Five contestants remaining, and their challenge is to make healthy food with the input of some little Girl Scouts (Brownies), then present the food, with their little helper, live on Rachael Ray’s TV talk show.
We learn finally that Adam did work in a restaurant with his brother (co-owned it?) for at least a little while. Maybe I missed that in earlier episodes. At last he showed a little more competence and confidence, as did Aaron.
Lisa steamrolled her little Girl Scout helper, then let Rachael Ray run the show. Why am I not surprised that she “doesn’t do” whimsy?
Kelsey being unfavorably compared in age (and maybe maturity) to her Girl Scout helper had to have been rough.
Shane going was the best choice - good food but he pretty much ignored his helper. I knew it wasn’t looking good for him when Bobby Flay asked him about his theme and it turned out he based his ideal of French living on what he’d read… and then they compared the ‘read it, didn’t live it’ to his “joyless” and “technical” presentation. Ouch.
Due to their comments before the break I thought it might be Lisa going home, which would have been a surprise. She totally shut down any attempt at verbal communication during her presentation and Rachel bailed her out. If she does that again, she’s toast.
They did a great job of setting up this episode… every contestant has had a flaw exposed, so it was never certain who was “safe.” Aaron did great… he finally found his voice, and he was really good with his helper. (And yeah, dude, turning your back is a bad idea… you could have just said “We washed our hands before we came out.”)
Adam redeemed himself with a good dish and an easy demeanor on camera. He was natural with the little girl and had a good flow. I think of how FN mostly uses Guy Fieri on the diner show, and I could see him doing a show where he interviews cooks, or travels around. His “emotional breakthrough” was much more sensical and real-seeming that Aaron’s bizarre confession about his runaway son a few weeks back that seemed to come from left field.
I was surprised to see Kelsey flame out so badly this week… I don’t think she was quite that bad; it seemed fair game to get Ray Ray involved.
I really thought Lisa was toast. As the judges noted, she did indeed steamroll the little girl into doing what she wanted to cook. And it seemed as if she clammed up halfway through the demo and left Ray Ray hanging with her questions. I don’t think I could handle 30 minutes of Lisa squinting at me on a show. (My disdain is probably colored by the fact that I finally caught the first show, where she was absolutely horrible.)
Two things that grated: Aaron taking the torch from Jennifer about how he was on the show “for his kids” - let’s retire that rationale and motivation from all reality shows, shall we? - and the cringe-inducing Alltel commercial that was on about five times during the show. First, what the hell is up with the wizard thing? Couldn’t a wizard magically communicate without a crummy wireless plan? And they got rid of the old Sprint guy and replaced him with this guy who looks like he’s wearing an Afro wig and has way-too-thick eyebrows. Fuck you, Chad, and your third-rate cellphone carrier!
ETA did anyone notice that Ray Ray seemed quite subdued, maybe even bored with the contestants? Maybe she heard the comments they made about Kelsey… I also think that the judges seem to have a hard-on for criticism. They pretty much rip everyone, but don’t seem quite as willing to hand out compliments.
Well, this episode shows that I was entirely wrong with my post last week..
Adam and Aaron brought their game, working with the girls and showing their personalities on camera. And their dishes were good, too. I’ve always liked both of them, and was a little disappointed when they seemed to be floundering. I think Adam will get knocked out soon because his food doesn’t seem to be up to snuff. It’ll be hard for the food network to put on a guy after five or six weeks of the judges bitching about the quality of his cooking. Aaron could find his groove, though.
The three heavy hitters from the prior weeks wound up on the chopping block! I still think Lisa has a good shot, possibly to go all the way. With her control freak tendencies, she doesn’t do well in the unscripted contest segments, but I think she could do OK if she had her own show where she got to select the format and lay everything out. She does have to learn to pull her shit together when things start running even a little off the rails, though. And enough with that tear down the cheek shit at judging – we all know Vulcans only cry when it is logical to do so.
But this week the kiddies were shown to be kiddies, particularly when compared to the girl scouts. The judges have been harping on projecting authority, and neither of them did, which is a shame for Shane, who seems to know his stuff, at least technically. Kelsey showed that the cheerleader didn’t do as well at cheerleading as she could have. Like I said before, I don’t understand what she would have to show the world as the host of a show. I think Adam and she will be the next two knocked off, with Lisa and Aaron in the final.
(HH, I think RayRay was subdued because she wanted the contestants to lead their segments, except when she stepped in and picked up the ball.)
Exactly. RR already has a show. The contestants had to show they could carry their own weight.
In the end, it was the right decision. Reading Bob’s blog, the details come out. It was going to be Kelsey that bit it this week, but Shane stepped up and took the hit instead. I still think that Adam can’t carry a show on his own. Aaron has the cooking chops, but not the TV skills. The Vulcan may be the last alien standing.
My satellite kept going in and out and I was so frustrated I gave up at 10:50. So it was Shane? Drat. I was hoping he would go farther. I thought Rachael Ray talked over him a little too much, that he didn’t need rescuing when she started to dominate.
Very pleasantly surprised by how well Adam did, on the snippets I could see between >satellite signal has been lost< . And Aaron’s pizza was a mess!
I can’t stand Lisa. There is absolutely nothing appealing about her, and there isn’t any type of show (save this one) that featured her that I would watch.
I think a show with Kelsey and Shane would be fun to watch-- both young, blonde, attractive. He’d be the stiff technical guy, she’d be the perky one always trying to get him to loosen up. Gear it toward young people, and put it on in the afternoons. Call it “After School with Shane and Kelsey.”
I thought it was a mistake. They gave Shane a tree stump to work with.
I couldn’t believe the judges going on and on about how good that pizza was. “It was spiced perfectly!” one of them chirped. Well, it was from a frigging jar of off the shelf pizza sauce. The producers should have intervened.
Apparently Lisa is having a meltdown over yesterday’s portrayal of her ineptitude on the RR show.
Just realized that I now know who Bob looks like. Remember this guy?
Wow. Spot on.
I remain unimpressed with all the contestants. I don’t find any of them credible as either cooks or television personalities. Top Chef is a much better show.
No, Shane turned her into a tree stump. He failed to connect to her. Or to Rachel. Or to the audience. Or to me. According to the judges, he may be a good cook - but he’s not a good presenter of cooking, and he needs to have that skill in order to be TNFNS.
Vulcan girl, no, the child did not buy in on any of her suggestions. Not that they were bad suggestions, but lying about how the kid was really, really, really into it wasn’t a good thing. Especially when there’s videotape.
After the handwashing mistake, Aaron did a good job. As did Adam. I still find Kelsey quite annoying - but I can see how some people might watch her, hell, someone watches the Neelys.
I’m a few days behind as we just got caught up on this episode last night. I was wondering what Bob’s blog was, silenus. Is it the food netword addict site?
I was pleasantly surprised that Aaron seemed to finally kick it into gear but I was amazed by Lisa shutting down. I wasn’t expecting that at all.
No, it’s official. Here. Susie’s V-log is kinda interesting as well.
Thanks for the link, silenus. 
I have to say after getting the chance to see Lisa’s segment on the RR site, I came away with an entirely different opinion on her performance. I’m disappointed to see the Food Network was so heavy handed with their editing. I realize that RR likely edited in Lisa’s favor but the way it was presented by Food Network made it seem that the vast majority of Lisa’s four minutes were of her standing there tight-lipped and occasionally smiling.
I understand that reality shows are heavily edited but this show is more about someone’s career than some stupid who’s sleeping with whom crap show. I’ll probably watch the rest of the season but I doubt I’ll be watching next year.