Top Chef Season 5

[Signe]

Fabio cracks me up.  I'd love to see him win the whole thing just because he's amused me so much more than anyone else this season.  That's how much I don't care about their food.

[AngryGumball]

Its great to see Fabio lie thru his teeth full on about warm cabbage turning his venison from medium rare to beyond well done.

The picture they showed of the meat when it was served did not look entirely overcooked. Of course, Jeff was the right one of the 3 to pick to go, but really, that whole cast should go.

Yeah, I didn't pay exacting attention when each dish was served was flipping channels on that, but I watched full on the judges tables.

Anyone else get the impression that Jeff seems more scatterbrained all the time, whenever it was time for him to talk to the camera he was always looking down or off to the side, he couldn't engage us the audience which is exactly opposite of what he does when they roll the opening credits giving up our first impression of what each character is like. Sadly Jeff was one of my favs to win but he never seemed to come around and get into winners form seemed as if each week he became more distracted.

Fabio just seems to be rubbing each judge the wrong way, the only way Fabio will win is if Gail comes back to champion him.

[voodoolily]

Fabio cracks me up.  I'd love to see him win the whole thing just because he's amused me so much more than anyone else this season.  That's how much I don't care about their food.

Yup, pretty much.

[Ookii]

Last episode was so great, although I wish the outcome was different.

[Nebu]

Last episode was so great, although I wish the outcome was different.

I'm alright with the outcome.  That was going to happen eventually.  The person that left just wasn't one of the best (in my opinion). 


Note: Being vague on purpose to avoid spoiling it for others.

[Righ]

What was the outcome? Oh yeah. Makes no difference. Who will be the next person to leave? There's only two more superfluous episodes before we get down to the competition. But so many more tight zooms on T-Mobile and GE logos to fit in. Oh my.

[NiX]

I think they sent the wrong girl home and now I have to agree with Schild. Fabio is making this season enjoyable. Monkey ass and fried banana.

[Azaroth]

I assume the monkey ass was raw.

[schild]

I think they sent the wrong girl home and now I have to agree with Schild. Fabio is making this season enjoyable. Monkey ass and fried banana.

Doesn't matter which girl got sent home, there aren't any girls on the show worth their salt. I'll watch it today.

[schild]

lol carla wanted to do theater

[schild]

Oh god I wish Hung was in this season. I liked seeing him make the meal when he was on, but seeing Rippert gobsmacked would have been AWESOME.

[Signe]

I think they sent the wrong girl home and now I have to agree with Schild. Fabio is making this season enjoyable. Monkey ass and fried banana.

Doesn't matter which girl got sent home, there aren't any girls on the show worth their salt. I'll watch it today.

I was going to say this but now I don't have to because you stole the words right off my fingers.

[schild]

I think they sent the wrong girl home and now I have to agree with Schild. Fabio is making this season enjoyable. Monkey ass and fried banana.

Doesn't matter which girl got sent home, there aren't any girls on the show worth their salt. I'll watch it today.

I was going to say this but now I don't have to because you stole the words right off my fingers.

It's not really fair at this point. Stefan is heads above everyone, it just didn't show early on. But he's not as fun to root for as the previous obvious winners.

Edit: Also, it's possible Carla didn't win because Rippert didn't want to spend a week with that freak.

[Signe]

Carla has done well the last couple of times but the only consistently good chef is Stefan, and he's sort of annoying.  Does he even actually know what a douchebag is?  I think I might be the only person here who actually likes Carla - even though she's really really weird.  Her flaky cheerfulness doesn't irritate me, it makes me laugh.  Fabio is the most fun and the easiest for me to cheer for, even when he's being uselessly stubborn.  I love that he lies.  I don't know why, it just tickles me.  I can tell by his face that he knows he's not fooling anyone, either - he just does it anyway.

[schild]

For the record, I don't think the wrong girl was picked because Jaime should've been kicked off a while ago. There are other people I would've rather have seen in this event. The other girl is simply floating by on mediocrity.

Most importantly though, this show completely destroys people who oversalt.

Edit: Fabio obviously just doesn't give a shit. He's italian, he's not meant to. As for Stefan, he knows he's being a douche, there's no doubt. He's in it to win it. I think my biggest problem is in what he cooks, normally he'd be the guy I'd cheer for simply because he's a wanker looking out for number 1, which is what this show is about. Harold, Sam, Hung - these guys were the best Top Chef have put forth and all 3 of them had a strong douchebag element. But they were also exceptionally interesting to watch cook. Stefan is good, and without totally fucking up, he's got it in the bag. But he's sooooooooo uninteresting.

Edit 2: Also, none of the people in this bottom six really measure up to the previous bottom sixes, outside of Elan who is still the biggest upset in Top Chef History.

[Ookii]

I can't support getting rid of Jamie when Leah still exists.  Richard from last season seems to be a fan of Leah's style though for some reason, that has to count for something.

[schild]

I can't support getting rid of Jamie when Leah still exists.  Richard from last season seems to be a fan of Leah's style though for some reason, that has to count for something.

Leah simply doesn't look like a top chef. But she seems to have talent. She has absolutely no chance of winning though because she's very obviously not a born leader. She's a cog.

[Righ]

For the record, I don't think the wrong girl was picked because Jaime should've been kicked off a while ago.

Correct. She wasn't really a candidate for being one the three scrubs in the final six until she pulled out a decent dish at the right time. She's only the wrong person to go home because Leah is still there. But Leah will still be terrible next week. Jaime fucked up quite badly this week, and so it gave them a needed opportunity to send her home. Because otherwise they would have to be honest and say "yes, we know Fabio/Carla/Hosea fucked up again this week, but honestly Jaime, even if you're usually decent, there's no way you can ever bring the game to Stefan, and one of them just might".

