Top Chef Power Rankings - Episode 13

PLEASE READ BEFORE COMMENTING: Hey, all... I'm trying to keep this a spoiler-free zone, so in the comments section, anything that's already been broadcast or posted on the Bravo website is fair game, but anything else that gives an indication of who might be eliminated ahead of time is off-limits. Thanks!

As I said in the postmortem last week, I'm less surprised than you think I am. Reading everybody's comments, there was this presumption that Lisa was obviously going to be the one to go so the three legitimate contenders could duke it out in the best final battle Top Chef has seen. But like I said, if Lisa puts together some good dishes, there are three people who normally cook better than her -- but only one of them has to screw up to put her in the top three. And you know what? Lisa cooked some pretty good food. And more importantly, somebody screwed up. But we'll get to that.

This was a tricky week for me, personally, because I don't know much about Latin food in general, and I know even less about Puerto Rican, specifically. I know the broad strokes and I'm familiar enough with most of the ingredients that I can put things together in my head, but this is not a niche where I have a lot of experience.

Case in point, plantains. It's possible that I've never cooked with them, so my grip on the quickfire was tenuous. They've always struck me as rather starchy unless they're super-ripe, so some of the raw preparations raised my eyebrows even before Benet jumped in with his comments. But the finer points were probably lost on me, much as I'm embarrassed to admit it. A great quickfire it was, though, setting the chefs free, introducing the flavors of the island, and providing us with the kind of scenery that HD cameras soak up and editors love.

I was a little disappointed to see another large-scale elimination so late in the season, but if they had to do it, this was the way. Give them a whole, local pig, a kitchen and a sous chef, and set them loose. This is what the finals is supposed to be -- the chefs expressing themselves however they see fit. Some chose to express themselves in a rather curious manner, but again, we'll get to that.

No surprises this week. All of the remaining chefs are exactly where I left them. But while the rankings this week reflect my predictions for the final battle, don't think this means that I believe they're definitive. Rest assured, this Wednesday will be a battle, not a coronation. And just for fun, I'll kick each section off with what I wrote about that chef waaaaaaaay back for the Episode 1 Power Rankings.

Wins

Top

Bottom

1 Richard Quickfires 4 7 4 Last Week: 1 Eliminations 4 7 1 "I realize he didn't win the inaugural elimination challenge, but it sounds like the decision was a close one, he was singled out for praise in the quickfire, and the guy just looks strong out of the gate." ... "[I]n the elimination, he showed exactly the kind of skill and creativity that is needed to win this thing." ... "First impression? This is the guy to beat." I pegged him as the frontrunner from the start, he's mostly stayed there except for a couple of minor stumbles, and I'm sticking with him going into the final battle. His quickfire was a little lackluster, with tough meatballs and a questionable use of raw plantains, but the dude just rocked the elimination. What didn't he do? He used the hams, shoulder, belly, ribs and feet of the featured beast. He cooked refined dishes with distinctive, original flavors and tack sharp execution. He covered both upscale and humble. He simultaneously paid homage to both his hosts and his home. And he managed to restrain himself just enough to keep that Achilles' heel protected. His fresh Pernal ham was quick cured in brine with a mystery mélange of herbs and spices, slow-cooked with brown sugar and mustard, and served atop fresh beans that were stewed with his pig's feet, not only infusing them with porcine essence but also, I'm sure, lending them a very silky texture. It was a rustic dish, and it served to illustrate that you can make a humble, simple dish close to the finals provided that it's cleanly executed and bracketed by more creative and refined fare. His Costillas de Cerdo were rib-sticking noshy fare, but glazed with kecap manis, honey, jalapeno and the vaunted Malta, they were an interesting angle on the old sweet, glazed pork rib favorite. His pork belly pulled in a little Asian influence, braised with cinnamon, cloves and star anise (that would be a little ginger and fennel short of Chinese five spice) and then seared crispy before being served over pickled watermelon rinds, local squash and grapefruit. And his BBQ (braised, actually) pork shoulder, among a number of other seasonings, was anchored by the pairing of coffee and mango, which is a new one to me. Really, I think the only question is whether he peaked one episode too soon. Not to knock the Corolla, but save a little for the big show, Richard. Regardless, I think he demonstrated yet again why he has to be considered the favorite for the final showdown.

