Ohmo

Evan has dark hair and a beard. If HGTV is ticked off at what Evan said, deal with it. I love their show, and I hope Keith and Evan are similar to the way they are on-screen.

My point wasn't about Eric or anyone else. It's about the fact that Guy has said the judging has been "unaware". After several years when both the contestant pool and the judging pool haven't changed that much, that "impartiality" has been diminished. These people all travel in the same professional circles. If the contestant pool doesn't change that much, the judges are going to be able to make some guesses and unconscious bias may come into it. It'd be cool if Guy changed up the judging a bit: An idea could be that as soon as the audience walks in, three members are selected. They become the judges. They don't see the bracket or the draw. The fourth judge is a "name" chef who gets a vote but whose also there to answer questions from the other three judges about culinary natters. This could start in the Elite 8 round. OR For the final judging, have a set of judges who haven't judged at all that season.

In my head, I can hear Evan saying this in the way that he does with a sort of wry smile on his face. I also don't think HGTV necessarily will have a problem with it. It's known that HGTV is TV. I think Evan was simply saying, "We didn't trust the producers because they know and we know that they're going to do things to mess with everyone." I don't love the twins, but i prefer them winning to Sarah and Bryan or Page and Mitch.

It will never happen, but I want "The French Baking Championship" Romy, Clement, and Alex. Game on! My issue is that Nancy said something in Nikki's was wet and raw. Alex oversoaked the tiramisu, which to me, wasn't an error. I love tiramisu, and my pet peeve is there's rarely enough coffee. Alex didn't serve raw anything to the judges.

I'm not a fan of the term "blind judging". In any case, however, I'm now beginning to question how "unaware" that the judging is. While I think it's great that women continue to win, many of these chefs compete year after year. Many of the judges judge year after year. The first couple of years, I think it could actually be said that the judging was impartial. Now, most of the chefs are FN personalities, and some of the judges are, too. Even people like Eric Ripert have been on TV. With the repetition of both judges and contestants, all of these people know each other or know of each other. At this point, the judges can likely make some guesses as to whose food is whose, even if they aren't consciously aware of doing so.

Antonia said tonight that she said no to Guy five times about this season. Methinks Guy isn't gonna let Tiffani retire from TOC that easily. I was rooting HARD for Tobias tonight! I like him anyway, but I seriously don't want Maneet to have two belts. Her arrogance is beginning to rise to Christa levels. Britt is beginning to grate on the chesty scale too, although I thought watching her make the pasta was kinda cool. It seemed oddly calming. Not sure why. I HATE that Antonia and Jet are going to take each other out before the finals. I love them both and would be very happy if either won. I wanted them to take out Maneet and Britt and then have to face each other for the money. I was sad about Jet facing Mei for the same reason. Jet's cool, but I also really like Mei. I like her quiet classiness and skill. Serious question from someone (me) who loves these shows but doesn't cook: Do you actually eat banana leaves, or are they just for doing the pouch thing?

Antonio vs. Michael: I want to be at Michael's house for Christmas when Antonia comes over. Sounds like they're great friends. The first round was tough for me too because I like both of them. Shirley: I also was rooting for her because I wish Brooke had won. Tobias: I was so happy for him! I also have a history of anxiety, and I wouldn't have been surprised if he'd bolted off the set. When an anxiety attack hits, the urge to run, to get out, to just leave is strong. i wish Eric had won, but I agree that his dish didn't feel particularly decadent to me. Decadent is like rich or expensive---big piece of chocolate cake, sauce with lots of butter. Eric's dish seemed more light and fresh to me. If one of the quys wins this year, I want it to be Jet or Tobias.

I think the jury handled it correctly. Heather was killed. Someone did it. It wasn't some random crime of opportunity. The witnesses saw the crime and some had the impression that Heather knew her killer. That puts the case within the 12 people who knew about the swap. Once the "killer-for-hire" scenario doesn't pan out with anyone, I didn't think they needed a ton of evidence because they weren't dealing with more than a dozen people. Heather being targeted was a piece of evidence. Heather being targeted at that location was another piece of evidence. I like juries who can discern reasonable doubt (or lack thereof) within the constraints of the scenario. Johanna knew where and when, and her truck placed her there. Within that group of 12 people, there's not reasonable doubt (in my opinion) that could have acquitted Johanna. A random crime in a parking lot is another matter, but that wasn't the case here. Johanna was also cold in the fact that she left Carson there. This little boy that she actually killed for was left in the car because she knew walking away with a baby would be noticeable.

This! Ever since I watched Battle of the Brothers, my opinion of Michael has done a complete 180. He was a fabulous mentor to the young chefs in that competition. Been a fan of his ever since,

I think the twist is positioned exactly where the show wants it to be for that reason. The show wants it to be a twist. Something that disrupts all the bakers' planning and forces them to pivot. The judges then see how well they pivot. Similar to a client calling and needing a super rush job. Bakeries would charge extra fees and bring in more staff. The show isn't set up for that, so I think the twist serves that purpose. Introducing it earlier would defeat the purpose of having it. I think of Ace of Cakes when a cake got ruined on the way to the venue. It was all hands that Duff could get and they produced a completely new decorated cake in about 3 hours. I think the twists are supposed to be "What do you do when there's a curve to your careful plan?"

