You were so close to two four-star episodes in a row, Project Runway. You had all the tools and you squandered them. We were rooting for you. We were all rooting for you!

Thank you for indulging me in my little Tyra Banks impression (inspired by Law’s abrupt rendition of the same thing on the runway this week), because it really captures what I feel about this season’s penultimate episode, “Something Wicked.” Finally, a two-day challenge, with a really great concept and an extremely helpful mentor in Wicked costume designer Paul Tazewell, who made history by being the first Black man to win the Oscar for Best Costume Design. Remember when Project Runway used to be like this all the time? We used to have it all! But then Project Runway just had to go and lean into its worst impulses, and yes, I’m talking about the choice to not have Tazewell judge (I don’t get this season’s approach to guest stars at all!) and the choice to have Law stir the pot with his questions to Jesus and Antonio about which one of them is a better designer than the other and which one of them deserves to advance to this season’s final.

Now, I have to say that I genuinely think Law has approval, or at least permission, from the producers for everything he says during the show and on the runway. We all know that “reality TV” is a manufactured thing with different levels of performativity, and I think that the producers found in Law (and always had, to a certain degree, in Heidi) someone willing to push the contestants’ buttons with brusque statements and provocative questions. So I don’t really blame Law as an individual for asking the twins which one of them deserves to win over the other. I blame the series’ producers for casting the twins in the first place, knowing that their inability to compete against each other would drive the season’s narrative and piss other contestants off, and then putting them in Law’s crosshairs. Honestly, maybe the producers even asked Law to shoot that arrow at the twins! I’m doing a lot of conjecturing here, but the episode’s final minutes just reeked of typical reality-TV manipulation, and, like, that’s not why I watch Project Runway? The series has, of course, had controversial moments — I’m thinking of Kara Saun and Jeffrey being accused of abusing their budgets for their final collections, and obviously the Buitendorps’ meltdown, and even this season’s initial team-heavy format. But for the most part, those were issues of craft and work. Project Runway including and then constantly prodding at the twins is a play engineered for exactly the type of altercation Law, Jesus, and Antonio get into on the runway, and it’s all so silly. Just let them make clothes, Project Runway! It’s not that hard!

Now, does Veejay have a part to play in this? Was she being encouraged to constantly ask Jesus and Antonio about whether they can design without each other, and what they’re going to do if one of them progresses and the other doesn’t? For some reason I have an easier time assuming that producers encouraged Law, as a judge, to do this, rather than Veejay as another contestant. But what I’ll say is, come on, Veejay, you knew you were riling the brothers up all season, and at the same time, it’s crappy to watch the other contestants essentially sit back and let Jesus declare that he’s personally going after Veejay and that it’s his mission to get her eliminated from the show. If I were Veejay on that runway and I heard all the other contestants praise the twins, imply I don’t have a perspective, pretend I don’t exist at all, I’d be upset too. But if I were the twins, I’d be annoyed being up there and having Veejay insult us and, for some reason, drag finances into it. Again, Project Runway really did not need to get so personal this season, and this episode really left a sour taste in my mouth by the end. Honestly, maybe Paul Tazewell was like, “I don’t want to be part of this judging panel. You are all absurd.” And that would have been a totally reasonable response!

Why is Tazewell there? Because this penultimate episode is inspired by Wicked, and, surprise, Christian pulled off a magic trick by saving Jesus and Belania from elimination. (I’m mixing various wizarding references here, forgive me.) Heidi announces that Christian argued for both of them to stick around for the penultimate episode because of how strong their work has been (we get a flashback of him making this argument), and Heidi says two people will now be eliminated at the end of this episode. So three people will still make it to the final, but basically we end up skipping a week of elimination. Jesus and Belania shriek and thank Christian, who stands there looking like a benevolent fashion angel bestowing them with good luck. And then the next day, all the contestants scream some more when Heidi hits “play” on a prerecorded video message from Wicked stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, who announce that the contestants will be making avant-garde looks inspired by this November’s Wicked: For Good sequel. The designers watch a little sneak peek of the movie, but that’s less helpful than Tazewell’s actual presence there; his explanation that he sees the film as a story about friendship, marginalization, and self-empowerment; and a display in the workroom of Elphaba’s black cloak and broom and Glinda’s sequined pink-and-purple iridescent gown. Paul explains that for Elphaba, he was inspired by organic shapes, mycelia, bark, and mushrooms, while Glinda is more sparkly, artificial, and whimsical. And, finally, Christian clarifies the challenge: Avant-garde can be “whatever that means to you,” he says. There are no specifications for what the outfits need to include.

