AriAu

Besides the obvious connection to TWW itself, John Amos is connected as follows: Fitz/Admiral Sissymary was in Die Hard 2 with Dennis Franz who was in NYPD Blue with Bobby Simone/President Santos...Jimmy Smits Sad day

Good dialogue, good acting but the real key is GREAT chemistry between the 2 leads. I really do believe that the two of them are falling in love and genuinely care about each other. I get why Joanne cut and ran. She is written as a little selfish and snarky and overly critical and sometimes a little mean...i.e. not inherently an all around good person so I can see how the idea of being a good example to others would scare the crap out of her! It came across that she was really concerned about how her actions would reflect on Noah and ran because she really didn't want to hurt him. We hardly ever saw that level of personal growth out of Carrie Bradshaw, on whom this character HAS to be at least slightly based on. Willow (sorry Justine Lupe will always be Willow to me) was terrific and really played the character in a very funny and truly consistent manner. On the other hand, our other sidekick, Sasha, was all over the board and it was hard to figure out what to expect out of him. Was he charming, was he stupid, was he just a doofus, was he spoiled, was he a good husband, was he cheating.....never knew and any of those things were possible. There are so many things wrong about the attempts to introduce or explain Judaism that I am not even going to try and list here, but it would be nice if they started by pronouncing things correctly and then explaining things in a way that makes it matter and is correct.

This episode was soooooo boring that I fell asleep in the middle of it 2 nights in a row. In fact the season is soooooo boring that it has been hard to binge

Gail announced it from Toronto, and said her parents were getting the guest rooms ready! However, I am sure that they got more $$$$$ from the Canadian tourism folks than they would have gotten from any particular city or even province.....and after all it is all about the coin.

Per social media....and a badly acted Insta post, next Stop is Canada.

I'm disappointed that Dan didnt win since he made food I wanted to eat on top of all he overcome.....and I was extra disappointed since they edited it to make it look like he was "Top Chef". On twitter Tom (snidely) pointed out to someone that "I don't remember seeing you at Judges Table during the hour and a half debate", and, after all, we did not get to taste the food. I felt I learned something from her commentary, which is important since, after all, we don't get to taste the food and I thought she brought some nice energy....BUT she did go a little over the top this week about how excited she was to name someone Top Chef, like that was more important than someone WINNING the title of Top Chef. And as much as I enjoyed Kristen, I missed Padma and the gravitas and compassion that she brought to the moment. YMMV.....and she may get there. I won't quite go that far since I will miss getting my Wed nite Top Chef fix, but this was the least inspiring crew in awhile....maybe going back to New York or DC. One issue was that they all have learned to keep a low key personality so that they will be welcomed into the Top Chef family and get the chances for $$$$ and fame. We see Stephanie Izard but Sarah Gruenberg got the "mean girl" reputation and is nowhere to be seen...so everyone gets kinda bland to keep from getting the asshole edit. (I picked those 2 since they are both rockstar chefs here in Chicago). I also think the cheftestants have watched the show so much that they play it safe for awhile and wait for others to screw-up and then get a reputation as uninspired that sticks even if they kick it up a notch like Savannah did late in the season.

Not 100% certain, but the best guess is $$$$$$$, the almighty dollar. It gives them a second chance to get a local tourism board, or in this case a cruise line, to kick in funds! Other than the pandemic season, I don't remember them NOT going somewhere else. I actually just looked at Wikipedia and in info for the Houston season they mention the money kicked in by Visit Tucson.

I agree with the comments above about this season being pretty meh. Food and cheftestants have been pretty bland-no mad scientists or jerks, no amazing dishes that judges raved about....other than Manny's pozole the very first week. The cheftestants performing the best most of the season (Dan and Danny) are also bland and I think that is why Michelle became so beloved. Huge Dan fan so I was worried about him this week...right up until I saw how raw Tom's fish was and I knew he was safe. Love his attitude and the fact he has consistently turned out top tier food....and if you doubt that, go check out the chart at Wikipedia-only other low was the Sausage Race and even then they said that the food tasted good.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_Chef:_Wisconsin. The Elves almost always pick somebody local as a cheftestant so Dan's familiarity with the Wisconsin traditions and the guest chefs is not off putting to me. However, his is the 2nd time that I can recall that the local person has performed so well-they are usually gone early, other than Stephanie Izard who's restaurant in Chicago closed a few months before she stopped the Richard Blais coronation that season! And, yes, I do think that the disability is hurting Dan's results in the Quick Fires...and no, I do not think they should make special accommodations for him. Not sure what Savannah was trying to do making a pave as a main course other than having a dish match her story, rather than the other way around. While it does seem like she is on an Adrienne/Melissa King (1st time thru) late season charge, she doesnt seem to be turning out dishes that are at a super elevated level. Laura is kicking ass, but something about her is just not likeable, but she is also not a villian. Heard on the Pack Your Knives podcast that in the taste test race, they took out the bacon and pork chops for Danny who does not eat pork products for religious reasons...not sure I have ever heard of them doing that before, but I think that is very considerate and appropriate. He has to still be the favorite in a "cook the meal of your life" finale since he has the potential to wow them with his technique.

