In episode 2 we got a little more insight into the competitors in Bravo's new "Project Runway" replacement, and the hosts seemed to feel a little more at ease. I still have concerns over how seriously this show takes itself, but overall it was an entertaining hour of television, and the clothes were worlds better than the disasters on display in Week 1.

Before the show could even begin Kristin, the pink-streaked blonde who was nearly eliminated in the first episode, decided to walk out on the competition. She obviously had little to no shot of winning the show, but that's a total bitch move. If nothing else, get some experience under your belt, and embrace the criticism you're getting from gods in the fashion industry. That said, I'm not convinced she wasn't in fact Carrie Underwood doing her best Jem impression to get some additional reality TV face time. Kristin is a dead ringer for my beloved Cunderwood.

After, like, one person made a comment about Kristin's exit, the designers were given the weekly mini-challenge. I wasn't keen on this addition to the competition when I first heard about it, but so far both of them have been pretty cool. This week the same teams from last week's elimination challenge (with Daniella switched to Keith's depleted team) were tasked with figuring out which pieces in a trunk full of clothes were high-priced couture items, and which pieces were cheap knock-offs. It was fascinating to see people who live and breathe design have serious issues telling the items apart, and alarming to see that some of the "designer" outfits cost upwards of $3000. Listen, I love looking at fashion. I love reading GQ and Esquire and all those men's magazines where they try to act like it's perfectly acceptable to spend upwards of $400 on a tie. But I will never, ever understand how someone can charge thousands of dollars for a shirt or a bag or a dress that is mass-produced. If you have the money to blow on a $1000-plus blazer, you can bring some of that filthy lucre over to me. I guarantee I'll put it to better use.

Team James-Paul (heretofore referred to as Team Tiny, since the team leader, Merlin, Angel, and Lidia are all wee little things) won the challenge easily, and got a leg up on the elimination challenge: each team member had to design a look for Manhattan socialite Tinsley Mortimer that would work for a different social occasion, like art opening, ladies' lunch, etc. And the bitch of it was that each designer could only spend $40 on fabric.

Anna's team - which also included Keith, Daniella, and Andrew - rocked it out; I liked almost all of their outfits. In fact, the only one I didn't like was the one that ended up winning the night, Daniella's post-rock-show jumpsuit/short-shorts/see-through jacket combo. It looked like Rizzo from "Grease" had become a Playboy bunny. The judges and Tinsley loved it. I thought it looked cheap, just like her design from last week, and didn't fit with the rest of her group's designs at all. Anna's more sophisticated lunch separates looked incredibly lux. Does not compute.

I liked almost everything made by Team Tiny, which worked with a "stealth fighter" theme as per James-Paul. (I do not understand how his influences show up in the final looks, like last week's Rubik's Cube dress, but I appreciate that he's weird and tries different things.) But Team Haven - which also included Johnny, Markus, Reco, and Laura - stunk up the joint. I didn't like any of their clothes. Haven is currently obsessed with clothes inspired by Linda Evans, "Dynasty," and the 80's. And listen, if ANYONE is going to appreciate that aesthetic, it is me. But nothing in the team looked 80's or glam. It looked straight-up hooker chic. Johnny's dress in particular looked like something you'd see on Lyell Ave, except that those working girls would have more self-respect than to wear a garment held together by safety pins. Yes. Johnny sent a garment down the runway with the skirt attached by nothing but safety pins, which weren't even concealed by the cheap-looking fabric strip he used as a "belt." It was horrible.

Even worse was Johnny's attitude when Isaac Mizrahi called him out on it. He got incredibly defensive, saying that he's a designer, not a sewer, and he didn't know that this would be America's Next Top Seamstress. Hello, Zaftig Bushido: it is a fashion competition. Did you think they were going to provide sewers to you? Why would that even enter your mind? The best part was that the cameras caught multiple scenes during the challenge where he was just standing around, flirting with Markus and bitching about Laura's poor fabric choices. I know Johnny dropped out of fashion school, but I wonder if his major was in Laziness with a minor in Simpering Bitchery. Whatever respect I had for him in the first episode completely evaporated during that little exchange.

But of course, even a slutty, poorly constructed garment and bitch-ass attitude weren't enough to send Johnny home. I'm afraid we're stuck with him for a while. Instead Laura, whose outfit had all kinds of bizarre tulle and netting attached to it in all the wrong places, was cut. It was a crappy dress and Laura seems like a space cadet (how could she act as though her teammates didn't give her feedback on the tulle when they showed at least two different scenes with them saying, "Bitch, no!"?), but honestly I thought both Haven's and Reco's dresses were worse, to say nothing of Johnny's monstrosity. Whatever. She had filler written all over her.

I thought Kelly Rowland was much improved this week. She still seems to hold back her opinion until Isaac speaks up, and she's going to need to get over that real quick. Fern Mallis seemed much more outspoken this time around. Tinsley Mortimer was useless, but hey, she's a socialite. That's her job. But again I was struck by just how nasty this show is in comparison to "Project Runway." I don't know if it's the way he says it or what, but Isaac's comments just seem much more brutal than anything that came out Michael Kors's gilded mouth. I don't dislike it, but the relative savagery is still taking some getting used to.