dewelar

Just as there are reasons I wasn't :D . (Oh, and momentum is the force of the moving object...sort of...but now we're talking about Newton's Second Law...) (Sorry, I'll try to stop now.)

That's half of it, yes. The other half is that a body in motion tends to stay in motion (or, more precisely, it will continue moving in the same direction and at the same speed) unless acted upon by an outside force -- e.g., friction...or evil producers or something. The term "inertia" covers both conditions.

But not for long .... "Star Salvation" begins next week! (July 1.) That doesn't count, because I don't watch it :) .

So, instead of cutting his fingers every five seconds, he'll be cutting his toes? Anyway, glad Rebekah is gone, finally. Other than that, this was just blah. From the moment they told them what the challenge actually was, I knew they had to be hoping for a trainwreck, and all they got was a deflating air mattress. Agreed. Actually, I think it could still have worked if she didn't need Palak to stand there and hold the blindfold. That went too far over the weirdness line. It also possibly cost their team the win. If there wasn't still so much cannon fodder, Adam or Palak could very easily have paid the price for not telling her not to do it. I have no idea who will win, or even who I want to win. Maybe Christian? ETA: Actually, who I want to win at this point is probably Palak. Who WILL win...I'll guess Katy.

When you copy the post you're quoting, you can click inside it and delete the extraneous stuff. Took me a while to realise this! As one of the mods showed me, you can also highlight just the part you want to quote, and a little "Quote This" pseudo-button will pop up.

Well, the science geek in me is now forced to point out that inertia is technically correct, because it means resistance to change in state (Newton's Laws of Motion and all that), and her forward movement has been slowed/stopped by these events. It's only usage that has turned the word "inertia" into a synonym for "not wanting to move" and thus made it confusing. Still, these days only a science geek like me would know that :) .

Absolutely they should have moved on, and only gone back to her if time allowed. That was ridiculously unfair, and gave her a clear advantage that no one else had. I can't stand selfish people, but the others also should have put a stop to it. A limit should have been established for all of them. Good points, all. Rebekah would not have been able to do what she did if someone on that team had taken a leadership role. By default, that should have been Amy due to her experience on the show, but any of the others could have stepped up. Of course, on any reality show, stepping up like that can be a double-edged sword, but being afraid of failing in that position should probably disqualify you from winning this show anyway. I will predict right now that the winner of this show will not come from that team.

Because Katy is this season's healthy chef, apparently, but also because Rebekah did that ridiculous funnel-balaya last week. Tonight's episode actually made me angry. Yes, Samone likely wasn't going to win, but Rebekah really did screw her over by not being able to accept any take that was anything less than absolute perfection -- hell, in her THs she actually seemed proud that she had screwed her over. Between Samone being left to stew and Manny only having time for one take (because you know he would have fixed the buttery and flaky thing on a second, or even not done it at all because of not having to rush the first), Rebekah pretty much single-handedly sank her team with her prima donna attitude. She should have gone home over Miami guy last week, and she can't go home soon enough.

Mrs. Dewelar and I were talking about Adam yesterday, and we decided he'd be a good instructor, but only for people who actually want to learn what he's teaching. He's quite skilled at explaining things, which I assume is why they chose himi to do so much of it during the tasks, but I don't think he'd be very good at motivating people, because there doesn't seem to be much energy in his voiceovers. And yes, a palindrome makes perfect sense for his show name!

I meant that I'm a Southerner and have never heard such affectations. Ah, gotcha. I am not a Southerner but I have cousins in Mississippi who will occasionally let one fly, but nowhere near as often or as oddly "cornpone" as Jason does.

I like Jason, and even I think he was coming off as forced with his sayings this week. I actually thought he'd dialed them back a bit a couple weeks ago, but this week they crossed the line into nonsense. The whole "horse dancing in a barn" thing was so belaboured that I almost turned the show off right there. His mannerisms were so much more natural-sounding on the Baking Championship that (at least to me) they came across as charming. Now, not so much. (Side note, he's from Kentucky, not North Carolina, right?) After the first couple of weeks, I never thought LaSheeda would be in the final three, but she's seriously raised her game. She even broke out a (sorta) cylinder when even Adam dared not do so! It was very obvious that Max was going home, but I did not care for him from the beginning and he kind of faded into the background for me as the competition went on, so it's no big loss. The obvious top two made it, and the third spot went to someone who's come on strong at the end, so I can't complain about the results. Overall, though, this show still seems flat. Despite (or, as I sometimes think, because of) the higher level of talent, this show sits behind the Baking Championship franchise in terms of enjoyment (and it is INFINITELY behind the show it seems to want to be, the Bake-Off franchise). Mrs. Dewelar and I have taken to calling it "Best Boring Baker in Boringland", although that might be slightly harsh. We'll likely keep having it on our TV, but probably only as background in the future.

