stanleyk

I don't think Mei's line was sarcastic and I don't think it was about being "passed over" for EC, though I do think it was a joke; I took it in the context of the usual dick-swinging in a professional kitchen, where line cooks are renowned for being badasses under pressure, and what she was saying is that women make better line cooks than men...not that women make better line cooks than they make executive chefs. Adam le Douche was a prime example of the misogynistic attitude that big-balled men make the best professional cooks, and I think that's the context in which Mei was speaking: she was laying claim to being a bad-ass line cook, so more bad-ass than the men. Kerri Ann's dish look terrible either way, and more than that it looked TIRED as hell. Crepes with banana mousse and pistachio? Boring. And day-old crepes with hardened banana mousse. Boring and blech. It was arguable between her and Katie, but I won't cry a tear over Kerri Ann. And count me in the tired-of-Adam pile (or welcome! I've been here for a while!). I guess some people like that kind of energy in a FOH role, but it would make me never go to a restaurant again. I don't like chatty servers or managers, and especially not frenetic ones who are more interested in talking about themselves than in making sure you're having a good experience. The bumper showing him talking non-stop at guests gave me hives.

Ha! I had the EXACT same thought - I was actually distracted thinking "I'm not sure Seth Rogen would do an HBO show..." without realizing what a moron I was being since I was, at that moment, watching Seth Rogen do an HBO show. That episode was so excruciating, and thus perfect. I had to pause it and take a few minutes a couple times since my sympathy embarassment was causing me too much stress.

I just can't with this show anymore. Almost nothing makes me laugh, and it's disappointing to see where they've gone with the Cam and Mitchell relationship. In the first season or two, they were the funniest and in some ways best couple on the show. At this point, it seems like they barely even like each other, much less love each other. I find Mitchell totally insufferable and condescending to his husband at every turn, and the constant plots that turn on the two competing with each other are beyond tiresome. I suppose at this point I'll just delete it from my DVR rather than continue to be annoyed at how much the show has deteriorated.

There may be nothing wrong with a chocolate cake with berries, but there's nothing particularly right about it, in the context. It's just pedestrian. I really want to like Katie, and I believe she has some skills, but her style just seems to lack sophistication and under pressure she falls back to dishes that are unremarkable. Seems like we still have a lot of chaff to get through: Kerriann, Stacy, Katie, maybe Melissa (despite her credentials). I've found him extremely irritating from the beginning and am looking forward to his departure. And I guess it shows my age, but I also find Adam childish and exhausting, so I'm ready for him to leave as well. All the silly talk about "redemption" and "revenge" and "validation" because he lost a single challenge...take a breath, Adam, and try to find some internal measure of your self-worth. His posturing and belligerence is such a transparent young man's move of trying to hide a panicked insecurity. I still like Gregory, but, man...not too many favorites for me this season. Most of them kind of suck, either as cooks or as people (or as both...Aaron, I'm looking at you).

Yeah, I've never understood how teams get SO lost - three hours! When they knew the distance. I get that it can be confusing: I've driven in foreign countries by myself and gotten lost before...but for a few miles, and then I realize that something's not quite right, pull over, figure it out, and get back on my way with maybe twenty minutes lost. Three HOURS. I just don't even understand how it's possible. In some ways I'm enjoying this season: the tasks and locations have been great, some of the teams are fun and entertaining, and though I find the Dentists irritating, there are no true teams that evoke fiery hatred. But I'm finding this mid-section a bit dull, because there's too big a divide between the Haves and Have Nots. The Scientists, T&T, and the Wrestlers (and Nici and Shelley) aren't even close to competitive with the other teams, it doesn't seem. I haven't really kept track, but have any of them had anything better than a middle-of-the-pack finish? The top teams are too dominant and the bottom teams too weak. I love the Scientists, but what was only implied by their time-bleeding in earlier episodes was explicit here: they cannot navigate. At all. And T&T don't seem much better. So it feels like we're just marking time to the inevitable Dentists/Cyclists/Surfers showdown. Which, fine, I guess, but it would be more fun if it weren't so predictable. Of course, now that I say that, next week probably the Scientists will win a leg and the Dentists will be out. Which would be awesome.

