You know, when this season of Project Runway started, Tim Gunn said he felt its designers were the strongest bunch to even enter the competition. Several episodes in, I can't help but wonder what all the fuss was about. Nobody's work, except maybe Rami's (and quite possibly Kevin's), has succeeded in standing out from the crowd, though plenty of personalities have proven impossible to ignore like Christian's, Jack's, and Elisa's - and most not for positive reasons, that's for sure. For the first time ever on Project Runway, I feel like I'm watching a competition between characters rather than designers.

Anyways, about last night: After last week's "most difficult challenge ever" - which we now realize was code for "worst challenge ever" - the designers were asked to each pick an outdated trend from a wall that include such hideous trends in fashion history as overalls, shoulder pads, underwear as outerwear, neon, cutouts, and pleather. Assuming this meant they would each be designing something in this mode, the designers chose accordingly, only to discover they were actually going to have to form up - kind of like Voltron, but not as cool - into three-person teams to create collections that incorporated each trend chosen by the team's designers.

Kit, Christian, Jack: pleather, zoot suits, fringe
Jillian, Ami, Kevin: overalls, poodle skirts, 70s flair
Chris, Sweet P, Steven: baggy sweaters, shoulder pads, dance wear
Ricky, Victorya, Elisa: underwear as outerwear, neon, cutouts

The team leaders (which have been underlined above) were not chosen by random. Most ended up in their positions in a system that seemed much like a game of "Duck Duck Goose." Or rather, who's the last person to say, "Not me." Only Jillian seemed truly excited by her role.

With $225 a group, they hit the fabric store and got to work. I'm not even sure if Christian had settled on a design yet before he was bragging about how his groups' collection was the best in the studio. My money is on Jack being the first one to bitch slap this kid, which will then make Jack my personal hero. Before long, real drama developed, though, as Jillian revealed herself to have the leadership style of a gulag warden in how she handled Kevin falling behind in his productions schedule and Victorya made all of America feel terribly sorry for her husband. Seriously, the guy must hate his life. This woman let Ricky become the team leader and then spent the next two days doing her best to both emasculate him and strip their collection of his influence. Total bitch move, if you ask me. I'd expect this from, say, Christian, but Victorya? Wow.

In the end, the designs were yet again lackluster. Jillian's team walked away the challenge winners, thanks in large part to Ami, who is being set up to win this thing. Kit's team walked away with second place, with nothing to be ashamed of either. Not great work, but good work. The bottom two teams, Chris's and Ricky's, were total messes in desperate need of direction. When team members were asked who should get the chop, Steven pointed at Chris, while Sweet P pointed at Steven and Ricky and Victorya turned on each other. Elisa, high off of rainbows and children's dreams, elected herself for no discernable reason other than to avoid bad karma.

The judges, including guest Donna Karan, conferred and, after reducing the lineup to just Chris and Ricky, opted to send Chris home. It could have been either of them to hit the road, though. America wouldn't have cared. I know I didn't.

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