Hey everyone! Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. Sorry we are a little late with this. Leslie and I were both under the weather. I blame my stomach issue on the idea that I have to see the twins again. I can’t speak for Les. I was in bed last night by eight and when I went to watch this morning it hadn’t recorded. I had to watch online and it kept going back to the beginning and then showing me eight billion car commercials every time I tried to fast forward. So I have FINALLY finished it. Les told me there wasn’t as much going on as they promised in the previews (is there ever?) but that I had to watch it to the end. I’m just going to start with this….We LOVE Amy. Don’t mess with her. Period. The twins found this out the hard way. I won’t talk about the twits until I have to so, here we go…
The final five come out and Tim expresses how this season has been his favorite. He thinks that you couldn’t get a more different, diverse group of talented designers and he was so proud and delighted with all of them. He asks Kentaro how it felt to win and he says he is “humbly honored” and it could have been any of them. He would like to share it with all of them. He learned so much and did things he had never done before due to the show. He was especially grateful for his friendship with Brandon.
Tim asks Ayana how she feels coming in second and she says she felt she should have won but that Kentaro definitely deserved it.. Margarita was surprised because she thought it would be down between Brandon and Ayana, but Brandon is happy Kentaro won and also says he deserved it. They ask Kenya how she feels and she says they all suck and everyone laughs. She then says that great things will come out of this experience for everyone on the stage. She also says she is quite happy to take Kentaro up on his offer of sharing a percentage of his winnings and Ayana says she is down for that too. We love Kenya.
They show a montage of all of Kentaro’s funny moments and we had forgotten about the sauna/Salmon/Santa back and forth. He says he owns his “anal-ness”. We love Kentaro. Ayana says she has grown a lot and now she is able to learn to stand in her own power. She is very happy with all of the friendships that happened. We love Ayana. Brandon was happy that his style and aesthetic translated as well as it did and he was able to stay true to who he is as a designer. We love Brandon too. Tim asks him about the models having a crush on him and all the other designers gently tease him. He blushes as we get a montage.
Tim tells Margarita she had a knockout of a show and mentions the bathing suit reveal again. Everyone agrees it was awesome. He says she had a rollercoaster of a season and she agrees, but that she learned a lot from everyone else and it was great getting a different perspective. Tim is happy he saved her. We are good with Margarita too. Tim then asks Kenya how she felt getting eliminated in the end. Seriously? Do we have to put her through this??? She says she was heartbroken because she truly thought she was going to Fashion Week.
Tim brings up the diversity of the models this season and they come out on stage. Liris and Jazzmine are happy they drew attention to different shapes and sizes. We see a montage of some of the designers worrying about dressing them and using the wrong terms for plus size. (oh ChaCha) Kentaro says he worked to make it collaborative even though he struggled in the beginning, and Kenya loved dressing them because she is all curves herself. They show the twits complaining and the looks on ALL the models faces tell us everything we need to know about how they felt about Clawn. Tim announces that Nina has offered Jazzmine and Liris roles in a digital feature for Marie Claire. They happily accept.
The top ten designers are now on stage and Claire’s foot is broken. Tim says he’s amazed it didn’t happen in the workroom the way that they ran around like toddlers on meth. He didn’t say it like, that, I DID. There is mention of Margarita and Michael speaking Spanish to each other and Tim asks if they were saying snarky things, Margarita says no, Michael says yes. Margarita says it was from an insecure place and a way to get that out. Right. Michael says he was not shocked by getting cut, but happy he went out for something he was proud of- ah the bondage outfit. Forgot about that. Amy said it was a humbling experience as a teacher and made her a student again.
Tim turns to the twits and says “We have never had relatives on the show and this year we had sisters who are TWINS”. No Tim. You had stunt casting. We get a montage of all the running around and over-ennunciation and ridiculousness the other contestants and viewers had to put up with. Shawn says she is blessed to have had this experience and the ENTIRE couch gives her the side eye. He asks if the other designers think the twins had an advantage and Kenya is like, Hell, YES. Amy says no, it was an achilles heel for them because they never got to be individuals. They claim they have one brain and lots of designers work in teams. It is pointed out that this competition is about individual talent. They show the head to head twit challenge when Shawn concedes because she has no idea what the hell she’s doing. Tim asks if that was fair. Kenya says yes because the judges needed to see who could do what on their own. Margarita thought it was inhumane. Les thinks this is because Margarita has a strong sense of family. I think thats crap and Margarita doesn’t want to be seen as the bad guy. Amy then drops the hammer and brings up the cheating. Tim tells her that they will get to that. Amy is ready.
