I wonder how much coaching/editing was done to get Justin B’s shock at being eliminated. Maybe he really is oblivious to the problems in his on camera delivery, or maybe he thinks somehow the quality of his food communicates itself to viewers, but the anger and surprise seemed a bit disproportionate.
And yeah, “I’ll be like the proverbial cockroach” is maybe not the memento you want to leave as you follow your lower lip out the door.
Per [previous thread](” http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=611315”), here’s my rundown of the remainders from this week:
Chris – It’s hilarious that his major breakthrough (a gift from Orchid) was getting through an entire challenge without acting foolish. His countdown to elimination is approaching 0, but I’d bet money it’s not next episode.
Jeff – His gamble paid off with the tofu, but I would’ve liked to have seen more of the technique. It was edited to ‘look’ like a lucky shot, but I gotta believe Jeff had some familiarity with the ingredient beforehand. (I already know how to cook on a wing and a prayer and get sometimes-edible-but-sometimes-brilliant dishes. I’d like to learn proper stuff from a cooking show.) With that said, I think if Jeff maintains the food quality, he’ll be competing in the season final.
Justin D. – It’s just a matter of time before the competition weeds out the final Justin. I had thought Justin D.’s problem would be finding a unique perspective, but it just seems to be the same problem Whitney has. He’s just not interesting to watch, even when his dishes are intriguing.
Jyll – Wins the first challenge for the second week in a row. I think these mystery ingredient appetizer challenges are right in her wheelhouse, but her big advantage is her fearlessness in presentation. This is a very confident person. Still my odds on favorite to make the final.
Mary Beth – Keeps improving on the performance side, and she made a great choice of dish with the meatloaf. She’s one of two contestants who actually implemented Paula Deen’s advice intelligently. It looked like she was relaxed and having fun in front of the cast and judges, and that’s what wins this show in the end. MB has shown the ability to shoot herself in the foot, so I think her chances of making the final four are less than even because of that and because of strong competition from Jeff, Jyll, Orchid, Susie and Vic.
Orchid – That was a lucky pairing for Chris, and I think Orchid’s qualities were very well highlighted in this episode, including that sort of calm strength you see in successful small business owners. It’d be a joy to work with O, and I’d watch her show just for the lack of bullshit and pretention. The Cougar Town challenge really shows how good a collaborative, ensemble cooking show could be if FN would go that route. I could see Orchid as an anchor on a show like that.
Penny – She chose a side dish instead of an entree for the big challenge and executed it poorly. But at least she got to insult MB behind her back. (Really? Stovetop mac & cheese with the cheese cooked to frickin’ death? That’s your showcase and you’re scoffing at other chefs?) I’ve joked about an imminent FBI smackdown, but FN is foreshadowing a Penny meltdown for the next episode, so I’m hopeful they’ll finally show this woman the door. They keep going back to the “Penny’s a tough, independent woman” line in the judges’ on-camera dialogues -which I’m convinced are mostly pretend- so it’d be nice to show the difference between actual toughness and Penny’s selfish spitefulness. (And really, butting heads with your most self possessed competitor over something I’m assuming based on history will be essentially petty just isn’t choosing your battles wisely.)
Susie – I hope FN keeps Susie’s number, but I just don’t think they’ve been portraying her as a strong finalist. To me, this is a shame because a) I love the Mexican-American fusion styles of cooking, and b) Susie’s fun to watch. I may be surprised, so I’m crossing my fingers that we’ll see S in the final four.
Vic – Great performance, good looking dish and he apparently impressed the CT cast. Vic is one of the guys I really want to warm up to, but I still don’t know what a Vic show would be like. (I’d like to see V in a behind the scenes resaurant kitchen show. Sort of Kitchen Confidential with less emphasis on snark and social commentary, and more emphasis on the operations – including staff disputes, equipment conundra and, ultimately, the production of great food.) (Food Network will never produce a show like that without introducing artificial drama a la Dinner Impossible.)
Whitney – After four episodes, I feel about the same for Whitney as I did for Justin B. or Juba after the first one. Unless they throw in a band, dancers and color commentator, I wouldn’t watch a Whitney show.