The previouslies underscored the rivalry between Althea and Irina, specifically Irina's allegations that Althea ripped off Irina's Aspen look for her winning garment last round. Irina explained her blatant bitchitude: she prefers to tell people what she thinks to their faces, rather than behind their backs. I suspect she hasn't been quite as forthcoming with the designers as she has been in her interviews, and I am really looking forward to the reunion show and its sure-to-please Irina Venom-Spewing Montage, and the uncomfortable discussion that will ensue. Meanwhile, Christopher bemoaned being the last man standing in the competition. I hate it too, Christopher, but not for the same reasons. I will say it again: I cannot believe he is still in this game.

Heidi sent them off to meet Tim at the Getty Center, which Tim described as "the center of L.A. culture." The Mayor of Los Angeles showed up, which made me question if the man had nothing else to do. Isn't California in dire financial straits? And yet the mayor of its biggest city decided to say a few words to some reality shwo contestants? Hollywood. Anyway, the challenge was much like the Metropolitan Museum challenge from S4, in that the designers were tasked with taking inspiration from something in the Getty Center for their next garment. The models joined the designers to serve as their muses. Althea was inspired by the architecture of the building itself, which is very cool. Carol Hannah got excited by the French drapery on a bed in the European decorative arts wing. Irina found a classical painting that really got her going. Christopher was taken in by the (fairly ugly) courtyard fountain. And Gordana was sucked into a very purple Monet painting of a cathedral. The designers got $300 to spend at Mood, and two days to create their looks. So they should have no excuses for anything shitty.

In the workroom, Althea felt left out, because Christopher and Carol Hannah are buddy-buddy, and Irina and Gordana had apparently become friends. There was some general snippiness that was much more obvious than usual, and I have to say, this season could have used a bit more of the drama. It escalated back in the girls' room, when Gordana got really irritated with Carol Hannah for basically no reason.

Tim's take: Christopher wanted to take inspiration from the gray of the fountain's rocks, with green accents that represented the algae, and then sharp pointy elements to suggest the rocks. Jesus, he is a hack. Tim was concerned that the pointy things would look like stalactites, and urged Christopher to "use an editing eye." Christopher does not have an editing eye. He does not know what that means. Carol Hannah chose to replicate her bed's ornate texture by doing a big detail across the bodice, which Tim thought robbed the dress of sophistication. Irina wanted to suggest the see-through garments in her paintings with a semi-sheer fabric, and Tim was totally repulsed by the fur fabric she planned to pair with it (I guess she thought it looked like the marble in the painting?), which he thought looked like roadkill. The two pieces put together were "a post-apocalyptic moment," per Tim. I love him. Althea's garment gave Tim a "wow" moment, but not in a good way. He didn't like the paneled, puckering work in her skirt, although I thought it looked interesting. It had a lot of structure, but still suggested the Getty's curves. He thought it looked like a pebbly mess. Gordana's dress took the inspiration from the painting perhaps a bit too literally, but Tim responded well to it. Gordana explained that she's very spiritual, and felt that the colors of the painting were angelic, and she was moved to create something she really loved, and she loved her dress. I think it worked better in the long shot, but didn't have a lot of interest up close.

Christopher interviewed that he knows his place in the competition is the "wacky, weird guy who doesn't listen and does his own thing." That's not your place in the competition, dear. Your place is the guy who has no idea what he's doing who got lucky a couple times, and who has somehow managed to outlast much more talented designers. (I will say, however, that I checked out his underwear designs, and they are totally hot; I want a pair. But underwear made out of vintage t-shirts ain't exactly high fashion.) After Tim's input Irina abandoned her fur piece completely (good; it was a little too similar to her previous too looks) and focused solely on the dress. Althea verbalized my concerns with Gordana's dress, which is that while it's beautiful, it's incredibly simple. There's no real design to it.

