S14.E13: Trial By Fire

[CrinkleCutCat]

I'm hoping Shirley wins. I love her stories re her food and her cultural identity being expressed through her food. Brooke is too smug for me.

Why is Padma (and anyone else non-black I presume?), being offensive by wearing cornrows? I'm not asking this provocatively, I'm interested to know. I'm an Australian so I may be blissfully ignorant here....

I'm my opinion we are a global community that for centuries has had people of different races migrate around the world with foods/fashions/languages/traditions/trends merging, blending, and influencing. 

Edited March 1, 2017 by CrinkleCutCat

[Spaceman Spiff]

On ‎2‎/‎24‎/‎2017 at 9:38 AM, wings707 said:

  And you can serve them dumplings just so many times.  

So much this. The constant making of dumplings by Shirley. If she makes one in the finale I think I will scream.

Sad too see Sheldon go, but he butchered that fish. It should be an awesome show tomorrow  next week. Rooting for Brooke.

Edited February 26, 2017 by Spaceman Spiff

[cooksdelight]

8 hours ago, DarkRaichu said:

Of course the camera was focusing on Brooke in bathing suit swimming in the ocean

She's sort of bowlegged, none of that did her any favors.

6 hours ago, Toothbrush said:

Husband: "Who does she think she is, Richard Blais"?

I hereby dub her Brooke Blais!

[dleighg]

26 minutes ago, Spaceman Spiff said:

It should be an awesome show tomorrow.

tomorrow?

[DarkRaichu]

2 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

She's sort of bowlegged, none of that did her any favors.

Is she? I was too busy trying to figure out her tattoos

[Texasmom1970]

On 2/23/2017 at 9:04 PM, KenyaJ said:

All three chefs are deserving. But now that Shelden's gone, I'm all out of desire to watch the finale.

Me too, good luck to them, but I am out also.

[dleighg]

18 minutes ago, DarkRaichu said:

Is she? I was too busy trying to figure out her tattoos

she sure has a lot of them doesn't she? I hadn't realized since most are usually covered.

[limecoke]

Oh, I do not mean to criticize Tom's judgment.  My main point was the fact that screwing up the protein, especially fish, is a death knell.  Sheldon's mistake and he paid for it.  I stand by my comments on LCK.  It's a fairness thing.

Quote

Why is Padma (and anyone else non-black I presume?), being offensive by wearing cornrows? I'm not asking this provocatively, I'm interested to know. I'm an Australian so I may be blissfully ignorant here....

I'm an American and I'm stumped too.  Parma looked gorgeous with cornrows so I don't see the problem.   I don't remember any comments back when Bo Derek pulled it off.  

Edited February 25, 2017 by limecoke

[Blonde Gator]

6 hours ago, CrinkleCutCat said:

I'm hoping Shirley wins. I love her stories re her food and her cultural identity being expressed through her food. Brooke is too smug for me.

Why is Padma (and anyone else non-black I presume?), being offensive by wearing cornrows? I'm not asking this provocatively, I'm interested to know. I'm an Australian so I may be blissfully ignorant here....

I'm my opinion we are a global community that for centuries has had people of different races migrate around the world with foods/fashions/languages/traditions/trends merging, blending, and influencing. 

It's ("offensiveness of cornrows") now called "cultural appropriation" here in the US and is some sort of virtue signalling for so-called white privilege, whereby everything is someone else's fault because people's feelings get hurt or they become offended at words, clothing, hairstyle, food, etc..   Or something like that.  For example, having a taco party can now be considered cultural appropriation.

[pinguina]

Sharkini, I have always bought and eaten cheese tamales, cheese tamales are delicious!  We have them at Christmas along with red and green chili tamales (with pork and chicken respectively).  My parents would make them every Christmas.  It would be at least two days of kitchen time.  They would make dozens and dozens.  I would give them as Christmas presents to some of my friends.  I wish I could say I make them but sadly I never wanted to learn (just eat them!)  Now I get them from my neighbor and they are great!

I am hoping that Shirley wins - probably because I like her :)

Also, I wish that they would get rid of LCK.  I hate the idea of someone eliminated coming back - even if they deserve to come back.  Why not just have a "save" from one of the judges?  That makes more sense to me.

[ChiefWiggum9-1-2]

The economy of every Caribbean island is based on tourists getting cornrows at the beach. Millions of sombreros are sold to tourists throughout Mexico. Are they supposed to abandon them at the border?

