Top Chef - S6E7 Postmortem

Ah, well. It was a good run.

It can't always be the weakest link to go. Had to happen sooner or later.

Like others, I'm bummed to see Ashley go. I liked her food and I liked her. And I regret the fact that I didn't manage to get to Branzino when I was in Seattle last month (not that I got much of anywhere other than the convention center).

Two episodes back, I said I'd feel a little better about Jen if she made a flatiron steak that rocked Tom's world, and lo and behold, she did it. Last episode, I said I'd feel a little better about her if she won an elimination challenge, and lo and behold, she did it. So what would make me feel a little better about Jen next week? If she snatches Tom out of his seat and busts out a killer tango? If she stays up all night sculpting geologic formations out of mashed potatoes? If she lands a massive roundhouse kick to the side of Mike I's head? What do you think? I'm taking suggestions.

Gush much, Ash? I like Ash, but... wow. He won't be living that one down anytime soon.

Anybody else notice that Jen seems to be the only one who addresses Colicchio as "Tom" rather than "Chef"?

More thoughts I'm forgetting... I should really write this stuff down while I'm actually watching the episode.

Discuss!

Comments

[Dreamboat]

Jennifer Norris round kicks the stomach flu into a winning light tomato chutney, rendering it powerless!

[Dave K.]

Tyler Florence? Was Giada not available? At least she would have restored the decolletage quota with Gail absent.

[Anne]

Was it dress like Kermit the Frog week at Padma's?

[Scott]

I am really, really, really, really, really sad. I haven't been on the Ashley train, but honestly, I was growing really fond of her because of her personality and the fact that she's starting to show some promise. IT seemed like she's the third interesting chef to go, after Hector and Ron. Sad and woe is me.

[Anne]

Oh, I just finished. I'm really sad, too. I just really liked her. I can't even say why, but I was rooting for her from the beginning. I'll miss her on the show.

[kit]

Anne says: Was it dress like Kermit the Frog week at Padma's?

I know! I couldn't get Gumby out of my head.

[KinderJ]

Sad to see Dom's streak broken. Glad that we still have Mike V. Still grinning at the face Mike I was wearing as Robin... talked... and.... talked...

And what the Helsinki was up with Ash at judges table? Was this auto-bus-chuckery? Pre-emptive-auto-bus-chuckery?

It was a shame to loose Ashley, she had some good dishes but both elements of the dish were buggered and apparently the prawns were worse than the gnocchi. In a perverse way I am kind of amused by them. The fake out was pretty good- when the preview said 'salt lick' I must admit my first thought was Mike I.

Sad to say I like the misogynistic so and so. My shame is great. Will go hide on other, inferior blogs until time has washed my sins away.

[Dreamboat]

GUMBY!!! kit, you nailed it! haha

I was also sad to see Ashley go. She was a strong competitor. Tom had some nice things to say about her in his blog. I have a feeling that she will go a long way in her career.

[Dave_P]

In that it was Ashley or Mike V, I was happy it wasn't Mike tonight, but... yeah, I'm sad to see her go too. Definitely near the top of the MotP.

Kevin - any doubt he was taking the cash? And prolly a new suit from Macy's! Kev & Jen = Dream Team. Esp w/the V-bros split, really, it wasn't a fair contest.

And what an awesome win for Jen! About time she got an EC. Once again, she worries me for no reason w/her illness and poor QF showing in the 1st half of the ep.

As for the "you can't blame the equipment" comment, while that's true in most circumstances, the chefs were already dealing w/tight quarters, minimal supplies and time pressure. They disqualified one competition for a faulty freezer or something last season--I think faulty equipment is a perfectly valid reason not to send someone home. Dunno if Mike would've survived if not for the half-raw prawns and salty gnocchis though.

Wonder who the special guest for next week's ep is? (No, I don't want any spoilers.)

--
Dave

[kit]

Ack! From Tom's blog:

We didn’t know, as you did from watching the program, that when Ashley gave the gnocchi to Eli they were fine, and he then oversalted them. We knew only that Ashley had made the gnocchi.

I'm sure Tom knows making a comment like this is going to spur alot of debates on whether Eli should have gone home instead...

