Project Runway Season Eleven, Episode eleven: Flatliners!

It’s official: both Project Runway and Eric Three Thousand have run out of ideas.

We open with Patricia, the stubborn rebel, making a dramatic statement that foreshadows the following challenge:

Patricia: "This is a good day to die."

Heidi: “This week five promising young designers will experience life after teams. They will go on a dangerous journey on their own to experience the afterlife. Tim will take you on a field trip to a weird Gothic building that appears to be an abandoned church or train station.”

The offices of Marie Claire

Tim: “Actually, it's Nina's office. Here’s what will happen: First, you will have a little time to sketch and go to Mood. Then, when your body temperature reaches 86 degrees, you're going to be hit with 200 Joules. The electric current will stop your heart. When the heart is dead, we’ll take the mask off... I'm going to draw 20 ccs. Heidi will handle the injections. When the EEG flatlines, the brain is dead. You'll be exploring. We’ll give you 30 seconds. We’ll flip the blanket on to 'warm'  and take you up to 93 degrees slowly. Then Heidi will inject 1 cc of Adrenaline, and at one minute I’ll come in with the defibrillator. And bring you back to life.”

Designers: “Well, that sounds reasonable.”

Tim: “One other thing: This is a one-day challenge.”

Designers: “NOOOOOOO!!!!”

So, the designers all die. But it turns out they will not be alone on their journey to the afterlife.  They all have to deal with apparitions from their past:

Michelle: “Somehow, we’ve brought our sins back physically ... and they’re pissed.”

First to experience the afterlife is Patricia, who is teamed up with Billy Mahoney, the designer she accidentally killed in a previous challenge. Billy is beating the crap out of her by acting like he’s never used a sewing machine before. Patricia is afraid to go on with the challenge because this ghost from her past keeps haunting her. She just wants him to go away, but she’s stuck with him.

Michelle: “Maybe if you show him what a French seam is he will stop haunting you.”

Patricia: “How can I teach French seaming to someone who is already dead?!”

That’s a good question, Patricia. But it turns out Billie Mahoney hasn't been beating her up at all. She has been struggling with herself all this time. She decides the only way to find peace is to Flatline again.

Michelle: "She thinks she deserves to be eliminated."

Daniel: "No, she doesn't! She was just a child, damn it! I refuse to let her go!"

The designers try one last time to resuscitate Patricia's outfit:

Come on, you son of a bitch! We're not going to lose you!

Miraculously, Patricia is safe, even though her dress was a nightmare.

Stanley is the playboy designer. He's haunted by the ghosts of all the designers he’s wronged in the past. He has been rude and bossy to so many people that it could cause problems with his current relationship with his partner, Tu.”

Stanley doesn't treat his partners well

Michelle: “Stanley just isn’t a very nice person.”

Tu: “I found all these video tapes of Stanley’s encounters with previous partners.”

Stanley: “That’s a ridiculous accusation! Nobody uses video tape any more! Also, those partners meant nothing to me!”

Tu: “Well, I wish they had meant something to you. Then maybe I could forgive you.”

Stanley may not have good relationship skills, but the judges like his work and he wins the challenge with a leather jacket and giant white culottes. I think it’s a nice look, but I don’t think it’s dramatic enough to explain the meaning of life. Or worth dying for.

Layana starts hallucinating about a little girl named Winnie Hicks. She feels guilty about taunting her in a previous challenge and decides she has to make amends. She decides that the best thing to do would be to find the adult version of Winnie and have her make a skirt.

Winnie Hicks: “How is this supposed to help me? I’m not that little girl anymore. I don’t really want to relive the past. My life is good now.”

Layana: “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to cause you any more pain. I’ll leave now.”

Winnie Hicks: “Layana, wait ... thank you.”

Layana is absolved of her sins and she is in the top two, with her geometric blue leather top.

Layana is stunned ... that she didn't win.

Daniel is the nerdy designer who doesn’t want to take risks. He avoids all the drama this week and just makes his usual jacket outfit. He doesn’t die and he isn’t haunted by his past. His canary yellow bird costume is ridiculous but at least it isn’t boring. He’s safe.

Daniel has had near-death experiences in past challenges

Michelle is the troubled young designer with an obsession with death. She keeps her distance from the other designers and doesn’t like to show emotion. 

Michelle: "I don't want to be touched right now."

She has been trying to find out what happens after Project Runway ever since she was a little girl, when she walked in on her previous partner in the bathroom, leading to her death. She has always blamed herself and now she just wants to make sure she’s in a good place. 

Michelle: “I had an epiphany in the bathroom. I had a vision of my partner shooting up heroine and I realized it isn’t my fault. Unfortunately, I also realized that this look might not be enough.”

She’s right. The look is not enough. It’s a nice outfit, but it’s exactly what Nina told her not to make. Is she going to survive?

Suddenly, the power goes out in the studio:

Tim: “It might be a fuse.”

Heidi: “You think? Get the defibrillators. You charged the battery, right?”

Tim: “Oh, dear lord, I forgot!”

Nina: “How are we going to save her?!”

Zac Pozen: “We’re all going to prison! I can’t go to prison! I’m too pretty!”

Heidi: “Oh, calm down. We have one more chance to save her. This is truly a do or die moment.”

No, Heidi! You'll fry her!

To Be Continued ...