Special Contestants: All Stars and Firefighters and Lunch Ladies, Oh My!

[Julia]

She has two world championships and three Olympic medals.

 

And exactly how does that qualify her to compete against someone's kid who had two hit albums 25 years ago? The nerve.

[backformore]

I felt that Laila Ali was the best of the group, but I got tired of them asking what would Muhammed Ali say. Everytime they asked, sorry to say this, but I envisioned him sitting in his chair, drooling, and spouting gibberish. It was OK to ask once, but it seemed like they asked her the same thing 4 or 5 times.

The comedian ( who I didn't find the least bit funny this episode or her previous turn) also overdid the Ted as the dad routine. Done once, it might have elicited a chuckle due to the absurdity. After multiple times going back to that well, it was cringeworthy. The only thing funny involving her was her attempt at cooking.

Oh, @majorwoody, I feel like I was right there watching with you! The baby joke was cute once, funny the second time, but then it became obnoxious. Yeah, yeah, we get it - 6 months! Ted's baby! haha!

And I had the same thought about Laila Ali - mention her dad ONCE, then move on. She's not there as someone's daughter, she has her own claim to fame as well. I liked Laila a lot, she seems like she'd be fun to hang out with.

Carnie, on the other hand, drives me crazy. she's one of those people who hasn't figured out that THOUGHTS can just be in your brain. There is no need to voice every single thought, no need to share that stream of consciousness with the world.

Edited September 20, 2014 by backformore

[Fostersmom]

I thought I was the only one who felt the same way. As a former military guy, I had to scratch my head about a cook , who most likely was safely ensconced in a base camp, having PTSD. But even assuming he did, they really overdid the whole angle both times he appeared. He also is not an amateur, as this episode was misrepresented.

And secondly, as a retired cop, I also took exception to passing off the woman who quit the Philly PD to become a cook. Many years ago, it was not that uncommon for someone to quit mid career, but that was mostly due to very low pay. Nowadays, especially in the northeast, salaries for LEO's are pretty good, not to mention the benefits and retirement. Either way, if she did leave solely to be a cook, and not for any other reasons, that makes her a professional cook, not a cop who is dabbling in home cooking, and as such, gave her an unfair advantage over the other amateur contestants. She had no business wearing a Police shirt.

 

I thought the same thing about the military cook, but didn't want to say anything since I have zero military experience. My cousin on the other hand served like 10 or 12 years active duty in the Army, never being deployed anywhere even once, and then finally left to go to school on the GI Bill and his reserves unit promptly got called up to 18 months in Afghanistan. He came back with all sorts of issues. He did something with tanks and the tank directly in front of his was blown up while he was there. Not exactly the same thing as cooking. Although, I guess the cooks would see the same faces day after day, possibly multiple times a day, and when those faces disappear it would be hard on them too. Does anyone remember him from his first go around on the show? Did he seem as fragile the first time as he did in this tournament?

 

As for the cop, I think she was picked for this stint because she quit her job. You know FN ate that up with a spoon when they heard she quit being a cop after winning on their show before and therefore decided she could be a professional chef. 

[Julia]

As for the cop, I think she was picked for this stint because she quit her job. You know FN ate that up with a spoon when they heard she quit being a cop after winning on their show before and therefore decided she could be a professional chef. 

 

If I remember the cop correctly, the narrative about her was less "I am a cop" and more "I was a single mother relying on AFDC and I became a cop." So, less about her service and more about her success story.

[cooksdelight]

Did he seem as fragile the first time as he did in this tournament?

Yes. Same demeanor.

