The final episode of the 2012 edition of The Cut started as a trip
down memory lane when some past victims of The Cut - Alex, Tabatha, and Ted -
showed up to join Emily, Sarah, and Evan in their opening game of Freeze. After
that little reunion, it was time to get down to the real business of choosing
the newest member of Atlas improv company, starting with a pair of cinematic
challenges - Movie Synopsis, and Slacker.
The game of Movie Synopsis is very simple; the players act out a
movie based on a movie synopsis chosen from the Atlas book of movie synopses.
The synopsis chosen was that of the critically-panned film "The Last Woman
On Earth", about a post-apocalyptic world in which there were only three
survivors - two men, and one woman.
Kristina Martinez pointed out that even
though the contestants were given only four minutes to play out the film, there
should probably have been at least oe scene cut. She did, however, praise Evan
for his solid instincts to ramp up the action when things clearly dragged.
Next we saw them play the game of Slacker, inspired by the 1991
Richard Linklater film of the same name, in which the action follows whichever
character the audience sees leave each scene. The action started with a pair of
valley girls having a political disagreement, and then took us into the
wilderness and the realm of a hermit goat herder. 
Josh Johnson liked the way
Evan used the environment to root his character, and how Sarah and Emily played
well in support. Bryan Morris lamented that the scene was all Evan, and flamed
Sarah and Emily for not stepping up and matching him. Kristina Martinez agreed
that it was the Evan show up there, and pointed out to Sarah and Emily that
this was there time to shine too, but that that time had come and gone without
them truly seizing the opportunity.
Someone had to be Cut before the start of the second half, so the
contestants gave us their pleas for mercy, and their fate was then put to the
panel and audience vote. Josh Johnson cast his vote for Sarah, explaining that
he was disappointed in the way she was content to let the others do the heavy
lifting. Bryan Morris cast his vote for Emily, stating much the same reasoning
as Josh Johnson, but of course less delicately. It was then revealed that the
audience had voted for Sarah to get Cut, and with Kristina Martinez being in
agreement, it meant that Sarah Anacker's fate as the seventh victim of the 2012
edition of The Cut had been sealed.
The two remaining contestants had been through a lot, and had
survived The Cut to this point only to be thrust into the most difficult
challenge they would ever face as improvisors; The Juggernaut, a relentless gauntlet
of improvisational challenges designed to whip the cream to the top, and leave
the unworthy quivering and crying for mommy. 
Emily and Evan started out in a
simple scene of a couple going to prom on horseback. Then like a flood it
began;
the panel dictated that they switch characters,
then switch into the genre of Western,
then play the scene in reverse, and then forward,
and then
with the emotion of fear.
Emily referenced a gypsy, then was made to do a
monologue as that gypsy, fleshing out the character, at one point in gibberish,
and then made to play out a scene from that character's life in the style of
Shakespeare.
On and on came the panel's demands, with Emily and Evan forced to
proceed through different genres, emotions, time periods, time jumps, more
monologues, all culminating to a grand finale where they were forced to
improvise the end of one of Evan's true stories in the genre of horror.
Finally, the results came in, and it was then time to anoint a victor. Josh Johnson had been impressed with Evan on the whole, but was ultimately won over by Emily's coolness under pressure, and ability to step up and shine amidst adversity. Bryan Morris finally showed his softer side, lauding the performances of both contestants, and agreeing with Josh Johnson by casting his vote for Emily Ruff to be made the newest member of Atlas. It was then revealed that Evan had won the crowd, and with Atlas Company Manager Kristina Martinez's vote and power as the tiebreaker, Evan Dusenberry was crowned the King of The Cut, and named the newest member of Atlas Improv Company.
With the field now whittled down to
four, the remaining contestants in The Cut could no longer rely on teamwork to
start strong in week five. After the standard opening game of Freeze, it was
revealed that our hopefuls would have to fend for themselves in the opening
challenge of the night: One Person Scene.
One by one the contestants would be
given the stage to create a scene all by their lonesome, testing their ability
to push themselves and their imaginations with no one else to contribute or
serve as back-up, a situation that occasionally happens on the Atlas
professional stage.
First up was Ted, who channeled a frat
boy and a young señorita telling the tale of how they
found love with each other on State Street. Judge Josh Johnson liked the energy
he showed, along with his character transitions. Judge Bryan Morris theorized
that Ted must have ingested cocaine and read a book about shitty improv before
taking the stage. Judge and Atlas Company Manager Kristina Martinez thought Ted
had risen to the challenge, but could have shown more convincing and compelling
characters had he drawn them more from reality.
