Taeolas

On the one hand, due to the non-elimination, the episode was a wash. But I still see it being valuable for the contestants especially. It put 4 challenges in front of them early on: The cake theme artistic challenge. The "highest cake" structure challenge The 4 hour "quick build" challenge The 40 minute Brick pit closure. Remember, these contestants haven't had any Reality TV experience, so they're likely still getting used to how to handle the episode's challenge around the filming distractions (It felt like Will was more distracting than usual this episode too for that matter, forcing them out to dance during the build and the bouquet toss) So this non-elimination episode was useful for the contestants to give them a chance to adjust their expectations around the realities of the show. The lesson may have hit harder if one of the towers had collapsed while moving, but even with no collapse, the contestants learned a lot about how strong they would have to build (not to mention who's going to be dangerous on the Structure challenges like the Bridge building/Earthquake ones)

The ice queen cake was gorgeous; a legit win there. The tallest was lucky they had the tallest "immunity" since I'm sure they would have been in the bottom two instead of the Scientist/Zoologist cake. The Carrot/Corn cake rightfully would have been the absolute worst regardless IMO. And yeah, a non-elimination was pretty much a given regardless. While I can see a double elimination happening early, in the second episode would be WAY too soon. I wonder how tall the other tallest cake was? The angles were a bit hard to tell for sure, but it felt like it was close to the 9ft mark as well. Still I don't think they had to get quite as low to clear the 10ft arch, so I guess it was obvious who was taller.

For parts of a Circle, I think he said that the contestant said "Round" and that was why he was buzzed, not because of Circumference. Not sure if that was actually what was said, since the buzz happened pretty quick so I'm not sure. Maybe I just misheard. I know I thought he had been buzzed for Circumference, but I didn't know what the category was so I may have missed it. (I look away from the screen so I can 'play along' in the bonus rounds, since they have to use words only I don't have to watch to guess. :)

Monster was robbed IMO. He had a much better final song than Boogie did. Boogie's song sounded muffled (by the mask?) and ultimately was a simpler song; hell I think the backup singers sung more than he did in it. Granted it was Pearl's to lose at that point anyway. Black Horse is not a simple song and she did great on it. Coral was a goner regardless. She did good, and her song was good; but not really a crowd pleaser. I suspect that may have been what did Monster in the end as well. Didn't recognize any of them, but I take that as a given nowadays. I just don't track celebrities and I know even less about Country music. And now we're on break until next January.

Getting Kobald blood might be tricky. Hopefully boar blood or similar can be substituted. :) Being a Mob Revenge dish, I was worried that the meat might be the Other White meat, but that's a bit too dark for an in-season episode. (Perfectly fine for the Halloween special of course)

The clues went by too fast, if they were actually clues. But to clarify, he didn't direct Guardians; that was James Gunn. He directed the recent Thor movies, and is Korg in them (the mellow rock dude).

Honestly, this is probably one of the strongest Top 4 we've ever seen. Coral is the weakest; but that isn't saying much really. Especially with the performances tonight. I hadn't realized the finale was 2 hours, but now that I know it is, it makes sense. And bringing back the Ding Dong Bell, I'm fine. Because letting any of these 4 go would have been horrible. Just the opening "I can make you clap" quartet showed how strong this group was, and the actual songs were even better. That the smackdown was two different songs threw me a bit, and was an indicator that something might be up. (Or are smackdowns usually different songs and battle royales are the same songs? I can't remember). If I was really pushed, I would have sent Coral home, but it would have been very begrudgingly. Glad we did still have a reveal, and LUcky Duck showed himself. Maybe I haven't been observant this season, but I would have loved to have seen more clues for him through the season. And I especially would have loved to have the panel guess who he was, considering who he really is. I suspect when he said he wanted to be on the show, they found he had the moves (he certainly has some choreography) but he probably can't carry a tune in a bucket... not that that's stopped the show before. But instead of him competing and eliminated early, they toyed with Rita through the season instead. I wonder if he'll be in the VIP section for the finale, now that he's shown himself. I know some will be grumbling that this was ultimately a non-episode... but I'm still fine with it. Next week should be quite epic.

