TOP CHEF Spoilers

[filkertom]

No time for a full recap today -- if you haven't seen the ep, check out toyouke's recap.

But WOW. One of the most fascinating challenges they've ever had -- recreate some of the dishes of Eric Ripert. And I really thought Leah should've gone home. but Jamie is out of there. Hosea and Carla are good, Fabio can be very good... but I don't see how anyone can beat Stefan now.

Next week: injury and insult.

Thoughts?

Comments

[joshuwain.livejournal.com]

Ok, this is the first time that I thought the judges were seriously waaaaayyyy off-base. I mean, seriously: Jaimie?!!

I trust Tom Collichio when he says that the Producers of "Top Chef" have nothing to do with the final decisions of who stays and who goes; that people who are eliminated are gotten rid of for challenge merit and not drama-merit. I honestly trust that he, Padma, and the other judges judge according to their own criteria each session and aren't judging by who'll sleep with someone ... that the drama comes in thanks to the editors, after the fact.

Still, it's really, REALLY annoying!

I was very frustrated by Jeff's elimination last week but I could at least understand it: he screwed up by over-complicating a dish that -in a direct head-to-head- was just not as good as another chef's dish. I was pretty sure Fabio was going to go away in the previous episode but, well, I could at least comprehend why Jeff was told to pack his knives. I wasn't happy about it (I was rooting for him to go all the way) but I could understand.

Last night, I just could not wrap my brain around why Leah wasn't sent packing.

I'm sure a lot of it had to do with how the editors cut the scene at Judges' table but, still, I'm really miffed!

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Pretty much. They asked the question, "Which is worse: knowing you made a mistake and not fixing it, or not having a clue about what you're trying to do in the first place?" They apparently decided the former, when I would've chosen the latter.

[joshuwain.livejournal.com]

Same here.

Even when Arianne went (another Cheftestant I was rooting for) I could understand it. I mean, I know how the show spends hours and hours in the editing room cutting the scenes together to fake us out, rile us up, and get us emotionally involved in the outcomes. It's just frustrating that it appears so counter to what we were shown.

So if this really was the correct decision, despite what we saw on TV, if I were Collichio, I'd be really pissed at having the Producers portray things so poorly, y'know?

[sffilk.livejournal.com]

Agreed

[mimiheart.livejournal.com]

Exactly.

I just. I watched... and as soon as they asked the question, I knew they were sending Jamie home, because it was the exact opposite of what the answer to the question implied.

[lizard-sf.livejournal.com]

I don't see how Jamie COULD have fixed it, given when she discovered it, etc. She showed she made a procedural error, which, to me, is much less damning than an error of knowledge. Not knowing how to do something is worse, to my mind, than knowing how to do it but slipping up. Apparently, the judges disagreed...

[par-avion.livejournal.com]

Yes!

[joecoustic.livejournal.com]

That's exactly what I said as it was changing over to a preview of next weeks show - "Wow". I'm also (maybe unfairly) wondering if it hurt Jamie to be honest when she told the judges, and especially Eric Ripert that the dish she had to cook was her least favorite of the bunch. I agree that this is a chef's table I would really like to have heard more of.

[lizard-sf.livejournal.com]

This is the second time in a row where Leah clearly messed up more than anyone else, but was allowed to stay. Was it you, Tom, who suggested the producers like the Leah/Hosea romance and are keeping her on for the sake of t3h dramaz?

It continually annoys me that the least likable person in the current cast is also, quite clearly, one of the best cooks. At this stage, I'm rooting for Carla, but I've got the bad feeling Steffan is going to walk away with it.

[jss]

At this point, I'm convinced it's Stefan's to lose. He's pretty much got the title if he doesn't choke (like Richard in S4 or Casey in S3) or, I don't know, get caught on-camera blowing Collichio while Padma pegs him or something. None of the remaining cheftestants — Carla, Fabio, Hosea, or Leah — can outcook him unless the producers throw such an outre challenge that he screws it up.