S19.E01: Primal Instincts

[Chicago Redshirt]

16 minutes ago, caitmcg said:

Assuming production is like last season, everyone is being tested constantly. If he got over it the month before filming, he is long past being contagious. People are generally contagious from shortly before to shortly after onset of symptoms, from what I understand. We don’t know that he hasn’t told people he had it, only that he didn’t want to share that his senses of smell and taste are impaired. 

The CDC and others couch it that most people are not contagious a month after having developing symptoms. Or that people are probably not contagious. 

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/duration-isolation.html#:~:text=Infectiousness peaks around one day,days after symptom onset.

Available data suggest that patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 remain infectious no longer than 10 days after symptom onset. More information is available at What We Know About Quarantine and Isolation.

Most patients with more severe-to-critical illness likely remain infectious no longer than 20 days after symptom onset.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/if-youve-been-exposed-to-the-coronavirus

By the 10th day after COVID symptoms begin, most people will no longer be contagious, as long as their symptoms have continued to improve and their fever has resolved. People who test positive for the virus but never develop symptoms over the following 10 days after testing are also probably no longer contagious.

Again, it might be paranoia to think that we don't have a full enough set of data on the disease to say how long someone could remain contagious, or that even if there's only a 1 in a million risk of someone being contagious I would prefer to have the ability to make an informed choice about whether to take that risk. 

Since potential loss of taste/smell are well-documented symptoms of Covid, I think it's fairly safe to say that he's not revealed that he recovered from Covid relatively recently. Probably any chef who he would have told that he had Covid would ask about how it affected him, and in particular how it affected two of the key senses for a chef.

[Intuition]

9 hours ago, caitmcg said:

Assuming production is like last season, everyone is being tested constantly. If he got over it the month before filming, he is long past being contagious. People are generally contagious from shortly before to shortly after onset of symptoms, from what I understand. We don’t know that he hasn’t told people he had it, only that he didn’t want to share that his senses of smell and taste are impaired. 

I agree.  Him mentioning the loss of his taste and smell doesn't mean he also didn't tell them he'd had Covid.

Also, since he mentioned it in a talking head, depending on when they film those at least the show producers, etc. would have to know.  I doubt the camera people would allow that to go by without saying something.  And I don't think he would have mentioned it to the camera at all if he hadn't already told someone about it.

I don't see anything "dickish" about what he's doing so far.  It's a competition and he wants to prove himself first so that people don't prejudge his ability based on what is actually a disability.  If he can do well in spite of that they won't assume that he's going to fail because of it when he eventually reveals it.  If he never reveals it I might reconsider that.  In the end if he goes home it's going to be based on HIS performance.  Even in the team challenges they are judged individually.  He benefited from that in this episode but he might not have that advantage in a non-team challenge.

I have watched cooking challenges with disabled people before.  Even a blind chef can win MasterChef and this guy knows what things taste like so he has some memory of that.  I feel sympathy for him because he's lost an essential sense for his profession.  But of course the show is trying to make us see him as a "dick".  I am sure the camera people put that word in his mouth.  They must have said, "Don't you think that makes you a dick?"  Whatever, show.  I am done with this show doing its best to make every white American guy look like one.  It's happened now too many times for me to think it's just coincidence.  Meanwhile Gabe Erales' win is upheld despite the allegations against him and the show gets all mealy mouthed not to criticize him because he's a Hispanic immigrant. 

[Totale]

On 3/4/2022 at 9:15 PM, TakomaSnark said:

He did. He said he wasn't going to tell them and asked (in his talking head), 'Does that make me a dick?'

To which I replied to the screen: Yes. Yes it does.

Think of him as Chekhov's dick.

[Colleenna]

3 hours ago, Totale said:

Think of him as Chekhov's dick.

If he got measles on top of his other ailments,  would that make him a spotted dick? (Sorry, couldn't resist 😉 😅)

[ChiefWiggum9-1-2]

I really had to laugh after the first episode. They spent the whole show talking about how diverse the show is. So the whitest team wins - with pot roast. 

[Yeah No]

3 hours ago, ChiefWiggum9-1-2 said:

I really had to laugh after the first episode. They spent the whole show talking about how diverse the show is. So the whitest team wins - with pot roast. 

All things considered though, 7 out of 18 winners of Top Chef have been "diverse".  Not too shabby.