"Play in the California sunshine (that's not LA, Anaheim, or San Francisco sunshine)" I haven't been to San Francisco since the 2000's, but from what I remember, SF is like London. The Sun is only a suggestion, a mythical thing that shows up once or twice a year before hiding like a shy girl in her fog banks. :)

I think they're waiting for the crowd to shrink down before doing their big travel, since they're using the redecorated Top Chef Canada kitchen currently, which is big enough for a dozen chefs at once. After next week's restaurant wars I wouldn't be surprised if they start travelling from there. That's likely when the group will be small enough to fit into smaller studio kitchens. As for Hawaiian pizza, I don't care for it myself. I love ham, but not a fan of pineapple in general. And yes, it was created in Ontario, I think in London or Mississagua, somewhere close to Toronto in any case (by a greek immigrant as the show pointed out) It seems Canada has a long habit of naming things after American things. Hawaian Pizza, Boston Pizza restaurant chain, New York Fries restaurant chain, Montana's Restaurant chain, etc.... :)

His strategy to hide in the corner is basically what my strategy would be. Get a protectable section of territory, ideally with no randomizer pickable targets next to me, and maybe with a category that would scare people away, and then sit on it. If you can hide behind scarier categories that's a bonus. Having the Time boost is extra security if you can secure it. All in all, I like how this season played out. Everyone was picked before the final ep so everyone on the floor had been tested at least once. I also like that we got an answer for what the Tie-breaker category would be. We have now seen all of the Categories that have ever been on The Floor. I do wonder what the one next season would be. I think they should pick it from the first 10 or 15 categories of this season, as long as the contestants didn't have them before. That way everyone is familiar with them, but wouldn't necessarily be experienced with them. Before the final ep, the contestants are given a set of 5 topics the final one might be picked from so they can prepare without knowing.

I believe others have said they've seen reports that they tend to film 2 eps a day. I would assume they do one ep, then do a lunch break/extended break to give people a chance to bone up on their new categories (either ones they inherited or ones that are suddenly near them). Then they film the second ep. Then they get the night for dinner, socializing and more study time. If you pay attention in game, you'll often here people commenting on how they've been reading up on this category or otherwise preparing, so it's at least 1 ep a day, and I can't imagine it being fair if they squeezed too many eps in a single day since some eps people wouldn't have preptime from the previous one, while others they would. (A night of cramming vs an afternoon of cramming isn't really fair either but probably a good compromise to fit filming schedules.) That would let them get the full season filmed in about a week. (10-12 eps, done in 5-6 days)

I pointed out last season that the Ding Dong Save didn't really make sense. It forced them to 'save' a singer before hearing all of the singers which didn't really seem fair. And also if they brought two singers per pool into the finals, they would be able to have a full set of eps for elimination, and not need the recap episode either. Seems like they realized it this season and I like it. 2 per pool and a final 6 feels good for this series.

I'm still partial to NPH being the guess for Boogie, which makes him a triple threat, but more well known for acting than singing (barely). I think the current best guesses is that it's someone else now. So he may very well be a pro. To me, he didn't come off quite as strong as Monster did, but as I said, everyone's practically at the same level. His song choice last night I felt was weaker and it may be a matter of taste. I just didn't care for it as much as the other songs that were performed. Regardless, I'll stand by my theory that Coral will go next week, and it's an Opal/Monster/Boogie final... and I have no clue who will take it in the end.

I've said it before, but my strategy is to go for the Time Boost. Those extra 5 seconds are critical. Besides that, I would also go for an edge. My ideal area would be to have a small block of territory, with no single space tiles next to me. A corner or edge block would be ideal. Having no (or few) single space tiles near me is important, as it makes sure I won't be a randomizer target. Getting a topic people tend to be scared of (A science or math topic seems to be scariest for most people) also helps too.

They say "closest (rigged) vote ever" quite often; but tonight I could believe it. Coral and Boogie felt like they had off nights, possibly due to song choices. But really no one did bad. I'm a bit surprised Nessie went home, but really all 5 of them are so close at this point, it's a coin flip. I could see any of them winning. I think they're trying to filter out some of the pro-singers to make sure they have a non-pro singer in the final. (Boogie isn't pro right? I suspect he'll make it to the end, probably with Pearl and Monster) Pearl's twang came throuh tonight, meaning we have 2 country singers showing strong this season. I wonder if Pearl and Monster have figured out who they are. As for who Nessie was, I recognize his song; I don't think anyone who lived through that era wouldn't. He did really well, especially with such a bulky costume. That's the sort of costume you expect for a 1-2 ep contestant, not someone who got to the second round of the finals.