[po]

Once again, Ash lacks balls. Strangely enough, he's still around.

Can they at least lose the gimmicks and trickery for just one episode?

[Ooba]

I was also sad to see Ashley go. She had really started to grow on me the past few weeks. I also sort of don't mind Mike I (don't ban me from the site :)- I just don't think he is serious about some of the things he says. Plus I've eaten at his restaurant many times and love it. Bryan got the claws out when Kevin was talking about his brothers dish. I don't think Kevin meant any harm or judgment - he was just asking about the dish. Nonetheless still love the Volts.

[Independent George]

I'm sorry to see Ashley go, but I think she left with her reputation intact, if not enhanced.

As the guy who spent the most time defending Mike Isabella, let me be the first to admit I was wrong: he is a complete jackass.

I love the fact that Jennifer won for a sauce that seemed like she came up with almost as an afterthought. It was almost unfair that she and Kevin could be on the same team; was it really a surprise that they won?

Does anyone find it odd that the QF prize was 50% more than the EC prize?

[poor yorick]

I've been a devoted lurker since Ted sent me here from bravo, but I haven't posted til now. I'm also a little sad about Ashley. Wildly amused by Ash, though. And, as irritating as Robin clearly is, utterly disgusted with Isabella. Editing, schmediting - the dude is loathsome.

Re, food: How fantastic did Kevin and Jen's dish look? I have to say I called the win for that team (along with all the other readers of this blog, I'm sure) the moment it was announced. And how great to see the non-protein contributor take the credit. (I'm sure it's happened before, but not often.) I dare Dom to keep her below Mike V now....

Re, stew room: Yes, it's possible Kevin said something insensitive that we didn't see, but didn't Bryan look like a hyper-defensive dick? I have a little brother too, so I get it, but to snap at Kevin like that? Wow.

Re, Ashley v. Eli: If, over the years, there are any things Tom hates as much as poorly cooked meat, they are 1) screwed up seasoning and 2) screwed up gnocchi. Having had the best gnocchi of my life at Craft in nyc, I'm surprised Eli didn't go.

Re, next week: Love the intra-Borg bickering!

[Independent George]

As for the "you can't blame the equipment" comment, while that's true in most circumstances, the chefs were already dealing w/tight quarters, minimal supplies and time pressure. They disqualified one competition for a faulty freezer or something last season--I think faulty equipment is a perfectly valid reason not to send someone home.

That was my first reaction, too, but Colicchio actually had a pretty good explanation in his blog:

...the mistake they made was that they put a piece of fish on the skillet and walked away from it. Had one of them attended to it from start to finish... he could have done something the second he saw the heat fail or heard the sizzle. But while the power outage might have kept the fish from becoming crispy as they wished, it did not cause the fish to be overcooked as it was. Had Mike been watching over the fish more carefully, he could have prevented its becoming overcooked.

[KinderJ]

Now, while Mike I is never going to be a sensitivity trainer, I do kind of get where he is coming from on this. He does not trust Robin's skills, and she personally irritates him. So he isolates himself, and tries to do enough to ensure his survival. Whether that distrust is justified, we can debate. I would probably have done something similar, though I hope in a less obviously vicious way. Despite the disfunction and disjunction between Robin and Mike, they managed to stay out of the bottom. Not a problem free dish, but not a problematic one either. I am not sure what that tells us, insufficient data. I kind of wish I had Tivo so I could go and check their segments again. If I had to guess? I would say that his strategy worked. I kind of wish I knew more about how each of them contributed to the dish.

[Krazikarl]

Re: Kevin and Bryan

Yeah, it was kind of jerkish for him to go at Kevin like that. I mean, of course they are going to talk about the food. What else are they going to be discussing in that situation? Kevin didnt say anything bad and he doesnt seem like the kind of guy who would try and take a dig at somebody else's work anyway.

That said, the stress is starting to get to them pretty clearly. So I'd chalk it more up to stress than anything else.

[babyarm]

I have no idea how Ashley went home in that foursome. I guess I have to "read the blogs" to gain some insight, but Ash basically was saying "I'm done just kick me off and be done with it", and they sent Ashley home.