[howmanywords]

To be perfectly honest I think Carnie was so offended by Marc calling her a lunatic because something is really mentally wrong with her. Its easy enough to toss around that word in a joking way but for someone who really does have a psychological issues its a pretty harsh insult that can be taken pretty personally.  If you know anything about Carnie's father and his severe mental issues I wouldnt be shocked if its in her genes.  My experience watching Carnie goes way back to the Wilson Phillip days.  I can remember watching interviews with all 3 of them on MTV back when they were at the height of their popularity and she ALWAYS seemed unbalanced especially compared to how calm the other girls were.  Then when she had her talk show back in the 90's thats when I really thought something was wrong with her. Extremely, extremely over the top and annoying? Beyond! But what struck me was how she would go from laughing hysterically to sobbing over some little thing in a matter of minutes.  She was always very extreme in her reactions to things. Then when she appeared on Rachael vs. Guy I felt like she TRIED to maybe tone things down but by the end it was the same all over again. The last time she was on Chopped before this last appearance she literally looked like she was punched in the gut because she was chopped.  Something is really, really off with her.  Don't even get me started on this charity she's playing for. Just all kinds of WTF. 

[Fostersmom]

She does come across as very manic, severe highs and severe lows in 12 seconds. But now that you mention it, even if she didn't, it was kind of shitty for Marc to call her a lunatic given her father's mental illness. As for her ridiculous charity, the less said the better. 

[Rick Kitchen]

It was bad enough that Vic Vegas and Penny were the two finalists in the "all stars" competition, but it's even worse that she won.  :(

[CPP83]

It was bad enough that Vic Vegas and Penny were the two finalists in the "all stars" competition, but it's even worse that she won.  :(

 

 

 

She didn't really, she just beat the other FN so called "all stars", which imo they were the only four they could coax to come back to compete on the show. She advanced to the finale but she was bounced in the second round, though she outlasted Michael Symon, due to a mistake he made in the first round, which led to her bragging about that until they chopped her next. Marcus, thankfully, won the whole competition.

[rujasu]

She didn't really, she just beat the other FN so called "all stars", which imo they were the only four they could coax to come back to compete on the show. She advanced to the finale but she was bounced in the second round, though she outlasted Michael Symon, due to a mistake he made in the first round, which led to her bragging about that until they chopped her next. Marcus, thankfully, won the whole competition.

 

She was really annoying about that.  Never mind that the judges almost advanced Symon to the next round despite him forgetting to plate an entire basket ingredient.  If he puts that okra on the plate, he moves on, Penny is probably out, and the final is probably Symon vs. Marcus.

 

And yeah, that episode with Penny, Vic Vegas, and the other two toolboxes was one of the worst I've ever seen.  Makes me glad I don't watch Next Food Network Star, though I realize those four were the rejects from that show.

[Rammchick]

I get that Pro Chef Giorgio was being held to higher standards than the"Joes" and was chopped for overcooking the risotto and undercooking the penne. But I'm calling shenanigans at the outcome. All along, this whole competition was set up to see if amateurs (debatable in this case) could beat the pro. So guess what? She did. And did she win because they decided that she deserved it more? That doesn't seem right to me.

To Giorgio's credit, he was very gracious in defeat.

Edited September 24, 2014 by Rammchick

[GaT]

Yeah, I'm not buying Chef Giorgio losing to Diana either. I think her sob story got her the win. I don't want to seem uncaring, but I was so happy when Keith got eliminated first because I am really over hearing about his dead wife. 

[Tyrone Biggums]

Considering the way the editing dolphins flogged away at the "joes vs. pro" thing throughout the ENTIRE EPISODE, it couldn't possibly have been any more fucking obvious that whichever schmo made it to the final against Giorgio was winning.

 

She could have served them a crap parfait and she was still taking home the win.

 

Then when she mentioned how her car had been repoed before, I knew the fix was in.

 

The final nail in the coffin was that Buick Regal commercial at the very end.

 

Just a vomit-inducing pile of steamy crap.

[candall]

Reading the comments while the Graaaand Finaaaaaale plays in the background.

 

So far, the part I like best was saving the cricket.