I was confused by that, too. The only thing that might make sense is that she got it so deeply into her head that the dish was supposed to have fermented fish that she built her presentation around it and tried to connect it to the dish she actually made. That would also explain why the presentation was so odd. I agree that Adam should have gone, and also that Trace wasn't going to win so it didn't particularly matter. Given what they've shown us so far, I think they're pushing Yaku to move forward, which is fine by me. I don't think any of them are particularly great shakes, but I'd watch him over any of the others remaining.

I think that's exactly why they didn't mention it. If it had been one or two who left the form in place, it would have been a ding, but since all but one did so it wasn't. As I mentioned upthread, I think it was telling that the one who didn't leave it (and AFAICT didn't even use a form at all) is the one who won.

I wondered about this as well. The fact that Jean-Francois was (I think) the only one not to use a central support may very well have factored into his win. I also wonder if Max was saved from being in the bottom two by his win in the first challenge -- not that it mattered, because it was fairly obvious Kym would be going home the moment she burned her choux and had to redo it. I admit to being a fan of Jason, and if anything he's dialed back his shtick considerably this season. It's too bad, because this show has felt so dry and stilted so far that I think it could use a little personality. I know the quality of the contestants is higher than the various Baking Championships, but I have to say I enjoyed watching those during this cycle a good deal more than I am enjoying this show. I also agree with those who dislike Scott Conant as host -- he just doesn't feel natural in the role (at least not yet), and it detracts from the show.

Chef Lefevre should have won that battle, no question in my mind, even if he did deserve the dings on creativity. He beat Chef Izard with her signature ingredient, fercrissakes (although I think Stephanie phoned it in somewhat -- ice cream AGAIN? Really?). I also gave Chef Lefevre a little side-eye when he went against Chef Izard at her purported strength while going against Chef Symon at his purported weakness, wondering if there was a little sexism at work. I still would have preferred Chef Gomes, and think she might have had a better shot to pull it off, but Chef Lefevre acquitted himself very well. I'm one of those who said that -- that swagger was all Alex had in the way of Iron Chef-ness. Especially after last night, Mrs. Dewelar and I will keep right on calling her Paper Chef. I think perhaps it's a touch of inferiority complex coming through -- that she thinks she has to over-swagger to make up for her lesser cooking chops. Right. I kind of regret using the word "swagger", because what I really meant was that an Iron Chef should come into each battle exuding an attitude of "I'm going to win this, because I am just that good" -- while also having the ability to back it up. Michael Symon is the epitome of this. I will continue to say that Chef Lefevre had trouble with the first part, but Alex lacks the second part, no matter what AB tries to sell us. It means that Chef Lefevre failed to defeat the gauntlet -- i.e., IT beat HIM.

Agreed that the talent level seems pretty high this season, but I'm torn on the result. The monster cake definitely looked like something a kid made out of Play-Doh, but at least it seemed to meet both aspects of the brief -- something that doesn't look like a cake, and is vanilla-forward. The other cake didn't seem to meet either one. As someone who often whinges about people who get a pass on not bothering to meet the challenge, I can't argue with this result, even if it means a far more talented baker may have been the one to go home. Either way, I doubt Lasheeda is going to make it much further. Kym was also fortunate that there were two people worse than her, because that pizza cake was not what I'd call up to snuff. I also remember Adam on SBC last year, and liked him quite a bit then. It's early yet, but so far I like him, Jeremy and Leigh, while disliking Max and Frania (who's already gone). Everyone else hasn't registered enough with me.

You may be right. I do like Chef Izard, who exudes a quiet confidence more like Chef Garces. Maybe humility isn't the word I was seeking -- if you're an Iron Chef, you should never be surprised when you win a battle, and Chef Lefevre seems to be that repeatedly. I think that's what Chef Thaimee was aiming for this week, but she went too far with it and came off a little too arrogant (a la Chef Tien before her). Above all else, Iron Chef is a performance (I'd almost call it performance art). I hope that Chef Lefevre proves me wrong on all counts, because I do like him a lot, but I don't see it right now.