[Guest]

On 2/23/2017 at 9:40 PM, wings707 said:

  I did t want to taste anything!  That never happens. 

I agree, and not everyone likes food that hot. I've come to the conclusion that heat is often used in place of flavor. 

 

On 2/23/2017 at 10:50 PM, NowVoyager said:

Aww!!! Say it isn't so! Not my Sheldon....

In fairness, that fish was TORE UP! I guess they didn't have onions, garlic, limes or oil?

Humans have used oil/fat since cave men. Not having it there was ridiculous. 

[Jamie Satyr]

9 hours ago, Swim mom said:

I agree, and not everyone likes food that hot. I've come to the conclusion that heat is often used in place of flavor. 

Never been into hot or spicy food! If the Chinese has a little heat I'm ok, but never have I gone anywhere near HOT PEPPERS! My idea of peppers is stuffin' a "green bell!" My brother and sister are another story going with HOT SAUCE, tabasco, and other spicy condiments! I love the plain food and get the flavor without going there; black pepper is about as much as I do at the table! Like you said, if you need to go spicy, maybe you're covering up how bad it is! lol! ;-)

Edited February 26, 2017 by Jamie Satyr
Spelling

[Guest]

On 2/24/2017 at 0:29 AM, tiredofwork said:

I hope the issue of hideousness on the cornrows was a factor specific to the way they looked on Padma?  While I don't expect everyone to like the style of cornrows they are a cultural specific style.  I was taken aback seeing her pop up suddenly with the style with no good reason and am offended by the embarrassing misappropriation. 

Doing this to tourists' hair is how many Mexican women put food on the table.

 

4 hours ago, Jamie Satyr said:

Never been into hot or spicy food! If the Chinese has a little heat I'm ok, but never have I gone anywhere near HOT PEPPERS! My idea of peppers is stuffin' a "green bell!" My brother and sister are another story going with HOT SAUCE, tobacco, and other spicy condiments! I love the plain food and get the flavor without going there; black pepper is about as much as I do at the table! Like you said, if you need to go spicy, maybe you're covering up how bad it is! lol! ;-)

Nothing like trying to eat a meal where someone has snot running out of their nose from the heat.

[Canada]

Oh, what a surprise, Brooke won something again.  Just one more step on the road to a Brooke season win, which most of us have seen from the start. 

I'm not bothering to watch Brooke win next week.  This really has been the worst season of Top Chef that I've seen.  I've been dumping a lot of shows lately, because of how boring and predictable they've become, and Top Chef is likely next on my dump list.

[Jamie Satyr]

40 minutes ago, Canada said:

Oh, what a surprise, Brooke won something again.  Just one more step on the road to a Brooke season win, which most of us have seen from the start. 

I'm not bothering to watch Brooke win next week.  This really has been the worst season of Top Chef that I've seen.  I've been dumping a lot of shows lately, because of how boring and predictable they've become, and Top Chef is likely next on my dump list.

Well the producers have cut the preview to make it seem like the result might be in question! Supposedly Brooke was to order her protein through the hotel and she blew it forgetting the "pork belly!" Shirley has extra and is her backup plan, but hinted at not giving it to Brooke to give her a better chance of winning season! I have this feeling they're trying to make drama to keep things in doubt! ;-)

[chiaros]

45 minutes ago, Canada said:

Oh, what a surprise, Brooke won something again.  Just one more step on the road to a Brooke season win, which most of us have seen from the start. 

I'm not bothering to watch Brooke win next week.  This really has been the worst season of Top Chef that I've seen.  I've been dumping a lot of shows lately, because of how boring and predictable they've become, and Top Chef is likely next on my dump list.

It doesn't really matter if Shirley wins instead, IMO.  Neither of them excite me at all as a "Top Chef" and either of them will have an asterisk besides their name. And, yes, Top Chef the Reality TeeVee show has jumped the shark in various ways.

[Canada]

9 minutes ago, Jamie Satyr said:

Well the producers have cut the preview to make it seem like the result might be in question! Supposedly Brooke was to order her protein through the hotel and she blew it forgetting the "pork belly!" Shirley has extra and is her backup plan, but hinted at not giving it to Brooke to give her a better chance of winning season! I have this feeling they're trying to make drama to keep things in doubt! ;-)

Not a chance!  Shirley will share and Brooke will win.  If it doesn't happen, I'll eat my laptop!

