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My Amateur Impressions:

The Professionals’ Impressions:

Called it. Just sayin’.


We’ve finally made it. The last challenge. The big one.

After all this, it’s come down to Walter, Melissa, and Rob. Only one will be crowned the Face Off Champion. Any guesses yet?

The three remaining contestants are brought to an oil field, which is very strange. McKenzie meets them, and introduces the special guest — producer Jason Blum. She explains that this final challenge will be horror-themed, and each artist will create two (only two?) characters who will star in a horror film.

This is essentially the same final challenge as last season, which was a huge success. Previous finales have always involved some kind of practical performance element – dancing, fighting, appearing at Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights. But there was something really intense about last season’s film challenge. It was the most real-world application, working with a director, with lighting and cameras. If an artist can do that successfully, they really can make it in the professional makeup world.

This season, the film was inspired by a short story titled “Hell Hole,” involving a family buying a house that’s possessed by a demon. Each artist will work with an “up-and-coming” director (all males, btw. What’s up with that? Come on, Face Off, you couldn’t find one female horror director?), each with HIS own specific take on the script and what the demon should look like.

McKenzie introduces the directors, and it appears as though they were all asked to dress as identical hipsters – dark skinny jeans, blue shirts, same height, dudes. Anyway…

As is often reality-competition tradition, some former contestants have returned to help the finalists with their task. It’s nice to see the familiar faces of Kaleb, Yvonne, Mel, Anna, Johnny, and Robert.

Before they break, McKenzie also reveals that Mr. Blum will also be a guest judge for this final challenge.

Each team gets their version of the script, and they narrow in on the descriptions of their respective demon. Walter’s script uses “gourd” and “sinewy,” which is a little disappointing to Walter, who doesn’t like doing the tree thing. His director, Ryan, goes into more description, talking vines, dirt, etc. Team Water decides that their demon is half pumpkin/half tree and their possessed victim will have vines around and through her.

Team Rob has “massive horned figure” to work with, which is a little vague. Director Bryce also uses “of the earth,” and suggests dry, cracked, and white (white?). Kaleb asks how he feels about a goat. Bryce is not pleased with the goat suggestion. No, he wants something new. Their possession victim will be the “basic possession makeup” with some oil dripping.

Over on Team Melissa, their script is oozing with specifics: “a chupacabra mashed with the face of the hatchetfish and the teeth of goliath tigerfish.” Oh, and it’s a Cyclops. There’s also a doll named Mr. Sticks. That’s a lot. Melissa is initially worried about mimicking her previous Cyclops makeup, but that was so unique, I don’t see why she’s letting it get to her.

In the lab, Rob is unhappy with his idea for his face sculpt.

Melissa decides on doing a Cyclops creature without the eye, a bold choice.

The Westmores appear — but they are not alone — Mr. Westmore reveals a surprise guest – none other than the lovely Lois Burwell! They make their rounds and offer lots of advice, of course, with Lois asking lots of questions.

Day 2 and Rob has decided to completely start over on the face, sort of using a mole, then a rhino as inspiration. It sounds a little weird, but he seems happy.

Walter has in insane amount of detail on his demon’s face.

Team Rob is having a major issue – half of the cowl is locked, and the three team members are desperately trying to pop it out. Rob is coming to terms with the fact that they might have to break the mold a bit in order to get it out.

Day 3 and the artists examine their pieces. Rob’s demon cowl is in rough shape, but at this point he has no choice but to make it work.

Melissa recognizes Johnny and Yvonne’s application talent, so she lets them have at while she prepaints.

Walter is having Mel apply while Robert is casting the other model’s teeth, and now I’m having panicked flashbacks of the orthodontist.

Rob is also prepainting while the others apply.

And before we know it, we roll into Last Looks before the camera test.

Team Melissa and her characters are looking pretty gnarly in a good way. When she heads over to set, she’s super excited and nervous. The director gives some suggestions about the chest piece and some coloring, but ultimately, the demon comes off well. No resculpting there. But the victim needs some work. Okay, she’s got some work to do, but it’s not a total disaster.