Yeah, I'm coming around to agreeing with those who don't think anyone left is Iron Chef material. However, I think that might be intentional, as they might be looking to have the winning chef lose the Gauntlet after Chef Izard won last year. After all, if everyone who faces the Gauntlet wins, then how good are the Iron Chefs really ;-) ? I too like Chef Lefevre best of the remaining candidates, but for show purposes he has one prominent quality that I feel should at least appear absent in an Iron Chef: humility. An Iron Chef has to have a certain amount of swagger, and Chef Lefevre does not (FTR, neither does Marc Forgione, which might be why he had the worst record before the old series ended). In fact, I think it's one qualification (perhaps the only one) for IC that Alex does have. I think Chef Gomez probably is the best choice remaining, but perhaps that's because Chef Baloo has been flying under the radar all season so I don't know enough about him. @Lura On any other show, I'd agree wholeheartedly, but not this one :D .

Neither had I. When I heard it, all I could think was "so...cakes that are...juicy?" I'd never encountered the botanical term, so I remained confused throughout the episode, because they never explained it. After the show, I Googled, and after several pages of results that were nothing but "how to make a succulent cake", I was still lost. Wikipedia had no entry for it, either. I blame the cough medicine for my not realizing that I should just look for "succulent". Lorraine couldn't, but the other two could. Yes! Loved those! I didn't want to like Caleb because yeah, hipster, but over the course of the show he's won me over. "Cowboy to the rescue" indeed :D .

As with Nacho and his over-the-top antics, I assume that the bakers are told to react by the producers. I may be biased because they're my two favorites, but I don't think it's really their fault that they're bad actors. Agreed that Aaron seemed to be a better baker than Nacho overall, but the streak of sending the right person home for that week continues. If you have two things that you need to incorporate and neither is prominent, that should send you home over cartoonish decoration. I think this is Caleb's to lose now, since he seems to be the most inventive of the remaining contestants and thus the best at rolling with the twists.

Only one episode in, but there's definitely a different feel from last season. I think @SophiaD reflected my thoughts on that pretty well. As fans of classic Disney movies, Mrs. Dewelar and I were both amused that one of the chefs was named (phonetically) "Timon Baloo". Assuming the last chef standing wins the "gauntlet", then I believe so. There are actually three other men, but two of them look so similar I couldn't blame you for thinking they were the same guy. I also like Chef Tien, especially after he paid proper respect to Morimoto :) . To be fair, she wound up having to go with plan B with very little time left due to a rice issue, so I'll give her a pass this week. She knew it was a mess, but was happy with her flavours, an opinion which Alton seemed to share. I don't see her winning, either, but I'm willing to wait and see.

As I (improperly) mentioned on the season thread, I am over all three judges and their shticks. Sherry Yard was actually one of the judges on the first show of this type that I ever watched (which was apparently the first season of the Halloween version, and whom I confused with Sandra Lee in the aforementioned post) along with Carla Hall and Ron Ben-Israel. That's still the best panel any of these shows have had IMO. Admittedly, I watch a lot less FN than I used to, so I have no idea if there's anyone left that I'd substitute for Duff/Nancy/Lorraine. I think Lorraine might be OK to keep if the other two were ditched, so maybe her, Sherry and Jason Smith would be good for a cycle? ETA: I couldn't remember who "Marcella" was until I Googled. I actually watched Best Baker in America with Jason, and have absolutely no memory of Ms. Valladolid. I suppose no impression is better than a bad impression, so I'd take her over Nancy.

Ron Ben-Israel judged one of these shows for at least one season. He was definitely not worse. I think it was him, Carla and Sandra, which was a pretty good combination. This group has gotten too pleased with its collective shticks, and could definitely use a shake-up.

I haven't watched Chopped for a couple of years now, as I think the show's been stale for a while, so I certainly didn't need to see the format creep into this show. Once I saw that's what they were doing, I fast-forwarded to the judging, so I have no idea how Deepal's dish got to be so poor, but from the commentary she was (sadly) the right choice to go home. I agree with those who say Jessica skirted the rules, but it really does seem like Deepal's creation was borderline inedible. Hopefully Jessica is next out. I thought the Heather/Caleb team got the easiest combination of ingredients, and thus them being the top two was no surprise at all. Caleb's actually growing on me, which is unexpected, and he now joins Heather and Nacho as my favorites. Overall, this show is the weakest of this cycle of Baking Championship (Halloween-Holiday-Kids-Spring) thus far, so hopefully things pick up. ISTR that last year's Spring edition was also the weakest of the lot, so my hopes are not exactly high, but it's not like I'm going to stop watching anyway.

Yeah, he seemed like a nice enough guy. He just wasn't cut out for this competition, so best to bounce him early.