S10.E09: The Reason You're Here

[Drogo]

In order to demonstrate how well they have learned cooking skills and techniques over the last nine weeks, the final four recruits step into their mentor's shoes and direct Anne Burrell and Rachael Ray to make a dish.

Then, for the main dish challenge, Anne and Rachael bring in VIP guests that hit very close to home and who will be key in deciding which recruits move onto the finale for the chance of winning $25,000.

[LexieLily]

I would have chosen Laura over Ann if I were Rachel.

And today was just another example of how I would not handle it well to have Anne as my coach. I was totally on Mandy's side on that one in the main dish challenge stand-behind-them-and-offer-"advice" part.

[mlp]

Wow.  I'm kinda stunned.  I was so sure that Laura would be a finalist that I was floored by Rachael's choice.  Based upon what we saw all season, I can't think of a single reason why she would have more faith in hyper, disorganized Ann.  

I wasn't surprised that Anne chose Daniel because I don't know how Mandy made it as far as she did.  Anne usually favors "girl chefs" and she hasn't seemed to even like Daniel all season so I give her credit for being objective.

That whole bit with Rachael talking to herself and not listening to the contestants describing the dish she was making seemed totally phony as did the little "spat" about Rachael being too helpful when she shouldn't be.  Phony or not, Anne was right.  

[Testing]

Yeah, Laura should have been picked. In the previous ep, I thought both Brittany and Adam should have stayed instead of Mandy and Ann. 

Maybe Rachael has a soft spot for Ann or assumes Laura would do fine on her own without being a winner.

Edited February 27, 2017 by Testing

[spiderpig]

I thought this episode was one of the biggest clusterthingies I'd seen in ages, had I not just watched the Oscarcast live (WCIA delayed on DVR).

The stuff they added post-production made the show into a bigger farce than it already was.

[Rammchick]

Quote

Maybe Rachael has a soft spot for Ann or assumes Laura would do fine on her own without being a winner.

Or perhaps thinks Ann could benefit more from $25,000 than Laura.  Whatever the reason, I agree that it was an odd choice.  I also thought for sure that Ann's pasta would have gotten more discussion considering the TH about it not being too well cooked and that she liked it that way.  There's al dente and then there's not cooked enough.

[meowmommy]

Why did they act so surprised to see their loved ones?  WCIA does this every season at this point.  Oh, wait, emphasis on the word act.

[mlp]

6 hours ago, spiderpig said:

The stuff they added post-production made the show into a bigger farce than it already was.

What did they add post-production and how could you tell?  I'm not disputing your observation.  I'm just not good at spotting stuff like that.

[Amarsir]

7 hours ago, spiderpig said:

The stuff they added post-production made the show into a bigger farce than it already was.

It's completely over the top, but every time it happens I figure that at least the editors found a way to have fun.

59 minutes ago, mlp said:

What did they add post-production and how could you tell?  I'm not disputing your observation.  I'm just not good at spotting stuff like that.

You probably did spot it, but are just looking for something more subtle. I'm pretty sure SpiderPig is talking about the video games transition, "The Bickersons" splash, the Dragnet background sting for "solving a mystery", the graphics not just saying 'wrong" but "incorrecto" for the cilantro guess, record scratch sound effects, channel change effects, etc.  They were on serious overload during the first part, and after we got a break for a bit they put flames behind Daniel after his final talking head.

As I say I don't mind them having fun, but it certainly ensures there's no seriousness creeping in to the show in any way.

[spiderpig]

3 hours ago, Amarsir said:

It's completely over the top, but every time it happens I figure that at least the editors found a way to have fun.

You probably did spot it, but are just looking for something more subtle. I'm pretty sure SpiderPig is talking about the video games transition, "The Bickersons" splash, the Dragnet background sting for "solving a mystery", the graphics not just saying 'wrong" but "incorrecto" for the cilantro guess, record scratch sound effects, channel change effects, etc.  They were on serious overload during the first part, and after we got a break for a bit they put flames behind Daniel after his final talking head.

As I say I don't mind them having fun, but it certainly ensures there's no seriousness creeping in to the show in any way.

