BryroseA

Question for all you chef-y people. In last week’s episode when Joe Sasto made a jus to go with his dish, it looked like he cut cubes of flank steak, deep fried them, then simmered them in a pan with (maybe?) some chicken stock and aromatics. The next thing we saw was the finished jus. Did he blend everything and strain it (can you blend…beef???) or just use the beef to flavor the stock? Enquiring minds who love flank steak and jus want to know.

Last season my takeaway of this show was that as incredibly gorgeous as the runways (the sets) were, the clothes themselves were equally incredibly boring and bland - shapeless draped sacks, or simple, boring garments. Unfortunately the same seemed to be true of this season, so far. The only two looks with any impact were the show openers - Gary’s beautiful textiles and shapes - and closer - those wedding pants 😍. Everyone else made shapeless, boring, blandness. Bah. I want to love this show, but I really hope we start to see some wow pieces - color, texture, pattern, shape, drama! - out of these designers.

I loved the first episode - lots of interesting tensions to explore. I worked a summer at a very-rich-people-resort in Santa Barbara, so this is giving me mild PTSD, but I’m still into it. The scenes with Jennifer Coolidge and Natasha Rothwell, in particular, were incredibly well acted with some great nuance. Also, I snorted so loud at the look on Rachel’s face when her new husband asked, mildly threateningly, “Should I call my mom?” I can’t decide if I’m bummed to have to wait for the rest of the episodes, or glad to have some time to ruminate over the episode and look forward to Sunday. All right, predictions! 1) Is the body on the plane Rachel, aka maybe-Mrs.-Patton? 2) Will we ever see Lani again? 3) Does Steve Zahn have cancer?

I just buzzed through this show and I really loved the way the episodes were divided into a more commercial “bestseller” and then the custom “bespoke” - it felt like a nice framework that allowed us to see lots of different types of jewelry without rushing through the interesting bits of the process (which was my big problem with the glass blowing show). The bespoke clients they chose, in particular, were great - a cool variety of stories and pieces. I loved the touch at the end of seeing them wear the jewelry and I felt secretly gleeful when their tastes didn’t match up with the judges critique. There was just something so organic about that particular “save” that I’ve not really seen in any other reality ‘maker’ show. They chose a good winner, and I’d definitely watch a second season!

Tom has been WAITING to lay down that Grateful Dead line. 😂

If the reaction shot they showed in that promo - including Dawn grinning and pogo jumping up and down in excitement at the reveal of the returning chef - is accurate, I’m guessing it’s anyone BUT Gabriel. 😂

If Chris hadn’t had immunity, I think he would have gone home. As soon as it came down to Gabriel and Shota (both of whom the judges, rightfully, love) and Jaime, I knew Jaime was done for, even though I don’t think she had the worst dish. Bye Jamie! *sad slide-whistle sound effect*

There’s a great restaurant near me that makes a phenomenal barbecue jackfruit that sort of mimics pulled pork - that was where my mind went immediately when I heard this challenge, so Gabe’s slow roasted plum sounded perfect, and I’m glad it was a hit. Poor Maria just cannot get out of the middle, can she? I thought her albondigas sounded amazing. Despite the beautiful scenery, I always hate the challenges where they have to cook outdoors. I’ll take my meal without the side of bees and flies, thank you. 😬😬😬

Okay, when can I set my DVR season pass for the new hit sitcom coming to CBS this fall, Avishar Hearts Shota? (They were so cute...the high five that missed. 😂)

As a transplant to the South, I spent the first half of this episode yelling “screen something in!!!” at this episode. A house in GA backing up to a boggy backyard with pine trees and a lake? The bugs have got to be in.sane. I can’t believe that N&J were the only ones to screen anything in.

I’m happy that there seem to be a pretty decent diversity of culinary styles and traditions represented this season! Lots of Top Chef seasons are like: Southern cuisine guy, other southern cuisine guy, southern cuisine lady, four farm-to-table people, one classically trained French chef, and two meat bros. I’m super excited to hear about some different dishes and ingredients! Early favorite out of the gate for me is Maria, both because her tacos sound amazing, and for her quick, confident and disdainful shoot down of “Tom Colicchio garnishes with thyme stems!” with, “Well, that’s his food, not ours.” 👏👏

I’m glad I’m not the only one kind of upset at how the finale shook out. They often give the winner of the mini-challenge an advantage in the finale - they get to pick their theme first, the get 20 extra minutes, whatever - but it’s not usually as make or break as this one was. Buttercream is, like, orders of magnitude easier and more familiar than either marzipan or mirror glaze is. If they’d just stuck with picking from the past, present, future themes that would have felt more even. As it was, it felt like Juliana had the WAY easier road while her competitors were stuck with an extra, quite difficult, technical challenge on top of the already tough cake-in-5-hours. This is not a slam on Juliana, who made the choice anyone would make in those circumstances, but on the challenge producers who set up such an uneven playing field. A disappointing ending, for sure.

What on EARTH was up with the models releasing those silver balloons at the end of the runway? 😂

Wooo, I thought he was on the ropes, there! That was a good one.

Oh, John.😥 That scene on the roof was heartbreaking.

Yeah, that’s precisely my issue. Some people start out not wanting kids and change their mind, but some people genuinely don’t and it really felt like they were setting Penny up as the latter. Not everyone wants kids, and it would have been nice to see the show acknowledge that.

On the plus side, I loved Amy’s glow up (as the young folk say) AND that she wore her ~tiiaaARAAA~ to the Nobel ceremony.

I really, really did not want them to fold on Penny having kids. 😠

Jesus Hashtag Christ. 😂

Yeah, in fact one of the two designers (Rakan?), when Christian left the break room, rolled his eyes and said “Drama!” in a way that sounded to me like it was a stand in for a dismissive “ugh, twink” . I though it was way the fuck out of line. It would be gross in any case, but especially given how poor Rakan’s output has been for this entire competition. Has he made one decent garment? Have some damn respect for an internationally recognized designer. Damn.

Christian’s face at Rakan’s idea of a “...street...farmer?” had me dying. Also, I’m really loving the glimpses of the designers interacting and joking in the apartment and in their workroom. It just has such a nice, collegial feeling. We haven’t seen a single bitchy talking head about how some other designer’s work is hideous yet. Such a refreshing vibe.

Daaaaaamn, that was some impressive freaking game play, there. I’ve never seen anyone wager as high as James on DD before. I mean, when you’ve got 120k in the bank from previous days and you’re already ahead by like 20k, why not? But people usually just...don’t.

Maybe I am easily pleased, but I really liked the filming of the runway in this episode. The lighting was really clear and gorgeous, the slo-mo dramatic model entrances with tent flaps flying in the rain, the music—it just all felt a little different and fresh from the normal runway. I’m not a big fan of the more gimmicky runways, usually, but this really worked for me. 🤷‍♀️

Yeah, I’m keeping an on this, too. Just waiting for sometime mid-season when a producer points it out behind the scenes and we all of a sudden get some inexplicable “top” looks that just “flatter her gorgeous curves so impeccably,” 🙄

Man, they are getting CATTY this week. Like, there’s always been some talking head bitchery, but this is definitely next level.