Top Chef Season 17 Spoilers and Speculation

[buttersister]

Kevin's getting a winner edit. I appreciate what he's overcome to get here (really, Kev), but just ugh. The faux humble thing rankles (see: falling on sword--he couldn't duplicate his signature dish! and his "amazement" at beating Leanne in an egg challenge). 

[Babalu]

I’m hoping that the way Padma said, “You ARE Top Chef!” means that Bryan won because he was in second place twice and now he’s finally #1. I do adore Melissa and Gregory, too, so would be happy with a win by either of them, but I’ve been rooting for Bryan for over ten years.

 

[Mellowyellow]

I would be overjoyed with a Gregory win, happy with a Melissa win and fine with a Brian V win.

I have decided as the weeks went by that I do not care for Kevin so I'll be very upset if he wins😫😫😫

I do agree he's getting a winner's edit.

[Jextella]

Is anyone counting quickfire and elimination round stats?  I'm not but it feels as if Kevin and Gregory have the strongest records of success thus far.  If that's the case, I'd be fine with either of them as the winner.

Although, if it's really true that the chefs are only as good as their last meals, I guess past performance doesn't matter.

[carrps]

On 5/9/2020 at 1:54 PM, dmeets said:

I suspected since Episode 1 that Kevin’s winning, and the preview showing Padma in tears announcing the winner sealed it for me. I can’t see anyone else eliciting that emotional a response from Padma but the guy who survived cancer, at a time when Fatima was likely on the forefront of her mind.

Oh, that makes me unhappy. I hate Chopped-style "emotional" wins. Blech.

 

[phlebas]

On 5/18/2020 at 12:22 AM, buttersister said:

Kevin's getting a winner edit.

I agree. He's getting Brooke's edit, if you replace Kristen Kish with renal cancer.

[Lemons]

I just started watching this and I never heard the word acid describing food. What do they mean when they say there’s too much acidity?

[akr]

1 hour ago, Lemons said:

I just started watching this and I never heard the word acid describing food. What do they mean when they say there’s too much acidity?

Too much lemon juice or vinegar usually. Those are the most common acidic ingredients. 

[BlackberryJam]

If the purpose of a "winner's edit" is to craft a narrative that leads to a satisfying and pleasing finale for the audience, this Kevin's "winner's edit" is a big fat fail. He's gone from likable guy to insufferable scrote in about 3 episodes. He's not the villain, but if he wins, it won't be emotionally satisfying or pleasing for the audience. 

[Mellowyellow]

1 hour ago, BlackberryJam said:

If the purpose of a "winner's edit" is to craft a narrative that leads to a satisfying and pleasing finale for the audience, this Kevin's "winner's edit" is a big fat fail. He's gone from likable guy to insufferable scrote in about 3 episodes. He's not the villain, but if he wins, it won't be emotionally satisfying or pleasing for the audience. 

I want to believe he's getting a non winner's edit but there have been quite a few shite winners in the past *cough Nicholas cough*

So maybe they don't have anything to work with because he's not pleasant!!!!!

I was actually fine with Kevin initially until he went nuts at Malarkey (who I know is hard to take but in that instance I didn't think Malarkey did anything wrong. He wasn't even being loud!)

[BlackberryJam]

I like Kevin well enough, but was never a big fan, even during his season. I mean, I'd totally eat his food, but I don't want to have dinner with him. I've seen well-crafted reality show narratives and winner's edits, but for me, Kevin is getting neither a winner nor a villain edit, but rather a "totally respectable showing" edit. 

I think Gregory is getting a winner's edit. His talking head moments are sweet. He has a running theme of trying to open his own Haitian place. His food relates to his story well. It could just be the nice guy edit, but I think in the next two episodes Gregory is going to take a ride on the struggle bus only to come through and win.

[wlk68]

I'm a total Bryan Voltaggio stan but I liked Kevin well enough in his original season (Yukon Cornelius!) but he totally lost me during RW. The full blown tanty he pulled over the dinner plates was an instant turn-off. An over the top, diva reaction if ever I saw one. 

