Ding, dong, the witch is dead!
I guess Bobby didn’t want any drama in his hometown. 6 left, and really only 4 of them can cook.
Note to self: If what happened to Jyll happens to you, put it down on your resumé as “personal student of Wolfgang Puck.” 
Despite how everyone feels about Penny, why are there still people on the contest that can’t cook?!
Well if they got rid of everyone who can’t cook all at once it would be a one (OK maybe 2) episode series.
And Penny is a bitch. If she was making food in a restaurant I wouldn’t care less and if she could cook I’d eat there.
But there’s no way she could have a show.
Wow, Penny went out not with bang but with a whimper. Pretty nondescript end to Queen Drama.
Chris’ nine lives finally expired. There is no good explanation for how he lasted as long as he did. Did he ever once make a dish that the judges liked, or worked as it should have. Bobby’s smackdown sounded like me talking to my kid.
I think the judges are confused. We’ve got Susie in her Mexican box, Whitney trying to fit into a Chinese one… Is that interesting? And I don’t give a rat’s ass about how your grandma or dad factors into your cooking. I mean, I know nothing about Alton Brown’s parentage and it doesn’t diminish my enjoyment of his cooking or screen presence. Mom stories generally bore me - so watch it, Vic.
Mary Beth is dead woman walking. I don’t think Jeff is long for this competition either.
Did anybody else get a feeling like the evaluations were unscripted for the first time this season? It was almost like the “real” judges came back last night to replace their pod-person doppelgangers.
That was the most animated and open I’ve seen Bobby Flay in a long time. Liked his single item assignments for each contestant, liked his reaction to Puck’s impromptu cooking lesson (and the comment about executive chefs taking opportunities to improve their cooks). Loved the dressing down of Chris, finally, and thought that Flay was genuine there.
Even Giada’s comments seemed intelligent and appropriate this time, which I suspect is a one-off occurrence. Bob T. largely kept his mouth shut, which is fine with me, and I wish Susie Fogelson would stay gone.
Food Network: More Flay and more Puck, please. Maybe bring in Anne Burrell. If you feel you need an asshole judge, get Conant, at least he’s consistent.
On the surviving six:
Jeff - Still waiting for signs of someone worth learning from. I haven’t been surprised by any of his sandwiches, but if he can make tofu dishes that Paula Deen and Bobby Flay suck down and smile, there’s got to be something there. Just wish he’d show it.
Jyll - How the hell can someone be a foodie and produce a “risotto” with the consistency of paste? I thought Puck was extraordinarily kind. Risotto really isn’t that hard. Jyll screwed it up through ignorance, not inattention. “This is the way my husband and I eat it” just doesn’t work for a tv chef! The ironic thing is, if she’d called her dish a “sweet corn rice pudding”, they probably would’ve been fine with it. I did appreciate that she got through her cooking lesson gracefully.
Mary Beth - While I think MB got screwed a little by the overblown criticism of her “bland” chicken last week, I don’t understand why an obviously smart cook would choose to kick up her flavors using cayenne pepper as her only tweak. If I’m not being played by the editing again, my estimation of MB’s skill just got way downgraded. This is fixable, but not in the course of the competition. Her writing and demonstration skills can’t carry her without depth of knowledge. Too bad.
Susie - Food Network: I really really don’t care about family stories. Stop insisting on them! If your star’s personality isn’t discernable without citing a c.v. and giving anecdotes from their childhood, I don’t want to watch them. Susie’s personality is great, she’s fun, her food looks great and she can sell it. Just drop the “personalize it” advice and let the girl work!
Vic - I wish he were easier to watch, but because I’m not an empty nest housewife I just can’t get into “Mama’s Boy.” Talk to me about the food, dammit.
Whitney - Most improved. I hope she can just tune out Bob T. and Susie F. She can really cook; I’d like to see how good she actually is at imparting information to the viewer, and I don’t think the competition has shown that to us yet.
I was shocked that they didn’t let Jyll go, but she is easy on the eyes, and has a nice smile (as opposed to the Drama Mama). She could be fixed/refined. Also, when Wolfgang Puck bitch slaps you, but you don’t fall, that shows the kind of moxie a star needs. Alicia would have sliced her throat open if Wolfgang had said the same thing to her.
My favorites for the final 3:
Vic: (I could teach him how to play to the camera. That all he needs. He’s funny and warm)
Suzie: My wife and I LOOOOOVE her. She brings her heart and soul to the kitchen.
Jeff: If he can find the balance between shtick and humor, and being bland and manic, he will be a force.
The rest:
Mary Beth - Mayday Mayday Mayday. She’s attractive (in a pre-cougarish way) and authoritative, but you have to cook things the judges like. She is gone next week, unless the other five melt down.
Jyll - Dead woman walking. She might make it past next week, but buh bye in the Final 4.
Whitney - Unless the board in her ass comes flying out, she will be gone next week or the week after.
I thought Jyll handled the lesson from Wolfgang Puck well. I couldn’t believe Giada and Susie criticized her about it. What, they wanted her to cry?
My Prediction: Mary Beth won’t win this but they will give her a show of some kind where she isn’t actually cooking but is talking to people who do cook. Like how they gave a show to Adam from a few seasons back and Tom from last season.
Jyll and Mary Beth will never make it to the final. They just don’t have the chops. Frankly, I’m surprised they made it this far.
If you looked carefully, there was a flash in the preview for next week of the judgement, which looked like the bottom 4 Whitney and Jeff were missing.
Nobody this season has the talent to survive the Iron Chef Challenge, so they’ll probably dump that.
