Michael Steps Up
Tonight was a super-sized episode and it didn’t disappoint. Everyone except Elia jumped on Marcel – so much so that even I almost felt sorry for him – and I really hate Marcel.
The judge for the Quickfire Challenge was Ted Allen of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy fame. I love Ted and respect his opinion very much. Michael was hoping to win so he could sit out the elimination round because he had emergency dental work, but the chefs were told that whoever won the Quickfire Challenge would no long be offered immunity. Oddly enough, Michael won – his first win of the season. The challenge was to cook according to a chosen color and I thought everyone did well, but was really proud of Michael.
The Elimination Challenge was to cook a seven-course meal for Debi Mazar based upon the seven deadly sins. Everyone chose a knife that listed a sin. Because Michael was the winner of the Quickfire Challenge, he had the option of changing his choice and he switched lust for Marcel’s envy. Ilan and Marcel both chose to do desserts as Ilan had gluttony. Sam jumped on Marcel then Ilan jumped on Marcel. Betty has already cursed him out earlier in the season and Cliff has said if he were Betty, he would have punched Marcel. Seems the only ally Marcel has is Elia. He yelled at Betty when she was trying to help him with his dish and everyone vowed to get rid of him. When Ilan brought out his dessert to the guests, he slammed Marcel’s dessert – uncool dude!
For the challenge, Elia, Michael, and Sam were chosen as the top three. And wouldn’t you know it – Michael won. I think that is the first time in Top Chef history that someone has won both the Quickfire and Elimination Challenge within the same episode. The bottom three was Betty, Marcel, and Ilan. Betty’s soup was lumpy, Ilan’s dessert was limp, and Marcel’s dish just wasn’t lusty enough. The judges asked Ilan why he slammed Marcel and he tried to blow it off as a joke. When asked who should leave, Betty and Ilan both said Marcel. I think, unfortunately, this played to his advantage. In the end, they sent home one of my favorites – Betty. So now, my money is on Cliff or maybe Michael. Like Tom said, the way he cooked tonight, maybe he should cook on Vicodin all the time!
[tags]top chef, television, bravo, tv, reality, food, topchef, reality tv, top-chef, cooking, chef[/tags]
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