WendyM

I watched Private Practice so I always liked the character--especially when St. Derek gave her shit. (Not a Derek fan here.) I also like her new haircut and I wanted Link to say "nice new 'do" or something. People on TV don't say shit like that, I guess. I imagined she tossed her head a little more to get him to notice, but nope. Nothing. I too thought Linc was sinister at first because he was introduced via Jo, and Jo had all kinds of shady past so it made sense. Now I agree with what someone upthread said: it's the sideburns and the generally shady hair. But he has Deep Thoughts and a Dark Secret Past with the childhood cancer and killing a patient (I'm overstating!) so I approve. I'm not thrilled they tumbled into bed immediately but I will be thrilled at Owen's reaction to their imminent PDAs. Because I despise Owen with the fire of 1,000 of Owen's red hairs. Teddy was getting interesting to me only because of Koracic, so if they go back down the Owen/Teddy road, those two head off to Germany tout de suite. (Was she rubbing her back and stomach a lot? Just me? No foreshadowing? Okey dokey.) Then Koracic can be with Meredith and all will be well. The End!

This finale was refreshing for me because of the lack of past shenanigans: I was sure that when the final two showed up to cook the day of the final meal, their sous chefs would be missing. That being said, I didn't like the elimination after the first-course "audition." Just have three finalists. A great season, IMO! I'll miss Top Chef but it's not the BIGGEST COOKING COMPETITION IN THE WORLD, aka MASTERCHEF JUNIOR! Off I go to snark...

Mandy Moore was on Marc Maron's podcast fairly recently and I believe she said it's all mapped out, through to the end. The actors may not know what happens but the guy who created the show does. (His name is escaping me right now. Dan. Dan Something. Fogelberg? Nope, wrong Dan.)

I assumed someone texted her--didn't she ask them to when she left?--about the baby while she was catburgularing the doll...

I took it as a more good-natured thing because I remember when he and Miguel and Beth got together in a bar that time and bonded up as they commiserated over their "outsider" status. Toby gets it, I think.

Owen has done it! I care about Amelia now. Between him and Tom's kind-of seal of approval, I like Amelia. So much so that I don't want her to leave the show. (Not that she will.) But sometimes I fantasize she'll go to Europe and join forces with Christina Eve to hunt down Villanelle.

Yeah, I'll just say as someone who's lived with a bipolar someone for over 30 years--he doesn't want help when he's feeling "good," only when he hits bottom and wants to die. And then he makes the climb back up...and feels good again! Doesn't need meds! I wish it were easier but the U.S. health care system isn't a lot of help either. Unless he hurts himself or someone else. So who knows what goes on in Italy? (Hey! My someone is Italian! Hmm.)

OH! What if she's Alex's sister? What if mom had a fling and gave her up for adoption? Too much? Yeah, she'll be related to somebody in the hospital world, for real.

I watched the "Social" episode last night and how refreshing it was not to see mouse poo! Or old grease! Or cockroaches! Well, there was the coughing and sneezing. And FauxGordon spit out his food, ha ha. I kinda find that just as gross as sneezing and coughing. Almost. I also enjoyed the mini cook-off between OldChef and NewChef. All in all, good to stray from the script once in a while.

When Michelle won the QF and the extra time, I actually thought to myself, "More time to screw up..." I think that's happened before, when a contestant starts to overthink and attempt too much. I'm sad because I liked her--almost because she was unlike other reality show contestants in demeanor--and her backstory got to me. In her last talking head, when she talked about her dark time...it just got to me. I wish her well. If you'd told me at the beginning of the season I'd be rooting for Kelsey in any way...she's a hoot and a half. She's hilarious in her talking heads now. (Producer prompts? Editing? Her ease as the season went on? Who knows?) I loved how they illustrated just howmuchalike she and her mom are--those ahhhhhhhs in unison were hysterical. I liked her honesty about the durian and how not liking an ingredient will mean the dish just won't be good. True. I will also root for Eric because of what you all have said above: his food sounds delicious and it's so unlike past seasons' flavors. As for Sara? No. I'm sorry. I just can't root for her. I knew at the beginning of the episode, when she talked about being nervous, was a misdirect. Maybe if they'd hadn't shown the "I know how to do everything" aspect of her personality in the early episodes...I don't know. I posted about this last week, but following Padma on Instagram has given me a new appreciation for her and what she brings to the show. I know the show should be doing that all by itself... I miss Gail! STFU, NotGail! I'm looking forward to the finale of a season I've truly enjoyed, aside from the NoGail situation.

