Top Chef (2-Dec) - OPEN SPOILERS

Seconded. If it had been on for 2 hours, then they’d have a leg to stand on, but not so much now.

I think this was a case of bad editing. I don’t think they were trying to surprise us so much as botched it. If Tom in is blog is saying her two dishes were way too salty, that wasn’t conveyed during the broadcast. To me, what was conveyed was one was a little too salty and whichever V brother’s was far worse.

i was hoping he’d go home because then I would finally be able to tell them apart.

They both look like Logan Echolls from Veronica Mars too.

I was so looking forward to seeing a cute, pregnant Padma (like she was on 30 Rock), but she looked terrible.

Don’t worry about Jen, she’s the alpha bitch at one of the best restaurants in the country. I want to make a poster of her in that bikini from a couple episodes ago and hang it on my wall for inspiration! But seriously, she’s a really formidable chef, sometimes the bias just won’t spin. She’s a woman, so the fuck what, it don’t matter to her, it don’t matter at all in the kitchen… she was one of the best.

I am sorry to say this, but I thought the same thing, it makes me wonder about her and her baby’s health. Most pregnant women glow… she just… I don’t know. Anemic maybe?

Aren’t pregnant women supposed to avoid certain soft cheeses like goat’s cheese? Was she eating the cheese in the two dishes with the goat cheese in them.

There’s a slight risk of listeria, but only if it’s raw. Cooking it kills it, supposedly (or pasteurizing it).

Completely agree.

Personally, i’d prefer it to be a show about talented, up-and-coming chefs. If they want to do a show about established pros, i’d probably watch that too, but having such a clear gulf in the talent pool, like they did this season, makes the whole thing rather dull.

I find that I’m getting more and more reliant on Tom’s blog to have a clue on what’s happening. It’s getting annoying.

I thought the same thing, but upon further review I have decided it is the hair. Her hair in this episode is just awful for her. If the stylist softened those bangs a little (or brushed them aside even) I think we would see much more of that pregnancy glow.

I wondered how she could continue judging while pregnant for this reason. Not only the soft cheeses, but a lot of the other foods that are best avoided by expectant mothers and the very real possibility of being served undercooked (or raw) meats and seafood (intentional or not).

When Padma continued the gig despite the pregnancy I started thinking maybe it is a situation where ‘the poison is in the dose’. She never seems to have more than a mouthful or two of any given dish, so maybe such small quantities are not as much of a risk or are an acceptable (to her) risk.

Gail’s blog is up now. She says outright that Jennifer would have won any previous season (which by extension probably means any of this season’s final four would have won any previous season):

It’s the editing. They’re trying to maximize the drama and the surprises. If the judges all knew instantly that Jennifer was done, that’s not very exciting, so they glossed over the fact that both her dishes were really oversalted, and focused on the various failings of Michael’s dishes to make it sound like both of them were in trouble. And looking back on it there’s probably been a bunch of this all season.

That’s the editors’ job, though. If it was obvious from the beginning who was going on, we might not stay until the end and it worked on me. I wasn’t planning to stay up and watch the entire episode because I know I’ll be able to see it again umpteen times, but I did. I kind of like the way they’ve given someone the traditional loser’s edit, complete with a call home, only to have that person finish in the middle or top. If chefs are expected to polish their craft when they put it on display and have it suitable admired, why not editors?

I’ll miss Jen, though.

It’s television and I realize the demands involved. I’d prefer they edit things in a way that keeps it interesting without totally misleading the people watching the show. Some fudging on a concept like “loser edits” is one thing - that’s just the impression I get based on knowing the tells of the show. If you mislead me about the way the competition is going I’m not sure why I care about the way it ends.

Exactly.

A bit of creative editing for drama is one thing; editing in a way that actually misrepresents the most crucial aspects of the show is something else altogether. Between this, and the imbalance between the great chefs and the average chefs on this year’s show, i’ll be watching the first couple of episodes next season with a somewhat jaundiced eye, and will be ready to ditch the show if it plays out the same way again.

It wouldn’t be vegan with egg in it. Egg’s fine for (ovo-)vegetarian dishes.

It does sound like the right person went home. I wish that there would be a “debriefing” commentary after the boot where, say, Colicchio says something like “in the end, the extreme oversaltiness of Jennifer’s dishes was a far worse failing than…” or whatever. As it’s done now, it leaves too many people going WTF?!

And I don’t care what Gail says, I’m still a Stephanie fangirl. :smiley:

In that episode, he indicates that $30K is almost as much as he makes in a year. Is that really in the range of a higher end chef?

I’m happy with the final 3, and would love to see either Kevin, or the “Relaxed brother V” (older one?) win. I’m looking forward to the final episode!

Kevin owns his own restaurant I think, so… considering a lot of restaurants just fail outright or struggle along, at least he’s making that much.

“Relaxed bro V” is Bryan.

I’m rooting for Kevin, but it will probably be a final showdown between the Voltaggio brothers. That is obviously where they are leading us. Stupid Bravo… (shakes fist)! It’s a frikkin’ joke, if Bryan Voltaggio wins, mark my post… the fix is in.

For a fairly new resteraunteur that is a very good profit.

And once again I only manage to catch up right before the end, but at least I’m caught up!

I think the V brothers are great, and love watching them. I also think they’re androids masquerading as human brothers. I don’t really buy the good brother evil brother schtick. I also think if you flipped a light on in the middle of the night you’d find them both standing there motionless like a Terminator in stand-by mode.

Padma creeps me out pregnant or not. Can’t imagine her even handling a baby without rubber gloves & tongs.

Kevin looks like Santa’s head elf. His food must really taste amazing though, because how else could you get excited over a couple carrots and a beet?

Overall I’ve really enjoyed the season, but the personalities last season were more fun.