My goodness, after 13 episodes, here we are at the end of Season 17. We have a lot to get to, but first, some very important pre-Finale #CONTENT (h/t Diana from Top Scallop):
Quick thoughts/observations: I shouldn't be surprised by how awkward Voltaggio is. Of course Melissa is super cool and looks like she's done this a million times before. And, I don't care what the truth is. In my head, this was all conceptualized and produced by Stephanie.
But before we talk about our Top 3, let's talk a bit about how we got here:
- Lorenzo Cogo, super Italian, and super "this guy..." but you know what? He's allowed to be. He got his Michelin star at age 25. At 25 I was still acting like I was in college.
- Anyone notice that the coveralls at both the parmigiano and prosciutto facilities have collars? For some reason, this is hilarious to me.
- Easiest bet on the board for this episode was there being a "cut the cheese" joke.
- How dare the Bravo producers even try to pretend that Melissa messed up and was in danger of being eliminated.
- This episode was great for Italian tourism and not so great for Italian chefs. I get that the table was literally filled with stars and Italians are famously blunt and brutal, but I think they were pretty disrespectful in their criticism, specifically with Voltaggio.
- Tom was squirmy all throughout dinner. He just looked uncomfortable. He seemed like a nervous dad watching his kids play sports.
- The ladies destroyed this challenge. It wasn't any secret going into Judges' Table that they were moving on.
- I wasn't surprised that Melissa won the challenge, but I was surprised that Stephanie didn't.
- Kevin got stuck cooking Kevin food. Don't get me wrong: I'd love to go to any of his restaurants. But in the context of Top Chef, Kevin continuing to cook Kevin food was way different than Melissa continuing to cook Melissa food.
- I'll save a breakdown of how the Standings shook out for the full League Recap next week, but I will say that going into the Finale on Thursday, 1st and 2nd place have been locked up. The results on Thursday will determine 3rd place and Ms. Irrelevant. And... for the first time in our history, the winner of Fan Favorite could be a factor.
This was a great penultimate episode and I'm pumped for Thursday. Of course, after my Matchups Breakdown last week, we are moving forward with a three-Chef Finale (which for the record, is the right move).
In a weird way, I'm rooting for all three Chefs. Stephanie, because everyone loves a Cinderella story and absent March Madness this year, Stephanie winning would be as good as it gets. Voltaggio, because I want him to get revenge on all the Italian chefs that crushed him in Parma. And Melissa, because she has been so ruthlessly dominant, that they saddled her with Lee Anne just to make things interesting.
No poll this week asking "who ya got?". Instead, an invitation to come chat live during the Finale on Thursday. Mrs. Commish and I will make a point to watch in real time without aid of our DVR (for once). So come hang out and join us on this same page in the chat widget below. Hope to see you then!
***
CHAT INSTRUCTIONS:
- Type your name into the box next to the Twitter & Facebook buttons (you don't need to sign in using Twitter or Facebook unless you want to).
- Hit "Enter" (on your keyboard).
- You can also access the chat at tlk.io/TCFL_Finale
***
Comments
Post a Comment