Dallas contestants stay below radar on episode 3 of Project Runway

by Teresa Gubbins

Making the most of its Los Angeles location, this week's episode of Project Runway on Thursday night sent the 14 contestants to the beach, where they met up with co-host Tim Gunn, wearing flip-flops with his suit. ("Only on the beach," he intoned.) The challenge: Create an item of beach-/surf-wear.

The contestants got paired up (see partners at bottom *), and seven strange caftans later, Ra'mon was winner. The weird, unpredictable, and some might even say rule-bending twist saw his partner in the challenge, whiny Mitchell, get sent home.

Haven't there been rules in the past that, if you were a member of a winning team, you couldn't be sent home? Which isn't to say that Mitchell didn't deserve to be sacked -- he's been a mistake-prone lightweight since the show started. But the rule is usually that there are winning teams and losing teams, and the person going home has to come from a losing team.

The main drama in the show came from Qristyl & Epperson, who bickered throughout the episode. The judges decided that Qristyl was a weak team leader and Epperson took advantage of her; Qristyl said it was like they were in a bad marriage. It was hard to tell who was the more argumentative and intractable. Neither will make it all the way to the end.

Beachwear doesn't seem like a proper design category and, as if recognizing that fact, Tim Gunn informed them halfway through the episode that they'd have to add a second avant-garde look. Way to muddle things even further. What is an avant-garde beachwear look? Ra'mon answered that question with a dress made of neoprene which, taking a page out of Dallas contestant Louise's book, he dyed. His efforts got him crowned winner.

As for Louise and Shirin, the two Dallas contestants got along with their teammates and made likable outfits (although uh-oh, the one Louise worked on looked like another spaghetti-strap slip, like the dress she made for Rebecca Romijn which the judges are sure to criticize, should she do that again) that got them neither to the very top or the bottom. That's a good strategy, surpassed only by the strategy of winning every episode.

*Logan & Christopher, Nicolas & Gordana, Mitchell & Ra'mon, Qristyl & Epperson, Johnny & Irina, Althea & Dallas' Louise Black, and Carol Hannah & Dallas' Shirin Askari.