See, I took that to mean that Emily was the last one LEFT, like other people had been on Sandhya's side before, but only Emily stuck to it till the end and was her last remaining friend. So when Emily blew up it made no sense to me, but I suppose if she understood what Sandhya was saying as you did, perhaps that's it. Maybe it was a language issue, and maybe that points to some reason behind Sandhya's difficulties with the other designers throughout.

Great point - I hadn't put that together. Against what was Emily constantly having to defend Sandhya if the others loved her soooo much? Her perception that she was disliked by the majority can't have been too far off if there were multiple conversations which required her to have a champion. But I'm not even sure what to make of the segment since no one would let Sandhya get a word in. It seemed like she what she was starting to say was that during Fashion Week, she kept getting asked in interviews why everyone hated her, and the constant barrage of that message got her down and not wanting to associate with the other designers, even her former champion Emily. Literally all I heard was Sandhya say to Emily, "You were the last one to stand up for me..." and then all of a sudden everyone was screaming and Amanda was "correcting" Sandhya that Emily always stood up for her...which isn't that what Sandhya said? So confusing. It doesn't really matter (of course it doesn't: we're discussing an over-the-hill reality competition show about clothes), but the tone directed at Sandhya seemed vitriolic to me, both during the season and at the reunion. So it was pretty rich of both Tim and the other designers to profess to "love" her. And as you say, Amanda was right when she said you don't get to shit on someone and then be mad that they're hurt - too bad she didn't apply it to the Sandhya situation as well. Though in that vein, I think my favorite part of Korina's defense of Korina was to Char about the shit-talking she did: "But it wasn't about you! It was just about the clothes that you made and how those were terrible and how you have no talent at this thing that you love to do and have chosen as your life's work! See! Nothing personal! Now give me a hug so I can heal!"

I was totally baffled by what was going on in that segment. Sandhya barely got any words out before Emily was yelling at her for some shit at Fashion Week and then everyone was yelling and I didn't know what the hell was happening. At a baseline, I'm not sure why everyone got so exercised about Sandhya thinking they didn't like her that they felt they need to shout her down. And I thought it was totally shitty of Tim to then pile on and tell Sandhya that there was no justification for her feelings. Based on what we were shown during the season, she WAS pretty ostracized from the group, and that didn't seem to be just because the other designers didn't respect her work. I was never fully on board the Char train - I felt like everyone kept saying what an awesome person she was, but I never really saw it on the screen - but after her performance on the reunion, I'm definitely not feeling her. And I really am sick of how up his own ass Tim has gotten. And I thought Emily yelling at Sandhya was not reflective of the kinder personality we saw on the show, so that colored my view of her. And I felt a tiny bit bad for Korina, but then she kept going on about how it was so "unfair" that people wouldn't accept her apologies when she was trying to be better. Yeah, sweetie, those are called the consequences of your behavior. Sometimes people won't accept your apologies, and you have to learn to live with that. No one is obligated to help you be a better person. So I don't know why I'm still watching this crap. I didn't like any of the designers, the clothes are crap, the judges are annoying, and it's hard to remember that time when everyone thought Tim was The Best.

The impression I have of that crew is that those at the back of the pack are desperately fighting with each other to just not be last. It's easier for them to focus on the other bad chefs that they can actually compete with, as opposed the front-runners who are leagues ahead. And though Aaron is a full-on jackass (I mean, really, mocking Katie for crying about her father after a stressful day?), I did think Katsuji was acting pretty ridiculous in the stew room as well. It's always annoying to me when the knife-ee doesn't seem to be able to see or accept what the real issue is; Ron repeatedly mentioned that his problem was that his portion sizes were too big. In fact, it seemed the issue was with PROportion - this ginormous croquette plopped into a bowl of soup, which made the dish unfocused and messy. I can't imagine that a croquette that large would cook evenly or be tasty. And, in a challenge where they were supposed to elevate the food, he made his croquette with Saltines and Ritz crackers. Unironically, just like my grandmother would have. He was just out of his league. Although I am not one for crying in public, I did feel for Katie being paired with Ron and Aaron, whose reactions to her melt-down were to stare uncomfortably into the middle-distance in silence. What, you're so uncomfortable with emotion that you can't reach out to touch her shoulder or something? Go Gregory! And Little Doug! AND ONE MORE THING. This comment could apply to virtually all cooking competition shows, but I would like to institute a permanent moratorium on use of the phrase "a play on..." It's like nails on a chalkboard at this point. I think it was used at least three times tonight by different chefs.

