Rapunzel

So if Howard is leaving and being replaced by Simon Cowell, that means there will be no American judges on AGT, which just seems odd. I also never liked the four judges thing and wish they would go back to three. As for the acts this week, agree with much of what was posted above and opera singer girl shouldn't have made it through as she was quite pitchy at times and I'm tired of this show moving nearly every kid act through just to appear "kind" or whatever - I've been saying for several years that there should be an age limit. 18 would be good, but I would settle for 16.

I can't believe the season is already over - it seemed to just fly by. I liked this episode but I admit that I'm a bit bummed that Gordon was killed off just when he finally gave up his pills, booze, alcohol and stripper pity party and started to be a badass - and I didn't particularly care for him at all until that point. I really liked him in this episode and the episode where he and Carrie beat the crap out of Deva's BF though I don't like the Deva storyline in general. I can only hope that Carrie and NLH ship her off to boarding school or that she ends up in Juvie to get her out of the show (especially if NHL isn't going to be Sheriff anymore and can't just let her go if she gets arrested again). I really hope they do not kill off Job. As much as I enjoy this show, I don't know that I would continue to watch without him - I think he brings a good element to the show (love his snark) and I do want to hear more about his backstory and how he evolved from just being a serious badass hacker to also being a physical badass. Rebecca, on the other hand, can't die soon enough for me. I'm not a big fan of the actress and I noticed that, while she helped Kai and Burton take out Frazier and his gang, she really didn't have any lines. The actor that plays Burton does so much with so little dialogue and Rebecca does so little even when she has a decent amount of lines - she just seems like a waste of space to me and I so wish Kai would have taken her out for nearly getting him killed because she went behind his back. Kai may be getting back to being even more ruthless again, but he is way too soft when it comes to her - especially as she doesn't seem nearly as loyal as Burton no matter how much she says she was trying to "help" him by making the deal with the Salvadorians. Looking forward to next season and seeing how this all plays out, including Bunker's storyline who I think was a really good character to add into all of this.

Nope, they were taken by Frasier, the Philly drug king pin's guys. One of the kidnappers that took them initially met with Rebecca, who told them she was increasing their price. They then later met with Kai and Kai said they were reducing the price and they weren't going to sell to the Salvadorians anymore. Rebecca went behind Kai's back and made a deal with the Salvadorians on her own and Frasier presumably got pissed about this and sent his guys to take Kai and Emily.

Wow - Chayton's death was pretty graphic - even for this show. Loved it though. Also loved Job, as always - especially when he said he was getting tired of "Podunk Tragedy Theater." If they ever kill him off I'm not sure I can keep watching. He's so badass and glamorous all at the same time. I would tune in just to see what he decided to where and how he did his make-up. I've been trying to give Brock's beard a chance, but in the episode last night it looked like someone had glued pieces of felt onto his face. It was distracting.

I was glad to see Aaron and I hope they keep that part true to the comics in that he is with a relatively good group of people so Rick and company can rest up for a little bit at least. I am almost hoping that they skip Negan altogether or at least downplay his role quite a bit since we got so much of the Governor and he was around a lot longer on the show than he was in the comics. We also got the Termites on the show, which was really just a small group of Hunters in the comics. While I know the show always needs another "bad guy," I kind of hope they do "Negan lite" or not at all. He just seems a bit too similar to what we've seen so far on the show. At the very least I hope they change up who he kills.

There's been some speculation that Rebecca may be the one to kill off Proctor, and after her pouting tonight after he undermined her in front of the Philly drug dealers it's possible that she might be getting closer to doing that (or at least thinking about it), though I think the tears afterward were more because she was upset that she disappointed him - she is desperately looking for approval, especially given what happened with her mother and father. In any case, when Rebecca got just a little bit of power tonight while Kai was grieving his mother it clearly went to her head and she is in no way ready to take over the business. She doesn't know how to manage the intricacies and the delicate balance of all the relationships yet and she would be dead in a couple of days as she would just piss everyone off - allies and enemies alike. I hope that, if one of them has to go, Proctor kills her and not the other way around. Kai is a great villain and Rebecca cannot even come close to measuring up to that. I'm also not a huge fan of the abilities of the actress and the show would lose a lot of its appeal for me if they killed Kai off - especially if she were to take over. I particularly love the tenuous relationship Proctor has with NLH and the fact that they have the same goals at times and it causes them to grudgingly end up working together. NLH badly wants to take Kai out, but he often recognizes that the devil you know is sometimes better than the one you don't.

