Was it not even worth a thread? I watched it. I’ll keep watching, 'cause I’m loyal to a fault.
What do you all think of the new judge?
Is there any saving this show?
Well, at least the right two people went home. And now Jamie can stop whining.
This Toby guy is trying way too hard. It was like he had pre-written a bunch of pithy sayings so he could spew them out as he tasted the food. I know Gail was probably on her honeymoon or something, but she needs to come back immediately.
Hate the new judge. To busy looking for ways to use his snappy putdowns(all of which are used 1000 times I’m sure), then actually judging the food.
Strangely.I liked the guest judge during the quickfire though. Finally a proper Asshole French Chef. 
Perfectionist, and pointed out exactly what was wrong with the dishes. You could see during the naming of the three worst, he want to keep doing and name most of them as worst. Wierd contest though, Make a sugar free desert, but Honey and syrup are allowed? Not exactly to the spirit of sugar free.
I still like the show, but this is the chaff cutting part. To many 'gots-to-go’s who have just been lucky so far. Soon the real battle, will begin, any mistake will cost you.
Wait a minute. Someone put a caustic British judge on a reality show? REALLY?
I’m still watching it, and I think the correct two got voted off, though Jamie is REALLY starting to grate on my nerves, for some reason I can’t quite put my finger on. Also, Gene got the “send-off” edit at the beginning of the show. It was pretty obvious he was outta there. Why the hell do they keep doing that?
“It’s Top Chef, not Top Scallop!”
Also, what was the deal with Ariane using the Diet Dr. Pepper in her food? It was almost like Colicchio came in and said, “The sponsor this week is Diet Dr. Pepper, and they want one of you to use their product in the preparing of a dish. Ariane, you drew the short straw, so it’s up to you.”
I was so excited for the new episode after a few weeks off during the holidays, and I felt strangely disappointed at the end. It wasn’t especially exciting. “Cook a meal” is just not really even a challenge, and yet some of the food really didn’t even look that great. I am really glad Melissa went home, I haven’t seen her do much of anything yet that has looked at all appetizing. And while I kind of liked Eugene, he really has had a few lousy finishes so I guess it was time. I am fascinated by Ariane’s impressive turn-around after the first couple of episodes. I thought it was interesting that they got to watch their food being critiqued on the television.
I kind of got the idea that she was thinking like me. That the spirit of the thing was supposed to be no sweetener calories, so she was trying to make a sweet desert with artificial sweeters, hence Diet Pop which is a source of them.
Padma introduced it as the “Diet Dr. Pepper Sweet Treat Challenge” They showed one or two others pouring soda, though it certainly didn’t seem form what we were shown that the inclusion fo diet soda was a requirement.
After Young’s first 2 comments I said to my husband “We might not have to watch this show anymore”
Tom Colicchio had this to say about Young in his blog: "He’s exceptionally witty and thought at first that he was being called on as a judge to use that wit and take potshots at the chefs, but he quickly realized that they were all very serious-minded about their food and about this competition, and he switched gears and began assessing the food in earnest. "
I missed the part where he shifted gears, but hope he’ll settle down.
Yep. I could see how his lines might work in print. But on TV, it was too much talking and too much lead up to get to the punchlines that weren’t worth it in the end.
I thought that Fabio was gone, he had the other loser’s edit of the night.
I’ve read one of his books. His lines don’t work in print, either. He came across just like Melissa did - always whining about how he didn’t get a chance to show his real talent as a writer.
Actually, all his “zingers” :rolleyes: were at the table while they were eating, and I’ll agree that they were pretty desperate, especially the ludicrous analogies that were trying be cool with the pop-culture references. Ugh.
But you’ll notice that in the finale at the Judges table, he mostly held back the snark, and his comments were largely actually pretty direct and constructive. I think he probably came in thinking they were looking for a Simon Cowell or Gordon Ramsey, so I’m more than willing to give him a little more time to find his feet.
