Project Runway is Back!

And by that, I don't mean "a new season is showing" (though, of course, it is). I mean that so far, at least, it's an interesting season!

Okay, so they had two one-day challenges in three episodes... that part I can live without. But one of those challenges was actually interesting, and the first team challenge actually gave them 2 days for the first time in what seems like forever, so yay on that.

And so far the designers are an interesting and mixed bunch. Okay, I had some trouble telling Mila and Maya apart what with their similar names and hair styles, and there's still a couple people whose names I have trouble with, but there's a few who I already feel like I know a fair amount about in terms of their personality and style, which was not really so much the case last season. And we've had funny, and crazy, and crazy-funny, and it's been, well, much more fun overall so far.

And I'm ready to make a few predictions, none of which will actually happen because my talent for prognistication on shows like this seems to be pretty much nil.

Most Likely to Make it to Final n: Mila, Seth Aaron, Emilio, and Amy.
Most Likely to Pull a Surprise Upset: Anthony or Ben.
Most Likely to Have a Nervous Breakdown: Janeane or Mila.
Most Likely to be Season's Designated Villain: Emilio or Jonathan. I would pick Jesse but I don't think he's going to last long enough.
Most Likely to Lie to Judges: Jesse or Jonathan.
Most Likely to be Fan Favorite, Officially or Otherwise: Anthony seems to have this in the bag, but if he ends up becoming annoying instead of funny, I vote for quiet Ben suddenly starting to talk in the middle of the season and turning out to be really witty.

If you can't guess, I think that Ben, who has been mainly ignored, will be one of those designers who a few episodes from now suddenly gets a lot more camera attention. I could be wrong (I probably am), but those quiet ones do tend to have that happen, after all. And I liked his first two dresses (I can't really judge him much on the third as he was not the team lead and we didn't see enough of them to be sure how much input he had), so I do believe he might have the skills to pull off a couple top placements at the least, and quite possibly a win or two.

Anthony... I find some of what he says really funny, but sometimes it ends up feeling forced, like he's got this Character of Anthony he's playing, so I'm not 100% sure I'm going to still think he's funny in a couple weeks. Which does mean I do expect to keep seeing him for a while yet, unless he goes too over-the-top (which he might). He does seem to have skill, but maybe not enough of an editing eye to last.

Meanwhile, over in Villain-land, Jesse so far is my least favorite personally, but I've been pretty unimpressed with his work, so I don't know if he's going to last long enough to really be the designated villain. On the other hand, Emilio, who does have serious skillz (and remember the villain is frequently one of the finalists), has been edited to show some smack-talking, and I think may have a fair amount of snide in him. Jonathan has had some funny snark, though, which is often where the trip to Villain-land starts. So... yeah, hard call.

In a few weeks I'll probably look at this post and go "What was I thinking?", though. ;D