TCFL 18 Portland // Episode 7 Recap

Happy Restaurant Wars Day, TCFL! Remember that we'll have the TCFL Chat Room open tonight during RW (8PM ET). In the meantime, here are the Standings, and Power Rankings going into tonight's episode.

"Locks... to pack their knives and go."

9. Maria -- She is now the lowest active scorer in TCFL at -9 overall and in this case, the scoring matches the eye test. I'm not sure that the best strategy is to continue to try and cook dishes with an ingredient you are allergic to. I'll be damned if she's not out within the next couple of episodes and to be honest, I think she should have been the one to go home (for the raw tortilla) over Avishar.

8. Chris -- "Nothing that Chris makes has any seasoning in it." That's pretty much all you need to know about Chris and his chances to advance in the competition. Consistently needing salt will eventually doom you sooner or later. And if that won't do him in, then his VERY AGGRESSIVE mandolin-ing will. As someone who has visited urgent care over a mandolin mishap, I was cringing just watching it.

"The Minor Leaguer (for now?)"

7. Sasha -- For those of you that haven't been watching LCK... why? Aside from getting laid back Tom, the other highlight of the mini-series so far has been Sasha borderline dominating. Sasha has four LCK wins so far, and while she has a long way to go, it's very, very clear that she was eliminated from the main competition too early.

"Comfortably in the Middle"

6. Byron -- I think the worst thing I can say about Byron is that I don't have a lot to say about Byron. He has a great personality and a great pedigree, but I can't say that I've been wow'd by his cooking yet.

5. Jamie -- She's baaack... and came back with a bang with an Elimination Challenge win in Episode 7. There is a history of LCK winners coming back to win the whole thing, but I can't say that I envision Jamie being one of those select few.

"The Dark Horse"

4. Dawn -- There is a real possibility that I'm going to look stupid by ranking her this low. One cool thing about having the Alumni around all season is that they have time to develop real opinions of the food that the Cheftestants make. And you can tell that the Alumni react differently (in a great way) to Dawn's food. She is currently the 2nd leading scorer this season (behind Gabe), and were it not for her early-season mishaps, might be considered a lock to make the Finale.

"The Contenders"

3. Shota -- Remember last season in All-Stars when all the Chefs went to cook at the summer camp and Melissa decided to make a lame wilty salad... then proceeded to kick everyone's ass all the way to the title? A gross-looking chicken drumstick could -- could -- be Shota's "wilty salad". On the other hand, out of the true contenders, Shota is the one who has shown that the restrictions of the challenges can frustrate him and/or throw him for a loop.

2. Gabe -- As much as Sara's use of yogurt has become "a thing" this season, Gabe's mole making is not far behind. Gabe is currently the leading scorer this season and has shown innovation and a clear POV. Does he have another out-of-nowhere moment like he had with the liver mousse churros, and will that be enough to derail him?

1. Sara -- Captain Yogurt as she is now known was famously chosen by all TCFL teams and going into Restaurant Wars, is my favorite to win the whole damn thing. While both Gabe and Shota have had higher highs, they've also had lower lows and have shown a propensity for having a random brain fart for seemingly no reason. You need consistency to get to the Finale. If I had to bet my life on anyone making it to the last challenge, it's Sara.

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