Episode 8: "Common Threads" Options

[SecondTry]

Jim...... I mean Second
Please forgive.

But I can't make heads or tails out of your math equations and point systems....I'm a stooonad!..What bloody hell do they mean???...Do they tell us who will win?????lol

No, the points only tell you who's done well so far--Sam was leading throughout most of the competition, but he didn't make the final two. Likewise, Marcel was in the middle of the pack for most of the competition, and only got into the top slots towards the end (almost by default).

And, just to refresh, the scoring system is:

+4 per elimination win
+3 per elimination honorable mention
+2 per quickfire win
+1 per quickfire honorable mention
-1 per quickfire dishonorable mention
-3 per time on the chopping block
-4 when eliminated

[bJason]

Well, I'm a dork with glasses who looks freakishly similar to Kevin Smith... AND I want to be a cheftestant!

I am definitely a Four-eyed dork - but have NO desire to be a cheftestant. I would love to tech for the show. That would be sweet!

[WhataJoke]

Don't ask me why I did this, but......I just spent the last few days watching all 13 episodes from season 2 (I came in about 2/3 of the way through when they were first aired, and missed the first two episodes when Dan & his boyfriend watched them).


Of course, doing so, I had to keep score. So, for comparison to this year's standings (see my sig), here are the final points for the S2 chefs:

Ilan +16
Sam +13
Marcel +9
Betty +8
Cliff +2
Elia -1
Frank -2
Josie -2
Emily -4
Mia -5
Suyai -5
Otto -7
Michael -9
Carlos -11
Marisa -11


Sam and Betty were pretty much splitting the top spot early, until Betty had her bad run starting with Episode 5. From there, Sam was running away with it until he was eliminated--even Restaurant Wars didn't hurt him much, since he'd built up so much of a lead until then.

One thing that struck me was Marcel's repeated line, "I'm not here to make friends; I'm here to win." Did he really think the others were there to lose? Sam and Betty and Ilan were kicking his ass throughout most of the competition, and none of them had anywhere near the personality conflicts he had.

WOW cool list. Aside from the Beach challenge Sam dominated that season. Seeing that Betty was pretty solid as well get lost in the whole Betty vs. Marcel thing that kept getting rehashed.

And yeah it was funny listening to MC Foamy trying to justify his alienation of the rest of the cast by simply saying he wasn't there to make friends like this was a month long sequestered social club and not a reality competition for 100K.

[WhataJoke]

Oh and I found Padma's quote about Stephanie's food:

"It's disgusting. I really detested it. The couscous was awful."

But her opinion doesn't count lol.

[WhataJoke]

Quick Question:

Did Antonia win anything?

[NiCi]

Quick Question:

Did Antonia win anything?

Nope, but then again you may not want to rely on my memroy as my brain sorta short circuted when Andrew made his little comment at the end of the show.
I will say it again... Ewwwwwwwww!

[SimonBao]

Nope, but then again you may not want to rely on my memroy as my brain sorta short circuted when Andrew made his little comment at the end of the show.
I will say it again... Ewwwwwwwww!

I believe Antonia won a $10 Gift Certificate for Whole Foods.

No, they didn't show us Antonia winning anything, which might not be odd, the challenge was for a charity. Nice if they did give some prize to Antonia's lil' cheftestant helper though.

[Kristlkrost]

No, the points only tell you who's done well so far--Sam was leading throughout most of the competition, but he didn't make the final two. Likewise, Marcel was in the middle of the pack for most of the competition, and only got into the top slots towards the end (almost by default).

And, just to refresh, the scoring system is:

+4 per elimination win
+3 per elimination honorable mention
+2 per quickfire win
+1 per quickfire honorable mention
-1 per quickfire dishonorable mention
-3 per time on the chopping block
-4 when eliminated

OK.... Got it.... almost

As Psh would say...tawk math to me.

Richard to win baby!!!

GOOOOOOOOOOOO RICHARD

He's my guy..............He wishes

[WhataJoke]

From Mark's Blog! I didn't even know he had one!

"An Entree for 4 people with a $10 budget--I actually asked if we could shop at a bodega as opposed to Wholefoods just to give us a fighting chance, but no luck. I suggest we rename Wholefoods- "Wholepaycheck"; simply because it's an expensive place to shop and unless I win the lottery, I will continue to shop at my local green market.

A vegetable curry is my go-to for a cheap and easy-to-make meal. I love that dish and stand by it. The judges commented on lack of protein, but the truth is the rice counteracts the lack of vegetable protein as it contains essential amino acids, and thereby creating a complete meal.
Tom stated that I didn’t spend my money wisely at Wholefoods. Well the truth is that the only ingredients not included in my $10 was salt and a cup of rice.I felt the other competitors relied heavily on the ingredients that were supplied in the kitchen and their dishes did not reflect a meal for $10.