This season has been frustrating, both because none of the finalists really seem to have the chops, and because the selection committee has been extra confusing, contradictory, and arbitrary. Even more than past seasons.
They want people to be genuine. No, wait, they want energy. No, wait, they want warmth. They criticize the best on-camera performer for being too perfect, even going so far as to deduct points for Jyll keeping her composure during the risotto lesson. WTF? Like Puck said, that is a quality you want in a TV personality.
“Surprise me,” they don’t like the surprise. “Show more energy,” they say it’s forced. “Make it your own,” they say it doesn’t taste good.
The worst is that the only thing they like are the personal stories, which I hate. I don’t want to cook these people’s personal stories. I want to make my own personal stories.
My take:
Whitney - Cute, good food, totally turned me off when she started telling the other contestants what to make the Wolfgang Puck courses. She got to choose the order of presentation, that’s it.
Jeff - A victim of confusing advice from the committee. He’s been so busy finding the level of energy they want (it keeps changing) he’s gotten off his food game.
Vic - My favorite, but he does need to evolve his schtick. His “Vegas” food is so much more interesting than his “Mama’s Boy” food, but that what the committee seems to want.
Mary Beth - Can’t stand her. She’s like a bad Saturday Night Live character.
Jyll - Great on camera, but bland food, and that’s not going to improve anytime soon.
Suzie - She’s been growing on me, but it looks like they’re putting her in a box.
I think I’ve posted this before: I’ve considered applying for this show. I’m not sure I’d do well. My mother didn’t teach me how to cook, I take classes and experiment. Our family recipes are generic things like spaghetti or sloppy joes; I aim for fancy restaurant faire. Given my background in video production, I’d want to direct myself, move the camera, and generally make things more visually interesting than they would allow. I’d want to put on a show closer to Good Eats or America’s Test Kitchen than camera-pointed-at-kitchen-recipe-rundown. On top of that, I have a much different personality when presenting than “normal” me. I’m quiet and painfully shy, but I can turn it on on stage or on camera.
xenophon41-Why are family stories so objectionable to you? Their families inform their cooking POV. Now, I understand if their POV isn’t your bag, but don’t compain about the source of their POV, and them having a POV.
Are you doing a survey, or is it just my opinion you want justified, as opposed to Hippy Hollow’s or garygnu’s, both of whom have expressed a similar lack of interest in the backstories?
Can you explain how you’ve construed my comment into a complaint about anybody having a POV, or having a family background? I watch cooking shows for the discussions and demonstrations concerning food, its preparation and consumption. Those sorts of discussions are most enjoyable when delivered regarding interesting food/techniques/settings, in an interesting way by interesting people. Yeah, I recognize that all these interesting people have pre-cooking show histories and weren’t created by a production team in a vat for my viewing pleasure. I do not find that fact revelatory, nor do I object to it.
This is the second time in the FNS thread series that you’ve jerked your knee at my comments. My online handle refers to Xenophon, the 4th century BCE Greek philosopher, soldier and writer; not “xenophobe” or “xenophobia.” I also have no discernible tendency towards misogyny, sexism or racism of which I’m aware.
I don’t begrudge Susie Jimenez’ background; I resent the box Susie Fogelson has forced her (and other competitors) to climb into for the competition. If you read Susie J’s bio and saw the first episode you know she’s trained in classical French cuisine and would like to show those skills. Unfortunately, FN (particularly Susie F.) doesn’t find genuine breadth and depth of knowledge as marketable as the “relatable” family memories and “inspirational” born-economically-disadvantaged tear jerking they keep trying to extract from these people as a condition for consideration. I find that disrespectful to the individuals and condescending to the viewers. YMMV.
xen-HippyHollow was more succint and general in their post, IMO. Though, I don’t see: enegetic, warm and authentic as mutually exclusive, I can see why it’s frustrating that they can’t make up their mind what they want from contestants. To those who dislike Susie having a say in who wins (IMO that’s what you don’t like about her): she’s a higher-up at Food Network, and Bob shouldn’t have unilateral say in the winner. (yes I know viewers pick from the final 2). Bobby is a judge because he’s the network’s biggest on air draw, and as such, has an idea what it takes to be an on-air chef at FN.
One quibble; I don’t mind a head of Marketing having a say in who wins. My objection is that, while harping on all the contestants to be “genuine”, she’s forcing her own concepts and restrictions of what those “genuine” qualities should be.
Susie J. is genuinely an accomplished chef in addition to her Mexican heritage.
Vic is genuinely a creative and adventurous chef quite apart from his love and respect for his mother and grandmother.
Whitney’s father’s ethnicity isn’t the only genuine part of her culinary context.
Etcetera.
The viewers haven’t had a say in the winner since Season 3. It’s strictly up to the FN judges.
I am having a problem with all the conflicting demands they are placing on everybody, but I can see how that would be part of the process. They have to see how flexible these folks are, because the show they might want to do probably won’t be what FN thinks it needs. So they’ll have to adapt.
Thanks for the correction silenius! Haven’t watched a whole season in a while.
Of course, besides making the contestant guess what you really want, there are obscure managerial techniques other executives not at Food Network seem to be aware of, like: Clearly communicating specific actionable performance aspects which you would like the applicant to improve, emphasize, eliminate or develop. (Crazy, I know.) Guy Fieri did this in his segment a week ago, and Bobby did it a bit less successfully in this episode, but I haven’t seen enough of it.
Notice that it is the talent that displays those skills, not the suits. 
Heh!
(It’s almost like those two dudes run successful businesses that depend on employee performance rather than advertising tie-ins.)