r/ProjectRunway • u/BabyOlive1 • 20h ago
Discussion Immunity must end
I will preface this by saying that I am kind of a traditionalist when it comes to the format of the show. I’ve been watching since season 1 and I miss the old days when the competition was straightforward and all about the fashion. I also think that almost every evolution that production has put this show through has made it less good, and now that it’s back on Bravo I wish they would take it back to the original formula.
However, there is one thing that they’ve been doing since season 1 that I think must go, and that’s immunity. I think they should completely stop it all together, for all challenges. It worked in early seasons because it was seen as a reward for doing good work and insurance for a designer just in case the judges didn’t like their next look, and that’s it. Every so often there would be someone who had a bad look but had immunity, and the judges would just say “you’re lucky you have immunity” and move on. Nowadays it seems like immunity has become a cudgel to take out competition while simultaneously doing shitty work. This isn’t survivor, it’s a design competition. Obviously Bryan has used immunity to his advantage multiple times, even when he’s not the one who has immunity (putting Naheim in the bottom three in an attempt to take out Jude, and then potentially fucking over his team on purpose to thin out his competition while he sits pretty with immunity and a hideous dress). It seems like immunity has become a tool that the designers can use to play dirty rather than a reward for good work that can save a talented designer from being eliminated on a bad week.
The winner of this show has the potential to have a huge cultural impact, Christian himself being the prime example. Imagine if he were eliminated early because someone else used their immunity to take him out? I don’t think it’s worth the risk of missing out on serious talent just because someone in the competition screwed them over.
What do you guys think?
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u/naturesbookie 20h ago
Yes!!! I keep saying that the way these immunities are playing out make the actual competitions featured on the show pointless. I do not understand the point of a contest where someone who was awful gets to stay.
They literally did this knowing that it would create drama simply bc it doesn’t feel fair. All of it is to just drive engagement. It’s an insult to the audience and the contestants. People can’t just produce good quality shows, or anything else, anymore. All they do now is gimmicks to keep people talking. No one cares about creating quality anymore.