I liked this episode enough to stick with the show a little longer - I think it helps to take the focus off the central romantic relationhip of Annie and...Ken Marino? It's probably not a good sign that I'm not sure what the character's name is. I was a little underwhelmed by the Gil plot, but rest of it was pretty funny. And as an urban mom, I found the Super-Mom only too real (and hilarious). I do not love, though, what seems to be a trend in each episode of sudden mawkish turns at the end of episodes where someone (Annie, mostly, it seems) learns a lesson about her emotions. Or something. But overall it felt a little closer to Happy Endings territory, and that can only make me happy. I'll stop with the Chicago nit-picking (maybe), but in another attention-to-detail annoyance...there aren't any Rite Aids in Chicago. We're a Walgreen's town. So I ask again...why does Caspe insist on saying his shows are set here? I mean, you could fan-wank your way out of it, but it just seems dumb when you're making place-specific errors that could be fixed by a ten second check on Google.

Do not get me started on the inaccuracies of tv shows set in Chicago. Really, don't. I will bore the hell out of everyone, and also: off-topic. But I am truly baffled that Caspe keeps setting shows here when it really doesn't matter where they're set and he seems to lack even a passing familiarity with Chicago (despite apparently having been born here). On-topic: I didn't laugh once during this episode. I'm just finding the whole operation too try-hard and sitcommy and just...unfunny. Tim Meadows made me the closest to amused as I got. And unfortunately he's paired with the cheap stereotype of the other dad, so I was half-amused, half-annoyed at all their scenes. I'm really, really hoping we move closer to Happy Endings territory (though I guess not so close it gets canceled as soon as it gets good), but I haven't seen much to keep me watching. It just seems really tired to me.

I was super-surprised after the pilot to read that the show was supposed to be set in Chicago. Maybe I missed that set-up in the show itself, but I assumed it was set in LA. We just don't have a lot of restaurants that feature a good-sized patio of permanent outdoor seating here. I don't really understand the point of setting a sitcom like this in a particular city and then doing a terrible job of actually evoking that city. Just say it's set in LA, because that's what it looks like - if there weren't actual palm trees shown, it felt like they existed just outside the frame. I adored Happy Endings, but had the same problem with it. Four. And while I agree no one outside Chicago would even notice this, I think the more general question is why not pay attention to detail if you're going to the trouble of setting something in a particular place.

Neither them covered themselves in glory, but Aaron pulled one of my least favorite argument styles, usually favored by children, which was to take a point to absurdity to try to win. Here, she said she didn't want to do anything molecular, and he aggressively responded with something like "well, what about gelatin? That's [some chemical compound]. Are you saying you don't know how to use gelatin?" Shut up, you dummy. And shut your dumb hat up too. And he also pulled such a casual misogynistic bullshit line, where after their horrid performance (but before the screaming started), Kerriann was like, "whatever, it's done, let's move on" and walked away and he turns to the chicken chef and says "She is such a bitch." Why, because she stood up for herself after you tried to paint her as "erratic" as soon as you saw the thing going south? Everything he criticized about her seemed to really traffic in stereotypes of women as emotional or unreliable, and, if they dare sass you, they're a bitch. Just ugh to him on every point. Todd English looked really weird - just super-uncomfortable. Maybe because he's gained weight, but he was all scrunched into himself. I liked Joy, and was hoping to get rid of The Hat instead (not like I'm rooting for Kerriann, but I at least want her to outlast him), but Joy clearly wasn't long for the competition anyway. I'm also giving Mei Lin a pass on her dubious attitude, given her teammates' performance last time. But I'm rooting for Gregory at this point. And also the little one. And I have to give a nod to SWAYZE! Because that is some serious commitment with that tattoo.

