TOP CHEF Spoilers

[filkertom]

Another busy morning, and honestly I'm not feeling great. So, if you want the full recap of the first part of the Season 5 Finale, Toyouke has your hook-up.

That said, I think the Quickfire Challenge was bullshit. Bring back the last three chefs who were eliminated to give them a chance to get back into it, just because this season was really competitive? Yeah, it was competitive, and those chefs (at least two of whom I wanted in the Final Four, remember) lost, they were gone, end of story. Bluntly, I was glad Jeff didn't win, just because I don't like this new rule.

And this season has had such great challenges, too.

On the other hand, GO CARLA! The guest judge was Emeril Lagasse (oh, and, Gail's back, hubba hubba) -- and, with all the other chefs, um, kicking it up a notch, Carla's dish was universally praised, and she not only goes to the finale, she wins a car. And if they decided to make it a tradition that the winner of the Final Four gets a car (you may recall that Richard got one last year), kewl.

So. Everyone kicked a decent to amazing amount of ass, they all were praised, but someone had to go, and it was Fabio. Probably the correct choice -- Hosea really is trying, although I don't think he can win it all. I am truly wondering if Carla just might pull it off. Stefan's cockiness seems to be catching up with him, so much so that Tom Colicchio mentioned it.

Next week: All the marbles.

Thoughts?

Comments

[twfarlan.livejournal.com]

I heard that Emeril was going to be a guest judge and thought, "If he says 'Bam!' when he eliminates someone, I'm going to go on a spree."

I had an inkling

[sffilk.livejournal.com]

that it'd be Fabio and Jeff leaving. Saying that, Jeff's food was better than almost everyone else's.

[jss]

Luckily, the guest judge just announces the winner (in this case, Carla) and Padma's the one to tell the loser to "pack [their] knives and go." No bammage.

Based on what we saw on-screen, I think both were the right decision. Because Carla fried her beignets to order, they were still piping hot, which is essential for a good beignet; because she poached the oyster topper for her stew to order, it was perfectly cooked. Her drink also wasn't too sweet (unlike her competitors), regardless of being alcohol-free. Fabio's food was a little overcooked and still managed to be cold for the judges, despite him cooking it to order for them, and his drink smelled better than it tasted. According to the blogs, Jeff's food tasted like the sterno he had warming the chafing dishes, so he was also going home.

Now if Jeff's sterno hadn't taste-contaminated his food, it might have been Carla, Jeff, and Hosea in the finale... which would have been a travesty since (a) I'm with Tom about once-gone, stay-gone, and (b) Stefan's cocky and overconfident but for the most part the guy can cook. His gumbo wasn't bad, it just paled in comparison to the other two gumbos; his beignet wasn't bad, but it was served closer to room-temperature and Carla's tasted better.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Like I said, I'm good with Jeff not being in the final, exactly because of the once-gone, stay-gone thing. But, as mentioned below, I'm open to the notion if they give us some freakin' foreshadowing.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Don't care about Top Chef one way or another, but I hope you feel better soon.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

A little better. A lot of it is stress, which I'm hoping to clear up by next Wednesday.

[rook543.livejournal.com]

HERETIC!!!!

[bedlamhouse]

I was very unhappy Stefan didn't go and think that was a producer influenced choice (they say outright that the eliminations are done in consultation with the producers). While Fabio missed the mark, Stefan simply didn't give a crap about whether he was hitting it or not.

The final challenge will be the "cook whatever you want" and Stefan will shine and win the whole thing. Grrrrr.

Regarding the "second chance", I am all in favor of it when the player has such a large hurdle to overcome. I've seen it in the other competition shows, particularly in "Project Runway", and I think it works well when the returning competitors are solid.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

As joshuwain says below, I'm better with it if there's some advance notice. I tell ya, though, I'm not so sure Stefan will win it all. Carla learns much more from her few mistakes (a hallmark of Hung, who won Season 3), and she tends to do simple, lively dishes that everyone loves. I suppose Hosea has a chance, but he too suffers from overconfidence. Stefan has been making technical gaffes the past few shows, and all he needs is one at the wrong time to send Carla over the top.

[joshuwain.livejournal.com]

Actually, Tom, in this I'd like to disagree with you on one point. I really enjoyed the idea of bringing back the last three competitors for a chance to go for the gold one last time. In many ways, I've had a problem with one, basic tenet of Top Chef: that one stumble can cost someone the title.

I've often felt that the pure "marathon" approach to Top Chef is a bit unfair and favors drama over skill: even the Jaques Pepin's of the world have really, really off days. I'd like to see them compete but also get a second bite at the apple should things go terribly south. To give those who were really talented a second shot at it not only forces the final four to additionally put out even more of their skills at the end but it additionally shows more of a nod towards accepting skill over a run of uninterrupted luck, y'know?

The only thing I would have preferred would have been if they had announced this early-on in the competition: letting the cheftestants know that if they did well enough they may be able to have a second crack at it, later on.

This also gave the oh-so-pretty-pretty Jeff (who I'm still swooning over) another chance to prove that he could learn from his mistakes, and try again. I was very pleased that while he didn't win, he did prove to himself and the viewers that he could scale back his creative muses and produce really excellent cuisine. What got him in trouble during the competition was over-thinking and over-trying. This time? He simplified! Good on Jeff! He may not have won but the praise by the judges certainly made him a winner in the eyes of those watching ... that's gotta be justification enough for anyone! :)

But all that said, let me close by saying:

GO CARLA!

