Gretchen To The Rescue

At 9:47 p.m. ET last night, a simple question was asked in the Epiosde 5 play by play/party post. "How are they going to fill the next 45 minutes?" The designs were completed and they were heading off to the runway at the half way point. Could there really be enough material left that would make us want to hang around until the end?

For two-plus seasons now we've heard the fan complaints about the Lifetime/Bunim-Murray production of Project Runway. The show has been stale, there is a lack of story telling, there is too much drama and too little design, there is too much design and not enough drama! In an attempt to allow more time in the workroom and on the runway, they made the huge leap to 90 minutes for S8. Going into last night's episode, the extended format has been met with yawns. Enter Gretchen Jones.

Gretchen's backpedalling meltdown on the runway will go down as one of the classic moments of the entire series. What started out as a "collaborative" and "united" effort (buffeted by Oscar-worthy fake tears) quickly devolved into a "crappy collection" where "grandma arrived" and "everybody sucked". As soon as the judges started pressing her, she folded like a cheap luxe suit, led the charge to throw Michael C. under the bus and prompted Tim to deliver a stirring post-game smackdown.

The reaction to all of this has been cray-cray. Gretchen has angered plenty of fans but also has her fair share of defenders. Love her or hate her, she has everyone talking today and provided dramatic gold that even Bunim-Murray couldn't screw up. Who can't wait to see what happens next? She just may have single-handedly saved Season 8.