Team Walter: In Last Looks, Mel is trying to salvage her paint job. By the end of the hour, Walter is fairly confident. As they walk to the soundstage, it’s apparent how HUGE the demon is, both the model and the makeup. It’s a little intimidating. The director loves what he sees initially, and only has minor notes on the demon. Mr. Westmore also has some advice, but again, minor, which is a good sign for Walter. On the possessed makeup, the director asks them to take it down a notch. Over all, Walter is in a good place.

Team Rob: Rob is having issues with the face sculpt sliding under the weight of the cowl. When they get to the soundstage, the director loads up on notes. More pale, more claws, different horns, different nose, different color, more natural elements. Rob pulls the old “worst case scenario” line, but this might really be it. The director is essentially asking for a whole new makeup. I’d be curious to know what Mr. Westmore thinks of this, but we don’t get to hear from him. The victim, who can do an impressive backbend, doesn’t fare much better with the director. He wants A LOT less.

At “To Be Continued…,” it’s evident that Walter is in the best position right now, with minimal changes. Rob has a massive amount of work ahead of him, and Melissa is somewhere in the middle.

Overall Thoughts: As a Part 1 – this was enjoyable.

— Surprising to see Rob flounder so badly, but I blame the director, in part. We didn’t see their full discussion early on, but Rob is usually much clearer with his ideas.

–It was kind of disorienting to hear the Last Looks music three times over, but that’s not a complaint. I love that music.

— There seemed to be a few elements missing – did the finalists get to Skype with their families? Will that be next week? Also, what about the “last minute” challenge – an other character, or a change in requirements? Two characters seems a little easy given that in the past, they’ve had to do three, even four characters.

Beauty in Words:

“She’s just so cute and British.” – Rob

“Is there a way to make the ear hole more of a hole?” – one of the dude directors.

Sadly, Neville did not appear in this episode, so we are left without a #Nevilleism.

We’re down to the semi-finals. Four contestants left. Only three can move forward into the finale. Here we go.

Mel, Melissa, Walter, and Rob are being driven through what looks like the Universal Backlot (or subsequent outdoor set) in a green caravan. The dramatic music combined with the overreactions of the artists make it seem like it’s much scarier than it is. Once they arrive, McKenzie greets them, then informs the remaining crew that their challenge will involve Skull Island and King Kong.

Standing with McKenzie is Executive Produce for Universal Creative, Mike West. He’s here to explain (read: plug) Universal Orlando’s new attraction – Skull Island: Reign of Kong. He tries to explain the ride without giving too much away, and I’m left a little confused. Is it like Indiana Jones, where you’re in a real vehicle going through a real set? Or is it more of a virtual reality + ride like Transformers? I just don’t know.

But it doesn’t matter right now. The artists are tasked with creating “evolved” intelligent being from a set of animal-like creatures. Bonus! The winner of this challenge gets a trip for two to Universal Studios Florida. Hooray!

By claiming fossils of these creatures, the artists choose their inspiration.

Walter has a Terapusmordax. Looks like a giant, giant bat. Walter’s deciding the move the wings from the arms to the back, leaving the creature with arms free for fighting.

Mel’s is really bug-like, with insect armor.

Rob is working with a dinosaur hybrid – Vastatosaurus Rex, or V. Rex, to his friends. Rob is making a conscious effort to keep realistic goals and not over-burden himself like last week.

And finally, Melissa’s got crab. Well, it’s a huge crustacean-like scavenger.

Back at the lab, Walter’s spending lots of time on the face. Lots of wrinkles and details. Melissa’s already planning the weird antennae and all that she’ll be sticking onto the face. Rob’s initial sculpt is a little silly-looking, with a big grin, so he adds teeth to… well, give it some bite.

The Westmores show up. Mr. Westmore warns Rob to pick and choose what will be seen and to hide everything else. With Melissa, he suggests she bring the face sculpt down to the neck, just for seamlessness. He gives some painting advice to Walter. And with Mel, it’s a little tougher. She’s putting in several fake eyes, and Mr. Westmore warns this could look too much like a mask.

This promptly puts Mel in panic-mode, as she realizes she’s doing things the judges hate: static eyes, beak around the mouth. She decides to start over.

Rob is putting lots of effort into the scaling of his piece. Melissa is adding texture to her piece using pearls.