2 Stephanie Quickfires 2 3 5 Last Week: 2 Eliminations 4 10 3 "Though Stephanie was singled out for criticism in the quickfire and didn't seem to bring much of a wow factor, it's tough to put the first winner any lower than two, and I won't try. Besides which, I've actually eaten at her (recently demised) restaurant, Scylla, and the girl can cook." ... "I'm curious to see how creative she'll be going forward. If she pushes a little but not too much, that might serve her well in the wake of Marcel and Hung. As long as the jitters don't get the best of her, I suspect she'll still be around near the end." Stephanie, coincidentally, also succeeded this week by taming what is widely considered her greatest weakness -- a tendency to make mistakes under pressure. Not only did she win her first solo quickfire of the season (she was also on the winning relay team, hence my count of two), but she handled the pork belly disaster with class and cool and was rewarded with a last-minute dish that the judges loved. Her quickfire snacks looked wonderful. I'm not the least bit surprised she pulled that win down. The fritters were made with shrimp, pork, bananas and plantains and dressed with a brown butter lime sauce and fresh basil. Meanwhile, I see crisp tostones and barely seared tuna going together beautifully, and they were topped with a sauce of fennel, onion, garlic, and white balsamic. My only complaint would be that, as an adoptive Chicagoan, she didn't seize the opportunity to do some kind of homage to the jibarito... but that's just the homerism talking. Her elimination dishes looked bold and refined with easily identifiable flavors (more important than you might think), and like most of her dishes, they were creative but accessible. The pork satay on sugarcane was straight out the Vietnamese playbook, but she worked some Western flavors (Dijon, balsamic) into the mix and then finished it with an almond butter seasoned with miso, soy and honey. The coconut braised pork was another solidly Asian affair that she turned on its head by pairing it with black plantain blini, cooked freshly on the spot (I'm looking at you, Valerie). And finally, using crispy fried chicharrones was a great way to both work in the theme ingredient and add great textural contrast to a refreshing salad made from local fruits and prosciutto, with a touch of salsa verde. I have to say, this is probably the sharpest she's looked all season. Stephanie, also, seems to be peaking at just the right time. She's been much shakier than Richard with that midseason lull, and unlike him she's given me reason to worry for her survival. But she always belonged here, she was always the woman to beat (with apologies to Antonia), and she is absolutely not playing for second place.

3 Lisa Quickfires 0 3 6 Last Week: 4 Eliminations 1 3 7 "Lisa's another one who was hard to get a bead on this week." ... "Doing eggs Benedict with lobster and spinach is a little creative, sure, but no more creative than any upscale brunch spot. And she indicated that breakfast is right in her comfort zone, so it's hard to tell whether she's any good or if she just makes great poached eggs and hollandaise. More info needed." Lost in the pigeon pea debacle is the fact that Lisa -- for the first time in over a month -- turned out some really good looking dishes. The narrative across the blogosphere (did I actually just use that word?) is that she snuck into the top three because of Antonia's screwup. But for all of the (well-deserved, IMHO) scorn that's been piled on her cooking, I think it's only fair to give credit where credit is due. Her quickfire looked a little heavy-handed to me, but the flavors were there and it earned her some praise. Her first dish was spicy and starchy, the mofongo fritter made with plantains, batata, sweet potato and some orange, and then paired with fried chorizo and a simple chayote salad. The other snack went sweet and sour, topping the crispy tostones with duck, a glaze made with orange, lime, rice vinegar, cucumber and mint, and a spicy sweet mango and papaya salsa. It was well conceived and apparently well executed. Her elimination dishes, in typical Lisa fashion, looked a little sloppy in places, but these were tasty looking dishes, even if they were flawed. The citrus braised pork belly was done with orange, lemon, papaya, ginger, lemongrass and garlic, but as pointed out by the judges, the accompanying batata and plantain mash was just too sweet and overpowered the pork. The adobo roasted pork butt was lacking refinement in a similar manner, served atop tostones and a black bean puree, and covered with sofrito onions. With this dish, she at least attempted to elevate simple Puerto Rican, which is more than can be said for Antonia. But her pork-filled yuca rellenas looked solid, dressed with a seared pineapple, citrus and cilantro/culantro (not the same herb) mojo. Bottom line, no, she wasn't executing at the level of Richard or Stephanie, but let's call this what it is -- tasty looking food that was a little short on finesse, and this is much more than we've seen from her all season. Whether she cooked the meal of her life or she took the two months off to pull herself together, Lisa put good dishes on the table that would have earned her some praise had she made them eight weeks ago. Can she do it again? I don't know. But I'm not convinced it matters, because even at her best, there's no way she wins this thing. Always being better than just one other person can take you all the way to the final episode, when you suddenly have to be better than two, and I just don't see that happening.

