Project Runway Season 21, Episode 10
"See You on the Runway"
Director: Ramy Romany
Host: Heidi Klum
Mentor: Christian Siriano
Judges: Law Roach, Nina Garcia, Michael Kors
Cast: Jesus Estrada, Veejay Floresca, Ethan Mundt
I love Project Runway. Whatever gripes I have, weird little nitpicks that matter only to me, know that it all comes from a place of pure affection. I've watched this show for just a few months shy of 21 years — almost half of my life. I thought I was straight when Project Runway debuted, that's how long ago it was. Through network changes, host shakeups, and a couple of bleak hiatuses, I've stuck by this show. To see it back in such a grand fashion (well, hold on — more on that), with so much attention on it, it's like a little more of the world finally caught up to where I've been.
Now, the finale. As has been the case all season long, this episode opens with last week's elimination — which, since I missed last week, I can use as an excuse to talk about the Wicked challenge. As has been the case throughout the season, this was a repeat challenge — because it's hard to come up with something totally new when your franchise has been around this long. The previous Wicked challenge, inspired by the Broadway musical, was in All Stars Season 4 back in 2014. This time around, the avant-garde challenge resulted in two absolutely jaw-dropping looks from Jesus and deserved winner Ethan. And then the elimination deliberation, a double elimination, caused some fireworks.
Should I get all of the drama out of the way right here, right now? Because last week's messiness continued into the first half of this week's episode. Veejay made the choice to say that she wanted to go to the finale with designers who were humble and kind: Belania and Ethan. She added that the twins didn't need the prize money which, expectedly, set them off. And then Law Roach asking the twins which one was the better designer, that pushed Antonio over the edge and out of the studio, onto the street. It was a lot. Now, it wasn't as bad as Ken in full beauty mask screaming at producers back in the hotel room, or when Sandro stormed off set, punched a camera, and went completely M.I.A. (both from Season 12 — what a wild ride!). But for Project Runway, Veejay, Antonio, and Jesus gave us a moment.
And then in this episode, Veejay made the strategic move of snatching Jesus' model muse, Jessica, during the selection process for the finale show. This set Jesus off, bad, with him calling Veejay a "spiteful bitch" repeatedly. In front of Christian. Sigh. Veejay ultimately relented and gave him Jessica — which kinda made Jesus look like a little baby.
It was appropriate that we close out the season with one more spectacular Jesus vs. Veejay moment, because the show really worked overtime to sell that rivalry from Episode 1, back when the drama was truly nothing. But, I don't know — I get that people watch reality TV for fighting, but I still roll my eyes when competition shows lean into this "drama." Specifically, I roll my eyes when the "drama" is choppily edited and underscored with bitchy royalty-free music. There's just something artificial about it, even if the moment and sentiment was genuine at the time. It feels like trying too hard to please the lowest common denominator. Gays love fights? Give the gays some fights! There's also the way that these perfectly packaged fights highlight the artificial nature of reality TV. The show puts people in a high stakes pressure cooker, pummels them with one day challenges and blunt feedback, and then delights in the fights that emerge from the tense situations the show itself created.
I kinda just want to see designers design clothes.
The final three, as if you weren't already aware or couldn't clock, are Ethan, Veejay, and Jesus. And now it's time for them to take on the final challenge: create a collection of five looks in five days. Hm. So. Okay. The budget was not there for the traditional finale, with a 3-6 month retreat to create a collection of 10+ looks to show at fashion week, complete with a home visit from the season's mentor. I saw that coming. Between all those one day challenges and then this, I think all of Season 21 was probably filmed in two weeks??? We should probably thank Ulta Beauty and FriXion erasable pens for ponying up the dough for those egregious promo moments, because the season needed all the budget it could get.
I get it, though. I wouldn't be surprised if most (or ... all?) of the budget went to Heidi Klum, Law Roach, and Christian Siriano. I also wouldn't be surprised if the show didn't have the budget to have Nina Garcia around all season (although she is busy — although, so are Law and Christian). Project Runway's last relaunch on Bravo didn't hold attention, and the show's decade on Lifetime was a bit like being in basic cable exile. Project Runway should be the coolest, most chic reality competition show on TV. Instead, it's spent the last 15 years chasing the cultural relevance it enjoyed in its first five years. So, I understand why the budget wouldn't be there to do the grand finale the way it's almost always been done before (Season 21's finale is essentially what the Project Runway All Stars seasons did for finales). I understand it, but it doesn't make it less of a bummer.
Still, even with truncated runway shows and a hella expedited execution time, the finale shows managed to serve. Ethan's proved to be the most vexing, at first, as Christian pushed the avant-garde drag designer further and further away from his comfort zone. What started as a collection of essentially five repeats of his winning Wicked look morphed into something gothic, eternally youthful, malevolent, and timeless. Ethans' decision to turn out a big gown (well, after Siriano poked him going, "Where's your big gown you gotta do a big gown big gowns are what you do") took the collection to the next level.
The judges, however, gave Ethan nothing but Goldilocks critics. Too much sparkle, too much drama, not enough fashion, too much drag, not enough Ethan and too much Utica. That critique in particular, from Law Roach, is such a groaner. What does that mean??? Ethan is Utica. So, if this collection was too much Utica — a collection that directly pulled from Ethan's best-critiqued work across the entire season, then who does Law think Ethan is? Who is Law to say who Ethan is and who Utica is, if there's even a difference? Maddening.
Veejay surprised me by drawing inspiration from [checks notes] Terminator 2: Judgment Day. It's a bewildering choice, taking the T-1000 as your inspiration in the year 2025. It makes sense when Veejay reveals that she grew up watching the movie with her dad, who died when she was little. Oh, okay, I get it.
Veejay plays with the concept of liquid metal, using a metallic leather, a gray knit fabric, and chainmail. The overall collection is void of breathtaking moments, aside from the finale chainmail gown — modeled by Project Runway icon Mimi Tao, whose presence has been missed all season long! But it's refined in a way that the judges lose their damn minds over, every time. The way they were all salivating over that draped, knit dress? It looked to me like she got up off the couch to buzz the Postmates in, I dunno.
And lastly, Jesus goes all in on pink, because he knew Antonio was going to do an all-pink runway, and pink is his mom's favorite color. The way Jesus dedicated the color choice to Antonio, it was honestly as if Law Roach had put Antonio six feet under. I am not a twin. My only sibling is 12 years older than me, which is farX12 from twinning. So, I don't get it. Twins are twins.
The resulting collection is solid. Jesus pulls from some keywords, like sexy and confident and powerful, to create a surprisingly diverse collection despite it being pretty monochromatic. He has sportswear, evening wear, some looks that push into avant-garde, it's fine. Luckily for Jesus, who previously competed on Season 7, Michael Kors did not think any of this looks were tacky this time around. I do love that for Jesus.
Ultimately, the winner is chosen — and it's Veejay. Y'know, sure! Of course I was pulling for Ethan, who I think checked all the boxes; Michael Kors was blown away by his craftsmanship! But Veejay showed consistent, and consistently brilliant, work all season long (even if the finale collection was kinda dull, to me). But when it comes to that story, I can't hate on the winner being an OG fan who measures their own life story — and queer journey — using Project Runway's debut in 2004 as a marker of time. Look how far you've come, Veejay. That's a good story, and a deserved winner.
Now, please, people, I beg you: go watch the other 20 seasons of Project Runway right now (and if you can find the 60-minute edits of Seasons 8-16, @ me).
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