S01.E07: A Seafood Tower

[Ms Blue Jay]

Quote

S1.E7

A Seafood Tower

Wed, Feb 2, 2022

The competition gets fishy, as the 10 remaining contestants prepare a next level seafood dish.

Sad episode for me.  I really like all 3 chefs that were up for elimination.  I did like the outcome though.  

I cried.  Jonathan with his speech to Nyesha, I mean holy shit.  

Jonathan and Courtney are two of my favourites simply because they seem so emotionally vulnerable.  This might sound mean but with Tricia, I don't feel the same.  I think it's because I know she has more than 30K followers on Instagram alone - you have to have very thick skin to be that involved on social media.  Her reactions are so over the top that I assume they're real, but I don't know.  I guess I've always felt weird about it.  Especially her constantly having to be babied by Gordon - Jonathan and Courtney aren't like that.  When something goes wrong they looked like they've been punched in the gut, but they don't cry to their mentors in order to be brought back to Earth.  They just suck it up.

Edited February 3, 2022 by Ms Blue Jay

[mlp]

Was anyone surprised that two of the losing dishes came from the team that had four members left?  I didn't think so.

I've liked Courtney since the beginning so I'm glad she's doing well.  I don't really dislike Tricia but I'm sick of her emotional whining.  I don't get why she has so many THs.  She's just tedious.  I was sorry to see Jonathan leave but I have to admit that his dish didn't even look good.

[grandmabegum]

I did not think I'd hear a Paris and Nicole reference today.

[cameron]

Just wish that whiney Tricia would get the boot.  So over her histrionics.

[iwantcookies]

2 hours ago, cameron said:

Just wish that whiney Tricia would get the boot.  So over her histrionics.

Me too. I’m convinced it’s all fake/an act. She says she gave up a 6 figure job to be a chef. No one would hire such a timid/simpering/no confidence  person for any job.

I’m sorry to see Jonathan go. I have a soft spot for him! 

[iwantcookies]

Spoiler for next week 

Spoiler

No more teams! Each chef for themselves! 

 

[12catcrazy]

Trying hard not to look at the spoiler.   At home, I called the winner of the cook-off.   This is the first time I've ever watched a cooking "reality" competition show so I'm talking out of my butt here, but what is the end game other than the 250K prize money?  Is it a shot at a cooking tv show or to work for one of the judges or ????   If it's to get a tv show, I'll tell you off the bat who isn't going to win - the two black guys and the middle aged blond home cook.  Why?  The two guys seem very serious but they are both quiet and not showboaters.  They cook, get the job done and both seem very competent but neither has "TV or social media personalities".    Either one might be offered a job working in a Gordon Ramsey establishment but to win the prize, no.   The middle aged blond lady might be a really good home cook but again, doesn't seem the type to be a hit on TV and I doubt if she could handle the stress of working in a busy restaurant.  

Ok, so who is now left?  The tall black lady might be a spoiler here.  She looks a bit old(er) to be on a TV show but she is attractive and and seems to have something going on beneath the surface.   I could possibly see the younger black woman winning - she already works as a chef and is very good-looking.   She is also very intense and again, serious about what she is doing.  Could see her being offered a job with Ramsay or one of the other judges.  The end game here is the question for me.  And that leaves us with who?  Pyet, who I can see winning because she had the bubbly personality, can cook, and is on social media.  She is also young and pretty and those are always big pluses.  I don't remember the other young lady's name, but I'd put her in the same category as Pyet.   Could they cancel each other out?   As far as the crybaby goes - OMG, if she wins, you know this show is fixed to the hilt.   I think it's all a big act.  She gave up a 6 figure job for what?  Cooking on social media?  Gimme a f-ing break here folks - and then she is going to pieces at the least little thing?  I don't buy it, unless the true story is that she couldn't cut it in her 6 figure job and wound up cooking on social media because she couldn't figure out what else to do with her life.  

I'm very cynical about these competition shows.   I watched Season 1 Masked Singer and that was such an obvious fix that I didn't go back for the next seasons (goofy fun that it is).  Those of you who watch these cooking shows might have a totally different take where this is headed - I'd love to know your opinions.  

[iwantcookies]

I think Pyet will win. There has never been a Native American winner on any cooking show and she is given lots of air time!

Edited February 4, 2022 by iwantcookies

[Such A Flirt]

Anyone but Tricia! 6 figures doing what? She's so annoying.

Pretty sure Angie and Courtney won't win because they're older. Probably going to be Pyet vs. Reuel in the end.

[vibeology]

The editing around Kenny has been so weird. I don't feel like I saw him at all this episode until his dish was presented. I don't know if it's because he isn't long for the competition or because he's going far and they have time to slowly build him up but he's been invisible for episodes at a time.

[MyMaui]

On 2/4/2022 at 3:10 AM, Such A Flirt said:

Probably going to be Pyet vs. Reuel in the end.

I would love this being the final two. What a beautiful speech to Nyesha from Jonathan. That was so heartwarming.

For this episode I was really hoping each team had one really bad dish to see how they would work this out. I knew someone from Richard's team would be going since the other teams had 3.  

