I don’t believe this for one second; Colicchio himself has said more than once that the producers don’t get a voice in who wins or loses, and he’s got a stellar reputation in the industry.
There’s just too many big-name judges who would refuse to be part of the show if that kind of stuff happened. Chefs tend to have big mouths, big egos, and big opinions; you really think Bourdain, Wylie Dufresne, and all the other bigmouth chefs who have served as judges to keep it quiet if they didn’t think it was a fair competition?
There have been so many poor judging decisions in the past on this show it can be very hard to tell sometimes. Same thing on Project Runway where they let Anya Young Chee win even though she was clearly less than talented at the fundamentals they were allegedly seeking out.
This episode is really cementing my intense dislike of Josie. Ill be amazed if she makes it through the season without a fellow contestant trying to kill her. I’m having a hard time with it and I only have to tolerate her for one hour a week and she isn’t actually in the same room with me.
I’m thinking tonights two winners are being put in an impossible situation. Guest judge says pick someone you can teach to execute your menu. Sure, thats going to work. Those other contestants will forget the game play and do exactly what the Restaurant leader wants. :rolleyes:
It never works out that the other chefs support the leader. They’ll sabotage it anyway they can. Josie especially will do what ever the heck she wants.
It’s fun seeing the difference in CJ. He’s improved so much since appearing back in season 3. Season 3 he had some experience with seafood and that was it. He’s so much more focused now and his skills are much broader. He really wants back in the competition. I know its a long shot that he can continue his winning streak. But I’m really enjoying LCK this season. Hope CJ can pull it off and get back in the competition.
I’m a little disappointed that this far in there are still chefs that clearly are not Top Chef quality (Josie, Stephan.) There also are no clear favorites who are out-performing the rest consistently. Joshua and Brooke are on a bit of a roll, but both started poorly.
In most previous seasons the wheat had been separated from the chaff by now.
Lizzie was an early favorite for me, but she seems to be slipping. Brooke is starting to really stand out. Josie does not belong in this competition. Her laugh is starting to drive me around the bend.
Josie is hanging on by a thread simply because there are people who screw up at a crucial point in a challenge. She’s GOTTA be next, though!
Micah BLEW it with his raw concept. I think it was Season Two when Tom Colicchio blasted a chef for fixing a salad, because he said, “It’s a COOKING competition!”
~VOW
I’d like to strangle Josie during one of her laughs with that headband. Then it could read “Dead Chef Josie.” Argh. She should go soon and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Mr. Mustache either. He’s mostly just sucked, even at his own specialties, plus his attitude sucks. Like John’s did, who got beat put of LCK. Bwahahaha! He certainly ain’t getting back in by audience vote. As to who is leading the pack? I agree that it’s Kristen, with Brooke a distant second. Apparently, they both have some serious chops, so I’d be happy if one of them won. Same goes for Sheldon or Lizzie, but I doubt they’ll make the ultimate cut.
One more thing… I thought a cold soup was always called a gazpacho. However, last night they kept just calling Lizzie’s a cold soup during the quick fire. What gives?
No, gazpacho is a particular kind of cold soup from Spain, usually containing tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, garlic, peppers, and other ingredients, but between it being the most common cold soup in the US and people changing the major ingredients around and just calling it “gazpacho,” the confusion is understandable.
That makes sense then. I’d probably be one of those cooks who’d change the recipe around enough to make it unrecognizable and then still make the mistake of calling it gazpacho. Thanks for the explanation. I’ll try not to do that in the future.
How can you tell they’re the wrong decisions, without tasting the food?
I take Colicchio at his word that they aren’t fixed. He once said (in his blog a few seasons back) that the only time the producers ever overruled him was when he wanted to disqualify everyone after the Marcel head-shaving incident (in season 2).
There have also been plenty of times where potential drama was ended early by one side of a rivalry being sent home (like John this season). If it was fixed, that’s the sort of thing I’d expect them to keep milking as long as possible.
That was an odd Restaurant Wars. Usually RW is basically a team challenge with the Leader having a little more authority. But everyone does their own dish just like any team challenge. This time it was more like a real restaurant. The two Executive Chefs pretty much dictated the menu and treated the others like line chefs. Didn’t really seem fair because the other chef’s butts were still up for elimination if the dish didn’t turn out.
Damn that Josie. I strongly suspect out right sabotage in RW. There’s no way a line chef with her experience could be that bad. I think she deliberately made sure that bouillabaisse wouldn’t be good. She didn’t even start it the day before like Kristan asked. I hate seeing anyone thrown under the bus, but when a chef F ups something this badly then the judges should have been told. Biting your lip and taking the fall for someone else is just not smart.
[SPOILER]LCK became what should have been the final. CJ and Kristan were the two best chefs this season. It would have been one heck of a great final. Instead, they fought it out in LCK.
What a waste of talent. I just can’t see how Kristan won. Her smoker wasn’t even working properly. She seem so frazzled running around the kitchen. CJ was focused as usual and he uses a smoker all the time. How Kristan got the win is beyond me.[/SPOILER]
After watching this episode I just have to say what a bunch of bullshit. Kristen was one of the most talented of this bunch. I don’t like to use the word hate but boy oh boy I really can’t stand Josie.
I still don’t understand why Kristen didn’t say anything. There’s a difference between throwing someone under the bus and simply stating facts. For instance, she could have said, “I had requested Josie make some of the components for her bouillabaisse the day before and she declined. When there wasn’t time to execute it properly, I made an executive decision to forgo the gelatin. However, none of that prevents me from taking the responsibility of not having taken complete charge and insisting her dish be made to my standards. No excuses.” That way, the facts are known and she hasn’t sacrificed anyone for her own gain. It’s just ridiculous that nothing was said, especially when the judges understood what happened.
The one thing I hate about Top Chef is that the judging isn’t cumulative. If that’s been the case, Josie would’ve gone home a long time ago. And one last question… did anyone see the show that follows? Supposedly, Padma was to be confronted by Kristen. So, what was her damage? I’ve never seen Padma so adamant about any contestant and the decision to send them home. She seemed weirdly invested in Kristen leaving.
I watched that (Padma and Kristen afterwards) and Kristen didn’t seem to harbor any bad feelings and continued to say that it was her responsibility. Padma defended her decision by stating that she couldn’t judge on anything but that episode but if she had to pick between Kristen or Josie’s food to eat, she’d much rather eat Kristen’s food.