Emily went next with a character
telling the story of of a friend's ultimate betrayal. Josh Johnson liked the
performance, despite its dark tones. Bryan Morris wished Emily's character had
shown more real emotion, instead of "standing there like Forrest Gump
talking about his emotions". Kristina Martinez echoed both her fellow
judges, stating she appreciated the job Emily did, but wished she would have
shown more, and told less.
Then it was Evan's turn, which he used
to play out a scene of sanitation workers finding a dead animal in the trash.
Josh Johnson praised the performance for its clear organic origins. Bryan
Morris angrily took issue with Evan's characters denying each other over what
kind of animal they found, and likened the scene to watching three Rain Mans
going 'round and 'round performing the famous Who's On First? skit. Kristina
Martinez again drew wisdom from the assessments of Josh and Bryan, concluding
that though the scene devolved after a strong and organic start, it was still
somehow quite entertaining.
Last up was Sarah, who treated the
audience to a scene of woman readying herself to host a date with her boss.
Josh Johnson lauded Sarah's technical soundness in switching between
characters. Bryan Morris remarked that it was the finest performance he'd seen
out of Sarah thus far, but that that was not saying much, considering she spent
most of the scene talking on the phone naked. Kristina Martinez determined that
Sarah had done a fine job, but advised her to mind her time management and
scene vision.
The audience then voted for who they
thought deserved immunity, and Sarah took it in a landslide, proving that one
must always give it their all in The Cut, but that it never hurts to pack the
audience with folks partisan to you.
Though she earned immunity for the
second half of the show, Sarah was still required to help out her fellow
amateurs in the night's final challenge; the game of Adjacent Spaces, wherein
the contestants would be given a non-geographic location in which to weave a
tale from the different spaces occupying that location. The panel dictated that
location to be an airport, and the players pulled out the stops with characters
such as mechanics, airline desk jockeys, pilots, flight attendants, birds, and
travelers foreign and domestic. 
Josh Johnson had praise for all, citing
everyone's strong characters and ability to work well together. Bryan Morris
was less impressed, excoriating the contestants over their denials and
inability to keep track of which space they were in from one location to
another. Kristina Martinez also noticed them getting lost within the game, and
noted they played out some very conflict-laden scenes, but ultimately thought
they worked well together in what was inherently a difficult challenge. 
It was then time to vote for who would
be Cut, and excluded from the final week of tournament. Josh Johnson thought
Ted had shown the least amount of energy and ability, and voted accordingly.
Bryan Morris could not equate Evan's wacky, wild, herky-jerky characters with
anything resembling quality entertainment, and gave the tall Carlton grad the
big thumbs-down. The audience vote was then revealed to have gone against Ted,
and Kristina Martinez sealed the deal with her vote for the affable Covance
chemist, making Ted Timothy the sixth victim of the 2012 edition of The
Cut.
Week Four
Rarely is the word "freeze" evocative of fire, but the
start of week four of The Cut proved to be an exception to that rule. The
opening game of Freeze caused Judge Bryan Morris to rain fire and brimstone
down upon Evan for improvising a bowel movement on the hallowed Atlas stage,
and reiterate his suspicions of Evan being constantly high, or
"blazed", as the kids call it these days. 
Then when the panel asked
each contestant who they thought was the weakest left among them, Alex felt the
burn when his fellow contestants singled him out. This prompted a cruel mock
Cut from the panel, which served to soften Alex up for the real news; because
he was thought to be the weakest, he would be denied the chance for immunity,
but in return given more of a chance to show the panel and the audience his
true meddle by competing in every scene and challenge to be played throughout
the evening.
The rest of the field paired off into teams and was then issued
the night's first challenge: Genre, wherein each team would have to perform a
scene using the codes and conventions of a particular genre, in this case,
Science Fiction. Alex first joined Emily and Evan to play out the story of a
man called to service on Jupiter by Scout Force 9. 
Judge Josh Johnson liked it
as usual, but urged the contestants to follow where the emotions of their
characters took them on stage. Bryan Morris chided Alex for not creating
characters different than himself, but again saved most of his flames to blaze
Evan, whom he felt was responsible for the scene resembling a monopoly game
being played one square at a time. Judge Kristina Martinez agreed with Bryan
that the scene about going to Jupiter actually went absolutely nowhere.