I've enjoyed this season in general but one thing I just realized is that in prior seasons, there were always the first few to be sent home--the cannon fodder contestants, maybe. As the talent has gotten better and better as the seasons progress, I find I miss them all pretty much. I enjoy LCK because I get to see them all again (even if they're just in the peanut gallery). But in past seasons we would have seen the excellent ones through to the finish, or closer to the finish. I don't think there were weak chefs this time around. YMMV, of course. I also follow Tom and Padma on Instagram and they seem just as excited and enthusiastic as ever. I've posted ad nauseum in the LCK thread about this, but Tom is a hoot on LCK. I don't see either of them leaving anytime soon. However, Gail had better quit it with the baby-having because she was definitely missed this season. (But hey, at least we had Graham instead of Blais.)

I admit I'm not a Sara fan--but I could have sworn in one of her last TH's last week, she said she was looking forward to doing something other than Kentucky food. (Or maybe I just imagined it.) That was why I was a little surprised about the shrimp and grits hot take.

When Padma first said "auction" to the chefs and there were all those empty seats, I pictured a crowd suddenly showing up to bid too, which would have meant there would be more of an auction and more drama and higher stakes. Especially when one or two chefs said they didn't know from an auction. This all seemed pretty anticlimactic.

I watched this while looking outside at all the feet of snow--and oh how I wish I had green tomatoes! Or cucumber blossoms! I would have been happy weeding all their plots and people, it's not my favorite task when the time comes. Time to get out the seed catalogs. I'm bummed about Sara but hopeful that it's the end of her reign. As someone said upthread, she's just unpleasant. I get that she's probably been edited, but we know they can't put words (or expressions) in (or on) your mouth. Oh, Justin! No duos! No risotto! No okra! Nothing canned! No waffle mixes! No frozen phyllo dough! Don't plate early and let food sit around! Don't steal someone's pea puree! I'm glad Padma told them who their mentors were, because I imagine some had more than one.

I guess I agree in concept about offering more quantity, cheaper dishes--but I think Gordon's point was that they're not going to pull in the profits from the cheap dishes as much, and they're already so much in debt. Unless they get hundreds of covers a day--and the place doesn't look that big to begin with so how could they do that? But I really don't know how all that works, if they can really dig themselves out of that hole. Something I always forget to ask or mention: how can they get the paint to dry so fast in the dining room? And how can people not smell the new paint while they sitting there eating 24 hours later? I guess television magic is unscented.

They use a press to make salsa? Wow. And they recognized Gordon Fucking Ramsay in the disguise! That was awesome. I enjoyed the banter with his "family" this time. The kids did seem like they were stepping up. However, in the update it looked like it was back to the old menu--with Gordon's creations as "monthly specials."

And maybe...just maybe...Goran shows up again when she's learning to teach!

I was born in Maine! (But I don't remember that, lol.) But I spent part of junior high in Presque Isle! When I heard Lewiston, I thought of potatoes immediately because we all had to take two weeks off in the Fall to pick them. How fun would would a potato dish have been? (Probably not so much but there's always gnocchi.)

I agree! My favorite part of these is when he gives those quick cooking lessons to the downtrodden (or disengaged) chef. How awesome would it be if Gordon Fucking Ramsay showed you how to make a pork chop? I know he sometimes gives those "master classes" during The Most Important Cooking Competition IN THE WORLD (aka Masterchef) and often that's the part I enjoy most. So find a restaurant that just needs a leg up and some minor adjustments. But that's not Gordon's "brand," I guess.

My understanding was they know they're being filmed but they think it's just because they're auditioning for a makeover show. (I can't imagine they know the rat shit, dirty grease, etc. are being filmed.) And I'm sure they're pressured quite a bit to sign releases because I don't recall many--if any--blurred-out faces, even as far as customers are concerned.

I could have sworn that NotGail--after fangurling all over Laila Ali--proceeded to called her LIE-la during the dinner. Gail would never do that! I miss Gail. I like all of these chefs with the exception of Sara. (And that was before the boxed waffle mix! That just sealed the deal.) I'll be sad to see them go, one by one.

First of all, I'm glad they showed who won--I think in past seasons they keep us hanging--and I would have been happy with either one winning. I've said this before but oh my god, I love the peanut gallery. Brandon is a sociopath? So funny. They should just have a peanut gallery on Top Chef to trash talk. But then it wouldn't be Top Chef, I guess. I just saw Michelle's inspiration (Magnus Nilsson) on an episode of Chef's Table and I can see how she'd be inspired. I get the feeling she's getting stronger and stronger, and Eddie came off the opposite, IMO.

Who were the "golden girls" Gordon arrived with? Does the location scout find these dining companions?

David didn't wear his hat! He looked like a different person! Kinda glad he won with his ground-up sugar cookie dough thing. I really enjoy the creative LCK challenges.

They didn't show it on the Bravo site version either.