TV Talk – Face Off: All Stars Episode 11.03 Recap & Review “Monster High”

FACE OFF — “Monster High” Episode 1103 — Pictured: (l-r) McKenzie Westmore, Natasha Berling — (Photo by: Jordin Althaus/Syfy)

An all new episode of Face Off: All Stars airs tonight on Syfy! So as usual, here’s a recap of last week!

Host, McKenzie Westmore and VP of Design at Mattel, Natasha Berling, met the artists at Mattel Headquarters to deliver this week’s spotlight challenge. The artists had to choose a doll from Mattel’s Monster High franchise to create film ready versions of Monster High characters. Most everyone seemed excited about the challenge, especially Keaghlan who is a huge Monster High fan.

Keaghlan and Melissa chose one of Keaghlan’s favorites, Cleo de Nile. Cig and George, who knew nothing about Monster High, chose Lagoona Blue. Tyler and Emily chose Draculaura. Logan & Adam picked Abbey Bominable. Niko and Cat picked Clawdeen Wolf. Ben and Evan picked Skelita Calaveras. Gage and Rachael chose Venus McFlytrap. Two of the brand’s lead designers, Natalie Villegas and Rebecca Shipman met the artists during the concept stage which definitely helped the artists along, especially those unfamiliar with the franchise. Series mentor, Michael Westmore still came in on day one in the lab and continued to give his great guidance.

FACE OFF — “Monster High” Episode 1103 — Pictured: Cig Neutron — (Photo by: Jordin Althaus/Syfy)

“If it’s gills, it might be a little bit overkill. Overgill.” – George
“Overgill.” – Cig

On the reveal stage, judges, Ve Neill, Neville Page, and Glenn Hetrick were not on hand. Like. At all. For the first time in the show’s history, the judges played NO part at all in the challenge. Can I just say that I am loving the All Stars season! They are really thinking out of the box now. So instead, a focus group of eight adult Monster High super fans would be judging, with VP of Design at Mattel, Natasha Berling on hand again. And just like a focus group, the creators get the feedback… so instead of not hearing the feedback from the judges like usual, the artists were still sent to the back while the focus group came forward for the close up evaluation but the artists got to hear everything the focus group said! This made for some entertaining reactions.

Now I’ve heard of Monster High but never made myself more familiar with the franchise. That said, my sister walked past as I was watching this episode and told me that I should check it out. So now, I’m going to check it out. If you’re like me, for a rundown of the Monster High TV Specials, go to the Monster High Wikia and for a rundown of the Monster High webisodes, go to this section of the Wikia. My sister also thought it was amusing that the super fans chosen for the focus group were all adults and there were zero children. Perhaps next time a bigger focus group for a similar challenge with half geeks like us viewers and half of the actual intended audience?

That said, my favorite looks were also the focus group’s favorite looks. Cig and George were fantastic. I also really liked Ben and Evan’s creation, Tyler and Emily’s creation, and Keaghlan and Melissa’s creation (though the latter wasn’t a top look from the focus group). The winning team was Cig and George. Job well done! After hearing the focus group, I really thought it was going to be Ben and Evan but the beauty and boundary pushing of Cig and George’s creation was indeed a winner!

In addition to immunity, the winning team received a prize package from Mattel – an array of Monster High products plus highlighting the winning team across all Monster High social media channels (like Instagram). Talk about a win! Who made your favorite creation in this episode?

Immunity Recap

Won Immunity This Week: Cig and George

Cig and George brought Lagoona Blue to life. This was the winning design. Credit: Syfy

Face Off: All Stars airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on Syfy.