Yeah, especially after she and Mills just had that big abduction ordeal a couple of weeks ago. It seems that this show is running out of ideas because they keep repeating the same few story lines over and over. Mills and Brett are in danger, Gabby is perfect, great at everything she does and is the most awesome firefighter in the world, Casey continues to put up with Gabby's shit and hides his feelings from her, a couple of the CPD guys show up to help them catch a murder every few episodes, etc. I don't know that this show will get a 4th season - at this point I'm almost hoping it doesn't.

I also hated that Gabby was fairly prominent in this PD episode. I have no idea what TPTB see in her since all of the comments I read would really prefer much less of her. This show needs to feature better actors and better characters (which they certainly have) and make Gabby fade into the background rather than continuing to give her a prominent role in not just Chicago Fire but now in Chicago PD as well.

I loved the Aussie original of this mini-series. I have definite doubts about how well this will translate to American Network TV, but I still plan on watching since I loved the original so much. I have a feeling I'll likely be disappointed, but given that I thought the original was so good I feel the need to watch the remake even though I know it's unlikely to be on the same level as the original.

I also have a bit of a tough time with those who label food as "white trash." Every culture seems to have their own versions of comfort food, junk food, etc., though it seems some of it may be referred to as something that is considered more "trendy" like "Street Food." As someone who currently lives 45 minutes from the Mexico boarder and who has lived much of my career in various parts of Asia and who currently spends more time abroad due to work than I do in the US, "Street Food" is all the rage and any of my colleagues visiting either Mexico/Latin/South America or many parts of Asia for the first time always want to go out and get "Street Food" pretty much straight away as it has become quite hip or trendy to have "Street Food." Why the more (in my opinion) derogatory term "white trash food" is used for American food that is similar in concept is beyond me. Also, Ludo is not the only one to have used this term on the show. Anthony himself used the same terminology and has also referred to food as "redneck" or "hillbilly." He did so just this season when one of the contestants (I think his name was Joe - he was originally from Kentucky but had since moved and owned a restaurant elsewhere - somewhere in Indiana, I think?) made a sauce/condiment for his dish and Anthony made some kind of comment about how it was "white trash" or something very similar. In any case, I'm happy with this season's outcome, though I admit I was pulling for Tristen as I loved his personality and demeanor and he has already come so far - from McDonald's to The Four Seasons - and I really am curious to see where he goes with his career given the fact that he is still quite young and seems to have an awful lot of potential along with a very good work ethic and a willingness and desire to learn. I think he will make the most of the opportunity that Marcus has offered him and he will shine and eventually have his own restaurant one day. If it wasn't in the cards for Tristen to win it all then I am glad that Gabe won since, as many others have mentioned, he really did bring it throughout this whole competition and won more gold stars not just than anyone else this season but more than anyone else for the 3 years that this show has been on. He clearly has a gift and I hope he has more opportunities beyond just an ABC Web Series as some of the dishes he put together really intrigued me and I would love to know more about how he thinks and how he puts a dish together. As for Season 4 (if there is one), completely agree that it would be lovely to see Nigella replaced as mentor and put into more of a hosting or commentary kind of role, however as many of us have mentioned since the start of the season, this is very unlikely as she is an EP. It's just really embarrassing to have her ousted not just first but so embarrassingly quickly (and getting quicker each season). If she remains as a mentor she is going to have an extremely difficult time getting a good team together - she struggled even this year as every time she picked the same person as another mentor they ALWAYS chose the other mentor's team - even though some of them said that they really admired her, she got them into cooking, they would love to be in her kitchen, etc. The weakness of her team - or perhaps more accurately, the weakness of her mentoring - was very apparent when she lost every single team challenge this season. That is unbelievably embarrassing especially as those were all challenges where she dictated that her team would cook a very specific dish in a very specific way and she micromanaged them to death. Then she had the nerve to oust members of team and in the "farewell speech" she said on at least two occasions something to the effect that they should have been more creative or done a better job of "demonstrating their passion" when anyone on her team who dared to even think about or suggest to her that they wanted to do such a thing was sent packing by Nigella as they didn't follow her instructions verbatim. At least this season had a good overall outcome and I was very happy with the top three as well as the winner. However, despite the good outcome this year, I think some changes to the show need to be made though I won't hold my breath for the show to realize some of the mistakes they've made and that they may try to improve things. Unfortunately I can't even imagine that they would even consider making some noticeable changes next season (if there is one) to help make the show more interesting as well as more sustainable.