Alex then joined Sarah and Ted for their sci-fi scene about a
spaceship crew marooned on an alien planet. Josh Johnson advised the players to
interact with their environment more. Bryan Morris hated the scene, and how Ted
started it by spewing forth a ton of information. He then proclaimed Alex the
best player in both scenes, and praised him for finally playing a different
character. Kristina Martinez lamented that while the scene showed promise, it
devolved into a transactional scene from the hopefully very distant future.
The contestants then made their pleas for immunity, and the
audience voted for which team they thought deserved it. In a close one, Emily
and Evan earned the right to call it an early night, leaving Ted, Sarah, and
Alex to take on the evening's final challenge. 
That challenge would be the
toughest faced by contestants so far in this edition of The Cut: Five
Characters. Each contestant would take the stage and have to present the panel
and audience with five distinct characters in succession, testing their range,
creativity, and fortitude under pressure.
Ted went first, and gave us the characters of Jerry the Staples
manager, an inept football coach, a kid struggling with being gay, a religious
PTA president, and a female drill instructor. Josh Johnson wasn't thrilled that
Ted didn't really change his voice from one character to the next. Bryan Morris
didn't think any character was sincere, or really stood out, and panned Ted for
not hitting any kind of stride until his last character. Kristina Martinez
wasn't blown away, but did praise him for stepping his game up in the end.
Next we saw Sarah's characters - a pregnant woman, an old woman,
Stacey Jo the video dater, Ms. Bechinsworth the substitute teacher, and a
snappy bus driver. Josh Johnson liked the way he sensed she was reacting to her
characters' emotions. Bryan Morris, in contrast, sensed that between clever
lines, she was only thinking of other clever things to say, and Kristina
Martinez agreed, feeling that Sarah was too much inside her own head and just
not translating all that cleverness into a quality performance on stage.
Alex went last, and presented us with an anti-government union boss, an outgoing eight-year-old performing for family at Thanksgiving dinner, an old man trying to run off girl scouts selling cookies, a corrupt yet proud cop, and a shipwrecked sailor remorseful over having had to turn to cannibalism. Josh Johnson praised Alex for hanging in there on such a tough night, but admitted that he was still not convinced he could improvise with him professionally. Bryan Morris aped some of Alex's lesser attempts at pantomime, and noted that he didn't feel he had really lost himself in the characters. Kristina Martinez agreed, but added that she was impressed with Alex's progress as an improvisor throughout the weeks of the show.
It all came down to the audience vote, and the majority of the audience didn't believe Alex Pelan had what it took to be the next member of Atlas Improv Company, rendering him the fifth victim of the 2012 edition of The Cut.
Atlas Improv Company is not just an improv group, it's a family.
As such, week three of The Cut was something of a family reunion, since the six
remaining contestants were treated to a healthy dose of those who they wished
to be counted among sometime in the very distant future - Atlas alumni.
Guest
host Jess Schuknecht gave them their first spoonful of alumni medicine when,
in response to some terrible telephone pantomime during the opening game of
Freeze, he threatened to break the fingers of any contestant who thereafter
dared to use the woefully amateurish thumb-and-pinky phone. That was the end of
threats of bodily harm, but just the beginning of the march of former Atlas
members.
Veteran of The Cut and former Atlas member Brendon Panke sat in on
the panel as a guest judge, providing an extra critical mind in the assessment
of the contestants' performance for the evening's first challenge; the game of
First Line, Last Line, whereby the teams would perform a scene bookended by two
lines of scripted dialogue. The field was divided into two teams. Emily and Ted put forward Antonio as their leader, and Alex and Sarah fell in behind Evan.
The central rule of First Line, Last Line is that the scene must begin with one of the two lines of scripted dialogue, and end with the other. Team Antonio was first up, and broke this rule immediately, mangling the simple line of "The cookies are gone". After a re-start with the line of "My eyeball feels hard", they then treated the audience to the story of one man's visit to the clinic for treatment of eye arousal. Judge Josh Johnson loved it, but admitted to not knowing why. Guest judge Brendon Panke thought no one had stepped up with their character to drive the scene. Judge Bryan Morris railed against Antonio's decision to draw the parallel between a hard eyeball, and a male erection. Judge and Atlas Company Manager Kristina Martinez thought the contestants had not played their characters real enough, and was ultimately not impressed.
Team Evan was up next, and with the exact same lines of dialogue
managed to make the exact same mistake with their first line as Team Antonio.