Christian and Paul walk around to see how the contestants’ sketches are going, and I loved this part of the episode for the glimpse it gave us into Paul’s process — and, honestly, he and Christian have great professional chemistry. They encourage Antonio to think more creatively than his original Glinda-inspired idea of a pink bodysuit with gloves and cape. Belania is inspired by how nature has no linear lines and wants to do a sophisticated streetwear outfit that evokes a tree, but Christian reminds her she still needs to make it fashionable. Veejay thinks Wicked is really about how Elphaba and Glinda’s friendship is torn apart, so she wants to create a fabric that feels torn apart; Christian tells her to go loud because her work can sometimes be unassuming. Ethan says he’s thinking about Elphaba’s restraint and wants to play with a crystal fabric that would cover a lot of his model’s body; Christian warns him not to just re-create the cape and gloves of his premiere outfit. And, finally, Jesus is also inspired by Elphaba and is thinking of a coatdress with sculpted hips and a molded collar.

Then it’s time for Mood, and this is where the episode’s drama begins. Ethan had originally planned for a silver outfit, but then he sees a deep-green sheer fabric with a crystal overlay ($750 a yard!) and decides to pivot into doing a green look. This means that both he and Jesus will be doing green. Veejay and Jesus bicker a bit over her refusal to show him her sketch, which I thought was lighthearted teasing, but I guess not, because as soon as the designers are back in the workroom, things get heated very quickly. Veejay says something to Ethan about Jesus being upset with him for getting green, and honestly, I did not exactly think what she said was incorrect, but it did feel out of turn. You guys have two days to craft a look, the fabrics are already purchased, who cares at this point who is doing what color? Jesus then understandably gets irritated with Veejay and accuses her of “starting tea.” Then he says his only issue with Ethan getting green is that Ethan, Jesus, and Antonio are assuming they’re going to be the top three, and they thought choosing different colors would help them stand out more from everyone else. (Belania’s half-joking, half-offended reaction to this in her confessional is hilarious.) Jesus ends this rant by telling Veejay not to “put words in my mouth,” and yeah, I do think it’s wild that later, while the group is eating, Veejay pokes Jesus again by asking him if the twins have thought about which of them is more deserving of the final. Veejay, what the actual hell are you doing? You’re making me side with Jesus’s “Bitch, what are you talking about?” and I don’t want to do that! Jesus and Antonio are insulting Veejay, Veejay is insulting Antonio and Jesus, the twins are getting more heated, and Veejay, in her most vulnerable moment all season, weeps to Christian about feeling misunderstood. It’s sad.

Amid all that, Christian and Paul walk through again with more advice. Christian tells Antonio that his light-pink sheer gown is looking a little too standard, so he suggests a “flower cocoon bubble.” Paul tells Veejay to focus the direction of her 3-D hoops of red fabric so they look more intentional on the body, and he encourages Ethan to cover his model’s face to be more avant-garde. What can I say about how Paul reacts to Jesus and Antonio? He’s very polite when the twins boast about each putting a fabric heart of a contrasting color on their dresses to represent each other! And he tells Belania to make sure the silhouettes of her mossy-green separates are clearly connected to each other, but does not question her on whether the streetwear look is avant-garde; take note of that.

