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A retreat, not a reset.
The standard format without the international component — the cycle runs reliably but offers nothing the CW era hadn't already done better.
Same run length, no international leg.
Cycle 21 is the most straightforwardly unremarkable season of the late CW run. The format reverts to open casting after C18 and C20's experiments, and staying entirely in Los Angeles removes the location engine that gave the better cycles their editorial ambition. The casting is solid, the photoshoots functional — but there is nothing here the earlier domestic stretches hadn't already covered more memorably.
The #22 slot.
Slot #22 of 24 in the America's Next Top Model Editor's Canon. Cycle 21 is the late CW era at its thinnest. After the co-ed expansion of cycle 20 and the British Invasion split cast of cycle 18, returning to a standard open competition without an international leg is a visible retreat. The production stays entirely in Los Angeles — reasonable in isolation, but following cycles with Brazil and London, it reads as a reduction. The casting is solid; the photoshoots are functional; nothing distinguishes the cycle from a dozen prior domestic stretches. Reliable and forgettable in equal measure.