Originally aired on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2006 Episode Rating: ***** (5 out of 5 stars) Episode Overview: The girls compete in a mock runway challenge with Melrose Bickerstaff emerging the winner. After settling into their new home, Monique Calhoun angers the rest of the house by pretending to pee on Eugena Washington's bed and then refusing to participate in house chores. At the fashion shoot the girls are asked to portray model stereotypes with CariDee English and Michelle Babin delivering stand-out shots, while Monique, Melrose, and Christian Evans struggle. Elimination finds Melrose and Christian in the bottom two with Christian being she's sent home
Episode Highlights:

• The girls compete in a mock runway challenge.
• The girls portray model stereotypes for their first photo shoot.
• Melrose and Christian make up the bottom two and Christian is eliminated.

Recap: The thirteen wannabe divas meet Miss J. Alexander for their first challenge. He introduces the four well-pierced men of fashion design team Elmer Ave. who appear alongside thirteen male models. They explain each girl must select one man's outfit and then model it down a mock catwalk. Miss J. gives the signal and the girls disappear into a sea of sports jackets and skinny ties. As they strut down the runway, Anchal Joseph admits to being nervous and Christian, Tyra Bank's biggest fan, hereto referred to as the TyraBot3000, says she rules the runway, while flashing poses that Tyra herself got bored with back in 1996. Melrose exudes a ton of energy and is named the winner of the competition. The girls are then whisked away to the new Top Model house, which has apparently been designed as a shrine to show creator Tyra, with framed portraits of the diva hanging off every wall. Modest, eh? Unfortunately, somewhere between loading in the forty-sixth and forty-seventh Tyra portrait the designers forgot to bring in the last two beds forcing two girls to camp out on beanbags. Ouch, my back hurts just looking at those beanbags, as does Monique's who sprinkles drops of water onto Eugena's bed and then claiming she had a little, *ahem,* accident. That's one way to mark your territory, I guess. Cut to two days later and the house is already a pigsty, with unwashed dishes everywhere and garbage cans overflowing with pizza boxes. Hold on, two days? All that in just two days? And what are you doing eating pizza anyway? You're supposed to be models! None of this sits well with self-elected den mother Melrose, who calls a house meeting to lay down some ground rules. Monique, however, makes it very clear that she's not changing nothing for no one. You tell 'em girl, no one's forcing you to take less than an hour-long shower! The next day, the girls arrive at their first photo shoot where they're greeted by Tyra, or rather psycho diva Tyra. She berates the girls in a bad faux-Italian accent, proclaiming she will not return until these prepubescent b****es are removed from the set, before storming off. Clearly Ms. Banks has been spending too much time with Naomi Campbell. Jay Manuel, dressed in his favorite Power Ranger leather jacket, then appears and explains that Tyra was portraying a model stereotype, which is the theme for today's shoot. Each girl is assigned a stereotype and heads to wardrobe. Caridee, Megan Morris, and Michelle all shine as the dumb blonde, the diva model, and the bulimic model, respectively, while Monique, Jaeda Young, and Christian the TyraBot all struggle as the crazed model, the plastic surgery model, and the model turned actress. For winning the challenge Melrose is granted a massage and a personal assistant. However, all the extra pampering causes her to be late for her shoot as the ten-thousand-dollar-a-day model and Jay is not pleased. C'mon Jay, she's just getting into character! His stinging words shatter Melrose's confidence and following her shoot she heads to the bathroom crying. The girls meet the Top Model panel in the all-new, uber-modern judging room. Tyra introduces the panel which consists of noted fashion photographer Nigel Barker, Miss J. Alexander, and fashion icon Twiggy. One by one, each girl is evaluated. The panel applauds twins Michelle and Amanda Babin for their haunting portrayals of bulimia and anorexia and CariDee for her "many shades of dumb�? (I think that's a compliment). The same can not be said for Jaeda, Christian and Melrose. During deliberation the panel raises questions over Jaeda's overly masculine features ("Drag-licious�? to quote Miss J.) Christian's blandness, Melrose's lateness on set and worse, that she photographs old. The girls are called back into judging. Tyra says thirteen beautiful girls stand before her but only twelve will still be in the running toward becoming America's Next Top Model and begins handing out photos. First name called is Michelle, indicating her performance was the strongest of the group. Next is Caridee, A.J., Megan, Anchal, Megg, Monique, Amanda, Jaeda, Eugena, and Brooke Miller. Tyra asks for Christian and Melrose to step forward. She tells Christian that there's some spark that's failing to shine through, and that Melrose underachieved with one of the juiciest model stereotypes. There's only one photo left and it goes to Melrose. Immediately both girls start crying, Melrose dropping to her knees, knowing she dodged a bullet, while Christian the TyraBot embraces her idol one last time before being recalled to the manufacturing plant. -Scott K.