Back in the workroom Carol Hannah was running around like a maniac. Christopher said that his dress encompassed himself as a designer: "pretty, but kind of dirty." He is absolutely clueless. Irina called out Christopher's confidence as false confidence, because he's so in his head that he has no idea what's really going on. And then she said that Althea was rushing to finish her garment, which she said was par for the course for her over the season. That was weird. Have we ever seen Althea running behind? She also said Althea's finishing is always terrible. Again, I have not seen any evidence of that. But Irina is drunk on haterade for Althea, most likely because she knows that at this point Althea is literally her only real competition.

The runway: I hated Heidi's dress. Cynthia Rowley was filling in for Michael Kors - how many episodes was he even in this season? Cindy Crawford was the guest judge. And can we all just agree now that no model has ever aged as well as Crawford? Sister has still got it. I liked Althea's skirt a lot, but I didn't like the saggy silver top at all. Carol Hannah's dress was beautiful, but I didn't see the bed inspiration in at all. It also read a bit prom to me. Christopher's dress had this terrible low-rent top and a stiff skirt with green splotches all over it - HATE. Gordana's dress really was pretty, and flowy, and angelic, and I could see the inspirtion. But where was the point of view? Irina's look was beyond boho chic, a total departure for her. I liked it, but it didn't represent her at all, and I also didn't see the painting she was trying to capture.

Both Cindy and Cynthia felt Althea was over-ambitious on the skirt, and they felt she underworked the top. Heidi called it "a bit of a mess fest." Ouch. Nina loved the back of Irina's "goddess gown," but found the length was "old lady." Cindy liked the color, but thought the styling was way off, and Heidi had the model remove all the accessories. Heidi saw the connection to the painting in Gordana's gown, but Nina wondered if Gordana can take any chances. Cynthia hated the chunky zipper in the back. Cynthia liked the fit of Carol Hannah's dress, while Cindy also didn't see the connection to the inspiration bed. Nina dismissed it as safe. Cynthia actually liked the top of Christopher's dress (I hated it), but the judges all hated the material in the skirt, which was too heavy. When Heidi asked Christopher if he was confident about the dress, he broke down and started to cry and babble about how the rocks and the algae and finding the beauty in it was like him, and WHATEVER.

Heidi asked Gordana why she deserved to go to Fashion Week, and Gordana said she'd been trying to do this since basically birth, and can create something really cool for her collection. She would take Christopher because he "wants it so much" (well, I really want to have Taylor Lautner's body, but that isn't going to happen), and Irina, because she's so talented. Agreed on the last point, at least. In her defense, Althea pointed out that she has always pushed herself in this competition, and has never been in the bottom. I don't know as that's ever happened on this show. She would bring Carol Hannah and Irina. CH kind of shit all over Christopher's sob story and said that her story and her training doesn't matter; what matters is that she makes beautiful clothing that people want to wear. Fair enough. She would bring Christopher and Althea. Irina brought up her immigrant status and obliquely referenced the American Dream, and essentially said that people give up on their dreams because it gets tough, but that's not her. She would bring Althea and Gordana, based solely on their work. (That would be my Top 3, too, incidentally). Christopher again boo-hooed about not having any opportunities (you create opportunities, son, you don't wait for them to come to you), and this would be the biggest. That didn't address why he deserved to go to Fashion Week. He said he would bring Irina and Carol Hannah.

Two of the designers were going to be eliminated! Irina got the first bid to Fashion Week, which is fitting. She is a spectacular talent, even if she is a bitch. Heidi FINALLY got around to cutting Christopher, saying that he needed more time. I do think he has some creativity, but he DOES need training. There is a reason people go to fashion school. Carol Hannah got the second spot in Fashion Week, and I was a little disappointed on that one. I think she's a cute girl, but I've never found her work to be particularly inventive. Pretty, sure. But not original. That left Althea vs. Gordana, and the clear, obvious choice to move forward here is Althea. But Gordana trumped Althea this particular week, so that made the decision tougher than it probably should have been. But ultimately, Althea got the final pass, and was going to Fashion Week. Thank god. If she'd been axed I would have been seriously annoyed - who would we have to root for? That meant Gordana was out. It's tough. I liked her for most of the season, but she has also had some real crappy looks, like last week's depressing office worker garb.

Next: FASHION WEEK!