Face Off Season 5 Premiere Review

Hey, y'all!

Since I now only have one show that I'm reviewing on here, I figured that since another of my favorite shows has started coming on, I should start blogging about it! So, here I am.

I started watching Face Off last season, and really enjoyed it. (In case you were wondering, I was totally pulling for Eric Fox. Super cool dude.) So, here I am, reviewing an episode a week after it was on. Oh well. I'll be posting both this and the most recent episode's on Wednesday.

This season is veterans vs. newcomers. There are 8 of each. I was really glad to see last season's Eric Zapata, because he was another of my favorites... although it would have been way cooler to see Fox again.

All the competitors meet and mingle at a party. This actually serves as the departure for their first foundation challenge: they have to create a look inspired by one of the costumed people at the party. Tate, Roy and Laura are the top in the challenge. I was really rooting for Roy or Laura. I thought hers was really pretty, and his was a really cool caricature. However, Tate wins the challenge. They go check out the house they’ll be staying in, and it's really cool. All of the new people are in one bedroom with pictures of the returning contestants’ work up on the walls.

The next day, they go to the Dolby theater, home of the Academy Awards. McKenzie tells them that their spotlight challenge is to work in groups to create original stylized fantasy characters that all look like they exist in the same world. It's going to be newcomers vs. veterans. Each team has to create an ogre, pixie, faun, troll, and witch. 

The newcomers' concept is that their five creatures are from all over their land, and are members of a counsel. To pull every character together, they each have a stone/gem on their chest. 

The veterans' concept is that the witch is the leader, while the rest of the characters are her minions. I can't remember if any more was stated at this point, but at judging, the team also explained that the queen is blind, which is why all the other characters have extra eyes, because they are the eyes of the queen.

Overall, there isn't too much drama inside the lab. The newcomers are nervous because the vets are going really big, while the newcomers are going pretty. However, the newcomers seem to be just a bit ahead because they already have things ready to be molded. Only two problems really came up. The first was that the veterans were having problems with the back piece for the witch, which ended up being fixed by the end. The second was that Adolfo was having trouble opening his mold, and when he finally got it open, some stuff was ripped.

Application day went off without a hitch- at least for the veterans. The newcomers were having several problems. First, one pair can't agree on how to paint their piece, and they end up majorly clashing over it. Then, during last looks, one girl loses the gemstone that should be on her model’s chest. OOPS.

Time for the Faceoff reveal stage

My opinions...
VETS:

Eric, RJ, and Frank: Ogre. The body looks weird and that face looks really cartoony and cheesy

Roy- Faun. When I saw it from far away, I thought it looked really silly and couldn't find the face. It looked better once we got a more zoomed in look at it.

Tate- Troll. I thought it looked really well done and cool. That bloody baby in its hand was a great touch.

Miranda and Alana- Pixie. Really pretty and really polished. Though honestly, this seems like the easiest character to take on.

Laura- Witch: really cool and demonic looking. While it didn't look bad by any means, it wasn't spectacular in my  opinion.

NEWCOMERS:
Tolin, Eddie: Ogre. Totally cheesy. Really cartoony and just bad.

Laney, Rick- Faun. I thought it looked realy cool and almost cat-like. 

Adolfo: Troll.  Not as bad as I thought it would be, but definitely not good.

Lyma- Pixie. It was really pretty but seemed like mostly paint rather than sculpture. And of course, she didn't have that stone. But the judges didn't seem to notice.

Sam, Scott- Witch. I liked what they did with the stone on her chest. It looked really pretty.  

The judges seem to be impressed with the vets when taking a close look, but give mixed reactions about the newcomers. They want to talk to some people about what they've made.

Alana and Miranda- The judges think they had a great design concept and that it's very cohesive and solid.

Tolin and Eddie- The judges think the proportions are all off. They say it's bad sculpting. Tolin defends it, and the fact that they didn’t realize it is bad is a problem. Glenn even goes as far to say that he wouldn't trust any of their judgments. 

Frank, RJ, and Eric: The legs and feet are disproportionate, but otherwise everything is good. It looks like the body is missing, and the mouth doesn't move which is a big no-no for Glenn.

Rick and Laney: They like it and think everything has been cleverly done.

Adolfo: They said that nothing about the face works, and that his bad paint job made it even worse.

Laura: All I really got out of this critique was just that they liked the witch. 

Glenn says that the vets won and that Miranda is the winner.

Adolfo, Eddie, and Tolin are told that they are the bottom 3, and the person going home is Tolin. 

So, there we go! First episode: done. I guess I can go ahead and give some first impressions of some of these people, but I don't dare predict anything like I do for Project Runway. NO WAY.

VETS:
Frank Ippolito: Honestly, I couldn't even remember who he was. I had to google him just to figure out what he looks like. So clearly, he hasn't made much of an impact on me.
Tate Steinsiek: I'm not sure of what my opinion is of him, but he does seem to pull out consistently great work.
Miranda Jory: At first, I thought she seemed cool, but then she started getting on my nerves. Maybe it's that she's too uptight for my taste?
RJ Haddy: I'm still having trouble keeping him and Tate straight in my mind. Just give me a couple weeks and I'll have that all sorted out... hopefully.
Alana Schiro: She's another one who's turning out great work constantly. I'm impressed so far, and I think her hair is really cool.
Roy Wooley: I really liked that first foundation challenge look, but nothing has made that much of an impression on me since then.
Laura Tyler: Once again, another who is constantly pulling out great work! She's really impressed me, but I'm not sure how much I like her.
Eric Zapata: Finally, someone I know! I actually really like him. I just hopes he steps it up so he can do well!

NEWCOMERS:
Adolfo Rivera: I'm not sure how I feel about him just yet. Give me a week or two, and I'll let you know.
Eddie Holecko: My roommate and I were shocked to realize he's only a year older than us... and then we proceeded to realize that we'll be 20 in less than a year. Age aside, I haven't been impressed by him yet, and I'm not sure he's totally ready for this yet.
Laney Parkhurst: She's one of the few newcomers who has actually impressed me. She seems to be doing well, and I think she's pretty cool too.
Lyma Millot: I've got mixed emotions. I'm not sure if she can get by being mostly a body painter.
Rick Prince: First off, he's from Nashville so woot! He's also the only other newcomer who has made any sort of positive impact on me, so that's a big positive for him!
Sam Allen: At least she tried to stand up for herself, which is really great. But so far, I don't really care either way about her.
Scott Ramp: He seems rather controlling and stuck in his ways, even when those ways may not be the best thing. Not good.
Steve Tolin (goes by Tolin): I actually kinda liked him and am sad to see him go.

So there you go! Hopefully, the next review will be up later today. See you then!