S01.E09: Finale

[The Crazed Spruce]

Quote

The top two dessert detective teams head back into the kitchen for their final challenges; one team is declared the best in the crime scene kitchen and walks away with the $100,000 prize.

 

[CrazyInAlabama]

Since only two fight for the $100,000, Worst performing team in first round goes out.  

First Round Guess:

Luis & Natalie (Las Vegas)-Traditional Napoleon. Their puff pastry looks thick, and too dark. Some pastry is too dark, some underdone. 

Emma & Leslie (mother-daughter)-Chocolate puff pastry with Raspberries.  Soggy bottom layer. 

Cathy & Thomas (mother-son)-Traditional Napoleon with chocolate glaze on top.  Curtis is unhappy with the amount of pastry creme.

Lorie & Jason (self- taught bakery owners)-Napoleon with Chocolate puff pastry.  Raspberries are all on top.  Pastries are too thick and tough.

First round dessert is:  Classic Napoleon with raspberries, and chocolate glaze.   (Luis & Natalie and Cathy & Thomas guessed correctly)

First team gone-Emma & Leslie.    

Final three teams, and their guess, for Yolanda's birthday, she wants a fantastic birthday cake.  Clues are her favorite flavors.

Luis & Natalie-3 tier cake, Chocolate Devils food, Lemon Blueberry Layer, one more layer on top.  Cake is lopsided. Nicely decorated for a birthday.  Judges love the decorating, sprinkles inside, and the cake flavors. 

Cathy & Thomas-3 layers, all three chocolate with different versions of chocolate in each layer.  All three layers are chocolate, with simple decor.   Curtis wants more decoration. My opinion is the ping pong balls on top of their cake might have been modern, but looked hideous.  

Lorie & Jason-3 tiered with Chocolate Espresso, and Butter pecan, and one other flavored layers.  (Jason makes a cake layer, but forgets to put the milk in the batter).  Yolanda says cake is tasty, but not decorated enough, and not birthday theme. 

Showpiece dessert is:  Yolanda's Birthday cake with Chocolate, Dark Chocolate, Caramel, Raspberries, Coffee, Vanilla Bean.  

Winners-Luis & Natalie.   Great win.   Beautifully decorated cake. 

(Weren't the 'we lost our house' people from Nashville area?   If so, $100k after taxes, etc. will buy you a tool shed.)

Edited July 22, 2021 by CrazyInAlabama

[mertensia]

Yay! Congrats, Luis and Natalie!!

[Quilt Fairy]

I wish they hadn't deterred from the formula for the final round, but I guess it gives the judges more latitude in choosing the winner.  I figured it was a done deal when Yolanda said "I think I need a moment alone" with Luis and Natalie's chocolate cake. 

[Leeds]

Yolanda's dress was tragic in several ways.  Not the least of which was because you should be able walk without flashing your crotch.

[tinkerbell]

I am so glad the prize money did NOT go to the "We Lost our HOUSE!"  team.  I hate when sob stories are repeated over and over, as if that is reason enough to win.  If you need money to give your kids a home to live in, maybe a tv competition isn't the best way to try to get it. 

[Ish kabibel]

I was completely shocked that the win went to the lopsided, multi-flavored cake that looked like it was made for a 6 year old’s birthday party!  The flavors in the layers were not related in any way and I thought were completely overdone!  Just too too much of everything!  I thought the mother and son team did the classiest, most elegant cake that was appropriate for an adult!  All the layers related to each other and there was a “progression” of flavor.  And, it was Straight!  This was the FINALE, for god’s sake!  I thought for sure, that lopsided, childish cake (with those horrid, tasteless, unsophisticated multicolor sprinkles)  would be rock bottom of the three .... AMD THEN ... THEY PICKED IT!? Where in the clues did it say she liked sprinkles?  And, how,did those awful things “accentuate” the flavors she put in the clues?  Made no sense!  Seemed rigged to me.  Probably won’t bother with this show next season.

[blackwing]

I had issues with them sending Elf Girl home after the first round.  I thought the main criticism of their napoleon was that the raspberries were uneven and they looked sloppy.  But I thought there were comments that it tasted good.  And the raspberries were at least in between the layers.  Unicorn Hair and Beard presented a dessert that Yolanda said she couldn't even cut through.  How does that beat out a good tasting dessert that had raspberries in the wrong place?

8 hours ago, tinkerbell said:

I am so glad the prize money did NOT go to the "We Lost our HOUSE!"  team.  I hate when sob stories are repeated over and over, as if that is reason enough to win.  If you need money to give your kids a home to live in, maybe a tv competition isn't the best way to try to get it. 

