Nancybeth

I really wish Dr. Pepper or the producers would push Johnny a little bit on the "trust issues" he keeps mentioning with Bao. Is this about the stupid gourmet meals "lie" again*? Has she lied about other things? I can see where he would say that they don't communicate well or they need different things from each other, but he mentioned trust several times and we haven't been shown any real breach of trust issues, as far as I'm concerned. (*I don't consider it a lie and I can't believe how hung up he got on that conversation.)

If they were treating this like a "real" dance audition, Kelli's assistant would just call out their names at the end of the rehearsal and say, "Thank you, we don't need to see anything else, you have been released from training camp." In years past occasionally girls would say, "I'm staying with a family friend," or "So and so and I are living with someone she knows," and I've always wondered if sometimes alums were hosting the TCCs and they just didn't spell it out.

I assumed the change in auditions -- from having a completely open process in-person to selecting candidates via video and then having the judges see them in person -- was a modification for COVID and not a permanent change or anything they did for TV purposes or time. The old way of doing auditions involved a couple hundred candidates, plus the judges, staff and crew. That's a lot of people to try and get test results for and control. Seems much easier to narrow it down to a slightly larger training camp than in years past, test everyone, put them in a bigger space and get an episode that looks and feels sort of like an audition. Tulip, I was able to purchase it on Amazon yesterday -- it's Season 16. I'm in the US, so it might be different if you're not.

You actually may be right about that -- her profile is private now so I can't really tell. I thought she mentioned hearing about the restaurant from a social media influencer, so maybe she's more of a consumer than a content creator?

This week made me think Gil's objections to Myrla's "bougie" lifestyle is maybe less about money and more about the fact that he just doesn't "get" her...Myrla seems very very focused on herself and how she comes off to other people. She focuses a lot on social media and I . And all of that just seems foreign to Gil. It really came through when they were talking about her wanting a brunch husband. That was not the answer he was looking for and I think it probably did more harm to their relationship than the price tag on the brunch. It comes off, at times, like Myrla was looking for another accessory and that's why she chose to get married at first sight. Now I can't tell if she's getting a bad edit or she really has such high standards for everything and everyone. But I don't think Gil is enamored with the idea of being her "brunch hubby" forever.

I think the flight everyone was getting on was just going from the island they were on* to Honolulu, where presumably everyone would get flights back to the mainland, and the body would be sent back to Australia. *(I know it was filmed in Maui, but I don't think they ever said the resort was on Maui, and I know there are plenty of flights from Maui to the the mainland so that's a bit of a convenient plot hole there.) I don't believe, for one second, that they would be ready to ship Armond's body back the very next day, less than 24 hours after he was killed. It just wouldn't happen. It would take several days for the coroner to release it. I also question whether Shane would be able to leave so quickly but I can suspend disbelief and assume his family's high priced lawyers made that happen.

I assumed Ron's medical issues were something like cancer because they said he needs to get treatments? Angela needs to find clothes that better flatter her figure. I thought Natalie was the best dressed on stage by a mile. I'm really over this entire cast, and if I never saw them again on a 90 Day fiance spinoff it would be too soon. There's really not one couple I enjoy watching and root for!

Yeah, I just caught that and fixed my post...uncle, not father. Still not great!

I'm fairly sure the whole Libby/Andrei/Chuck/family drama is manufactured because they're angling for their own show, but I did have to laugh that Chuck was trying to convince everyone that if brought them over for a cookout around the pool, everyone would be relaxed and happy and wouldn't fight. Oh you mean like, when you chartered a yacht for the day....or took them to a family reunion in the middle of a vineyard...or they were gathered for a 2-year-old's birthday party?? The vibes between Natalie and her friend are very, very odd. As is her headband. I thought it was strange and inappropriate that Ronald's uncle was going to serve as their marriage counselor!

Wasn't Mylah like...4 months old when these scenes were filmed? Yara is still postpartum! That's barely out of the "4th Trimester." I've never had a kid and even I know that. I just felt like everyone -- Jovi, Mama Jovi, the cousins -- were expecting way too much from her in terms of moving the baby into her own room, messing with a sleep schedule, staying out late, showing off her body in sexy lingerie, travel! Plus she had COVID and she's been doing a lot of baby care all on her own. If Mylah was 9 or 12 months, I could understand where they were coming from. But it seemed like a lot of overreaction. (That being said, it did seem kind of ridiculous that they couldn't stay over after she put Mylah to bed.)

