When they get back to the House, Mamé sees her photo hung up for all to see. She’s grateful to have seen her mother make such a long visit to her. Tyra gives her a TyTyTip; complete with Frozen references to boot. I understand that plane ticket was expensive Tyra, but this is not the best way to attract sponsorships.
While Mamé waxes poetic about the reunion with her momé, Mikey is glad to have been spared from elimination. His mother worked hard to raise his family and deserves all of the praise she got last panel.
Nyle and Lacey flock to the other side of the House. It’s become clear that a rift has occurred in the group (the ‘Good’ and the ‘Evil’), so the two ‘Good’ models break off to discuss life. They decide to sleep early for the next day’s photoshoot: Lacey and Nyle hit the sheets while Mamé and Mikey are under theirs.
The next day, the four are taken to a pool where they meet with Yu Tsai. He explains that they will be shooting a campaign for Nylon that would inevitable be sold worldwide. Lacey is ready to “cream” Mamé. For an eighteen year old virgin, Lacey sounds unusually excited about cream. Come to the side of “Evil”!
Mamé, however, won’t go down without a fight. She welcomes the photographer The Cobrasnake and even compliments his wardrobe.
Talk about diplomatic! Mamé even keeps it hush-hush when Yu Tsai says they’ll be sneaking back into this pool at night. Even if they get caught, she’ll have diplomatic immunity. Suck on that, Lacey!
Mikey and Nyle are the first pair to shoot. Nyle is nervous because he started off this competition with little experience, but has grown and adapted. He starts off awkward, but eventually falls into form.
Mikey, however, is confident from the start. In fact, when the first photo requires the men to illegally climb a wire fence, Mikey is elated. Last week he shot with his mother, now he gets to reunite with his brothers?
His arresting beauty allows Mikey to impress the Nylon executives. As the shoot progresses, Nyle is told to “relax” into his poses. By the third section, the two guys are pretty head-to-head in their photographs.
After the guys are done, Mamé and Lacey are told to get ready for a swimwear shoot. Lacey gets into the pool and promises to “let loose.” She strips off her veils and before The Cobrasnake can tell her, Lacey gets into very sleazy poses.
Mamé, of course, is loving this. She starts her shoot and strikes strong, sexy poses that result in much better photographs that Lacey. Being a jealous little mushroom, Lacey tries to spread herself into Mamé’s shoot. In a very disrespectful play, Lacey ends up interrupting Mamé’s time and forces The Cobrasnake to take extra photos of her.
I thought there was one bitch in that image, but there’s two!
After the shoot, the four return to the House. With Devin gone, there’s an awkward quietness that cannot be filled with idle chitchat. Instead, the two groups once again separate and talk about their feelings going forward.
Mikey admits that after his six-year relationship finished, he isn’t one to fall in love anymore. He wants to “make himself happy” before he can worry about making someone else happy. What a typical man, putting his own pleasure first…
Once the two groups are done shading each other, all four models are taken to a run-down motel in the desert where they meet Yu Tsai. He welcomes them to the set of their Zappos challenge with a straight-up lie: “This is one of my favorite locations to shoot.” Deer maybe, but not high fashion photography.
Before the shoot, the Zappos representative awards Mamé a gift certificate for a shopping spree. She promises that their clothes will “deliver happiness and fun” to Mamé.
Lacey thinks that her “youthful spunk” will reflect the bohemian vibe of Zappos, but I disagree. Mamé’s free-loving attitude is probably more akin to the hippie Zappos brand.
The Zappos reps work to create the story of their campaign: an innocent jetsetter goes into this hotel and, swayed by its vibes, becomes a sexy, fierce woman. I don’t know much about international travel, but I’d be less worried about modelling and more about the ‘vibes’ of a cheap motel room.
Find Your (Black)Light
Mamé finds her own success in the shoot. She once again sees Lacey overposing and decides to downplay her own posing. Mamé ends up beating out Lacey in the shoot when the Zappos representatives say that she “impressed them more than the frontrunner.”
Mikey and Nyle continue the American Horror Story: Motel trend by posing as sensual guys waiting in the motel room. Mikey claims that his photos are expensive: $40, possibly $50 depending on which girls are working that night…
Nyle is told that his poses are too stiff and, by the end of the shoot, loosens up enough to take some decent photographs. At the end of the shoot, the models return to their home to find out about yet another challenge. I guess it explains why Eric Asla’s been absent the last two weeks!
Before they get whisked away to the final runway, the models are reminded of Tyra’s request for a presentation. You know, the one where they have to condense their sob-stories and make them into marketable products? Yeah.
Mikey tells us the remarkable tale of how he overcame his nature. He was “suppose to” not graduate high school, get a girl pregnant, and sell drugs. Instead, he became a model: a profession that values girls who don’t graduate high school, don’t get pregnant, and buy drugs. Overcome adversity, Mikey!
Lacey also begins to sob about her mother’s divorce. She caterwauls about gaining thirty pounds in her mourning period and not having friends in high school. Lacey’s black bangs look more and more like a funeral shroud every minute.
With those sob stories expressed, the four models make their way to the Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Yu Tsai announces that the final runway is “inspired” by the curvature of the building. The underpaid intern building this set was too drunk to walk in a straight line, let alone construct one.
As the final four prepare to walk, the previously eliminated models crash the party. Mamé immediately notices that Justin is upset. She runs up to Devin and he admits that he may have talked about that cold night in the cabin. He was cornered,he pleads. Devin should have run (DMC)...
He tells her that he “is disappointed” but will continue to love her. Mamé admits that it was a mistake, but has lost Justin’s trust. While this goes on, Mikey flirts with Hadassah some more, IN FRONT OF ASHLEY’S FACE!
Thankfully, Tyra stops all of this madness to gather up the final four. She announces that there will be a cut before the runway. Hopefully Lacey gets eliminated, her dress will help cushion the fall.
Luckily for them, Tyra holds up until they are able to give their presentations. She brings out their mothers and extra special guest: Keith Carlos. If anyone can help calm the models before a large show, it’s Mr. Manaconda himself!
And with that - the episode ends! That’s right, yet another week without an elimination. This cycle of America’s Next Top Model might as well be renamed to A Republican Presidency: they’d probably have the same rate of progress.
Nevertheless, be sure to tune in on December 4th for the series finale and see who will walk away with this cycle’s crown. Until then...
No comments:
Post a Comment