I was sad to see Dale go. I thought Dale and Richard was the best pairing up this season (if you recall the perplexed tofu) and I just kept waiting to see them co-work again. Stephanie and Dale or Richard was also very solid, but there was something about the individuality of both Richard and Dale together that I really liked.
I felt like Dale couldn’t win this competition. When he didn’t criticize his team mates, Anthony Bourdain thought he was a bad executive chef and wanted to see him fired. When he *did *criticize them, they backlashed. What is a man to do?
Dale got screwed, no doubt. He is light years ahead of Spike and Lisa in culinary talent. I will shoot myself if Spike or Lisa wins next week. Just kidding Mods.
My guess is Dale got the boot because of the bad behavior he exhibited on several occasions. Like after the quickfire challenge a few weeks ago where they had to clean an artichoke, make mayo, etc. and he punched the locker(?), wall or whatever so hard that you saw it was bent afterward and Tom actually jumped and looked startled. Plus, he was the exec. chef on this challenge. People who exhibit scary behavior don’t last on this show; think about how Cliff got stuck with the blame in the “let’s shave Marcell’s head” incident from season 2 when the other 3 were arguably just as responsible. His sin was for acting on what all four of them had planned.
I agree Dale is more talented than either Lisa or Spike. But doesn’t having them still be around make for better drama and thus better T.V.? And don’t forget, it isn’t just a judges decision; I am pretty sure one of the disclaimers that flys by pretty fast at the end states that the decision of the judges is made in consultation with the producers. We just don’t see that debate. Having those two stay around certainly makes it more likely to keep the ratings up, don’t you think?
Wow. If you look at this thread and the TWOP boards, there’s pretty consistent hate for Lisa. She’s done a fine job of showing her ass to America. I haven’t been watching the show consistently but I remember the one when Dale went off on Lisa after the judges’ meeting. She seems like a really unpleasant person, and when you add in the sneering and tattling, there’s not much positive there, is there?
I think Dale will be able to leverage his experience on Top Chef into something very positive in his career. I’m not sure who will want to hire Lisa, even if she does get further than Dale in the competition. She can’t cook and she can’t get along with people.
Oh wait. She might be a good fit for the next season of Hell’s Kitchen!
I’m sure we all have, but Dale’s reactions to Lisa’s negativity actually annoyed me much more than Lisa’s actual negativity. Whining and tantrums are no more appealing than constant bitching and complaining.
I just read the recaps on TWOP and added it up. Lisa has been in the bottom on 4 Quickfires and 5 Eliminations (admittedly, one of the eliminations was Wedding Wars, and she had the better cake). It’s time she was gone.
Just ran across this. Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Me thinks Top Chef has sold out for the rating and needs to just stop pretending to be about the cooking any longer.
Of course, I think we as viewers need to distance ourselves a bit more from the show than the blogger in your link does. We only get served a heavily edited version of whatever happened in any case.
I have also been reading LeeAnn’s blog on the Bravo website as she gets to see some behind the scenes stuff and she commented that yes, Dale can be rather intense during the competitions but he’s a nice guy otherwise, just very passionate about food. The only thing she said about Lisa is that she is really as negative as she comes off on the show.