[seltzer3]

Looks like Gregory and Malarkey in the bottom next challenge?

I think Stephanie may make it to Italy?   In the previews to come (after restaurant wars), she was making this yellow (looked liked lentils) soup.  But in the preview, that dish doesn't seem to be anywhere for next week.

Also, it looks like Bryan's dish (the one with the scallops) was in positive reviews.  So he seems safe.

 

[PhoneCop]

On 2/14/2020 at 8:42 PM, CheetaraThunder said:

Here is a shot of the final five: https://m.imgur.com/a/fIomfCJ

Reddit figured it out to be Kevin, Gregory, Bryan, Karen/Nini, A and Brian.

Revisiting this three months later. Is it possible Melissa is the one mistaken for Karen/Nini, or is there some kind of additional buyback that would revive Karen again? But then there are hints it's Stephanie making F5, not Melissa. (I'd rather toss Malarkey at this point than either of the women, but it's 2020 and I'm having to settle for a lot of things.)

[BlackberryJam]

That looks like the set up from the sell you own sauce challenge before people arrived.

[Ellee]

If true my bet is Melissa wouldn’t want to win after she was eliminated.  It just seems like her.  Especially after how she chose who did what course in the last episode.   Props to her. 
 

 

[AriAu]

Quote

 

On Reddit, there’s a poster with an interesting theory. Hopefully I can keep it all straight because it’s a doozy. 

1. Kevin returns from LCK. Duh. 

2. Melissa is eliminated. 

3. Malarkey quits after the fact because he has a restaurant empire to run and can’t attend the finale. 

4. Karen returns. 

 

On page one of this thread there was a picture of the Final 5 and while I have looked at it several times, I could never really tell....but they insisted Malarkey was there, as was Karen, but Stephanie was not. While that picture was fuzzy, it would be kinda hard to confuse Malarkey and Stephanie. Plus, Malarkey was there for the publicity and face time, so I just cant see him quitting. But then again, how do they get Karen back???

Edited May 26, 2020 by AriAu

[Ellee]

Just watched the previews ... who was Padma saying if you had done something simpler to?  
 

I know it is always misleading but it seemed to be Bryan. 

[wlk68]

4 hours ago, Ellee said:

Just watched the previews ... who was Padma saying if you had done something simpler to?  
 

I know it is always misleading but it seemed to be Bryan. 

It definitely looked that way to me as well but they can be very deceptive with the editing. I hope it wasn't him.  

ETA: I just watched the teasers about the upcoming episode on Bravo.com. Padma's comment about doing something simpler does NOT match up with what Bryan is making for the EC. It does, however, match up with the giant laundry list of things that Kevin appears to be putting into his dish.  

That being said, my comment above about deceptive editing still applies. 

Edited May 29, 2020 by wlk68

[seltzer3]

There was a preview clip (in the things to come) of Stephanie saying I haven't been this confident in a long time.  It didn't play in this preview.  I'm wondering if she may actually make it to the final 4.

Also, that F5 table was completely wrong.  So seems like we have no idea what's going to happen.

[CheetaraThunder]

On 5/29/2020 at 8:30 PM, seltzer3 said:

There was a preview clip (in the things to come) of Stephanie saying I haven't been this confident in a long time.  It didn't play in this preview.  I'm wondering if she may actually make it to the final 4.

Also, that F5 table was completely wrong.  So seems like we have no idea what's going to happen.

Either Stephanie is confident or it’s a red herring and she gets eliminated.

[wlk68]

And we are down to the Final 4. Based on the teasers for next week (posted on the Top Chef/Bravo site) it looks like Bryan might be on the hot seat. 

Of course the edit monkeys have been very very devious of late so who the hell knows.  

  

[seltzer3]

Yeah Stephanie still hasn't said the "I haven't been confident in a long time" yet.  And it wasn't played at all in the preview.  Maybe it gets played next week, and she gets eliminated. Or its during the finals.  Or Bravo does weird editing, and never show that.