I was on her bandwagon for awhile, and perhaps she wasn't going to win, but she had a chance to make a good name for herself and maybe shake some things up.

Ash is on seriously borrowed time at this point. Makes the next few weeks less stressful having another Nikki around though. I mean I could easily see a bottom group of Ashley and a couple of top tier guys on some cooky challenge and boom they are gone.

Looks like the pork challenge next week for Palmer is going to be another team competition? That was uncler to some extent. Odd number so unless they make the QB sit it out it would have to be teams of 3. Great to see them working with entire sides of pork. I can't wait.

[Another Dave]

While I think Mike I is an idiot, the little Bravo intermission was hillarious with Robin talking and talking and talking...

[Bawdy George]

Well, IMO that was another dumb, contrived challenge. And Ash should have gone packing rather than Ashley. And would have kept the streak alive.

And I would really like to know the behind the scenes of the everybody hates Robin edit.

2 other observations:

1. Kevin's damning with faint praise regarding Tyler Florence was very funny.

2. BVolt's protectiveness of his brother when speaking with Kevin was way cool.

[poor yorick]

One of the best things I've read from TC's blog:

"I hear in Ash’s comments, in which he conceded that he considers Mike V. a better chef than himself, that he expects only to go so far in this competition. Washing Picasso’s paintbrushes? Ouch. If he tries to beat Mike V. by doing Mike V.’s food, then he’ll have a very hard time, because Mike looks at food quite differently than Ash does. Mike’s thinking, “When I think ‘pancetta,’ I think ‘carbonara,’ so therefore I think ‘pasta’… so how do I get the egg in there? Ravioli.” (Remember, the key question in that whole line of reasoning was a “how” question. I’m always saying that this is the question to be asking …”How…?”) Mike’s using different things as touchstones and going from there, using the familiar in an unfamiliar way. Ash doesn’t think that way; he’s more literal, and his inspiration to do food is more conventional. His way of making a carbonara, if left to his own devices, would likely have been to make a carbonara with a piece of fish atop it. So when he comes up against an unconventional thinker, Ash thinks, “Oh, he must be better.” But actually where Mike V. is better versus just different is that he has the technical proficiency to pull off his concepts."

[Scott]

I am kind of surprised they're so down on the down power. I think what bothered me the most about this elimination is that you get the feeling that Ashley went home because she had a bigger hand in the dish. It reminds me of season four when Lisa and Dale were on a team and Dale went home because he had a bigger hand in the dish a la did more things wrong. I feel that it's a tough way to judge because there really is no way for judges to know these things. CLEARLY, Eli had Gnocchi and Ashley had the prawns.

That said, it makes sense to not send Ash home, he's on the better team.

I am so happy for Jen and Kevin. I'm not surprised Bryan reacted the way he did. I mean, is anybody? He comes across as a complete ass throughout the entire competition, but that's why we like them. They're all competish and very little about the games.

I find it ironic that Michael I complains about Robin if anything because Michael I talks just as much as Robin does according to me, the viewer. Never been a Michael I fan, but I mean they scored a good dish and I'd be a fool not to attribute that mainly to Michael I.

[Scott]

I would like to say after rewatching the episode again, I am still really really sad by Ashley's departure. I just genuinely like her as a person and it's sad that she went home for something she didn't deserve. Sounds odd after people like Sam, Asian Dale, Tre and such got eliminated, but I haven't been more sad about an elimination than Ashley's

[lamelama22]

Hey Dom, you should keep calling out Jennifer Norris - it is driving her to deliver apparently, lol. You ask her to cook a steak and she knocks it out of the park. You question her ability to wow the judges and win an elimination... and boom! Round-house kick of $10k tomato awesomeness.

I was sad to see Ashley go too, but she kind of brought some of that on herself. I remember her not throwing Mattin under the bus at judges table, and she did the exact same thing here with Eli... except this time the judges couldn't see through it and he didn't royally screw up otherwise. She just seemed too nice to lay the blame on other people (not a bad thing, but a liability in a competition).