[HaemishM]

Honestly, either Leah or Jamie could have gone home and it would have been the right person to send home. Leah is only there because her fuckups haven't been worse than that week's loser's fuckup. She is AWFUL. She seems to get halfway into a dish, get flustered and just give up like she did in the quickfire, only she can't just stop working because she at least has to put something on the plate. She's worthless, a line cook at best. She can't even lead herself.

Everyone on that show other than Fabio and Stefan aren't even scrubs on previous seasons. They are the fuckers that get sent home first. Carla is the only one of them with any talent, and her talent seems to only be classic French and pastry. I thought Hosea was decent, but he doesn't seem to have the range of chops that Stefan or Fabio do. Shit, they should just crown Stefan now, because other than a massive fuckup of trainwreck proportions, I don't see anyone beating the little Euro manwhore.

[Signe]

I don't know if it's the way they're editing or if it's so, but Hosea seems more interested in sticking it to Stefan than in giving it his best effort.  Maybe that's the same thing as Stefan is the man to beat, but it comes off kind of petty sometimes.

[schild]

I don't know if it's the way they're editing or if it's so, but Hosea seems more interested in sticking it to Stefan than in giving it his best effort.  Maybe that's the same thing as Stefan is the man to beat, but it comes off kind of petty sometimes.

That's how they edited people who wanted to beat Stephen and Marcel from previous seasons. It's likely that they're just setting it up for the finale. Unfortunately, Hosea doesn't deserve to be in the finale. Whoops.

[Numtini]

Wrong person got sent home. Not that she didn't deserve it because she did. Worst dish and she was generally surly this episode for whatever reason. Though I did admire the chutzpa in saying Bernadin wasn't to her taste while everyone else acted like a hayseed. She was the pre-season favor and consistently underperformed. I get the feeling she was reality TV'd out. She was done with the show, ready to go home, and her attitude led her to a stupid mistake. But The Other Woman (and you never want to be The Other Woman) is far worse than her. But of everyone on the show? That British asshat. First off the island. Forget the island, make him the main course and Dolcett him.

[HaemishM]

Though I did admire the chutzpa in saying Bernadin wasn't to her taste while everyone else acted like a hayseed.

That wasn't chutzpah, that was douchey arrogance. She's displayed it all season, and hasn't been able to back it up without cooking scallops.

But of everyone on the show? That British asshat. First off the island. Forget the island, make him the main course and Dolcett him.

Yeah, he's fucking worthless. I get the feeling from Chef Tom's body language that he hates the British guy and just about every chef on the show is driving him batshit.

[Abagadro]

It's Top Chef, not Top Pussy!

[Trippy]

Jacques -- looking very dapper in his bow tie

[Azaroth]

It's Top Chef, not Top Pussy!

Being that Leah went home, obviously not.

Unless Padma wins?

Episode Highlights: Leah's bodacious bangers at the beginning, and then a bit later on, Padma's hard nips.

[Nebu]

Being that Leah went home, obviously not.

Unless Padma wins?

Did you forget about Carla?  I don't think she'll win, but she's been on a hot streak lately.

The season will go to whichever person fucks up the least between Fabio and Stephan.  Stephan has been getting a bit cocky lately and it has placed him at the bottom.  He obviously has the most skill of all the chefs, but he really needs to keep the fuck ups to a minimum. 

[voodoolily]

The vaseline on the lens during the dinner made my eyes feel like they were full of rheum. Lidia Bastianich's scary zombie skullet warranted it, though.

[HaemishM]

Leah is gone. YAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYY!!! Carla is definitely coming on stronger, but really, it seems like most of them tried too hard when simple and well-executed was the best choice. I really think Hosea will be the next to go.

[Abagadro]

What's the format for the so-called "final four" or "semi-final"? Have they said? I could see it being a head-to-head showdown with the winners going to a final or just a free-for-all with two going down. It sucks that it looks like it is another catering challenge as those are always the suckiest and they've done a good job of getting away from that the last 6 or so challenges.

[HaemishM]

If it's like the last two seasons, they'll eliminate one more in the quickfire, then have a 3-person final challenge.

[Abagadro]

I get the sense it is different though as they are calling it a "semi-final" and I don't remember them ever really using that term before.

[HaemishM]

That's probably so they can refer to it as the Top Chef Gladware Semi-Final Clash sponsored by the fantastic family of Gladware products and Kenmore Kitchen Ranges.

[voodoolily]

That's probably so they can refer to it as the Top Chef Whole Foods Gladware Semi-Final Calphalon Clash Aspen Classic sponsored by the fantastic family of Gladware products and Kenmore Kitchen Ranges of T.G.I. Toyota and Kraft Quaker Oats.

fify

[Numtini]

Finally.

I care less about everyone else and who wins than I did about that slug going home. I don't think anyone's had such a long run of dodging the axeman in any show I can think of.

My partner and I are real big Carla fans, though we're not delusional. Carla did well this ep because she was a good fit for these challenges, it was all about basic simple cooking. Last meals are about basic comfort food not exotics. (Or in the case of death row, bad fast food as near as I can tell.)

And the shrimp scampi I grew up on had cream in it. I really don't think it's that exotic. I prefer without, but in my experience, with cream is certainly common enough.

We were watching Chopped, which is a pretty mediocre show, but my partner commented that after watching it, it was vivid how little attention Top Chef is paying to the food this season.