Project Runway Recap: Twist and Shout

Another synergistic crossover episode with Dancing With the Stars feels (mostly) like vintage Project Runway. Photo: Spencer Pazer/Disney

Is it just that my expectations were lowered? It’s probably just that my expectations were lowered. But for two weeks in a row, I’ve enjoyed Project Runway. Put aside how annoying Bryan is! Put aside the impossible-to-understand decision-making that led Julianne Hough to be a guest mentor with no real feedback on the clothes when she should have been a guest judge! “Designing With the Stars” feels like a flashback to earlier-era Project Runway in its synergistic crossover with the Disney property Dancing With the Stars, and the models were all professionals, and the clothes were mostly fun. I had a good time. We have only two weeks left. Is it too much to hope the season will close out stronger than it started?

Also, is it too much to hope Bryan is gone after this episode’s cliffhanger gets resolved next week? Get him out of here! Every time he says “haute couture,” an innocent dress dies. I’m imagining a Who Framed Roger Rabbit? or Coyote vs. Acme scenario in which an animated dress hears Bryan’s extremely affected French and collapses, crumpled on the floor, never to be worn again. Bryan keeps putting models in clothes that make me think he has never encountered a real woman before, and I can’t believe his seemingly reasonable model went along with a dress that made her look like a hot-dog bun cinched up with shoelaces. It’s wild to me that Law Roach’s feedback on Bryan’s monstrosity of a gown was reduced to “it’s too much,” while he went in on Joseph McRae and accused him of being on the show only to … sell his own clothes? I’m sorry, isn’t that what Project Runway is for? The series has always featured designers who have already started selling outfits and building their brands before being on the show. If the show is now being repositioned as just for people who are fresh out of design school or who have made just one or two gowns before (like, cough, our beloved Jude), then say that. But what another weird way for Law to attack Joseph. Did he not see the same dress from Bryan that I did? The one that looked like it was covered with giant farfalle pasta bows? Come on.

All the drama from last week’s showdown with the season-21 designers is resolved by season 22 winning the unconventional-materials challenge. Okay, sure. Wrapping duct tape around models and calling it a dress is acceptable now, I guess! That means all seven season-22 designers get to stay, but it also means this week has a double elimination — and from this point on, no more immunity. Bi deservedly pockets the $20,000 for winning the challenge with his keyboard-covered dress, and, no surprise, Bryan makes this all about him. “Bi choosing not to pick sides really triggers something in me. When he needed saving, I made sure to stick up for him. But when Jeffrey Kelly decided to come for me, Bi was silent,” Bryan harrumphs, and here is what I wrote in my notes: “Who CARES!!!!” How did Bi work for Bryan for any length of time without absolutely losing his mind? Bryan is an albatross, and he has a chip on his shoulder heading into the next challenge: to design a fashion-forward look inspired by a particular dance style that a Dancing With the Stars professional will model on the runway. How do the designers get to choose their dance styles? Via a dance-off, of course, because why not? The Shards did it; how about Project Runway?

All the designers are good sports, but here’s a special shout-out to Jude for getting a little Magic Mike XXL with it, Naheim for moshing around and proving he would kill it in a hardcore pit, and Jeffrey for going full Pose. Depending on their dance scores from Heidi, Christian, and Julianne, the designers get to pick their dances in descending order based on how well they did:

Approaches vary around the workroom. Joseph looks to the history of jive and how it was danced by Black servicemembers for a military-inspired look of various greens with a big overcoat. I thought this was very thoughtful! Samba has ties to the Brazilian Carnival tradition, so Anna picks out a floral fabric and designs a skirt with feather-style panels that will move around with the dancer. Jeffrey, bless his heart, is going very costume with a ruffled red skirt and a red sheer polka-dot top for his salsa outfit. Naheim’s is very street-style-inspired with an asymmetrical leather jacket and pants that have what I can describe only as Georgia O’Keeffe–evoking front slits. Bi’s mimicks a matador with an all-red top and pants, while Jude also does a jacket and pants but with far more volume in the bottoms; they’re both great tailors, and their outfits look perfectly fitted. And Bryan is wrapping his model in gray and pink chiffon because … there is no because. He’s calling it sculptured and “pure haute couture,” he’s sucking up to Julianne when she walks through, and I’m with Jeffrey in wondering, “What the fuck is going on in this workroom?”

All the dancers are incredibly professional and good-natured, but they don’t exactly provide critical feedback on the looks, and neither does Julianne. We’ve all seen how useful Christian has been in the workroom throughout the season in guiding some of the designers away from their worst decisions, and his absence (he’s on a business trip for the first workroom day) is really felt. There’s no way Christian would let Bryan keep doing what he’s doing. (Bryan’s model, Emma, does say, “I don’t feel like this is a very accurate depiction of the waltz,” but she says it to a producer, not Bryan.) Christian would probably tell Jeffrey he’s being too literal when he references West Side Story. And he would definitely question the side flaps and vaginal architecture of Naheim’s pants. I do appreciate that a lot of the designers are trying to think about movement with these looks and to visualize the rhythms of the specific dance styles or musical genres, but some of the outfits end up too wacky. By the time Christian arrives in the workroom for the second day, the only thing he can really change is to have Christian get rid of a burgundy sash belt he had paired with his outfit. Naheim’s “little vagina pant,” as Christian dubs it, is too far gone.

Runway time! Niecy Nash-Betts, who competed on DWTS back in 2010, is the guest judge, alongside Heidi, Nina, and Law. It’s a real mixed runway! Anna’s and Jude’s looks move beautifully, and their models really sell the garments. Bi’s look is very well made but a little one-note with the all-red palette. Jeffrey’s is also very well made, but in no way is it fashion-forward. And then there are Naheim’s, which doesn’t read as jazz to anyone; Bryan’s, which Nina correctly insults as “Bridgerton”; and Joseph’s, which I think has some really cool pieces (like that oversize green leather overcoat) but also his typical flourishes, such as an unnecessary beanie. Anna and Jude end up in the top, and Jude scores his third win. I do think Anna was robbed of this because it felt to me like her two-piece outfit had more thoughtful touches: the corset-style back, the shredded skirt, the muted abstract floral. But more and more it feels as if the judges want Jude in the finale, so fine. Bi is safe, and Naheim, Bryan, Jeffrey, and Joseph all line up for judgment.

Naheim’s look comes down to a muddled idea. He couldn’t communicate how his look represented jazz. But it’s not detested; he’s safe. Joseph is in a trickier position. Niecy loves the look, and Heidi likes that she can tell it’s Joseph’s work. But Nina calls it “cartoon supervillain,” and Law says, “I really don’t think you’re here to win this show. There has really been no evolution of the clothes you make over two seasons. It’s unfair to other people on this stage that’s pushing themselves every week to move forward.” I can’t help but feel Law is engineering his response to Joseph’s clothes based on what he thinks Project Runway should be versus what it actually is. And again, wouldn’t you rather wear Joseph’s look than Bryan’s? I certainly would. Bryan is out — and unfortunately, so is our beloved Jeffrey. His is a beautifully made look that is also, as Heidi clocks, the salsa-dancer emoji. “It’s absolutely perfect; it’s just tacky,” Law says, and I can’t argue. It’s not a “fashion-forward” look, and it doesn’t meet the challenge.

But a final twist: Christian still has his Siriano Save left, and he’s going to use it on an eliminated contestant who has produced “incredible work” and has a “creative mind.” We won’t know who until next week, but until then, I worry that Christian’s going to save Bryan. I worry very much.