After their restart, they went on to perform the scene of Lucille and John, a
couple dealing with a cookie-stealing neighbor. Josh Johnson was positive as
always, and Brendon Panke echoed his praise, adding that their characters
maintained good, consistent relationships throughout the scene. Bryan Morris
said something nice for a change when he praised Alex for locking the story
down. Kristina Martinez echoed Bryan's sentiment, but wished Alex had followed
through more fully with his character.
The audience was instructed to vote for the team who they thought
performed better, and the winner of that vote was team Antonio. It was then
that the full stakes were revealed; Captain Antonio had a choice — immunity for himself and
one other contestant for the second half of the show (the coward option), or
show confidence in his own ability and give both available immunities away (the
cojones option). Antonio chose the latter option, ingratiating himself to Emily
and Ted with gifts of immunity, and throwing himself into the mix for the
second half.
The march of alumni continued with former Atlas members Sarah
Mucek and Meghan Rose. Sarah Mucek replaced Brendon Panke as the guest judge,
and gifted pianist Meghan Rose sat down at the keyboard to accompany the
contestants for the final challenge of the evening; Improvised Song. The panel
would provide each contestant with a suggestion, and in turn each contestant
would have to perform a song, testing their musical chops, and capacity for
suggestion use.
Sarah was first up, and with the suggestion of "hungry"
performed a song about being a hungry hippo. John Johnson loved it. Sarah Mucek
thought it was awesome. Bryan Morris didn't hate it. Kristina Martinez liked
the confidence that Sarah showed, but thought the song could have been a little
less jokey.
Next up was Alex, who really got the audience going with his
rap/song based on the suggestion of "kittens". Josh Johnson gushed
forth praise. Sarah Mucek was more tempered, stating that the rapping, and
Alex's tendency to close and/or cover his eyes was a concern. Bryan Morris
could not deny that Alex had put on a powerful display, but underhandedly
likened it to the same feat as a dog walking upright on his hind legs for the
first time. Kristina Martinez was impressed with how Alex had drawn her and the
audience into his performance.
Last up was Antonio, who earlier had given up his chance for immunity
in a gamble to win over his teammates, and the crowd. Though he was not certain
what his suggestion of "diorama" meant, he soldiered on with a song
about making one for his grandma. Josh Johnson was impressed with the way he
rolled with the uncertainty, as was Sarah Mucek. Bryan Morris asserted that
repetitiveness did not make up for a lack of English vocabulary, but Kristina
Martinez was sold on the sheer catchiness of Antonio's diorama/grandma rhyming
scheme.
Once the final audience vote was tallied, the judges revealed
their votes. Josh Johnson and Bryan Morris thought Antonio had made a huge
mistake by not accepting immunity, and that his performance throughout the
night was the least indicative of a budding professional improvisor. Their
votes went to him. Sarah Mucek and Kristina Martinez cast their votes for
Sarah, feeling that though her song was very nice, she had skated by for far
too long on her cleverness and low profile alone. 
It all came down to the will of the audience, who in the end were not won over by Antonio and his improv cojones. Having received the majority of their votes, Antonio Aguilar was given an improv vasectomy, and rendered the fourth victim of the 2012 edition of The Cut.
Week Two
The Cut is a show
full of surprises, and the first surprise of week two came very quickly, in the
form of a rather unprecedented twist. After the obligatory opening game of
Freeze, the remaining six contestants were informed by the panel that they
would be joined by two new contestants, Marty and Ted, who then
enthusiastically took the stage to join the fray. Their enthusiasm was
short-lived, however, as it was revealed that because they enjoyed the luxury
of not having to survive week one of The Cut, their meddle would be immediately
put to the test, with nearly as immediate consequences.
The panel explained that
once again the contestants would be divided into two teams, but this time
newcomers Marty and Ted would captain those teams. Upon the teams' completion
of their first challenge, the audience would vote for the team they thought
should receive immunity, and the captain of the team to lose that vote (either
Marty or Ted) would be henceforth Cut.
Marty was appointed
captain of Tabatha, Evan, and Emily, and Ted appointed captain of Alex, Sarah,
and Antonio. Their first challenge of the night: Narrator, a simple game in
which one player narrates the scene being played out on stage by their fellow
players. To heap further onus on Marty and Ted, the panel dictated that they
would act as narrators for their respective teams, a move designed to lay bare
their strengths and weaknesses in improvising stories with others.