11 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

(Weren't the 'we lost our house' people from Nashville area?   If so, $100k after taxes, etc. will buy you a tool shed.)

Agreed, the relentless repeating of "we need $100K, we've never had our own home, our kids need a home" was aggravating.  In an earlier episode they even said something like "this money will let us buy our land and build our dream home".  Really?  I think they thought there was an extra zero on the prize amount.

Luis and Natalie's win was well deserved.  Their cake was truly spectacular and definitely screamed "birthday cake".  The colour and the decoration was great.  I agreed with Yolanda that Unicorn Hair's cake looked great but wasn't really a birthday cake.  That middle marbled layer was cool but there was nothing really festive about it.  Meanwhile, Thomas' cake looked more like a wedding cake, it was all white and elegant and had almost zero decoration.  After seeing the other cakes, he knew it.  He tried to talk it up and defend his presentation by saying something like "we decided that less is more, keep it simple" and "I'm really excited for you to taste it"... but this is a birthday cake.  How can less be more for a birthday?  It's supposed to be festive and over the top.

It's obvious to me that the editors really disliked Thomas.  I wonder if when he watched the show last night if he noticed just how nasty he is.  I don't think any other team was shown celebrating other teams' mistakes/choices more than he was.  When Elf Girl presented a chocolate napoleon, he and his mom both turned to each other and excitedly said they put the chocolate in the pastry.  The worst was during the final cake judging.  When Yolanda told Unicorn Hair that "it doesn't scream birthday", the camera immediately cut to Thomas, who looked gleeful.  When Yolanda pointed out to Vegas that the cake was leaning, the camera cut to Thomas, who was smiling.  Then as Vegas got compliments, we cut to Thomas who is grimacing.  And as Yolanda continues to gush about the cake, we cut to Thomas who gives this sigh of disappointment.

Such an odious man.  And then he gives this confessional after he loses about how being with his mom means more than $100,000... yeah right.

I really enjoyed this show and Joel McHale.  I hope it comes back next season.  But so many of these reality shows that I liked (Game On with Gronk and Venus, Ultimate Tag, Don't, Name That Tune) don't seem to make it back for a second season.  I hope this one makes it.  Joel is one of the producers so hopefully that helps its chances.

 

[AZChristian]

Thomas, your cake does not look like a birthday cake.  Your decorations were too simple.

Thomas:  We decided to keep it classy and understated.

Thomas, did you understand that you were making this cake for Yolanda?  Look at her dress.  What made you think she'd like a classy and understated cake?  

LOL.

[chitowngirl]

I will defend Thomas with regards to the editing. When they cut away to him smiling and smirking, we don’t know if he’s doing it in response to what the judges said or just a clip of him doing that. He could be reacting to something that Joel was snarking on and the editors used it where they thought would make the best “story”.

[AZChristian]

9 minutes ago, chitowngirl said:

I will defend Thomas with regards to the editing. When they cut away to him smiling and smirking, we don’t know if he’s doing it in response to what the judges said or just a clip of him doing that. He could be reacting to something that Joel was snarking on and the editors used it where they thought would make the best “story”.

True, but sometimes it's obvious he's snarking on the other contestants.  Like when the made the Napoleons, he was almost gleeful as he leaned over to his mother and said, "They used CHOCOLATE in the PASTRY" . . . as in "They're screwed."

[DanaK]

That was a fun last segment where the contestants got to go wild with making a birthday cake with certain ingredients. I'm glad Luis and Natalie won. I agree you could tell they would when Yolanda "needed a moment alone" with the cake. And who doesn't know that if 4 people are left in a finale, someone's going home early?

[eel21788]

13 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

I wish they hadn't deterred from the formula for the final round, but I guess it gives the judges more latitude in choosing the winner.  

Thomas really was very good at deciphering the clues most of the time and also very good with the execution. If they had stuck with the same format, I don't think the other teams would have had as good a shot at beating him. 

[eel21788]

4 hours ago, blackwing said:

the relentless repeating of "we need $100K, we've never had our own home, our kids need a home" was aggravating.  In an earlier episode they even said something like "this money will let us buy our land and build our dream home".  Really?  I think they thought there was an extra zero on the prize amount.

Just setting the money on fire probably would have been a better use for the $100,000 than giving it to those two. They have repeatedly proven they are terrible with money: never bought a house, never got renter's insurance, expanded their business too fast and went bankrupt; even their gofundme couldn't generate much. 

[blackwing]

2 hours ago, chitowngirl said:

I will defend Thomas with regards to the editing. When they cut away to him smiling and smirking, we don’t know if he’s doing it in response to what the judges said or just a clip of him doing that. He could be reacting to something that Joel was snarking on and the editors used it where they thought would make the best “story”.