[lololol]

3 hours ago, Canada said:

Oh, what a surprise, Brooke won something again.  Just one more step on the road to a Brooke season win, which most of us have seen from the start. 

I'm not bothering to watch Brooke win next week.  This really has been the worst season of Top Chef that I've seen.  I've been dumping a lot of shows lately, because of how boring and predictable they've become, and Top Chef is likely next on my dump list.

Brooke doesn't deserve to win TC. Unfortunately, she probably will. She's not that that talented, but I'm sure Ton Dick-lickio will vote for her. The show is BORING and PREDICTABLE because of Padma, the egotist, and Tom, the d bag.

[JES004]

54 minutes ago, lololol said:

Brooke doesn't deserve to win TC. Unfortunately, she probably will. She's not that that talented, but I'm sure Ton Dick-lickio will vote for her. The show is BORING and PREDICTABLE because of Padma, the egotist, and Tom, the d bag.

The other chefs (who have eaten her food) seem to think she is a force to be reckoned with.  Sheldon's protein wasn't good, and the tamale did it no favors.

[ProudMary]

8 hours ago, Jamie Satyr said:

Never been into hot or spicy food! If the Chinese has a little heat I'm ok, but never have I gone anywhere near HOT PEPPERS! My idea of peppers is stuffin' a "green bell!" My brother and sister are another story going with HOT SAUCE, tobacco, and other spicy condiments! I love the plain food and get the flavor without going there; black pepper is about as much as I do at the table! Like you said, if you need to go spicy, maybe you're covering up how bad it is! lol! ;-)

I think you meant Tabasco?  

6 hours ago, chiaros said:

It doesn't really matter if Shirley wins instead, IMO.  Neither of them excite me at all as a "Top Chef" and either of them will have an asterisk besides their name. And, yes, Top Chef the Reality TeeVee show has jumped the shark in various ways.

Just curious as to why you think Shirley would have an asterisk beside her name.  I can see what you mean for Brooke, as she would have won after coming back through Last Chance Kitchen but I don't quite get why Shirley wouldn't be deserving of the win if she cooks her best in the finale.

[biakbiak]

22 hours ago, Spaceman Spiff said:

 

On 2/24/2017 at 7:38 AM, wings707 said:

  And you can serve them dumplings just so many times.  

So much this. The constant making of dumplings by Shirley. If she makes one in the finale I think I will scream.

 

There are a gazillion kinds of dumplings, just like there a a lot of different  types of pasta. Her masa duumpling appeared to be closer seemed closer to gnocchi than a dumpling.

[cooksdelight]

Does anyone remember that this was a season of newcomers, too? I'd be pissed if I were them, it's turned into a TC All Stars instead.

[MajorWoody]

This episode sucked to watch.

As others have posted, expecting top chefs to cook with a gimmick is a cheap shot. But since that was the challenge, why was the one guy who met the challenge with creativity sent packing for one aspect of his dish being bad?

Brooke, as is often the case when she has to improvise, was unable to, and produced her usual mishmash of ingredients with no cohesion or creativity. So, yes, her fish was good, but the rest of the dish was not. This isn't the first time she has panicked under the pressure to deviate from the norm, while Sheldon and Shirley adapted calmly. 

Based on what I have watched this season, Sheldon has been the best chef all season long, with Shirley a close second. Apparently based on the fan vote, most viewers feel the same. I just don't get the judges gushing over Brooke, as she has been in the bottom almost as much as she has been in the top three. She has made the same errors several times, with too many ingredients and bland food. 

Furthermore, at the Judges Table, both the Mexican guy and Padma were shown saying Sheldon's dish was better overall. Graham Elliott was shown saying the fish was a major problem, so Brooke was better. That left TC, who at best would go for Brooke and produce a tie, although he did praise Sheldons overall dish without saying on camera who won that round. This is where the conspiracy thoughts about the producers rigging it come into play, and are hard to discount. 

Regarding the conversation on Padma's cornrows, I never even noticed them. My eyes never made it up that far.

I think the conclusion to this season was predetermined, and no matter what Shirley does next week, it will be in vain. I am very disappointed in this entire season, starting from week 1 when Tesar was allowed to proceed, to this episode, where the fair haired child was allowed to skate. 

Very disappointing.

[Spaceman Spiff]

23 hours ago, dleighg said:

tomorrow?

