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| Courtesy: Syfy |
In this phantasmically fun episode of “Face Off,” the remaining six artists had two challenges ahead of them as the all-important finale looms near. We knew by the opening conversation that Roy was going back to his old ways in this episode and clearly, it paid off.
Foundation Challenge
We knew an ominous task was ahead when six cloaked models surrounded the artists in the dark and smokey lab. Greeted by McKenzie and former judge, Patrick Tatopoulos, they revealed that the Foundation Challenge would entail creating their own version of the Grim Reaper so we could see what was under the hood. The winner of the two-hour challenge would receive immunity.
Laura did a classic and crackly make-up and unusually applied several prosthetic pieces to the model's face. Miranda played on her fear of snakes, Tate gave his Reaper an old “Hades” feel with a beard, Laney did a “Rob Zombie”-style look, and Eddie added an organic feel with roots coming out of the face.
Patrick chose Tate and Laura as his favorites but deemed Laura the winner. She was clearly relieved but this didn’t stop her from creating an amazing makeup in the Spotlight Challenge.
Spotlight Challenge
The Laugh Factory in Hollywood served as the back-drop for the Spotlight Challenge. McKenzie and Ve gave the history of the classic establishment that opened in 1979. Not only does it serve as host to several well-known comedians but it’s also purported to be haunted. Groucho Marx may still be hanging around!
Their challenge was to create an original ghost character that is both scary and funny. Since Ve won an Oscar for creating Michael Keaton’s iconic look in Tim Burton’s “Beetlejuice,” she gave advice. Mainly just to not only make their makeup scary and creepy, but fun.
They used the Laugh Factory as inspiration during the Design Phase. Roy went the Vaudeville route; Miranda chose an 18th century Duchess who beheads her husband (hilarious!); and Tate created Bonecat Bill, a victim of an Apache attack who ends up hosting a kiddie show in the netherworld. After this phase, they head to the lab to begin their creepy and comical creations.
Lab Work
There really was not a lot of strife or controversy in this challenge. Even Michael Westmore’s walk-through didn’t yield any Earth-shattering changes. He gave Tate some color advice and Laney was told to be careful of the lightning bolts she wanted to place on the arms. He also told Eddie that the judges may be confused by his design.
Eddie did rethink his design three hours into Day One. His original idea was that of a doctor who was working on a cure for cancer because clearly, that’s a laugh riot! No? He then changed to a baseball player who got hit in the back of the head with his own bat. That’s a little better I guess? Eddie is adorable anyway.
Roy had a grand old time making his clever two-person design. He even tried it on and amused his competitors. You guys know I love Roy and this is why. His brain is amazing.
Laney really had a hell of a time getting her “ElectriCute” character’s wig to look just right and chivalrous Tate stepped in and save the day for her. Even when Laney is stressed out, she has a really “chill” demeanor. Her voice just stays the same. It intrigues me. Anyway...
Application Day and Last Looks brought the usual scrambling and despite some snafus, including Miranda’s prosthetics having air pockets and her not having enough time to paint, the finished products made it out to the judges. Tate and Roy exuded the most confidence while Eddie and Miranda weren’t thrilled with their final looks.
Reveal
Well we knew when the judges laughed hysterically at Roy’s bi-level ghosty that all his hard work paid off. The judges were also blown away by Laura’s Mad Scientist that was reminiscent of a character out of “Beetlejuice” and “The Frighteners.” Tate’s fun cowboy and Miranda’s deadly Duchess were deemed safe.
They chose Laura and Roy’s crazy creations as the top looks. They picked Roy’s as the winner of this challenge thanks to them understanding his concept immediately and his fantastic decision making. Roy was thrilled that he finally won a challenge.
Bottom looks were Laney’s electrocuted rocker and Eddie’s bumbling baseball player. The judges just did not understand Eddie’s design. It didn’t look funny, it wasn’t scary and “aesthetically it’s a nightmare.” They thought Laney had a cute idea but Glenn especially loathed the head shape and it was described as looking more alien-like than ghostly.
Thanks to being neither scary nor funny, Eddie’s ghoul caused him to be eliminated. As one of the youngest contestants on the show, he was grateful for the experience and all he learned. He was also pretty proud to have made it to the tenth challenge.
Next Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET, tune in to Syfy to watch “Dark Magic.”