I liked Emma and her mom up until this week -- I found her intensity and their banter kind of entertaining. But her meltdown this week turned me off. I'm a competitive person too but I had to agree when mom said, "It's just cake!" I also don't mind Thomas and his mom. I think the teams are encouraged to be a little snarky and there are some people that are just better at it than others. He's catty but I don't read it as truly mean. Lorie and Jason seem SO FAMILIAR to me -- does anyone know if they've been featured on another show?

I think, simplistically speaking, red velvet cake has come to be shorthand for "cake that is red." But traditionally, it was made with buttermilk and vinegar and cocoa and that was what gave it a red hue, and set it apart from devil's food cake. I think a lot of views could miss that if you're not familiar with the traditional recipe. But I was surprised that not all of the bakers caught on. I have to say, I don't like the "wordplay" or logic puzzle type clues in the Crime Scene Kitchen. Like matching the type of crust to the menu, or the one in a previous episode where you could match the name on the cup to what she had signed up to bring. I guess it makes it more fun for the viewers, but I think the bakers are too focused on actual ingredients and culinary clues that they miss that stuff.

I've also had sinus polyps surgically removed -- 3 times, in fact -- and they've never packed my nose. I don't even think I've had blood. But you tend to get a lot of drainage down the back of your throat and I've always been nauseous for several days afterwards. So it's possible that they may have told her that flushing out the nose and sinuses with a neti pot would be helpful (although frankly that sounds painful, post-surgery). I'm pretty sure that Jovi and Yara's new apartment is in Mandeville, which is across the Causeway bridge from New Orleans. It's a pretty long drive into the city. I think she could have found something similar that wasn't quite so far, but one the other hand -- it's not like he's got a day job in the city. He just wants to be close to the bars and the nightlife. And I agree that since she's home for long stretches by herself, maybe her wants and needs come first.

Yara and Natalie are both from Ukraine, right? Varya and Julia are from Russia.

I just rewatched that season and felt even more strongly that all four of the remaining Cheftestants should have been eliminated, leaving Marcel as the winner -- but that would have left them with NO finale whatsoever. The thing is, there's on-camera/off-camera behavior during the season (aka while they are under contract to the production company) and then a Chef's behavior before and after the season. By all accounts, Gabe did not misbehave towards his fellow Chefs or production DURING the filming. It was before, and because there was no built-in break this year, that put Magical Elves in a tough spot. I can't say I agree with their decision -- I'm not sure I know what the right one is. But I also can't say it's the same as watching Cliff and Sam and Ilan and Elia treat Marcel so horribly on camera, during the competition.

My friend is a wedding cake designer and the bakery where she works has a Princess cake, that's the only reason I was familiar with it. Oh and yes, they did make it on GBBO one time! I think they're probably more common at bakeries who specifically label themselves "European" or have a heavily European-influenced menu. I find the cake very sweet but tasty, although I'm one of those weirdos who actually LIKES marzipan.

I just watched her Sushi making video after someone mentioned it in the episode thread: I laughed so hard I almost cried. From her insane cultural appropriation outfit to the awkward edit where she gave up on cutting the salmon to the MASSIVE sushi roll she made. Watching her eat that piece of sushi is absolutely disgusting, though, just as a warning. Why does she come off so, uh, sexually suggestive? Like it's the first scene of a porno? ETA this amazing description of her Apple Pie video...Today my special guest Nicole and me are going to cook apple pie! For cooking apple pie you will need cheese, baking powder, butter, eggs, sugar, milk, flower and apples of cause. Exact recipes and measurements will follow shortly after in the description. Please do not forget to subscribe for new videos!