4 Antonia Quickfires 4 7 2 Last Week: 3 Eliminations 1 7 4 "Both of Antonia's dishes seemed fairly straightforward, but it also seems that she executed them extremely well." ... "It looks like she's going to be technically sound (or perhaps, being Italian, she's just very comfortable with pizza and pasta), so we'll have to see how she does with less conventional dishes." Ah, yet again, there is much gnashing of teeth out in TV land. But at least the consensus seems to be that she wasn't robbed (she wasn't). I was actually disappointed to see her go, too. She was aloof at times, her casual dismissal of certain foods (and continents!) was irritating, and I never gave her a chance of winning, but she was still a talented, sound technician who would have made the final episode a lot more interesting than I expect Lisa will. My take on her elimination dishes diverges from the common sentiment, I think, but let's address her quickfire first. She showed, to me at least, minor lapses in judgment with both of her quickfire tastes. As Benet pointed out, the raw plantains in the jam underneath her oyster fritters just didn't have a very pleasing texture. And my first thought upon seeing mushy fried plantains topped with a cabbage slaw was that that dish desperately needed more of a textural contrast. To be fair, nobody looked especially weak, Antonia included, but she just wasn't her usual tack sharp self from the get-go. As for the elimination dishes, I know the conventional wisdom is that the undercooked peas sent her home. Obviously they played a large role, but my hunch is that even if those peas are perfect, she's going home anyway. Her spread at the party displayed a lapse not only in execution, but in judgment as well. You're a single elimination away from the final battle. You have a whole pig and a huge market with all manner of stunning produce at your disposal. You have a large kitchen, a sous chef and gobs of time. So why on earth do you choose NOW to go cafeteria-style chafing dish fare?!? Through the editing, it came across simply as an issue of too many things on one plate, but that was just one symptom of a much larger miscalculation. I get that she was trying to go rustic, and I get that she was trying to integrate the flavors of the island, but as I've said in reference to Antonia time and time again this season, when you get to the finals you have to be creative, you have to be distinctive, and you have to be memorable. Even if she nails those peas, she's still serving a sloppy (if tasty) family-style meal to VIPs at a cocktail reception at a stage of the competition when looking anything short of awesome (and sometimes even awesome!) gets you the boot. Just like you, I'm surprised that the queen of execution had such a glaring technical gaffe. But contrary to popular belief, I don't think that was the primary factor in her downfall.

So it comes down to the final three! While I thought Lisa had a chance of squeaking by last week, I think she's a non-factor this week. To have any shot at winning, she's going to have to cook on a level we just haven't seen from her at all, and then she's still going to have to hope that both Richard and Stephanie are off their game. I wish Antonia or Dale were still around -- or Jen or Andrew, for that matter -- but I'm perfectly content with the two horse race we got. Frankly, assuming it isn't Lisa, I'll be thrilled no matter what happens. My brain tells me that Richard is the most mature, capable, creative chef of the bunch with the kind of unique, distinctive style the judges love to recognize in the final tally. But Stephanie's right there with him, and who doesn't want to see that smile if she wins? I think it comes down to how far Richard inches out on that limb, and how successful he is in doing so. We've seen him exercise quite a bit of restraint in the second half of the season, but this is the final challenge we're talking about now. It's time to spread your wings put your soul on the plate, wildly creative and sometimes a little gimmicky is who Richard is, and I think you're going to see him cut loose again. If he pulls it off and we see dishes like the white chocolate salmon, the tofu steak and the vitello Tramonto, there's no stopping him. If he pushes a little too hard, however, the window opens for Stephanie, who I see pulling back just a touch from this week's performance and returning more to the satisfying, subtly creative dishes that got her here, like the NY strip with apple potstickers and caramel sauce, the veal sweetbreads in saor, the gorgonzola cheesecake, the linguine with sausage and horseradish, and -- way back from week one -- the reimagined duck a l'orange. If Richard goes too far and alienates the judges even a little, dishes like Stephanie's will win their hearts by being comforting and satisfying without sacrificing creativity. It could go either way, and I'm really looking forward to it. Hopefully they're both at the top of their game and the final challenge really is a true measure of who is the better chef.