[cooksdelight]

The pro chef left out a basket ingredient, didn't he? Or one was non-existant, I can't remember. That's a big black X against you in the final round. They all seemed to like Diana's food a lot, so I am not thinking there's some sort of consipiracy just yet.

[mlp]

I was almost angry at the finish.  It seemed very clear that Giorgio wasn't going to win no matter what he did.  I noticed that Scott Conant commented on his pasta dish first and said nothing about the pasta being undercooked.  Scott usually jumps on the slightest error with pasta so, when Geoffrey began criticizing it, I wondered if his response was scripted.  What really made me mad though was seeing Diana with POLICE on her shirt when she is no longer a police officer.  That wasn't right at all.

 

 

 

The pro chef left out a basket ingredient, didn't he?

 

Not last night.  He did that in his previous competition and mentioned it last night.

[Totale]

Aside from the artfully placed buttons on Laila's shirt this whole thing was a snoozefest.  Are we done with multi-week tournaments, show?  Pretty Please?

[cooksdelight]

This show seems to be running out of professional chefs who want to pay their own way to NYC to compete.

[candall]

As an Alex fan, I'm tickled she's familiar with what kind of whiskey you knock back when your boyfriend dumps you.

 

Maybe the joe did outcook the pro, but since that's the only ending that wouldn't have been anticlimactic, the reality tv record book is always going to have a "questionable" asterisk.

 

"Asterisk vs. Anticlimax" is an ill-conceived championship.  Do better, Chopped.

 

 

[Lukeysboat]

Diana shouldn't have been in this competition representing the heroes. She wore her police shirt yet we learned that she quit her job on the police force. Between that and some of her comments (including her joking comments about firefighters from the previous episode) I just don't care for her.

[cooksdelight]

I bet she was told to wear that shirt by production. Something tells me they hoped that each person wearing the shirt of where they came from would help with their sob stories.

[mlp]

Diana was a member of a police department when she was first on a Chopped "heroes" episode so the shirt was OK then.  After that, she quit the police.  I'm sure the producers did tell her to wear the shirt but, it seems to me, someone with a sense of personal ethics would have refused.  I'm still ticked today. 

[NikSac]

Diana shouldn't have been in this competition representing the heroes. She wore her police shirt yet we learned that she quit her job on the police force. Between that and some of her comments (including her joking comments about firefighters from the previous episode) I just don't care for her.

 

Am I the only one that thought this outfit was because her boobs bounced so well in the shirt?  I'm a straight female so I'm not saying this as someone attracted to her.  My husband even happened to walk by and said "woah, Baywatch."

 

Her food seemed good but I had a hard time believing she won it, other than her story. I knew there was no way the "pro" was going to win by the way they edited the show. I was secretly hoping for Laila... hopefully she'll be back.

[Bastet]

Having seen numerous people wear t-shirts emblazoned with the logo of organizations of which they never were a member, let alone organizations to which they used to belong, I didn't give a moment's thought to the "Police" shirt.

 

I only saw bits and bieces, so it's hard to weigh in, but my viewing snippets added up to the final two we saw. 

[CaptainCranky]

I'm a relative newcomer to the FN so my observations come without a lot of FN watching experience.

I endured about 4 episodes of the Food Network Star before I got disgusted with the format and the whole contrived show as a whole.

So I started watching Chopped and I find the competition something I enjoy. I've recorded all reruns from previous seasons and getting caught up on the whole premise for Chopped.

As few observations from a newbie:

1. As mentioned in several critiques here on this forum, I'm not fond of the multi episode specialty shows. They seem more contrived than the normal Chopped shows.

2. Not sure yet what to make of the collection of judges but their opinions to me as a neophyte of the show don't seem consistent.

3. I'm not a foodie so the odd basket ingredients are lost on me as well as all the "hip" names for various preparations of the food. I guess to a foodie it all makes sense.

4. I don't like the sob stories.

Last but not least compared to a lot of the other shows on FN I've tried to watch Chopped even with its flaws is the one thing I will watch on a consistent basis.

