Top Chef

[eveschmeve]

Agreed that this has been the worst season ever of Top Chef. Those last challenges were so ridiculous and had nothing to do with cooking skills. I can't imagine some past chefs ever doing anything like that- Harold probably would have just up and quit the show.

The crappy challenges this season (too much catering, too much BBQ and steak) made me unsure about the caliber of cheftestants. Are they really that crappy, or is it just that they weren't allowed to cook? I'm rooting for Paul, he's the only one all season that appears talented and gracious.

[FiggyPudding]

I hope Paul wins, he seems the most talented by far, and his personality is a plus.

Is this the future of Top Chef? Because I don't like it. Shouldn't the challenges become less bizarre toward the season's end, so the cooking talent can be emphasized? What's next? Shoot, kill and dress your own deer?

[roseland]

So glad Bev is finally gone. I have to say that there are all these claims of bullying by both the producers and Bev, they really didn't show all that much on-screen. In particular, all we saw of Sarah is her getting angry because she felt Bev screwed up her fish, which seems justifiable to me. We've certainly seen men act as harsh or harsher to each other on this show without comment. I think the issue is that Bev has this quiet, passive personality that makes anyone's angry comments seem harsher by contrast. I think a lot of the bullying talk could be that most of the women didn't like Bev and therefore she was ostracized from the group. That's not bullying to me. I also felt we saw enough examples of Bev just doing what she wanted without taking anyone else into consideration that there seem to be some justification for why people disliked her. It was hard for me to tell because everyone kept talking about how Bev was being bullied but I didn't really see many examples of it. I suppose I will take the producers word for it that she was bullied. So, while she didn't deserve whatever treatment she got, I still never really liked her and am glad she's gone. That is also not to say that I don't think she wasn't a really good chef and that she didn't have the skills to win this thing because I believe she does. But I also think the final three are just as good as Bev so, given my dislike of her, I'm glad she was the one to go.

[biondetta]

I haven't followed much outside talk of the show, so I didn't realize the producers were saying Bev was bullied. That may have been, but I agree, roseland, that it didn't really come through in the show. Chefs and professional kitchens are notoriously tough people/places. It did seem like a couple of the female chefs went after her a lot, but then they also got paired with her more often it seemed, so they had to deal with her on a professional level. The fact that no one in the competition particularly seemed to like Bev made me think there was something to why she was being singled out. Yes, she seemed quite talented, but she also seemed to forget that she had to work as a team member or at least give professional courtesy to other contestants. Bullying shouldn't happen, but she's also a grown woman who also needs to take responsibility for her own actions. No one came out of this particular situation well.

That said, I'm glad Paul made it to the final. I couldn't believe Tom kept going on about that one tiny piece of arugula. I didn't understand how it could be that bad!

[e c0li]

Despite not liking many of the challenges (and a handful of the competitors) I'm really satisfied with the final challenge and the winner of this season. Plus, how cute was it watching Paul and his dad hug and cry?

[Deleted]

For a couple minutes I was convinced Sarah had won, because she had a huge smile plastered on her face in the promo for Watch What Happens. Thank goodness I was wrong. I want another woman to win but not her.

[biondetta]

I feel the same, roisin. I was worried Sarah was going to win and was trying to console myself that at least she's a woman and is obviously talented. But I just don't like her. Plus, it pissed me off that she cooks Italian food and I think even studied some cooking there, but she can't pronounce tagliatelle correctly. I had to laugh that she got stuck with the weird, creepy guy who got thrown out for mangling the pork in the first episode. Especially since she ended up with him because she was trying to get the other woman that I really disliked.

Paul has been consistently good all season and he seems like a decent person on top of it all, so I was very happy to see him win.

[roseland]

I've had it with this show. I give up. We've just finished Season 9 and we've only had one female winner on this show AND they had to make up for that win by letting the guy who came in second place win the All-Stars round. This season the finals started with 3 women and one man and still the guy won. While I don't think there's overt sexism going on on this show, I believe that there are times when men are given the benefit of the doubt where women aren't and that's why we have such a one-sided list of winners and I'm through making excuses for why it's happening.

[petitesuite]

I wish the judges didn't know who had made which dish when they tasted it--or, for that matter, judged it. Of course that would never happen and would probably make for worse tv, but at least it would eliminate the unconscious (at least I'd like to think it's unconscious) bias.

[Deleted]

Mar 3, 2012 6:41:23 GMT -4 petitesuite said:

I wish the judges didn't know who had made which dish when they tasted it--or, for that matter, judged it. Of course that would never happen and would probably make for worse tv, but at least it would eliminate the unconscious (at least I'd like to think it's unconscious) bias.

Oh yeah. There could definitely be a halo effect at work at times.
One thing I use to gauge that effect is the opinions of master chefs in quick fires. Paul has OWNED almost all the quickfires so I think it's safe to say he's the real deal.