models for their show. And on they go to the hair and makeup consultation. Michael says he wants big roller hair, at which I cringe inside. Earlier he described his outfits as 70s style. Now he's adding 80s hair. I’m worried he might be going over the top. Perhaps natural, soft hair and makeup would work better with the loud prints.

Laura is suspicious of the little work that Jeffrey has left to do. She believes he may have outsourced some of the work and discusses her concern with Michael and Uli. Laura believes Jeffrey's collection is too well-made to be completed entirely by Jeffrey. Uli jumps to defend Jeffrey, examining his collection for imperfections. But Laura and Michael still have doubts.

Tim comes in to check on the progress. Laura takes Tim onto the balcony and shares her concern. Viewers may dog Laura about this, but there's $100,000 on the line. There’s a new car on the line. There’s a mentorship on the line. There’s recognition of winning Project Runway on the line. If there was even a hint that someone was trying to cheat me out of that, you better believe I would say something.

Uli, everso loyal, immediately alerts Jeffrey that Laura has an announcement. Because, you know, Laura isn't the type of person that would tell Jeffrey directly to his face… (smirk).

As Laura explains what she relayed to Tim, Jeffrey doesn’t have much to say at first. Slowly, he starts to respond. I watch for pantomimes, you know, the many clues that give someone away when they are lying. (These do work by the way, check them out. My favorite's not on the list, which is double-blinking before speaking.) Jeffrey doesn’t seem to give off any but was unusually quiet. I believe it's because he respects Laura’s work (even if he calls it boring) and so her lack of belief in his ability may have hurt his feelings or ego, if that’s a more macho way to say it. I also watched his interaction with Tim. They didn't show his face the entire time, but either this guy is a great liar, or he is innocent, though from the various interviews and comments released that I’ve read, I’m still suspicious. It's possible the producers can't prove anything and only find a preponderence of evidence that suggest more likely than not, he outsourced beyond the rules. If that's the case I suspect he would still be able to show his collection, but not able compete for the prize. Still, Jeffrey has finished garments early on several challenges prior, so it is possible that he may very well be capable. At this point I have no idea what the outcome will be.

If Jeffrey is found innocent, my guess, due to the editing of this episode, is that either Uli or Jeffrey are geared for the win.