This episode right here? This is why I continue to write about Top Chef. Because sometimes there’s just no other way for this fan to process what she’s just seen.
Everything’s spoilery, so everything’s in the comments.
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I am abandoning my usual list format because there’s really only one issue I want to talk about.
YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME WITH THIS ELIMINATION AAAAAAARRGH!!! We all wanted to see Josie go, but no, it’s Kristen instead. Restaurant Wars continues its streak of eliminating some of my favorite contestants.
Why, Kristen, WHY? Why didn’t you tell them that Josie continued her long streak of horrible time management? That she promised to do things like start the broth the night before and then flat-out didn’t do them? Yes, Kristen took on too much responsibility for everything, but that bouillabaisse was the biggest reason they lost, and the fact that it sucked was almost entirely Josie’s fault.
I admire Kristen for standing tall and saying it was her responsibility as Executive Chef, but … holy crap, woman. It’s not throwing someone under the bus to tell the truth and say “Josie had issues with time management.” It’s not like the judges don’t know Josie’s time management sucks.
A few more thoughts.
* Stefan’s service must have been really terrible to put the teams that close, because it seemed clear to me that Urbano’s food was a much bigger hit with the judges than Atelier Kwan’s.
* I am now 100% on Team Brooke. Anyone else want a Team Brooke t-shirt?
* I’m also a Sheldon fan. I was happy to see him get the win – I really admire people who consistently keep their cool when things start getting weird.
* Run-down of the remaining contestants: aside from Brooke, I don’t think anyone’s a slam-dunk finalist. Sheldon’s incredibly talented and I’m pulling for him to keep going, but I wonder what will happen if he’s forced to do something out of his comfort zone. Josie’s going just as soon as the judges can’t think of a reason to eliminate someone else … which might mean she makes the finale, given her streak. Lizzie’s talented but seems like she’s exhausted and sick of this competition. Josh could end up being the dark horse finalist who everybody secretly thinks doesn’t belong in the finals (unless Josie takes that slot). Stefan hasn’t had strong showings lately but could pull it through to his second Top Chef finale.
* And, on Last Chance Kitchen, Kristen wins! Here’s hoping she cooks her way back into the finals. She deserves to be there. If that happens, I will forgive the existence of LCK.
I was so frustrated with Josie last night. It seemed to me she was dragging her feet on doing things because she took offense in being told what to do. Like, oh you think you can cook this to order, let me show you why that’s not going to work, instead of trying to do what she could to MAKE IT WORK. She is so frustrating.
I was really happy to see a lesser known cuisine get it’s day in the spotlight last night. Though I have to say, that was the first time balut looked even remotely appetizing to me. Sheldon’s menu looked fun and heartfelt and the guys obviously had better chemistry working together than the girls did.
What I can’t figure out is, how the heck did she think she could plate anything in advance given that she was behind on her prep from the word go?! My eyes bugged out of my head when she talked about “good food takes time” and brushed off Kristen’s questions about when the broth was going to be done — didn’t she realize she was setting the team up for disaster? Also, I laughed out loud when Josie talked about being a line cook and someone who can “bang it out.” She is spectacularly un-self-aware.
I think you might be right, maybe she was dragging her butt to prove a point to Kristen. I think Tom also hit the nail on the head when he said she was banking on the judges holding the executive chef responsible. Ugh, she’s the worst. The only other contestant I’ve disliked this much was Season 8 Marcel. (Season 2 Marcel gets a temporary pass because his competitors were sociopaths.)
Sheldon’s restaurant did look delicious! I hope good things come out of his stint on Top Chef.
I was so upset at this I could hardly sleep :( I was wishing that you watched live so we could rage together! The poor judges, they were trying SO hard to send Josie home (Gail especially) but after Kristen spoke up it was impossible. I think everyone on the whole show was annoyed by the turn of events. Hands down Kristen gets back on the show- I’m sure the producers will make things “right.” For now, send me one of those Team Brooke shirts!
Ha, if I’d been watching live I probably would have just typed a string of incoherent nonsense syllables on Twitter! Team Brooke t-shirts are now in the design phase. I’m going with lamb-stuffed squid as our logo.
I hated this so much that I devoted an entire blog post in response. Perhaps unfairly so, I blame Padma: http://jesstory.wordpress.com/2013/01/20/my-character-assassination-of-padma-lakshmi/
Haha
That being said, I wouldn’t get the team Brooke t-shirts out too quickly since Kristen could still come back! What am I saying could- WILL!!! Although, I like the lamb-stuffed squid idea. . . :P
So how many contestants will Kristen have to beat in LCK to get back to the finale? If they follow the Season 9 formula, they’ll have 3 contestants and then bring back the LCK winner. So three more eliminations, three more wins? Kristen can totally do that!
I think so too! And wouldn’t it just be the best if the next person eliminated was Josie and they got to go head to head??? Drool