"Face Off" Recap: "The Gatekeepers"

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

It's been a wild and crazy ninth season for the iconic show Face Off, one filled with celebration for the 100th episode, and one that managed to add a new wrinkle into the show's fold with the brand new focus challenge and I've enjoyed every minute of it.  

But last night the show finally settled back into the basic formula if you will, bringing forth a familiar sense of comfort as the foundation challenge returned to grant one contestant immunity before one incredible spotlight challenge in an episode filled with some amazing work as always in "The Gatekeepers".

This go round the Foundation Challenge is one that dug deep into the human psyche as our intrepid artists were given a Rorschach inkblot test and asked to create a makeup based solely on what they saw within the inkblot test. This led to some pretty nifty creations as we watched imagination come to life and of course there is great incentive to win this challenge since as I mentioned earlier the top look is granted immunity and does not have to face the risk of going home. This week's winner of the foundation challenge was Meg with her sharp makeup and awesome coral addition to a sea themed piece, and we'll be talking more about Meg in just a moment. 

Because after this it was time for the spotlight challenge wherein the artists were paired up to bring to life a makeup based around a gate. The idea was simple, they needed to create two makeups, one that gave life to the gatekeeper and the creature that the gatekeeper kept the world safe from. It led to some amazing and inspired work from Nora and some crazy detailed work from Jordan who accomplished wonders in little time and totally deserved the win.  But there was disaster for a few as well. Libby and Meg's creations made it into the bottom looks as did Ricky and Jason. Libby as it turns out was sent home, and I think the judges got that wrong. She may have made some mistakes anatomy wise, but holy crap, Jason's makeup was just awful. He took too long with the sculpture again, it turned out rough and looked low budget and yet...he got to stay. That's nuts. That kind of low grade work should have had him sent packing. Plus, we need to take a quick moment and talk about Meg because...she's floundering.  

This talented gal can clearly impress, she did week one, she won the foundation challenge but she has been in bottom looks for the last four weeks so what the heck is going on here? Is she buckling from the pressure? I don't know, but immunity helped because it was obvious the judges were not that impressed with her makeup last night either. Either way, she's a story to watch as the season unfolds, and quite frankly so is Jason because the two of them are on thin ice right now, we'll see if they either sink or swim.  Until next time. 

---