Once Judge Bryan
Morris finished criticizing some of the contestants' fashion choices, Team Ted
was sent from the room, and Team Marty took the stage for the game of Narrator,
with the suggestion of "spaghetti". The audience was then treated to
the tale of a man whose passion for marinara sauce was eventually trumped by
his passion for the woman of his destiny.
Judge Josh Johnson thought the team
worked well together, and had encouraging words for all. Bryan Morris harshly
chastised Marty for his erratic and unorthodox narration style. Judge and Atlas
Company Manager Kristina Martinez's words were more tempered, stressing that
while the team did a good job, they also had created unnecessary hurdles to
themselves and the story.
Team Ted then
returned to the room, and took the stage to perform their version of Narrator,
again with the suggestion of "spaghetti". What unfolded was the story
of a man who sought to journey to the moon, but found love instead. 
Josh
Johnson praised the team for their work, and gave Alex some sound advice about
breaking out of his own skin to play more diverse, dynamic, and believable
characters. He also had wise words for Sarah, who he said should try being less
clever, and more real with her characters, based on the improv philosophy of
reality begetting reality, that is, the notion that a more realistic character
makes for a more believable and interesting one. Bryan Morris again leveled
the bulk of his ire at the narrator, lambasting Ted for his hands-off style,
and ultimately comparing him to a "turd on a log". Kristina Martinez
liked what she saw, but encouraged Antonio to take action in scenes and really
follow through with the motivations of his characters.
The audience then voted for the team they thought did the best job, with the knowledge that the captain of the team not winning that vote would be Cut. To start the second half, team captains and show newcomers Marty and Ted graced the stage with their teams to hear the audience's verdict, but not before Bryan Morris could tear into them for their horrible choice in jackets.
Not even a technicolor
dreamcoat could have saved Marty, however, as it was revealed that his team
received the fewest votes, making him the second victim of The Cut 2012, but
only the first victim of the evening.
Team Ted was then
dismissed to enjoy the rest of the show with immunity, but the still-immune
Captain Ted was made to pay his dues and join the remnants of Team Marty for
the for the second challenge of the evening: Character Interview. Each
remaining vulnerable contestant would be given a suggestion, and from that
suggestion they would have to almost instantaneously form a character and face
questions from the panel as that character.
Emily went first, and
from the suggestion of "turnip" presented the panel and audience with
Delilah, a sullen girl who was periodically forced to wash vegetables, and
endure the wrath of her father.
Josh Johnson praised Emily for her
unflinchingly real, though potentially unentertainingly dark take on a
character. Bryan Morris and Kristina Martinez both took issue with Emily's use
of the suggestion, Bryan much more loudly and forcefully than Kristina, of
course.
It was then
Tabatha's turn at bat with the suggestion of "schooner". From that,
she presented Bobox , a
tattooed southern convict serving a maritime murder rap in the state
penitentiary. 
Josh Johnson enjoyed the character, and incorporated the
"reality begets reality" mantra in his advice for Tabatha to truly
embody the character she was trying to portray. Bryan Morris absolutely hated
the name, and unkindly suggested that it was better suited for a character from
Mars. Kristina Martinez liked it, but called Tabatha out for stalling some of
her interview answers, thus infringing on the believability of a potentially
very rich character.
Josh Johnson thought Evan did
a fine job, but encouraged him to try breaking out of characters that were
similar in their physicality to himself as a person. Bryan Morris chided Evan
for bogging his character down in myriad uninteresting and irrelevant details.
Kristina Martinez echoed the sentiments of both her panel-mates, ultimately
crediting Evan's Delbert for still being fun and different.
Because Ted had
immunity, he was not made to do a character interview. He was, however, made to
work with the remaining contestants for the final challenge of the night:
Character Scene. Emily, Tabatha, and Evan would play in a scene as the
characters created for their interviews, with Ted helping them out as needed.
What we saw was a scene about Delbert and Delilah's star-crossed relationship,
with both Delbert and Delilah's father (played by Ted) simultaneously
trying to hire a now-free Bobox to kill off the other.
Josh Johnson
liked the scene, but thought the characters in it did too much telling, and not
enough showing. Bryan Morris despised Tabatha's use of Bobox in the
scene, and the choice she made for the character to not involve himself in any
further foul play. Kristina Martinez again agreed with her panel-mates, and was
not satisfied that the contestants had advanced a story worthy of the
characters that had been created.
The contestants on the
chopping block were then given the opportunity to plead their case to remain in
the show, and Bryan Morris took one last opportunity to ridicule the
contestants' clothes, most notably Evan for his lack of a proper jacket. 