Day 2 starts with Walter making a slip cast of his face so he can properly line it up with his cowl. Mel is starting all over again, again. Now, she’s creating plates out of geometric shapes, placing them on the face, trusting they will work together. So far, they do.

Rob is working on a back piece, giving his overall character a cool silhouette, he hopes.

Walter is now fabricating the giant wings. His plan was to create a mechanism where his model can pull a string and the wings would pop up. But, as is often the case in these situations, it doesn’t work. The springs bent, and now Walter must think of a new plan involving static wings.

Melissa is also fabricating like a fiend, creating pinchers and a piece that will go around the back of the head, in lieu of a cowl.

Mel, on the other hand, is hesitantly fabricating. She admits it’s not her strong suit, but she’s gonna have a go at it. She’s creating a chest and an “insect butt” with l200 and A LOT of duct tape.

Day 2 ends with Walter frustrated about his latex wings and the crew sit around mulling their futures.

On Application Day, Mel is working hard on painting her fabricated piece. Melissa is still fabricating away, before jumping into painting. Rob only begins his paint job with less than an hour until Last Looks.

In Last Looks, Mel is still using duct tape to put her look together. Rob is really unhappy with his progress, and ends up throwing grass onto his model just to cover him up.


Mel’s Decarnocimex: Hmmm. I kinda like it. The back is really cool. And I like the colors. But there’s something weird with the mouth.

Walter’s Terapusmordax: Truthfully, not a huge fan of the wings. The face is good, though it eerily reminds me of a silicon mask we have at the haunted house.

Melissa’s Arachnocidis (or Arachno-Claw, because only some get nicknames): It looks pretty cool. The paint job and detail are amazing. You can see the model’s lips, though, and I’m not sure if that’s intentional, but it throws me off a little.

Rob’s Vastatosaurus: Ummmm…. huh. Kind of disappointing from Rob. While the detail scale work is obviously incredible, the paint job and bare skin on the model are total drawbacks.


Glenn wishes Mel’s mouth was synthesized with the model. They wish Walter’s wings were instead folded on the back instead of up and out. They are very impressed with Rob’s sculpture, not so much his cover-up job.

The three going into the finale are… Melissa, Rob, and Walter, with Melissa winning the trip to Universal Studios.

Poor Mel is going home, just missing her shot at the finale.

Overall Thoughts: Even though I can’t necessarily argue, I’m really sad to see Mel go. I’m also curious to know how Rob’s makeup would’ve been judged in an earlier round, without all those wins behind him. The challenge itself was okay, and while there was the usual stress, there wasn’t much drama, which is also usual this season.


“I don’t want to toot my own fabrication horn but…… toot toot.” — Mel.

“It’s super good to meet you I’m just spray painting your butt right now.” — Mel.

“I really did like the form language.” — #Nevellism. Drink!

One more left, folks! And a 2-parter!

(I need something else to RECAP until Face Off comes back! But what? Kimmy Schmidt? Game of Thrones? Help me out with some suggestions!)

Tonight’s challenge was no secret: World. Of. Warcraft.

After the judges used their immunity card last week, we’ve got the same talented 5 contestants this week, which is great.

The goal this week is to adapt a character from WoW to a realistic creature ready for the film. Chris Robinson, WoW’s senior art director, appears on the scene to offer advice both to the group and individually once they develop their concepts.

Right off the bat, Melissa and Walter are the most pumped. Melissa is practically giddy with joy. Mel, on the other hand, is bumming hard. She is not familiar with the WoW life and feels she’s already at a disadvantage. She’s going with a Troll. And when Chris shows up, she assaults him with questions.

Melissa’s got the Worgen. Chris recommends to work on the profile, specifically the snout. Walter’s got a Draenei. Rob’s got a Tauren, which looks like a bull. He’s got a lot planned. Yvonne has a Goblin. Her model is female, so she asks Chris if there’s a difference, and how important it is to stick to said difference.

Rob starts on his cowl. He feels it’s an important shape for a true Tauren. Yvonne oddly ditches Chris’s advice and decides to make her female Goblin uglier.

Walter starts working on tentacles using an assortment of materials. Melissa’s struggling a bit with her werewolf face sculpt.