[Chicago Redshirt]

On 2/3/2022 at 11:09 AM, 12catcrazy said:

This is the first time I've ever watched a cooking "reality" competition show so I'm talking out of my butt here, but what is the end game other than the 250K prize money?  Is it a shot at a cooking tv show or to work for one of the judges or ????   If it's to get a tv show, I'll tell you off the bat who isn't going to win - the two black guys and the middle aged blond home cook.  Why?  The two guys seem very serious but they are both quiet and not showboaters.

...

I'm very cynical about these competition shows.   I watched Season 1 Masked Singer and that was such an obvious fix that I didn't go back for the next seasons (goofy fun that it is).  Those of you who watch these cooking shows might have a totally different take where this is headed - I'd love to know your opinions.  

So the question is what you mean by "end game." In this particular show, the winner gets $250k and mentorship from their chef for a year, IIRC. Who knows what form that mentorship might actually take. In past cooking competitions, Ramsay has made various offers even to people who were eliminated before the finale to put them through culinary school, or allow them to do a stint at one of his restaurants etc. 

So even the losers may be able to parlay their presence on the show into some level of fame/social media followers/business advantage. And of course, winning does not mean they will be more successful. Nyesha and Richard both had competed on another cooking show competition. Richard came in second his first time through and then won his second. Nyesha IIRC got eliminated fairly early on in her season, but had won a couple other cooking reality shows and look at her now.  

Because Ramsay is the force behind this show, I would be very surprised if the ultimate winner was not one of his three remaining chefs, Reuel, Kenny and Tricia. 

I don't think Reuel can be described as "quiet" and not a "showboater." While other chefs were in the elimination phase, he has been extremely vocal about what they should and shouldn't do, and he's gotten a number of talking heads. He also has had the top dish twice. So that is who I'm thinking will win.

Tricia has had the top dish once, but she seems a bundle of nerves. My prediction is that she will get eliminated in about two episodes and have a story arc about how being on the show has given her so much more confidence.

Kenny has been largely under the radar, so I don't see him being a likely pick to win.

Pyet has won one week, and had at least another week where she was close to the top. Plus she has the Native American angle. I would expect her to get to the top three, and if Gordon's ego can survive someone outside his team winning, she could take it down.  

[12catcrazy]

On 2/7/2022 at 1:59 AM, Chicago Redshirt said:

 

Because Ramsay is the force behind this show, I would be very surprised if the ultimate winner was not one of his three remaining chefs, Reuel, Kenny and Tricia. 

I don't think Reuel can be described as "quiet" and not a "showboater." While other chefs were in the elimination phase, he has been extremely vocal about what they should and shouldn't do, and he's gotten a number of talking heads. He also has had the top dish twice. So that is who I'm thinking will win.

I think you make some good points.    I had forgotten that Reuel had been the person hectoring the person in the elimination round that her salmon "burger" should be an inch and a half thick, and than Gordan Ramsay wound up saying there was too much salmon for the sandwich.   Makes you wonder if it was a sabotage move or he actually thought he was giving good advice.  

I'll keep watching this show as I'm curious as to who is going to win it but I doubt if I'd watch a 2nd season.   I'm also going to add that the show is a commercial for Gordan Ramsay's new line of cookware.   I'm badly in need of a new pan and have been looking at cookware on line and now my FB feed has an ad for the cookware at least once a day.  Everything has a marketing tie-in - you can't get away from it!  

[blackwing]

Just started catching up on this show within the past week.  Finished this episode yesterday morning.  I'm not disappointed that Zach is gone.  He seemed really arrogant saying he knew he was going to win over the other two because he's a professional chef, and he has very thin skin.  Can't really take criticism, and every time he was criticised, he just stood there glaring and looking like he was about to cry.  Then in his confessionals, his glasses seemed kind of fogged up, like he actually had been crying.

I really liked Jonathan and am disappointed he is gone.  I liked his attitude and he seemed like a nice guy.

I think the final three will be Pyet, Mariah and Reuel.  I hope Mariah wins but I am expecting it to be Pyet because of the indigenous angle.  The dishes she is making that incorporate her heritage are interesting and I agree with what the judges said in one of the other episodes, that everyone watching at home was googling "wojiba" or whatever it was.

I am kind of surprised that there is nobody left that I really dislike.  The ones that I truly disliked were Amber and Sergio and they are both gone.  Some make no impression on me, like Angie and Kenny (seriously, I think Kenny might have gotten the least airtime, does he even speak?)  The rest I like.

Yes, even Tricia.  I guess I don't mind her as much as many others here do.  She does seem to have a lack of confidence and worries a lot but she doesn't bother me.

[blackwing]

On 2/8/2022 at 12:29 PM, 12catcrazy said:

I'll keep watching this show as I'm curious as to who is going to win it but I doubt if I'd watch a 2nd season.   I'm also going to add that the show is a commercial for Gordan Ramsay's new line of cookware.   I'm badly in need of a new pan and have been looking at cookware on line and now my FB feed has an ad for the cookware at least once a day.  Everything has a marketing tie-in - you can't get away from it!  

I think it's more a commercial for the mentors and maybe Gordon's restaurants.  The episode with the next level burgers... I seriously want to eat Nyesha's French Onion Soup burger.  And if Richard Blais' burger was actually duck (I couldn't tell), then yes, I want to eat that one too.  I actually didn't understand what was so special about Gordon's farm burger, but maybe it was better in person than on TV.