[wlk68]

11 hours ago, seltzer3 said:

Yeah Stephanie still hasn't said the "I haven't been confident in a long time" yet.  And it wasn't played at all in the preview.  Maybe it gets played next week, and she gets eliminated. Or its during the finals.  Or Bravo does weird editing, and never show that.

That's entirely possible. There was a clip in the teaser of Padma (in her fabulous furry pink coat) saying something at Judges Table that we never actually saw in the episode itself.

Evil Editing Monkeys.

[ProudMary]

Just as info, there will be three chefs in the grand finale this season. (Scroll down to the bottom.)

https://tvlistings.zap2it.com/overview.html?programSeriesId=SH00812758&tmsId=EP008127580294&aid=gapzap

"Finito!

SEASON 17 , EPISODE 14 AIRING JUN 18, 2020 TV-PG FINALE CC

The final three all stars face off in an epic Italian showdown to cook the meal of their lives in an effort to take home the ultimate title and prize."

[seltzer3]

So Brian has Kevin, Stephanie has Malarkey (why?!), and Melissa has (Leanne).

Really surprised that Gregory, or Karen weren't asked back.

[CrazyInAlabama]

When Gregory's back spasm returned, I doubt he could have been a good sous chef.   I know he would have made a monumental effort, but it would have been agonizing for him. 

[biakbiak]

Gregory was in such pain I can’t imagine them asking him back!

[Mellowyellow]

I don't think Malarkey is necessarily bad (are they implying he's bad in the previews?).

He was a very good team player in Restaurant Wars and besides being very loud I don't think he's malicious or bitter so no red flags really.

Stephanie just needs to stick to her vision and reign him in which she showed that she can with Leanne in Restaurant Wars. She was calmly a total badass when she took over the tickets.

Of course Gregory and Stephanie would have been a brilliant team (I loved their couch chat a few weeks back) but I'm hoping he was resting that poor back of his!

 

Edited June 12, 2020 by Mellowyellow

[Irlandesa]

The last three eliminations were Kevin, Gregory and Malarkey.  I suspect the final sous chefs were always supposed to be Runner up 1 (Kevin), Runner Up 2 (Gregory) and Runner up 3 (Malarkey).

They probably scheduled Malarkey for the final when they booted him and the other two were already going to be there as part of the Top 5.

But when Gregory had his back issues, they likely had to scramble and get whoever could get over to Italy on a short notice.  Hence Leanne over Karen.

1 hour ago, Mellowyellow said:

I don't think Malarkey is necessarily bad (are they implying he's bad in the previews?).

I don't think so.  I also don't think he's bad.  Most of the criticism he has gotten over the season has been an inability to self-edit.  His cooking skills have been fine and while he might sometimes be a lot to deal with, I wouldn't necessarily dread him as a sous chef since Stephanie is setting the menu.

Leanne, though, has time management issues.  So it'll be interesting to see how she does as a sous chef.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I'm wondering Bryan V. is really shy, and loves being the star in the kitchen, but doesn't like being on the spotlight?     Kevin's remark about cooking soulfully after the remarks to Bryan were a low blow, and I'm glad he's gone.   

The biggest issue from the preview of next week is that Bryan will have to rely on Kevin, who tried his best to submarine him this week.  Kevin looked like he was totally convinced his nasty remark about Bryan's food would keep him on the show.   

Edited June 12, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[Mellowyellow]

18 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

Leanne, though, has time management issues.  So it'll be interesting to see how she does as a sous chef.

Yes I was thinking I would rather Malarkey than Leanne. He's always been efficient and I thought that in Restaurant Wars he was actually more focused as that challenge was about Gregory's vision. He handled a stressed Gregory and the fish very nicely too. I can see him being quite decent if Stephanie needs support.

ETA: I prefer him for Stephanie over Kevin too. Kevin can cook but that dig at Bryan makes me doubt if his attitude would be all that great. I don't think he'd be awful but probably not sunshine either!