Rob is getting very disappointed in his cowl. He feels it looks stupid and since immunity is no longer on the table, he’s feeling particularly stressed. He decides to set the cowl aside and move onto the face.

The Westmores appear. First, Mr. Westmore advises Yvonne to bring out some features, highlighting the fantasy element of the challenge. Over at Melissa’s station, he winces at her concept, and suggests she elongate the muzzle. He tells Rob not to hold back because it’s looking good. Finally, he warns Mel that she’s lost some of the character in her face sculpt.

Rob is really not having a good day here. He thinks his face looks like a “werewolf teddy bear thing.”  For the second time today, he sets aside his current piece to work on something else. Walter tries to boost Rob’s self esteem, but to no avail.

Day 2 starts with Walter prepping his mold. Rob is starting the day on a better foot, hopping up and down, “I figured it out! I figured it out!” He’s determined a shape for his face, but now he must make some difficult decisions concerning time. The cowl, he decides, must be scrapped. He figures he can create the silhouette he wants through fabrication.

Melissa is sculpting like a fiend. She speed-sculpted hands, which she’s not happy about, but is of the mindset of just getting it done.

Yvonne is working on the giant ears of her Goblin. She tries to explain that she’s scaling down the ears from the game, trying to make them more human-scaled, but when we see them, they look ginormous, like the entire size of the face. Not sure her “scaled down” was scaled down enough.

Melissa’s troubled hands are not popping out of her mold. She must chisel out one hand, but that results in losing some fingers. Walter starts working on a tail, and seems to enjoy testing it out.

Rob’s horns are one full and one half. But as he’s molding in silicon, he realizes he doesn’t have a enough silicon to fill the full horn. Plan B is to double-mold the broken horn, but that must wait until tomorrow.

The remaining artists have a little meltdown together on the patio – sharing feelings about being homesick.

Application Day.

Rob is molding both his horns and his fingers today. Horn 1 comes out beautifully. Horn 2, however, sticks to the mold, and Rob has a mini temper tantrum out of frustration we’ve all had at one time or another.

Melissa’s working on the paws, but it is also proving to be difficult. Mel is laying a giant red mohawk, and once she starts styling it, she’s loving it. It looks pretty cool from my end.

Walter’s working hard on his paint job, basing out in white then bringing in blues.

Rob is miserable with his design. He feels this is his worst case scenario, feeling as though his final design has come down to the bare bones of his original concept.

At Last Looks, Yvonne seems to know her paint job is a muddy mess. It really is. Mel is feeling really great about her character, and it’s nice to see her *not* in panic mode.

This week, we’ve got special guest judge Rob Kazinsky, who is in the upcoming Warcraft movie. He reveals he spent a year of his life playing WoW, gaining sponsorships and getting paid just to play all day.


Yvonne’s Goblin: Ugh. I like Yvonne, but this is not good. The paint job is a disaster and the ears seem too big.

Walter’s Draenei: Damn. That’s gorgeous. Incredible detail, crystal clear features.

Rob’s Tauren: Um, I think it looks kinda cool. The horns are creepy. There’s a lot of detail on the face. It’s definitely not the disaster Rob made it out to be.

Melissa’s Worgen: Oh, I’m disappointed. The sculpt doesn’t look right and the paint job is lacking detail.

Mel’s Troll: Totally digging it. Love the mohawk, the color palette. It really looks great.


They do not like Yvonne’s paint job. Rob K. is impressed with the realism to the game with several of them.  Glenn likes Melissa’s profile better than straight on. They have mostly positive comments for Rob, except for Rob K. who says while it looks great, it doesn’t look like it’s from the game.

The top looks included Mel, Walter, and much to his own surprise, Rob, with Walter rightfully winning.

Bottom looks were Mel and Yvonne, with Yvonne going home.

Overall Thoughts: One of the better episodes this season, I think. The challenge was interesting and appropriately understood. Even for someone like me, who has never played World of Warcraft. I was surprised there wasn’t a double-elimination, since there was the immunity last week, but I’m not complaining. If that means one more episode squeezed in, then great. Rob K. was a very honest judge.


“For a worst case scenario, I think it’s phenomenal.” — Glenn, to Rob.

“I’m like Simon Cowel.” — Rob K., after offering harsh criticism.

