I'm loving this season. The editing is so good. I was sure either Doug or Melissa was going to leave. Then, when they announced Doug in the top, I thought he was going to win - so I was surprised by both Katsuji's win and Stacy's PYKAG, but enjoyably so! I wish more reality shows trusted the audiences capability of surviving an episode without knowing the outcome in the first 5 minutes. The food seems really good, would love to try everything!
My favourite remains Mei. Often on cooking shows I'm a bit peeved with people who are familiar with Asian cuisine sticking to Asian cuisine and then flying through simply because Asian flavours and textures are, in themselves, rather pleasing to western judges (in short: I feel Asian is often an easy cuisine to do in a cooking show. I'm not a chef, though, what do I know!). However, I really don't think this is the case with Mei (or Melissa either). Her food seems like elevated Asian cuisine with twists to this and that direction. I also like how potty-mouthedly confident she is about it. (Mind you, she saves that to talking heads. In the kitchen she's seen consulting other chefs and being nice and respectful.) Would've loved to see Katie in the top since she is the dark horse and did two insane dishes this episode! It's always nice when the chef just goes outside the box without resorting to gimmicks.
The little "Aaron was an asshole, you guys" -get-together in the beginning was lovely, too, and highlighted how jovial the rest of the episode was. Such a good-spirit episode! Also loved Tiffani's "wah cry me a river" -face when Reese Witherspoon complained about her less-than-satisfactory pantry.
I think and fear Melissa is next, since she seems a bit clueless about what the show is looking for. "Perfectly diced vegetables", uhm, whether I'd be a judge or a diner at a restaurant, I'd expect flavour and innovation, not display of knife skills. EDIT: While I'm no expert on Native Americans, I thought the depiction of Wampanaug this episode seemed contemporary and respectful, and not at all mystical or whimsy (none of that "ooh Indians, with their earthy connection and overwhelming spiritism of the past" that is so often found). So I enjoyed that - Padma's repeated "it was such an honor" seemed like a bit of an overkill, though.