Runway time! Again, somehow Paul is not a judge, but Tyra Banks is? She has no connection with Wicked past being a fan, and I don’t think of her as a model with a real avant-garde fashion history, but Project Runway is intent on giving us the most random array of guest judges, so whatever. Oh, and Nina is back. Whatever. Here are the looks:

Nina mouths “Wow” after the runway is done, which, yes. It was an impressive show. Look at the results you get when you give the designers actual time with which to work! Wild stuff! Judging starts with Jesus, who explains that the pink heart on his dress is an homage to Antonio and their bond. (There’s a green heart for Jesus on Antonio’s dress.) Nina says Jesus’s look was innovative and experimental, and interestingly, when Law questions the look’s matching shoes as too drag-influenced, Nina defends them and says they’re perfectly appropriate for a runway look. A frustrating reminder that their disagreements would have been great to watch over the course of the season if Nina were there more often! There’s far less praise for Antonio, because the judges nearly all hate the floral cocoon Antonio made (and Christian had suggested, although that doesn’t come up). Nina calls it a “bad piñata … catastrophic.” Law says it’s “not defying gravity.” Only Tyra and Heidi briefly defend it. Veejay is up next, and I would say the response to her look was also mixed. The judges really like the spirals she constructed and hand-wrapped in her hand-shredded silk, but they’re all a little hung up on why she picked this blood-red shade that seemingly has nothing to do with Wicked. Tyra says she used to teach branding (please, I beg, if you took some kind of class with Ms. Banks, let me know in the comments) and calls the red “a huge miss.”

Last up are Ethan and Belania. I would say the first is like if a Bene Gesserit went on Rumspringa in Las Vegas — Ethan’s look is simultaneously showgirl and sexy, but also powerful and modest, and everyone’s blown away by it. I don’t see how he doesn’t make it to the finals. Belania’s look is subdued in comparison (I wrote down “something a sexy Robin Hood would wear,” which is no disrespect to the sexiest Robin Hood of all), and Nina isn’t entirely sold on it, but Tyra and Law defend it by saying there are different levels and styles of avant-garde, and compare it to Rick Owens. That’s nice! But then they both go in on Belania for again having an attitude problem, which I genuinely did not see in this instance. I honestly think they brought Tyra in here because the producers wanted the judges to rile up the contestants. They knew the woman who put generations of aspiring models through the wringer would probably be willing. Belania cries; it just bummed me out.

Let’s get to the final blowout. Heidi asks each of the designers to name which other two contestants should join them in the finals, and the votes go like this:

Everyone but Veejay praises the twins for how much they’ve grown (LOL) over the season, but then Veejay says something very odd when she’s trying to defend her choice of Ethan and Belania. She says she wants to work alongside people who are humble and kind, and then she says, “We need the money more than them” about the twins, which is — I don’t even know how to take that, honestly. The comment comes out of nowhere, and it feels a little like Veejay grasping at straws. Her statement, coupled with Law asking Jesus and Antonio which one of them is the better designer, inspires the twins’ freakout. Jesus refuses to answer, Antonio sarcastically shrugs and says he’s fine with them thinking Jesus is better, Jesus insults Law’s “family values,” Veejay doesn’t want to go into the break room with the twins, and Antonio grabs two bags of his stuff and leaves the set, insisting he’s not coming back. As a producer trails him, he’s furiously gabbing (“They’re not gonna humiliate me, especially this bitch … Who the fuck is she? I’m going home”), and in his confessional, he throws up middle fingers after “Law, you really went there. How dare you try to put me and my brother against each other. I’m not going back in.” Maybe Antonio eliminated himself? But that still leaves one person to go before our final three, and at this point, I think Ethan’s the only safe one. Fear is the mind killer, etc.

Fabric Scraps

• The outfit I most wanted to wear this episode: I could probably only pull off Belania’s, but I loved the color palette a lot; that hooded top was great.

• Jesus picking up Christian after Christian saved him from elimination: Cute. Antonio looking so worried when Belania walked in first to the workroom: Humanizing. Jesus’s chyron after Christian saving him being “He has risen”: Hilarious.

• Did we think Christian saying Jennifer Lopez wears a bodysuit onstage every night, and therefore it’s not that special, was shade? I can’t find an instance of him dressing her before, but maybe I missed a Tom and Lorenzo or Go Fug Yourself post.

• “We know who my celebrity is,” Law says when the judging panel fights over who will get access to Jesus’s runway look first. I genuinely will be keeping an eye out to see if Zendaya steps out on a red carpet in a version of this thing.

• Law asking Antonio about Jesus, “So you think he’s the better designer?” was a real Regina George moment.

 The series’ penultimate episode explodes with a tiring amount of interpersonal drama.