Independent George, as someone else who has defended Mike I. and gotten viciously attacked (in a mob mentality/froth of the mouth defy all logic frenzy) for it on this board for one or two of his earlier passing and totally reasonable comments... Yea, I totally agree - he's a total asshole. Granted, I said that before and earlier just defended a particular comment or two, but his behavior tonight seemed inexcusable. Some of the comments, like talking to the camera about how he thought he was better than her as a cook, very honest and blunt, arrogant, narcissistic, and something an asshole would do... but that's okay to a degree (you're allowed to be an ass on your own time). But what bothered me, what really angered me, was when he talked down to her in person and ignored her / talked over her in front of Coliccio and the judges/diners, like when he was like "You gave ME these ingredients, and I had a hard time making MY dish for you all by MYSELF".

And did he purposely throw Robin's food out of the fridge and onto the floor so they didn't have to use it, or was it just cut that way? Cause that's like one of the biggest dick moves ever in Top Chef history if he did.

KinderJ: Yea, that was my favorite part of the show, where Mike I. is just reduced to a blank "I want to kill myself" stare as Robin just thinks out loud. Those comments were hilarious too... "Oh look! A car is driving by" LOL.

Btw I traveled up to Philly had breakfast at Jennifer's restaurant... and realized no matter how much I love this show I will never ever enjoy fine dining - I just simply do not have the taste buds or palette for it. Oh well, it was still enjoyable to try something new & different.

Speaking of, does anyone else NEED to eat while watching Top Chef?

[poor yorick]

Bawdy George:
1) yes!
2) no!

[anon man]

Three quick comments:

1. The long cut of the stew room where Kevin and Mike I were grilling Bryan on his brother's dish was notable for its length. I think that Kevin and Mike were shocked that Michael was on the bottom and were probing the brother as to what happened. Bryan didn't want to talk about it, which is understandable, but wow, that was tense.

2. Ash failed in his attempt to throw himself under the bus. His basement spot is secure in my opinion.

3. For a dish that finished in the top 2, Laurine was more or less invisible in the EC. I think she got 5 seconds more screen time than I did.

[anon man]

One other thing (sorry for the double post), but it bugs when we hear judges say "we can't take into account [problem X]." Thus is a game show, not a restaurant. As we heard Michael V note, if the power goes out in your restaurant you get more time and have more product. Not the case here. Really. if the kitchen caught on fire while you were dining, they would offer you a free glass of wine and ask you to wait while they refire your meal. Can't do that when the clock strikes zero and there's no leftover fish.

I understand the mentality that they need to judge the food, not the problems, but if they take that too far, next time they try that, contestants will be shoving others down the stairs, checking heads into walls, or crushing a fallen chef under foot like a Who concert in order to get prime location in the real kitchen.

[Independent George]

As much as it hurt her, I really appreciate the fact that Ashley didn't throw Eli under the bus over the gnocchi. It probably wouldn't have helped her anyway, but it was an act of grace on her part, and I think better of her for it.

I think Kevin takes sole possession of the #1 slot tonight, followed closely by Brian, Jennifer, and Michael V.

One more episode, and then the traditional spot for Restaurant Wars. Please please please let the Top 4 survive at least that long.

[shawna]

I can't believe they are still fooled by the whole "have a night off to relax" act. Maybe they just want so badly for it to be true that they are in denial haha.

[Cousin Sam]

ugh, stupid TC website, I can't get to the "The Council Has Spoken" video. Anyone know what Ashley did to piss off the producers?

[kit]

Re: Bryan & Kevin in the stew room

I understand how Bryan could come off as being a jerk in that interlude, but my personal reaction was I felt so badly for him, because he was obviously freaking out over the fate of his brother. If you watch Kevin while Bryan is talking, he comes across completely unfazed (which is probably really just a testament to how nice and diplomatic Kevin is). One thought I had is it's possible that they often discuss dishes and "pass judgment" while killing time in the stew room, and Bryan just wanted to head that off before the conversation went there.

Well since I'm already devolving into personalitystuff, did anyone else find it adorable that Jennifer was so genuinely upset about Ashley leaving? Speaking of Ashley, she comes across simply adorable in her exit interview.