Corrected, sorry was low on caffeine :)

[Snarklepuss]

I don't understand why Brooke wouldn't deserve to win just because she came back from LCK.  Nobody said that about Kristin.

I can come up with just as many valid reasons to claim that either Shirley or Sheldon wouldn't deserve to win.  The process of getting there isn't as important as the results.  Sometimes the people that seem the most scattered come out with the best dishes.  It's a matter of style, not talent.

I don't see Brooke as smug or full of herself or whatever and even if she were why is that a reason not to respect her talent?  I never see that level of disrespect for Shirley and she's certainly got her quirks.  Brooke is no villain or worthy of the "asshole list", IMO.  I sometimes think there's bias against Brooke for being an intelligent, confident, talented woman whose food just happens to be preferred by the judges.  She is being judged by these judges not anyone else so that's all that matters here, IMO.  Sorry if that's an unpopular opinion.  Perhaps that's just my perception but I felt it needed to be expressed.

[dewelar]

48 minutes ago, Snarklepuss said:

I don't understand why Brooke wouldn't deserve to win just because she came back from LCK.  Nobody said that about Kristin.

Yes. Yes we did.

[DarkRaichu]

1 hour ago, Snarklepuss said:

I don't understand why Brooke wouldn't deserve to win just because she came back from LCK.  Nobody said that about Kristin.

Actually, the general responses in the old TWOP forum back during Kristin win was very similar to what has been going on here.  Actually, since Sheldon also finished 3rd then and he was fan favorite then too, this whole thing was like a de ja vu.

ETA:  Come to think of it, it really does not matter if Sheldon win TC or not.  He is 1 likeable guy, his talents & goodness will shine through with or without the TC title.

Edited February 26, 2017 by DarkRaichu

[Nordly Beaumont]

1 hour ago, Snarklepuss said:

I don't understand why Brooke wouldn't deserve to win just because she came back from LCK.

I agree. I know some people don't like LCK. But like it or not, it's a legitimate part of this game. It's not like she cheated, she was sent to  (and came back from) LCK by the rules of the game. I don't think anyone who comes back to win it all gets "an asterisk" as if their win was somehow not legit.

 

2 hours ago, MajorWoody said:

Sheldon has been the best chef all season long, with Shirley a close second. Apparently based on the fan vote, most viewers feel the same.

But the viewer vote is a popularity contest (since viewers can't taste the food).

[lololol]

1 hour ago, Snarklepuss said:

I don't understand why Brooke wouldn't deserve to win just because she came back from LCK.  Nobody said that about Kristin.

I can come up with just as many valid reasons to claim that either Shirley or Sheldon wouldn't deserve to win.  The process of getting there isn't as important as the results.  Sometimes the people that seem the most scattered come out with the best dishes.  It's a matter of style, not talent.

I don't see Brooke as smug or full of herself or whatever and even if she were why is that a reason not to respect her talent?  I never see that level of disrespect for Shirley and she's certainly got her quirks.  Brooke is no villain or worthy of the "asshole list", IMO.  I sometimes think there's bias against Brooke for being an intelligent, confident, talented woman whose food just happens to be preferred by the judges.  She is being judged by these judges not anyone else so that's all that matters here, IMO.  Sorry if that's an unpopular opinion.  Perhaps that's just my perception but I felt it needed to be expressed.

IMO, Brooke IS smug and full of herself. Her food isn't all that great.

[Blonde Gator]

Brooke has won four quick fires and three EC's, a better record than any other cheftestant this season, so I don't see how her cooking can be deemed "not that great".  I think she just may need a little extra time to edit herself.  When she's not sure WHAT she's going to serve at the end, she generally has an idea, and executes the elements of it very well, but sometimes she can't quite edit out  "too much stuff" to make it coherent.  The only real failure was her yogurt dish, where she couldn't get the thing to break like a molten chocolate cake., so it was a soupy mess.

I don't mind LCK, anyone can have a "bad day", so it's nice that the eliminated chef has the opportunity to get back in the big game.  But it takes a super fast learner (someone who is good at quick challenges) and a hard core focus to win out in LCK in the long haul.  Those who are late to LCK (like Brooke) have played the bigger game for longer, so I see no difference between Kristen's return after 5 cookoffs, or Brooke's after only 2 in LCK. 

This season will be only the 2nd where I was happy w/all three finalists.  Can't wait until Thursday night.