They show clips of the “brothers”. They ask them why they get along so well and neither of them can articulate why. One cause he’s Japanese and one cause he’s a straight dude. They don’t know why, they just click. Michael points out that they helped each other a lot and maybe that’s unfair that the twins were judged on this and they weren’t. Uh, NO Bitter Betty. They helped each other but didn’t do each others designs or work. Tim says they also didn’t want to court drama. They look at him like he’s crazy. Who would WANT to court drama? At this point drama personified rears it’s ugly head when Shawn demands to know why no one told them they were being annoying. There is a collective eye roll and Kudzanai shouts at the screen in the green room that THEY DID.
The rest of the designers are now there and there is a cute moment where everyone celebrates Aaron’s quirkiness. Ayana says she loves that he’s not afraid to be an individual. Kenya is also celebrated for her tailoring, her singing and basically for just being a joy to be around.
And NOW…… The CHEATING SCANDAL. They bring it up and Claire is shaking her head. She Trumps it and says that now it never really happened. Tim explains the rules and that having pens and paper or a measuring tape of any kind outside of the workroom is cheating. She now says she brought it home by accident and never used it. Amy is NOT having it. Professor Amy comes out and she demands to know why she confessed then. Claire says it all a blur, she misunderstood what Tim was asking. Amy tells her you either tell the truth or you don’t. Shawn tries to jump in but she is no match for Amy who reminds she also mentioned it in her closing statements and if she’s taking it back she basically has no integrity. Tim flat out asks if she had the tape, she says by accident at “some point”. He asked if she used it. She says no. He reminds her she confessed. She says AGAIN she didn’t understand at the time to what she was confessing. No one is buying it. Michael apologizes for calling it out on stage. Tim uses the word “Egregious” and Sentell tells her now is the time to show some integrity and come clean. She won’t. Everyone is done and someone says that this is turning into the Claire and Shawn show and that there is no point. They agree to stop talking about it as Claire has all of the integrity of a politician or a Real Housewife. I.e. None.
Tim asks how they feel about the up close looks and they agree that while it is nerve wracking, the judges get to see the detail work. You also can’t fake anything. They show the judges looking at winning and losing looks. He then asks what the best challenge was and the Avant Garde Shoppies challenge was a favorite. Amy loved the dancers. Shawns pipes up and says she loved the “model off duty” challenge (the one where she basically copied the model’s existing outfit) and Samantha agrees, even though she got sent home that challenge. She says it is more important to design for the client than the judges.
There is a montage of the best and worst looks and Tim compliments Ayana for taking “modest” fashion to new heights. Everyone compliments Ayana and we are reminded again of how nice and gracious this cast was (for the most part). They all love her. Aaron says he will fight anyone who ever messes with her, and if a gender-fluid dude in a dress feels love this strong for a Muslim woman it makes me feel there is hope for this country after all.
They show the snarky bitchy interviews and afterwards Kenya mentions that certain people’s insecurities (guess who) speak volumes. Shawn says that they are all in a pressure cooker and again no one is buying it. She tells Kenya that she was talking behind their backs about them running around like idiots and Kenya looks her dead in the eye and says it’s because it was true. Shawn argues it’s subjective and Kenya basically tells her it’s not. Samantha points out that Shawn trashed her on a regular basis and Shawn apologizes. Other than Margarita and Michael being occasionally snarky the commentary has been pretty mild. I don’t count the twins because they don’t count.
Demi Lovato and Carly Chaikin are picked as the two toughest judges. Tim asked who was the most underestimated designer. The majority pick Amy (Les and I as well) and they all admire her amazing skills. Ayana says she was surprised she wasn’t on the top. Brandon thinks Kudzanai’s work is amazing and that the show didn’t lend itself time wise to the detail work he does on a regular basis. Kenya agrees. Shawn mentions Chacha. Shut-up Shawn.
