After the tragic loss of the talented Nick (think back to last season’s beloved Austin Scarlett), this week’s episode proved decidedly less heartbreaking—at least for the Project Runway audience. The challenge was for each designer to create an evening gown that represented the collection he or she would show if selected for Olympus Fashion Week. After a field trip to get some tips from Fern Mallis, executive director of Seventh on Sixth (the organizer of Olympus Fashion Week), the contestants were each given $300 for fabrics and two days to complete their task.

Back in the workroom, pressures were high and tensions thick. Chloe expressed reservations about being catapulted to fashion stardom, while Kara voiced doubts about her ability to make eveningwear. Shunned by the entire group, Santino stayed surprisingly quiet, while Daniel exuded his usual cool confidence. In typical Project Runway style, Tim Gunn emerged to reveal a few surprises. First, über-model Iman, serving as guest judge, would be shopping the runway for the winning dress, which she would later wear on the red carpet. Second, the designers were taking another field trip, this time to Manhattan hotspot Suede, where they were greeted by Heidi Klum and Michael Kors; the remaining models; and last season’s Jay McCarroll, Kara Saun, and Austin Scarlett.

On the runway, much like last year’s race for the Final Three (the infamous Grammy gown episode), the judges were underwhelmed. Daniel V. won the challenge with a perfectly constructed navy charmeuse dress, but the judges agreed that it was boring. (Fortunately for him, Iman, who could look glamorous wearing a burlap sack, declared that she would make it “less boring” on the red carpet.) Chloe’s 1940s-inspired silver gown was pleasing from the front, but a perplexing back seam made her 90-pound model’s backside appear ample (and not in a good way). Santino’s gold stretch silk satin dress looked like a potential masterwork early on, but after being embellished with yards of dangling gold paillettes, it resembled a belly dancer’s costume. As the judges observed, however, at least his creation demonstrated a distinct point of view—something that could not be said for Kara’s bland black charmeuse racerback gown with too-short, uneven, and unfinished hem.

But the real shocker of this episode wasn’t in the elimination; it came when Klum posed a final question to each of the four: Who should be out? Chloe, as expected, pointed her finger toward Santino, who responded in kind. But amazingly, after Kara and Daniel V. had criticized Santino throughout the entire episode, they both chose Chloe as their Auf of choice. The two cited Chloe’s already-established boutique and seeming ambivalence about stardom as the reasons, but one wondered if the decision wasn’t fueled by another motivation (perhaps Kara and Daniel V. both saw an opportunity to oust their strongest potential competitor?). Either way, their opinion had no effect on the outcome; in the end, it was Kara who received her walking papers. —Jennifer Ciotta