TVSquad

(S13E08) I don't know how America's Next Top Model's photoshoots continue to grow more and more insane. This week, Tyra decided to turn the model hopefuls bi-racial. Surprisingly, the photos didn't turn out bad, just not model-like.

You know it's never good when a boring character gets a character. The mathematician Brittany caught the bitch bug and complained about how immature Erin was for the rest of the episode. Guess what happened at the end of the episode? I would rather have gotten the "fading away" edit that Tyra loves so much.

The girls arrived at their house, which was condemned. Tyra meets the girls and tells them that the house is disgusting. Tyra points out a nasty pan with eggs, and ants in the bathroom eating shampoo. Tyra tells them that in the real world, eight models would share a small space and it would be clean. Tyra announces to the girls that they are headed to Hawaii. Funny enough, the hula girls are taller than the models.

The girls land in Hawaii and are bussed to their villa. A Tyra mail describes "catching a break," and while preparing for bed, Erin makes a childish song about the girls. It's quickly followed by an interview of Brittany complaining.

Surfing model Sofia Beschen and Buzzy Kerbox teach the girls surfing. Jennifer slams her chest into the surfboard and it begins a set of comedic pratfalls. Jay arrives to announce a photoshoot challenge. Laura is first and evolved into a tomato. Sundai's first shoot is a shot of her fixing her underwear. Nicole manages her broken pose. Jennifer looks like she's screaming at the beach to stop coming closer. Brittany manages to look bored on the surfboard. Erin tries interaction with the surfer.

Erin won the challenge and her prize is a helicopter tour; she brings Brittany and Nicole. Erin vocalizes disappointment because she wanted a tangible prize. She comes back and complains to the rest of the girls how boring the challenge it is. Ungrateful much?

The girls get a Tyra Mail claiming the girls will be "all mixed up." Laura is red and Jennifer had to help apply lotion to her burnt thighs. Sadly, it isn't as sexy as it sounds. The girls arrive at a sugarcane mill. Jay announces that Tyra is the photographer and she gives some long winded storyline about bi-racial culture.

Racial Breakdowns

Laura - Mexican & Greek
Erin - Tibetan & Egyptian
Sundai - Moroccan & Russian
Brittany - Native American & East Indian
Jennifer - Botswanan & Polynesian
Nicole - Malagasy (Madagascar) & Japaneses

I was most nervous for Laura. You know she'll have to scrub her already raw skin when she got back to the house. Jennifer needed music to do better. I hope they actually played music during the shoot, or else the editing team had a field day. Nicole naturally did a good job while the other three needed coaxing.

The biggest problem with Tyra being photographer is that she always runs her photos through a filter. In the beginning she took black and white photos. Now she's running a sepia filter. While the girls looked stunning in person as they modeled, their photos automatically looked National Geographic the way Tyra filtered them. If we had vivid color, the juxtaposition of the two races combined with the sugarcane background would have been amazing.

The judging was nothing extreme. Kristy Hume, our guest judge, didn't bring anything to the table. Both Jennifer and Brittany come off too stoic National Geographic, though Jennifer's photo could have been a necklace ad. Laura's shot has angle, but it also wasn't model enough. Erin had no "smize." Sundai looks like a five-year-old holding a stick. Tyra calls her a Gap Kids model. Nicole was the only one that had a combination of model and cultural.

The best photo this week was Nicole. She is followed by Jennifer, Laura, and Sundai. The bottom two are Brittany (formulaic photos) and Erin (self-sabotage). Erin was safe and Brittany was sent home. Tyra reminds her that the photo was too safe, and to relax in the future.

The real question was: is it better to know the cultures you're representing or not? Brittany had preconceived notions on Native Americans, but Erin had no clue of what Tibetans represented. I would personally have kept Brittany because she at least tried an emotion, whereas Erin looked like she checked out. As always, leave any comments about the show below.