'Shear Genius': Groom This

This week on Shear Genius was just, well, weird. If that's not redundant. Any episode of any show that can combine peanut butter, molasses, anchovies, dogs, and Jaclyn Smith in gold leather pants may have just gone over the edge. But we're all about embracing the edge, right? Living dangerously. Through our hair.

The short cut challenge introduces us to stylist judge Robert Hallowell, who has worked with Courteney Cox, Sharon Stone, and Sarah Jessica Parker (her hair does look great, even in drek like The Family Stone). The challenge: to create a futuristic look that is beyond belief due to its unusual cut, shape and height. And they must sculpt the style without hairspray or any other normal products -- they have to use natural products found in your kitchen as styling aids, and they must use at least two in the client's hair. Choices include tuna, anchovies, peanut butter, molasses, caramel, shortening, avocado, mustard, squid, honey, tomato juice, quince paste, butter, flour, salt and egg whites. Think SJP uses any of those, or does Garnier Nutrisse count?

Nekisa picks molasses and mustard. Paulo takes corn syrup and coconut oil. Charlie picks flour and sea salt, and ends up adding honey. Nicole picks caramel and sugar. Dee picks egg whites and butter. And Daniel picks avocado and peanut butter, which makes him gag, but dammit he's committed to this thing. Empty gesture, but OK. They have 45 minutes. All I can think about -- much like I did when first viewing the kitchen scene in 9 1/2 Weeks -- is "How will they clean that up?" I don't want to be the one trying to scrape corn syrup out of my back-combed, gnarly hair.

Our brave stylists clearly know what's what when it comes to picking sticky  things to use as styling products. Nekisa molds an up-do with molasses, using mustard as color -- and gets picked on for covering up her model's forehead with the lame yellow bangs. Nicole, for some inconceivable reason, has decided to put squid in her client's hair. Whole. It looks like raw calamari lying on a bird's nest. Charlie picks a fight with Dee when she says she's going for a Japanimation look, and I really wish he'd just shut up. Daniel's added beets as an accessory, after coating his client's hair in peanut butter and wrapping it around velcro rollers. Paulo has created an "ice princess," using the coconut oil as a shine product and the corn syrup to both set it and creat crystals -- and it looks cool. Hallowell keeps walking around telling the stylists about how good these products are for the hair -- which the stylists ignore completely. Maybe because they only have 45 minutes to work; maybe because they just don't care.

Nicole loses, even though she picks the squid out -- it was a falling-down mess -- and Paulo ends up winning. Yay Paulo! In the elimination challenge he gets first pick of client and another advantage, which turns out to be choosing the other stylists' clients too.

Back at home, the house is turning into a festival of hatred. Nekisa hates Nicole. Nicole hates Dee. Dee hates Charlie. And everyone wants everyone else to go home. Watching at home, you just want them all to shut up.

The elimination challenge turns out to be a cross-species affair. The stylists must create new looks for dogs -- and then find out that they're also supposed to create a new style and color for the owners inspired by the looks they're created for the dogs. I expect PETA to jump out of the bushes at any moment to make sure that no one colors the dogs' hair, but no. Also, we've seen this already -- on episode 3, season 3 of Project Runway. I'm instantly bored. They have two and a half hours to make this happen, and they get to use real styling products again.

Nicole ends up cutting 17 inches off her client's hair, creating a cute layered bob, and warming up the color to a color closer to the dog's. Nekisa cuts bangs on her dog -- poor little Waffles -- and creates stripey highlights on her client. She also allows every word from Rene -- granted, his suggestions seem like criticism she can't ignore -- to make her second-guess herself. Shouldn't she do color? Should she really be curling the client's hair? She's done a halfway decent job of standing up for herself in the past, but she really knuckles this time.

Dee uses clippers on her dog -- and gel -- and creates a spiky tail that becomes the basis for some spikey pieces on the crown of her client's head that break up the sleek bob. Paulo hacks the hell out of his client, focusing on the shapes of the dog's cut -- shorter hair with long hair on the ears, and longer hair on the dog's legs after a close cut on the body. And Daniel, bless his heart, puts curly blonde extensions on his dog's head. Seriously, PETA, where are you? It's turning into an episode of Dog Show!

At judging, Nekisa gets slammed for her dog's uneven cut. Kim Vo tells Charlie that it's hard to make someone look both crazy and matronly, but he's done it with his curly up-do. Charlie admits he really wanted nothing to do with this challenge and wasn't into it. The judges like Nicole's cut, are puzzled by Paulo's ("If her hair were up off her shoulders, it'd be  a mullet"), and like the up-do with blonde extensions that Daniel created. It's soft, curly and pretty, and it works fine. They tell Dee that her color is an example of how good color can work without looking stripey. Snap! That one was going out to you, Nekisa. The guest judge is a trainer who's worked with a bunch of celebrities, and her deadpan critique of the dog haircuts is really funny.

In the end, Daniel and Dee are in the top two -- and Dee wins! She'll be there another week for Nicole to hate and for Charlie to call names. The bottom three: Charlie, Paulo and Nekisa. Suddenly, it seems, Charlie's out of catty comments for Nekisa now that his work on this challenge has been called out as bad. In the end, though, he's safe. Paulo, learning the hard way what it's like to be on top for one challenge and on the bottom for another, is safe. Nekisa goes home. And, frankly, it's about time.

What did you think? Were you surprised that Nekisa lasted as long as she did? And did it shock you that Charlie actually hugged her when she left? Was that fake hate or what? Do you think the judges over-use the "take risks" bit? Who's your bet for the next to go home?

So glad Nekisa is gone. Her whiny attitude about being in the bottom two or three week after week was enough to make me want to shave her head!

it's time for charlie to be gone!