The pressure really seems to be getting to Paul. He seems to have lost a little confidence. Sara and Lindsey both seem to thrive on pressure. They both are doing better.
I’m a bit disappointed that Lindsay went home. At least, these three genuinely liked each other. Its nice having a semi-final without drama. Lindsay is a little more inexperienced than Sara. Its not surprising that Sara and Paul are the ones in the final.
Paul needs to settle down. He was so calm in Texas. I think they get a month or so off before the live final? That should be plenty to rest and focus. Paul looked like he gained some weight in the previews. Maybe another sign that his nerves are out of control?
I’m so glad that Lindsay is gone! I only wish she had gone before Bev.
Mean people suck.
It was telling how Sarah almost broke down when she saw a friendly face (Takashi.) We can say they like each other from the outside looking in, but these folks are obviously really feeling their isolation from family and friends.
I am completely rooting for Paul.
Oh, GAWD, END this and put us all out of our misery! WHY do we have to drag it out one more freakin’ week?
Other seasons of TC have had three go into the final battle, with one emerging as TC. This year, along with the brain dead challenges and the bitter rivalry, has certainly become The Thing That Wouldn’t Die.
Shit.
~VOW
Exactly. I thought this was going to the finale with three chefs. Why bother with another catering challenge to narrow it down to two?
I was not amused when I realized it was not over last night and this continues AGAIN.
Worst season, by far.
I really think it’s unfortunate so many people feel this way about this season. While I agree the Texas theme hasn’t worked very well, I do think there have been some very talented chefs on this season. I also think Last Chance Kitchen was a very interesting addition.
Different strokes I guess.
Top Chef has jumped the shark. If Sarah wins I’m going to throw things.
I’ll help you.
~VOW
I don’t understand this. Why do you think she is undeserving? She made it through the competition to the final. Is it that you don’t like her personality? Because she definitely has the skill and talent.
In ANY endeavor, a person possessing true skill and talent can excel on the skill and talent ALONE. There is no need to trash talk, bad mouth, gossip, demean, or embarrass a competitor.
This is a cooking competition, NOT cage fighting.
The most enjoyable Top Chef or any other cooking competition has been when the participants respect and admire each other, and are polite to one another and even help each other when they get “in the weeds.”
Two of my favorite past TC competitors are Richard Blais and Carla Hall, for the above reasons.
~VOW
Y’all be sure to invite Bo, OK? It would absolutely mean the world to him. . . 
At what point in this season did anyone, much less Sarah, advance for any reason other than skill or talent? Do you have an example because I haven’t see it.
You realize these shows are edited to play up the drama? I don’t think there has been any season of Top Chef where the things you mention haven’t been present.
I don’t deny there has been tension between several contestants and Beverly but to put this all on Sarah is odd. Early on Heather was the only one who seemed to have a conflict with Bev. Then suddenly as soon as Heather was gone they make Lyndsey and Sarah the ones who have a problem with her. I think the producers were playing things up.
Even if Sarah really is guilty of the things you say, I still don’t see how that has anything to do with her skills as a chef. A person doesn’t get to be the executive chef of a Michelin starred restaurant at the age of 28 with out having serious skill.
There’s an interesting attitude toward Asian cooking that, in my opinion, sometimes colors competitions like this, and that has been exemplified by Sara this season.
When they ended up in Chinatown in Vancouver, she made a comment about how Asian food “is not my forte,” and also said that she was glad that Beverly had gone home, because “she would have nailed it.” Sara was also complaining all through the season about how Beverly cooked Asian food at every opportunity.
And yet, in this week’s challenge, Sara once again cooked Italian food, which is something that she did at every single opportunity throughout the season.
Why is it that when a chef takes every opportunity to cook Asian food, it is so often criticized as somehow unfair or unadventurous, but when someone who works in an Italian restaurant cooks Italian food every chance they get, there is no such concern?
Hasn’t this more or less been a trend throughout the series? I seem to recall Ilan getting knocked for always making Spanish food (he worked at Casa Mono). During Season 4 when Rick Bayless was a guest judge at least one contestant (Spike?) was dissing Mexican cuisine and actually said something like it could never be fine dining.
Those are just two examples off the top of my head but it doesn’t surprise me some people will fall back on a style or cuisine they are comfortable cooking. At the same time others will criticize them for repetition. Marcel = foam, for example. I’m pretty sure Mike Isabella got razzed for going with Italian more often than not. Fabio, too. Blaise and his liquid nitrogen. Carla making Southern dishes. And so on…
With regard to the “Bev ALWAYS cooked Asian” complaint, and Sara’s Italian not being similiarly criticized: IMO, Americans have intergrated Italian, along with Southern comfort food, into American cuisine. We haven’t intergrated Asian or Molecular Gastronomy as easily, so those styles get critized.
Paul usually does Asian food though and I would lay odds that he will win. Sarah has shown herself to be mean spirited and I don’t like to see mean people win.
I was horrified when it dawned on me that there was another episode. I won’t watch it, I’ll read the result and either be sad that Sarah won or glad that Paul won, and that will be the end of my Top Chef experience. This is the first season I employed the FF button throughout judging, and the last season I’ll bother to watch. Just awful.
This!
While I absolutely agree with this statement, once a chef achieves a goal, he or she had better not stop learning. The chef world is a competitive one, and the moment you think you’ve clawed your way to the top of the heap, you’re dead.
Sarah has a little too much arrogance. She’s elaborated several times how Tony Mantuano sent her to Italy for x months, and how well she knows Italian food. Twice she’s prepared risotto, and TWICE she’s been judged that the risotto was undercooked. Her response is that she knows how to cook risotto, she’s been to Italy, and that’s the judge’s opinion, blah blah blah.
IMHO, a winner doesn’t tell a judge, “You are wrong and I am so right.”
~VOW