God, that's a terribly punny episode title.
Work of Art isn't a huge Bravo hit on the level of a Real Housewives series or Top Chef, but I enjoy it. In a sense, it's a tough show to talk about. On Top Chef, you can't personally taste a dish to appraise it but can trust that if the judges didn't like it, it was rubbish. On Work of Art, however, you can definitively say if you liked or hated what the contestants made, even if art is so subjective that evaluating artistic talent in a reality show competition format is laughable.
The first episode of a reality show is never good. There are too many characters, too much exposition, and no narratives. That said, it's good to see the show back. Simon is as lovable as ever, the contestants are as interesting as they are talented, and Jerry had some killer lines and reaction shots. One of the show's weaknesses in its first season was that it's judges and hosts were non-entities. Jerry showing some life gives the panel some sorely-needed credibility.
I would have given Bayeté the boot - his piece really was overkill, with the money serving absolutely no purpose other than to bludgeon the viewer. Ugo's piece didn't work, but I felt he had more to offer. Then again, with him gone we won't hear Keith Haring's name dropped again (SAY HAS ANYONE EVER HEARD OF THIS GUY AND HOW MUCH UGO'S ART RESEMBLES HIS? NO WAY). As for The Sucklord... the show is obviously marking him as the breakout star and/or villain, and even he knows it. He does have some charm but the routine could get really old really fast.
As for the winner, Michelle, good for her. Not much else to say other than I liked it. I was surprised I liked Young Sun's piece as much as I did, given that it was - shudder - performance art. But it was cheeky and not too pretentious. Big fan of Jazz-Minh's piece, too, if not her name (worse than The Sucklord). Kathryn, though, could be a one-trick pony. Enough with the guts already.
Power rankings to follow in a separate post, incidentally.
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