Top Chef fans check-in!! **spoilers***

[LynneSin]

Seriously, how much longer is Mike going to be given a free ride? I'm glad that Elia didn't get sent home even if it was because Mia took the fall for her. But seriously, I thought the biggest problems on that team wasn't Mia or Elia but Mikes lack of doing anything whatsoever and Cliff's ego. But since Cliff had immunity and Elia was technically the team lead (like Mike actually takes the lead on anything), I guess she would have been the first choice.

I think Sam is going to win it all

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. Sounds exciting - what is Top Chef? I assume it's a reality show about

cooks?

What station airs it? I love shows about cooking - those two series with that loud chef were fantastic!

[bicentennial_baby]

2. It's on Bravo

They're running a marathon as I type this...New episodes Weds. at 10pm :)

[Rabrrrrrr]

4. Cool! Thanks!

[LynneSin]

7. It's from the people who brought you Project Runway

It's actually very well done. They once had to make some fancy appetizer using nothing but a few basic kitchen ingredients and $10 of goodies from the Vending machine

[Maddy McCall]

8. The beach episode was funny.

How ya gonna make a quiche on the beach?

LOL.

[LynneSin]

11. It got rid of Frank for us

Couldn't stand him either and I really didn't want to see Sam or Cliff booted. Although after this week I'm starting to not like Cliff very much. Those guys should have listened to the one person on their team with catering experience - Mia

[Pithlet]

26. Even my husband, who hates most reality TV, watches it with me.

That and Project Runway are the best in RTV, though I hear rumors my beloved Tim won't be coming back to PR!

[bullwinkle428]

10. Bravo TV network airs it. It's a great show - I just started watching

a couple of episodes back, and never saw the first season, about a year ago. I'm assuming you're talking about Gordon Ramsey from "Hell's Kitchen" when you mentioned the "loud chef"...he was hilarious! :rofl:

[Maddy McCall]

3. I cannot stand the guy with the woolverine hair.

Can't recall his name. I just want to slap him everytime he opens his mouth.

[LynneSin]

5. I'm thinking you're talking about Marcel

short pasty guy with the big hair. I couldn't stand him but then I realized I really couldn't stand Betty, his archnemsis. I'm hoping she gets the boot soon

[Maddy McCall]

6. Gawd, I can't stand her, either.

I hope that either of them will go next.

[LynneSin]

9. I'd rather Mike go before either of them

As irritating as Marcel and Betty have become at least they have some skills. Mike couldn't even win a TGIF elimination even though he looks like the chef you'd find behind a TGIF line

[Maddy McCall]

14. Is he the guy who forgot his eggs?

On that beach episode?

Yeah, he's not a capable chef (I'd put my 12 year old up against him), but he's just not as....as...as grating to me as Marcel is.

:D

[LynneSin]

16. Yes he's the one that forgot the eggs

Marcel may be grating but who would you rather have cook dinner for you?

Nuff said

[bullwinkle428]

12. Discussing this on another board - Mia's quitting was totally self-serving

as she's in the catering business, and the idea of her getting the boot on a catering challenge was potentially lethal to her future business...she took the easy road by quitting before they had a chance to cut her.

[LynneSin]

13. True but they edited the show to show the team pretty much ignoring

any advice that Mia try to give. I always really liked Cliff but I think he should have been the one to go home; however, he had immunity

[bullwinkle428]

19. I totally agree that she was being scapegoated by Cliff - she was

not at all the reason the team lost the challenge. Elia made several bad decisions as team leader, and Cliff skated on his immunity, but Mia was thinking that Cliff's comments were "poisoning the well" and the judges would take those comments to heart. She figured the judges saw him as the "golden child", with a number of good performances to date along with the immunity...

Edit to add : Tom's blog stated that they were ready to give Elia the boot, which was the right thing to do given her position as team leader, and all the things she did wrong as that leader.

[ceile]

15. Had a feeling Mia would go.

I didn't watch the whole thing, but I could tell by the way the rest of the team was discounting her ideas (even though catering is her livelihood) that the team she was on was not going to do well. Bummer though. I liked her.

[xchrom]

17. love that show like i love runay.

[Godhumor]

18. I think Mike was actually going to be sent off...

If you look at how the judges were talking, they acknowledged that Elia and Mia were talented chefs while Mike was just coasting along trying to not get noticed--I still think he was going to get booted before Mia opened her mouht (I also have some doubts about the whole timing of the incident--I'm wondering if they announced Elia as the loser, Mia stepped in, and they re-edited to make it look like she interrupted before the verdict.).

