(S04E14) Folks, we have finally reached the end of the line and, to be perfectly honest, I think I'm okay with that. This season, I haven't felt the same sense of anticipation from week to week. "Isn't there something I'm supposed to do on Wednesdays? Oh. Right. Project Runway." This near-apathy is a far cry from the screaming that had ensued in my house when Wendy Pepper moved into the final three of Season One or when Daniel Vosovic presented in Fashion Week for Season Two. That said, I was pretty satisfied with the top three because they really were the best of the bunch, even though that bunch wasn't so great to begin with.

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(S04E13) These pre-finale episodes are always interesting because the viewers get to take a little peek into the world of designers as normal people, outside of the weird reality show setting. This season's visit to the designers was different though, for Rami and Chris still had to duke it out and figure out who would compete in New York Fashion Week. Good ol' Tim Gunn took a trip to the coasts to check in with each of the four designers and make sure their collections were chugging along.

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(S04E11) For the first time since the history of the show, I'm actually quite satisfied with the final group of designers going to Fashion Week. Now, that is not to say that I've changed my mind about how well this season's designers have been doing, because I still feel like it has been one of the worst seasons. However, this time it seems like the final group of designers all truly deserve to be there.

All right, before I get ahead of myself, let's go over just how well everyone did in this challenge. Please excuse me if I fail to fully suppress my pretentious artiness.

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(S04E10) In one of the classiest moves in Project Runway history, the designers faced the challenge of creating outfits for the WWE Raw Divas to wear in the ring. When I heard the angry grunts and sounds of lady-violence behind the door, I thought they were going to face roller derby girls or something. The Divas were cool anyway, offering the designers a chance to get really crazy and maybe a little sleazy.

The designers seemed rather horrified when they saw their new clients, which was quite amusing, but not as amusing as the reactions (or lack thereof, save for Tim Gunn's polite chuckle) to the sex kitten ripping open her robe. I couldn't stop myself from mumbling, "Your goods have no power here, sweetheart."

By the way, the Blockbuster Total Access placement was real subtle, Bravo. Maybe next time they should have Tim pop in to share an exclusive coupon code.

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(S04E09) It's strange to feel this way about a program all about imagination and creativity, but I think Project Runway may have lost its voice. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of the show and I understand that programs often evolve into something different from the original season. However, this season's constant use of special clients/judges like (Sarah Jessica Parker or the high school girls) and big company sponsors (like Hershey's or Levi's) makes me feel like the show has sold out.

Previous seasons had some challenges that were incredibly bizarre but were at the same time open-ended enough to let the designers work with their own voices. They didn't have to cater to a very specific client each week, the way this season's designers do. Just take a look at the recent avant-garde challenge. Even with the high stress and drama, the contestants made some of the best work of the season.

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(S04E08) Finally, a challenge where the designers really pushed the limits and showed us just how far they could take things. However, I knew things were too good to be true, because the elimination was pretty upsetting. Well, it was upsetting for me, anyway.

Also, I thought this was too good to pass up. Heidi dropped this gem of a quote during the runway critique: "If they had executed it in a beautiful way, with beautiful materials, it could have worked." Oh. Oh really, Heidi? I didn't know it was all about the execution and materials. I thought it was just a matter of marvelous post-justifying on the catwalk and sliding a few Lincolns and a Ziploc baggy of M&Ms under Michael Kors' dressing room door.

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(S04E07) I'm sure just about every teenage girl dreams of going to prom with Orlando Bloom and/or a custom-made dress. Bloom is a pretty busy guy, what with all of his swashbuckling and celebrity duties, so he probably doesn't have time to do proms. However, Project Runway decided to make a couple of girls' dreams (and designers' nightmares) come true by inviting a few high school girls to be clients/models in a prom dress challenge.

I feel like this challenge produced some of the most interesting work we've seen this season, but it also caused a bit of viewer drama on the runway. It's as though it's part of teenage girls' nature to drag drama in their wake.

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(S04E06) Okay, okay. I think I may have figured out what has been going wrong this season and why the Bravo viewers voted this challenge as their favorite thus far. In this challenge, the designers did not have to cater to a particular customer. We're barely six episodes into the season and we've already had fat-to-skinny ladies, Tiki Barber, and Sarah Jessica Parker to work for. Last season, the designers pretty much only had Miss USA as a guest judge by this point and had worked heavily on other challenges that allowed them to show their own vision and style a bit more. I believe this season could have done with one or two more "creative" challenges like this Hershey's one earlier on. Weed out the designers that struggle with basic creative problem solving and then take care of those who fail to listen to clients' desires.

Either that is the reason why this season has been a whole load of suck, or Tim Gunn and Heidi Klum have been spiking the Kool-Aid with some sort of performance decreasing drug.

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(S04E05) Okay, so, this episode was slightly less boring that the previous four. I'm still waiting for someone to blow me away, but at least a few things kept my interest this time around. First of all, we knew "normal size" models were going to come into play sooner or later, but I found this challenge to be a bit of a surprise.

It was a great concept, no? To have this group of women who recently went through dramatic weight loss (160-some pounds?!) come in with their favorite clothes was really touching. However, coming right off of this really lovely high of doing something nice for these ladies, the group received the news that Jack had to leave because of health issues. He had been HIV positive for many years and had to go get treatment for a recent infection. Jack had potential, definitely, so it was sad to see him go. So, the designers are crying into their garments, when who should walk in but... Chris March! He's giggling and being his old jolly self, so everyone stops crying and starts laughing and shouting and hugging and all that other fun stuff. Talk about an emotional roller coaster.

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(S04E04) Insert obnoxious, exaggerated yawn here. Honestly, I'm still a little bored with the contestants this season, but at least I was impressed with a few more outfits from this episode. The designers were challenged to take old, outdated trends and rework them to fit in today's world. They were then given the additional challenge of working in teams of three to create collections incorporating each of their own selected trends. The end results weren't exciting as they could have been, but there were a few pieces that stood out.

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(S04E03) I know we're only three episodes in and I know I've brought this up in all my other Project Runway reviews for this cycle, but... I am so disappointed. I mean, I am actually bored at this point. Don't get me wrong, the producers have picked people to fit all the reality show character roles. We've got the over-confident newcomer, the crazy person, the older woman who acts like she's a lot younger than she really is, and so on and so on. Somewhere along the line, they forgot to look for the superstars. Everything is covered in a sickly shade of mediocre, and I can't help but yawn while looking at it.

I hope they have some better things in store for us. None of the designers truly excite me and I don't have a particular person I'm looking forward to seeing every week. Even the special guest judges (two in three episodes? Really?) haven't been able to save the blandness. Spice it up, designers, or -- or -- I'll turn off the TV and read... or something. Don't make me do it, Bravo. It's a lose-lose.

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