Season Two Episode Talk

[needschocolate]

I am stunned! Absolutely stunned, I tell you! We don't hear about Maeve's kidney trouble and terminal diagnosis until the very last episode?  On a Food Network show?  You know, the network where everything ever cooked/baked has to have a story, an inspiration...the network where every contestant has a father that doesn't love them or a struggling single mother or a canary with a rash ... the network where everyone's sob story needs to be repeated before and after every commercial break.  

 

Haley is a country girl where they use canning jars for canning! Steve gave up his career on the stage to bake! Adelberto left Cuba to come to this great nation! Melody has sons!  And Maeve has the most heart wrenching story of them all - she was supposed to die! 5 doctors told her it was terminal! But, not only is she still alive, she has found true love with a wonderful man! And we don't hear about it until the last episode?  

 

Maeve must have not told anyone, because hers is the kind of story that they would have dragged out over and over again. And maybe it is that constant reminding that made Maeve decide not to share the info - until perhaps, she realized that dancing boy and Cuban escapee had sentimentality on their side and she was going to have to tell them.    

 

Going into the finale, I was rooting for Adelberto and thought he may have it in the bag, but after seeing their cakes and hearing the judges opinions, it seems like they made the right decision. Maeve seemed to hover at the top of the pack and thought outside the box.  HEr stuff usually looked good.  I am not disappointed her win.  

 

I am also not disappointed that we didn't have to hear about her kidneys every episode.  I wish I could say the same for the other "sob stories."

 

Does anyone really want Bobby going around to each of them and explicitly asking them why they want to win? 

 

What sort of reply were they hoping for? "Actually, Bobby, I don't want to win - It would be too much pressure. If I ever overbake something at home, I would never hear the end of it.  Plus, I would be destined to bring dessert to every potluck a go to for the rest of my life and I have a broccoli salad recipe that is delicious." They want to win because it feels good to win and they will get $50,000.  Yeah, I know, they ask because they want to throw those sob stories out there one more time before the final sob story presentation at the judging.  That doesn't stop it from being a ridiculous question to ask.

[rab01]

Hey, I get that they all have to have hardship stories for the producers but how did Steve "give up performing for baking"? Dancers don't get to dance forever and they all have to plan for a second career so isn't he just making an incredibly typical career transition?  (I'm not saying that he didn't trade dancing for baking but I don't see any sign that he quit dancing early to focus on baking.)

 

As for the winner, Maev always seemed to be in the top echelon and, if the judges tell the truth, her flavors were often the most creative. Based on looks alone, her final cake was head and shoulders better than the other two (Steve's was way too simple and Adalberto's looked clunky) so I have no problem with her being named the winner. Adalberto seems like a very nice guy and a very skilled baker but he must have agreed with the judges comments about his frosting or else he wouldn't have backfilled a talking head about why he added extra butter to his buttercream.

[needschocolate]

Hey, I get that they all have to have hardship stories for the producers but how did Steve "give up performing for baking"? Dancers don't get to dance forever and they all have to plan for a second career so isn't he just making an incredibly typical career transition?  (I'm not saying that he didn't trade dancing for baking but I don't see any sign that he quit dancing early to focus on baking.)

 

Steve's talking heads slanted towards "I gave up performing for baking."  However, just like his "I made some of the La's bigger because some people sing louder," I think it was a story he made up to fit the situation.  Better to say that he gave up dancing for baking than to say that his dancing career was lackluster or that he was too old to dance (although a "My knees gave out so I had to switch careers" would be a FN worthy story).  As far as sob stories go, Steve's wasn't very convincing.  

[Crucial]

Well look at that Maeve lets the judges know of her hardship in the last episode and last challenge they judge. - wow.  She wins!  I'm sorry but her sob story put her over the top and this network just loves sob stories.  I don't buy it for a minute and call me whatever but she got this win for her story.  She was annoying from the start and finished that way too. And that whole pretend "fainting sealed it." Please she should be teaching drama.  Any and all sob stories should be BARRED from all competition.  It's a competition for cooking, stop with the whole I lost.... or  I have.... etc.  I guess if Chopped is known for the sob story winners this show should be too. 

 

I'm rude but her sob story handed her the win.  She technically should have been gone last episode with her glob in her pie Duff mentioned - that gross gloop.  Cooking error should send you home - according to Duff but magically the better tasting dish goes. 

Edited December 23, 2015 by Crucial

[grisgris]

I didn't really care if Maeve or Adalberto won. I wish these baking competitions were more like "Chopped," in that the judges have to weigh ALL attempts to arrive at a winner. I realize that there are too many contestants and that the competition is spread over too many weeks to do so, but still...

 

Since the final decision was based on last night's episode alone, Maeve clearly stood out. I think the judges (particularly Nancy) were looking more at appearance and taste was secondary. Both Steve's and Adalberto's cookie trees had serious flaws. In Steve's case, his strategy to wow the judges with his mastery of various decorating techniques backfired, with the result being a mishmash of random bland styles that failed to wow. I thought the "fa la la" cake was plain (not minimalist and elegant) and didn't look like the work of a professionally-trained pastry chef. Adalberto had the opposite problem with his misread of his sugar temperature, which resulted in ugly cookies. (However, I have to give him credit for covering his mistakes fairly well.) His Christmas cake tree was festive, but I thought he had way too much going on with the decorations and the macarons didn't look like polar bears.

 

Maeve's cookie tree was gorgeous and I think what won the judges over was her tinting the royal icing different shades of blue. I didn't think her final product cake was all that much, but she won because she had a good read on what the judges were looking for from a visual perspective.

 

Personality-wise, I just thought that Maeve was just very intense and driven. I liked her better than overly cutesy/perky/fakey Erin from last season. Whether Maeve was trying to pull a Melissa d'Arabian with the last-minute sob story remains to be seen, but I do think she had the chops to win the grand prize.

 

At least we have no worries of Maeve getting her own FN show. She doesn't have the warm fuzzy personality to attract viewers.

 

Overall, a good season. There was some real talent among the contestants. I hope to see Adalberto around again, but more than likely, it'll be Steve making the competition rounds. Bah, humbug!

[ABay]

The constant refrain of "$50,000!!!" and threat of being cut from the show like you would literally be cut annoyed the hell out of me. One of the many, many things that would make FN shows better would be eliminating cash prizes. Give the winner a trophy and be done with it. They got to be on the TeeVee and for most of them that's the point anyway, it seems. And anothr thing--it's a competition, that's dama enough. you don't have ot make it sound like life or death every 5 minutes, Bobby.

[barbedwire]

I was hoping it was one of the guys, not Maeve.  Oh well.  Enjoyed the show anyway.

[SunnyBeBe]

Well Alberto was robbed, IMO.  His tree cake was awesome and clearly should have taken the win, IMO.  Maeve's was as glorified wedding cake with a small little sleigh on top.  And weren't those trees actual rosemary? You can't eat raw rosemary that easily and who would with a cake? That should have eliminated her.  I didn't find her cake festive at all.  Just about anyone could make a cake like that.  

 

Alberto is far more talented than any of the other contestants IMO, not just with that leg of the contest, but throughout.  I take it the producers picked the winner for their own reasons, which apparently was not based on the contest.  I am embarrassed for the judges. I do not believe they actually picked her to win.  I call foul.

 

Oh well.....at least I won't waste my time on this show next season.  

Edited December 26, 2015 by SunnyBeBe

[LuciaMia]

Quote

The stuffed cakes looked awful to me, what is the point of having giant candy in the middle of your cake?

This was perplexing to me as well. I don't think a 'stuffed cake' exists outside of a children's party.