Project Runway 3 Reunion: Reunited and it Feels So… Good?

Ah. Here we go. The traditional reunion episode that has had such notable moments as Vanessa Riley being a raving lunatic and storming off of the set after being confronted on her demeanor. She also left a nice lovely red wine stain on the floor from where she knocked her glass over. And who could forget how drunk Guadalupe Vidal was when she answered a question that invoked Johnny Cash and “walking the line” that left her castmates and the entire audience wondering how much she had to drink? There were confrontations with Wendy Pepper and Santino Rice along with Austin Scarlett in Revolutionary War drag and a huge weight loss from John Wade. By “huge,” I mean he lost the equivalent of a second person, I think.

On a note of full disclosure, I’m sick and have watched the reunion show three times to make sense of it. I’m blaming Vincent. Or the Theraflu. You decide.

Last year we got to see everyone arrive individually and then take generous servings at the bar, which obviously led to Ms. Vidal’s incomprehensible interview. Perhaps that’s why there is no alcohol being shown or served this year. Too bad. I would love to see a drunk Vincent or Malan.

So the show starts with our ten dismissed designers (minus Keith) being asked by Ms. Heidi what it was like being on the show and if they were recognized on the street. Bradley says he isn’t recognized much at all and that’s probably because he got a full makeover, shaved his scruffy beard, and got that hair of his under control. Bonnie relates of a young woman running up to her to ask if she was on the show. Upon confirming the girl’s suspicions, she was greeted with, “You sucked!” and the girl ran off. Bonnie then followed her into the parking garage and ran her down in her SUV, backed up, and then did it again. Okay, not really.

Malan had an amazing outpouring of support following the show and is the first Project Runway alum to show at Fashion Week during the same week of his fellow final four competitors. Angela was overwhelmed by the reaction she received in Los Angeles following the everyday woman challenge. Mainly it was people asking her when she would realize that the rosettes were total crap and she should give it up. One blogger has taken to calling her Gypsy Rosette Lee, which I find hysterically funny. Vincent is relishing meeting his fans (escapees from the insane asylum, I’m sure) and it really turns him on. I’m suggesting that Vincent donate his body for medical science when he dies because the man is just walking Viagra.

The final four are waiting to be brought out, but who do the finalists think would have made the final four? Bonnie pinned her hopes on Alison while Vincent was positive that Kayne would make it based on his construction. Stacey (the first one eliminated, and I swear it took me a while to remember who she was) says that she thought Robert would be a finalist and, of course, Robert agrees with her. Introductions of the final four are made with Uli dressing too young for her age, Michael looking like he just got out of the gym, Jeffrey looking like he put on some pounds, and Laura INCREDIBLY pregnant. The stress cannot be good for the baby.

It’s time for a Random Audience Question, and this one is directed at Laura – does she ever wear jeans? Um, I’m voting no on this one. In fact, Laura confirms my suspicions and says she prefers riding pants and boots when she’s out and about town running errands. Heidi comments that she has never seen Tim in jeans but I know that we saw him in a pair or two in earlier episodes. Then again, Heidi isn’t around for the challenges when Tim is planting the seeds of self-doubt and probably bolts a few seconds after she tells someone to get the bleep off of the runway.

In filler time that I won’t even dignify with recapping in its entirety, we see last week’s runway moment when all four designers learned that they were heading to the runway show. Afterwards Tim noted that he was amazed that they kept all four designers but was glad as well since he hates that part of the show. Bonnie just thought it was great that the judges were “nice” and allowed all four designers to show at Fashion Week. Kayne dittos that remark and echoes the judges when he says that each of the remaining four all have distinct points of view.

And now we get to the fun part of the evening. Heidi starts off by saying that there was one person everyone thought was sure to make it to the final four. With that, out comes disqualified designer Keith Michael and a recap of the events that led up to his dismissal. Afterwards Heidi decides that there’s not enough salt rubbed into the wounds and asks if he’s the laughingstock that he thought he would be. I vote “not until he opens his mouth.” Keith says that his friends were actually more supportive than he thought they would be. To his face, of course. Behind his back they all wish that he would just leave the party and stop eating all of the cheese.

Now we get to the part that one of my loyal readers alluded to Keith having done within his circle of friends but I never reported on because I could not corroborate the story. While being questioned about the series of events that led up to Keith’s ousting, Keith claims that he turned those books over to the producers and they later magically showed up under his bed where Kayne found them. Keith claims not to know how they got back in there, and someone should have asked why Keith didn’t turn them back into the production office immediately. Basically, this is all one big conspiracy theory by Keith on the part of the producers. Tim calls him out on this and says having worked with the same producers for three years, he knows they would not pull such a stunt.

The other designers get drawn into this uncomfortable moment and they are asked if they thought it was fair to dismiss Keith from the show. Robert says that it was fair because they all knew the rules coming in and the consequences are clear. Kayne says that they all signed the same contract when they joined the show and Keith claims that there was no prohibition on pattern books in the contract. At this point, Laura takes off one of her heels and clubs Keith over the head while chanting, “YES, THERE WAS! YES, THERE WAS!” Okay, not really. However, everyone does scream out that the clause was there and Katherine even blurts out that it was in bold as well. Stacey says that for her even looking at pattern books would send her off on a creative overload. Finally, Jeffrey thinks that the situation was handled fairly; however, he would have allowed Keith to stay on the show.