Last night, Project Runway took advantage of their return to NYC by taking the designers out to…a farm. Nothing like embracing life in the big city.

Luckily, the designers weren't asked to make cocktail dresses out of cow dung. It was a classic Runway challenge in which the designers were given an unconventional material to work with - this time it was burlap. The idea was based on the old cliché that some women can even look good in a potato sack. Each designer was tasked with transforming their model's sack (along with some ribbons and zippers and bows, oh my!) into a party-worthy look that each of the girls would actually wear to an industry event. Therefore, the models were also the clients, which meant that they would drive all the designers crazy with all their bizarre requests. (Green tulle everywhere! Puffy sleeves, please!)

Since the models were in charge, each girl got to pick the designer she wanted to work with. Since there usually isn't too much drama in the first few episodes, this segment was overblown to make it seem like picking teams for a junior high dodgeball game, with Mila cast as the unpopular nerd. Back in the workroom, she couldn't stop huffing and puffing about her previous model trading her in for Anthony, who took her confusion quite personally. Thinking that Mila was inferring that she is a better designer than him, Anthony told the camera that she could "kiss me and my whole family's asses." And he's from the South, so that's probably a big family.

During his workroom rounds, Tim Gunn felt confident that Amy and Pamela knew what they were doing, but was concerned that Jay's dyed fabric might take too long to dry. He advised Mila not to let her model's odd vision (the aforementioned green tulle) destroy her design, and reprimanded Jesus for "skirting the challenge" by covering up most of his burlap skirt with layers of green ribbons.

At the initial fitting, Anthony's model started asking for a bunch of crazy stuff, much to Mila's amusement. Suddenly, she was happy that her old model "dissed" her.

Joining Heidi Klum, Michael Kors and Nina Garcia at the fashion show was guest judge Lauren Hutton. Among her many jobs listed, Heidi introduced Lauren as an "adventurer." Seriously? How does one get that title? It sounds kind of awesome. I'm think I'm going to start introducing myself as an "excursionist."

The judges gave the highest marks to Amy, Jay and Mila. Although Heidi was "in love" with Mila's metal-adorned silver sheath and Kors was impressed that Amy made burlap look "fun and flirty," the winner of the challenge was Jay. No one could believe that his dyed black dress with flower-petal skirt was actually burlap. I liked all three of these designs, so I can't really argue with the judges' decision. But if it had been up to me, I think Amy would have won. As the panel said, she was the only one who didn't really try to disguise the fabric, yet her design was one of the prettiest and best made of the night.

Jesus, Pamela and Ping were in the Bottom 3, and I thought for sure that Ping would be going home. Her potato sack just looked like a cut-up potato sack with an ass flap that didn't even cover her model's ass. (So, I guess that made it just a plain old flap.) Jesus didn't take Tim's advice, and Heidi naturally called him out for not showing enough of the challenge in his design. Pamela's faux faded-denim strapless minidress not only looked dated, but also made her model's rear end look huge. However, everyone agreed that Pamela's dress was beautifully dyed and constructed.

Somehow, Pamela - whose design was the least offensive of those three - was eliminated. Apparently, the judges were interested to see what else Ping's "edgy eye" could create, and God only knows why Jesus was given a second life.

Auf wiedersehen - see you next week!

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"The Pop Eye @ Starpulse" is a column written by native Pittsburgher and current New Yorker, Becky Broderick. You may contact Becky directly at beckeyeam@gmail.com, or check out her other ramblings on The Pop Eye.