Thanks, amarsir - you answered perfectly before I saw mlp's post.  Even though I doubt any of us take the show seriously anyway, the added gags you cited (have they ever done that before?) made me scratch my head.  mlp (you're one of my favorites) - I wasn't very clear in my original comment.  It's just that we all know this show is designed to make the competitors look like morons, so I wondered why the producers needed to add the slapstick effects.  Lipstick on a pig.  Actually, though, I gave up lipstick years ago.  Too much trouble. :-) 

[mlp]

Thank you both!   Of course I saw all that goofy stuff but I thought you meant something that affected outcome like................... I don't know, maybe Rachael's mumbling to herself didn't really happen during the cooking for example.    The episode sort of looked like someone in production has been watching too much vintage Batman.

[Brookside]

Laura was robbed, and worse, we have to watch more of Ann's stupid antics and obnoxious talking heads.  Speaking of which, I'm so grateful Mandy has finally gone. (Did anyone else hear Anne call her Bambi at the beginning or was it just me?)

This is Daniel's to take, so obviously Ann will win.

Rachael's teaching style has always bothered me.  How are you going to learn if someone else always takes over?  I far prefer Anne - she may yell but it seems it's because her recruits are not listening and she wants to teach them, not do it for them.

[spiderpig]

I can't figure out why Rachael protects Ann either.  Other contestants, despite the buffoonery, showed a little spark of something once in awhile.  Ann always has a duh-deer-in-the-headlights expression and, as a self-admitted bad cook, doesn't seem the least enthused about actually learning anything.

Daniel may not have the most appealing personality, but he seems to try, and to listen to criticism.

[Testing]

22 minutes ago, spiderpig said:

Daniel may not have the most appealing personality, but he seems to try, and to listen to criticism.

Agreed. He does have potential and probably that's why Anne was often harsh on him than most of the red team.

Maybe Rachael's choice was out of pity for Ann. She mentioned Laura has been consistent and Ann was not (but said she came along way from using scissors to cut celery??). Ann was definitely lazy with the pasta. I still can't get over how she forgot to devein the shrimp in other ep when they were all taught how to do it early in the season. Even Jake, the pretty boy who got kicked off, was meticulous about it. I also thought he was funny too. 

I'm sure Laura got a lot exposure being on TV, so maybe that'll help with her career lol. 

[Snarklepuss]

I knew I couldn't be alone in wondering why Rachael chose Ann instead of Laura.  That came as a shock to me!  I had Laura picked for the finale from about week 3 or so.  I was right about Daniel, though.  I knew all along that Ann was faking being "hard" on him because he was either her favorite or a ringer or both.

Of course I always think of more surreptitious motives for stuff like this - Maybe Rachael wanted to give the win to Anne this season or it was already decided in advance for him to win by TPTB and Laura would have been too much real competition.  When Rachael said "Gotta go with my Gut" I thought to myself that it should have been, "Gotta go with who the producers want to win".

[grisgris]

I just got caught up before tonight's finale and even thought I'd seen promos telegraphing Ann and Daniel in the face-off, I wanted to see how they got there.

I had those two pegged early on, but as the series progressed, I thought that Laura was clearly the best one remaining on Rachael's team. That decision has me scratching my head.

I don't like Daniel at all. I thought he was a chauvinist to the nth degree not only in the way he treated Mandy but as well as the comments he made about his girlfriend. Frankly, if Anne had listened to Mandy's pleas to leave her alone and let her cook, she could very well be in the finale.  She always seemed to produce a good-tasting and nice-looking plate of food. She just had her own way of doing things. I guess that it's Chef Anne's way or the highway ...

I don't necessarily agree that Anne leans towards female chefs. This is the third time she's had a male represent her in the finale.

I guess I'm rooting for team Rachael.

[biakbiak]

On 3/5/2017 at 6:05 PM, grisgris said:

don't necessarily agree that Anne leans towards female chefs. This is the third time she's had a male represent her in the finale.

7-3 in favor of female chefs would seem to illustrate the leans to point, leans towards doesn't equal only chooses but 7-3 is a fairly significant divide.*

*I didn't look it up so I am assuming grisgris is accurate about this being her third male chef in the finale.

[Amarsir]

Actually a quick run by Wikipedia suggests that Anne's finalist is female 6-4, but the collective opposing captains have a woman finalist 7-3. For whatever that's worth.