[DarkRaichu]

19 hours ago, Swim mom said:

I agree, and not everyone likes food that hot. I've come to the conclusion that heat is often used in place of flavor. 

Speaking of hot food, didn't Shirley mention she ate a habanero in the morning to get her adrenaline pumping and wake her up?  Much respect to her :D

I'd eat a raw Thai chili pepper from time to time, but raw habanero is for the serious hot food fanatics only.  

[MajorWoody]

3 hours ago, Snarklepuss said:

I don't understand why Brooke wouldn't deserve to win just because she came back from LCK.  Nobody said that about Kristin.

I think there are huge differences in the two seasons.

When Kristin got bounced, and sent to LCK, it was pretty much accepted that she went because of her teamates failures, not her own. She had been consistently the best chef all season, and even had a great dish in tha episode, but she was the team leader and got blamed for her teamates failure. It was very shocking when she left. Also, if I recall, that might have been the first season to use LCK, and when she did come back, she won based on her exceptional talent.

This season they have been pushing the Brooke redemption story from Week 1, and several posters had guessed early on that this exact scenario would unfold as part of the storyline, apparently very accurately as it turned out. 

Furthermore, when Brooke was chopped, it was due to her her own failure, not someone else's. It was not a shock the week she got cut, especially in comparison to the comments on these boards when Kristin was sent packing.

While I don't consider her a villain, she has shown a propensity for being out of her element when she needs to improvise, and has on several occasions ignored the challenge theme to do her own thing, often with less than stellar results.

[chiaros]

17 minutes ago, MajorWoody said:

When Kristin got bounced, and sent to LCK, it was pretty much accepted that she went because of her teamates failures, not her own. She had been consistently the best chef all season, and even had a great dish in tha episode, but she was the team leader and got blamed for her teamates failure. It was very shocking when she left. Also, if I recall, that might have been the first season to use LCK, and when she did come back, she won based on her exceptional talent.

Incorrect, about the provenance of LCK. Also, Kristen Kish was NOT the best performing person in LCK, even if she got sent there because of that other b**ch.  

See here.

[sourpickles]

20 hours ago, Canada said:

Not a chance!  Shirley will share and Brooke will win.  If it doesn't happen, I'll eat my laptop!

If that turns out to be the case, just make sure you season it properly, first ;)

[Jamie Satyr]

4 minutes ago, sourpickles said:

If that turns out to be the case, just make sure you season it properly, first ;)

I was trying since last night to come up with an appropriate sauce and wine choice! lol! ;-)

[WearyTraveler]

1 hour ago, Jamie Satyr said:

I was trying since last night to come up with an appropriate sauce and wine choice! lol! ;-)

Everyone knows that laptops require a full bodied Cabernet, duh!

[Snewtsie]

To author of the article, Jeff:  You recapped everything so perfectly. Like you, I really respect & admire these 3 chefs, and I actually LIKE them as people. I was heartbroken Sheldon won't go on, because he is the most humble, dearest heart that has ever competed on Top Chef.  I think Brooke should have been eliminated for not editing her ingredients better. I mean, they know Sheldon can cook fish! Anyway, I will read the comments now, which I know will be both insightful and entertaining, but thanks for writing a heartfelt recap. You nailed the sadness I feel that Sheldon is now out of the running.

[seacliffsal]

Watching this episode really led me to consider the set-up of the entire season.  Not only were half of the cheftestants new to the show, the returning 'all-star' cheftestants were able to watch the newbees compete in that very first episode.  That allowed them to find weaknesses and strengths of the newbees and to consider how they interacted with each other, etc.  I firmly believe that the reason half of the cheftestants were new was to ensure that most of the 'veterans' would be able to advance as knowing how the show works from personal experience is a huge advantage over those figuring it out for the first time.

So, essentially, to get to the finale only about half of the cheftestants were true competition.  It was amazing that Jim was among the top vote recipients for the popularity contest as long as he was as he was eliminated fairly early in the competition.  I think the whole season was designed to specifically allow a returning chef to win.

Kudos to the final three.  I do wish Sheldon was going to be in the finale, but he did make a huge mistake.  However, I do not see it as the final three were truly up against 13 (?) valid competitors as the new cheftestants were clearly at a huge disadvantage from day one.

