Food Network

[TripleGemini]

I'm so glad Mehta is gone.

And really, Marcel? You take what everyone thinks is the easiest combo (peanut butter and blue cheese) and get upset when they give the win to the person who you gave calamari and marshmallows to? Get over it. You did good, but she (Freitag) did better...she deserved that win.

[Kip]

I thought the judges would mark Marcel down for his ingredients not really marrying each other - not becoming one. Maybe I missed something, but it seemed like he made rocquefort ice cream and different peanut butter accompaniments. It was more like the ingredients were best friends than married.

I liked Nate helping Amanda with the pressure cooker. I also liked Alex’s remark that fusion can very easily become confusion.

The judges often seem to overlook things for some contestants and harp on little things for other contestants. A couple of episodes back, there was a challenge where the chefs had to use two different boxed cereals. It looked to me like Falkner only used raisins out one of the cereals which, if true, didn't seem to fit the spirit of the challenge. But the judges said nothing.

I'm rooting for Alex and Amanda, with the edge going to Alex, purely because I enjoy her comments about the situation more and her sense of humor is more apparent. I think Amanda's a bit shy, but would probably grow to me more comfortable. For me, an Iron Chef needs to be more than a great creative chef. An IC needs to have some personality. I like some witty asides and the ability to laugh at oneself in my ICs. I think Marcel would be more fun to watch than Appleman, but I went from being neutral about Marcel to not liking him.

[Kip]

Yay! Final 3 are Alex, Amanda & Nate. So there's a 2 out of 3 chance we'll get a female Iron Chef. I'm still mostly rooting for Alex, but I'd be very happy with an Amanda win. I'm hoping Nate doesn't win, but I do hope the judging's fair - though we'll never know as so much of it is subjective.

[sweetpea]

So Alex uses the chocolate as more of a garnish, grating it over her food, and she comes out ahead? Hmm.... Marcel has never been my favorite but I think that was pretty pathetic. His meat was too rare for one (two?) of the judges but they absolutely loved his risotto, and he obviously used the chocolate in a creative way, yet he is sent home.

Alex just grates on me. She is so sour and over the top with the drama. I wouldn't watch her on NIC. Here's hoping Amanda wins as I can't stand the other two.

[jadewarlock]

Marcel also was a contestant on Top Chef, on Bravo, so there is the chance that he lost because of that. I find it shameful myself if that was a factor because if they don't want someone from another show win, they need to not allow them on this show. It's like with "PR" All-Stars - I feel that the winner will again be a Lifetime contestant not a Bravo contestant because of this.

[Ellen]

Since my fave Elizabeth was eliminated, I'm pulling for Amanda, my second choice.
I can't stand Alex's über-annoying voice and attitude. Though I'm guessing that FN has already cherry-picked her for the tiara. I hope I'm wrong.

[PA Snow Bunny]

I love Alex & Amanda just please not Nate Appleman!

[Ellen]

Loved Elizabeth.
Like Amanda.
Tolerate Nate.
Greatly dislike Alex.

[Kip]

Marcel also was a contestant on Top Chef, on Bravo, so there is the chance that he lost because of that. I find it shameful myself if that was a factor because if they don't want someone from another show win, they need to not allow them on this show. It's like with "PR" All-Stars - I feel that the winner will again be a Lifetime contestant not a Bravo contestant because of this.

I wonder the same thing about the judging on these shows and it bothers me too. It seems like FN might be looking for a new female Iron Chef (which I think they need), but if that's the case, I wish they'd have a competition of only women. Hopefully, I'm wrong. Last year I thought the same thing and was sure Faulkner was going to win because they were looking for a woman.

We'll never know unless some judge spills the beans. The judging of fashion and food is highly subjective - and they show so few comments and generally edit them to give the wrong impression to viewers as to the outcome.

sweetpea - I was also surprised that Alex didn't get called out for grating the white chocolate over the raddichio - that was the only use of it. She did, however, use the dark chocolate inside her other dish as well as on top of it. The previous week I was surprised that Marcel wasn't called out for making rocquefort ice cream with peanut butter candies on the side - not a true marriage of ingredients IMO. I wish the full judges' discussions were available - I think those would be fascinating.

[maude~flanders]

Freitag and Appleman definitely have a little showmance going on. I've been watching the signs for a few weeks now, and Alex made a comment about it. They were both gutted when they found out that they would have to cook against each other if they lost. I'm glad they didn't. I'm a sucker for a showmance!