Yours,
Sylvan (Dave)

(Whatta ya think, sirs?)

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I'm a fan of Jeff, and, yeah, he overthought his stuff -- his riff the whole season has been trying to do one thing too many -- but The Man Can Cook. I hope he goes on to bigger and better. I hope most of this season's crew goes on to bigger and better.

And, y'know, you're right -- if they had made some announcement at the beginning of the season that part of the finale would consist of a second chance for some people, I'd be better with it. Not good, mind you, but better.

I am frickin' in love with Carla. Can we get her to conventions?

[joshuwain.livejournal.com]

Ooohhh! I would SO want to see her cater a GoH luncheon! (I'm on the Con-Comm for CONvergence, so I'm selfishly thinking I could benefit from such an arrangement... Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Ahhh... If only!)

[lizard-sf.livejournal.com]

I'd love to see a Dinner Impossible set at DragonCon, even if it would, inevitably, be a lot of "Hey, check out the freaks!" footage...

Anyway, yay, go Carla, and I really think Stefan should have gone home. The whole "I don't care if I win or lose" attitude was, I think, almost insulting to the judges and to the other contestants. I've really enjoyed Carla's slow and steady rise over the past weeks - she was unsure at first, but she seems to have really found herself. I admire her guts in serving a non-alcoholic drink, and having it turn out to be the best one there.

[sffilk.livejournal.com]

I think Stefan and Fabio should've gone home.

Yes,

[sffilk.livejournal.com]

Jeff is good-looking, that's for sure. However, did I miss where he was shirtless during the series? Is he that cute?

Re: Yes,

[joshuwain.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, he is very, VERY cute! Our Dr. Chase is adorable! He's straight, but extremely handsome and good-looking and talented. <sweet-sighs> :)

Re: Yes,

[sffilk.livejournal.com]

ah, the stuff dreams are made of. We sure he's straight?

Re: Yes,

[jss]

Alas, yes.

Check out Amuse-Biatch for screenshots, though. :-)

Re: Yes,

[sffilk.livejournal.com]

I see what you mean. A little more work and that 4-pack could be a six-pack.

[drzarron.livejournal.com]

I've been saying for awhile that Stefan's ego and cockiness would be his undoing and he's proving me right.

If he doesn't get off his high horse, he's toast.

But I got to root for Carla... she's still on a roll, she's calm yet hungry.

[klangley56.livejournal.com]

Sigh. The way they edit this show can make you crazy. I was *sure* Stefan was going home last night--and I badly wanted him to.

I adore Carla and I hope she can pull it out on The Night.

[rook543.livejournal.com]

Like you said, Tom, Fabio was probably the correct choice. If folks don't already, you should hit the TC blogs at Bravo's website. You can read in detail WHY a chef was let go. Tom often points out that while we see a 5 minute discussion, the judgeing often runs HOURS, and the edit for what seems interesting....not necessarily for what tells the story best.

Also, remember that in Season 2, Elia made it to the finals only because Mia quit. If she had not quit, Elia (this is according to Tom and Gail's blogs, would have been sent home). They've brought back contestants before, and I don't think it's a bad thing as it lends to the 'never know what will happen' aspect of the show. I also like that they tempered the bring-back with the stipulation that Jeff had to WIN the challenge. Keeps the idea that he slid into the finals out in my opinion.

[osprey-cat.livejournal.com]

I really, really wanted Stefan to go home. While I think he's a pretty good technical chef, he just doesn't have the passion that I really like about the better top chef contestants. His "if it works, good, if it doesn't, who cares?" comment really irritated me. In a competion like this, you can't be so blase about what your food is like. It just doesn't seem like he's actually trying, or cares to try. Hosea is good, but I think he focuses more on beating Stefan than he does on making his food better.

That said, I absolutely love Carla to bits. When everyone was eating dinner with Emeril, everyone else was going on about how the wanted to beat this person or that person. Carla was talking about how she missed her family and just wanted to do the best she could to make them proud. I've never wanted one person to win Top Chef so badly before. She learns when she makes mistakes, makes good (although often simple) food, and genuinely wants to do as best as she can. So much awesome.

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

I was very happy to see that the judges had a choice between good and better, as opposed to bad and worse; at this stage of the competition, that's what it ought to be.

I was okay with bringing back Jeff, given that he had such a high bar to leap -- and apparently, he nearly did. (I was, however, rooting for Jamie in the Quickfire.)

Stefan had best watch his butt; a chef who takes smoke breaks at this stage in the game is not cooking 100%, and he's now been on the bottom for three consecutive elimination challenges. (ETA: I meant to note that I thought he was specifically saved the last two challenges before the semis, because his overall record was so good. He could easily have gone home in any of those last few weeks. I wouldn't have been surprised if he'd been kicked this week; I got the impression that, like any playoffs, it's a whole new season in New Orleans.)

Carla's stepped up her game at just the right time, and her simple flavors, less-is-more approach is what's consistently impressed the judges over the five seasons of the show. Go, Carla -- kick Team Europe's butt and then stand back so Fabio can continue the job! :-)