Tim asks about social media (HI TIM!) and tells them to stay away from the comments. Ayana says she has gotten positive feedback from Muslims all over the world and doesn’t read the negative. We are then shown a reel of “Tim-isms” reinforcing my desire to never see Tim in workout clothing or shaking his booty. Ever.
Kudzanai sums up the experience for them all saying how he made so many friends and didn’t realize how wonderful that was until he was back home. It was a great experience and there were learning experiences for everyone. (almost everyone). Tim says it will be very hard to top this season. I watch to the bitter end (as Les has ordered me to) when everyone hugs each other. Most everyone. Margarita is the only one who gives the twins a big hug. Hmmm.
Thank you for reading us this season! I read Tamara because I like to laugh and I can’t handle watching a lot “reality shows” like housewives or teen mom, so I just read her awesome posts. I watch this show because I like to see real people with real talent do their thing. I’m just happy Top Chef is starting. I had a friend who worked at Bravo and she told me that the first season they tried to hire “personalities” as well as real chefs and the people who didn’t know what they were doing were quickly sent packing because you can’t fake being a chef. I know because I was one. So Lifetime? We have enough gimmicky drama out there….no more stunt casting. Please. Hopefully we will see you all in the comments for All-Stars! Best- CJ and Les. Xoxoxo.
Note from TT: My head cold has gone to a chest cold and I woke up about the time this was post was submitted. We are all sick here in the ATL. THANKS SO MUCH TO CJ and Les for the FANTASTIC recaps this season. This is a very time consuming show to recap.
Omg what do I do first watch the episode or read this first? Which is going to be more enjoyable??? Aaaaaargh anxiety. Ok, I will watch first so I don’t suffer FOMO. I hope it’s good. Then straight back here. *excited squeal*
i started watching first, then reading. Then I passed the watching with the reading and just HAD to go back to rewatch things that CJ pointed out. Great recap!
Great recap!
Amy rocked it!
TT, take care.. If you start feeling like you cannot even move.. Get to a doctor.
Last time crap went into my lungs, my doctor gave a listen and said he didn’t need an xray to Dx pneumonia.. So we hit it with antibiotics, oral and injection, and three in a nebulizer treatment.
I continued to stay away from my cancer patients another week and rested..
Feeling long distance protective of you.. ???
This reunion featured a range of facial expressions.. The twins were the most disturbing..??
Thanks Lynn!
I’ve helped patients with lung treatments enough times that I know how to do it without the stupid plastic thingy and have been doing them since things got chesty. I am starting to feel better now that things are breaking up. At first I didn’t think I had chest congestion, but once the productive coughing started last night I feel like I am heading toward the final stretch.
You have it under control!!
Adios Twins, good luck with your new careers at McDonalds!
Please don’t insult us who work at McDonald’s. I’m a 6 figure general manager and they would not last a day on my staff
I’m working in the wrong field. Again.
dear lord, me too!
I can’t believe the level of irritation and anger the twins bring out in me; I wanted to dive into the television screen and shake the hell out of them. I wanted to pull Claire’s hair and wipe the deadpan look off of Shawn’s horse face with a Brillo pad! And I’m normally considered a gentle English flower! Apparently not. To listen to Claire lie and dissemble was one of the most frustrating things ever. What a piece of incredibly stinky, gross, fermented piece of shit that woman is, but Kenya and Amy didn’t let her get away with a thing and neither did Tim. “Egregious”!! Loved it. Everyone else was gracious and wonderful. There was a lot of talent sitting in that studio last night. Good for them. I’ll miss you, Tim – you’re the best.
English Rose, WTG Lady. I concede 1st if you and I ever disagree.
I feel like I’m on drugs because I understand the point the twins were making. Even if I don’t know if it’s true, I don’t think the other contestants were listening to the point she was making, and why it wasn’t a backtrack.
She confessed to bringing home the tape as one “crime,” and measuring the top in the workroom bathroom as the second “crime.” Not that she brought home the tape and did her measuring there.
