House of Pain

America's Next Top Model - Season 10, Episode 6

Previously on America's Next Top Model: Whitney didn't appreciate being called racist by Dominique, especially since skin color has nothing to do with why Dominique is such an asshole. The girls had paint dripped down their faces. Marvita, whether by intimidation or boredom, couldn't give her all, and was punted back home. Nine girls remain. Who will be eliminated tonight?

So the whole first segment is the Saga of Dominique's Alarm Clock. She sets it early, and she sets it often. I admit, I have to do the same thing, as I'm a deep sleeper (and the polar opposite of a morning person), so it takes me several attempts to get out of bed. On the other hand, I'm not sharing my room with a bunch of other people. Claire confronts Dominique about waking other people up unnecessarily, and Dominique has a customary "What? I have to take other people into consideration?" type of response. Even Anya is, like, "that girl needs to work on her communication", and when Anya says that, you know you've got a problem. Dominique's selfishness leads Claire, Whitney, and even sweet-tempered Lauren to yell at her, so she flees to the phone to complain to her mom about how they're all just intimidated by her modeling prowess. Yeah, that must be it. Not that you're a raging asshole.

The next day, Tyra drives the girls to a dance studio, where they dress in identical red outfits for no reason whatsoever. She teaches them about portraying various kinds of pain through posing, and the whole thing is horrifically boring. Later, the girls learn that their pain poses were actually a challenge, and Anya emerges as the winner. Her prize is to go have a one-on-one photo shoot with Nigel, where she's naked on a bed. Thumbs up to Nigel, because the resulting pictures are the first time I can accept Anya as a model. She looks really good. When Aimee hears of what the shoot entailed, she's relieved not to have won, because she's all Mormony and innocent, and not ready to get naked. Understandable. It's not like the girls have had to pose in states of undress since the first season or anything.

Later that night, Claire, Whitney, and Lauren shit-talk Dominique in the same room as her, while Dominique is trying to sleep. And yeah, I hate Dominique, and I'm sick to death of her "Why don't you treat me with respect?" whine, as she clearly can't fathom that you get what you put out in that department. But by the same token, the other three really are being bitchy. I'm all for shit-talking Dominique, or for fighting with her when she's being especially douchey, but you can't claim a moral high ground if you're going to bully someone who's just trying to go to sleep.

The next day, the girls head for the photo shoot, where they're told they'll each embody a different type of music. Interesting. Fatima is heavy metal, and blah. Katarzyna is emo, and fine. Lauren is pop, and gorgeous as always. Claire is country, and somewhat hokey. Dominique is folk, and just stands around looking stoned. Anya is punk, and looks fine, though OJ says the hair, makeup, and wardrobe are doing most of the work. Stacy-Ann is house, and whoever did her hair is a genius. It's like an explosion of porcupine spikes, and looks awesome. Aimee is R&B, and sucks. Yeah, if there's one thing I don't trust to the Mormons, it's rhythm. Whitney is grunge, and does a terrific job.

At panel, the judges love Whitney, and think Katarzyna rocked the short hair look so well they're going to attack her in the middle of the night with styling scissors. On the other end, neither Claire nor Aimee connected with their music styles at all, and wind up in the bottom two. This one's not hard to call, and indeed, Aimee takes a walk. In her final interview, she assures us that she's not as innocent as the judges thought she was. I'll believe it when I see a boob shot, Aimee. Back to the Future fadeout.

Next week on America's Next Top Model: Go-sees! The harsh industry comes down hard on poor, curvy Whitney, which delights Dominique no end. Lauren freaks the fuck out.

Overall Grade: C