'Face Off' recap: 'Gettin' Goosed'

Tate & Miranda's creation
BY LARISSA MRYKALO

After last week, the magic word on this week’s episode of "Face Off" was “whimsy.” But, paired with the whimsical nature of the Spotlight Challenge was a more insidious Foundation Challenge.

Foundation Challenge
In honor of the September 13 release of James Wan’s "Insidious: Chapter Two," the artists were challenged with creating their own personal demon inspired by the upcoming film. The twist was that they must turn their male model into a female demon just like Patrick Wilson’s character went through at the end of "Insidious." The winner was rewarded with a copy of "Insidious" and two tickets to the red carpet premiere of the sequel.

The artists went to work and created some really cool demons. Eddie created a demon that scared him as a child but Glenn wasn’t thrilled with the design. Alana made an older version of herself that taunts her. Glenn found it too “cartoony"and this was most likely due to the crazy red wig. Roy did an eyeless demon that Glenn loved. Glenn also dug Rick’s black and white demon.

The winner was Roy and he’s all excited to escort his wife down the red carpet. He did not receive immunity for this challenge, however.

Spotlight Challenge
This week’s Spotlight Challenge may have a whimsical theme, but the double elimination twist was not very fun. The artists got to choose a partner and a prop that depicts a classic Mother Goose tale. Their challenge was to “create an original whimsical character from modern times that’s inspired by Mother Goose.”

The teams were: Frank/Laura (“Little Miss Muffet”); Alana/Laney (“This Little Piggy”); Adolfo/Lyma (“Humpty Dumpty”); R.J./Roy (“The Cat and the Fiddle”); Scott/Eddie (“Man in the Moon”); Miranda/Tate (“Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater”); and, Rick/Eric (“The Crooked Sixpence”).

They got to work on their designs and then went back to the lab to start their creations. Overall, the biggest challenge to the artists was keeping their designs “whimsical.” Some succeeded and some failed miserably.

Day One
The Sculpting Phase lasts seven hours and this first day seemed very productive and relatively drama free. The teams seemed pretty enthusiastic and didn’t clash much on their ideas. Michael Westmore did his walk through and offered his advice.

Westmore advised Frank and Laura to lighten the paint job on their cursed spider. He told Alana and Laney that their pig form was too human. Tate and Miranda’s pumpkin was far too scary but if they fill out her face more, it’ll add some whimsy. Miranda was concerned but in the end, this advice was huge.

Day Two
The Molding Phase lasted nine and a half hours and luckily the only drama was when Adolfo couldn’t get his egg head mold loose and Lyma walked away without helping. Laura came to the rescue and Humpty was able to be put together. Only this Humpty had a very neat Lady Gaga vibe.

Alana and Laney were super into their design and their fun personalities came through. Hell, Alana made bacon bows for her piggy and even fashioned a bacon bra out of silicone! I want a bacon bra now. Never mind, I just thought of how dangerous that would be around dogs. Moving on...

Day Three
The models arrive for the Application Phase and Last Looks. Everyone seems pretty pleased and they got tons accomplished. Usually this is a lot more hectic but everyone worked really well together. Rick, however, was really concerned about the whimsy factor in his and Eric’s Crooked Man. He flat out said it’s not a fun design.

Last Looks had Adolfo finishing up his paint job, Laney applying a beauty make-up to her pretty piggy, Rick doing some wardrobe wrangling, and Roy just adding some finesse to his and R.J.’s Cat and the Fiddle.

Reveal
I must say, I was surprised at the overwhelming amount of whimsy that was on that stage! I’m also surprised at how much I’ve written “whimsy” in this recap. My apologies. The judges were delighted by all by two of the designs. These two designs lacked ... well ...

R.J. and Roy’s Cat and the Fiddle had really beautiful forms and an appropriate cartoony feel. They were safe right away as were Scott and Eddie for their female Man in the Moon holding some delicious-looking and might I say, whimsical, green cheese.

Alana and Laney’s piggy was described by Glenn as having “Porcine perfection.” and Neville said that “piggy sizzles.” Good one Neville! Lyma and Adolfo’s Lady Gaga runway-inspired Humpty Dumpty was really beautiful and Glenn remarked that he could easily see the design featured in a film.

Miranda and Tate’s pumpkin design took the prize though for the ton of awesome sculpting decisions. Ve said they “knocked it out of the park” and Glenn said it looked “organic” and was very impressed. They were the top team but Miranda was chosen as the winner of the challenge for her great sculpt and paint job.

They did not like Frank and Laura’s spider and thought it looked more like a stuffed animal. Ve thought it would have been cool to maybe merge Miss Muffet into the spider. It just looked like a spider man.

They truly did not like Rick and Eric’s Crooked Man. The anatomy was all wrong and it looked more twisted than crooked. It was also referred to as freaky and scary. It was neither real nor fantastical and overall, missed the mark. It ultimately led to the double elimination of teammates Rick and Eric.

Next week will bring the first individual challenge and will have the artists creating a subterranean creature. Watch “Subterranean Terror” next Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET on Syfy.