[garik16]

My Power Rankings and thoughts on the ep:

Tier 1 - The Top 4:

1. Bryan - Another top mention for a dish that was mostly if not wholly his (More on this in a sec). We really didn't see much of their work on this dish, but another top elimination performance keeps him at #1.

2. Kevin - Quickfire Win and on the Top side of the Elimination Challenge? Granted he was paired with Jen, so anything less than being on the top would have been a disappointment. Still a rocking performance.

3. Jen Norris - Sure she was at the bottom of the quickfire, but the elimination win makes up for it. The Sauce was obviously grand and heck, SHE CRACKED A SMILE! SHE SHOWED EMOTION! Who is this person?!!

4. Michael V. - Top Quickfire mention was pretty damn good, but the Elimination was a bit off. Yeah Yeah i know that the overcooking was partially due to the power problem, but still the judges seemed to have a lot of problems with the conception of the dish. This is the first time we've seen Mike with Bryan's quickfire problem of overthinking an idea and its enough to drop him below the other 3 of the top Tier, who have yet to be on the bottom of any elimination challenge.

---------------------
Tier 2 - The Potential Spoilers:

5. Mike I- Listen, Mike's an absolute jerk. Robin knew or proported to knowing asian flavors. Mind you she thought curry was middle-eastern, but still...he SHOULD have let Robin have a greater part in the dish and him "throwing out all of her work" was just plain dirty.
And yet....he still managed to put together the 3rd place dish. All by HIMSELF in essence. That's pretty impressive when you consider the top dish was the two top tier chefs and the #2 dish was Bryan with a more cooperative chef. You have to admit the talent is there, and that will be evident in individual challenges. Like the quickfire, which he rocked yet again.
He seems like he's very likely to be this year's Lisa.
-------------------------
Tier 3 - Barely Hanging on

6. Laurine- Really 6-8 can go anywhere on this list right now. Laurine has two top mentions so she gets a spot here. At the same time...every time Laurine has been on a team, she has bended over to the other chef.

At first she was with Preeti and we know how that turned out.
Then she was with Eli in the French challenge and basically seemed to go along with Eli and his "cream sauce."
Now...anyone else think that the dish in question was Bryan's and not Laurine's?

If she's on a team that is not with a top partner, or is in an individual challenge that involves some complexity, she's GOING TO BE IN TROUBLE. But since I can't tell for sure if her performance today was her or Bryan's work, She gets 6th for now. Just a

7. Eli - I think Eli should have gone home today. If Ashley had spoke up for herself and informed the judges of Eli's salting, I think he would have. And to top it off, he was bottom of the quickfire. He's only 7 and not 8 because he's shown he has the potential to wow the judges with the right challenge, and could manage to somehow sneak past a few higher chefs.

8. Robin - Lost in all the Robin drama is that we really didn't get to see what she could do in the elimination here. But she gets 8th because a. she hasn't shown anything impressive in the past and b. CURRY IS NOT MIDDLE EASTERN. Seriously. Still she might upset some challenges simply by the fact that if she's on a team, the other partner is likely to put it so much effort that that partner might get the boot instead of her.

------

Tier 4 - Dead Man Walking

9. Ash - No changes here. I liked that he basically was trying to throw himself under the bus to save Michael...but still HE LEFT THEIR COOKING STATION TO SET THE TABLE! That's like Rick Bayless saying he was going to use Betty to decorate. If he had THAT MUCH TIME ON HIS HANDS, he should have been keeping an eye on the temperature of their fish. I'm fine with him giving in to Michael's ideas. That's fine and a nice move for a contestant here to survive to the next round, but he PUT IN NO WORK WHATSOEVER. He is the one chef i couldn't see sneaking through sheer luck into the top 4.

[Independent George]

One last comment, then it's time for bed.

Every time I see a chef using the mandoline without a handguard or kevlar glove, I want to scream. I realize most people aren't nearly as clumsy as me, and thse are professional chefs, but still... Those things are deathtraps.

[Cousin Sam]

Independent George, I've never used a mandoline in my life, but that shot also gave me the willies.

And as far as Dom's powers of precognition, he was almost there: Ash---. Sometimes things just do not become all the way clear.