Discuss!

Comments

[good morning]

Excellent insightful analysis. Your passion comes across. We look forward to the final to see what Richard and Stephanie can do. Even though it is about the food, we want to feel good about the winner. It will take quite a bit of manipulation from the editors to make us feel good about Lisa. We did not know about your blog at the beginning of the TC season and appreciate you pulling forward your earlier comments. Amazing!

[Vega]

For some reason, I've become convinced that Lisa will win. Not because she's particularly good. But as you said a couple weeks ago for the power rankings right before Dale was eliminated (and I'm going to blatantly paraphrase here), it would take an enormous disaster for her to win. There have been a disturbing amount of enormous disasters this season. It's like a season of Tre at Restaurant Wars. I'm still shocked that Antonia screwed up the one thing she had going for her (execution), even if it didn't lead to her downfall as you say.

My point is, if Lisa won I wouldn't be shocked. Although I *really* hope that the judges take in prior performance to some degree in this final round. Obviously the food they put out that night should be the main focus, but I just really want them to acknowledge that Lisa has sucked all through the competition.

[Solange]

Great blog Dominic!

I'll absolutely be one of those who hangs on after the end of Top Chef!

Everyone's fave chef, Lisa, gave a short interview toi the New York Daily News recently. I don't know your policy on links so I won't include one but anyone who cares to see can visit their web site and just punch 'lisa fernandes' into the search box.

She takes time to discuss her closeness with Stephanie, her contempt for the bloggers who criticize her and announces that her show profile as villain was the result of something "they"(editors/producers/directors?) decided. She further asserted how popular she actually is wherever she goes...

There's a few stones I've left unturned though.

I wanted to make visiting the interview worthwhile for all her "fans".....

[Skillet Doux]

Solange...

Links are just fine! The only time I kill comments with links is when they're blatantly self-promotional and irrelevant to the topic at hand. And I could count the number of times I've done that over the life of the blog on two hands.

[anon man]

Well done. What if Lisa wins? Is that one of the signs of the end of the world?

I guess my biggest critique is, as you allude to, that why is this not dinner for 30 people instead of another catering challenge? Presumably the finals will be the standard serve a chef's table of 10-15 people. More of those challenges would be better and would show the depth of the contestants. If a chef can put 2 or 3 or even 4 competely different wowing menus together, then they have a chance of opening a succesful restaurant instead of a catering truck.

And SD, I still think you should take up the challenge I posed in the post-mortem and try out for Hell's Kitchen!

[Skillet Doux]

Anon man...

Heh... though I appreciate the vote of confidence, as much as I love celebrity chef spittle on my face, I think I'll take a pass :-)

Actually, I've never watched Hell's Kitchen, even though my opinion of Ramsey, shaped mostly by Kitchen Nightmares, is fairly positive. I get annoyed with the more gimmicky aspects of Top Chef, to say nothing of the the antics Ramsey's showing on the HK promos.

'Sides which, I'm more afraid of liking it than not liking it. The LAST thing I need right now is another reality cooking show to obsess over :-)

[anon man]

You're not missing anything. The chefs are generally inferior. A few pros, a few students a few private chefs a few former chefs/home chefs. Even if you don't win it would be fun to work in Gordon's fake restaurant for few days I just think it would fun to have you as a "representative" of foodie home chefs try your hand at it. They had a stay at home dad on there this season, but he was a dim bulb and went home in the Nimma position.

The show is frustrating viewing. Its Gordon Ramsey as cult leader. He yells, he throws things, generally a jerk, sometimes to the expense of being a good chef. For instance they ran out of garnish on some dish and when the veg station tried to save it by asking if he wanted to replace the veg on the dish. He didn't answer, he just sulked in the corner. To quote Bourdain: "In a restaurant, Sh*t happens." Gordon apparently forgets that for the show.

For foodies, TC is the show to watch. The chefs are smart, understand food, some are even college educated. (I mean real college, not CIA or Johnson and Wales. Stephanie went to Michigan.) The ones on HC generally have 2 digit IQs. (Its Fox, they have to go with their demographic.)

