Jenn47

I agree with this, but would add that it's not even just about the "drama". As frustrating as they can sometimes be, I find the challenges and twists help keep it interesting as the chefs have to figure out how to address this "problem" that's been set for them. This last week was a good example of that for me-- the first challenge to make the pies initially seemed like it might involve different ingredients but then everyone got rhubarb. So, totally even playing field and then I got to watch a bunch of rhubarb pies being baked and judged. While there was some variation in what the rhubarb was paired with, in the end it was mainly about rhubarb. Over and over. Whereas, I do enjoy seeing how people have to deal with different ingredients or how people interpret the themes. This week we got everything from the literal "Belgian waffle on a stick" to the really indirect (and unsuccessful) "funnel cake" to the indirect (and really successful) "caramel apple". I don't know if that would happen if it was just "bake your best version of desert X".