Edited June 12, 2020 by Mellowyellow

[Ellee]

Wonder if since Melissa won the last challenge ... if she picked who got who. 

 

Edited June 12, 2020 by Ellee

[Irlandesa]

I imagine it's a pull your knives thing.  I would find it hard to believe that Melissa would pick Leanne over Kevin and even Malarkey.

[wlk68]

In one of the teasers at the Bravo website, you can clearly see the butcher block with three knives in it. I'm guessing whoever drew the knife with the 1 on it gets first pick, and so on, etc. 

Leanne has time management issues and Malarkey's brain is always going in 9 million different directions. Will he be able to focus on what Stephanie needs him to do or will he want to add his own flourishes?  

As for Kevin, I'm hoping he just puts his head down and gives Bryan the help and support he needs. I can't see any benefit for Kevin at this point to try and sabotage Bryan. We shall see.  

Edited June 12, 2020 by wlk68

[AriAu]

Wow, those guest judges were cutting and tough. It was like Tom could hardly get in a word to attack or support anyone.....they just let the judges go!

Surprising to  see Kevin go home on what is essentially a pork challenge and basically screw up the cooking of pork!

Quote

So Brian has Kevin, Stephanie has Malarkey (why?!), and Melissa has (Leanne).

Quote

The biggest issue from the preview of next week is that Bryan will have to rely on Kevin, who tried his best to submarine him this week.  Kevin looked like he was totally convinced his nasty remark about Bryan's food would keep him on the show. 

In general, the sous chefs should be there for cooking skills or to be a sounding board. When the sous goes beyond that, you end up with a Carla/Casey situation in which many people still haven't forgiven Casey! Therefore, I think the key is finding the best cook at this point. Malarkey said in an early episode that he doesn't spend that much time in the kitchen and Kevin has said he has " people for that shit", so Leanne could, in concept be the best person as a sous, especially since it'll be her job to just cook and not deal with time management....but she appeared from the promo to be getting too involved. Based n what we have seen this season, I still think Kevin can be the most helpful set of hands in the kitchen, but we will see. One thing to remember is that Bryan and Kevin are obviously close and supposedly agreed to help each other get to the finale, so I think Kevin will really help.

By the way, isnt it kinda famous Top Chef lore that the winner of the next to last challenge rarely wins the title? FYI-Bryan won penultimate in Vegas and then Michael won and if you look at Wikipedia it is rare that the the winner wins 2 in a row....other than Paul Qui since there was no stopping him!

[CrazyInAlabama]

I'm hoping they don't do a final three like last season, where all three finalists cooked the meal of their lives, and then they eliminated one, and only two presented their entire meals at the end. 

[BlackberryJam]

I haven't looked forward so much to a finale in a long time. I'm fine with either of the final three winning, but love my girl Stephanie. I want them all to cook their hearts out and the food to be incredible. I'm not at all stressed about the possibility of someone I can't stand winning. 

[akr]

I feel the same - will be happy to see any of them win - but have been rooting for Melissa from the beginning and I'm not changing just because she's turned out to be a bit of a front runner.  

[Mellowyellow]

Considering how tough things are right now for everyone we deserved this final three!!! Could not have come at a better time!

I love Stephanie and Melissa! Can't pick between them so I'm really hoping one of the ladies will win.

That said I would not be upset if Bryan made the best food and won!

 

[wlk68]

I'm watching Bravo right now and they keep showing teasers for the finale that show Bryan in tears. And they don't look like happy tears, either, so it's really freaking me out. He just doesn't seem the type to break down like that.

[Bastet]

I'll be thrilled with a Melissa or Stephanie win.  If Bryan wins, I won't be upset, but I will be disappointed.  All three make delicious food, but his almost never interests me the way theirs often does.  Especially Melissa's, who has been my pick from early on and remains so - her food is the most original.

Edited June 19, 2020 by Bastet