[cattykit]

Diana was a member of a police department when she was first on a Chopped "heroes" episode so the shirt was OK then.  After that, she quit the police.  I'm sure the producers did tell her to wear the shirt but, it seems to me, someone with a sense of personal ethics would have refused.  I'm still ticked today. 

She was still there as a representative of police departments.  It's not like she came in a Philly cop uniform.  I don't think it's any different than Sgt PTSD wearing an ARMY shirt when he's no longer in the army.  If they'd just go ahead and give all their participants on each episode a freaking Chopped chef jacket already, there'd be no issue. 

 

Can we please pretty please go back to regular Chopped?  No very special episodes, no special ingredient, no themes, nothing but four folks trying to win some dinero.

[theatremouse]

As soon as Leila was chopped, I knew I had no one to root for. I was already irked at Giorgio for his undercooked pasta, and I was irked with no-longer-police-officer woman before this episode even started. She wants to win the car because he car got repo-ed because she couldn't make the payments. OK, have fun paying taxes from your prize money on the winnings and the car, and see how much is left. I can't stand when contestants have ridiculous stories about all they'll do with the money that really won't actually go as far as they're yammering on about. No thank you.

 

I loved that Alex was immediately mortified about the thing Diana put her tarts into. Even if they had enough time to cook through and not fall apart, seems to me a no-brainer: bake in the thing you want to serve it in. Then no chance of destroying it when you take it out. Should be strategy 101 of chopped desserts that are baked.

[Drogo]

 

I don't think it's any different than Sgt PTSD wearing an ARMY shirt when he's no longer in the army.

 

Welllllllllll.... he was medically discharged from the Army, whereas she quit the police force.  He had 12 or 13 years in so I'm sure he would have liked to finish out his 20.  

 

 

I was irked with no-longer-police-officer woman before this episode even started. She wants to win the car because he car got repo-ed because she couldn't make the payments. OK, have fun paying taxes from your prize money on the winnings and the car, and see how much is left.

 

I 'm with you, theatremouse.  Something about Diana really annoyed me.  The whole "I could really use the car because mine was repo'ed" and the judges' "you know she was homeless for a while before going into the police academy" and the "I'm a single mom of a couple kids" combined.  

 

Something about that story doesn't add up.  If I've got kids and I'm homeless, I really can't afford to go through a 20-30 week academy to *possibly* become a police officer. Many high-traffic academies are unpaid unless you are sent there already hired, or if you're hired mid-training.  Don't even get me started on residency requirements for applying.

 

In conclusion.. she left her job as a police officer making (most likely) six figures with OT, and pursued her dreams of becoming a personal chef- and now she's too broke to make car payments.  Excellent decisions as a single mom of multiple children.  

Edited September 26, 2014 by Drogo

[cooksdelight]

Diana probably made around $60,000 per year once she was full time. While in training they make much less than that. And I'm guessing based on average pay for police officers in major cities like Philly or NY, based on what I could find out online. She wasn't a detective, they are the ones who make more money but it still doesn't come close to six figures, I don't believe.

I don't know what her personal situation was, or why she was broke and her car was repossessed. It's none of my business. I hate the way this show makes people bring up that sort of thing in the first place. Because if one story is suspect, it makes every single sob story go under the microscope. I wish they'd leave that out of it and just let people cook their best dishes.

[Bastet]

I am not bothered in the slightest by a former member of a police department wearing a t-shirt that says police.  Had she shown up in uniform, then I'd give her the side eye.  I still wear a jacket emblazoned with the logo of a company I left nearly 20 years ago, t-shirts and sweatshirts bearing the name of my alma maters, etc.  I also wear clothing with insignia from teams on which I have never played.

 

I was quite annoyed by one of the judges (Zakarian?) following up Ted's recounting of Diana's accomplishments and fortitude by saying Laila Ali is also a force to be reckoned with because she's Muhammad Ali's daughter.  She has her own record of accomplishment, jackass.

