Project Runway Returns to Form

I can't keep up with how long Project Runway has been on Lifetime, but I recall enough to know that this is the best season since it changed cable networks. As with any competition show such as Project Runway, the success of the show depends almost entirely on their contestants. Yes, they have to have good hosts, etc., and challenging projects for the contestants, but if the contestants are dull, so is the show.

This season, we've had a number of very talented designers, such that the last two eliminations were almost as difficult for me as for the eliminated contestant. As I watched the most recent episode (the first half of the finale), I just about had to reach for a Kleenex. But we've also had characters with...well, character. Some have been good, and some have not. We even had a hometown contestant in Peach Carr, who has a shop in the northern suburbs of Chicago. She was the oldest contestant, and was a favorite. I didn't think she'd win, and I'm spoiling nothing here when I comment that she didn't, but she fit in well with the group and was genuinely a nice person. (I know, you can argue that I have no idea if she's really a nice person of if she's the beneficiary of good editing. Leave me alone!).

Mondo Guerra is another contestant, and my favorite at this time to win. He dresses uniquely, and is extremely talented, especially at mixing patterns and using colors. I didn't think he'd make it at first, given that he felt disconnected from the other contestants. But he was the first to notice that Michael C (discussed below) was actually not a bad designer.

Let's not forget Casanova, from Puerto Rico, who made one of the most god-awful outfits in the first episode that I wouldn't have been surprised had he been auf'd. (He was, much later). His English was iffy at best, but he was quite amusing and appeared to be loved by all. He certainly smiled a lot.

Much of the drama centered around Michael Costello (called Michael C to differentiate from Michael Drummond). No one thought Michael C had any talent or skill. Yet he won challenge after challenge. At one point, the contestants had to rely on another to execute their design, and Mondo found himself partnered with Michael C. Mondo wasn't happy at first, but he later acknowledged that he had been a bitch for no reason. Michael C made it to the final four.

Ivy was a contestant I couldn't stand. An excellent seamstress, she didn't seem to have any real talent for designing, but she did for stirring up trouble. She told the other contestants that Michael C was calling her names, and when brought back for a challenge after being eliminated, accused Michael C of cheating earlier. I was never so proud of Tim Gunn as when he basically said that no producer or camera saw anything, and since it occurred a while ago, the incident was closed. I'd like to add that no camera caught Michael C calling her names either.

Next week the show is having its first reunion in a number of seasons. With this cast of characters, the reunion should be exciting.