Yes, could be.  But that's the whole "I was edited to look that way" defence that every jerk who comes across bad on Survivor always resorts to.  At some point, they actually said the words and made the expressions.  I tend to believe that people are who they are... the editors wouldn't go out of their way to make Thomas look like an ass if there wasn't some truth to it.  So I always feel that the contestants must be giving the producers something to work with if the producers really are in fact trying to tell a "story".

2 hours ago, AZChristian said:

True, but sometimes it's obvious he's snarking on the other contestants.  Like when the made the Napoleons, he was almost gleeful as he leaned over to his mother and said, "They used CHOCOLATE in the PASTRY" . . . as in "They're screwed."

This.  Or the time when he gleefully exclaimed "they didn't use chocolate!!!" to his mom, since he did, and in his mind, he is always right since he is the best detective.  And then it turned out that the chocolate wasn't used since it had been expired for 35 years.

[eyesopen]

On 7/21/2021 at 9:33 PM, Leeds said:

Yolanda's dress was tragic in several ways.  Not the least of which was because you should be able walk without flashing your crotch.

Majorly lol. Yolanda, it seems she has some fame as a youtube? uber cake artist and now she's on her way to being a minor reality tv star, but she'll have to accept wear sexy/somewhat sl*tty dresses.

On 7/22/2021 at 6:39 AM, blackwing said:

Luis and Natalie's win was well deserved.  Their cake was truly spectacular and definitely screamed "birthday cake".  The colour and the decoration was great.  I agreed with Yolanda that Unicorn Hair's cake looked great but wasn't really a birthday cake.  That middle marbled layer was cool but there was nothing really festive about it.  Meanwhile, Thomas' cake looked more like a wedding cake, it was all white and elegant and had almost zero decoration.  After seeing the other cakes, he knew it.  He tried to talk it up and defend his presentation by saying something like "we decided that less is more, keep it simple" and "I'm really excited for you to taste it"... but this is a birthday cake.  How can less be more for a birthday?  It's supposed to be festive and over the top.

seem to make it back for a second season.  I hope this one makes it.  Joel is one of the producers so hopefully that helps its chances.

 

I remember I think someone else saying Luis and Natalie seem like nice people but boring and forgettable.  I think on one hand that's true and may make for boring tv.  But also I kinda like that real people not get trashed over just because they're on tv and made out to seem like awful people when they aren't, they're edited to look bad or mean or stupid or whatever.  So it was nice to see nice, boring people win.

I think I heard in the last two eliminations that the judges value taste more than presentation when the worst desserts were compared.  That clearly explained to me why they chose Unicorn Hair and husband over Emma and mom and then Luis and Natalie over Unicorn Hair and husband because I heard clearly their cake was dry vs. other cake was very yummy, but clearly slanted.  I'm not sure which is more important, presentation vs taste, but I kinda like that taste is more valued than presentation.  A good tasting cake is better than a pretty, not good tasting cake.

I don't agree with Yolanda saying Unicorn's cake isn't birthday looking.  I like the idea of other decor themes for a birthday cake.  What I didn't get enough from Yolanda's statement is if she wanted more traditional birthday decor themes on a birthday cake-words, candles, etc., or basically just the words happy birthday on the cake.  Setting aside Unicorn's cake being dry, if she had piped?/stenciled? happy birthday on the cake that would have taken care of that criticism.

On 7/22/2021 at 7:20 AM, AZChristian said:

Thomas, your cake does not look like a birthday cake.  Your decorations were too simple.

Thomas:  We decided to keep it classy and understated.

Thomas, did you understand that you were making this cake for Yolanda?  Look at her dress.  What made you think she'd like a classy and understated cake?  

LOL.

It's funny how people think they listen well, but they actually don't.  Thomas listens to the judges and thinks what kind of cake would Yolanda like?  But somewhere in that thinking it changes to what kind of cake do I like?  Forgets the receiver of the cake Yolanda.  I think it's a huge thing that for a cake with a value of $100,000, you do not do understated cake knowing cake has that value, and you do not do understated cake knowing cake is series finale cake, and you do not do understated cake for a cake to give to a person that supposedly never ever had a birthday cake made for them.

Edited July 23, 2021 by eyesopen
punctuation ugh

[Grizzly]

I liked that most of them dressed up for the finale. Would it have killed Joel to wear a suit jacket? Really loved Natalie's top but her leather pants were too baggy. I'm ok with her and Luis winning. They had the best decorated cake. Their trophy said Season 1 Winner so I'm hopeful we'll get another one. All the contestants were making comments when everyone brought out their desserts. I had no problem with Thomas. He loves his mom. 