“She looks like pea soup from here.” — Ve.

“The face doesn’t feel Gobliny…” — #Nevilleism

So, I’m dealing with a lame Megara on Once Upon a Time, and now I’m faced with the Cyclops on Face Off. It’s officially time to watch Hercules.

Now, with 5 contestants remaining, the pared-down crew walk into the lab, which has been turned into an apothecary of yore. (From Pottery Barn? Perhaps.) McKenzie explains this week’s Focus Challenge is about creating a Cyclops. The artists must choose an eyeball floating in a jar to create a character around it. And there’s another week where they stretched the set up and the challenge. “Stretch” is putting it nicely.

McKenzie also mentions that they’re bringing in special models this week to truly represent the physicality of a  6’4 and 7 feet tall. A few short jokes fly at Mel’s expense. Once the artists choose their eyeball, they immediately start sculpting.

Walter’s purple eye inspires the Son of Hades, a demi-god.

Yvonne’s red eye becomes Satan’s Blacksmith. She’s talking horns and spikes, making him very demon-ish.

Rob’s eye is probably the coolest – all blue with a triangular pupil. He’s thinking aquatic.

Mel has a very human eyeball. But she deems human too dull, so she’s creating a human-dog hybrid, reasoning that the blue eye is similar to a husky’s. Right off the bat, this seems like a questionable idea.

Melissa’s working on a lizard-snake-monster-warrior. Her green eyeball looks reptilian, so she goes from there.

Rob got this crazy idea to put the eyeball on the mouth, trying to be creative, trying to be different. But he struggles. He’s wasted a good part of his time on this concept, only to scrap it and start over.

Walter is taking special care of his model, making sure he can see when he needs to.

Melissa is attempting to create her own scale pattern on her sculpt. She does half of it, waiting to show Mr. Westmore before she commits that much time, a very move.

Lo and behold, Michael Westmore enters, and offers his advice all around the room. He suggests tweaks here and there, and emphasizes with Walter that he should incorporate lavender in the skin tone to bring out the purple eye.

Yvonne is having a hard time with the anatomy around the eyeball, and Rob steps in to help her out. Rob, on his own, is having some issues with symmetry. Yvonne returns the favor, but offering him her perspective. It’s so nice to see artists helping each other out.

Walter molds early, a pride point.

Mel isn’t happy with her sculpture. But she explains a cool process using a clay extruder, a happy little device pushes out clay in long strings, which can be be applied to a mold to help get an even edge.

Yvonne is still fretting over her brow, and the “unfamiliar” anatomy. She can’t seem to wrap her brain around the formation of a Cyclops eye. I’d say that’s kinda fair.

Rob knows he’s pushing his time, but decides to spend as much of it on his sculpture.

Since Walter has nothing better to do, he decides to practice his Mr.-Westmore-approved lavender skin tone. Melissa is doing something similar, though on a much smaller scale, just to see how she can really get her hand-carved scales to pop.

Mel is working on creating a mohawk through a bald cap. She’s practicing on herself, and it creates some fun banter between her and Walter.

Rob is desperately trying to clean his mold before time’s up. And it must be pitch black, because those are some wicked flood lights.

Application Day. Mel knows her last attempt to save this bizarre sculpt is her paint. Walter is having an unnecessary amount of trouble with the bald cap. Melissa is using a python for inspiration in her paint job. Yvonne’s using red on her skin tone, then black horns.

Rob is doing something awesome with his Cyclops, giving it a yellow face, but going over the back with a bright blue pattern, to match the given eye.

Walter decides to paint the arms, even though it’s clearly a totally different shade of lavender. And this is a Focus Challenge. Poor time management, Walter.

As we get to Last Looks, Mel is really unhappy with her eyeball placement. Through this whole season, Mel has been living in a panic attack. And trust me, I can relate. But at this point, it’s starting to get more difficult to determine when she’s really in trouble. This might be it.

Melissa’s working to lighten up her paint job. Mel, in a panic to fix her makeup, just makes it worse. Walter’s bald cap issues come back to haunt him, as it’s shifted completely, leaving unpainted skin visible.

Oh my god, Mel walking her model out of the makeup room is one of the saddest things I’ve ever seen.

