TOP CHEF: Bachelor/Ette Party

Can I just say that two episodes in and I’m already loving this season? I felt like last season was a little bit of a dud (minus Carla and Fabio), but this one feels fresh and fun and like there’s a LOT of talent. Of course, that said, I’ve picked an early top three—Kevin, Jill, and Michael V. I think that last spot will be a bit of a toss-up. How about you guys? Any early faves or people that you really think came to play?

This whole Vegas thing has really added a lot to the competitions, I think. I loved the craps quickfire challenge, and how everyone actually looked excited during the standing around and rolling part. And it was just a really clever idea. And besides that, the $15K really does “raise the stakes” or “up the ante” or whatever other gambling pun you want to insert here.

I think this quickfire was also when I realized that there are a lot of people in this competition who are really, REALLY good at plate presentation, which I think was kind of lacking last year. Mattin’s soup thing was SO cool looking, and Kevin’s egg looked cool, and even though Bryan V. was in the bottom, his LOOKED neat too. I’m just pretty impressed all around, and since I mostly watch this show for the artistry of it, and not so much for the love of food, that’s a big deal for me.

I was probably a little less excited about the elimination challenge, but I suppose the bachelor/bachelorette party thing had to happen sometime, so it might as well be early, and the pairing with shots was something kind of different. But you know, I just really wasn’t crazy about that bride.

Plus, I kind of feel like I’m getting beaten over the head with editing and talking heads, especially about Michael and Bryan. It’s like, oh really, Top Chef? They’re brothers? And they’re competitive? Are they brothers who are competing with each other? BECAUSE I’M NOT SURE I GET IT YET! Why don’t you tell me some more?

Ashley was an interesting character for me this week, and I had a lot of mixed feelings about her. (Ashley is, for those keeping track, the girl who looks exactly like Ryan Adams.) I’ve been trying to think of a way to say this as non-politically as possible, since that’s how we like to roll at the GMMR, but gay marriage is such a political issue that it’s practically impossible. However, Top Chef really “went there” this week, so I’m going to go forward with this. Let me say as a disclaimer though, that it’s fine to agree or disagree with Ashley’s stance and opinions, but that we’re here to talk about TV and people on TV, and not about the finer points of political issues, so please keep comments respectful and on topic (the topic being Top Chef). Okay? Onward!

So obviously Ashley was the vocal one this week about how gay people can’t get married, and how she was mad about having to do a wedding-related challenge when it’s not a right that she can have. And it’s like … I’m totally in support of same-sex marriages and I completely agree with her on that point, but I found myself getting kind of annoyed with her. The best way I can describe it is that yes, I think you should be able to get married too, but just because you can’t doesn’t mean no one else should be able to. Does that make sense? It’s like I wanted her to redirect her outrage from the hetero couple to the actual situation preventing her from sharing those rights. So I was getting annoyed, but then at some point, I think she seemed to get a grip on her emotions and she basically said the same thing, that the couple was lucky to find each other and to be able to get married and that she should be happy for them, and then I liked her a little more.

But really, she turned a corner for me at the judges’ table, when she said she knew exactly why she was there. She wasn’t mouthy or trying to convince anyone that her food (particularly the panna cotta) was better than it was, and she was just listening to their advice.

It’s interesting, you can always tell how things at judges’ table are going to go pretty much from the start, and especially in these early challenges. You can tell who Tom wants to keep or let go based on how much he’s willing to teach them. In this case, you could see that he was giving a lot of instruction to both Jessie and Ashley, whereas he seemed to regard Eve as a lost cause, and honestly, Preeti didn’t seem to get a whole lot more from him, which makes me wonder if she’ll even make it to the halfway mark. The judges seem to not like it when they hate a dish and the chef thought it was good.

I did think Eve was the obvious choice for elimination, though—she just seems so out of her element and so overmatched.

Jessie is an interesting case to me (that’s the lip ring, for those still having trouble with names … like me), in that she’s been in the bottom two weeks in a row but I still think the judges have faith in her. I thought they were right in their observation and concern that two weeks in a row, she’s had a good idea that she hasn’t been able to execute, and WILL she be able to? I think she might be one to watch in sort of a Carla way, in that it may just take a little while for her to acclimate to the stress and the competition part of things and then she could come on strong. I still don’t necessarily see her going to the end, though, but who knows? It’s early.

A few more random asides before I turn the discussion over to my fellow fans:

First of all, WTF was up with Padma’s outfit at the pool party? She is super hot, that outfit was not. It made me want to make a Padma Pukeface.

Secondly, at the pool party, I was kind of surprised that the boys didn’t get into trouble with the judges for jumping in the pool, since that struck me as pretty unprofessional. But maybe the editors wanted to portray it as “spunky” or something.

I was cracked up when the boys and girls got separated, because the boys were like, “Awesome!” and the girls were decidedly less excited. Ashley had a valid complaint with, “We’re all just people and it shouldn’t matter what your gender is.” Jill had a much less intelligent complaint with, “Whatever! It’s stupid! I’m so pissed off!” Well you know what, JILL? We couldn’t tell from looking at your face, BECAUSE IT ALWAYS LOOKS PISSED OFF! You are skinny and successful and talented and on Top Chef, so how about you trying smiling every now and then? But honestly, I think the guy’s team was probably stronger, and that’s why the girls were mad and the boys weren’t.

Speaking of dividing along the gender lines, I was really surprised with a challenge like this that Macho Mike the Chauvinist was able to keep his sexist pig comments to a minimum, but he did a pretty good job, and I kind of liked that little segment with the nicknames. The Pickle Brothers? Honestly? But it really cracked me up and therein is my problem with Mike—he’s such an ass but I find myself kind of liking him in spite of it all and I have no idea why.

Bravo to Bravo (see what I did there?) for those little vignettes in the middle of commercials. It really does make me go back and watch because that’s usually where the funny little throwaway stuff ends up, and I usually end up catching an extra commercial or two in there because of it. Totally worth it, and if you’re hitting fast forward you might want to slow down to catch those.

I think that does it for me, at least until you guys point out things I forgot to mention and I have to jump back in again! Happy discussing!

SB has many interests, including photography, her pets, entertainment, traveling and writing. She does have a day job, but that mostly amounts to her being a sarcastic young woman with a lot of time on her hands, which is why she appreciates the opportunity to recap.