I have the same problem. I checked my cable guide, and my CBS station is showing another episode of the Good Wife at 12:35am and that one is supposed to be the rerun episode that they are showing now. It seems they may have mixed up the episodes? I set my DVR to record the 12:35am one just in case that's what happened - otherwise I guess I'll have to try to catch it on demand.

Same here. Jen was less irritating this episode, but I really hope she doesn't make it to the final four much less win the whole thing. She always has to rely on having someone else help her (Ludo even had to tell her what piece of cookware to use during the Scream Offs) and I don't think she's made anything particularly original, interesting or that really "wowed" everyone else. I just don't think she has the right level of skill to be in this competition and I really hope either she or Vanessa goes next with the other one right behind.

I was glad to see Javier Plascencia as the guest mentor. I’ve been to his restaurant, Romesco, here in San Diego and actually had beef check tacos – they were amazing. He also serves tripe tacos, which a friend of mine has had and loved. His albondigas (meatballs that are usually served in some kind of sauce - Javier makes his in bacon chipotle cream sauce) are another favorite of mine and I’m kind of surprised no one tried to make them for this challenge – I think they would have been more interesting than an empanada or huevos rancheros, especially as they're pretty versatile. Vanessa made huevos rancheros – really? She couldn’t be any more creative than that? Again with the “if Anthony likes my flavors, that’s all I care about.” Unless she plans on becoming his personal chef (which in her obsessive, stalkery mind she might think is a real possibility), she’s not going to be able to be really successful in the culinary world just cooking for one person’s palate. This week again she was all torn up when he made one small criticism – the girl needs to get a grip. I agree that her whole little rant about how she had more passion than her other team members was a bit ridiculous, especially when she threw in the stuff about not having a home or a job to go back to. A lot of the contestants on this show quit their jobs in order to do the show so using that as proof that she has more passion than the others really doesn’t sit well. The only thing she’s more passionate about than others seems to be Anthony. I like Tristen more and more and I would love to see him win the whole thing. He’s come so far in his career already and he’s still pretty young. At a minimum I hope the exposure on this show will open up some doors for him and he can have his pick as to what he wants to be the next step in his career.

I noticed this as well and I was glad she went out with class. It must have been tough knowing she was likely doomed since the team was shrinking so quickly, but she kept her head up and pushed through it and did the best she could with what she had to work with.

