Rai

Hah, I did notice that last week, and I was just delighted. :D

I feel like I can't comment on this episode without speculating, and the speculation revolves around a character only mentioned in passing so far, so...I got nothing to say really. Other than I really enjoyed it. High stakes! Multiple Barrys! Tensions! Possible DEATH. For me, the most heartbreaking moment was when Earth-2 Iris asked if her father was still alive, and Barry said yes. To me, it's so much weightier than him just grieving for Earth-2 Joe, it's that his mother is dead on Earth-1, and he can't really burden Iris with that. Maybe not what they intended, but to me, it's interesting that no matter what, someone is without a parent on either Earth.

In fairness though, I think Tom and Padma weren't at all fond of him, to put it mildly. But that's because he cooked food they didn't like and refused to take the critiques, soooooooooo...

I'm not in favor of picking apart women for what they're wearing on a cooking show, but going beyond that, I don't think Marjorie's ever said anything about who she prefers to date, and Karen's mentioned her spouse less than Isaac's mentioned his wife. So should he shut up about his sexuality too? It's an arbitrary criticism. Cooks are in a world where tattoos and piercings and colored hair are entirely normal. And it's not like they can get them removed very easily even if they wanted to. As a heavier woman, I felt sympathetic to both Marjorie and Karen for wearing less than flattering clothing, sure, I'll admit it, but I suspect based on the way they were dressed, it was on the warm side. Comfort helps in a stressful situation.

Yes, that's correct. My fellow nerds know what I am talking about. That said, I needed a refresher on Valentina, but now I'm all up to speed.

I really like Isaac, and it must have been satisfying as hell to pull out that win. HOWEVER. I think Marjorie deserved it. They were all cool about not showing any of their missteps or nervousness, but if it hadn't been for Marjorie, dinner service wouldn't have gone as smooth for Karen. She bailed Karen out. Isaac, having to bail Karen out on the dish, not so much. I guess the reward for being a solid FOH person is that they don't notice how much you contributed, it should be smooth and unobtrusive, but still. I like Isaac and am comfortable he won. But in my heart, Marjorie deserved it more. Amar should kiss the floor and all shrines to kitchen gods everywhere that the judges clearly just had had it with Phillip. Otherwise, he would've gone home. I was a little surprised he didn't, even though Phillip was basically begging to be sent home with every stupid defense he put forth at judges' table.

Did anyone catch the name of the Russian Colonel? Super important to me to know this. I don't know it, so that's why I'm asking. If it's who I think it is, I'm already grinning like a nerdy maniac. EDIT: looked it up. YEAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!! Also, I really love that Kendra and Sara have the opposite problems in some ways. Fun to watch them interact. Both Stein and Jax came off really poorly in that fight. I like that. They're both right, and they're both wrong, and they're both mad as hell.

Turns out a friend of mine is friends with Dax, but I don't know, she didn't quite set me on fire. Maybe it's because I come from a nerd background myself and tend to find my fellow nerds a little too socially oblivious and take their fandoms a little too seriously. Thorgy's competitive vibe may be questionable, but there's something refreshing about a queen who sees drag as something fun to along with the fabulous. Although Bob makes that sense of fun way more effortless. Regarding Acid Betty's clown remark -- for all Bianca has mocked herself for being a glam clown, her outfits were never particularly theatrical or colorful, outside of her comedy queens look. She tended to go for a low-key (for a drag queen) mature glam and let the make-up be the most outrageous part of her style. Acid Betty is much more club kid and punk and genderfuck, so she's playing up the colors and outrageously goofy proportions of clothes, which is in keeping with clowns. Funny thing -- I remember her on Project Runway a million years ago, and some of the queens then said Acid Betty wasn't really a drag queen, she's a hybrid performer because she didn't always go with the feminine looks and realness. Drag's come a long way since then. Or at least the conversation has.

Team Acid Betty! (Partied with her once. She's so freakin' tall.) However, Thorgy won some of my love by saying she'd love to lip sync to "Let's Talk Dirty to the Animals," which is indeed a criminally underrated song, and if Bob the Drag Queen doesn't win Miss Congeniality, there's no justice in the world. Cynthia Lee Fontaine SEEMS nice, but if her two BFFs/mentors are Phi Phi and Alexis, then I'm waiting for some claws to come out. Chi Chi DeVayne seems like early fodder. Sorry, gurrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Team Marjorie all the way. When she was busting on Philip for his little meat, she was my hero. Also, bread and pickles are clearly such a perfect side combo for a beefsteak event, and she seemed to elevate them. Also, also, I just love pickles, so there's that.

