Face Off Season 9 premiere takes us to the Intergalactic Zoo

Face Off season 9 episode 1 Glen's haircut

The Face Off Season 9 premiere starts with the usual – we get to meet the cast. We also get teased with a challenge that includes creating a short film. That’ll be cool to see the makeups in action & see how well they hold up.

The cast meet each other in pairs outside the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. We also get a little mini-introduction to some of the cast. There’s a lot of them, so it’s hard to keep track of them all. Missy & Meg stand out – Missy has bright orange hair & Meg had Hodgkins lymphoma & beat it. Her half-shaved head is a tribute to that fight. We have a couple of students from Tom Savini’s school, which I had never heard of because I am visually-art creation illiterate.

Face Off season 9 episode 1 cast

The season 9 cast is:

Once inside they learn that their first challenge starts….. NOW! Those pairs they walked up in to the museum were not random. The artists will be working in pairs, and that person each artist walked up to the museum with is the person they will work with on this challenge. As this is Face Off, there will be virtually no drama regarding the teams. If we’re good, we’ll maybe get a little drama when they’re sleep-deprived, but that comes later.

The teams are:

  • Ben & Jordan
  • Stevie & Libby
  • Ricky & Jasmine
  • Missy & Meg
  • Nora & Scott
  • Evan & Sidney
  • Jason & Brittany
  • Omar & Kevon

Esteemed judge Neville picked out some inspirational stuff from the museum. Each pair must use that selected object to inform their design. The pair of designers also must use 2 models in 1 creature for a bit of added fun & stress.

Face Off season 9 episode 1 Glen's haircutWe get our first walk through with McKenzie and her dad. It’s like RuPaul walking through the workroom without the head games.

Because the teams are creating 1 creature out of 2 models, the artists have to consider how their models will actually get to the stage for last looks. Will they be able to walk attached to each other? Most teams have thought about this, but surprises abound when the artists actually put their two models together. How’d they get so naked? What were we going to put there? Crap! Do we have a big piece of fabric?

Of course, we don’t see these creatures actually walk on stage. They’re just sort of plopped up there. I suppose there was no need to actually allow the actors to move in these makeups.

I like Glen’s new haircut, although from the tease for the season finale, it doesn’t look like he shaves his beard all season. Perhaps it’s his nod to Miss J on ANTM and his progressive costume additions over the course of a season.

Missy & Meg’s creature is obviously wearing brown jeans, and we get a profile so we see all kinds of brown jeans. They might be corduroys, which might make their creature slightly more alien in my eyes.

Face Off season 9 episode 1 Ben &  Jordan's creature

Face Off season 9 episode 1 brown jeansThe high teams are: Sidney & Evan and Ben & Jordan. The low teams are: Omar & Kevon and Libby & Stevie. If McKenzie did not call your name, you were in the mediocre middle. That means Team Brown Jeans is so, so happy. Whoo-hoo! C’s get degrees, or another chance on Face Off.

Team Ben & Jordan win, with Ben taking the top prize. And wuss-out, no one goes home tonight. It was all about learning, you see! That means I’m expecting a double-elimination at some point in this season.

What did you think of this first episode? Were there any pieces you thought should’ve been on top? (Cough, Nora & Scott) Or on the bottom (looking at you, Brown Jeans).

Face Off season 9 episode 1 Ben