I am mad right now.
I'd read a few reviews here - something I nearly always do to help me decide whether or not to invest time in a series - and thought that viewers who felt the competition was rigged were probably unable to take disappointment well. But after watching the first four episodes, as I listened to the judges' reasoning in the penultimate one, I found myself wondering, "Are they on the level?!" Mark's stuff kept coming apart from one challenge to the next, and if, as Scott Foley mentioned in the last episode, craftsmanship was one of the judging criteria, then how did Mark even make it to the semifinals? I would have been happy to see either Urvi or Erica go up against Arielle for the final challenge. (Urvi's work, in particular, struck a chord with me.)
To have the judges then award the win to Mark was so disheartening. Not that he didn't pull off a very nice collection, but the judges themselves had all previously agreed that they had to take the whole season into consideration, and Arielle had consistently come up with beautifully crafted, elegant minimalist pieces. For Brigette Romanek to then state that she wants to work with designers who are not necessarily consistent but who will "give her" something... well, not cool. In the end, I too have a sense that perhaps Mark - who, by the way, didn't sound terribly authentic in his comments about his mother and minority kids, comments that seemed studied to me, designed (pardon the pun) to elicit sympathy - perhaps Mark had been intended to win from the start.
So, I feel cheated. And that makes me mad. Which is why I'm only giving the series a 5-star rating, instead of the 7 stars it might have garnered otherwise.
I'd read a few reviews here - something I nearly always do to help me decide whether or not to invest time in a series - and thought that viewers who felt the competition was rigged were probably unable to take disappointment well. But after watching the first four episodes, as I listened to the judges' reasoning in the penultimate one, I found myself wondering, "Are they on the level?!" Mark's stuff kept coming apart from one challenge to the next, and if, as Scott Foley mentioned in the last episode, craftsmanship was one of the judging criteria, then how did Mark even make it to the semifinals? I would have been happy to see either Urvi or Erica go up against Arielle for the final challenge. (Urvi's work, in particular, struck a chord with me.)
To have the judges then award the win to Mark was so disheartening. Not that he didn't pull off a very nice collection, but the judges themselves had all previously agreed that they had to take the whole season into consideration, and Arielle had consistently come up with beautifully crafted, elegant minimalist pieces. For Brigette Romanek to then state that she wants to work with designers who are not necessarily consistent but who will "give her" something... well, not cool. In the end, I too have a sense that perhaps Mark - who, by the way, didn't sound terribly authentic in his comments about his mother and minority kids, comments that seemed studied to me, designed (pardon the pun) to elicit sympathy - perhaps Mark had been intended to win from the start.
So, I feel cheated. And that makes me mad. Which is why I'm only giving the series a 5-star rating, instead of the 7 stars it might have garnered otherwise.