Episode Recap: Dante's Demons

This week marks the contestants’ first individual challenge, and from the looks of the lab, this is gonna be a bumpy ride through Hell.

Neville stands next to McKenzie and a bevy of horns, each labeled with a different sin, vice, or evil. The horns, designed by Neville, were fabricated using a 3D printer and will serve as the inspiration for each contestant to create a demon. As a little added background info, the horns are each proprietary to a different level of Hell as envisioned by Dante, so the artists will have a cornucopia of concepts to choose from. Since their numbers are dwindling and Twisted Six once again has fewer members than Ethereal, each artist will choose a set of horns and make their own demon, to be presented as a cohort with their shops.

Although KC is an expert in horn making (it’s her main gig when she’s not competing for a hundred large), she’s content to have Joseph take lead as foreman. He sees Twisted’s main downfall to be time management, so he keeps his shop cooking. Everybody has their face sculpts in by the end of day one – well, everyone except Jill. She can’t quite nail the icy skeleton she’s hoping to convey.

And despite Joseph’s efforts to get them back on track on day two, KC (who’s been creating the foundations for the horns for each of her teammates) is left hanging on her cowl mold. Joseph feels responsible for the oversight and does his best to get out a good piece of polyfoam, but it’s shredded. Somehow, KC manages to patch it with a bunch of pre-fabricated prosthetics as blender pieces – chicka wow! What a 180.

Faina stepped up as foreperson for Ethereal Effects, and she’s feeling the pressure to not be the first chief to lead them to a loss. She gives feedback and support to everyone, but when the time comes to finish her own work, she’s struggling! When her demons hit the stage, however, the judges see the unity in their paint schemes and priest-like robes, and it’s clear Faina kept the winning streak going.

Andrew also continues his streak when the judges call his heretic demon one of the top looks. Darned if Ve doesn’t call his paint job the very best up there tonight. Neville loves the way he took the molten lava look of the horns and brought the texture and coloring down into the cowl. Kierstin is also in the winner’s circle with gluttony, an emaciated creature with a mouth where his everything should be. Literally, the demon has teeth that stretch from his upper jaw down to his hips. The concept is not only bold, but well executed, and the blues and greens mixed in with the midnight black of the face and cowl make this a demon we’ve just never nightmared before. Glenn names her the winner, and she gets a little teary-eyed!

Twisted Six is on the bottom again with Jill, who didn’t showcase the horns at all, and Phil, who had so many layers in his level of Hell you coulda brought it to a potluck with some tortilla chips. Joseph, as the leader of the shop, joins them on the center podium (which has, here now, been called its own special hell). Though Phil’s work was too much of too many things, Jill’s cowl, which all but hid the centerpiece horns, fell down literally and figuratively. She goes home, grateful for the opportunity, but wishing she coulda done a little bit more in her time here.