Yes, we call those lies. Her roommates saw her measuring.
Yes, we call those lies. Her roommates saw her measuring.
There was so much cross-talk in both episodes that it was not clear to me that that’s what they were saying. Someone said there was a similar outfit in their room, someone said measuring tape in their room, and someone else said measuring in the bathroom at the workroom.
I considered the twins annoying this season, yes. But after watching the reunion, I found a new sympathy for them. I, too, to a certain extent understand the point Claire was making. Their personalities and facial expressions and mannerisms and way of speaking are what they are, but after they were written off as annoying, and as the show went on were revealed to be not very talented designers, they basically lost all respect from everyone and they didn’t stand a chance after that. I don’t consider them bad people at all and don’t deserve the hatred. Maybe they are what you would call socially awkward?
Anyway, I think it was sad for them to be rejected for simply being who they are, and demonized because of it. For example, Kenya got into a heated discussion with one of the twins (I forgot which one) after the “interviews” segment where everyone was basically making catty comments on camera about everyone else’s work. And yet Kenya only took issue with the twin’s catty comment on her work.
It’s because she didn’t respect them at all, and probably thought they weren’t worthy enough to criticize her work. Kenya is one of nicest people on PR16, I thought. I would have thought she was above excoriating the twin that way.
I guess once you lose someone’s respect without even knowing what caused it, there are no second chances, it seems. You are ruined forever, outside the circle of inclusiveness & camaraderie that is Season 16 alumni.
Now Margarita, she’s a double faced manipulator who will tell you what you want to hear to your face but say something else behind your back. What a backstabber. And all she did in every episode is cry. She even got Tim hooked on her act. She’s the one I really can’t stand among the 16. But she said it herself, it probably all comes from a place of insecurity. She thinks highly of herself in order to compensate.
“Anyway, I think it was sad for them to be rejected for simply being who they are, and demonized because of it.”
It’s not sad at all. You can feel sad for them if you’d like. But THEY CHEATED AND WERE EJECTED FOR CHEATING.
And they were highly obnoxious and a distraction to actually talented people who were there trying to win the prize.
They were not qualified to be there. Period. They were distracting and at first other people were amused, then annoyed, then upset by it. Period. Claire’s roommates saw her sketching and measuring. If she hadn’t been doing it she would have fought like hell to stay. There are no second chances on this show. As per Amy, you follow the rules or you don’t. They were allowed many concessions, cast together, allowed to do interviews together, designed FOR each other. This was final straw. Perhaps they aren’t bad people, but they had absolutely no business being on this show.
In the “Tim-isms” segment, I waited to see if they would show the clip of Tim nearly being unable to express himself after hearing a snippet of Kintaro’s out of tune piano composition that was inspired by a dead and buried cat. Sadly, they didn’t. 🙁
I got the sense that Tim really didn’t like Kentaro during the season, and he was mad about the weird story during the home visit. But he ended up coming around to liking Kentaro (as a person, not in the design sense) while watching the season.
I thought Claire handled the initial ejection well and was sorry to see her now backtracking on it. I believe Claire was being honest with Tim when he originally asked her if she had a measuring tape in her room and she answered “yes”. The reason I say that is because, when discussing with the other designers before Tim came in she said that she did have one and expected it to be taken away as punishment. That implies to me at least that she still had it, not that she “had it by mistake previously” but only overnight and left it in the workroom the next day.
I think what we heard on Thursday was the result of several weeks of working on an explanation to not be a cheater. Unfortunately, it only seemed to make her look worse.
Given the twins’ behavior and mannerisms, I cannot believe that this is the first time in their lives they’ve been told they’re annoying. Again, this seems an attempt to make themselves out as victims instead of lousy designers.
I was glad when Tim moved on and went back to focusing on the positive aspects of the season and the group. I really liked most of the designers this season and really enjoyed following along with the awesome recaps here. Thanks CJ, Leslie, and TT!
Rebecca, I agree with your comment that Claire probably spent weeks coming up with an explanation so she would no longer be labeled a cheater. She decided to spin it as “I didn’t understand the questions” and “I accidentally put the tape measure in my pocket” and “I only took four measurements of a single top in the workroom restroom on one occasion.”
