Episode Recap: Death Becomes Them

One more challenge 'til the finale, and the artists are putting everything they have into this one. Oh, and by the way: this will be a double elimination challenge. Yeeeeaaahhhh ….

Mr. Westmore and McKenzie make it a family affair when they present the challenge at the site of one of the first gigs Mr. Westmore ever had: the house of The Munsters. Several blackened roses are strewn through a graveyard of tombstones of various kooky relatives, with the family gathering consisting of Bully Older Brother (Evan), Black Sheep Cousin (Nora), Spinster Aunt (Jordan), Stern Father (Scott) and Inappropriate Uncle (Ben).

Evan's idea for Bully Older Brother is an actual, y'know, bull, but Mr. Westmore feels it's too demon-ish. Evan knows better than to scoff at Mr. Westmore's feelings and scrapes his work from the life cast to start over. Nora gives him a "been there" hug and keeps blasting out the sculpt of her Black Sheep Cousin, a bubbly teenage girl who loves rainbows, pink things, and her Satanist parents. Nora's so close to the finale, she can taste it, and she's all focus and fire on her clay.

Scott is dedicating his Stern Father to his own dad and making really precise sculptural choices on his lobotomized, Ward Cleaver-esque zombie. His work is maybe too precise: the judges wish the corpse had a touch more "undead" to him. On the other end of the spectrum is Jordan's Spinster Aunt, whose bloated proportions and bright purple shading make her look cartoonish ... not quite what the challenge required. Jordan tones down the shading when he sees what the other artists are conjuring but it's still a bit outlandish. Meanwhile, Ben is a bundle of contradictions, feeling nervous and edgy about being so close to the title but laughing his buns off as he creates an Inappropriate Uncle with patchy male pattern baldness and a skeleton wife he takes on tropical vacations. The final result sneers and leers the judges into fits of giggles.

With no deliberation period, the judges announce the first two finalists: Ben and Nora! They're both near tears of joy as McKenzie tells the other three artists that they get another hour of Last Looks to revise their makeups based on the judges' feedback. Jordan pushes his off-the-mark aunt further, giving her even more outlandish proportions and a paint job with much higher contrast. Scott beefs up his zombie's color palette and makes him more decayed. Evan takes the rough paint job and sloppy wig off his bully and lets the cowl he sculpted shine.

Of the three, the artist who made the biggest transformation is Evan, who looks like he might faint at the news. Scott is holding in his feelings, happy to make it so far but devastated to be so close to his dream without grasping it. Jordan is also bummed but knows he put his best work forward and grew as an artist.

As for Ben, Nora and Evan: Finale, ho! Get ready for a wild ride …