STEAMPUNK’D Drives to the Apocalypse

Challenge #7 “Pedal to the Metal”

Once again this week, it’s Team Eddie vs. Team J.W. in the semi-finals, and all bets are off when it comes down to who’s taking home that $100,000 prize. Will Eddie and Morgan continue to click? Will J.W. learn to be considerate of others? Will Ave finally stand up for herself and step up?

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Challenge 7: Garage

Post-Apocalyptic Design
Functional Steam Mechanism
Wardrobe: Driver/Pilot outfit

TEAM EDDIE: Eddie, Morgan
TEAM J.W.: J.W., Ave

Guest Judge: Glenn Hetrick (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., FaceOff)

SONYA: Oh no, they went post apocalyptic! I thought I was safe from this theme on this show.  I guess not.  It’s the “in” thing and they don’t want to be left behind.  An aerospace punkyard!!  Wow!!!  That’s just wow, no words.

JASON: Yeah, and I’ve made it clear just how I feel about the whole “post-apocalyptic” theme, but it does sort of go along with the steampunk aesthetic in some stories, mainly because you’re looking at a society that faces the challenge of surviving without the benefit of the Industrial Revolution.

I loved how they let them choose their teams first and THEN told them no one was safe, it made me wonder if they would have switched partners. J.W. looked a little sick after that announcement.  I like it, though.  No one gets a pass, you have to be spectacular or you’re going home.  Like King said, “Go big or go home!”

I wonder if the three survivors will all face each other in a sudden death match…

I know J.W. had a good reason for choosing the ATV, but man, I was REALLY hoping he’d choose the buggy.  The girl in me wanted to see the carriage HE could have built.

That would have been an interesting design, and certainly I think it would have appealed to J.W.’s aversion to reusing things. But his decision to base his room on the ATV spoke to practicality. Like he said, he’s already got the motor and mechanical pieces, and he just needs to embellish, whereas Eddie is going to have to do quite a bit to trick out the Jet Ski.

Finally, we get to see some STEAM in “Steampunk’d”!  The vehicles must run on steam, nice touch. Would they run on anything else?  If we have already seen steam, I apologize for forgetting.

Not sure they’ve done actual steam in previous weeks, although you’d think they would have done something with it sooner.

When they walked back into the studio and their plain, empty garages where they’re with the vehicle they’d chosen, it made it seem like it was going to be such a daunting task.  They all seemed a bit overwhelmed, well … all but J.W. He was ready to work, ideas galore, just not ready to consider any of Ave’s ideas.

Ave knew going into this week, that there was a very real need for her to stand up to J.W. and get her ideas into the room. She did OK on the costumes, but she should have stood her ground once they agreed on the initial story. Even if the story changed, it should have been a mutual decision. Although she made a yeoman’s effort to fit her costume to both the original story they developed, and then J.W.’s “better” story once he changed it all. The idea of the crystals being a remnant of a meteorite actually appeals to me.

Wait, the Hovercraft is crystal powered?  Huh?

I suppose the energy from the crystals generates the steam? It’s a post-apocalyptic scenario. Like Divergent, The Maze Runner, and any other ruined civilization movies, it never has to make sense.

Oh, I loved Eddie and Morgan’s idea. It’s like Batman and Lucius, but Morgan gets to be the warrior!  Nice. It was nice to see her off and running with the costume too, no hesitation like last week.

I like that Morgan made costumes for them both, and that Eddie’s story made her the star. Her use of the mannequin as a source for the armor was inspired. And it certainly cut down on time. I wonder how long it would have taken to make that out of Worbla…

With that said, I was a little miffed that the girls were doing the clothes and the boys got the toys.  It’s so predictable.  I ABSOLUTELY LOVED that Kato pointed it out.  Yes, girls, put the clothes down and go get your hands dirty!  Girls can be mechanics!  We shouldn’t just make (or buy in my case) clothes!  Thank you, Kato.  Nice challenge to the ladies!

It’s almost a default, but it’s consistent with their skill sets. Morgan and Ave are both in the costume realm, while Eddie is a mechanic in real life and J.W. is in construction. You can see in previous challenges where those skills dominate their approaches. And with this week being in the garage, it’s only natural that the guys would gravitate to the mechanical aspects of it.

The problem with that challenge is that, it didn’t appear that the boys wanted to share their toys.  J.W. changed the whole story, leaving Ave to have to redo her costume and not have time to finish her gun, which she gave to J.W. to finish.  He didn’t finish it, he redid the entire design.  As much as I love the Eddie and Morgan dynamic, all great teams have bumps, fights, and get on each other’s nerves, which is what seemed to be happening with Eddie and Morgan. Eddie literally told Morgan to, “Get out of his garage.”  Hm.  Morgan’s a big girl, she handled it well.

J.W. did what he always does: fixates on his idea to the exclusion of anyone else. He’s a bully. He’s one of those people who breathes rarefied air from atop his high horse. Anyone who has a different opinion is wrong. It’s his way or no way. And he’s ready to essentially shut out anyone who disagrees with him. Either that or he just ignores other people as inconsequential, once he has a plan. Must be nice being right all the time…

So we get to the big question.  Did J.W. sabotage Ave?  I’m going to say…yes.  He’s a very smart man.  It’s a competition.  Once it was every man for himself, it became pretty obvious that was happening.  All editing aside, she had a very small contribution, and he even took that when he changed the story. Do I feel sorry for her?  Nope, Ave should have been gone weeks ago.

Let’s be honest. Ave should have been gone weeks ago. She’s only made it this far by sheer luck. Being on the winning team more often than not has been her saving grace so far. It was bound to catch up with her.  

Team J.W.’s room was junky.  It’s fair to say I didn’t like either room.  I wasn’t wowed by either vehicle.  I expected more and a more defined look. Everything just looked like junk.  I get it, “post apocalyptic”.  I hate that theme.

Yes, it’s overdone at this point, but I think it’s with us as long as there’s “doom and gloom” in the real world — high unemployment, inflation, drought, energy shortages, political corruption, a sagging economy — a perfect environment from which to project the end of civilization as we know it. Makes for a good story now and then.

Team Eddie killed it with the story!  Eddie is such a good storyteller, it even got a smile out of J.W. !! Morgan rocked her costume, it looked great and she looked fantastic in it. Maybe she’ll let me borrow it for Halloween?!  I didn’t like the vehicle’s purple skirt.  I thought it was dumb when it was going on.  Hetrick didn’t seem to like it either.  Oh and HE was a nice surprise as a guest judge!

I can see what Eddie and Morgan were attempting with the fabric, essentially adding the “balloon” you see on some hovercraft, but like the bike itself, it suffered from the absence of weathering. I think, too, if it had air pushing it out, that might have sold it a little better.

Team Eddie wins this one. Basically the only thing wrong was his vehicle, it wasn’t distressed enough. Huge compliment from Hetrick to J.W.  though, he called his vehicle, “camera ready.” Nice. Top maker Morgan and second place maker J.W. left Eddie and Ave “unsafe”.  It was almost laughable; Ave was clearly going home.

She even dressed for the occasion, wearing her “sacraficial ram” outfit…

I almost feel sorry for her. But not really.

Just one more left guys. Until next time.