Episode Recap: The Dancing Dead

This week, the contestants are being judged like never before. They must take ingredients like chicken guts, chocolate syrup and laundry detergent and create blood convincing enough to impress former LAPD detective Bob Jakucs, Tom, whose grandfather was on the force, pays special attention to the consistency and spatter pattern, and wins the privilege of choosing his model for the spotlight challenge first.

Then, McKenzie drops the "Z" bomb. That's right, the crew is making zombies! The group has never been this pumped. They sculpt and draw with a new fire, until McKenzie serves up a twist: All of the zombies will be dancers and will be performing a choreographed routine in front of the judges, so their makeup must be boogie-ready. Gone are the dragging, ropy guts, the heavy props, and the realistic-looking silicone. Bring on the breathable foam and elegant designs. They scramble with their re-designs, and to add to the stress of this three-day challenge looms the announcement that not one, but two, artists will go home this week.

Megan is in awe of Conor's work, but Conor shares the opinion of most of the contestants that Megan is obscuring her fine sculpture with buckets of blood. Everyone's on edge, considering the double elimination and the presence of the guest judge, Greg Nicotero, who has created zombies for Day of the Dead and The Walking Dead.

The dance begins, and looks stunning. Everyone's relieved that no blood spattered on the floor and no prosthetics fell off during the event! Now it's time for the judges to reveal their opinions. Safe for this week are Tate - who wins overall for his excellent sculpture of a swollen tongue, exposed guts and backstory - Sam, who shook up the skeletal zombie paradigm with a fat character, Gage, whose World War II zombie shows excellent anatomy and imagination, and Conor's meticulous sculptural and paint work created a stellar zombie - though his concept was a little safe.

Not so lucky were Megan, Tom and Anthony. Though the judges like Megan's "plastic surgery" zombie conceptually and sculpturally, her heavy-handed blood application destroyed the good points. The judges are either bored or disappointed by Anthony's sculptural capabilities, and Tom's sculpture was overly symmetrical and looked, well, sculpted.

Tate consults with the judges about who should go home. Though he opines that Megan lacks the imagination and gutsiness to stand out among the remaining artists, he can't bring himself to name a second person to leave. Fortunately, the judges let him off the hook.

Anthony, Tom and Megan stand before the judges, in limbo. Glenn lists the strengths and weaknesses of each, but ultimately, Tom and Anthony are the ones to go home. Everyone is shocked, but none more so than Megan herself, who practically has to pinch herself to make sure that what she's hearing is real. Tom and Anthony leave the lab with a sense of a fight well fought, and the other artists prepare themselves for the next challenge, which will surely be greater than any so far.