'Beauty and the Geek' gets schooled
I'm always happy for the geek makeovers on Beauty and the Geek, but I think I was a bit disappointed in the transformational aspects this time around, with a couple of exceptions.
Spoilers on the curriculum.
It was back to school time, with the geeks getting new looks in order to crash some Southern California prom. The biggest difference was the clothes, which were snazzy and coordinated, but a few of the geeks got the requisite spiked hair or contact lenses in lieu of glasses. There weren't any real Nates or Scooters this time around though. *Nostalgic sigh* Here's a breakdown:
Luke - Anything would have been better than his feather duster hair. With the shorter, darker 'do, he looks a bit like Penn Badgley from Gossip Girl.
Jesse - Whoa, I've got to give the stylist credit because I did not know what they could do about his short straight bowl fringe, but the platinum blond dye job made a huge difference, combined with the clothes. Now he'll be the best dressed/looking guy still living with his parents.
Dave - Hmmm, better fitting clothes and a fresh haircut were a'ight, but I expected something different. Maybe new glasses frames or more product in his hair.
William - Uh, I'm with Jen. He looks the same. The auburn dye isn't that much better, but at least the clothes are passable.
Joshua - Smart stylists keeping him geek, but doing it geek chic. The spiked hair really works with his glasses.
Nicole - There was no way they'd mess up with her because she was already a pretty girl to start. She just had that librarian thing going on. Just remove the glasses, stick her in a flattering dress, smear on some lipstick and she's good to go.
John - Oh, come on. We knew he'd be cute under that floppy hair. I wonder if the beauties will start flirting with him more now. His partner Natalie was certainly pleased.
The geeks had to ask somebody other than their partner to prom, which turned out to be way less wretched and awkward than expected -- except for larper Dave, who admittedly had a crush on Nicole. So what does he do? He decides to wait for her to ask him. Naturally, he misses out when she decides to ask the non-geeky-looking John instead. With Nicole necessarily having to ask a guy geek (same-sex pairing is a completely different show), that left Sam and Shay at home. At the prom, the geeks had to get social, and John triumphed in the end, having the regular prom-goers vote him Prom King.
The beauties' challenge was less fun. They had to bone up on elementary school level stuff and then substitute teach a third grade class. That was pretty painful, especially the clueless Katie and Natalie. Sam, as the party promoter (or actor if you will), was popular with the kiddies because he was fun yet knowledgeable, but Shay, Shay, Shay engaged the kids in role playing (larping anyone?) as a cherry pie. It was educationally delicious, and she rightfully won the challenge.
In the end, Sam and Nicole were targeted and won handily against Katie and Luke. No big surprise since it appears that Sam got pretty studious now that Rebecca is out of the picture.
Other highlights/observations:
- Jasmine RE: calculator watches, "Keep the numbers off your watch." Umm, okay.
- Dave RE: waxing, "I love pain because I'm a masochist."
- Jasmine giving nicknames "Herby" and "Meaty" to dinosaurs to differentiate their feeding habits.
- Despite Sam's diligence, he didn't know if dinosaurs breathed fire or not.
- I'm impressed that Nicole knew the Britney Spears and Ashlee Simpson answers, not just because that's not her forte, but also because the questions were very trickily phrased.
- Shay and Joshua's progress. They're pretty awesome. I like her mother hen thing, teaching him how to wash his face and then crying with pride when his makeover went well. "You have moved my soul." Oh, and him in a shower cap in the hot tub so his hair would stay straight was primo.
I'm psyched for next week: Comic-Con! I attended and blogged my first one this past July, and let me just tell you: It was freakin' sweet.
How did you like the makeovers? Would you have done anything differently?
I will always remember the shower cap. Pricless
What was the quote by Natalie? About states next to the Atlantic have sides that touch the Atlantic? That was pretty funny too.
I don't like Jesse's hair at all. It's way to blonde. I was hoping for more (did you see his body last week?!?)
William is slowly getting on my nerves...interested in seeing why Jen gets mad at him. I like her.
I was more impressed that Katie was able to answer that secret one. It was definitely a trick question that required counting the person who originally knew it. I totally missed that one. (I said 30).
Oh and the western most state one too! Luke even said "don't say Alaska, it's Hawaii!" (I said California, because I always always forget about AK and HI)
I totally agree I was disappointed in some of the make-overs. Didn't see alot of changes in most of them. William's was the worst. He looked exactly the same except the hair color.
And I knew John was going to be this year's Nate and Wes.
How cute was John? But I agree with the recap, he was probably the guy who needed the least work done. I expected a couple of more radical transformations but was happy to see some of the guys expand their comfort zones. And getting back to John, I wonder how many of the Beauties were hoping that he would ask them to the prom?
So no one in their lives had told the geeks earlier that contact lenses and a good haircut will do wonders? Whatever.
I am pretty sure Sam knew that dinosaurs didn't breathe fire. I think he was just trying to make good TV. That seems to be his job, since he's clearly not an idiot.
Sam's fraction question was worded wrong in the elimination room, by the way. They asked for 75% as a fraction with the least common denominator, but you can't have a common denominator when there's only one number. They should have said "reduced" since they wantd 3/4 and not 6/8 or 75/100. I'm just saying.
I too agree and I was disappointed in some of the make-overs. I think the problem had to do with the Hollywood stylists that the show hired. The 'Hollywood' look just doesn't work with some of the geeks. In the past, the beauties would be the ones in charge of the makeovers. They would have done a better job than the professionals.
The makeovers always make n moe so happy. I just sit there with a giant smile on my face. I loved when Luke was all, "If I knew I just needed a haircut, I would have done this 5 years ago!"
Did anyone else notice that Nicole wore her prom corsage into the elimination? It reminded me that a few episodes ago, she admitted she was attracted to someone in the house when they were playing truth or dare. Could she have a crush on John? Aww!
I'm just bummed that we didn't get to see geekovers of the eliminated geeks. I think Josh (rubberband guy) would have been a successful makeover along the lines of Nate.
Poor William! He really just needs to get his ears pinned back, then his features would be a lot more balanced. I think the hair color was a little bit of an improvement, it gave his face a little more depth/contrast, which is good, he was looking washed out.
Jesse and Luke got good geekovers, but for some reason, they lacked pizzazz. And they had shown clips of John's reveal in past promos, so I knew he'd turn out well.
Well, would you still have a crush on the person who sent you to elimination? John/Natalie picked Sam/Nicole to go to the elimination room. I thought that was pretty funny! I also agree with the post by Shira; go home Nicole/Sam.
I'd like to see Dave/Jasmine and William/Jenn in the next elimination room. They're the ones progressing the least. This season my favorites teams have been going first.