And not to delve too far into the evil edit theory, but Robin's constant chattering is getting on my nerves too. Can't help but think if I were in a room with her I'd want to smack her by now.

[timothy]

I can't argue too much with the elimination decision, but it bugs me a little that the two people who did the least on the worst dishes were never really in danger of going home. Doing nothing to stop failure is arguably worse than failing in an effort to succeed.

[Bart]

This whole episode made me uncomfortable.

When Mike I. joked about being beaten by a girl, he was clearly just joking around. When he talked about throwing out everything Robin cooked...that was just in appallingly bad taste.

Ash's turgid praise at judge's table was just embarrassing. Plus I never felt like Voltaggio was ever in any real danger of elimination.

I had a hard time liking this episode, but I am glad to see Kevin and Jen C. continue to perform well.

[The Last Stop]

1. Did anyone else have flashbacks of the "Norm Macdonald Fan Club" when hearing Ash speak about Michael? Ha!

2. Why have all those great chefs and not have any of them speak during the episode?! Did Govind Armstrong say anything? And if the producers were using these chefs for this round anyway, why not have one of them be the host instead of Tyler Florence?

3. Kevin is on a roll. Again, I think he gets the #1 spot this week(though I can see an argument for keeping Bryan there). 4 wins!

4. Michael has a 9 year old daughter?

[kit]

Bart says: "When Mike I. joked about being beaten by a girl, he was clearly just joking around. When he talked about throwing out everything Robin cooked...that was just in appallingly bad taste."

I find it interesting that a number of comments have expressed a negative reaction to Mike I.'s behavior this episode. In contrast, I found his beaten-by-a-girl comment to be in appallingly bad taste, and have maintained a low opinion of him ever since. As a result, I had almost no reaction to his antics last night, because he was living up to (down to?) my low expectations of his "personality". I'm not saying I'm right or wrong about this, just throwing out another perspective.

[Esther]

I'm torn about Kevin -- I absolutely love watching him (he's probably one of my favorite contestants), but I'll happily admit that it's not as innovative/flashy as the Voltaggio brothers. That said, he's consistently smart. I love that even though he's never cooked Asian, he a) didn't make the boring pan-Asian mishmash that chefs often fall into, but focused on specific flavor combinations, and b) made food that he felt confident making well: grilled pork with a fresh salad, barbecued Kobe beef. He's thinking about what he does, he's clearly got a great palate for flavor combinations, and we've yet to see a single real execution problem.

According to Tom's blog, Jen was really sick. So, y'know, go her. I have mixed feelings about a sick chef cooking (though if you're not sneezing, it's less of a big deal), but she rocked a fascinating (and totally non-seafood) dish that evening. I'm impressed.

Mike I's assholery is almost enough to make me hit the mute button every time he's on. He does seem to have cooking chops (the Quickfire dish wasn't pretty, but an emulsion of yuzu, buttermilk, olive oil, and ginger, served over mushrooms? I'm intrigued.), so he's probably not leaving any time soon. My consolation is that this may be one situation where being on Top Chef for a while hurts rather than helps a chef's career. Have we seen that with anyone previously?

(BTW, when you have a contestant who claims to have worked a lot with Asian flavors, and you've never worked with them, totally disregarding any input from her seems like sheer arrogance/stupidity. It has me wondering whether he's really that much of a douche, or whether she's so grossly incompetent that he just wouldn't trust her advice on anything.)

Ashley: makes me sad. I think it was the right decision, given what the judges knew; their dish was clearly worse than Ash and Michael's, and she refused to tell them that Eli had oversalted the gnocchi (according to Tom's blog). That said, I don't think it was entirely undeserved, either. I don't know too much about spot prawns, but if Ashley was paying such close attention and wasn't under a time crunch, and they still came out unevenly cooked, that speaks to issues of cooking and observation.

[babyarm]

While it's not a sure thing it has been a pattern that a chef getting hardly any screen time the week before goes off the next week. Especially at this point in the season.

Laurine is certainly in trouble in my mind in that capacity.

[Naomi]

So sad to see Ashley go :-( Like others, I just really liked her. I'm pretty sure she couldn't have actually taken the whole thing so I guess it doesn't truly matter when she left but I knew she could have gone farther than this and I really enjoyed watching her.