This show has picked up so much steam since the weak pilot - I'm glad I stuck with it. It's somehow managing to address some really interesting, controversial topics while still being laugh-out-loud funny. This was, to me, one of the funniest episodes, even though I was dreading where they were going with it (but was pleased with how they resolved it, even if "I'm disappointed in you" is a little of an easy out). I agree the conversation with his co-workers was brilliant (both hilarious and directly on the mark), and Bow in the store was effing hilarious. I think my favorite exchange was during the hot wheels track conversation, though (which: the use of a hot wheels track was genius itself) and had nothing to do with anything: Dre: Pops, how many White Russians have you had? Pops: Irrelevant. [beat] But a lot. I do fear for myself, however. My two year old looks very much like Jack and is already figuring out how to manipulate me with his own Chupacabra eyes.

Man, I want to love this show because of my deep affection for Happy Endings and for the cast, but I'm not too sure after the pilot. I'll give it some time to iron itself out, though. It seems from reading this thread that the original airing of the pilot included a second engagement party; seems to have cut out of the version show tonight. Lots of people have mentioned Casey Wilson's manic energy as a turn-off, but I actually had a bigger problem with the character's marriage obsession: so tired and trite. The idea that every woman wants to get married (and even if they say they don't, they still do), and that women wait their entire lives to be proposed to (god forbid they do the proposing), and that there's something profoundly wrong with being single after a certain age is really tiresome. And I get that's part of the set-up, but it just struck me as a lazy reliance on stock cliches. Speaking of, while I don't necessarily agree that the dads are stereotyped as fussy gay men (I don't think we saw enough of them to know), I did think it was a joke beneath all the participants for Casey Wilson's character to claim her "drag queen" personality was the result of her two dads, who named her after a musical. That sort of joke doesn't make me hopeful were going to move out of stereotype-land. And while there are all kinds of gay stereotypes (Happy Endings had that awesome episode where Max tried to figure out where he fit and finally made his own group up), I don't think anyone can argue that the stereotype of a musical-loving, fastidious, melodramatic gay man is the one that has always been supremely over-represented on tv. I think I'll be happier when they start to delve into the rest of the cast. If the tone of the show moves away from traditional sitcom territory into the slightly absurdist world of Happy Endings, so much the better.

Yeah, I didn't get supportive from him. They're not the WORST we've seen, but I'm not ready to give him a pass. First, I took umbrage at his statement that he "let" Misti do the roadblock. Just in case anyone was in doubt that he is IN CHARGE. And his serial killer stare in the talking head when she was talking about his doorway glowering - I'm sorry, I mean "emotional support" - said to me that he totally blamed her for biffing the roadblock and she knew it. I just dislike their dynamic - he seems like the kind of guy who can't let anyone else even appear to make a decision or be in charge because that would challenge his idea of his masculinity, and she seems to cater to that idea. I was disappointed the Save didn't have to get used, but the silver lining is that it's no longer an opportunity for Jim to blame Misti for coming in last in an elimination leg and having to use the Save. I just envision a talking head of her apologizing for "disappointing" him and him insincerely saying it's okay while staring sociopathic daggers. In any event, definitely a fun leg. I can maybe get on board with the Bikers, and am happy the Scientists and Surfers were safe. I hope the Scientists can get their navigation in line, though, because I was concerned about their unexplained drop to fourth from second after leaving the Roadblock. And I'll breathe a sigh of relief when the Mother/Daughter are out. That is just uncomfortable to watch, regardless of who was right (correct answer: neither was right). I'm not sure this is right. I think I recall a shot of either of the Ts noticing the difference in the sides of the vase and turning it, and Adam and Bethany (the other team doing that parklet) also explained that they noticed the difference. So I don't think the teams who got it were clued in, or that it happened randomly (though that certainly seems possible).