I admire Amy and appreciated her pointed questions and relevant comments, but every time it appeared that we were close to getting an honest answer from Claire, she or someone else got (understandably) impatient and interjected. A real explanation, or at least an apology as one designer suggested, may have helped turn things around for Claire. We’ve seen the public tear someone down (often rightly so), but then forgive and build them back up.
CJ and Leslie, thanks for your insightful, detailed, entertaining recaps all season! And Tamara thanks for giving PR the space and attention. I’ve been watching PR on and off for years–Austin Scarlett and his “Home Alone” expression hooked me Season 1–but I don’t know anyone else who watches it, so it’s been fun to read the recaps and comments.
🙂 Sentell gave her a chance to be honorable and come clean and she wouldn’t take it. In my humble opinion (very humble) there is no way in hell that Claire would have walked off that set if she hadn’t cheated. She would have fought tooth and nail to stay.
Tweedle DumDums were the saddest excuse for villains on a reality show ever.
Amy! I hope she gets a comeback call. She was overlooked a lot. Ageism?
Other than the twits, this was a great season. Thanks for the best PR recaps on the web!
We hope she comes back for All-Stars!
Excellent recap and totally agree it’s fun to watch creative people do their thing
Loved Kenya and her forthright comments. I was also surprised Amy didn’t do better. It made me wonder if the judges ignored her because of her profession.
Gawd the twins are the most annoying people.
What I took away from it was the twin didn’t cheat she accidently took tape measure to apartment and didn’t use it.. She admitted to using tape measure in the workroom bathroom.. Does anyones else buy that statement for a penny ? Geez 2 spaz’s
they for sure need that ritlin ..
Why would you use a tape measure in the bathroom if it was ok to measure a shirt?
So WISH someone else would have said “THAT IS STILL BREAKING THE RULES. DON’T PRETEND YOU DIDN’T KNOW. WHY ELSE WOULD YOU MEASURE IN THE BATHROOM!”
Never wished for Nene Leakes at a reunion before, but at that moment, I did.
Thank you CJ & Leslie for your recaps, I often did not agree with your selections of the favorite looks each week, but you always gave a clear and thoughtful explanation for why you choose your faves and since I have zero fashion experience it was interesting to see why you choose what you them. Thanks to TT for covering PR.
I was a big Kenya fan! After watching the entire season, I believe Heidi just did not like Kenya for whatever reason. Often when Kenya had a look the majority of us who thought should have won a particular week, it would be Heidi that would poo poo it. This worked against her in the finale, as the rest of them were not willing to out vote her for Kenya to have a spot. I can’t remember another season where 5 designers were selected for NTFW. I am probably among the minority, but I did not care for Margarita’s collection at all! There was one cool look….but yuck!
The NYFW show is filmed way in advance of the airing of PR. Typically they have 6-7 designers show so people dont figure out who won in advance of the show. Someone always posts the shows on Redditt. This year they had 6 designers show the 5 from the show and Kenya. I like Kenya’s total collection and thought it was as strong as any of the rest of the other designers. I dont dispute Kentaro’s collection deserved the win.
Last year we had Roberi get screwed over by picking that horrendous arts and crafts collection. Sometimes this show is tough to take.
I don’t know, I tend to be wary of those that loudly profess their own “integrity” while ripping others apart. Sorry, nobody on that show was above the twins in any way, other than maybe their design work. A lie or two? Join the human race! Never mind that the editing of these reality shows leaves us all wondering about the truth of each episode, I saw plenty of criticizing behind backs and nasty comments and glances. There were a few that were much worse designers then the twins too. (Chacha?) Kenya is so critical in fact, that I find her a negative person, just as I find Amy. I don’t care how much smiling and singing they do. And just because you are saying something you think is true doesn’t mean you are right, honest, kind or loaded with integrity. It could mean that you feel entitled to join in and beat someone down that you find “annoying”.
I stopped caring about the cheating after listening to the “clique” of the alleged good, honest and kind group speak against those they felt weren’t worthy enough to be there. Sorry, none of them are Coco Chanel or Armani. Nowhere near.