Episode Recap: Gettin' Goosed

When the contestants walk into the lab one bright sunny morning, they see Glenn's furrowed countenance greeting them. He's here to judge their Foundation Challenge, inspired by the horror film, Insidious. In recognition of the film's follow-up, Insidious: Chapter 2, the artists will have 2 hours to create a demon of their own making. The twist, in homage to the ending of the original movie, is that they'll be turning male models into female demons. Roy took two big steps in this challenge that allowed him to focus on finesse: first, he occluded his model's eyes to make it look like there was nothing there, then he vacu-formed a female model's life mask and laid it over his model's face. Rick, who has had nightmares of a demon fading from white to black, used a simple, highly graphic paint job to create a black-and-white geisha demon, making him one of Glenn's favorites. Roy's work wins the day, and he and a guest (read: his wife) are invited to attend the red carpet premiere of "Insidious: Chapter 2". He's stoked!

McKenzie later calls the contestants to the carousel in Griffith Park, where she introduces the next challenge: a modern, whimsical take on Mother Goose characters. And the not-so-whimsical news is that this week will be a double elimination challenge. As soon as McKenzie says they get to pick their own partners, Roy calls "dibs" on R.J. - he's admired R.J.'s style since way back, and nabs the opportunity to work with a favorite artist. They draw "The Cat and The Fiddle", and decide to do a cat in a fiddle, with strings along its torso and a bow as a tail. They work so well together that when last looks rolls around, they're done with time to spare. A Face Off first, ladies and gentlemen!

The competition is so strong at this point that very few clashes erupt in the lab – partners delegate work evenly and support each other along the way. One heated moment comes when Adolfo and Lyma can't open their mold, and Lyma gets so stressed over the prospect of not having a headpiece for their character that she walks away. Laura sees Adolfo struggling to unlock the mold, lends a hand and saves the day. Since they used polyfoam, which has a much quicker setting time than foam latex, Adolfo and Lyma have time to clean out the mold and re-run it in foam latex. The following day, the result of their Humpty Dumpty-meets-Lady Gaga creation is ready to be painted and applied, and the judges love the couture look of her cracked-egg head and mottled shell dress. This is a big step up for both of them, considering they were both in bottom looks last week, though the judges do caution Lyma not to rely overmuch on stencils.

Alana and Laney, who created the "Little Piggy who stayed home", made a truly magical, fancy-pants pig and adorned her with bacon bows and a bacon bra to cover her six teats. The judges find the sculpture of the torso to match the face as if they were both sculpted by one person, and they appreciate the visual impact as well as the concept behind the piggy. Miranda and Tate, who started with a dark concept of Peter, Pumpkin Eater's wife (you may remember he locked her in a pumpkin shell) turned their revenge tale into a playful, pumpkin-headed lady with trailing fingers and seeds for nails. The judges found so many good moments in Miranda's sculpture that she and Tate win the challenge, and, though Tate's concept was fierce, she is the overall winner for the second time in three challenges.

Roy & R.J. and Eddie & Scott – who created a "Woman in the Moon" with tons of facial mobility and charm – are safe, which means Laura & Frank and Rick & Eric are in bottom looks this week. This being a double elimination, two of the four of them will go home. Laura and Frank, who chose "Little Miss Muffett" but centered the tale on the spider, had a whimsical notion of the spider being thwarted in love, but since that didn't come through, they were left with an intimidating spider-person without much detail. Rick and Eric's source material, "The Crooked Man", was an uphill battle, considering the whimsy factor necessary to complete the challenge. Though their makeup was executed with skill and thoroughness, the result was more creepy than sweet. The judges decide Rick and Eric will be going home, and remind them both of their great talent before saying goodbye.