TVSquad

(S05E09) My last review began oh-so bluntly with "I am so full of anger", which was a pretty good summation of the grumpiness that would follow. This episode triggered some very familiar feelings and, while some of you thought I was being a little too hard on the designers, especially Kenley, I can't see how anyone could wonder why after this episode. Don't get me wrong, I'm still a Project Runway fan. If I only half-cared for it, the drop in quality of this show would not affect me quite as badly. But when a show I love so much and have constantly praised and confidently recommended takes such a sharp drop within one year, it's disappointing, to say the least.

As horrible as it sounds, I'm actually looking forward to the Lifetime move now, despite my earlier worries, because at least PR will be on a network that wants them around. The same can not be said for Bravo, which is currently treating PR like it's the ex that still has to live in the apartment because they're legally obligated to finish paying half this year's rent.

The special appearances from previous seasons' designers were wonderful, but rather sad at the same time, serving as another reminder that the bar used to be set a lot higher. Hi, Daniel Vosovic. Hi, Jay McCarroll.

In this episode, the Auf'd designers from the first part of the season were brought back to serve as inspiration to the remaining folks. And by that, I mean "create tension and drama and induce super-bitchiness." The challenge ended up being astrologically themed and involved avant-garde looks, which led some to make really costume-y pieces. Most of the runway was an eyesore, really. At least the producers made up for it by deciding to send two people home this week, although it would have been funnier if it was a last-minute decision on the runway, as if the judges had decided that the quality was so terrible they need to speed through the season faster.

Follow along this week's designs by checking out Bravo's "Rate the Runway" gallery.

Blayne (with Stella): [AUF'D] My goodness. I thought his reign would never, ever end. He's somehow managed to fly under the radar all these times, dropping somewhere in the middle of the judges' ratings for most of the episodes. He finally slipped up enough for the judges to have to send him home this week, and what an outfit to go on! Michael Kors said it looked like the model was pooping fabric, which wasn't too far off from my initial reaction, which was to wonder why that poor woman had cotton candy exploding from her crotch. Blayne also managed to pull off the damn near impossible by making his model's bottom look terrible. How does that even happen?

Jerell (with Jennifer): [WINNER] Granted, the bottom part of the dress was really well constructed and took advantage of the print's suggested structure, but the overall effect wasn't that wonderful. I wish we got an opportunity to hear the judges talk about their favorite pieces, because I'm really interested in what they saw in this one.

Joe (with Daniel): This was one of the better ones from the evening, even though that's not saying much. I liked the way the sleeves led up to the detailed collar. Yup.

Kenley (with Wesley): Always with the back-sass! I was sure the judges were going to send her home with a verbal beat-down and a note to her parents for the way she was behaving on the runway. I know some of you didn't agree with how I felt about Kenley in the last episode, but... come on. Just listen to her. Part of being a good designer is being able to take criticism, regardless of whether or not one agrees with it. Listen to it, process it, and take it or leave it; "fight it" is not supposed to take priority over "listen to it." She also looked shocked that the judges didn't care for her creation, despite the fact that Tim Gunn warned her about it in the workroom. I swear, it's like these people have never watched PR. Also, I expected more groups to work the way Kenley and Wesley did. Wesley wanted nothing to do with Kenley's work and had no stake in the competition, so he distanced himself almost completely, in creative contributions, at least.

Korto (with Kelly): Korto is consistent in two things: Looking perpetually pissed at the world and delivering striking silhouettes. I'll be really surprised if she doesn't make it into the top three, just because, compared to the rest of these designers, she seems to be the only one that has yet to get completely off mark. I'll even let it slide that she somehow managed to make her super-tiny model look outrageously wide this week.

Leanne (with Emily): The photo of Leanne's dress on the Bravo website doesn't really do it justice, because coming down the runway, it looked quite interesting. It's one of those outfits that works better in motion. This was one of the few designs that managed to carry off a very distinct reference to the astrological sign without being too obvious.

Suede (with Jerry): Fact! Jerry is an Asian version of Suede, in face-shape anyway. I just wanted to put that out there. Anyway, Suede's super-annoying third person speech tendencies were finally called out by the judges. Michael Kors put it best when he said that Suede didn't deserve third person status just yet. Seriously, who does he think he his... Prince? His creation was pretty boring, and the only interesting part was kind of tragic looking, with those two flowy scale things erupting from the model's shoulder blades.

Terri (with Keith): [AUF'D] Wow, Keith was just not having it, was he? I didn't think this was the worst one of the bunch, because the weird red thing over the model's shoulders actually formed a really interesting silhouette. Plus, I thought it was kind of funny that the one time Terri didn't do her usual jacket, top, pants creation, she was booted.