That said, I absolutely despise Betty and all that she is. How she was not sent away after admitting to changing a recipe in the Camp Glucose challenge is beyond me. I also think, up until his really stupid comment atthe end of the show, that Marcel has been kind of thrust into the villain's role for this season without any real rhyme or reason. I'm still annoyed that Betty attempted to blame her own failed dish on him, that Mia moved his pan from where he had set it in the fire pit, and that Frank's stuff being removed from the kitchen counter were all made into these massive huge deals designed to make Marcel look like the bad guy. Sure, his comment about Sam was incredibly uncalled for, but I don't find his arrogance any more off-putting than any of the other contestants.

I am looking forward to Elan picking the fight with Marcel next week, though.

[judaspriestess]

20. I wish they would have sent Elia home

she is so whiny and her leadership skills lacked. I am so glad Mia told Cliff to keep his dick in his pants. I noticed how chummy he and Elia are on the show. They did ignore Mia and her opinions and tried to deny it. Mia would have lost eventually anyway. Best wishes to her.

[GoneOffShore]

21. I want Marcel and Mike to go

I was sure that Mike would get the boot at Thanksgiving.

Bourdain just raked him.

[jakefrep]

22. The whiny chick judge annoys the hell out of me....

...Not Padma Lakshmi, that brunette who's the editor of some foodie magazine. Am I the only one who thinks that she couldn't cook her way out of a paper bag, let alone excel in any of the challenges?

It is also a complete mystery to me that Mike even got cast on this show, let alone survived this long. He's outlasted some better chefs.

[Flaxbee]

23. that's Gail from Food & Wine.

She really annoys me, too. During the beach cooking/breakfast challenge she said about a zillion times that she "hated brown, rubbery eggs". Drove me crazy.

I don't like this as much as Project Runway, not even close - mostly, I think, b/c of the judges. I don't "get" Padma, aside from the fact that she's pretty and Salman Rushdie's wife. Is she a chef? Or just a pretty face?

Tom Colicchio seems OK, perhaps a dick sometimes, but OK. And I don't really like Gail, either (whereas on Project Runway, I like all the judges and looove Tim).

As for the contestants, at first I kinda liked Betty b/c she was so enthusiastic, but she seems to have become nasty. Marcel is a pretentious wanker, though I really don't believe he's deserved anywhere NEAR the abuse and acrimony directed toward him by the others. Cliff seems talented, but last night's episode wasn't cool the way they all were piling on Mia. Elia seems to be a terrific chef, but doesn't have the personality to lead.

Mike is a party boy, probably could make a decent meal or two but isn't "Top Chef" quality - the only reason I think he hasn't been booted is because he adds some comic relief or friction or something to the mix. Like Vincent in last season's Project Runway - his character is just a foil, not a legitimate contender.

[seemunkee]

24. Just watched it.

Cliff does seem to have always a superior attitude. He's good but so are several others. I just don't understand Mike still being there.
Mia showed some real conviction and integrity in stepping down. Elia owes her a lot for that.

[Pithlet]

25. I get the feeling they were going to send home Mike instead of Elia.

The last time I checked, the blogs of the judges hadn't been updated, and I was hoping they would tell who they were originally going to send home. I'm curious. I think that Mike should have been booted long ago. He's the least talented Top Chef to ever make it this far in the game.

Cliff's behavior really bothered me. He initially took the leadership position and maintained it during the planning stage, but then conveniently fobbed it off on Elia for the execution portion of the challenge. Unless they edited it out, I didn't see him take responsibility for that. I'm guessing he didn't, because the judges talked a lot of Elia's leadership and how it factored into the loss of the team.

Edit never mind, I see that they were indeed going to send home Elia. That would have been the wrong choice. It would have been perfectly okay to send Mike for coasting through yet anther challenge. They sent home Carlos for that very reason in the Thanksgiving episode.

[judaspriestess]

27. I have to admit this years top chef

does not compare to its inaugural season last year but I am still like the show very much.

I'm not your bitch, bitch

[Ekirh]

28. Mike's a guilty pleasure for me. .

Sure he's the least skill there. . . but I love just watching and waiting to see how far he makes it before he gets the boot . . .

I'm also glad Elia didn't get sent home. . . although I also believed, and she believed also it seemed, she should've been the one.

Cliff, yah he had an attitude this time around, but I thought he's been good throughout (With the exception of the beach episode)


I didn't get into the show until the Thanksgiving marathon . . now I love it.


Ohhh next week looks fun as we.. can't wait to see the apparent blow up WOOT!