[bad things are bad]

Quote

I am so glad the prize money did NOT go to the "We Lost our HOUSE!"  team.

Well...I would bet not $100K but at least $100 that the producers encouraged them to harp on that. It's their schtick. 

[tennisgurl]

I am really glad that Natalie and Luis won, they have been really consistent throughout the competition and they seem like really nice, chill people. I am mostly pettily glad that Thomas didn't win, he might have been getting a villain edit near the end, but some of that arrogance had to be totally real. I wonder if he's watching this season like "am I really that big of a dick?" while he mom just pats his shoulder sadly?

I am partially sad that they broke with format for the finale, but I also like that they let them get more creative for the last challenge. Natalie and Luis did make a cake that Yolando would like for her birthday cake, the other ones did not look like birthday cakes, especially for Yolando, who seems to have a very...bright sense of style.  

This was a really fun show, the premise was unique as far as cooking competition shows go, and Joel is a good host, I hope there is another season. Maybe add some other foods besides sweets? 

[tinkerbell]

On 7/22/2021 at 11:06 AM, chitowngirl said:

I will defend Thomas with regards to the editing. When they cut away to him smiling and smirking, we don’t know if he’s doing it in response to what the judges said or just a clip of him doing that. He could be reacting to something that Joel was snarking on and the editors used it where they thought would make the best “story”.

I agree - On a lot of shows, the camera cuts to someone to try to catch a facial expression, to give the impression that the person is reacting a certain way.  I don't make a lot of him making facial expressions, and I think most of his reactions were justified.  It's a competition, he's going to be happier if his team wins. 

On 7/22/2021 at 11:16 AM, AZChristian said:

True, but sometimes it's obvious he's snarking on the other contestants.  Like when the made the Napoleons, he was almost gleeful as he leaned over to his mother and said, "They used CHOCOLATE in the PASTRY" . . . as in "They're screwed."

I saw it differently.  I thought he was commenting on how another team interpreted the use of chocolate,  "they used it in the pastry",  like "Oh shit, were we supposed to do that?"  I never saw him being "gleeful" about a team making mistakes, I saw it as him having an enthusiastic personality, and being competitive.   I've known a lot of people like him, and I actually liked him as a contestant because he reminds me so much of my brother - in a good way. 

[GeorgiaRai]

I wanted Thomas to win, but, yeah, his decorating was lackluster.  The 3 chocolate tiers with different flavor additions sounded like heaven to me, but seems to me, making one batter instead of 3 should've given them more time to party-up the outside.

I liked Luis a lot, and didn't mind the house fire couple.  I was glad Emma & mom left when they did; I found her much more off-putting than Thomas (who, from early on, struck me as more over-compensating for insecurities at being judged than mean). Just another case of our own experiences affecting our perceptions, I guess.

Will definitely watch if it comes back for another season.

[lark37]

On 7/22/2021 at 8:39 AM, blackwing said:

Agreed, the relentless repeating of "we need $100K, we've never had our own home, our kids need a home" was aggravating.  In an earlier episode they even said something like "this money will let us buy our land and build our dream home".  Really?  I think they thought there was an extra zero on the prize amount.

Luis and Natalie's win was well deserved.  Their cake was truly spectacular and definitely screamed "birthday cake".  The colour and the decoration was great.  I agreed with Yolanda that Unicorn Hair's cake looked great but wasn't really a birthday cake.  That middle marbled layer was cool but there was nothing really festive about it.  Meanwhile, Thomas' cake looked more like a wedding cake, it was all white and elegant and had almost zero decoration.

 

Luis and Natalie's cake looked like a birthday cake for a child not an adult woman. It was leaning and they covered it with fondant. My mother was a cake decorator with Wilton for many years. She always said fondant was for lazy cake decorators. She did amazing cakes using icing only. I think both of the other teams decorated theirs and didn't rely on fondant.  As for Jason and Lorie, I thought their cake was a sophisticated design suitable for a birthday for an adult!  Their getting a house stuff was annoying but may well have been producer driven. I was rooting for them. Not sure I will watch another season. I didn't like the finale format at all. It seemed to throw out the crime scene mystery dessert format just so Yolanda could pick her favorites as the winners. There was no suspense at all by the end. They may as well have given Luis and Natalie the money weeks ago. 

