Marcel Vigneron - Season 2

[Winston Smith]

Originally Posted by dondale56

Winston, you so hit it on the head. I would add that, to be a good leader, you must be able to listen and HEAR. This doesn't mean that you have to take all advice, but you have to give one and all their due.

Not really. Leadership is about leading, not listening. If you're listening to other people and taking their advice you're a collaborator or a partner, but not a leader. Sometimes giving everyone their due is the worst thing you could do. This is especially true in a kitchen. Too many cooks spoil the sauce as the saying goes.

This seems to be a trait that Marcel, Elia and Cliff lack in abundance. Elia and Cliff can't listen or hear.

This isn't really true. I already mentioned this on another thread. But at one point on the holiday challenge Elia and Cliff gave Mia a chance to speak, but Mia refused so they moved on. This isn't true of Marcel either. On some challenges (Thanksgiving) Marcel was the only one who listened.

Marcel is too egotistical to give others their credit. He is so caught up in ME, ME, ME that he can't see the US/WE.

Again, not true. There's a bonus clip at the Bravo site that shows Marcel talking to the kids where he tells them to thank Frank for making the pizza. He also complented Ilan and Mike for their paella on the Social challenge. He's no more caught up in himself than the other contestants.

Has Marcel one an individual challenge? If he has, it apperantly wasn't memorable, Could someone refresh me?

As mentioned before, he won the raw food challenge. And according to Harold, Marcel was the only one who listened on this challenge.

Other than Ilan, Marcel is the only cook who hasn't ranked in the bottom three on the elimination challenges. Since they don't always show the reaction to his food, he's probably a stronger contender than most of us realize.

[Google]

 

[gizmo1]

I have never judged any of the chefs based upon their physical appearance unless they are a total slob where I would not want them touching or cooking anything for me. With the amount of hair that Marcel has, I am surprised that he isn't forced to wear some kind of cap or cover unless he uses some sort of gel to keep it in place, although he claims it is trained to stay put.

Marcel is not one of my favorites. Of the remaining chefs, I am pulling for either Ilan or Elia to win, although I have a feeling Sam is going to be the ultimate winner. Marcel has a lot of good ideas but lacks the chops to execute them fully. People have been wondering why Ilan has it in for Marcel. Maybe the fact that Ilan has to bunk with Marcel, having to listen to this guy 24/7 that he has disliked since the 'show me yours and I will show you mine' knife introduction in Episode one, has built up from dislike to hate. Hopefully some of the stuff that this almost universal dislike of Marcel will become clear to we viewers at the reunion.

[Winston Smith]

Originally Posted by gizmo1

Maybe the fact that Ilan has to bunk with Marcel, having to listen to this guy 24/7 that he has disliked since the 'show me yours and I will show you mine' knife introduction in Episode one, has built up from dislike to hate. Hopefully some of the stuff that this almost universal dislike of Marcel will become clear to we viewers at the reunion.

Ilan hated Marcel from the moment they first met. That much is clear from the season premiere. It had nothing to do with sharing living space 24/7.

And Marcel isn't even close to being universally hated. Elia likes him, and he seems to be pretty chummy with Mike. He was also friends with Josie, but they were never shown interacting on the show. Betty, Ilan, Sam and Mia all hate him, but most of the others seem pretty neutral, including Frank, who only started hating Marcel after Sam goaded him into picking a fight over the toothbrush.

[gizmo1]

Frank first started hating Marcel when Cliff chose Marcel's sauce over Frank's. Frank considers Marcel to be a Johnnie-come-lately who by all rights
hasn't been cooking long enough to be called a chef.

There are various degrees of hate. Episode one was the beginning of this
"hate" by Ilan which over the next 8 episodes would steadily grow. If Chefs have to show some good behavior during fiming, not so when in their living quarters where it's there is no one to monitor them. That's what I meant by sharing living space with someone you cannot stand: Slights, imagined or otherwise, that are held back during filming are going to come out back in their living quarters where there are no judges allowed.

Elia is Marcel's only friend. Yes there are those who really hate him and there are some that merely tolerate him but would do him no favors. Somehow I can't picture Mike being chummy w/Marcel. They would surely make an odd couple...Mike the slob vs. Marcel, the guy who spends 40 minutes in the bathroom primping and fussing with hsi hair.TGIF style food vs molecular cutting edge gastronomy.

[Lex]

Originally Posted by Winston Smith

If you went from liking Marcel to hating him again, you should have another change of heart after watching this preview clip.

Nope, still hate him.

[MFJC]

Originally Posted by Winston Smith

If you didn't like him before based on his looks, I don't expect that clip to change your mind. But this clip supports the argument that he hasn't done anything to justify the extreme hatred he gets from Betty and Ilan.

The clip actually implies that Marcel snapped at Betty (according to Betty and others). I don't know the context in which that happened, but I don't see how you can say he hasn't done anything. He's done plenty enough to annoy the heck out of me, even though I kind of liked him during the Thanksgiving episode.

[Surly]

In the clip you hear a member of the production telling Marcel not to serve yet and then Marcel telling Betty not to serve yet. There was no snapping at Betty. If Betty and the others thinks that qualifies as snapping they have no business being in a real kitchen.

[gizmo1]

Maybe Betty is so used to being the boss, as in real life, that when someone like Marcel gives her an order, she unconsciously takes it the wrong way.

[gabriel]

Originally Posted by Surly

In the clip you hear a member of the production telling Marcel not to serve yet and then Marcel telling Betty not to serve yet. There was no snapping at Betty. If Betty and the others thinks that qualifies as snapping they have no business being in a real kitchen.

Isn't that the truth? I've managed a restaurant and quite frankly snapping at people happened more than not in the kitchen.

[Gala62]

Someone seriously needs to intervene with Marcel and his obsession with "foams". I mean, seriously, who looks at a menu/plate and exclaims, "oh joy, they're serving FOAM tonight!" Cat spit indeed!