Today’s guest judge is Douglas Smith, an actor who actually played a Cyclops, so he should know what he’s talking about.


Melissa’s Lizard: It looks a little busy, but I’m guessing it looks pretty awesome in person. On the screen, it’s hard to decipher the face structure, and the feathers on top don’t help. But again, I’m sure in the room, it looks amazing.

Yvonne’s Demon: So…. pretty much a demon. It’s weird though. The facial features seem a little out of proportion – like the lips and nose are too big for the one eye.

Mel’s Dogface: Oh boy. It’s just strange. The eye does not match the sculpt. And it looks goofy. Not Mel’s best. By far. I feel terrible for her when the judges chuckle. What happened to her mohawk plan?

Walter’s Purple People Eater: The color is an issue. And the face is a little… vague. I don’t know.

Rob’s Trident-Maker: I love the paint job. It looks really great, very professional.

The Judges’ Impressions: Glenn thinks the horns on Yvonne’s are a bit contrived. They are shocked at the amount of work Melissa put in to hers. Glenn and Neville share utter confusion over Mel’s. They do not like the wrinkles Walter so intentionally placed wrinkles. They agree Rob’s looks better with the hood down.

Melissa and Rob were the top looks, with Melissa winning this one. They will most definitely both make it to the finale.

Walter and Mel are in the bottom. And it’s Mel who will be — SAVED. That’s right, the judges finally cashed in on their Savior card. A good call, I think. I mean, kind of their last chance. Saving someone next week would mean only a single elimination.

Overall Thoughts:  An interesting episode, more so than last week, I believe. Not to sound like a broken record, but this whole season has been lacking in drama and genuinely interesting characters, so at this point, it’s set the bar pretty low. I hate to say that, because these artists are all very likeable, most are fairly talented. But it just doesn’t make for the most captivating of seasons.


“My hair was a bit longer and just flopped like a horse. I felt regal.” Mel, describing her “weird scenester adult” mohawk from 2 years ago.

“Cyclopian droopy dog” – #Nevilleism

“He looks like…’Huh???'” = #Nevilleism, explaining how Mel’s Cyclops appears.

Before we begin, I’d like to apologize for missing a week. I was unexpectedly whisked away on a trip, and I felt that posting a recap nearly a week later was silly. But briefly, I was sad to see Anna go. I liked her.

With six contestants remaining, we’re nearly at the end. Right now, I’d say Rob has the best odds of taking the whole thing, but we’ll see where it goes.

Tonight, we’re teased with the challenge of genies, and plenty of Whole New World puns abound.

Upon lab arrival, it’s clear we’re being set up for a Foundation Challenge. Darn. The artists must develop a valkyrie using the model’s given wings as inspiration. McKenzie hits us with a little Norse mythology before introducing Douglas Knoe as the guest judge here, asking “Will your valkyrie tell your story without uttering a word?”

Of course, we can’t have a valkyrie challenge without Robert singing “Ride of the Valkyries.”

Knoe seems to like most of the makeups, having many good things to say. He favors Yvonne and Melissa, with Melissa winning the coveted immunity for the week. And that’s that.

At the start of the Spotlight Challenge, McKenzie is standing in front of a set of itty-bitty living spaces, explaining the challenge would be to create their own genie. But she doesn’t really give parameters on what the judges might be looking for, other than using the words colorful, devious, and mysterious. So going in, I’m already a little confused as to what I should be expecting.

Mel zeroes in on the carving of a gazelle on her genie vessel, so she starts on a human-gazelle hybrid, though her initial sculpture looks very cat-like.

Melissa admits she knows very little about genies (aren’t we all kind of in the same boat here?), but she has immunity, so it’s not a big deal.

Walter is pulling inspiration from the dragons on his vessel, creating a reptilian fantasy character.

Robert’s bottle is probably the prettiest, and he’s developing a cat creature who loves to party. Sure.

Michael Westmore offers LOTS of advice to each of the artists, solidifying the idea that no one actually knows what they’re supposed to be doing. He suggests Mel start over, using the patterns from the vessel, not the animal. Michael isn’t quite sure what to make of Robert’s cat. There’s clearly some work to be done.

