We wish we could say that we loved this week’s Project Runway. It had its highlights—letting the models shop for the fabric? Now there’s a true challenge!—but to be honest, our reaction was: snooze. It’s never a good sign when the commercials are more entertaining than the show (we can’t imagine we were the only ones that immediately checked out Hollywood stylist Rachel Zoe’s webpage after her hilariously ridiculous “Die” montage. C’mon, fess up!)

Things start off on a fun note. The dramatic heartbeat-like music swells, Heidi rocks some trendy hair braids, models are chosen. Then comes the twist: Not only will the models serve as the clients—oh, we can only hope for a teary meltdown worthy of season one’s wedding dress disaster!—but they were also unleashed in all their willowy, bed-headed glory in Mood Fabrics to shop for the challenge’s eco-friendly fabrics.

After five seasons, we can definitively say this about models: A pretty face and good taste do not necessarily go hand-in-hand. At least three of the models return with coppery brown satin, which Jerrell immediately dubs "Team Ugly Brown Fabric."  For the most part though, everything seemed to be going rather swimmingly in the sewing category and the show shifts its focus to the designers' weird quirks. Suede, of course, talks about Suede. Stella is—as she puts it—still "he-ah", which personally irks us to no end. Blayne is still here too, but he's becoming increasingly endearing with his comic commentary. We nearly die when he tells Stella, "I love your leather face"—not to mention when he compares Heidi, somewhat nonsensically, to Darth Vader. Not to fret, Heidi: Blayne thinks you're "Darthlicious!" 

It’s no secret that everyone’s favorite fashion-design competition has been shrouded in drama in the months leading up to last night’s season-five premiere. There was the surprising news that Project Runway will decamp from Bravo to Lifetime for season six. There was judge Nina Garcia’s very public unseating as Elle magazine’s fashion director. And then there was the fact that, even in the weeks before the show, it had only been quietly promoted and the designers had yet to be publicly revealed.

Turns out the wait was worth it. The season-five designers pranced past the screen in a flurry of serious credentials and catty remarks that would have made season-one winner (and super-trash talker) Jay McCarroll proud. In some ways, the roster of already-pretty-well-established designers seemed like a departure from Project Runway’s spirit—where were the well-intentioned moms who aspired to create beautiful clothes, the tech geeks with fashion dreams?—but at the same time, it was hard to fault the fact that we didn’t have to be subjected to any Wendy Pepper-style monstrosities.