This season was taped in late summer/early fall in Wisconsin, a part of America's heartland. There is no shortage of fresh, I mean REALLY fresh, produce since that is harvest time. Sure, there may not be any fresh uni like in San Diego, but this is WISCONSIN. Ridiculous point to make. I hate these "artistic" challenges, especially this late in the season. Give them some parameters, but to complain about Michelle not using enough of the table is not judging them on the right things, especially this late in the game. On the other hand, the fact she undercooked her biscuit etc.... that is fair game, yet somehow I cant believe it was worse than Manny's, who managed again to not "out-run the bear...only out run you". So Laura won for making a "sundae bar"....ok. Dan and Danny's seemed better and more technically strong, but again, we don't get to taste them. Where is the finale taking place? Did I miss that?

It is for the tourists in Door County (I don't think I have ever seen it in other areas of Wisconsin and I have been to most of the places that thrive on tourism. And to be honest, the fish boil is really just an excuse to pour looooottttts of butter all over the fish and the potatoes....it is otherwise very bland and mushy. It ain't no fish fry, an event that people from Wisconsin actually eat at almost every Friday. Very disappointed in Soo and his dish must have been really bad to beat Manny's boring approach. I know he is following the play book of "cook your protein well and season it correctly" but at some point you gotta push it. We have seen some chefs make late season charges, but most have done it with better dishes than Savanah has. I think she is still far behind the top 3 of Danny, Dan and Michelle. And while I am a big fan of Gail and breasts, she needs to put them away or make the stylist put them away or at least get some sun on what is hanging out. Wasnt distracting, just not a good look for her.

I'll give you all of this and that it was well done, but the problem is that this is, at its core, a sitcom and I don't think I laughed one time the whole hour. It would have been hard to have much humor (other than MeeMaw's eulogy), but that is why I wish it had been done off screen as a recap like in The Wonder Years.

Blasphemy! In all seriousness, TBBT was a true comedy and YS has become, over the last few seasons a dramedy with some funny lines and some irony, but is not, in any way, as out loud funny as TBT. While I prefer TBBT, YMMV

While there was lots of retconning from TBBT, he had to pass away, but I wish they had done it in a voiceover (Wonder Years style) since this is, after all, a comedy. Was this the first time we saw Young Sheldon doing the 3 knocks....and I can't wait to see how they retcon that one-while it is possible that Mary finds out that George cheated, there is no way that Sheldon walked in on them. That was a pretty hard cut to black at the end-had to watch again to make sure it wasnt a dvr malfunction

This was what I meant...thank you for saying it more clearly than I did! The losers of the head-to-heads should have been up for elimination regardless of whether they were blue or yellow.....the colors of the Brew Crew by the way. And, before anyone asks I am not a Milwaukee or eve Wisconsin native, but I did marry one and get to spend a lot of time in the lovely city......and at Kopps for custard

This was a GREAT idea for a dish since it is a blank canvas for flavors....and seemed to be well executed. This guy seems to know how to play the game as well and I have a hunch he has some more in his back pocket for later in the season! The challenge was pretty straightforward so they cooked consistently good food. However, I am not sure why this needed to be a team challenge giving immunity to the the winning team-why not the 5 winners of the head to head are safe and the other 5 go to elimination?? To be clear, the Sausage Race rules....there is something so "wholesome" about it since it has been around for a loooooong time (I think over 30 years) and started out as pretty innocent and then got commercialized-there is merch in the gift shops at Miller Park.....I mean American Family Park. Amusing as all the back and forth is, and while there is a large Polish population in Milwaukee and the Midwest, if you go to a concession stand at this ballpark, the boards say "Polish Sausage", as is the case at the great hot dog places in Chicago and the surrounding areas. By the way, they have waited far to long to have the cheftestants head to Kopps.....only the world's greatest frozen custard, especially on a day when they have Butterfinger, Cookies and Cream, Carmel Cashew, Mint Chip or Spumoni as a flavor of the day. ETA...or Peach Melba or Mocha Chip or Mr Fudgie or....