Happy New Year everyone! I guess none of us are at all shocked that Nigella is the first one sent home again this season. If I remember correctly, Nigella lost every single one of the guest judge challenges this season. That is really pathetic. Not only does she keep going out first season after season, she continually breaks her own speed record for how fast her entire team is eliminated. How is this possible? The only constant throughout the seasons has been Nigella, and while she has had some difficult team members, the other mentors have as well. The problem is Nigella and the fact that what she seems to consider “mentoring” means doing exactly what she says how she says to do it and if you disagree with her or want to be even a little bit creative you will be accused of being difficult and/or not listening and then will be sent home. In three seasons on this show, she hasn’t demonstrated that she should be listened to in the kitchen or that she has any knowledge or credibility at all. By losing on all of the guest judge challenges, it will be even more difficult for her to deny that she is the reason she was eliminated so quickly. Those challenges were all lost on dishes chosen by her that she demanded be done in a very specific way. Her team had no chance to be creative or to try to elevate the dish in any way – and they always had the least favorite dish as chosen by a variety of different chefs. Then she had the nerve to tell PK while sending her home last night, that, while she had a fantastic palate and really improved, she needed to let that “passion roar a bit more.” Um, so when was she ever been given the chance to do this? Anyone who tried to “let their passion roar” was immediately shut down by Nigella and then sent home. All the cooks that had a choice between her and another mentor must be so happy that they chose one of the other options. All of the potential contestants for next season (if there is one) have hopefully caught on to the fact that Nigella doesn’t have much credibility left with any of the viewers (or even the contestants and other mentors) at this point given her incredibly embarrassing showing 3 years in a row. I think that the only thing to watch for next season if Nigella stays as a mentor is how fast she can get herself and her team eliminated. If she continues to top her fastest time year after year she might be gone after two episodes next time. Also, it would be hilarious if someone opted not to participate if their only option was to join her kitchen. I'm getting tired of Anthony's stalker Vanessa. She screwed up her lamb, so I was hoping her second try with the beef would still have issues and I was kind of glad that Anthony criticized her a bit but her “heartbroken,” butt-hurt, head in her hands reaction was a bit much. I agree with those that have said that she needs to dial back the crazy when it comes to him. If she only cares what he thinks she may have a very tough time getting too much further as the other three judges don’t always like the same things that Anthony does – that was evident by the Tom Yum Soup that he loved and the other three were kind of ‘meh’ about. Can someone please finally send Jen home? I have no idea why Ludo likes her except every year he seems to have this "damsel in distress" in his kitchen - remember what's her face last year that had the showmance with one of the other contestants (I think she was also the one with the really annoying laugh) that needed either Ludo or someone on her team to tell her how to do anything all? She didn’t even have a clue what to do when one of her pans caught on fire and she just stood there freaking out about it while one of her teammates had to stop what he was doing and go carry the pan over to the sink. For some reason Ludo seems to have a fondness for these types of kitchen “damsels in distress.” As the initial selection is blind he doesn’t know what he’s getting into when he picks them for his team, but he sure does what he can to keep them around way past their welcome or their skill level would otherwise dictate. He even goes so far as to call them “really good cooks” while putting down the fact that they may not be as skilled or may be "just a home cook" in the same breath. There is nothing appealing about Jen or her cooking to me and tonight she made a freaking deconstructed chicken pot pie – and by deconstructed I mean just put a chunk of phyllo on top of some shredded chicken. Nigella actually said that making a pot pie “shows confidence” and that “it was a joy to see and a joy to eat.” What? Her judgment is just getting worse and worse by the second. I can make a pot pie with a full crust made from scratch without any problems at all – using phyllo dough or puff pastry shells (I like to use the puff pastry shells on occasion to make cute little appetizer pot pies) is extremely simple and my 8 year old nephew can make them. Jen needed help from Natasha to even get such a simple dish completed. It seemed that the other mentors were going out of their way to praise her when she got her gold star - it just seemed a little over the top.

Good question - I'm curious about this myself. If both contestants come from the same team which, in theory, could certainly happen (well, except for Nigella since she's down to one person), how would the Taste Off work? This makes the mentors' decision about who should be in it a bit more suspect to me. They already know who earned the red stars so there is at least the potential for some manipulation in order to keep a scenario like this from happening.

Good point, but I would prefer that they had everyone who got a red star cook in the Taste Off unless one contestant got more red stars than any of the others. The maximum amount of contestants that would be cooking would be 4, which is still manageable for judging, and I think that would better help keep the integrity of the "blind tasting/judging." Even if they decided they really only wanted two contestants in the Taste Off, why not keep it blind and not tell the judges who made their least favorite dishes until after they came to a consensus on the two worst that should have to go into the Taste Off?

The scream fest that they call a "Taste Off" this season definitely gives the mentors/production a chance to manipulate/influence things. If there are three or more people who received red stars, the mentors pick who goes to the Taste Off. The judging of it may be blind, but the fact that they can pick who competes openly and not blindly is problematic. In my opinion, the two contestants that have been sent packing after the Taste Off should have stayed over Jen. The fact that Jen was the only one this last round to get two red stars should have automatically sent her home over another contestant who just got one. She would have been out because of this in either of the two previous seasons and I hate the fact that she thinks the only reason she was in the bottom is because she didn't put up four spoons. In the interview that was posted above, she seems to think she likely would have gotten a gold star if she had been able to meet the four spoons requirement. The woman doesn't even know what piece of cookware to use unless Ludo tells her and, while I could kind of live with Jake being eliminated previously (despite the fact that there was at least an appearance of him being selected for the Taste Off in order to help keep Nigella's team from being completely eliminated so quickly), I think Joe definitely deserved to stay over Jen.