After
the audience votes were tabulated, it was revealed that Emily and Tabatha had
tied, each receiving 38% of the audience vote to be Cut. Josh Johnson cast his
vote for Evan, on the basis that he didn't think Evan brought enough depth to
his character in the final challenge. Bryan Morris cast his vote for Tabatha,
angrily lamenting that she had taken what was the strongest overall character
in the interviews and turned it into the weakest character in the scene. Atlas
Company Manager Kristina Martinez agreed, casting her vote for Tabatha, and
breaking the tie of the audience vote in the same direction, thus rendering
Tabatha Wethal the third victim of the 2012 edition of The Cut.
Week One
The first episode of the
2012 edition of The Cut was an exciting, and inevitably incisive affair. Seven
amateur improvisors bravely took the stage to begin their quest to become the
newest member of Atlas Improv Company, and the panel took their spots to sit in
judgement of those unworthy of the task.
After an opening game of
Freeze, the contestants were divided into two teams and assigned captains. Evan
and Antonio were grouped with captain Rachel, and Sarah, Alex, and Tabatha were
grouped with captain Emily. The panel then threw down the first real challenge
of the night: the scene-based game of Changing Emotions, whereby the
contestants on stage must alter the emotions played in their respective scenes
as dictated by the panel. Both teams would play the game, and the team to
garner the most audience votes by virtue of their performance would be granted
immunity, ensuring those team members advancement to week two of The Cut, and
ensuring that one of the members of the other team would be the first to be Cut.
Team Rachel started things
off with a high-energy scene about two pill-popping child body builders and
their father. Judge Josh Johnson praised the team for their energy. Judge Bryan
Morris hated the scene, hammered Evan for showing the audience too much of his
back, and went so far as to liken Antonio's performance to that of a fart.
Judge Kristina Martinez was generally pleased, but wished the contestants had
advanced more of a story.
Team Emily went next,
playing a scene about a murderous mother prone to mugging and killing her own
children, and an incompetent intervening police officer. Josh Johnson liked the
scene and the way the contestants changed their emotions within the scene, but
thought Sarah's cop character drove the scene a bit much. Bryan Morris hated
this scene as well, but admitted to liking it better than Team Rachel's scene.
He also took issue with Sarah's dominating character, but saw in his black
heart to praise the team on their ability for competent pantomime. Kristina
Martinez enjoyed that the scene had more of a story to it, and saw fit to
remind the team that they could and generally should take the audience to
different times and locations within the story, via scene cuts.
Before the audience vote,
both teams were lined up, and each captain was asked to identify which team
member they thought had performed the weakest. Captain Rachel showed
solidarity, saying she thought all on her team could have done better. Captain
Emily singled out Tabatha's performance as the most wanting, but acknowledged
that all on her team could have worked together more effectively. The audience
then cast their vote for the team they thought deserved immunity, and the
majority of those votes went to Team Emily.
Team Rachel took the stage
after halftime, and were presented with the next challenge, the outcome of
which to determine the first contestant to be Cut. That challenge: True Story.
Each team member would have to present the audience with a true story about
themselves, revealing something about them not previously known to the panel or
audience, and displaying their ability for genuine storytelling.
Evan went
first with a rambling, stream-of-consciousness story about how his heart had
been crushed by his first love outside of a busy nightclub in Mexico. Josh
Johnson enjoyed the unique way the story took shape, but Bryan Morris compared
following the story to reading William Faulkner's blog. Kristina Martinez
enjoyed the story as well, but thought Evan could have come to the meat of it
much sooner. 
Captain Rachel was last to take the stage with her tale of a cultural
misunderstanding that took place on a family trip to Italy. Josh Johnson
thought Rachel's story had been structured well, but Bryan Morris took issue
with its trite beginning, and its leaving many unanswered questions. Kristina
Martinez agreed with both her fellow judges, and added that she thought
Rachel's story to be the least compelling of the three. While the judges decided
who would get their votes to be Cut, the same matter was voted on by the
audience. Once all votes were determined, Antonio was informed that he was out
of danger of elimination. It was then revealed that the vast majority of the
audience voted for Rachel to get the axe.
With the destiny of Evan and Rachel in
the judges hands, the votes cast by Josh Johnson and Atlas Company Manager
Kristina Martinez sealed Rachel's fate as the first to fall victim to the 2012
edition of The Cut.