There were obviously a few things about the challenge that made it frustrating for me, for example, when we were presented with the challenge initially, it was for a family of 4, then it became a table of 4 kids. Had I known this I would have made the curry a lot more child-friendly.

Andy’s breaded chicken with fennel salad was the best meal that day. It was well-balanced and well-received.

There was always a lot of banter between myself and Tom at judgement table, and when I said "he just doesn’t like me" it was just a joke. He's a great chef and its totally irrelevant whether he likes me or not. But I am holding him to that beer he mentioned as I got my marching orders.

Watching last night’s chopping block, it could have been anyone of us and I was surprised it was me. Having that been said, I didn’t have a great exit speech lined up like Ryan did.

Well, that’s it for me. I feel privileged to have had this opportunity and experience, and I met I a lot of awesome people. I am looking forward to the reunion!

Thanks for all your support and well wishes through the competition."

The show not making any refrence to the Rice is a huge problem for me. As is the fact that Mark asserts that the TC pantry was used far more than people thought before.
I tlooks to me like they deliberately left out the fact that Mark used rice to give formulate the protien argument.

[Kristlkrost]

From Mark's Blog! I didn't even know he had one!

"An Entree for 4 people with a $10 budget--I actually asked if we could shop at a bodega as opposed to Wholefoods just to give us a fighting chance, but no luck. I suggest we rename Wholefoods- "Wholepaycheck"; simply because it's an expensive place to shop and unless I win the lottery, I will continue to shop at my local green market.

A vegetable curry is my go-to for a cheap and easy-to-make meal. I love that dish and stand by it. The judges commented on lack of protein, but the truth is the rice counteracts the lack of vegetable protein as it contains essential amino acids, and thereby creating a complete meal.
Tom stated that I didn't spend my money wisely at Wholefoods. Well the truth is that the only ingredients not included in my $10 was salt and a cup of rice.I felt the other competitors relied heavily on the ingredients that were supplied in the kitchen and their dishes did not reflect a meal for $10.

There were obviously a few things about the challenge that made it frustrating for me, for example, when we were presented with the challenge initially, it was for a family of 4, then it became a table of 4 kids. Had I known this I would have made the curry a lot more child-friendly.

Andy's breaded chicken with fennel salad was the best meal that day. It was well-balanced and well-received.

There was always a lot of banter between myself and Tom at judgement table, and when I said "he just doesn't like me" it was just a joke. He's a great chef and its totally irrelevant whether he likes me or not. But I am holding him to that beer he mentioned as I got my marching orders.

Watching last night's chopping block, it could have been anyone of us and I was surprised it was me. Having that been said, I didn't have a great exit speech lined up like Ryan did.

Well, that's it for me. I feel privileged to have had this opportunity and experience, and I met I a lot of awesome people. I am looking forward to the reunion!

Thanks for all your support and well wishes through the competition."

The show not making any refrence to the Rice is a huge problem for me. As is the fact that Mark asserts that the TC pantry was used far more than people thought before.
I tlooks to me like they deliberately left out the fact that Mark used rice to give formulate the protien argument.

He never mentioned it being rigged
either or that he dislikes Tom or felt it was unfair.....Funny.... few do.

Nice guy though...Nice exit...A good way to go.

[SecondTry]

OK.... Got it.... almost

As Psh would say...tawk math to me.

Richard to win baby!!!

GOOOOOOOOOOOO RICHARD

He's my guy..............He wishes

Which brings up another interesting comparison between Season 2 and Season 4. Both Marcel and Richard are into "molecular gastronomy", i.e., they're on the cutting edge--but only Marcel uses that as an excuse to be an obnoxious brat. Richard (who, admittedly, is considerably older than Marcel) doesn't.

In other words, Richard's attitude seems to be "look what I can do!", while Marcel's was "look what you can't do."

[WhataJoke]

He never mentioned it being rigged
either or that he dislikes Tom or felt it was unfair.....Funny.... few do.

Nice guy though...Nice exit...A good way to go.

His comment in his blog regarding the Improve Episode in which Jen was let go.

"It was surprising to see Jenny go as she was one of the strongest cooks in the competition; it goes to show the judges can find any reason for outing one of the contestants."

Sounds like what I have been saying for a while.

[NiCi]

Which brings up another interesting comparison between Season 2 and Season 4. Both Marcel and Richard are into "molecular gastronomy", i.e., they're on the cutting edge--but only Marcel uses that as an excuse to be an obnoxious brat. Richard (who, admittedly, is considerably older than Marcel) doesn't.

In other words, Richard's attitude seems to be "look what I can do!", while Marcel's was "look what you can't do."

