"Takin' it to the Streets"

This episode is entitled "Takin' it to the streets" (apostrophe to denote the removal of the g, y'all), and I can't help but think of this Michael McDonald classic.

Amy seems poised and wants to step up her game (no more hair bowls!), while Maya is jealous she is the only one left who hasn't won a challenge. Maya likes being pensive on that windowsill. Perhaps reflecting on the fact that only half the designers are left?

Heidi announces that this challenge will put the designers in a "New York state of mind". They meet Tim Gunn in the workroom, and we learn that it' a Collier Strong challenge, he of the L'oreal Paris makeup folks. This is Collier Strong (roughly). The challenge is to create a look inspired by an iconic New York neighborhood: choices are Chinatown, the East Village, the Upper East Side, and Harlem, and Chinatown, really? I can't remember the last Chinatown-inspired fashion craze, but maybe that's cause I see some fugly knockoffs on sale in Chinatown here in San Francisco. There is also potential for mucho drama because this is a team challenge! Emilio doesn't want Mila (interesting, I don't think anyone wants to work with him). Each team must create 2 looks, day and evening. Team leaders are drawn from a velvet bag. Anthony is picked and chooses Maya; Amy is picked and chooses Jonathan; Emilio is picked and craftily chooses to work with Seth Aaron, which means that team leader Jay is...working with Mila. I know in the early episodes she was touted as the Season 7 ice queen, but she really doesn't seem that bad to me. A little frosty, but far from Emilio's full-on bad attitude. But wait, she doesn't like Jay? Mila and Jay have the East Village, Amy and Jonathan have the Upper East Side, Seth and Emilio have Harlem, and Anthony and Maya pick Chinatown.

Emilio and Seth travel to Harlem, and Seth is bummed not to see any black leather. He instead finds churches, liquor, and fried chicken. The pair, Team Sethilio, see denim everywhere. Emilio boasts of having lived in the neighborhood. Did he walk around in that twee little hat? In Chinatown, Anthony is wowed by sights he's never seen down in Georgia, like duck roasted on a spit. The two, code name Anthaya, are struck by the structure of buildings, and the abundance of red. Maya appreciates Anthony's silliness, as do the residents of Chinatown, I'm sure, who have never seen a fabulous Georgian like him on their streets. On the Upper East Side, Amy and Jonathan- Amythan- see lotsa luxury, and stark, gray architecture. They also notice how empty and quiet the streets are- I remember this when I walked around the area near the Met a few years ago when in New York. Wealthy neighborhoods tend to be kind of boring. They find inspiration in the brick of an old church, and wrought iron for their evening look, settling on a shirt dress for the day look. In the East Village, Mila and Jay- Jayila, if you will- are drawn to graffiti, and Mila likes the grittiness of the neighborhood. Jay just seethes.

At Mood, Tim warns everyone to make no assumptions that the team leader will go home.

We also see Anthony is submitting to Maya's whims, and he whines about this, but hey A-Dub, you're passive and she knows you won't put up a fight. Jonathan and Amy are perfect together.

Anthaya, the meek yet sassy two-headed designer, is designing a dress with a 3-d diamond detail inspired by the tissue paper dragons they saw in Chinatown. Seth is a fast worker, and doesn't sketch everything. Meanwhile, over in Silently Fuming Corner, Jay and Mila are not talking. Amythan are both in awe of each other's awesomeness, and note that they are both texture and volume people. L'oreal's mascara-hawking shiny-domed makeup artist, Collier Strong, saunters in for blatant promotion time. Um, how about more designing please!

Tim time: he consults with Seth and Emilio regarding the Harlem look, and he actually said, about the neighborhood, "colorful, isn't it?". I suppose..you can fill in the blank, cause I won't. Jay is making pants that pouf out and a stripe top. Yeah, vertical lines and puffy pants are so flattering for a woman's body. Tim senses that. He also thinks Jonathan and Amy might be over-designing. So true. The Tim Gunn look of concern is the death knell, when not heeded...

