The first episode of Season 6 of Face Off promises to be the biggest, best season yet. The grandest reveal so far takes place in the intro, this season the contestants are going to Japan! How this will tie into the show, I can’t wait to see. In a country rich with folklore, including Dragons, Oni (demons, unlike the western vision of hell dwellers), Fox Spirits, and mystical creatures beyond description, there is so much potential. That’s definitely what the show needs, going into the 6th run, so lets dive right in.
The Contestants: Tess, Cat, Daran, George, Bethany, Daniel, Tyler, Rashaad, Chloe, Matt, Tanner, Niko, Margaret, Graham & Corrine
In the first Foundation challenge, the contestants are led to a fashion runway, along it walk models in large avant garde wigs, which they must transform into a creature that represents who they are as an artist. There are some definite front runners based on this challenge in the make up skills department, and some contestants that need improvement off the bat. The win for the first foundation challenge went to George Schminky, who comes to the show from Walnut Creek, Ca. with a 2 toned Goddess paint, which was nice, though I believe there were contestants that deserved the win more, incorporating more prosthetic elements into their work.
After the challenge, the contestants were led to a castle, with princesses holding pictures of exotic palaces. The theme for the first Spotlight Challenge being Beauty and the Beast. Each contestant must make a beast to go along with their chosen beauty, and inspired by their palace photo. Broken into teams of 2, except for one team of 3 with winner of the Foundation Challenge, George, the teams go back to the make up studio and get to work.
The first challenge went refreshingly well, with little to no drama within the teams. It’s nice to be able to focus on the work the artists create, instead of the drama that drives a lot of the other reality based television shows on the air these days.
Guest judge this week was Director and Writer Stephen Sommers, best known for The Mummy movies (though his entire resume is pretty outstanding). He joins the rest of Face Off judge alumni, Glenn Hetrick, Ve Neill, and Neville Page.
In the first judging panel another twist of the season is revealed, at any given time, any judge can give one contestant immunity, this is a huge change from former seasons, when one bad day, lack of sleep, the flu, whatever, could get you booted from the running.
Team voted best of the week: Chloe & Rashaad Overall Winner: Chloe (who will be grated immunity in the next challenge)
The worst of the week: Matt & Margaret Sent Home: Margaret
The winning sculpt done by Chloe very much stood out, she shows definite skill, with her elaborate reptilian face piece and cowl, though I felt the paint job was too monochromatic. I was left wondering if the judges could see something that the at home audience could not see in the solid Kelly Green paint job. Though their sculpt wasn’t nearly as elaborate, Graham, Daran & George did better when it came to painting.
It was impossible not to agree with the judges in their choice to send Margaret home, her sculpture work was lacking to say the least, with the beast being compared to humanized silly putty. Overall the first episode was exciting, though the theme a bit mundane. For those who want to see what they missed, the full episode is available on SyFy.com/FaceOff.