Day 2, Mel’s feeling better about her plans. Walter’s hard at work on his cowl. Robert’s molding away. When it comes time for Walter to mold, he’s lost track of time and is just covering everything as fast as humanly possible. With “mere minutes” left, he attempts to open his mold. With help from Melissa, he manages to open it, then Yvonne jumps in the help him clean it. Team work!

On Day 3, Walter sees his piece, and it seems to be okay. But it’s kind of fuzzy how this happened. The show never really explains *what* the artists must have done at the end of the day. From what we saw, Day 2 ended with Walter’s (mostly) cleaned-out mold. Now, he has a fully formed piece, meaning overnight, someone actually ran the mold in foam (or whatever substance they decide to use), let it set, and got it out. Meaning, this step in the process seems to be taken care of by, I don’t know, Face Off PAs? And that’s fine, but sometimes it makes the “drama” of the clock a little confusing, since we’re not actually certain what should be done by time.

Anyway, the models arrive and it’s time for application. Everyone seems to be mostly okay, justifying their paint choices. Rob is the only one who seems a little concerned about time. Last Looks goes by uneventfully.

At the reveal stage, we see  Bill Corso is a guest judge.


Mel’s Former Gazelle now Green Goblin: Odd. The face is really strange, and the nose looks sloppy. I’m a little disappointed. But I like the cowl.

Melissa’s … genie: It looks okay, I guess. Sprightly.

Walter’s Dragon Witch: Tons of detail, and it looks great. I’m not sure if it reads “genie” to me, but there’s nothing inherently wrong with it.

Yvonne’s Elephant Man: It’s a smooth, clean sculpt. It feels odd she went with skin tones, but it’s okay.

Rob’s Incan Handle Head: I kinda like it. I like the coloring and the handles are pretty cool.

Robert’s Cat Woman: Oh god. That’ll induce some nightmares. She looks like a reject from Cats, and that’s pretty sad. But it’s not bad. It’s just really scary. And not genie like. At all.


Glenn thinks Melissa’s is more pixie or fairy than genie. Ve questions if Yvonne’s elephant counts as a genie. Glenn, like Mr. Westmore, just doesn’t know what to make of Robert’s Cat Woman.

Rob and Walter are the top looks, with Walter winning this one.

And sadly, Robert is leaving us. They kept him around as long as they could. The remaining contestants just got a lot less interesting. Ah, well.

Overall Thoughts: Not one of the better episodes thus far. As an audience member, I just wasn’t sure what the challenge was looking for, and I think that came through in the makeups. Here’s hoping the last remaining episodes pick up the pace a bit.


“It’s Bill Corso!” a very excited Rob, with an adorably cracking voice.

“It’s an absolute literalization of a pachyderm.” – #Nevilleism

“…form language.” – #Nevilleism AND Glennism. Drink!

It’s back and better than ever: The Gauntlet.

At this point in the game, we’ve got 8 contestants left. And a good old-fashioned Gauntlet competition will help whittle it down a bit more. First appearing the season before, the Gauntlet, as McKenzie reminds us, is a 3-part competition, each part with a very specific focus, in an effort to put certain skills on display.

This year, two winners from both Round 1 and Round 2 will receive immunity, and won’t have to participate in the final challenge, pitting 4 contestants against each other at the end. That’s brutal.

Let’s get crackin’.

Round 1: McKenzie calls out Hook (yay!!) and Pirates of the Caribbean, referencing ship captains. The challenge is to create a captain of a specific mythical ship, with the requirement of hand-laying a beard. Confidence ranges from absolute (Melissa’s got it down) to not at all (Anna’s never laid a beard before!) so this will be interesting.

We see some glimpses into the creations. Mel’s doomed herself to the next round already. Melissa explains her technique she’s honed after 7 years of experience. Robert names his character Captain Dishwasher… okay.

When time is up, the judges are revealed to be…. the judges! Neville, Ve, and Glenn will be critiquing these rounds, so that’s not intimidating at all.

This round runs a lot like a Foundation Challenge, so it’s too quick to really break down. In general, the judges seem mostly positive about what they see, and from my perspective, there are no train wrecks.

The top looks for Round 1: Walter and Melissa. They’re done competing for this challenge. But there’s more! McKenzie reveals that they’ll also enjoy a night on the town, complete with limo service. How very Hell’s Kitchen.

