"Design Star" 3 recaplet (Ep. 3): When gay is good, it is very, very good

I don't normally consider being paid to watch television a hardship. But I really wasn't prepared for this room, this horrible, horrible room that caused my eyes to bleed. This room, one of four, each more ghastly than the last, in some crumbling and haunted Nashville mansion formerly owned by country music stars.

And then, because of Design Star's Team Gay, the unstoppable force that is Matt Locke and his Boy Wonder, Michael Stribling, that wallpapered monstrosity became this:

And that, my darlings, is why gay is good. And why Matt and Michael are good, individually and as a team.

The judges thought so too, singling them out as having created the best design (Matt's second week in a row earning that praise).

However, despite the fact that angels sang and heavenly choirs played when Matt and Michael stood on the podium having roses tossed at their feet by Vern, Cynthia, and Martha, the entire episode left a bitter taste in my mouth ... and that taste's name is Tracee.

For some reason that I can pretend not to understand but in reality understand all too well, the odious Tracee got smacked down hard by her teammate, the judges, and the other designers backstage after basically tanking her team's design, and still survived this round of competition.

To find out who went home and more, click on through the jump...

D. Paul's losing design

It was D. Paul who got sent home. It's not that he did a great job; he didn't. It's that he stood up and took responsiblity for the ways in which he hurt his team, while Tracee, in a stunning repeat of last week's performance, just shifted the blame to her teammate. And she even cried again.

Since both of the losing rooms sucked, and D. Paul was a stand-up guy who everyone likes, and Tracee, well, not so much, why is she still there?

I'll tell you why. It's because this is reality TV and that's what they do. They keep the annoying ones around as long as they can because they like the drama.

Me, I like the design. Excuse me while I go look at Matt and Michael's room again.

Now for the important question. Is it just me, or is Matt Locke gonna win this thing? Are we going to get a second gay Design Star?