Despite my issues with this season, this elimination challenge I had no problem with.
The had to pedal a couple of blocks to a outdoor market, then find a restaurant that was pre-marked on the maps they had been given, make their food and ride a few more blocks to the Alamo. The Alamo isn’t in some far off location on the plains, it is in the middle of downtown San Antonio. I doubt if they were ever more than a half-mile away from the Alamo at any point in the challenge. This theory is bolstered by the fact that not one of the chefs even broke a sweat during the bike ride.
On “Watch What Happens Live”, Tom said it was easy to stay impartial during judging because they had so little personal interaction with the chefs. Aside from the short segments you see on camera, there really isn’t any interactions between the chefs and judges.
I haven’t cared for Hugh as a judge, but I’ve grown to really enjoy his blog.
Still miss Tom’s though. Unlike most his is less recap than insight into the episode.
This episode seems to blast my “LCK is filmed a month or two after initial filming” theory to smithereens. It sure seems like they actually filmed it during the filming of the show, but did stuff like the Thanksgiving episode so that it would sync up with what was happening IRL when the show was put online. Still seems like Tom is a bit more spry during the LCK episodes but I withdraw my theory.
It took nine seasons, but they finally brought out the cheftestants mentors. I’ve often wondered why they haven’t been doing this all along. Great idea for an EC and the chefs could work whatever they wanted without gimmicks. I’m sure cooking for their mentors added pressure to cook the best food of their lives.
I get the impression that at least two of the final 5 chefs (Beverly, Ed) had moved on to other jobs. But they still seemed happy to see their mentors.
I was surprised that one chef took immunity over the car. They offered choices like this before (car or money) and the chefs choose to compete and take the prize. Even Paul said he’d compete because that’s the proper way to make the Finals.
<shrug) I’m not sure totally sure. But, I think this lady was the first chef that choose not to compete. Not exactly a great way to make the finals. Its her loss because she could have made her mentor proud and represented the food he cooks and taught her.
I can’t really recall how many times this was offered in other seasons. I “think” Michael Volt was offered a prize and immunity. He turned it down IIRC.
The episode pissed me off. Ok, so Sarah took immunity. While it’s not ultra competitive of her, I can see the point of coming that far and then going home over the stupidest mistake.
But when it was time for the challenge and she chose not to participate? That annoyed me. Hello? She could have won the car. Sure, she’s probably tired, but that annoyed me more than the immunity. And everyone rags on Beverly. If Beverly is so bad, that would have been one less person to defeat, right?
I don’t particularly like Beverly, but they are too rude to her/about her.
I knew Ed was going home the second he went for canned food. It’s like he’s never seen an episode of the show.
That season with Jennifer, Kevin, and the brothers was like… well, they were all so good and memorable that any one of them could have won any other season. This season? I don’t even remember their names half the time WHILE i’m watching it. It’s not so bad that I won’t watch it again, but it was not the best season. A good example of how it sucks is that the quickfire challenge itself was so stupid last night. So contrived. They couldn’t just blindfold them and lead them to a table. They had to let them stumble around the kitchen. Dial it down, please. Some of the challenges have really good, but when they are just too comically unrealistic, it turns me off.
Bev is absolutely no good in team challenges. And she seems to have a constant need for affirmation. Both of those factors combined to make her not all that popular amongst her fellow contestants.
That said when she works alone she can put out some good food. At least good Asian food, her willingness to stretch in other directions seems limited.
As for Sara taking the immunity, I think there’s a difference between taking immunity along the way and taking immunity to make it to the final four.
Well, I hope Paul ends up with the win this year. I will be very disappointed if Sara wins. Taking immunity and then choosing not to compete just does not sit well with me. Where is her competitive spirit?
Was Sara given the choice not to compete? I thought she was told that if she took immunity she would not participate.
Gail posted in her EW blog (can’t find the link right now) that Paul’s soup was the best thing she has ever been served on Top Chef. I think he is going to win the season in a walk and the editors are doing everything they can to hide the fact that he is significantly more talented than the other remaining chefs.
That was my understanding as well. Although even so, she would have been stupid not to take a night of rest while she could. This season has been one endurance challenge after another. I was surprised that she showed up for the stew room.
This is the biggest problem with this season. The challenges have been too brutal and the chefs had to settle for cooking bad food because of it. They’ve proven that they can cook some amazing food when they’re not under onerous constraints like in Charlize Theron’s dinner or the last episode (excepting the dinner party, for which they had no excuse).
I never understood why everyone gets all over Bev for “always” cooking Asian- considering that’s a pretty damn big region to draw from. It’s like getting all over someone for “always” cooking European cuisine; it doesn’t really mean anything in the end. And as far as I can see, Bev’s dishes are always pretty diverse; if they weren’t, I doubt she’d have gotten this far.
Anyway, that’s my rant. Other than that, I’m rooting for Bev, just 'cause she’s the underdog, and if not, then Paul, because he’s the least annoying of the remaining chefs.
I was thinking this made some sense, but don’t they take a break after this challenge? I know they’ve been surprised before but it seems that once you’ve made it that far you’ll be in.
I think Paul should probably win. But I do really like Bev a lot. It would have been bizarre if they spent so much of the show portraying all the good and bad blood between her and other contestants to not have her come back on from LCK.
Although guessing solely on reading the web interview with Bev when she was off the show,
I got a strong impression that she didn’t win the whole thing.
I’ve never liked contestants trash talking each other. And that seems to escalate every season.
Looking back, my favorite contestants in past seasons were the NICE guys: Carla Hall, Richard Blais. I remember Richard passing on a challenge win to Stepanie in Wedding Wars, because her cake baking skills helped their team win the challenge. Richard was free with any information to anyone. Carla would give a helping hand when people needed it. Neither one of them trash talked.
I don’t like it when it is obvious some challenges are fixed. The season with the Voltaggio brothers was orchestrated so that the two brothers would be finalists.
The “Let’s Beat up Beverly” theme to this season is there for a reason.
~VOW
I’m really not liking the previews for next week. Making the chefs cook outdoors in the snow in the semi final? Whats up with that?
Usually the semi-final and final are legitimate cooking challenges. They should be beyond the reality show crap by now. This cast has already endured some tough outdoor challenges in extreme Texas heat. Now they have to clear snow to cook? That’s just not right.