Me too. I think because he's calm. Several other contestants seem overly-energetic. Watching Steven is sort of soothing. I'm also warming to Nikki.

Putting this under spoiler tags because it's about the preview for next week.

I was so bummed that Karen and Shota lost. Dale seems nice enough, but I like Karen. Carlos's ego is annoying. Speaking of ego, I'm glad that Tiffani dispatched Chris. He was quite chesty on the Soul Food Cook-off, and I was not a fan. Glad that Michael handled Christa. I wonder what Carla Hall would have thought of Dale's dish? When she judged, she commented that someone's dish looked like a Meat and Two, and she didn't mean it as a compliment. Meat and Two was actually what Dale intended.

Guy's a lot, I'm not gonna lie, but I can handle his routine because he seems genuine about showcasing and promoting chefs from all different life experiences. That's what's made what's happened with Darnell so tough. TOC has helped showcase that women are awesome chefs. We saw Tobias deal with anxiety before competing, and I've seen Eric, Tiffani, Brooke, Antonia, and Michael Voltaggio be excellent mentors on other shows. Guy has played some sort of role in all of that. I'm sure it depends on the situation as to his degree of influence. If none of that is genuine, I don't want to know because I'm cynical enough as it is. I hope most of Guy's efforts have been what they appear to be,

I'm a bit surprised Alison didn't try for "redemption" a third time as a contestant. She's very competitive. Maybe she's gotten over not winning. In order, my hopes for winning are: Keith/Evan Lyndsey/Leslie Page/Mitch Sarah/Bryan

About Keith and Evan, yes the hand sculpture was an acquired taste. I loved the plaster of Paris sand swirl, though. For these houses, if someone has enough money to buy them, I don't believe they don't know they're Rock the Block houses. That's got to be in the marketing somewhere. Keith and Evan's house is no different to me than any episode of House Hunters when someone encounters something that's not their taste. Remove the hand sculpture and be done. It's not that big of a deal. Plus, I also don't believe there isn't a Keith and Evan fan somewhere in FL who wouldn't buy a house they worked on. You're going to get some quirks from them. That's what people like about them. Don't have them compete and then penalize them for being them. Minus the hand sculpture, their kitchen was GORGEOUS!

I wish we could have Carla, Kardea, and Duff as judges. She's giving me Justine vibes from HBC minus the accent. Justine got tiresome quickly. Also some Ashley vibes (also HBC), and she also became tiresome.

I just want Keith and Even to win at least one challenge. I hate everything Sarah does. Too stark and too cold. Page and Mitch: They get on my nerves, and I used to like Page when she was flipping with Deron in Nashville. The twins: Can take them or leave them. This season, I want Keith and Evan to win only because I like them as people. It's unlikely to happen, though.

That's right. Thanks.

I think they are giving the contestants more time It seems like they got 11/2 hours for pre-heats in previous years and 2 hours for the main heat. This year, it's 2 and 2 hours respectively. It seems like more than 4 Canadians. I thought I counted 5 or 6. So far, I like most of the people. Ericka was the obvious choice to go home.

I also think the fact that she's a host of other competition shows may be helping her. I completely agree with you about her use of the randomizer, but I also think seeing a competition show from both the perspective of a host and a contestant may be giving Antonia some insight. I don't get the appeal of Stephanie. I don't dislike her, but I also don't think she's anything to write home about either. She kinda just there for me. I will not miss her.

Add another person who feels the same way about Maneet. Sometimes I really like her, and sometimes I don't. When Mimi asked her who she'd want to go up against, I thought it was unnecessary to say that she's competed against both people they were talking about and then do the mic drop. Mimi was trying to make conversation and everyone knows who Maneet is in terms of TOC. No need to rub it in. Yay for Eric and yay for Antonia! Watched both of them on Beachside Brawl S2

Amanda did win by "default" last year because Madison Cowin didn't finish. I think he got one piece of food on a plate and severely burned his hands doing that.

I'm late to the discussion because I just got the chance to watch last week's competition, but I think FN made a concerted effort to cut out a lot of Darnell onscreen. They showed him cooking, but they didn't show talking like the other chefs. His discussion of his dish was all voiceover. Amanda was shown when the judges were introduced. There was no chit-chat with Guy, and we didn't see Darnell backstage after the loss. Just him going out the door. I'm guessing the film was edited as much as they felt it could be. I'm sorry that Brooke lost. I like her and would love to eat her food.

That was mentioned in the episode, and yes, the new information was that Michelle was convicted on all counts Source: A breakdown of the charges Michelle Troconis has been found guilty of