Top Chef Seattle 1/16 Show Discussion *Spoilers*

[obsession57]

Sorry, I thought the show was about food, not about who is best at BS, being loud, and best at getting out of tight spot while being a mediocre cook.

I can't agree in this particular instance because Jossie has been in the bottom many times and Kristen has been lauded many time. So the restaurant thing fell though, let's just sent the best chef home and keep the awful one!? If that's the case just change the rules and make it "Top restaurateur" or something else

Don't forget that in general, the judges did not like the two dishes that Kristen prepared, they pointed out many flaws. Overall, her performance was probably worse that Josie's when it came to the actual food. The judges like the broth for the soup that Josie made.

[tinderbox]

...Don't forget that in general, the judges did not like the two dishes that Kristen prepared, they pointed out many flaws. Overall, her performance was probably worse that Josie's when it came to the actual food. The judges like the broth for the soup that Josie made.

True. Except, we saw the edited version of the judging. We'll never know exactly what they had to say about Josie's performance/food.

Very very sad that Kristin didn't stand up for herself. Maybe it's some sort of cultural thing... She'd still be there if she would have aired her issues with Josie, imo.

[Little Sew&Sew]

I am pretty much done now for the season. Josie is nothing more than a ringer - she's there for the drama she creates. People love to hate her and her annoying, overbearing, obnoxious personality.

In contrast, they are showing us a softer side of Stefan. Once again, it makes for good tv.

Hoping Sheldon wins, but I may wait until that decision is being made to tune back in.

[MFWalkoff]

Andy Dehnart wasted no time firing off a nice article about last night's debacle:

Top Chef judges' credibility-destroying decision wasn't unanimous + reality blurred

Tom is so stubborn about the letter of the law when it comes to preserving the show's integrity, but I think his stubbornness ended up having the opposite effect this season. For once, he should have broken his own rules. Or at least pressed Kristin harder to speak up.

[Shoepie]

Sorry, I thought the show was about food, not about who is best at BS, being loud, and best at getting out of tight spot while being a mediocre cook.

I can't agree in this particular instance because Jossie has been in the bottom many times and Kristen has been lauded many time. So the restaurant thing fell though, let's just sent the best chef home and keep the awful one!? If that's the case just change the rules and make it "Top restaurateur" or something else

We are on the same page. Josie should have gone home from where I sat but because Kristin did not fight for herself it irritated me. Though I am sure it is a cultural thing, if you are going to meekly swallow your pride and keep your mouth shut then it is time to go home. It was frustrating to watch.

[AcookerTV]

Tom's blog about last night's show is very good, and worth the read. He said that knowing what he knew at judge's table, he believed they made the right decision, but that seeing what happened on the show that was NOT brought up at judge's table would have changed his mind. As he explained it, they made the decision they did because the primary problem with the dish was that the sauce was fantastic, but there was not enough of it. Kristen admitted she was the one who sauced it, so she was held accountable. But Tom said that watching the show, he saw that the problems with the sauce (that it used cream instead of gelitan) was not caused by Kristen's concept as they had believed, but by Josie not honoring Kristen's instruction to make it the day before, and then lying to her saying she'd do it first thing in the morning, but did not. He said that had Kristen brought those things up, he would have voted for Josie to go instead. It's a shame, but Kristen on her own made the choice as to whether she'd advocate for herself or not. She didn't.

[dantrb]

Tom is so stubborn about the letter of the law when it comes to preserving the show's integrity, but I think his stubbornness ended up having the opposite effect this season. For once, he should have broken his own rules. Or at least pressed Kristin harder to speak up.

I call BS on Tom. What's the point of judging in Restaurant Wars if the losing team/head chef is going to go home automatically then!? When the decision at hand feels "wrong" (keeping Josie, a mediocre chef) you as a judge should intervene. How many chances has Josie gotten till now!?

I already deleted TC from my recording queue. Part of the enjoyment of watching the show is to see what interesting dishes the contestants are going to present. If the judges feel the "circus" is more important than the "bread," I rather watch something else.

[TripleGemini]

As obnoxious as this sounds, part of me now wants Josie to make the final two (or three), just to prove what an idiotic turn this show has taken.

And while it's ultimately Kristen's fault that she went home, I couldn't believe that neither Lizzie nor Brooke spoke up. They knew that Josie had undermined the bouillabaisse, and yet they said nothing.

Taking the high road is awesome in life. Not so much in a competition.

[Tilden]

In his blog, Tom also wrote that he wished he would have asked Kristin if she would hire Josie to work in a restaurant which she owned, which would have given her the opportunity to respond without appearing to throw Josie under the bus, which Kristin was uncomfortable doing.

Personally, I wondered why none of the judges asked the other two team members, whom they kept standing there, any questions. They knew they were safe and could have answered without worrying about how their answers might affect whether they stayed or not. They know by now that Josie will do what she has to in order to save her own tail, and if Kristin appeared to be uncomfortable playing Josie's game, which she did, and the others seemed uncomfortable with the way the questioning was going, which they did, they should have taken advantage of the opportunity to ask the other two team members some pointed questions about Kristin and Josie's respective performances.

As for Kristin, I think she would have been criticized by the judges had she stood up for herself too. She would have had the old "but it was your concept and your restaurant and your responsibility" argument thrown in her face, and she likely knew that. She took responsibility, didn't explain exactly how uncooperative Josie had been, and got booted anyway. But, as she pointed out, at least she leaves knowing she did what she thought was personally appropriate, even if the judges decided it indicated that a clearly inferior chef should be saved at her expense.

[dantrb]

As for Kristin, I think she would have been criticized by the judges had she stood up for herself too. She would have had the old "but it was your concept and your restaurant and your responsibility" argument thrown in her face, and she likely knew that. She took responsibility, didn't explain exactly how uncooperative Josie had been, and got booted anyway.

Good point. With the judges you never know.