 

I've still only caught bits and pieces of this, but I did see the judges' recap of the three courses, and from that Diana's win seems perfectly reasonable to me.

 

At any rate, I'm glad it's over and we can return to "normal" episodes.

Edited September 27, 2014 by Bastet

[mlp]

 

I am not bothered in the slightest by a former member of a police department wearing a t-shirt that says police.  Had she shown up in uniform, then I'd give her the side eye.  I still wear a jacket emblazoned with the logo of a company I left nearly 20 years ago, t-shirts and sweatshirts bearing the name of my alma maters, etc.  I also wear clothing with insignia from teams on which I have never played.

 

That kind of thing doesn't bother me either.  Nor does, for example, someone who was in the Marines wearing a jacket with USMC across the back.  What I didn't like about Diana wearing the POLICE shirt was the context.  She came to the finale from the "heroes" round during which she was still a police officer.  Wearing that shirt during the last episode seemed to imply that she still was a part of or representing a police department.  Which she wasn't. 

 

I agree with Drogo's comments above.  Something about her story didn't add up.  Didn't Ted say she also had earned a degree in psychology or something?  I'd be interested to find out the real story just out of curiosity.

[Bastet]

Didn't Ted say she also had earned a degree in psychology or something?

 

Yes, a Master's degree.

[NikSac]

 

I 'm with you, theatremouse.  Something about Diana really annoyed me.  The whole "I could really use the car because mine was repo'ed" and the judges' "you know she was homeless for a while before going into the police academy" and the "I'm a single mom of a couple kids" combined.  

 

Something about that story doesn't add up.  If I've got kids and I'm homeless, I really can't afford to go through a 20-30 week academy to *possibly* become a police officer. Many high-traffic academies are unpaid unless you are sent there already hired, or if you're hired mid-training.  Don't even get me started on residency requirements for applying.

 

In conclusion.. she left her job as a police officer making (most likely) six figures with OT, and pursued her dreams of becoming a personal chef- and now she's too broke to make car payments.  Excellent decisions as a single mom of multiple children.  

 

I'm so glad I wasn't the only one irritated by that whole thing.  It didn't make any sense. I wasn't a big fan of Giorgio but I felt like Diana mostly won because of her story. So you were homeless, but having kids, and apparently going to the police academy and also training as a chef?  (I guess that was in between the university classes for her psych degree?).  What? 

 

Giorgio's food looked better to me, although I know it's all about it tasting good. I'm curious how it all tasted.

[backformore]

Yes, a Master's degree.

Right. Grad school isn't cheap. And what a waste of money to get an advanced degree and then Chuck it and work in something else. She doesn't look old enough to have had kids, college, grad school, police academy, and how many careers?

[NikSac]

Right. Grad school isn't cheap. And what a waste of money to get an advanced degree and then Chuck it and work in something else. She doesn't look old enough to have had kids, college, grad school, police academy, and how many careers?

 

I just realized she reminds me of a guy I know who's maybe 40, 45 or so and says he's been a this or that (fill in the blanks) for 20+ years in each profession he comes up with. He's been a professional everything and he'd have to be at least 200 years old for his stories to be true. Makes me wonder if Diana's stories are true or being way over-dramatized. I'm not saying SHE is over-dramatizing them, could just be a show thing, but I wonder.

[Julia]

I don't think her story is so incredible. Students are poor, college is expensive, and so are kids. She wouldn't be the first person to take assistance while she was trying to insure her family's future (JK Rowling, for instance, was on the dole while she wrote Harry Potter), or the first to discover she couldn't find a job in her field with decent benefits that paid enough to repay student loans with.

I think it's kind of creepy of this show that it gives us soundbites about peoples' troubles and more or less invites us to judge their lives. If every choice this woman ever made was wrong, she's still hurt fewer people than Geoffrey "the overtime I didn't pay my minimum wage workers probably covered my Hamptons bar tab" Zakarian, and we aren't invited to have an opinion about that.