Yeah, although Padma seemed to be giving it right back at him. Sandee also had a big ole crush on Padma, IIRC. That said, a woman chatting cheerily or jokingly to a man doesn't automatically scream flirty to me. And vice versa. I used to snark at my former department head non-stop, and he'd give it right back to me, and no one would call us flirting at all. It was just how we understood each other best (casual office environment, btw.).

Just jumping back in to say I'm totally Team Marjorie. I would love to see her win overall, although Kwame would be great too. That said, I think "JERK BROCCOLI" is my new band name. Our hit single will be "Yummy Gummy."

I'm legit surprised Kwame wasn't sent home, although I'm glad he wasn't. But that seemed like the worst dish for miles around. That said, I don't dislike Jason, but damn, that's him a more relaxed, chill guy who doesn't yell at his chefs? Not that I was a fan of Angelina, but I think she might disagree that you're all hang ten now, buddy. I don't know why, but it bugged the hell out of me that it took so long for the judges/production to identify Mei and point out that she won the previous season. I always liked her, and here, she was treated like a ride-along in a way. OTOH, Nancy Silverton is terrific, and I loved hearing how she critiqued. It was direct, but still so positive. Also, watching Tom get a little choked up was surprising, but something I appreciated. It's terrible to see someone you like and admire slip away.

I always interpret that as something shared between diner and server/chef/restaurant. "What you and I have together here." It's just a customer service phrase, really.

I don't think it should matter what Karen wants to call her spouse, but FWIW, "spouse" is a very common term for those who don't like to use gendered terms out of rejecting the old-fashioned connotations, not because anyone's genderqueer. I mean, there's that possibility too, but "spouse" is an elegant term summing up the relationship with nothing more that needs to be said or implied about the partners. Really hoping Marjorie goes the distance, but her defense of Angelina all the time was baffling.

Although Phillip doesn't really bother me much, I found it very interesting that a good number of the chefs seem to find him annoying and were quite happy to join in on the criticisms. When Wesley is dissing your technique, that's not a good sign. I suspect Isaac might become a little hard to take on a daily, intensely exhausting reality show production basis, but as a viewer, I find him amusing, and his food sounds good. I wasn't at all sad to see Giselle go, but I really hope Karen steps it up from here on out.

I know it's been said a couple of times already, but every time Cisco says, "...but you're just a dick," I can't stop laughing. A+ line read there.

But that's not what she did to get into the biz, so the fact that people like to believe that about her -- STILL -- is very depressing.

Ah, yes, Bill Willingham. He does like to rile up people. That said, in a thread about gender roles and similar concerns, it's disappointing to see that people still believe Devin Grayson just slept her way into the biz. Although she dated the writer Mark Waid for a bit (not any of the editors), she was writing for DC before they started dating, and was working on Nightwing after they broke up. Yeah, it was her fan-fiction that got her noticed by Denny O'Neil, but that's the kind of thing I'd think would make a fan happy. "Local Kid Makes Good" kind of thing. I admit, I happened to be a big fan of her work on Catwoman and Gotham Knights back in the day, but still. Gail Simone came out of the internet fan ranks too and doesn't get this kind of insinuation, maybe because she's already married. Grayson had the misfortune to date a colleague for a bit, and people have held that against her ever since.

Please wear a tank top every episode, Jimmy. Sorry, "James." kthxby

I'm dying to know who the writer was, just because I'm a pretty hardcore nerd, and am very curious.

Trickster all day every day, please.

I was just going to say that ratatouille is in fact a vegan dish. Sometimes, it's a surprise how much "normal" mainstream dishes are in fact vegan. I'm a committed omnivore, but it's really not that hard to come up with something vegan. I'll give the young dude props for wanting to showcase cauliflower, even if it was more of a side dish just because I think vegan cuisine is often at its best when it celebrates the vegetables, not tries to make them taste like meat or whatever. That said, if canned chick peas are a sin against god and man, well, guilty. I'll keep on sinning. And thinking Frances made the smartest dish.

Speaking of All=Stars, I really loved the challenge where they all had to prepare an entree that would suit a particular famous restaurant's menu. It's both high-end cooking, which is fun to watch, and one that really demands smart chef skills. The Camp Diabetes challenge in the second season was not a fave, although finding a way to feed those kids chocolate cake was nice.