Last night’s “Project Runway” challenge was all about product placement. Or was it about the elements? Hmm...maybe it was a little of both.

The designers headed up to the roof of the Atlas to meet Tim Gunn, who was joined by Garnier’s Philip Carreon. After Tim explained that the designers’ job this week was to draw inspiration from one of the four natural elements–Air, Earth, Fire and Water–he then turned things over to Philip for an uncomfortable, live-action Garnier commercial.

Since Jay won last week, he got to pick any element he wanted, while all the others chose at random. Jay, Jonathan and Seth Aaron drew Air, Mila and Emilio were Earth, Anthony and Amy were on Fire, and Maya and Ben chose Water.

Jonathan was tired of being safe every week and decided to really push the envelope. He cut and layered fabrics to create his own textile, and designed a dress that would make his model “look like she was enveloped in a swirl of uncontrollable laughter.” I have to say, that description nearly made me laugh uncontrollably, but since I really like Jonathan, I couldn’t wait to see his design.  

Ben was also tired of being safe, and thought he would wow the judges with a tailored suit that would give his model a shark-like appearance. No matter that he’d never really made a suit before.

It wasn’t just Jonathan and Ben who were digging deep creatively. All of the designers felt the pressure to design something really brilliant and “out there.” Jay wanted his model to look as if she were being swept away by a tornado, while Maya went for a “siren emerging from the water” look. Neither Anthony nor Amy wanted to make a too-literal interpretation of “Fire,” so both used dark and/or black fabrics for their pieces. Amy’s concept of “contained chaos” was quite ambitious, but made less sense than Anthony’s “smoldering ash” inspiration.

During Tim’s workroom visit, he was visibly impressed with Jonathan’s work. He also gave props to Seth Aaron for “staying true” to his aesthetic, and expressed confidence in Maya’s ability to perfectly execute her concept. One designer Tim seemed worried about was Ben, who was having some serious problems designing a good pair of pants.

On the day of the runway show, everyone ran around in panic mode. Most of the designs weren’t finished, and Ben was especially behind. (When Jay finished early, he nicely offered to help Ben out.) Amy was having a lot of trouble getting her “vision” to translate to real life. Her idea to fill the top of her garment with her model’s hair (like an “explosion in a bowl” or tempest in a teacup or something) was just not working. Anthony hilariously remarked that Amy’s model just looked like she had “hairy t*ts.”

French fashion designer Roland Mouret joined Heidi, Nina and Kors to rate the runway.

Anthony, Emilio and Jay, who had immunity, were all sent off to safety.

The judges’ favorite designs belonged to Jonathan, Maya and Seth Aaron. Kors praised Jonathan’s textile and Nina loved that he used colors that played up his model’s peaches-and-cream skin tone. Everyone thought Maya’s dress was beautiful, but Nina complained that she always borrows too much from other designers, and wondered if Maya “knows who she is” yet. Heidi was “astonished” by what Seth Aaron accomplished in such a short time. It really seemed as if any of the three could have won, but Jonathan took top honors. And he was extremely geeked out about getting his first win.

In the Bottom 3 were Amy, Ben and Mila. Although Mila’s metallic mineral-flecked vest was quite nice, the rest of her outfit was boring. Nina felt as if “another designer took over” Mila’s body for this challenge, and Kors wondered if Mila was lost without the option to do her usual geometric, color-blocked designs. However, Mila was sent off to safety first.

That left Amy and Ben on the chopping block. Kors hit the nail on the head when he said that Amy got too caught up in her concept, and Roland added that she tried something that was beyond her capability. The judges really seemed to hate Amy’s look, calling it everything from “a cat in a baby sling” to “a barmaid serving her hair,” but they appreciated her ambition and creativity. They also hated Ben’s suit with its “jockstrap pants.” Heidi simply suggested that “If you don’t know how to make a suit, don’t make a suit.” Wise advice, but it came a bit too late.

I was worried that my girl Amy might be cut since this was her second really bad idea (remember the clown pants?) in an otherwise strong portfolio, while Ben has consistently turned in good work. However, that suit with the shark teeth buttons on the sleeves was just too much for the judges to take, so Ben was sent home.

I actually predicted this outcome when we got a seemingly-for-no-reason segment featuring Ben tearfully talking to his husband on the phone and telling the cameras how much he missed home. Ben fans, that was Lifetime’s way of softening the blow of his elimination.

Auf wiedersehen - see you next week! (It’s a team challenge. DRAMA!!)