This week's episode of America's Next Top Model was filled with . . . well . . . drama. As per usual. It began with the five remaining girls, fresh off Brittany's elimination, returning to the house. Jennifer couldn't believe that she'd made the final five. Erin was surprised to have escaped the bottom two for the second week in a row (remember that she'd just beaten out Rae the first time, and Brittany the second) and wanted to prove herself. Sundai was appalled that Erin was still there. Nicole couldn't enjoy being in the final because Brittany was gone since she'd had so many first call-outs (which isn't true -- she only won one photoshoot). Later, Sundai told the other girls her story about her adoption. The girls also celebrated Laura's birthday, which made her really happy.

The "teach" of the week saw the girls meeting with Marisa Miller, an American supermodel who'd posed in Victoria's Secret. She was there to teach to be "hot, but not over the top." She showed them just the right poses to make. She let them know that a female audience would want to see models from the side, while a male audience would like to see models from straight on. Basically, posture was very important. She then had them get wet in the surf, then roll around in the sand, which didn't thrill Laura due to her sunburn. After that, Marisa had them get in a shower and pose while they were in it, washing the sand off them. Laura went first and did beautifully. Jennifer went second and didn't do too well until Marissa started talking her through it. Sundai went third and looked too young in doing so. Erin went fourth and did a great job. Finally, Nicole went fifth and last and did a fabulous job.

After this was done, Marisa led them to a cliffside, where Nigel Barker, one of the judges, was waiting for them. He informed them, after allowing a model to jump off the cliff, that that's where their next photoshoot challenge would be taking place. The theme would be striking a "sexy and graceful" pose while jumping off the cliff and into the water. Whoever was the sexiest and most graceful would win. But there was a catch -- they'd each only have one shot at posing, so they'd have to make it count. A man named Jono Knight would be their photographer.

Here's how the challenge went down. Laura volunteered to go first and seemed to do a good job. Erin went second and didn't impress Nigel at all. Nicole went third and didn't seem to do well. Jennifer went fourth and did fine. Finally, Sundai went fifth and last and did okay, but got swimmer's ear for her troubles. In the end, the winner was . . . Nicole! Yay! I love her soooooooo much! She received a five-thousand-dollar chocolate pearl necklace as her prize, as well as twice as many frames for the next photoshoot! She then could pick another girl to have twice as many frames for her next photoshoot. She picked Sundai. Sundai also got a choice to give another girl twice as many frames. She picked Laura since she was the birthday girl. Finally, Laura had the choice to pick between Erin and Jennifer to give twice as many frames. She chose Jennifer. This left Erin with no extra frames. (Not surprised. The other girls hate her.) So with that, the challenge was over.

Nicole went to pick up her new necklace, then returned to the house with the other girls. There, they had "a huge birthday bash" for Laura. Of course, it wasn't all pleasant. Erin did a lot of b*tching and moaning about not getting any extra frames. Laura loved the surprise party they'd planned, but Nicole didn't stay to enjoy it all. She didn't want to go into the next photoshoot tired, so she went to bed fairly early. (Good choice, I guess. Best to have her mind fully rested.)

The photoshoot saw the girls meeting with Jay Manuel. Also there was this week's photographer, Russell James, who'd shot the girls of a previous cycle before (but I don't have the enjoy to go back through my blog and see which cycle). He announced that since it was a hot they, they'd be shooting underwater. (Coincidentally, he'd done several underwater photoshoots.) And that was the theme -- posing underwater. They'd all go underwater for one round of photos with Russell, then come back up to get some feedback from Jay. After that, it was back down in the water for a second round . . . for all except for Erin, who'd be taking the standard number of frames.

Here's how the photoshoot went down. Laura went first and did very well after an initial panic attack underwater. She did well in both rounds. Nicole went second and seemed to do a great job. She did superbly in both rounds. Jennifer (who saw Nicole as her biggest competition) went third and did beautifully. She wasn't so hot in her first round, as she was shot too close to the surface and her moves weren't very "acrobatic," but she did a fantastic job in her second round. Sundai (who was nervous about holding her breath due to having asthma) went fourth and did decently enough. She was poor in her first round, but fine enough in her second round. Finally, Erin went first and did just plain badly. And keep in mind that that was her only round. So with that, the photoshoot was a wrap.

The girls met with Tyra and the judges for their ninth judging panel. She reminded them of the prizes, reintroduced the judges (including guest judge Marisa Miller), and the critiques began. Good reviews went to Laura, Jennifer, and Nicole. Bad reviews went to Erin. Mixed reviews went to Sundai. And after the judges deliberated, the first girl to get her photoshoot was . . . Jennifer! Great! I love her, so I'll take it! Nicole and Laura both followed. This left Sundai and Erin as the bottom two. Sundai was chastised for making way too many excuses at the photoshoot (mainly, her asthma). Erin was chastised for starting out stronger in the competition, but getting weaker and weaker as the weeks passed. In the end, the final photo went to . . . Erin. (Um . . . what? I don't get it. Oh, wait. I think I do, actually.) This left Sundai as the tenth girl eliminated.

I was all right with this ending. Sundai was probably the weakest left. It was actually kind of surprising to me that Tyra let her last this long, as she really hadn't been all that good. As I noted in the title of this entry, she'd pretty much been circling the drain for weeks, but was never able to go down it because someone had always managed do worse than she did on a photoshoot. And even though I, personally, thought Erin did a worse job, Tyra clearly based the choice on the girls' bodies of work, in which case Erin was definitely superior to Sundai. So . . . sayonara, Sundai. Best of luck to you in your modeling career. Because you look so damn young, might I recommend modeling for, say, Gap Kids?

In other news, with the final four decided, I think the final three girls should be Nicole, Jennifer, and Laura. They're clearly the best three girls here. However, even with Erin still around, I think this is a final four as solid as the Yoanna/Mercedes/Shandi/April final four of cycle two, the Danielle/Joanie/Jade/Sara final four of cycle six, and the Teyona/Allison/Aminat/Celia final four of cycle twelve. All four girls -- Laura, Nicole, Jennifer, and Erin -- have done a fine job throughout the cycle and have earned their places in the final four. I'd be okay with any of them winning (though I want Erin to win the least since, well, I don't like her, even though she's performed decently). My preferred order of victory would actually be Nicole, Jennifer, Laura, and Erin. (Recently, it became clear to me that Jennifer might win just on being Asian, so she swapped spots with Laura in my personal order.)

Once more, here's the order in which Tyra called the girls:

#1. Jennifer
#2. Nicole
#3. Laura
#4. Erin
#5. Sundai (ELIMINATED)

It's down to the final four. With a "surprise" double elimination coming up, who'll be eliminated next week? I'll bet Erin's definitely one of the two, but the second might be trickier. I'm thinking it'll be Laura, though. Still, whoever it actually turns out to be, we'll see next week!