A world of difference between those attitudes!

[WhataJoke]

A world of difference between those attitudes!

Could you imagine Marcel being forced to work with a kid? LMAO!
We would have gotten a interview with the ten year old saying:

"I got stuck with the dork, and he made me eat foam!"

[Kristlkrost]

His comment in his blog regarding the Improve Episode in which Jen was let go.

"It was surprising to see Jenny go as she was one of the strongest cooks in the competition; it goes to show the judges can find any reason for outing one of the contestants."

Sounds like what I have been saying for a while.

Ah ...but that is subjective isn't it??

Any reason could mean even a
good cook can go is how I took it.

But I'm sure there will be interviews and the Blogger's can ask that directly as we could conjecture all day ....and we have.

I have never heard but one or two maybe
say that they get rid of peeps for ratings or any other reason but bad food.
Why????? Cause it just doesn't happen

And they were basically disgruntled employees.
I mean Zoie...she won't be Tom and Padma's monkey for Gawd's sakes....Gee.. sweets maybe you shoulda' suited up.

Anywhoooo


GOOOOOOOOOO YANKEEEEEEEEES!

[SecondTry]

A world of difference between those attitudes!

There is, I think. Richard's like a kid with a new toy that he loves to play with and show everyone else. Marcel's more like the kid who keeps pointing out that he's got the toy and you don't. Richard's about enthusiasm, Marcel's about one-upmanship.

[SecondTry]

Could you imagine Marcel being forced to work with a kid? LMAO!
We would have gotten a interview with the ten year old saying:

"I got stuck with the dork, and he made me eat foam!"

"He wouldn't even tell me his name, because he said he wasn't there to make friends."

[Kristlkrost]

Which brings up another interesting comparison between Season 2 and Season 4. Both Marcel and Richard are into "molecular gastronomy", i.e., they're on the cutting edge--but only Marcel uses that as an excuse to be an obnoxious brat. Richard (who, admittedly, is considerably older than Marcel) doesn't.

In other words, Richard's attitude seems to be "look what I can do!", while Marcel's was "look what you can't do."

Oh GAWD Jimster......Don't make me defend
Marcel.

Marcel was cocky.....but he was cute cocky.
He is young and a nerd and he's ...well
I loved him.
I loved 'cause he handled all that mess so graciously.
I loved him 'cause he loves his mother. You can confuse passion for cocky maybe??? The guy lived and breathed food...Can we say the same for Mikey??..I never saw that...They TOLD you that.
I told ya' peeps hated Hung and Marcel BEFORE the show started....From the promos.

I DID not love his rapping.

But I even liked him before that.
I never saw what others saw and I am not alone.

OK.... you made me.


He was so cute at times...So very.
His eyes sparkled

This post has been edited by Kristlkrost: May 5, 2008 - 01:08 PM

[SimonBao]

I told ya' peeps hated Hung and Marcel BEFORE the show started....From the promos.

I'm not sure many people would have seen a promo for Top Chef. I know I never did.

I'm not sure that there are many people who really put Hung and Marcel in the same category, notwithstanding that they know one another.

On technique, not even once did Hung mis-use foam or sous-vide, not once. He said a lot of things that he was rightly scolded for but... he was a good teammate by and large. His taste combinations were always pleasing, except when he aimed a bit low. Perhaps too passive with Joey when he needed to be more assertive. And a Prince of the Kitchen with Sara M's team.

I'm not sure people really see those 2 chefs as being similar, or that people ever respond to them similarly.

Marcel lacks culinary judgment and social skills. We may not have seen all that happened when they brought back S1 and S2 chefs for a cook-off, but Marcel's conduct interaction with chefs from S1 was kind of disgusting. In terms of interpersonal skills, Marcel rides the little yellow bus.

I have no reason to assert that Magical Elves knew Marcel was such a SpEd or that including him in the cast would inevitably lead to drama. But watching him, I kept thinking he was there for all the same reasons that "Puck" was very deliberately chosen for The Real World/San Francisco.

This post has been edited by SimonBao: May 5, 2008 - 01:18 PM

[SecondTry]

You can confuse passion for cocky maybe??? The guy lived and breathed food...Can we say the same for Mikey??

No....but we can say the same for Sam. And Ilan. And Betty. Maybe not so much Elia, since she came across more as a perfectionist in general and food was just her primary means of expressing it.

But Betty in particular was passionate about food. She said it herself, she loves cooking for people and giving them her food. Sam and Ilan were serious, focused chefs--and none of the three had anywhere near the interpersonal problems that Marcel had.

Sam had issues with him. Ilan had issues with him. Cliff had issues with him. Betty had issues with him. Frank had issues with him. Even Elia, who started out as pretty much his only ally in the loft, developed issues with him.