So history is repeating itself for the 3rd season and Nigella is once again very likely to be the first one out. Nigella actually told Lindsay that it would be better if she didn’t think “What can I do to make this different?” I thought that was one of the key things that chefs/cooks are always trying to do – be creative, have fresh takes on dishes, make food that stands out, etc. How many times have we heard judges say on all kinds of cooking shows that a dish didn’t have any major issues, was decent tasting, but it wasn’t anything special or that they hadn’t had before? I didn't get to see enough of Lindsay to know if I really liked her or not, but I did love her telling Nigella what was pretty much the truth and Nigella's flat out denial of it. Nigella is just making things worse for herself next season (if there is one). She just showed that she would send anyone who stands up to her, or who won't follow her instructions and make the dish that she wants, packing. On a side note, Nigella needs to dial back the collagen a bit - she's starting to get duck lips. Also, I think the lipstick that Mia had on in the first challenge could been seen from outer space. Someone please make Ludo go away. His micromanaging of Jen during that Taste Off was ridiculous. He was even telling her which pots and pans to use. If she doesn't even know that, or if Ludo feels like she isn't even competent enough to pick the right cook wear, then what is she doing here? I think the Taste Off was added this season just to give Ludo the chance to yell and scream more than usual. Loved when the guy from Kentucky said that adding something into his dish was like "putting fancy knickers on an old stripper."

I've watched all of the seasons of this show, and every year I find myself kind of on the fence about it. I like it better than some of the other newer cooking competition shows that have started to air (especially that dreadful Food Fighters or whatever that mess of show that Adam Richman was hosting was called) and I like the idea of the blind tasting, but something about the way that they judge the main challenge each episode (we didn't see one of those this week because of the auditions) has always bugged me a bit. What bothers me about it is that all the cooks are standing with their teams right behind the judges when they are tasting and discussing the food made for the challenge. The judges have their backs to them, but I still find it hard to believe that the judges can’t hear them talking with their other teammates when their dish comes out and how nervous they are or being surprised by this or that comment or whatever. Why aren't they watching on a monitor back stage or something? The judges are backstage while the cooking is going on for the main challenge, so why not keep the contestants back there for the judging? Also, as the competition goes on there is no way they can’t identify who cooked many of the dishes that they taste, which means that the Mentors may be inclined to vote for their own team members to keep them around the longest to have the best shot at winning. I'm totally shocked that Nigella's team lost (/sarcasm). Did anyone that had a choice of teams to be on actually pick her? I don't remember seeing one choose her over one of the other Mentors. Anyone want to start placing bets on how fast she goes out this year? She went out quicker last season than she did in season 1 so maybe she'll set a new record this season. She again somehow ended up with an all female team (I think the only time she had a male on her team was last season who I think was a cake designer for a living?), which, we all know there are a lot of great female chefs and female home cooks out there, but Nigella hasn't seemed to learn from past seasons and really tends to lean towards the same types of dishes and somehow, even though the tasting is blind, she ends up with largely the same team year after year. At least this season she started with 2 pros and 2 home cooks. I think Nigella has had a couple of fairly strong female home cooks on her team in seasons past unfortunately her "mentoring style" really isn't conducive to letting them shine and be successful. Her micromanaging and her shoehorning them into not just a specific dish but a specific dish done her way and her way only really limits them. Part of cooking is supposed to be about creativity and self-expression – Nigella has not allowed her teams to do that the past two seasons and it has really hurt her and anyone who ends up on her team. She seemed a bit more flexible with this mac and cheese dish, so maybe she's learned a bit that her mentoring style was one of the big reasons she had trouble being successful and helping her team to be successful. I would have loved to have seen someone other than Nigella as a mentor this year. I agree that Amanda Frietag would be a good choice but I'd also love to see Elizabeth Faulkner or maybe even Maneet Chauhan or any number of other great female chefs over Nigella. I’m getting to the point where I'd even rather have an all male panel than to keep her around. Nigella proclaimed herself this episode as an “Extreme Home Cook,” (extremely delusional, perhaps) and then later said that she “cooks professionally" in her own home. What exactly does that mean? I do actually own a couple of her cookbooks and the recipes that I’ve tried have been good (I never follow them to the letter and allow myself more freedom with them than she allows anyone on her team) but she’s shown that her pallet is really awful on this show. She frequently confuses ingredients - ones that are not easy to confuse and that the other Mentors don't seem to have difficulty with - and she is just horrible at picking a team which is based on what dishes she selects (granted, as I mentioned earlier, no one seemed to want to work with her when they had a choice to work with another Mentor, so this made it more difficult for her but she was the last one to complete her team and she could have held out for a really spectacular dish as no one could have stolen that person from her). As has been mentioned, both seasons she’s been the first one out – and she was out long before any of the other Mentors were. I've started to lose some of my respect for her and her food/cooking knowledge. She's also shown a bit of off-putting behavior on the show. Last season she was lounging on the chaise backstage while the contestants were cooking and proclaimed that she was like a “Roman Goddess” while sipping champagne - it was a bit much. The other mentors don't bug me quite as much, though Ludo can be an asshat at times. I was getting real tired of him telling every contestant that had a choice to be on his team or one of the others that he would definitely make them win the competition if they picked his team. I hope this season is interesting and it isn't quite as obvious who the winner or final few will be. I also hope they have some really interesting and difficult challenges and some really good guest judges. I loved Stephanie Izard on Top Chef so I was glad to see her as guest judge on this episode and I'm glad that she seems to be doing well and that her restaurant is successful.