[cooksdelight]

18 minutes ago, seacliffsal said:

I do not see it as the final three were truly up against 13 (?) valid competitors as the new cheftestants were clearly at a huge disadvantage from day one

I sooooooo agree. That's why I compared it to an All Stars season. 

[Chyromaniac]

Look folks, I don't mean to tell anyone how to watch this show - but we do all realize that every season of Top Chef is edited post-competition (including LCK), and that the narratives for the contestants are written to fit the results, right?

In this case, they knew that Brooke would come back from LCK and that this week she makes it to the finale.  So of course they've seeded her redemption story throughout the season.  If she had flamed out in episode 4, we might have been hearing about Silva or Casey's dramatic comeback instead.  This week specifically, they talked about her being on a roll, and force to reckon with post-LCK.  Well that's because she won 3 of the 4 challenges thus far in Mexico - how else are they supposed to characterize her performance?

That's just what these narratives are - devices needed to give structure and context to the episodes.  That doesn't mean that the challenges are fixed, or that the judges play favorites.  It's just that the producers tend to only show us the footage, comments, and critiques that advance the stories they need to tell for the season to make sense.

58 minutes ago, seacliffsal said:

 I think the whole season was designed to specifically allow a returning chef to win.

I don't think the producers care one bit who actually wins.  It's not like they get to wrap them up in some exclusive cheffing contract, like they do on the singing shows - maybe they get someone to make cocktails in next season's Patron commercials.  Otherwise, the only other benefit the show gets from their winners is just the prestige of launching new careers, which they can use as PR to recruit more rising culinary stars for the show.

If anything, I'd wager that they wanted a bunch of all stars on because we already know who they are, and because the producers know they'll be good at the talking-head bits.  Is it fair to the newbies?  Not really - but think of the experience they'll have when they get to come back...  FWIW, I think Jim, Silva, Emily, and Jamie are prime candidates for  future returnee status.

[Snarklepuss]

The assumptions I'm seeing are this: 

Sheldon is supposedly a sweetheart.  Therefore his food is the best and he is the most deserving of the win.  Brooke is supposedly smug and full of herself (something I personally don't see and think is a very subjective, superficial judgment at best) so therefore her food isn't all that great and therefore she doesn't deserve to come back from LCK or win.  This is the distinct impression I'm getting overall.

This show isn't a popularity contest despite having a "fan favorite".  And I think it's a good thing it isn't either.  I've seen Padma look upset having to send people home many times.  I think it's unfair to judge these chefs based on how nice they appear to be.  Appearances are deceiving anyway in many cases, IMHO.  This is to me the least slanted or "fixed" cooking competition on TV.  Last week I said the editing is done after the fact so that may be why it's looking like the season has been slanted in favor of Brooke.  Or perhaps it just looks that way to those who don't like her.  I was actually not rooting for her in the beginning and truth be told I'd be just as happy with a Shirley win or any number of chefs who have now gone home.  So it's not like I'm that pro-Brooke at all, I'm just against being unfair towards her.

And I was on TWOP in Kristin's season and I don't remember the objections being anywhere near as numerous or I daresay mean spirited towards Kristin as this season towards Brooke.  Nobody called Kristin stuck up, untalented or whatever.  As a person she seemed to be pretty well liked overall. 

[sATL]

cooking 101 question: why did Sheldon think fish wouldn't stick to a grill?  any grill? its not like he had pam spray. open flame grill has a way of making most food stick to some degree.

I think if he could have found a way to "plate pretty" the fish he could salvage, that would have made a difference.

 

has anyone noticed that this is the cheapest winnings of all of the top chef seasons? one year, elimination winners and some quick-fires were getting cars, large sums of cash, trips , cookware/tools. Hell even a bottle of wine or the guest judge's cookbook, can be a gift.

[lololol]

I don't really like Shirley, but I hope she beats the conceited, overrated Brooke.

[dewelar]

Quote

And I was on TWOP in Kristin's season and I don't remember the objections being anywhere near as numerous or I daresay mean spirited towards Kristin as this season towards Brooke.  Nobody called Kristin stuck up, untalented or whatever.  As a person she seemed to be pretty well liked overall. 

Yes, all true. I didn't mean to imply that the degree of objection was similar -- it wasn't -- just that there was a sizable contingent (myself included, as I was also on TWOP back then) who felt that Kristen's win was undeserved (I was one of the few who was okay with her original elimination, which sparked much more blowback than her win). I don't object to Brooke nearly as much as some folks here, and my opposition her winning is purely due to my opposition to LCK on general principle.