And I’m really glad Carla came out the non-ejectee. Now, all the chaf are officially gone, and the next tier of Not Bad-but-Not Tops (Carla, Jeff, Leah) are on the block next. That’ll leave the rest (Stefan, Jamie, Fabio, Radhika, Ariane, Hosea) to fight it out for the final 4.
Here’s a tally of the Quickfire and Elimination challenge winners, of those still around (this from the Bravo site).
Quickfire
2: Leah
1: Ariane, Hosea, Radhika, Stefan
0: Carla, Fabio, Jamie, Jeff
Elimination
2: Ariane, Fabio, Hosea, Stefan
1: Jamie, Leah, Radhika
0: Carla, Jeff
Why do you think that Hosea is a better chef than Jeff? Jeff has made a few errors (like in the Thanksgiving episode) but I think he’s shown himself to be consistently good, while Hosea hasn’t really done anything impressive at all. He just hasn’t done anything horrendous either.
I kind of wish Carla had gone. Something about her rubs me the wrong way…maybe the complete craziness?! On another board I frequent, someone likened her looks to Big Bird…I’m inclined to agree. And “Hootie Hoo?” The fuck?!
And since I don’t watch the show as much as I’d like, what, exactly, is the “loser’s edit?” Is it just giving that person more screen-time in the episode they leave?
I thought the new judge should have been fired the moment the WMD comment came out of his mouth. I am hoping he will improve. I really like the elimination challenge. It was so non gimmicky and I think letting the contestants eat the food along with the judges will be very helpful in the future. I was shocked at how well the losing contestants defended themselves at judges table, no arrogance or defiance at all. The contestants seems the most evenly matched this year out of all the seasons.
Carla can look normal but then she puts her hair up, bugs her eyes out and looks like a cattle prodded giraffe.
I’m giving the new judge another chance. It did seem like he already settled down by the judges table. And I liked the fact that he disagreed with colicchio on certain things. He brings something to the table, unlike Gail, who seems to just go along with whatever the other two say.
Yes…it’s also showing the contestant talking to their family and telling us how hard it is to be away, like Gene did this week.
I did like the blind judging. In fact, I think they should all be blind judging and really just be about “which plate was best” rather than “which chef did Tom happen to spy on and get preconceived ideas about during the cooking part of the challenge this episode or during some throwaway minute 4 episodes ago.”
Colicchio mentions in his blog that though it was a “blind” judging, their history with the chefs and their styles made it obvious who had cooked what. The only two people who were really tasting the food blind was Toby and the guest judge.
Actually, he has won two elimination challenges (though you might argue they were rather tepid wins) and one Quickfire (though that was the taste test one, not a cooking one). That’s still 3 more than Jeff, who has indeed been a bridesmaid in the winner’s circle a few times, but never the bride.
I’d say Hosea’s on the cusp and not all that far off from Jeff, except for one critical difference: Jeff has no internal editor. He’s always got a half-dozen things going on at once, and never knows when to go with Less rather than More. The Brit liked his dish last night, but many of the other comments were on the mark, I think: he just had too many things going on at once. As the competition gets fiercer, it’s better to have more focus and simplicity, and that’s where Hosea has the advantage over Jeff–who’s obviously talented but can’t seem to divorce himself from the notion that you have to impress with scope and ambition, and not simply making a good, solid dish.
I agree with almost all of this except I would put Leah in with the top group. She has been in the top way more often than she has been on the chopping block. I don’t know what to think about Jeff, he seems very competent in running a kitchen but actually cooking something good? I haven’t seen it yet. Has he even been in the top three yet?
Carla saved herself with a good self-critique of her dish and what went wrong with it. I think the judges selected the right two to pack their knives and go.
Even though Jamie can be a little annoying at times she seems to be a fine chef. I’m fairly certain she has been in the top three more than anyone and I’m glad that she finally got a win especially after getting robbed the episode before this one.
Overall I thought it was a fun episode. The British judge was fine after he stopped with all of the zingers. Anthony Bourdain he is not.