Since I don't think the group was able to come up with a Mission Statement that they could all agree on or that was up to par with what Cal wants, I really hope he makes good on his promise to leave if they didn't have one. I think the only Mission Statement that Cal would accept would be something along the lines of how they were all there to serve him because he's so perfect and he's the only one that can save them as well as Utopia.

I saw this comment in a response to one of the questions about whether or not he knew Aaron was stealing from the group asked to Rob during his "Ask Me Anything" on Reddit: Does anyone know if this is true? I could definitely see it happening given that it is Shady Chef. Speaking of Aaron, he and Kristen need to be nominated for replacement next time. He is just so incredibly negative, hateful and spiteful and I can't believe that the group was so broken up that he was up for replacement this last time. During the vote, many of them stated what a great chef he is and how they wouldn't have survived the first few weeks without him and his "cooking skills" to save them. I'd like to know what these people usually eat if they think he's a good "chef." He's just an embarrassment to the profession in addition to being an embarrassment to the Army. He needs to stop wearing his Army clothing - it's just disrespectful for him to behave the way he does while wearing it. I wonder if he'll become any more self aware if he's nominated for replacement again - it seemed to help send a message to Bri, but I have a feeling we won't get quite so lucky with Shady Chef. Kristen is his little toadie and she's just stirring the pot more and more and doing whatever Aaron wants. It seems as though she may have a bit of a thing for him but he doesn't seem to be into her at all in that way. I really want to see what happens to her and how she behaves once Aaron is out of there and she is on her own.

There is a piece of leaked audio on another site that has Cal talking with Production after the vote yesterday. He goes in and tells them he wants to leave since this isn't what he thought it would be and they aren't working together and blah blah blah. Production basically ask him not to decide anything yet and then says that Production is part of their team and they were going to send people in to replant and that they want this to be a fresh start of sorts. They also tell him to quit making ultimatums to leave and that he owes it to them to put in some effort to be there. So this pretty much goes totally against what the whole premise of this show was supposed to be - or at least how they made it appear to us when they first starting showing ads for it before an episode had ever aired. Production is part of their "team" so they are going to continue to give these guys way too much help and no one is going to work on creating any kind of real community or society and they will all continue to be selfish and go in 15 different directions. I'm curious to see who the replacements are, but I have no faith in Production and wouldn't be surprised if we ended up with 2.0 versions of some of those that have already left or people that might be even worse.

When they went around the table to each speak their piece, that wasn't the formal vote. They had additional discussion after that and made the official vote and Rob is the one who has been voted out. Amanda mentioned this would be the process in the beginning.

Aaron is giving his "why he should stay" speech and he's basically saying that Rob should stay over him because Rob can cheer up the group and Rob's such a great guy but if Aaron does stay he has big plans for the kitchen. Kristen is all red faced and starting to cry. Aaron said he feels like his mission is complete, so basically he wants to go. If he still has big plans for the kitchen, how can his mission really be complete? He finished his speech and now I think nearly all the women are crying. I don't think he said anything moving or even that really came across as very sincere.