[lololol]

On 2/25/2017 at 4:38 PM, Canada said:

Oh, what a surprise, Brooke won something again.  Just one more step on the road to a Brooke season win, which most of us have seen from the start. 

I'm not bothering to watch Brooke win next week.  This really has been the worst season of Top Chef that I've seen.  I've been dumping a lot of shows lately, because of how boring and predictable they've become, and Top Chef is likely next on my dump list.

I agree - worst season ever. Brooke's food - boring and not all that. I REALLY hope the twit LOSES.

14 hours ago, Snewtsie said:

To author of the article, Jeff:  You recapped everything so perfectly. Like you, I really respect & admire these 3 chefs, and I actually LIKE them as people. I was heartbroken Sheldon won't go on, because he is the most humble, dearest heart that has ever competed on Top Chef.  I think Brooke should have been eliminated for not editing her ingredients better. I mean, they know Sheldon can cook fish! Anyway, I will read the comments now, which I know will be both insightful and entertaining, but thanks for writing a heartfelt recap. You nailed the sadness I feel that Sheldon is now out of the running.

Brooke should have been eliminated. Since she's Tom Dick-lickio's favorite, she gets to stay.

[Snewtsie]

1 hour ago, Snarklepuss said:

The assumptions I'm seeing are this: 

Sheldon is supposedly a sweetheart.  Therefore his food is the best and he is the most deserving of the win.  Brooke is supposedly smug and full of herself (something I personally don't see and think is a very subjective, superficial judgment at best) so therefore her food isn't all that great and therefore she doesn't deserve to come back from LCK or win.  This is the distinct impression I'm getting overall.

Wrong. No one is saying Sheldon should win because he's a sweetheart.  He is a kick-ass chef, that's why he should win. The fact that he's a sweetheart just makes me want it even more for him. 

Shirley is also a powerhouse. I personally think she is 2nd to Sheldon, but only by a hair. I like her spunk, too, and enjoy her commentary. 

Brooke is an enormously talented chef as well, but I find her dishes less exciting, so I put her as third.  I don't think she's smug. I'm sure she's a kind and compassionate person. She just doesn't display the same warmth and humility as Sheldon. Has nothing to do with her talents as a chef.

[Smitty227]

Was there ANYBODY surprised by the outcome?  They telegraphed Sheldon's departure from the very beginning.  All to keep their queen Brooke in the spotlight.

One thing to note:  I know TPTB read this board, so please Padma:  Put a freaking bra on.  You're not as attractive as you think.  I'm a straight male, but if I was eating across from you, I might have puked into your cleavage.  Close it up already.  We know you're proud of scars.  You wear the one on your arm like a badge.  No need to flaunt the other 2 scars on your body (Yea....try and deny it).

[Jamie Satyr]

20 minutes ago, Smitty227 said:

Was there ANYBODY surprised by the outcome?  They telegraphed Sheldon's departure from the very beginning.  All to keep their queen Brooke in the spotlight.

One thing to note:  I know TPTB read this board, so please Padma:  Put a freaking bra on.  You're not as attractive as you think.  I'm a straight male, but if I was eating across from you, I might have puked into your cleavage.  Close it up already.  We know you're proud of scars.  You wear the one on your arm like a badge.  No need to flaunt the other 2 scars on your body (Yea....try and deny it).

I always thought Tom & others have gone overboard raving about her beauty! The male chef-testants were the same drooling in their "talking heads" about her and I just SMH not really understanding! '-)

[Snarklepuss]

What I don't understand about Sheldon is how he thought or assumed that there was cheese inside that tamal.  And I don't think it was a language barrier issue.  He was asking every seller there for "queso" so obviously he knew the right word to use.  All he had to do was point to it and ask, "Queso?" if he was unsure.

9 hours ago, Snewtsie said:

Wrong. No one is saying Sheldon should win because he's a sweetheart.  He is a kick-ass chef, that's why he should win. The fact that he's a sweetheart just makes me want it even more for him.

YMMV, but I doubt there would be that much support for Sheldon if he were not seen as a sweetheart.  If it worked both ways John Tesar would have had more support. On this show I pretty much assume that any one of the final 4 or so deserves to win based on talent, it just comes down to who messes up the most in the judges' eyes in the final challenges as to who goes home.