'Face Off' Finale Recap: 'Heavenly Bodies'

Courtesy Syfy
BY ASHLEY ADRIANCE

We have a new winner of “Face Off!" The remaining artists started out the finale episode with a heart touching Skype call with their loved ones back home reminding them why they’re in the competition.

In the lab they meet McKenzie Westmore to discuss their finale challenge. Science fiction hits such as "Star Trek" and "Babylon Five," have introduced the world to various species of aliens. For the finale, the artists must create two rival alien races inspired by a selected star constellation. Fear not, the artists this week are not working alone because as in past seasons, they get the chance to work with previous artists who have been eliminated.

Tyler - (Working with Graham and Chloe) - Leo “the lion”
George - (Working with Corinne and Niko) - Cetus “the whale”
Rashaad - (Working with Daran and Cat) - Ursa Major “great bear”

Before heading off to the lab, McKenzie introduces a special guest artist this week DJ, Rusko who has worked with Katy Perry. Also, these creations must withstand a dance performance at an underground nightclub and incorporate lights into the makeup, as if doing two creatures wasn’t enough.

Back in the lab, Michael Westmore does a walk through and informs Tyler he needs to add a more feline aspect to his design to associate it with a lion to fit his constellation. After day one, Tyler is feeling nervous because he’s usually got his face pieces molded and this week he’s behind. Now is not the time to rush designs and get sloppy because you can end up ruining your creation and get sent home. Finally, on day two, Tyler gets to mold some things and he hands them over to Graham whom he calls the “mold master.”

George is having a little trouble with his facial prosthetic piece on his female alien. There is a massive rip in the appliance so rather than spend time trying to fix it, he decides to run another prosthetic. He runs into the same problem with his male alien but has to fix that prosthetic because he doesn’t have time to run another mold, which causes him to go into last looks without any paint on his aliens. Rashaad is also having trouble when he tries to rush drying the mold so he can pop it open to run foam but in the process he realizes it’s not even close to being dry and he’s thinking he’s already lost.

At last looks the artists recognize Greg Cannom ("Mrs. Doubtfire") is working on the makeup for the backup dancers.

Finally, the artists meet the judges Glenn Hetrick, Ve Neill, and Neville Page onstage in front of a live studio audience. Before the judges get to have a closer look, the creations must withstand an intense dance routine performed to DJ, Rusko's new song “Lift Me Up.” Then after closer looks, they speak individually with the artists to see what their backstory and their inspiration was for their aliens.

Glenn loved the makeup and the layering techniques of the plates on the chest piece of Tyler’s male alien and feels that Tyler has been a strong competitor all season long. Ve loved the transitions into the pale colors on the male and loved the color palette on the female alien. Neville also complemented the chest piece on the male and took note on how well he achieved depth.

Rashaad’s aliens also had a color palette loved by all three judges and Ve thought he has consistently gotten better with each challenge throughout the season. Neville thought the use of light on his female character was very powerful and the sculpt on his male was “gorgeous” and Glenn couldn’t be more pleased.

Last but certainly not least, George’s aliens had great sculpting work on the head and shoulders on the male according to Neville. Glenn thought his male character was awe inspiring but he didn’t like the color palette between the two aliens. He said he could tell that the two aliens were complimentary of each other but he didn’t get that they were rivals because the colors looked too similar. Ve also touched on the same concept, saying the brown paint obscured the lighting effect he used on the male.

The winner of Season Six is Rashaad!

I have to admit, I was on team Tyler but after these last few weeks, Rashaad proved to be a top contender and I think he was well deserving of the title.

Sad to see “Face Off” end? Fear not, because season seven premieres this July on Syfy.