[Totale]

At any rate, I'm glad it's over and we can return to "normal" episodes.

 

You (and I) wish.  It looks like next week's episode in the 10pm Tuesday EST slot that I think of as first run is another damn kiddie show.

[NikSac]

I don't think her story is so incredible. Students are poor, college is expensive, and so are kids. She wouldn't be the first person to take assistance while she was trying to insure her family's future (JK Rowling, for instance, was on the dole while she wrote Harry Potter), or the first to discover she couldn't find a job in her field with decent benefits that paid enough to repay student loans with.

I think it's kind of creepy of this show that it gives us soundbites about peoples' troubles and more or less invites us to judge their lives. If every choice this woman ever made was wrong, she's still hurt fewer people than Geoffrey "the overtime I didn't pay my minimum wage workers probably covered my Hamptons bar tab" Zakarian, and we aren't invited to have an opinion about that.

 

Yeah, I wish they'd cut all that stuff out too and focus on the food!  I liked the older shows so much better. It bothers me quite a bit that she seemingly won this competition for her story, but until they invent "taste-o-vision" I guess it's hard to really know if it was also better cooking.

[Drogo]

 

Diana probably made around $60,000 per year once she was full time. While in training they make much less than that. And I'm guessing based on average pay for police officers in major cities like Philly or NY, based on what I could find out online. She wasn't a detective, they are the ones who make more money but it still doesn't come close to six figures, I don't believe.

 

Sorry about that, I didn't mean to imply that she made 100K/year salary...  Most departments start around the 40K range for base.  Twelve of my Marines went into law enforcement after separation from the military and all made about twice their expected base due to the amount of overtime the bigger cities require.  

 

I'd prefer to know absolutely nothing about the contestants aside from their names, what city they're from and what kind of food they usually cook.  I could even live without those three tidbits.

[SecretHaze]

I'd prefer to know absolutely nothing about the contestants aside from their names, what city they're from and what kind of food they usually cook.

 

That's why I like the UK version of MasterChef.  I haven't seen the most recent seasons, but the ones I watched, there was pretty much zero focus on the back stories (let alone sob stories) of the contestants.  They would introduce them by name and profession, and the hosts would maybe ask them during their first round why they decided to compete (just in a conversational, lighthearted way), but after that it was mostly dropped, aside from referring to them as "Joe, carpenter" or whatever in the captions.  It's not about personal drama, it's all about the food.  But sadly that seems to be unthinkable on any American cooking show.  

[Drogo]

They do it for the kids shows.  Rachel vs. Guy Kids Cookoff is becoming my new favorite.  

[MajorWoody]

This show seems to be running out of professional chefs who want to pay their own way to NYC to compete.

Do they really pay their own expenses?

I always assumed that their travel and lodging would be included as part of the deal. In some cases, it could cost a chef and his/her significant other more to travel to NYC then they would take home if they won. Plus, do they get anything at all if they are not the winner?

[MajorWoody]

As to the finale, I was hoping for either the fireman or Laila Ali. So much for my picking the winner.

As I stated previously, enough with them talking about Muhammed Ali as the source of everything Laila has accomplished. She has apparently carved her own niche, and appears to be a decent cook. They really beat it to death with her pop.

The pro chef was pretty annoying, and made some rather amateur mistakes.

Finally, the Police woman who is not a cop, the woman who supposedly walked away from a 60k job, with full benefits and security, yet wails about being a single mom and being unable to pay her bills? Sorry, I smell a a rat in her story. As a retired LEO, I find it highly suspicious that someone would voluntarily leave, especially under those financial circumstances, after ten years on the job. Furthermore, my experience is that the ones who pursue masters and law degrees while on the job, often get themselves assigned to easy details or work straight midnights in order to do their studying on the governments time. Lastly, they kept pushing the amateur versus pro angle, but she is not an amateur. The fact that she left the PD to be a fulltime paid cook proves that point.