Given the chose betweeen her and Michael V. though, of course I'd prefer her to go.

Am I crazy or didn't they show Robin cooking the tuna, Mike grimacing and complaining that she was doing it all wrong, and the judges praising the tuna. After the show I kept thinking I was glad that they weren't in the top because I was worried that it could have gotten unpleasant with Mike taking too much, undue credit but maybe I misread that moment.

Although I thought Bryan was way too prickly in the stew room I also thought it was sweet. He was totally freaked out that his brother was in the bottom and didn't want anybody speculating even though that's probably what they always do and clearly Kevin meant no harm. I kind of liked it.

And yeah, how about the discovery that Michael V. has 2 kids and one of them is 9!

[Naomi]

Would have liked to see more explanation of everyone's adjective in the quickfire. Only a couple of people explained that portion (or at least that's all the editors chose to show us). For example, what was stressed about Mike I.'s dish?

[KathyV]

I found it very interesting the exchange between Kevin and Bryan in the stew room. But what I find more interesting is what Bryan actually said. Paraphrasing here, "If you didn't taste the food, you can't judge it." That makes me wonder if the editing elves didn't make sure that was aired to silence a few food bloggers run amok.

[dc]

Esther via "BTW, when you have a contestant who claims to have worked a lot with Asian flavors, and you've never worked with them, totally disregarding any input from her seems like sheer arrogance/stupidity."

Only as far as you respect the other person to walk their talk. It backfired for Ashley to give chefing reigns to Mattin's in the French challenge.

[Dan V.]

Isabella is a New Jersey jerk, there's no two ways about it. On the other hand, I wouldn't trust Robin with a potato gun. The "I think I'm going to eat this orange!" segment got a lot of laughs out of me, though.

[Independent George]

I don't have as much problem with Ash playing second fiddle as everyone else. Obviously, there's a middle road between Mike I's "I'm going to ignore everything you say" and Ash's "Yessir Dear Leader", but there's no shame in deferring to someone else if you think they've got a better handle on the situation. While his explanation was ridiculous, I will give him credit for not going the opposite route. He very easily could have said something along the lines of, "Well, Michael's style really doesn't mesh well with my own, so I decided I'd rather be a good teammate than try to force things. I would have liked to have had more input, but I thought that would only make things worse at that point." That's probably closer to the truth, but it's also kind of a sneaky way of throwing Michael under the bus.

[Esther]

@Independent George: I don't have a problem with Ash playing second fiddle, either; if the primary concern was to put out the best food, that makes sense. However, on TC, the judges tend to be pretty harsh against teammates who step back and (literally in this case!) decorate the table. You can't be judged on your cooking if you don't cook. If their dish had been worse than Ashley & Eli's, I'm not sure who would have gone home, but I suspect Ash.

[paula]

Put me in the camp that found Bryan's stressed-out, prickly defense of his brother endearing and completely understandable. I think considering the circumstances he was fairly respectful of Kevin, and Kevin seemed to take it in stride. I may be alone in this, but I really enjoy the scenes we get of the brothers together and their obvious mutual respect and love for each other, even while they're clearly competitive, too. It feels very real and positive--two attributes that are more often than not mutually exclusive in "reality" tv.

Oh, and Kevin should totally be #1 after tonight. Seems there's nothing this guy can't do.

[KinderJ]

You know, given the Mike I/Ash polarity debate, I am really wishing we had more footage of Laurine working with Bryan. How did she react to his suggestions? It seemed a very 'Bryan' dish- what did she contribute? Clearly their dynamic worked, but what was different? Where did it fall on the Mike I-Ash scale? With Kevin and Jen, there was clearly mutual respect and camaraderie, with both partners making distinct contributions. We know lots about the bottom teams and the middle pair. The only team we lack data on is Bryan and Laurine. Anybody else curious as to how that played out?

[Naomi]

Cousin Sam

ugh, stupid TC website, I can't get to the "The Council Has Spoken" video. Anyone know what Ashley did to piss off the producers?

It was a silly, little thing about rearranging furniture and lawn ornament animals.