This is the part of the show where the designers dish about the other designers. Anthony, for one, thinks that Anthony is running into problems with the design shapes. Jay mutters under his breath to his model about Mila, with Mila about 3 inches away. Crafty. His pants are looking eerily like Ben's last week, in that they highlight and accentuate the crotch. Seth is pretty badass- he tries the jacket on his model, snaps off the sleeves, and boom, he's done. Emilio is lispy and reveling in Team Jayila's silent but deadly dysfunction. Jonathan is struggling with time. I think his peach dress is looking great, but he thinks they're phuct.

Daniel Sunjata, who is an unknown but way hot actor, stars in Patricia Cornwell's "At Risk". Also appearing: Diahann Carroll. Also, the star of this all-time greatest movie moment (with subtitles in Chinese, you're welcome).

Morning at Atlas: Jonathan is wearing orange petal pushers in his room and is crouched in the fetal position, looking forlorn. He looks like he's been traumatized by the ambition of his design. Anthony and Maya are doing all black. Anthony interviews that he thinks his daytime look could veer into grandmama territory, and yep, he hit that nail on the head. Most of his designs could be described as grandmama territory, actually. Makeup and hair montage! Brushes! Eye shadow! Round brushes! Jay knows that Mila will throw him under the bus. Or will she?

I can't wait for this runway show. Filling in for Michael Kors' black blazer and receding hairline is Francisco Costa of Calvin Klein. Guest judge is model Molly Sims.

Anthony and Maya's day look consists of a cool skirt with red slits, and a shimmery gold jacket. It's all very well-styled. Anthony's short dress is cool, although I can't decide whether the diamonds look like legos or origami.

Jay made gray jodhpurs with hip pleating, and his black and red tank is both a bore and poorly made. I am not a fan of jodhpurs and I hope the judges aren't either. Mila's design is so ugly! It is not East Village; the jacket has too many lines, it clashes with the gold pattern on the skirt, and the red tights are very schoolgirl. I don't get it at all.

I actually really like the peach and black color palette that Amy used, and the shirt dress has a spring look, but is a bit...grandmama territory. Jonathan's dress is an over-designed mess. Man, this is strike three for the blond Amazonian model. First Emilio's string bikini, then Amy's hair scoop, now this overwrought mess. Is she bad luck?

Seth (who has done some overwrought designs in his day), has produced a look that is ghetto fabulous. He is a true talent. He's got the fun, above the elbow cuffs on the jean jacket, a cool floral pattern underneath, but Emilio's dress looks hard to walk in, and I really don't get the connection to Harlem. Billie Holiday? Yawn.

Jay and Mila and Amy and Jonathan have the lowest scores. But first, Seth and Emilio and Maya and Anthony are the high scorers. Up close, we see that Seth's denim outfit has gold trim, as does the black evening dress. Anthony announces that in Chinatown, he was sidetracked by ducks roasting in the windows, and this makes everyone laugh. Nina loves the red in the skirt matching the red in the model's lips, as well as the pagoda influence on the jacket.

And now for the downer clothes. Amy and Jonathan face the firing squad. Nina's problem with the daywear is that it doesn't look polished. She also thinks the shirt is an eyesore. Sheesh, was it that bad? They actually like Jonathan's over-stenciled mess, except for the panels. Nina, still wondering where she must have left her eyeglasses today, loves Mila's nighttime look. Gulp. She does hate the day look. Of course Heidi has the boobcentric comment: the model's boobs look bad. Molly Sims pipes in and says the tank tanked. Way to go, Molly. Mila and Jay nearly gave themselves hernias talking about how "well" they worked together.

Judging: the consent is that Amy gets caught up in the technical side of things, and her outfit looks more Lower East Side. Jay's tank was ill-fitting, and the pants were overworked. The judges also astutely note that it seemed like Mila was the team leader. Meanwhile, Anthony and Maya's Chinatown looks were subtle and sophisticated. Emilio and Seth had great attitude, and the zippers made the two looks connect. Empress Nina seems to really like Emilio for some reason.

Emilio and Seth BOTH win, a Project Runway first. Anthony and Maya, of course, are in. Mila and Jonathan are then safe, leaving Jay and Amy. Amy is....out. Ah, third strike on Project Runway, and you're out. Poor Jonathan is weepy. Tim seems disappointed and tells her she's incredibly talented.

Next on: something all designers want but few get to do. What a teaser...

Aufwiedersehen, Manhattanites!