This. I just can't even with Char. It's like she's never seen a real collection from a real designer and has no idea what it is to present a cohesive design aesthetic. The way she talks about her approach and her "girl" (shudder) is really disjointed and unclear: just a string of meaningless buzzwords. "She's edgy! She's hot! She's fun!" How is that a design aesthetic? Particularly when she then translates these vague ideas into three pieces that have nothing in common, and bring nothing interesting to the table either individually or collectively. There are certainly things to criticize about all the designers, but at least the others seem to have some kind of vision. Char just seems lost and massively out of her depth. That said, I don't care who wins. At all. This has to be the least talented group of designers to make it to Fashion Week. It's hard to imagine actually deleting Project Runway from my DVR, but...I'm starting to imagine it. With the uninspired designs, the uninspiring Tim, the painfully inappropriate product placement, the inexplicable judging and the bottom-of-the-barrel talent, there's just not much here to watch, except the decline of a once fantastically entertaining show.

I agree with this, too. On rewatch, he is a bore and overly clingy from the beginning, pre-Jess. Breaking up with your girlfriend of THREE MONTHS when you're sixteen because she doesn't immediately return an "I love you" is not exactly charming or balanced behavior. To me it signals his later desperation and possessiveness. But I think what bothers me even more than Dean himself is the show's/Rory's/Lorelai's assumption that his behavior is somewhat reasonable or understandable. Rory's constant attempts to placate his jealousy, her constant apologies for whatever-the-hell that didn't require an apology, and Lorelai's insistence that Dean is "terrific," all evidence to the contrary, are making me turn against the show a little. I mean, for the show to take the position that it's perfectly natural and okay for your boyfriend to fly into a glowering rage because you spend time with someone he doesn't like, complete with physically threatening behavior and petulant sulks, and for Rory to never question whether it was okay for Dean to be dictating with whom she could and couldn't spend time (answer: it's not okay)...it's really weakening my love for Rory and the show in general. But I will say it seems like a lot of people feel like Lorelai was inappropriately encouraging the relationship after Dean started harassing Rory in "Back in the Saddle Again" and Lorelai first counseled Dean to back off a bit and then pushed Rory to call him back, but I saw that differently. I think she was trying to push Rory into a more mature way to end the relationship. Rory appeared, consciously or not, to be going the typical teenage route: ignore him until he gets the message, and hopefully he'll break up with me so I won't have to do it. At the very least, I didn't see Lorelai's actions as condoning the relationship per se so much as encouraging Rory to be more communicative and open with Dean, whichever way that broke for the relationship.

This totally bugs me, too. Watching the show in its initial run, I thought this character trait was kind of fun and at least an attempt to combat the notion that women shouldn't have hearty appetites. It seems even more affected when you notice, as I did on rewatch, that they almost never actually touch the food they order - a tacit admission that the actresses don't actually eat that food when filming because, no, most people can't eat like that and remain rail-thin. I love the fantasy quality of the show - somewhere, I read Stars Hollow described as a town in a snowglobe and I thought that was spot-on - but this particular quirk is irksome. Or quirksome, I guess. Is that a word? It should be, and it should be applied to GG and most of its characters: quirksome. I'm in the middle of a Netflix rewatch and I'm finding my views have changed on a number of things. Like others have stated on this thread, Dean is The Worst. I think maybe on the original run I was swayed by TWOP's early love of "Cute Dean" (can't remember if it cooled over time) and that was still the way I thought of him: cute, adorable, sweet Dean. I apparently blocked out creepy, scowly, possessive, jealous Dean until this rewatch. I also think there is less than zero sexual chemistry with Rory. I know they're supposed to be kids, but they way they kiss is incredibly passionless. Anyway, my hate is super-strong for him. And for Jess, whom I find insufferably obnoxious, whether he clicks with Rory or no. Probably my age showing, though. Not sure I have any new UOs to offer, but I'm only through S2 on this rewatch so some might come to me. I think what I really notice though is how difficult the show is to take on a binge-watch. I've had to take a number of breaks because I find myself becoming enraged with the characters (especially Lorelai) if I watch more than one or two episodes at a time.

