America's Next Top Model (Cycle 20) - 20x15 "Finale Part 1: The Finalists Shoot Their Guess Campaign"

So what initially appears to be a final-three runway turns out to be another one of Tyra's cruel hoaxes (the biggest one of course being the promise of a lucrative modeling career to the winner), where one more elimination is to take place just before the final runway. And that's where the last episode ends, which is as good a time to address something critical that I've ignored too long in this space: Tyra's mom hair.

She may or may not be sleepwalking through an otherwise invigorated cycle, but the show (ostensibly) remains concerned with fashion, so you'd think she rock something a little less dowdy. But there you have it.

Anyway, to handicap the probable final two, I doubt Cory will make it, even if he's been one of my favorites for the majority of the cycle. Although he's been featured in (nearly) every episode, he's been used exclusively as a talking head, an observer pithily commenting on the other contestants and the various goings on. He has only started talking in earnest about himself and his own chances of winning the competition as of this episode, and the show didn't even start positioning him as the androgynous alternative between Marvin and Jourdan (both of whom have been allowed to talk themselves up) in an overt way until episode 14 -- yes, it's always been a subtext with him, but a reality program lives almost solely on the surface of events.

A real contender then has to present him or herself as a contender (or by proxy, through other contestants remarking on how s/he is a threat to win), which was underscored for me when Jourdan said that she wants to show that she's more than just a pretty face during the Guess shoot. ANTM supposedly being a modeling competition, a pretty face is fairly crucial to the being a model (notwithstanding the show's increasingly tenuous hold with the industry), but the "more than a pretty face" line goes along with the reality tv narrative impetus to (shallowly) psychologize its protagonists. This psychology then gives the contestants a sense of depth that goes beyond the simple parameters that the show is supposedly measuring. That is, it's not enough that a contestant is technically good at the program's challenges; the exigencies of the reality genre require that they also elicit sympathy from viewers to become someone for whom we can root. This requirement explains why we've been barraged all season by Jourdan talking about her abusive marriage and Marvin being a janitor's son, both reminders of which have only intensified as the competition has narrowed down on the two of them. (You see this tension between the demands of the genre and the demands of the industry/medium most clearly on vote-in shows such as SYTYCD, but it's showed up on ANTM as well, and long before Tyra incorporated the social media element to her show.)

In contrast, Cory mentions his difficulties growing up as a biracial kid in the first episode, and subsequently... a lot of pithiness about Marnee and stuff, which deflects attention away from him (well, it may call attention to him, but as a wit, less so as a model). And it's not as if he lacks a storyline -- the producers could've fashioned a classic plot for him where he struggles against and eventually overcomes Rob's obvious homophobia distaste for him. No, the editing of the cycle telegraphs the improbability of his becoming America's Next Top Model, while keeping him around as America's Next Top Sassy Gay Sidekick.

America's Next Top Model (Cycle 20) - 20x12 "The Guy Who Has a Panic Attack"

True heart, no hurdle, set out by man or nature, will keep me from seeking out thy lovely smizes or the newfangled "booch," not that I swing like that, but hey, it's a novel thing and I'll try anything you suggest once.

In the early parts of the season, I marveled at how much the new format seemed to revitalize the franchise, and the guys have continued to carry the cycle to the overseas portion of the show. Not to say that the girls haven't been pulling their weight -- Nina has finally become the social media beast I expected all along (although I thought she'd be hoovering up all the votes from the start, considering her resemblance to Allison), Jourdan, as boring a reality tv personality as she is, is unparalleled in photos, and Renee has been at the forefront of both the modeling competition and the reality drama (make of that what you will) -- but the guys have provided an unremitting stream of fascinating behavior.

Phil, whose ADHD antics are cast in a negative light on the main show (but which take on a freewheeling and goofy aspect in the recap episode, a portrayal that would complicate the master narrative but which is one of those gems unveiled in recaps), may be old news now, but Cory remains utterly delightful while the lingering figures of Marvin and Chris still captivate because of how they express their masculinities. With the exception of Jeremy, none of the remaining guys are laconic ciphers, and all are in fact so openly expressive that they ably fulfill ANTM's quota of crying. Similarly, Marvin's avowal of camaraderie from a few episodes prior, where he tells his closest friends in the competition in plain (and teary!) terms how he'd be unable to bear any of them going home. Perhaps because of the conventions of the genre as a whole -- not just ANTM, but including series like The Jersey Shore, as well as the wider bro-phenomenon throughout pop culture -- naked expressions of fraternal affection no longer threaten masculinity in a way that used to be automatically coded as gay. What's more, almost none of the guys are too cool for school and are often willing to engage with the show's dumber aspects (at this late stage in the game, I think they're going to miss out on the joys of Tyra's butt-padded tooching teaches, but otherwise, they've played Tyra's games with enthusiasm).

(Meanwhile, over on Project Runway, we've seen the unhinged and violence-threatening male archetype, though of course with a gay spin, with Sandro and Ken. As a further aside, both of them have rather clear rage issues, and I don't mean to make light of them other than to note that traditional modes of maleness are becoming complicated.)

And I'm tickled pink (as it were) that Cory is firmly established as the cycle's den mother, trying to stamp out the pointless blowups that invariably feature on ANTM (my advice to him: Don't! You do realize that's why we I watch this show, yes?). It's preternatural how mature and even-headed he's been in terms of interpersonal dynamics, which would serve him well in his inevitable (I hope!) casting on RuPaul's Drag Race, which would free him from the obvious contempt that Rob Evans has for him.

And finally...

America's Next Top Model (Cycle 20) - 20x03 "The Girl Who Gets Married Again"

The last several seasons of ANTM have seen my favorite show of all time staggering with age and insularity, and when I'd heard that Tyra was letting boys on her show, I feared that ANTM was ready to stumble directly into the shark's mouth on account of being on its last legs -- 20 cycles and 10 years, after all -- which explains why I took almost a full week to watch the first episode(s).

And of course, it was worth the wait, allowing for, you know, the remainder of the season. I'm going to say provisionally that the inclusion of men has revitalized the cast, if only for the novelty of Rob Evans explaining how best to show off one's cuts (in my case, purely hypothetical) and/or the more obvious sexual tension among the contestants. But another new development that has me hopeful is the sudden drag queen subtext, which may not be all that sudden -- this is ANTM, and Tyra, after all -- but I'm noticing it more now that I've immersed myself in RuPaul's Drag Race.