As for TC's final, even though I prefer Antonia, both int terms of personality and food (I'm half Italian, so, I dig some of her stuff), I am mildly interested to see what Lisa might come up with. I don't cook like her, so I might see some neat ideas. (Of course, she'll have sloppy execution and it won't matter.) Ditto Richard and the newly-Asian inspired Stepahnie.

[Glenn]

Yup, I think Lisa's portrayal on the show was really manipulated. Here's a quote from the interview mentioned above that obviously shows her true colors.

"Oh no, I don't read the blogs – you couldn't pay me to read the blogs. I don't want to know what people who can't even afford to eat in my restaurant, let alone know how to cook have to say about me ..."

Nice.

[Kenneth]

I found it interesting that they sent the sous chef to the market. True, the chefs may want to be in the kitchen sweating details over the pig, but it also seems they would be at the mercy of whatever ingredients their sous chefs would bring back, without really knowing what looked freshest that morning, etc.

Well, just my $.02.

[Michael]

Great commentary.
I do think Lisa has had to bear the brunt of some creative editing. Way back in the early to mid nineties I edited entertainment news in LA and the pieces I cut were sent out on the network feed (network shall remain nameless). I worked alone mostly at night (after whatever premier or event had happened) and I was shocked at how easily I could take a totally uneventful premier for a movie I knew no one would remember and shape it so that the celebs I liked look great and charming and those I didn't looked rude and full of themselves. Then the affiliates across the country and the sister networks across the world would get my one take. Lisa makes such an easy target with that scowl and those crossed arms, you just want to throw rocks at her. I think you've done a good job focusing on her recipes. Especially this episode.

My wife and I watch HK all the time and have from the beginning because we loved Gordon on the BBC. HK and the fox version of Restaurant Nightmares are poor cousins of his English work. Still, even on Fox there are moments when you get to see him butcher or cook and you remember just why he is so famous. There's a great article on Salon about that Ramsay, with some excellent youtube links to his shows. http://www.salon.com/mwt/food/eat_drink/2008/04/01/gordon_ramsay/

[Chuck]

Thanks so much for this blog. You make me want to watch the episodes again. I too thought Richard was the one to beat from the very first challenge. I have even made a couple of his recipes and they are/were delicious, particularly the brisket from wedding wars.

I appreciate your measured defense of Lisa Fernandes but I think Richard must be so embarrassed to have to be in the finals with her. You can blame the TC editors all you want, but she is just a sour, nasty bottom feeder who has skated by all season. I agree that it's going to be tough to beat not one but two excellent cooks this week. The Daily News article about her only confirmed what everybody already knew -- she's a hack chef and a mean-spirited person.

I only found Kitchen Nightmares a few months ago but completely fell for Gordon Ramsay. Unfortunately, that show on Fox is a mess and, for me, unwatchable. I so wish the BBC would pony up for some more episodes of Kitchen Nightmares. You obviously know more about cooking than anybody I've ever seen on Kitchen Wars. And keep in mind that HD is not a friend to anyone cooking in a hot kitchen.

[Solange]

Glenn, I too loved that BS about no one being able to pay Lisa to read the blogs, but later in the piece she admitted to reading blogs on eater. because her employer requested it...

So...in fact, she did get paid to read the blogs!

[melissa]

I agree that Antonia's dishes in the elimination must have been weaker even if you disregard her undercooked peas. Her dishes seemed to lack imagination and refinement. I think she underestimated the sophistication of the party guests. Due to past performance I would be willing to bet the judges feel overall she is stronger than Lisa which makes me think her dishes must have been much weaker. The other thing that might have hurt Antonia is that she had probably the worst sous chef of the group. I think Spike or Andrew either one might have been able to give her input that she did not receive from Nikki.

[canasian]

Y'know, I don't really look at the running tally of tops, bottoms, and wins Dom posts all that much, because I prefer to read the recipies and base my opinion on that and what the judges say and their reactions. But today I looked at the records and noticed something: Out of 13 elimination challenges, Stephanie was on the top or bottom of all of them. She has never sat in the middle; she always achieves grandly or fails spectacularly. Interesting to see that, I never really noticed it.

