'Face Off' recap: 'Two Heads are Better Than One'

Singer and usual suspect Westmore
BY LARISSA MRYKALO

The 10 remaining contestants were not only treated to a romp at the popular California amusement park, Magic Mountain, but they also were surprised to learn that the guest judge for their Spotlight Challenge was a really BIG name in show biz.

Writer, producer and director, Bryan Singer has some huge films under his belt (X-Men, The Usual Suspect), including the soon-to-be-released (March 1) Jack the Giant Slayer.

A giant Redwood tree served as the back drop and inspiration for their challenge. Their task was to create an original giant that Jack would have slain in his adventures. But in the film, many of the giants have two or more heads, and so must their creature.

Teams of two were pre-chosen: Alam/Eric Z; Kris/Eric F.; Meagan/Jenna; Wayne/House; and, Autumn/Anthony. Autumn commented that since Anthony won four challenges, she feels like, "I’m on friggin' vacation on this challenge." Alrighty then!

Bryan Singer encouraged them to shoot for something original and use the actor’s character to bring the creation to life. Sounds easy, right? The teams worked on their designs while at the park and then headed to the lab for Day One of the challenge.



Day One: Sculpting Phase
The teams were given much larger, male models to work with this week and thank goodness, because Eric F. and Kris have a lofty idea. Speaking of large, Autumn and Anthony have pretty big personalities and like to lead, and Anthony felt this may be an issue during the challenge. Did it work for them in the end?

Eric Z. and Alam are excited about the design of having their giant walk around with the heads of the giants that their creature decapitated. Will it work? They seem to think so! Jenna and Meagan plan to keep it simple because of the tumor that impedes Jenna’s ability to work well with her hands. It really doesn’t matter though. They struggle throughout the challenge.

Since everyone figures that because they need to have at least two heads, they’ll go bigger and have three, House and Wayne decide to pare it down and choose to have just two. Way to play it, House!

Day Two: Molding Phase
Hostess McKenzie Westmore’s dad, Michael, did his walk-through to check on the progression of the teams’ work. He really liked Eric Z. and Alam’s plan to use blues in their giant’s color scheme. He was worried, once again, with Eric F.’s monumental ideas and that time might be an issue.

The biggest drama not only on Day Two but throughout the challenge was the contention between Meagan and Jenna. Their frustration was palpable and even Eric F. took time away from his work to help them with releasing their mold. Despite its release, their were issues with the piece and Meagan stated that they were at “high risk.” Things just did not look good for this team.

Day Three: Application Phase and Last Looks
The teams only have four hours to finish up their looks and apply all of the prosthetics to their models before they can do touch-ups at Last Looks. Kris is highly concerned that he and Eric F. won’t finish their massive two-headed giant that looks like Jack is carrying their weight on his shoulders. Meagan is just a mess and completely stressed out. Eric Z. is quite excited about his and Alam’s “head-over-feet” (sorry, couldn’t resist) monster.

We actually see Eric F. get worried as he wonders if he dreamed too big with this giant. Even during last looks, he and Kris are throwing an outfit together out of leather scraps. Will they pull this off? Meanwhile, Meagan and Jenna are just plain embarrassed about what they are sending out in front of the judges.

Reveal
Aside from the self-admitted disaster that was Jenna and Meagan’s giant, there was a big wow factor when the artist’s creatures walked on stage. Don’t tell us you didn’t gasp when you saw Eric F. and Kris’s two-headed beast! Bryan Singer said that overall, he was blown away and impressed with the work.

The top looks were: Wayne and House for their interactive two-headed tree giant; Autumn and Anthony for their multi-headed, green Young Frankenstein-monster looking giant that Bryan Singer busted on about its sporting goods store leather gloves; and, Eric Fox and Kris’s “biggest make-up in ‘Face Off’ history” giant. It was no surprise that Eric and Kris ended up being the top team with Eric coming out as the winner due to the creature being his ambitious vision.

The bottom looks were: Eric Z. and Alam’s giant with the gruesome bedroom slippers that Ve thought was fabulous from the ankles up; and, Jenna and Meagan un-jolly green giant that Glenn said had "a stunning lack of originality." Sadly, Jenna’s hand ailment led to her elimination. It was painful to have watched her struggle and no one wanted to be paired with her. Do you think the judges made the right decision?

Next week, the artists are surprised at what the picture they choose, actually represents. Needless to say, they’ll be "Bugging Out." Check out what’s in store next Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET on Syfy. Also, don’t forget to check out the Redemption Challenge that will give one of the eliminated contestants the chance to compete on the next season.