At the end of last week's episode of Make Me a Super Model when popular gay favorite Ronnie Kroell stood in the line-up of the "bottom three" there were TWO questions that needed to be answered. Would Ronnie's proactive gay following work magic again and vote for him to stay?  If Ronnie survived would he get his game back on and truly get serious about the competition? 

 In retrospect the first question was not a difficult one to answer. Of course the gay audience that Ronnie had cultivated would step up and save him. He was up against Stefanie and Frankie who have both been glaringly absent from the discussions we've seen on the blogosphere. But we also got the impression from the blogs and from friends that Ronnie was getting this vote as his last chance. As much as we all love him and his "bromance" with Ben, he would have to show us that our faith in him needed to be validated.

 So yes, Ronnie was saved. In a bit of a surprise it was Stefanie who was eliminated. The two guys went back to the model residence triumphant to their back-slapping and bro-hugging male roomies.  Holly was very upset by Stef's departure--in fact she cried more that the ousted model. So now the competition was down to 8--five guys and three girls. 

 One of the highlights of the show came early. That was the hairstyling segment where the models all got trimmed and (finally) Frankie had his hair cut short! The result was a huge improvement but the stylist should have gone further. And why didn't they touch Casey's hair? Its probably his worst feature.

 Before the first competition, the models just happened to sit around and talk about their fears. Hmm, can the producers be more obvious? OOOOO, the foreshadowing! Please guys, we know you told the models to talk about their phobias so that one or more would reveal something that would come into play on the next day's competition.
Ronnie scored points with us by naming Bush as his fear--kudos! 
                                     

 The first challenge again took place outside in the chilly NY seaside setting. This time the models had to get into a huge tank of water and pose with a huge yellow-tinted snake. Their goal was to appear as though they themselves were amphibious and that they were at one with the snake as a prop or accessory. The models all had to bring it. The girls had a harder time getting good shots for various reasons. The one who had the worst time was Holly who had a cold and looked more like a corpse in the water. Casey had a fear of snakes to overcome but eventually made it through----we are led to believe that his meditation by the shore helped him out. In a preview of what was to come Ben reverted back to his "Mr Stiffy" persona and Perry became "Mr Cocky". Frankie has frolicked in the Florida waters so he had no problems, and Ronnie revealed he had been a water aerobics instructor and lifeguard so he was up to the task. He did so well that he got his shot on the third frame and the photographer let him know. Whew! Sigh of relief for Ronnie fans. Like the high wire challenge Ronnie was able to show remarkable physical grace. Ok, one more thing. Water aerobics? All we could think of were those synchronized swimmers--so gay.

 The boost Ronnie got in the first challenge must also have cleared his head. Was it editing or did it seem that
he isn't mooning over Ben anymore? Was Ben's Valentine greeting from his wife still on Ronnie's mind? It sure seemed like it at the runway show. 

                                             

 The catwalk was another avant garde challenge. The models had to wear wacky geometric headdresses and Groucho Marx-esque  heavy eyebrow makeup and walk the runway with an animal (picked at random) Holly got a peacock which she carried on the runway very gracefully. Frankie carried a bow-tied duck which he kept under control and managed to hold his own.  Ben was so blatantly bad carrying a sheep that it looked like he was carrying a bale of hay.  Shannon had the biggest head piece but managed to balance it and her duck correctly. Jackie had it the easiest with a big French poodle but she managed to create nothing memorable. Casey had a goat and you could tell he was a bit awkward with it but did his best. Ronnie had a big sheep who could easily have given him trouble but from our perspective he turned the situation to his advantage. Lately, Ronnie has had a problem walking down the runway uncontrolled and almost a breakneck speed. Because he had to walk at the sheep's pace and not appear to be dragging the poor creature, Ronnie moved more deliberately slow and confidently. Then there's Perry. He had an uncooperative pig so he traded it for a goat which was as stubborn to move as you might think. Instead of slowing it down and cutting the animal some slack, Perry acted up and it looked bad--really bad. 

 The judges' table was almost and exact reverse of the past few. Ronnie won (yay!) and as one judge commented he was "unstoppable". But why did the judges put him on the spot? He was asked to evaluate his crush Ben (do they do this with all the models and it gets edited out?) and in a possible game-changing moment Ronnie was honest about his boy's performance. Oh, he wasn't brutal or anything but he gave us another sign he may have had to quash his romantic feelings for the former prison guard to get ahead. Ronnie also evaluated Perry who had the air let out of his swelled head.

 At the end the judges picked Ben, Perry, and Jackie and their criticisms were for the most part valid. The "look who's calling the kettle black" moment came when Tyson referred to Perry as arrogant. OUCH! Has the viewer criticism of Tyson abated? If it has it needs to be amped up again...the guy's a prick. So, who will go?  Will Ronnie's fans save Ben? Or are the fans now thinking that Ben needs to go to help Ronnie with his game? The producers were very careful this time to make us believe that the romance seems to have ebbed. We shall see.