Face Off Season 11, Episode 1 Recap: All-Stars and Abstract Aliens
Face Off is finally back on SyFy! After a longer than usual hiatus, we are super excited to watch Season 11 and can’t wait to see some makeups.
At long last, the wait is over. It’s time finally time for new episodes of SyFy’s standby, and my personal favorite, Face Off. We meet the season 11 all-star cast at a lighthouse on a promontory that juts into the sea.
They’re working in teams of two this season:
- Emily Serpico & Tyler Green (Season 8)
- Ben Ploughman & Evan Hedges (Season 9)
- Stella Sensel (Season 7) & Jasmine Ringo (Season 9)
- Keaghlan Ashley (Season 7) & Melissa Ebbe (Season 10)
- Gage Hubbard (Season 1) & Rachael Wagner (Season 7)
- Niko Gonzalez & Cat Paschen (Season 6)
- Logan Long & Adam Milicevic (Season 8)
- Cig Neutron & George Troester (Season 7)
The contestants are all lined up and ready to start, but where is Mackenzie? A helicopter lands and everyone applauds as Mackenzie exits, taking off her helmet and shaking out her hair. She is wearing … a shapeless olive drab flight suit. I half expect her to strip it off to reveal a slinky dress, but no, she just gets things started.
Apparently, to my utter surprise, this season is going to be full of new twists and turns! Because that didn’t happen in previous seasons! Mackenzie announces the biggest change in the show format: Contestants will go home in teams of two, but eliminations are only every other week. Whoever wins during the in-between weeks gets immunity for the next elimination. So the judges will get to see work from two challenges before anyone is eliminated.
Image via Syfy
Spotlight Challenge
They dive right into the first spotlight challenge: Aliens. But here’s the twist. Mackenzie announces that for the first time in Face Off history, they’ll be incorporating green screens into their makeups. So they’ll be able to make parts of their characters disappear!
This week’s theme is deep sea creatures, which are very, very weird. Great choice for out-of-this-world makeups! One member of the team gets to run up to a line of barrels to pick their alien-under-the-sea marine animal:
- Emily and Tyler: Deep Sea Dragon Fish
- Ben & Evan: Japanese Spider Crab
- Stella & Jasmine: Helmet Jellyfish
- Keaghlan & Melissa: Flying Gurnard
- Gage & Rachael: Skeleton Shrimp
- Niko & Cat: Vampire Squid
- Logan and Adam: Veined Octopus
- Cig & George: Roughback Batfish
As they make their initial sketches at the lighthouse, the teams seem to have a lot of chemistry. They’re really excited and giggly, at any rate.
Image via Syfy
Back at the Studio
Back at the studio things are going well until Ben and Evan’s mold falls over and they have to start over. But it’s time for Michael Westmore to pop by and give everyone helpful tips. He tells Jasmine and Stella how to do away with the mouth. Adam and Logan don’t want to be too literal, so he tells them how to work in tentacles near the back of the head. Emily and Tyler are thinking about a high fashion makeup, but he advises against it, because they want the focus on the overall head. He tells Keaghlan and Melissa to maybe elongate the mouth. Day 1 finishes without drama. Everyone’s still pumped as they leave the studio.
On Day 2, the creatures are really starting to take shape. Niko tells Cat, “I want to give you kisses,” in a silly jokey voice and I’m thinking maybe it’s a little weird that there’s a couple on the show? But maybe it’s really cute? I just hope they don’t get into a big fight because they’re SO CUTE.
Everyone starts testing parts of their creations in front of the green screen to make sure they work. This construction phase is pretty chaotic. There are so many contestants and materials that the camera just jumps around, checking in with the artists. Everyone’s happily building and taping and melting until it’s time for MOLD DRAMA! Niko and Cat can’t open their mold because the cowl isn’t really cured and it’s stuck to itself. So they break it open, and it’s kind of a mess, but there’s still time to patch it together and run the polyfoam.
Tyler makes weird bony arms out of pool noodles. Rachael vacuuforms claws and will have the model wear green gloves so her hands disappear under the claws. Evan builds legs out of wood and upholstery foam and is worried they’re not going to get everything done today. Everyone’s nervous.
On application day, everyone starts to fix their problem areas and laying down makeup. They’re running around the studio with huge tails and legs and such. As they start painting, everyone’s looking pretty good. And half the studio is neon green. Niko’s super nervous about finishing up in last looks because of the delay from their cowl drama.
At last looks, there’s even more neon green paint and like 10 pairs of neon green pants in a very small space. Ow, my eyes. Cig realizes there’s a huge gap between his creature’s back and cowl, so he lays on a bunch of plastic wraps to create a “skin bridge” (ew). All the contestants finish their makeups in a mad rush, as usual.
Image via Syfy
Judging
Since this is a green screen challenge, the judges look at the makeups one at a time. Each deep sea-inspired alien appears in front of a backdrop depicting an alien world or space ship. We get to see the makeups from a few different perspectives: what they look like just standing in front of the green screen, what the look like to the judges when they look at the monitor, and how the creature appears on screen, in its full glory.
We spent a chunk of the episode on introductions, so we’re skipping mention of the middle looks and going straight for the judges’ favorites.
Top Looks
Image via Syfy
Gage & Rachael: Their lacy Skeleton Shrimp alien has little details that help the creature move and show the internal nerve system. Rachael and Gage’s skeleton shrimp alien is really pretty. As Ve says, “it’s basically see-through.”
Image via Syfy
Keaghlan and Melissa: Glenn loves the head of their Flying Gurnard alien. It is really cool looking, and beautiful despite its bulbous skull. Most of the body is hidden and it really works. And the paint job is great. It looks ethereal and totally alien, according to Ve.
Bottom Looks
Image via Syfy
Ben and Evan: Their goofy Japanese Spider Crab alien is an ugly mess. Glenn says they’re better than what they’ve presented tonight.
Image via Syfy
Stella and Jasmine: The helmet jellyfish alien is out of proportion and there are some problems with the green screen execution. It’s just not cohesive. It looks like a human head and a mess of tentacles.
I wish they’d showed more of the judging, but I understand they only have 40 minutes to fill. This feels kinda slapdash. But the top looks are very nice, and I kind of want them both to win. The judges choose Keaghlan and Melissa as the top look for their ethereal giant floating skull creature. So they have immunity in next week’s spotlight challenge.
Next: Face Off Season 11: Meet the All Star Cast
Ben and Evan better get their act together next week, so they don’t cut off more than they can chew. It left them with a rushed and horrid paint job that just exacerbated their ugly giant crab legs.