Project Runway 8, Episode 9: A $20,000 Bar

Can someone please explain the above image to me taken from Lifetime's Project Runway site's photos from this week's episode? Who is that woman with Seth Aaron? Seth Aaron?!? When did he stop by? You had 90 minutes to fill and footage of the designers meeting a previous winner and a mystery woman didn't make the cut? WTF? And it must be from this episode because Ivy is in the pics and they are wearing the clothes they wore on day 2 of the challenge.

Tim
I can't wait to watch Tim's Facebook vlog about this episode. If he posts one, or if I can catch it before he takes it down. He seemed very emotional when he came in to deliver the twist, as if he had fought against it and lost the battle. Wasn't the site of him chasing Swatch around Mood priceless? Good to see Swatch getting the airtime he deserves. There's a bonus of the 90 minute format. (Is Swatch a he?)

Why?
I don't know, personally, I would rather have seen what they could do with a full 2 days just to work on their high fashion look. The second look seemed superfluous and just took up time. Somehow in a 90 minute episode, with just 8 designers, we barely saw any of anyone's designs until they went down the runway. I still don't know how that happened. I'd rather see more construction and a little less runway and judging.

Ivy
Ivy's Little-Mermaid dress and ready-to-wear look were my least favorite. As much as I would rather have watched one more show with her around than MC Fakesalot, I still agree with her aufing.

Valerie
Oh Valerie. I wouldn't go so far as to call her a drama-queen, but she really did not handle the pressure well. At the end, I don't think she was trying to pull focus or make it about her. I think she was truly shell-shocked that she hadn't been aufed. Can you blame her with her thrown together Audry-Hep-Burned dress and ready-to-wear looks? I mean, they weren't horrid, they were just plain. Plain doesn't fly this deep into PR.

MC Fakesalot
Was that really his first trip to the bottom 3? I guess so. Can we all please chip in and buy that man a genuine bone to put somewhere in his body? Nothing he says sounds sincere. Even when he's ripping on Gretchen (and producers, I really don't need to see him say he doesn't like Gretchen's outfit--that's a given) he sounds like a bad actor reading a script. And what was up with the Return-To-Tara Gown? And how come Michael Kors didn't make a comment about the "goiter" in his Mini-Me dress? Were those hip protectors?

April and Chris
I quite liked their looks. I would have put them in the top over Andy and Gretchen. Diana thinks Chris is a dark horse to win it all. I wanted April to win the challenge just so she could buy a mini-pony with the $20,000.

Gretchen
Meh. I just don't like her aesthetic (read: "I think all of her designs are ugly"). I'm sure it's well-made. Here's her high fashion and her ready-to-wear. After starting off as the show's villain, she's kinda faded away into nothing (and producers, I get it that she doesn't like MC Fakesalot--I don't need to see it anymore).

Andy
Yeah, I'm not such a big fan of Andy's aesthetic either, but again, he seems to make things well. His Attack-of-the-Japanese-Cupcake-Foils outfit certainly looked very "high fashion", but I just didn't like it. His cocktail dress was... yeah, I didn't really like it either.

Mondo
Mondo won! Yay. I like Mondo and his clothes. He has a strong point of view. He makes it work. He seems like a nice guy. His Kaleidoscope gown and Stripped dress rocked. I'm so glad he won.