Episode Recap: Family Plot

Effects artists must be able to transform their models, but what do you do when your model is yourself? And what if you have to transform yourself so successfully that the person closest to you doesn't realize it's you? Those are the questions that the remaining five contestants will answer this week. They have to create a makeup of an alternate persona for themselves, one that's so convincing that it can fool a girlfriend, a husband or a mom.

Tate goes right for the thing that his girlfriend hates most, doughy goth guys, figuring that if she can't stand to look at him, she won't notice that he's, well, him. Gage and Sam have a harder time deciding, but choose radical routes: Gage transforms himself into a black woman, and Sam turns herself into a middle-aged man. Conor takes a safe route, thinking less is more, so he keeps his own basic facial structure while adding about 20 years and a scraggly beard. Megan takes a turn that might not have anything to do with the contest: She's modeling her persona on Diana, Conor's go-to model. Could she be trying to win his heart by changing her face? As Gage and Tate shave (preparing to apply their facial prostheses), they ruminate on what ulterior motives Megan may have.

Judgment day arrives and, thankfully, the contestants have assistants! A small crew comes in for two hours to help the competitors put the silicone in those hard-to-reach places. Megan freaks out about her prosthetics -they're bubbling, they didn't come out the way she wanted them to, and she just can't handle it. Piece by piece, she rips them off her face and starts over with a simple beauty make-up, hoping that her darkened skin and blond wig will do the trick.

Shaky, everyone heads to the wig shop that will be the testing ground for their makeup. One by one, the artists' loved ones will come in, and the artists must offer them a wig cap, help them put a wig on and ring them up - all without the loved one catching on. They all pray that their hours of sculpting and painting, not to mention practicing their voices and walks, will pay off. Things go surprisingly smoothly - until Megan's mom walks in. Is that a glimmer of recognition in her eye?

The artists get a few precious hours with their loved ones before they head to the judging circle to hear the verdict. Glenn, Ve and Patrick are incredibly impressed with the scope and ambition in the makeups of Sam, Tate and Gage. Conor, however, was recognizable to them - he aged himself rather than transforming himself. As for Megan, her spray tan and fake wig broke the judges' hearts. Though Sam, as the winner of the challenge, would normally get to consult with the judges about who should go home, they are all so disappointed in Megan that there's no need.

The final four are Tate, Sam, Gage and Conor. They head back to the loft with a sense of relief, but also the foreboding knowledge that in a matter of days, they'll all be going home - only one of them will be the winner.