[emmawoodhouse]

9 minutes ago, Yeah No said:

All things considered though, 7 out of 18 winners of Top Chef have been "diverse".  Not too shabby.

Does that 7 include all the women? 

[Intuition]

1 hour ago, emmawoodhouse said:

Does that 7 include all the women? 

No.

[emmawoodhouse]

10 minutes ago, Intuition said:

No.

Didn't think so. Since they're underrepresented in top kitchens, I think they should also be included in the count. 

[Yeah No]

4 minutes ago, emmawoodhouse said:

Didn't think so. Since they're underrepresented in top kitchens, I think they should also be included in the count. 

I didn't include white women to make a point about cultural diversity in response to the post pointing out that the "whitest" team won the elimination challenge despite the show patting itself on the back for its cultural diversity.

But yeah, they should be included.  That would add an addition 3 women for a total of 10 winners out of 18.

[meep.meep]

21 hours ago, ChiefWiggum9-1-2 said:

I really had to laugh after the first episode. They spent the whole show talking about how diverse the show is. So the whitest team wins - with pot roast. 

The guy who won with the pot roast is Mexican-Salvadoran. 

[Colleenna]

On 3/7/2022 at 12:02 AM, Yeah No said:

I didn't include white women to make a point about cultural diversity in response to the post pointing out that the "whitest" team won the elimination challenge despite the show patting itself on the back for its cultural diversity.

But yeah, they should be included.  That would add an addition 3 women for a total of 10 winners out of 18.

There are other forms of diversity besides race. 

[Yeah No]

1 minute ago, Colleenna said:

There are other forms of diversity besides race. 

I don't need to be told that, I know.  I already explained why I didn't include the white women in the count the first time.  I didn't make the comment about the "whitest" team winning, I was responding to it with facts to show how the show has had many culturally diverse winners in 18 seasons.  That's why I only included the non-white winners.

And here I am on another thread just yesterday discussing how my mother and I were at the first women's march on 5th Avenue in Manhattan in 1970!!!

[South]

Did the dining room for the EC seem familiar to anyone?  Might they have dined and judged there on a “field trip” during the Dallas season?

[Bastet]

My hearing sucks, and I somehow can't get the CC to turn on, so I'm not sure, but it sounded like Stephanie said she was having an "outer body experience" instead of "out of".

[CSunshine76]

On 3/9/2022 at 1:59 AM, South said:

Did the dining room for the EC seem familiar to anyone?  Might they have dined and judged there on a “field trip” during the Dallas season?

Houston is over 200 miles away from Dallas, so I doubt it. 
eta: a quick review tells me they stayed on the I-35 corridor that season and did visit Austin and San Antonio in addition to Dallas.

Edited March 11, 2022 by CSunshine76

[Pepper Mostly]

On 3/3/2022 at 10:27 PM, Jodithgrace said:

I was expecting bigger fallout from the guy who lost his sense of smell and taste due to Covid. He ended up on the winning team, so it can’t be affecting him too much.  

World renowned chef and author Grant Achatz lost his sense of taste after being treated for cancer. It was temporary; and while his situation wasn't exactly the same, since he could rely on his team to help him, I think Covid guy was hoping that he could rely on experience and feedback from the other chefs to get him through. 

[Suzn]

On 3/9/2022 at 2:46 PM, Bastet said:

My hearing sucks, and I somehow can't get the CC to turn on, so I'm not sure, but it sounded like Stephanie said she was having an "outer body experience" instead of "out of".

She did.  What an idiot!

[Crs97]

I finally got around to watching the first episode, and I find Jackson to be delightful so far.  I love his self deprecating humor (“it sounds terrible but I promise it will be good, though what do I know since I lost my sense of taste” with a smile).

I grew up outside Houston, and it has the best food anywhere.  Did The Annie used to be called Cafe Annie?  It was the hot spot 30 years ago when I was a law school student summer associate.  It was known for its weird mix of food; I only liked a salad there and was tired of it by the end of the summer.

[Toothbrush]

On 4/1/2022 at 8:21 PM, Crs97 said:

I grew up outside Houston, and it has the best food anywhere.  Did The Annie used to be called Cafe Annie?  It was the hot spot 30 years ago when I was a law school student summer associate.  It was known for its weird mix of food; I only liked a salad there and was tired of it by the end of the summer.

Yes, same place. The Whole Foods they shop at is just down the block, at the corner of Post Oak & San Felipe.