Round 2: Pandora’s Box. The artists are presented with a box of pre-made prosthetics. They must use all pieces in their creation — but not where they were meant to be used. So ear pieces can’t go on the ears, etc. That is a real challenge. Playing with face shape in a short amount of time is insane. Neville warns the crew to not be lazy about it, i.e. putting a chin on the forehead and calling it a “chinforehead.” This challenge will really test the creativity of the artists under specific guidelines. Very interesting.

Each contestant is hard at work re-imagining their prosthetics. There’s a lot of cutting. Some are struggling with positioning, but by the end, everyone seems on track. I really like Rob’s forehead and paint job (Neville and Ve agree), and Robert’s demon is utterly terrifying. Using the ears as eyebrows was really smart. Poor Anna got stuck with a jaw piece, complete with teeth. She used it as a crown, and the judges seem to approve. With Mel, they question the chin pieces under the jaw.

Top looks from Round 2 are Rob and Robert. Rob is adorably excited.

The remaining contestants are told to go home for the night and return tomorrow for the final challenge.

We get a few scenes of the winners enjoying their limo and dinner at the Castaway. Are these the final four? It’s definitely possible. Robert and Walter could go either way.

Day 2, Round 3. McKenzie is very serious, standing in front of a big red curtain. When the curtain drops, there are 4 sets of 3 models, each with a black band around either their eyes, mouth, or ears. Wait, are they going to have to do THREE makeups? Damn. That’s just mean.

The challenge is to show how “Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil” might manifest itself in a horror makeup. Who thought of this? This is crazy.

Mel develops a post-apocalyptic group who have sacrificed their sense, like a religious leader. Kaleb wants to go tribal, but he’s unhappy with the costume choices, so he reconsiders. Anna’s going with zombies. It’s a solid concept. Yvonne’s struggling with an idea. When she finally comes up with one, it’s a little confusing. Something about a king and acid torture and civilians revolting. Ultimately, they’re ghostly figures who bear the scars of an acid attack. I think.

Mel’s idea in pretty twisted. She creates skin flaps that have been cut and pulled up over the respective sense. It’s gory and horrible and a great idea, if it comes out clearly. Kaleb is now going with a crew that tempts others to give up their senses, which doesn’t really sound like the challenge, but maybe the judges will dig it.

At this commercial break, we see a “behind the scenes” clip about how Mel’s boyfriend’s favorite German word is dishwasher, and how now it’s an inside joke with the contestants, and that explains Robert’s captain. Got it.

Last Looks, or “Fast Looks,” as Yvonne calls it, is kind of a madhouse. None of the contestants seem to be in a good place except for Mel, which is nice to see. Kaleb looks near tears.


Anna’s Zombie Team: They’re…. okay. They look a little plastic or something. I like Hear No Evil.

Kaleb’s Aliens (?): They don’t look terrible. I kinda like See No Evil, in an American Horror Story kind of way. But I still don’t know if it meets the challenge.

Yvonne’s Ghosts: Oooooh. Scary. I LOVE Speak No Evil. The bald cap over the mouth was a great idea. They all look cohesive.

Mel’s Sacrificees: Holy scary. Freaks me out. Which, I suppose, is a good thing?


They aren’t fans of Anna’s color choices or mouth prosthetic. Glenn questions Kaleb’s choices. Glenn is super impressed with Yvonne’s wardrobe selections.

Mel wins, comparing it to the Hunger Games, which sound about right with this challenge.

Kaleb must pack up his kit. I don’t disagree. And like that, we’re down to 7.

Overall Thoughts: Another fairly drama-free episode, the challenges in person were probably incredibly tense, but that didn’t come across really well here. Doing a Gauntlet Challenge is a good idea, though, so I hope they continue. The last challenge was particularly well-done. I missed Michael Westmore, though. 😦


“You are a strange, strange man. I like it.” — Glenn, to Robert and his Capt. Dishwasher.

“It’s better to have a bad idea than no idea.” — words all Face Off contestants should live by, courtesy of Mel.

“Evocative. Emotional. Visceral. Creative. But I’ll end with a ****-yeah.” #Nevilleism. Please insert exclamation points on your own time.

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