[TVstalker]

On 8/6/2021 at 8:53 PM, lark37 said:

Luis and Natalie's cake looked like a birthday cake for a child not an adult woman. It was leaning and they covered it with fondant. My mother was a cake decorator with Wilton for many years. She always said fondant was for lazy cake decorators. She did amazing cakes using icing only. I think both of the other teams decorated theirs and didn't rely on fondant.  As for Jason and Lorie, I thought their cake was a sophisticated design suitable for a birthday for an adult!  Their getting a house stuff was annoying but may well have been producer driven. I was rooting for them. Not sure I will watch another season. I didn't like the finale format at all. It seemed to throw out the crime scene mystery dessert format just so Yolanda could pick her favorites as the winners. There was no suspense at all by the end. They may as well have given Luis and Natalie the money weeks ago. 

I originally thought Luis and Natalie were going to win, the minute the show mentioned they were from Las Vegas. Even if they didn't always get the clues, I knew their additional flare was going to stand out.

[eyesopen]

On 8/6/2021 at 8:53 PM, lark37 said:

Luis and Natalie's cake looked like a birthday cake for a child not an adult woman. It was leaning and they covered it with fondant. My mother was a cake decorator with Wilton for many years. She always said fondant was for lazy cake decorators. She did amazing cakes using icing only. I think both of the other teams decorated theirs and didn't rely on fondant.  As for Jason and Lorie, I thought their cake was a sophisticated design suitable for a birthday for an adult!  Their getting a house stuff was annoying but may well have been producer driven. I was rooting for them. Not sure I will watch another season. I didn't like the finale format at all. It seemed to throw out the crime scene mystery dessert format just so Yolanda could pick her favorites as the winners. There was no suspense at all by the end. They may as well have given Luis and Natalie the money weeks ago. 

I think fondant is trendier than icing these days.  Isn't fondant more used to make something more elaborate on cakes like 3D castles ala Duff?  But if fondant is using basically as icing for cake then well it's not really used for its greater effect compared to icing.

[lark37]

On 8/12/2021 at 9:07 PM, eyesopen said:

I think fondant is trendier than icing these days.  Isn't fondant more used to make something more elaborate on cakes like 3D castles ala Duff?  But if fondant is using basically as icing for cake then well it's not really used for its greater effect compared to icing.

Fondant is trendier I think because its easier to use.  Anyone can learn to roll out the play doh like substance and mold it into shapes or cut into flowers etc.  Icing flowers,  borders, etc require skill and practice.  I remember on an early season of Next Great Baker Buddy Valastro being amazed at the cakes a contestant made who only used icing and no fondant.  This is why I thought the other two cakes were superior to Luis and Natalie's as they didn't rely on fondant.

Back to the finale I guess I'm of the opinion that producers wanted Luis and Natalie to win so basically threw out the crime scene element to play to their wow factor decorating style.  Some of their other desserts were nicely done but still overrated imo.  After all, this competition wasn't about decorating but detecting!

[SnarkShark]

On 8/16/2021 at 8:57 AM, lark37 said:

Fondant is trendier I think because its easier to use.  Anyone can learn to roll out the play doh like substance and mold it into shapes or cut into flowers etc.  Icing flowers,  borders, etc require skill and practice.  I remember on an early season of Next Great Baker Buddy Valastro being amazed at the cakes a contestant made who only used icing and no fondant.  This is why I thought the other two cakes were superior to Luis and Natalie's as they didn't rely on fondant.

Back to the finale I guess I'm of the opinion that producers wanted Luis and Natalie to win so basically threw out the crime scene element to play to their wow factor decorating style.  Some of their other desserts were nicely done but still overrated imo.  After all, this competition wasn't about decorating but detecting!

I think they got caught in a dilemma.  If someone won with worse food, but better detection, it would be bad, because none of these people are employed as "detectives".  They're bakers. If a round or two, a few eliminations, were because of that... fine. They'd still have enough good bakers at the end to still award it to a good baker.  Ditching half the relevance of the crime scene element at the end was probably just to avoid the potential scenario of only a single finalist guessing the right cake, but having some horrible preparation issue and winding up with the contrast of a crap bake winning. 

I guess at the very end, they got caught by a different problem.  Rewarding a boring cake that was more structurally sound, or a more elaborately decorated one which wasn't. Since we can't taste these through a screen, maybe the winning cake actually DID taste better though, as well. We can't really know. 

[hiisa]

I just binged this and I liked it. I like Joel. He was a fun host. Also, I agree with everyone who *did* like Thomas. I thought he seemed like a normal, competitive person playing a game. He wasn't mean to the competition that we saw, he just talked smack to his partner/mom. It didn't seem mean spirited to me. Or at least no more mean spirited than me sitting on my couch going, "oooooooh! They didn't use chocolate/mango/whatever....!!"

I loved how much fun he and his mom seemed to be having. And they did seem to be having fun.