You're not the only one. They're a little try-hard for my taste. Though I'm not as anxious to get rid of them as I am the blow-hard dentist. Blech.

This comment jumped out at me, too. It struck me as the sympathy equivalent to a faux apology. "I feel so bad for her, having to live with the fact that she's such a terrible person - what a heavy burden." Christ, just say you don't like the person, instead of casting it in insincere terms of how bad you feel for them. I also have just not really taken to Char the way the show seems to insist I should. Part of it is her participation in the Mean Girl antics earlier in the season, part of it is her aesthetic, which to my taste is at best unremarkable mall-wear and at worst pretty trashy. I agree with someone up-thread who said Char is one of the weakest designers to make Fashion Week - I have resisted many claims of producer interference, but with this one, I just can't believe she would have made it if she hadn't gotten the Save. Just like with the OTT exclamations of "genius!" by the judges every week over mediocre designs, the show has to keep up its delusion that these are great designers and if Tim saved someone, by god, they're awesome, all evidence to the contrary. And it was kind of shitty of Tim to tell Emily she would have gotten Saved if he'd had another one. But you don't. Because you used it on someone who has been barely adequate all season. I would have loved to have seen Emily get another chance. Hers is the only aesthetic I really respond to.

Ugh. UGH. I had been actually enjoying the Duels format but the ultimate result certainly colors my view of the thing. CJ is my least favorite of all the chefs in this episode, and that includes Blais. I'd also like to be generous-minded and truly believe he's a vastly improved chef, but he's such a tool. I just can't move past that.

Though I've been annoyed that Char kept getting inexplicably saved and think Korina has overall done better work this season, I was delighted with this outcome. Korina's attitude is beyond immature, and what particularly irked me was the childish way she would utter some horrible insult and then cock her head, smile big, and give a big wide-eyed look, because she know she's being bad, but isn't it so cute? Like when she fake-sympathized that Char was being defensive, which she understood because if she were somewhere where everyone else was way better, she'd be defensive too. Ugh. While I agree with a lot of your post, I don't think Emily failed to help Korina. She simply said she didn't appreciate Korina's remarks and it made her want to help her less - not that she did help her less. She continued to help and gave her a big hug. Even if Sean were a bigger help than Emily, I don't think that was determinative - pretty sure Korina's umbrage and general stank attitude prevented her from saving herself (once the "tiebreaker" started - I do agree with Korina only in the sense that I thought Char should have gone home on their original designs and there shouldn't have been a tiebreaker at all. But if you're playing the game, them's the rules...).

I agree - Top Chef keeps insisting Art Smith is a "master," when in fact he is a cut above a very good home cook. Sure, everyone loves comfort food, but nothing about his food looked special or interesting. As a just-ok home cook, I've made cakes that look more professional than what he plated as a dessert. I'm sure his was delicious, but it's cake covered in ganache - of course it will be tasty. Kevin just brings a lot more interesting stuff to the table, and I thought it was really clear he was headed for a win. And aside from the food I find Art's schtick insufferable. All that "Mama's Chicken Soup" and "my grandmama always said [insert chicken-fried aphorism]" and "critter fry!" crap really wears on me.

Alexander's was bad, but I really thought Char should have gone home. She's shown nothing of interest - that thing she made today, which I cannot imagine anyone wearing in the real world anywhere, seemed representative of her other work: a single bright color, peplum, dated, and tasteless. I get that she got stuck on the fact that the woman's husband is a rock musician, but has she ever been to an actual show? I can't imagine anyone even vaguely connected to the music industry wearing that outside of an 80s music video. I would have picked Emily for the win for the reasons Zac gave, but other than hers, I found all the looks lackluster at best. (Despite the fact that all the "muses" were young (or young-ish), thin women, which of course is the designers' usual excuse for doing such a piss-poor job on the "real women" challenges.)