I have been replaying that moment and I see a different reaction. When they announce Melissa's name, the shot includes her and Kevin. Then it cuts to Stephanie and Bryan when they say Stephanie was also on top. After they mention Stephanie's name, you see Bryan with a smile saying good job to Melissa and you hear her say thank you in the background. He then goes back to his serious face. Then as the judges further interact with Stephanie, he turns to her with a smile. While true he did not extend the same congrats to Stephanie as he did with Melissa, I do not take it as a slight as the judges were still interacting with Stephanie about their reaction to making it to the finale.
As with everyone, that no soul comment was just harsh. The guest judges feedback to Bryan was by far more constructive than Padma( probably the producers in her ear telling her to say it) telling him the other chefs comments. Obviously it is editing, but man here you are talking about how you love the heritage behind Italian food and going to play it up in your dish to then get told your food has no soul? Gut wrenching.....
I couldn't be happier with who is in the finale. First time where I don't mind who ends up winning because all three people just seem to be wonderful people and their skill set are top notch. I am a bit biased towards Bryan because Volt is among my favorite restaurants( and I can't wait until it reopens) and his dishes are just delicious. The squid bolognese that he made earlier this season is really good and my favorite there. I was so disappointed when they removed it from the menu for a period there. Yeah his style is more traditional and doesn't appear to be innovative or as exciting as Melissa's. But that is fine. As someone above said, good food is good food. While his style hasn't handed him as many wins this season, it is what got him to the finale. With the exception of this past episode, Bryan was ever on the bottom due to circumstance of the team he was on was on the bottom and not a matter of a bad dish. I guess you can argue there was the art challenge as well where the pork was cut too thin that caused a misbalance, but even the judges recognized in the deliberations that both bottom teams dishes were good dishes and not bad food.
The innovative styles can be a boom or bust for a chef on this show. It can lead to wins, but it can also lead to a PYKAG if you mess it up. Look at the risk Stephanie took when she cooked the prosciutto even after being told not to. If she screwed it up, that may have been enough for her to be the one sent home instead of Kevin. It worked out and I am glad it did because I have loved seeing her progression this season. Early on yeah I had her marked for an eventual exit, but as the season went on her dishes got better and see her confidence rise. I think it is at times she lets who she is cooking against phase her. You can see it on the preview for the finale of where she worries that she plated too simple compared to Bryan and Melissa. She falls victim to being star struck and lets self doubt get in. If she can keep it out, she has the skill to win this thing.
Each style has their place and being innovative shouldn't be the sole reason why a chef should win. If the classical style dish has better flavor over the innovative, then the classic style should win. That is why I am still a bit miffed over Melissa winning the last challenge over Bryan. But again... That may have been editing and we didn't get to see any criticism of Bryan's dish in order to throw us off on who would win. Because if Bryan's dish had no major flaws, it should have been the winner because Melissa's had the flaw of the salami despite it being innovative. But I can totally understand if an innovative dish is nailed compared to a great classical style dish, why the innovative dish would win. I think that is what it will take for Bryan to win Top Chef. Melissa pushed the innovative too far and has that flaw that tilts the favor to Bryan or Stephanie( I am putting Stephanie here simply due to her comments in the preview about going too simple).
Either way I would be happy with any of the three due to no personality traits that want to make you wish for them to lose or any serious flaws in their cooking skills.
Kevin's comments to Bryan about try to enjoy it and have fun and won't worry so much about winning is something that stands out to me though. Obviously the theme with Bryan this season is finally winning and not coming in second place for a third time. I do wonder if he is pushing himself harder than necessary which is what lead him to this episodes low. We obviously don't see all the interactions out of the kitchen, but Kevin's comments may have been a window into the conversations those two were having through the season.
