ANTM Recap - C24/E11: Beauty is Personality
Remember how one of the “prizes” for this cycle’s winner is having an avatar of herself in the ANTM mobile game? The episode where we have to talk about the game is here. I was not jazzed about this, but then Queen Khrystyana made everything better.
So the gals have 15 minutes to create their avatar, and then they have to present it to Law Roach and David Ortiz, who created this “game.” The challenge is to make the avatar have some personality within the game. Here’s where we find out that three of the remaining five models have personalities you’d actually want to be around, and two of them (ahem, Jeana and Rio), not so much.
Anyway, the winner of this challenge gets to go to a top LA showroom and get styled by Law “motha” Roach himself. They’ll get to keep whatever look he chooses for them. This is a legit prize but mostly because I’d love to hang out with Law for a couple hours.
My only thought watching the girls choose how their avatars will look is that it just looks like a more involved Bitmoji. Side note: here’s my Bitmoji. She cute.
Rio presents first. She describes her avatar as “Detroit girl turned LA woman turned America’s Next Top Model.” She wants her avatar to have the scar she got from her brain tumor surgery, which is pretty cool. Not that she had a brain tumor. That she thought about this for her character. Y’all know what I mean.
Kyla said she tried to make her avatar like herself (um, yah, duh). Basically, she’s educated, fun at night, and fights for equal rights during the day. I’m still waiting to see woke activist Kyla. I think I’d like her.
Shanice’s avatar is from the streets of Tennessee, and then at night time she becomes Shanasty. She does some Shanasty dancing and I’m here for it.
Khrystyana is so genuinely excited that it is contagious. It’s clear that Law and David are loving her. Plus, she says “next level fierce, beetch” in Russian and it’s adorbs.
Jeana describes her avatar as “alienesque bald beauty,” but she can’t really answer the question of “What will it be like to spend time with you in this game?” Bland. It would be bland. (By the way, I hate saying this stuff about Jeana because I like her and want her to be better and more fun.)
Khrystyana wins and she’s soooo pumped. I love her. I can’t wait to see her shop with Law!
So K is celebrating in the car after this, and Jeana cuts into her happiness by jabbing, “Khrystyana actually needed this though because she doesn’t have any more outfits.” DAMN JEANA you is soooo salty right now. Also, don’t mess with the beautiful butterfly that is Khrystyana.
Then she kind of mocks K’s accent. It’s not cool. “Maybe if I talked like this I’d win because it would show personality.” Nah girl you just don’t have much personality and now you’re vindictive.
Back at the model mansion, Khrystyana hears Jeana crying and goes to comfort her. K is so sweet. While Jeana’s crying, she’s still being rude about the actual challenge. “I didn’t know I was supposed to go in there and act a fool” and “I can’t go home because of a game, something that’s so fake.” DO NOT insult K right to her face while she’s trying to help your salty ass.
Video shoot!
Director X is back, and the models are shooting a high fashion music video. Kyla is basically in love with him and it’s hilarious and super cute. Maejor is also there and will be in the video with the models.
The set is cool af. Basically, it’s a fancy, conservative dinner party full of very bored models, and then Maejor starts the party. So the models change from these buttoned-up looks to super fierce high-fashion looks and shoot solo pieces for the video.
From the get-go, Director X is not feeling it from Jeana or Rio. He keeps telling them he’s getting “nothing” from them. By the time they’re ready for individual shoots, both models are nervous about their performance.
Kyla looks amazing. That outfit tho. And she is WORKING IT. It’s nice to see her break out of that safe shell.
Jeana does a runway walk, and Drew keeps yelling, “More than runway!” and she is so not doing more than runway.
Shanice looks awesome too. That red outfit and the fringe sleeves? I want.
Khrystyana looks like a candy princess and I’m loving it. Her very tall shoe breaks and it looks like she twists her ankle a little bit. The other models check to see if she’s okay, but Jeana gives her a weird facial expression that Khrystyana noticed. She said it looked like Jeana thought K “deserved” for that to happen.
Then there’s a pillow fight scene between Shanice and Khrystyana, and midway through, Jeana jumps in and joins the fight. Khrystyana and Shanice are both confused because they were told this scene was just the two of them, and they both described Jeana as being really physical and pushy.
K decides that she needs to stand up for herself more, so she confronts Jeana. Jeana, in the most deadpan delivery ever, says that Director X asked her to get in the shot. It’s an odd interaction because she just seems so not interested in anything K is saying.
K: “I thought that everyone has good intentions. Maybe…not everyone.” TRUE GIRL AND WE ALL HAVE TO LEARN THAT.
Panel!
WUT we didn’t even get to see K and Law shop together? She looks great though. Also Director X is guest judging!
Kyla: She’s SO giggly because Director X is sitting in front of her. She talks about how she has a crush on him and everyone on the panel thinks it’s hilarious. He gives her a hug and it’s cute. Her video shots are fantastic. Law says, “Whoa. Kyla. She finally arrived.”
Khrystyana: It turns out she actually got to keep like five looks from the showroom Law took her to. Seriously I wish this episode had just been their shopping trip. She calls Law her “fairy god mothaaaa.” (Insert hair flip.) Drew called her video footage sexy and fun. Tyra said, “I saw a model that can act too.”
Jeana: Everyone is underwhelmed. Tyra said, “It felt like everything was just safe.” Director X said, “There was nothing I could work with” in the dinner party scene. Law says she needs to push past her physicality and make it about the person.
Rio: Drew said she “failed miserably” in the beginning of the video. Tyra says she’s surprised because this performance makes it seem like Rio is moving in the wrong direction.
Shanice: Law thought it was “dreamy” and beautiful. Tyra reminds her to model from head to toe and not just neck up. Shanice calls out Jeana for coming in the pillow fight scene and pushing them. X tells everyone that he did indeed tell Jeana to get in the shot too. Jeana says the pushes were just part of the character and not coming from a spiteful place. Who knows. It got a little weird and tense. Tyra said “Y’all handle that at home.”
While the judges deliberate, K apologizes to Jeana for not believing her when she said X put her in the shot. But she maintains that Jeana should not have pushed her and did it way too hard. Instead of responding, Jeana basically shuts down. Which is extra shitty considering how K helped her when she was upset earlier in the episode.
Best performance: Khrystyana! Yaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhssss, girl!
Runner Up: Kyla
Shanice
Aw, snap. Rio and Jeana are the Bottom Two. This is SO not their plan.
Tyra says, in that weird lilting voice she uses when judging: “Stunning looks, but those girls over there seem to be progressing, and you guys seem to be treading water.”
The girl. Who is still in the running. Toward becoming. America’s. Next. Top. Model. Is.
RIO.
Jeana looks crushed, but I don’t think anyone is that surprised she’s leaving after this week. She kind of failed. Tyra says, “What I don’t want to see when you leave this competition is that you just are the bald girl. Because you are capable of more than that.”
Jeana’s parting words to camera: “We’ll see if any of these other girls can be as versatile as I’m gonna be after this” (Insert salty smirk.) Uhhhh, don’t close on a shitty comment, dude. Leave with dignity.
We’re down to four, y’all. See you next week!
Yours in #nextlevelfierceness,
Susan (and Bitmoji Susan)