As others have posted, it appears this finale and the eventual winner was choreographed in advance. A very disappointing ending.

[cooksdelight]

Do they really pay their own expenses?

I always assumed that their travel and lodging would be included as part of the deal. In some cases, it could cost a chef and his/her significant other more to travel to NYC then they would take home if they won. Plus, do they get anything at all if they are not the winner?

Yes, according to several different chefs I know who appeared on the show. Two from NY, one from the south. FN gives them nothing, losers get nothing. It's a gamble, in the hopes that it brings some people to their restaurants or catering businesses. That's why when I see people from the west coast or other far away places, I am usually cheering them on because I know the sacrifice they've made to be there.

[NikSac]

I suppose this is the right place for comments on tonight's "Short Order Cooks" episode. Oh my gosh that was irritating.

 

I half felt like I was watching a kiddie crossover between Chopped and Cutthroat kitchen where the 'sabotage' was some of the kids being too short to reach stuff. It was sort of funny watching Ted run around the kitchen to help, but couldn't they have just put stuff down lower?  And just like Rachel vs. Guy the kids once again have no potholders and are burning themselves on pans in the oven... so I guess it's sort of a triple crossover show.  They managed to keep the Chopped 'crying 'contestant' element in though, of course. I absolutely don't blame the girl for being upset - that sounds really traumatic!  But they didn't need to ask her about it.

 

I did think the kids came up with some good ideas and the judges seemed to like most of the food. The girl who won seemed pretty calm and cool in the kitchen, and I liked how she was willing to try new things. I was proud of her seemingly being so fearless.

 

Hope they're done with kid episodes or special contestants for awhile.  It's probably too much to hope for to think they might drop the sob stories too, and focus on the food.

[GaT]

Wow Chopped, you have sunk to an all time low when you start using children's tragedies for ratings. Three kids say they just want to win Chopped & one says she wants the $10,000 to help her father who has a traumatic brain injury. Gee, I wonder who will win? 

[mjstrick]

I loved the girl who won.  I cracked up a few times watching this.  When the other girl made a souffle for dessert, and the girl who won was like, "she is making a souffle?  She's TEN!  I don't even know how to make a souffle, and I'm !!" I was dying laughing.  There were several other instances of that throughout the show-too cute. 

[40Love]

I loved the girl who won.  I cracked up a few times watching this.

 

Umm... I'm not at all convinced that was really a little girl. Based on her mannerisms, maturity and speech patterns I'm sure that was a 30 year old woman in a little girl suit. Heh!

 

She seemed like a nice kid ..and indeed was very calm and brave to try new techniques. But, I'm not entirely sure the best cook won. The winner left something off her plate in the first round and her appetizer was described as under seasoned. In the second round, her entree was described as tasty ... but it consisted of about 3 or 4 small bites of chicken. It seems like the judges liked the appetizer and entree of the runner-up better.

 

The runner-up seemed to have bested the winner in 2 of the 3 rounds.. and IMHO should have been named the winner.  

[GaT]

The runner-up seemed to have bested the winner in 2 of the 3 rounds.. and IMHO should have been named the winner.  

The runner-up didn't have a daddy with a traumatic brain injury, she only wanted to win because she wanted to win, therefore, there was no way she was going to win. They probably couldn't even get one of the judges to tell the girl with the daddy that she was being eliminated, who would want to be that person?

[anonymiss]

Umm... I'm not at all convinced that was really a little girl. Based on her mannerisms, maturity and speech patterns I'm sure that was a 30 year old woman in a little girl suit. Heh!

I liked her most at the end when she cheered that she won and allowed herself to drop the grown-up posturing for a moment. 

 

This was an adorable episode, but only for a change. I don't need to see another round of this precious pandering ever again. Look forward to more of the teenager episodes, though.