A Night at the Space Opera: Season 1, Episode 1

WARNING: If you don't want to know what happened in this episode, don't read this photo recap!

Welcome to Cosplay Melee, where there can be only one winner!

Meet this week’s cosplayers: Xavier, Grace, Fred, and Alicia. They’re about to vie for Best Cosplay Character and $10,000!

Super Fangirl and Community star Yvette Nicole Brown tells the cosplayers that the first phase of their challenge is to make a stunning headdress for a character that would fit in the space opera of their choice.

When Grace, a full-time cop, learns that one contestant will be eliminated at the end of Phase 1, she states, “It ain’t gonna be me!”

Space Opera is maybe the last genre Alicia would’ve liked, but her chosen universe, Chronicles of Riddick, features armor that is more medieval than hard sci-fi.

Doesn’t Xavier look cute in his helmet? Cutest little Star Wars crime lord we’ve ever seen.

Fred eyes the clock as he struggles to get the dome of his helmet completely smooth.

Xavier made it to Phase 2, while Alicia was eliminated! Judges LeeAnna Vamp and Christian Beckman give him some helpful critiques.

Fred cut off the dome of his helmet completely, opting to go with a partial face prosthetic, instead.

The judges are ready for a night at the space opera! That's renowned cosplayer, LeeAnna Vamp on the left, sci-fi Super Fan and actress Yvette Nicole Brown (Community) in the middle and acclaimed costumer Christian Beckman (The Hunger Games) on the right.

LeeAnna loves how Grace kept her bounty-hunter-with-a-strong-moral-compass feminine and fierce.

When Fred walks onstage with his rotary cannon arm and long, “pompous” cape (his word), Yvette gets chills and swears she can feel his character, Martin Cromwell, in the room with them.

Not so cute anymore! Xavier makes such a complete transformation from soft-spoken artist to bloodthirsty crime lord, the judges MUST give him the win!