Okay, here's my understanding of the conversation with Natalie, Mike and his mom about ingredients. Natalie asked for celery root, and they didn't have it at the store. Mike's mom bought parsnips which, as someone pointed out above, CAN be a substitute for celery root. But then Natalie didn't know what they were and confused the word parsnips with parsley. She thought Mike was saying the parsnips were parsley, and she was saying, "No, parsley is the green stuff that you chop, I don't know what that [a parsnip] is. A LOT of Mike and his mother's behavior has been super passive-aggressive but I honestly think the celery root / parsnip / parsley was just language confusion and Natalie being so generally annoyed that it muddled the communication. There was a moment -- a brief flickering moment -- when Angela was talking to Michael on the phone that I thought she was about to come to her senses, apologize and admit that she was taking out her frustration about the cancelled surgery and having to quit smoking on him and he had done nothing wrong. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. I was very, very wrong. She's a terrible soul sucking self-centered person. Michael's sister and aunt were on fire tonight and I kind of want them on Pillow Talk! I think it's kind of shifty of Tiffany not to come clean with Ronald about the fact that she will not even consider moving to South Africa and him getting a visa is the only thing that will save their marriage. Maybe he would take it more seriously.

This is a weird observation but Dannielle and Garrick and their families all seem to have an accent that I would have pegged as "Midwestern" if I didn't know where they were from. But they're all (presumably) from Colorado -- is there a regional accent for that part of the country? At least the Clarks are talking to a potential sister wife that's more age appropriate in this episode!

Team Penny had a LOT of missed opportunities, starting with the fact that they wanted to go above and beyond to serve an amuse but Gabe kinda f'ed it up. And the fact that they didn't have a leader or anyone managing FOH. I wonder how they would have fared in a traditional Restaurant Wars, where you have to assign roles? Some menus at very high end restaurants just basically list ingredients, which made wonder if that's what Penny's menu had on it? "Crab, ham broth, spring onions, carrot tops" or whatever, but didn't go into a lot of details. I ate at Volt years ago, which was Bryan Voltaggio's first restaurant, and basically my takeaway was that even if I recognized the ingredients that were listed as part of a dish, I had NO CONCEPT of what it would look like or how it was prepared when it arrived at the table.

I actually don't think she was doing it maliciously either, catrice! I like Dawn, and I'm actually rooting for her to win. But I do think that the team was dinged for the menu progression and the way the courses flowed or didn't, and I think Dawn's process hampered them a little bit. I don't know, maybe it wouldn't have made a difference, but Sarah did say that Dawn's first dish wasn't exactly what she thought it would be. And I do believe that in other years, with other chefs, they would have called that out at Judges Table. They all had a part to play in the lack of teamwork and communication and yeah, just deciding that "seafood" was the plan and then everyone setting out to do their own thing was a bad strategy.

Unfortunately -- although the judges had no way of knowing this -- Dawn's inability to conceptualize her dishes until so late in the game led directly to at least some of the team's problems. She's lucky her teammates didn't throw her under the bus. I've noticed that overall, the Cheftestants this year just seem more friendly and less competitive with each other. I have a feeling a lot of that is because they are so grateful just to be cooking and around other people who are food obsessed like they are! Chris is the luckiest mf'er on this season. There have been several times I thought he should go home and he somehow squeaks by. That ice cream saved him!

Yeah, I lived in New Orleans too (although it's been awhile) and wherever he was shopping, it didn't look like any of those established stores in the Garden District/Warehouse District area. Or even a big drugstore. But like someone else mentioned, maybe it's hard to get clearance in those big box stores.

Chris is a sociopath, in my (totally non-professional) opinion. BUT. I believe that Paige has basically been brainwashed by her the particular brand of Christianity that she was raised in. From the beginning she has been so focused on the fact that this relationship is ordained by God. I'm sure she also has a healthy does of "the man is the head of a household" belief. She's let herself be fooled into thinking that she has to put up with Chris' nonsense because an obedient woman is a Godly woman. Say what you want about Viviana's outfit, but I felt like she was the only expert who was like, "Hold up, this is madness" and tried to talk some sense into Paige! I think Erik and Virginia will be the first ones to split, post-Decision Day.

Could any New Orleans locals identify where Jovi went shopping? It looked like he was in a Hispanic grocery store, based on the products and signage. Which is strange because they live in the Warehouse District and there's both a giant Wal-Mart and a couple Rouse's that aren't too far away (at least in my memory from when I lived there a decade ago). I'm still very curious about why Jovi and Yara don't see to have a car or drive anywhere themselves -- I suspect DUI but who knows?