America's Most Smartest ModelEpisode 7 Recap

In episode 7, the models are given a brief reprieve from the competition or so they think. What started as a night out to celebrate Daniel's 24th birthday, turned out to be the most challenging of Edge challenges yet.
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The Morning After
After the challenge the models were stunned that blond Rachel was sent home before the actual elimination ceremony. Daniel walked into the living room and found a cake with Happy Birthday Daniel inscribed in frosting. Daniel was so excited because the note du jour told the models that they were getting a night (even thought it's day time) at Republic to celebrate. I'm amazed that with the all the experience we have as a nation who watches reality TV, that anyone would be surprised that a night out wouldn't be just a night out. Yet, the poor unsuspecting models walked blindly into an evening of traps set up by Mary Alice Stephenson.
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The Edge Challenge
The models had a lovely dinner in a private room at Republic. They ate, they drank, they were merry. And some of them held liquor better than others. Daniel and Rachael seemed to get drunk the fastest, while VJ, Andre, Pickel, Angela and Brett seemed to hold their own.

After their meal, the models were invited to a party in the next room where they found other people dancing and drinking. Again, there were so many clues that the models were being set up that they really should have caught on. For example, this party was taking place during daylight hours. That should have been their first clue. While the models were shown entering the party, Mary Alice revealed to the audience at home that the party crowd was sprinkled with industry professionals.

The fact there were so many industry pros in the room should have been the second clue.The Edge Challenge was meant to test the networking skills of our contestants. After the models made the rounds, only VJ was able to figure out that they were competing and he networked his little butt off. Brett was his usual level headed self, realized that he should network but didn't know he was in a challenge. He also came out okay at the other end the challenge. The others didn't so well.

Andre thought that Robert Flutie of Flutie Entertainment was hitting on him and blew him off so he could continue speaking Romanian with the hot girl they planted in the crowd to distract him. Poor Rachael was too drunk to make a good impression. Angela also thought she was getting hit on by Robert Flutie and blew him off as well. Pickel behaved in a sexually aggressive manner with some designer (who I'm sure is really important but please forgive me for not knowing who she is). And poor Daniel was just a happy drunk behaving like a guy celebrating his 24th birthday. Imagine how surprised the models were when they were brought into a room to be judged.

Here are two of the more memorable moments from judging.
(1) Andre was called out for not truly being Russian. One of the people sitting on the Andre's panel of judges spoke Russian and tried engaging him in a Russian conversation. He had to admit that he is indeed Romanian and not Russian and while he understands Russian he doesn't really speak it.
(2) Daniel walked into that judgement room like a sheep into a room full of wolves. He was completely pie eyed and acted drunker than drunk. He even warmly embraced the wolfiest one of all, Mary Alice, and smothered her with affection and compliments like Mary Alice probably hadn't heard since her 24th birthday.

VJ won the challenge because he remembered everyone of importance that he met and he collected the most business cards. Rats.
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After the Challenge
The models were upset that they had been sabotaged but no one was more upset than Daniel who threw one the biggest adult tantrums I've ever seen on television. He behaved like the spoiled brat that he is. He has to be spoiled. I mean who else gets their PhD by age 24 unless someone rich is bankrolling them. No one. He's a very lucky boy. He's smart. He's good looking and he's rich. He won the life lottery. Does he have to model too?
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The Callback Challenge
VJ won a huge edge. As the winner of the previous challenge, he was able to decide how much time the other models had for their Callback Challenge photo shoot in declining increments of time. VJ as the winner had 30 minutes. He assigned Rachael 10 minutes, Angela 8 minutes, Pickel 6 minutes, Brett 4 minutes, Andre 2 minutes and 1 minute to Daniel.

Not only did the models have a time limit for their photo shoot, they learned the shoot had to be done with a farm animal. VJ chose the horse. Angela chose the pygmy goat. Rachael chose the donkey. Brett chose the pig. Pickel chose the chicken. Andre took the llama which left poor Daniel with the ostrich.

The photo shoot was for Antik Jeans which means that the models focus should have been on featuring the jeans.

VJ posed with his horse but for all his smarts and all his minutes; all his lying, cheating, stealing and kissing ass, he was unable to pull off a good photo because his photo ended up being about him instead of the jeans. Angela's picture was unsatisfying which made me wonder why this pretty, smart, well educated woman has to be a model as well. Isn't what she already has enough? Rachael's picture came out looking very posed although she was showing off the jeans. Brett did the best he could with his wild pig which he ended up chasing all over the farm. Pickel ended up with a picture that was more about the love between a man and a chicken that it was about jeans.

Andre made the most of his two minutes, by posing in profile with his llama. With everything that was going around him, he succeeded in making sure the jeans were the first things you saw when you looked at the picture. He justifiably won the challenge. Daniel's picture came out really bad. He had one minute to pose with an angry ostrich and in his photo he looked terrified and ugly.
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Elimination
Ben Stein's one and only appearance in Episode 7 was at the elimination ceremony. And the only really cool thing he said was, "This is very painful. but like involuntary servitude after the enactment of the 13th amendment, you have been abolished." With that, Daniel was sent home. He wasn't street smart enough and his modeling wasn't there. Angela was warned that being a know-it-all will hurt her if she continues behaving like a know-it-all. And pretty, sweet, full of personality Rachael was warned that she's feeble and has to build up her self-confidence.

If that advice were coming from anybody except Mary Alice I might believe it was valid. But Mary Alice seems drunk in every episode and to me that means that she lacks the self-confidence that she's advising Rachael to build. I think she may be projecting a little of her own insecurities onto the two remaining female contestants.

If Mary Alice has a medical condition that makes her appear drunk, I apologize to her. Because then my assessment is unfair and cruel. But if she really is drunk, maybe she's the one who should be working on her issues and not the remaining contestants.