[canasian]

Just went and read the nypost.com interview. Other than what other people have already pointed out, Did anyone notice that she is now working at Mai House as the Chef de Cuisine, where they said on the show Spike is a sous-chef? I have questions about that, and I hope someone has the answers, but some of them I'm sure are just going to be unknown to anyone who doesn't work at Mai House:

What is the chain of command in a kitchen? Is a Chef de Cuisine above or below a sous-chef?

Does Spike still work at Mai House? I know he has some projects in the works on his own, but he may still be there.

Did Lisa work at Mai House before the show? Did she know Spike beforehand from working together? They didn't seem to be friends, but but they did have a "we're in this together" attitude.

Anyone else take the fact that she is still working for someone else's restaurant, and at that not even an executive chef, a sign that she definitely did not win?

Thanks to anyone who has any insight and the time to respond to this

[Skillet Doux]

Double-check this, Canasian, but I believe Spike mentioned somewhere that as a matter of pure chance, Lisa came in to interview for the position he was vacating just before they left for TC.

[Bart]

Great read as usual.

First, you wrote, "I never gave [Antonia] a chance of winning, but she was still a talented, sound technician who would have made the final episode a lot more interesting than I expect Lisa will."

I disagree. In terms of entertainment, Lisa has it in spades. Nothing like watching her assume the pugilistic stance and stare down her foes. Like her or not, she makes for great TV. But yes, Antonia would have provided more of a challenge to Richard/Stephanie, but Lisa's far more interesting to watch.

As for Gordon Ramsay (not Ramsey) - I always wonder how the, say, Top Chef folks would fare on Hell's Kitchen. Some of the contestants in the past have been executive chefs. (Of course, this season, they had an electrician on, so, who knows)

Like everyone else, he's much, much more entertaining to watch on Kitchen Nightmares and his other BBC show, the F Word. It's ALL about the food with those shows. With the F Word, he takes foodies such as yourself and lets them run his restaurant for a day. He does it to prove to Britain they can cook restaurant quality food in their homes (he shows you how to cook his menu of the day).

As a foodie, The F Word trumps Kitchen Nightmares by miles and miles. If you get a chance to watch it, watch it.

[Bart]

Not to turn this into the Gordon Ramsay comment section, but someone had posted the link to the Slate story before, which included a couple of YouTube clips of him cooking. They no longer exist there, but can be found here

http://www.channel4.com/food/recipes/chefs/gordon-ramsay/butter-roasted-rib-eye-beef-recipe_p_1.html

and here

http://www.channel4.com/food/recipes/chefs/gordon-ramsay/scrambled-egg-mushroom-recipe_p_1.html

Be sure to watch the Rib Eye video (first link). Now I'm hungry...

[Chuck]

I consider this a foodie site, not necessarily a TC site, so I have no problem reading comments about how to prepare delicious meals. There is a clip on YouTube of Chef Ramsay making the best scrambled egg dish I have ever eaten. It's here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MwZrYru4gk

So easy!

[Allison]

Just to note that Lisa's interview was in the Daily News, not the Post:

http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/food/2008/06/06/2008-06-06_lisa_fernandes_is_last_new_yorker_standi.html

Also that yes, there was an interview with Spike (link from the Bravo site) where he mentioned interviewing Lisa to work at his restaurant.

Not sure of either chef's current status, but a sous chef assists the executive chef (sous = under in French).

Looking forward to the finale, which I believe will be a contest between Richard & Stephanie, but who knows. Also to the end to a heat wave that has kept me out of the kitchen & tending to some heirloom tomato plants.

[AJ]

There is an interview with Spike on Eater.com in which he says that Lisa works for him "executing [his] food & [his] vision."
That just seems like a contentious kitchen.

[Joanna]

Quick question -- possibly irrelevant given how soon the finale airs -- does anyone know if they're making the final announcement live, like last year? Or has the winner already been chosen (and notified)?

If the results are live, then Lisa working as a sous chef might not mean anything at this point. Maybe she will win tonight but even she doesn't know it yet. Although it pains me to say that.

[anon man]

I think its totally in the can. There was some Ted Allen interview awhile back where he indicated that he would know the winner of TC before [whatever event was being promoted in the interview]. Either the judges know but the cheftestants don't or the whole thing is already done, which I think is the answer. The live thing is kind of hokey anyway. Its not like Survivor where they can launch immediately into a reunion show in prime time.