TV Watch: 8 Highlights from August 21 to August 27, 2009

With guest judge Rebecca Romijn — and her twins — on board, this week's episode is pregnant with possibility...and Empire waistlines

In the workroom, the contestants dove into their task, sketching and goofing around with their prosthetic bellies. (Epperson even tried his on: ''Booya!'') Post-shopping, Ra'mon fretted about playing it too safe, while Mitchell was still so traumatized by last week's see-through Victorian nightgown snafu that he offered what I believe is Runway's first declaration of underachievement: ''I'm not looking to go out on a limb and win this challenge. I want to stick with being safe.'' Hey, Mitch, mission accomplished. Not only was your T-shirt-and-shorts ensemble thoroughly underwhelming, but no one would ever venture out onto an actual limb in it. If she did, those hideously constructed droopy-drawers would get caught on a branch, and the poor wearer would end up dangling from said branch in a sap-soaked mega-wedgie. (I realize this makes two recaps in a row that I've referenced wedgies. Apparently, I am secretly a 12-year-old boy. Further proof: Gordana said ''boob area'' and I laughed.) — Missy Schwartz

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Back-doored nominee Russell decides he won't go down without a fight...with everyone

Thursday's episode began with a hellacious argument between Russell and Jeff in the backyard, with Russell telling Jeff, ''If you don't f---ing win this game, you better hope to God you don't come in that jury house, because I will mop your face all up and down, and I mean it.'' Jeff responded, ''I will lose 500 thou and bust you right in the mouth if you talk like that again.'' It devolved into much yelling and threatening to beat the other person up. It was interesting to see how this was edited to make Jeff seem like the hero, standing up to the big gargoyle and protecting his girlfriend and other housemates. Mind you, I have no sympathy for Russell, whose actions crossed the line. But if you watched the argument unfold in real time on the webcams, you saw Jeff make multiple references to getting a knife and slicing Russell's ''f---ing throat.'' While I still like Jeff, it's important to note that he's definitely not just a placid, keep-the-peace mellow dude like the show portrays. — Josh Wolk

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The cheftestants must cater a bachelor/ette party in a men vs. women challenge, and Bryan and Michael's sibling rivalry takes center stage

This week's challenge had the chefs cater a bachelor and bachelorette party, but with their challenge were two spins. The first: the chefs were split into two teams of male vs. female (males cooking for the bachelorette party and female for the bachelor), and the second: at least two of their dishes had to complement a shot chosen by the couple — golden delicious, Moscow mule or tequila. Add to the mix the fact that the bride-to-be is pescetarian (eats fish but no meat) and has a vegan friend coming, and you've got quite a mission to accomplish. But their challenge presented another battle for the night: Ashley vs. gay marriage rights. The idea of participating in something that she, Preeti, and Ash (all of whom are gay) can't do themselves seems pretty outrageous to Ashley. We cheer Ashley for speaking up and jeer Preeti for being so non-reactive, but on Ashley goes with the challenge. — Archana Ram

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Recycled Percussion earned the next spot in the Top 20, leaving Bollywood dancers Ishaara and the eclectic Matt & Anthony behind. 7th place? That's all you deemed Ishaara worthy of, America? For shame. While they weren't the best dance group we've seen this season, they were far and away the best looking (are you reading this, purple-clad lead dancer?) — and me being the one who has to watch the show, well, I'm disappointed in your decision. — Henning Fog

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The guys were flown to Vegas, which is an awesome reward. Van, who dubbed himself a ''Vegas virgin,'' was practically losing his mind like a crazed kid in a candy store. They stayed in a swanky VIP suite (with a basketball court!), and the four guys apparently bonded during the trip. The gals, on the other hand, had to prepare both kitchens and unload a series of delivery boxes. At 1:15 a.m., they had to wake up and carry even more boxes. Tennille was not happy and revealed a HUGE secret about herself. ''I'm sleep,'' she said. Tennille even spelled it out — ''S-L-E-E-P'' — just to make sure you were aware that she wasn't asleep, but was in fact sleep incarnate. It's not every day that you meet a state of consciousness in the flesh! — John Young

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Peggy had my favorite line of the episode. At the bar she introduced herself to a nice enough egg by tossing out a line she saw Joan use to charm some clients at work. The fella buys her a drink and blabs goodnaturedly about why he switched from pre-law to engineering. ''If we're all going to be replaced by machines there has to be a guy that makes them,'' he said. Peggy, who deserves a more interesting date, replied ''Or you can just become a robot.'' (Like this guy I work with, Don, who just shuts down in the face of anyone's emotions but his own and had the nerve to tell me to keep some tools in the toolbox....) But when Peggy did talk about her work, her earnest date was clueless. ''I don't know how you girls do all that typing,'' he gee-whiz marveled. And then came the line, delivered with a delightful sense of amused confession. ''I work for a jerk,'' she declared. Is this the first time she'd realized that Don is kind of a jerk? Does she care? If she realizes that this handsome hunk of talent and secrets and tortured soul can also be a real d--- sometimes, doesn't that only increase their bond? He's off the pedestal. (And yes, I did wonder if maybe she was talking about Roger all along. Help!) — Karen Valby

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Sam stated the goal of the evening succinctly: that Maryann wants ''to cut out my heart while a buncha naked people watch.'' Indeed, Maryann's moving into position as this season's Big Bad has never seemed more apparent? that is, unless it's the unnamed ''he'' that Tara referenced, saying, ''He's gonna kill us all.'' (Maybe readers of Charlaine Harris' novels know something I don't about the series' villains; I'm working with what's on my TV screen.) — Ken Tucker

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The most surreal part of the hour somehow wasn't the elaborately staged ''day of the Globes hustle,'' so obviously filmed well after the event itself (they should really emblazon A Rachel Zoe Dramatization on the screen when this occurs, perhaps in fancy script surrounded by buh-nanas), nor was it when Rachel described Diaz's pink Chanel gown, which she had altered from Karl Lagerfeld's original runway design, ''that dress was like carrying it in my womb for nine months and birthing it out the Golden Globes.'' Nope, the biggest WTF moment for me was realizing I'd sprouted two tiny tears witnessing Rachel and her merry band of supplicants watching footage of the red carpet. It was a life-changing revelation to see such colorful, bejeweled proof that extreme bitch-itude totally pays off. It's a lesson reality TV teaches us every day, but sometimes we need genuine, after-midnight, mini bundt cake-accompanying tears to let it really sink in. — Annie Barrett

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