Oh Flipit, I cried, I really did when Beaker started started crying at Judges table. She damn near broke my heart there. I so hope she gets fan favourite.

I was rooting for Stefan because, despite the cocky side (which I'll confess kind of works for me anyway), he actually seemed to have some manners in the kitchen. He was the only one to help Beaker with her oysters and he was the one to try to comfort her at the end.

Hosea can go suck a fish.

Ack, it posted before I could tell you that you did an amazing job. I haven't actually watched the show since Ilan won (I can hold a grudge) but your recaps brought me back in. Yeah, you're that good :D

Hosea didn't win, Richard did!! Not one plate he put out looked like his past dishes, but they did look exactly like Richard's doing. Damn you Bunny Foo Foo, just do what Beaker says and do not add your 2 cents!! I am soo mad at Beaker for listening to her ass. All I can hope for now is that she wins fan favorite. Best line of the night, Stephan saying that Marcels a bit of a twat, but who isn't. Loved it!! I am so glad that Sharon showed up for the finale, you rock Flipit!!

ANGER. RIGHTEOUS ANGER!!

I am still mad at this stupid show 2 days later!! Clearly, I need a life, but I can't believe both Stefan and Carla boned it so hard. If I ever see Casey I'm gonna kick her in the throat!! :(

Something I love: The aereola on the hand caption

Something I despise: The outcome of this season. Heart-breaking! I was scared something was up the entire episode because Carla was so sedate in her interviews, Stefan was so bitter, and Hosea was all boast-y. When he won, I gagged a little.

And what was up with the creepy kiss/lingering shot of him and Leah as the credits rolled?

GAH! Casey! You SUCK! This is the second time she's choked in the finals, and this time she took our lovely Beaker with her. Just be a sous-chef for christ sake. If Marcel can suck it up and do it, so can you.

This finale was so depressing.

I knew that Beaker was screwed when Foo Foo showed up. Seriously, she was the best that the producers could come up with? And Richard and the Wolfman? Sheesh.

I was starting to think that Scar had a clause in her contract that prevented any other woman from showing more cleavage than her. I mean the girl's got to score a new Gramps, right? Then Gail showed up. Flipit I am forever in your debt for the screencap of Gail's boobage. I have a serious Gail crush going on.

Beaker lost because her spirit guides had her confused and she forgot to turn down the temperature on the oven, and they didn't beat the hell out of Foo Foo and tell her to shut up and let Beaker make the decisions. She really needs to sit down and have a serious talk with those girls.

Stefan's food stood about the same chance as his romance with the Turtle, but his ego wouldn't let him see it.

I was so underwhelmed when Hosea won. Yawn. Now he can grow his beard out, head back to Amish country, and open up a meat and potatoes restaurant

oh Flipit, you are the best. I was only in the 1st paragraph when the uncontrollable laughter started - Ronda acting like a seal!

Agree that Hosea didn't win it; Blais did. Casey totally boned it, but Carla's problem was lack of self-confidence to cook her way. She did it earlier in the season when some douche put mushrooms on the bottom of her salad, and she didn't stop it. She had really come on strong but then allowed Casey to drown out the wise, creative voices of Ronda and Juanita. Casey still deserves a rabbit punch to her kidney.

Stefan got screwed! I never thought I would agree with Baby Herman, but he wrote a pretty good analysis of why Stefan should have won the title.

Hosea should use some of the prize money to fix his freaking scary dracula teeth.

Hosea is on Regis and Kelly right now and is totally boning it. Shocker! Not. Anderson Cooper clearly wants nothing to do with him.

I despise Hosebag. I truly do. This is the first time I actually got choked up watching a reality tv show.
Poor, poor Carla! If only she had the confidance to stay the course she just might have won.
But no, that passive aggressive tool bunny foo-foo had to become Carlas 'sous chef'.
Has anyone read Caseys interview? She laid the blame on Carlas defeat squarely on Carla -- she said that Carla was in over her head, had no formal training, and took an entire day making one sauce leaving all the work to poor bunny foofoo. What a bitch.
And hosebag! To say 'At least I cooked my own food' to a sobbing Carla -- god, what a complete douchebag. I can only hope his dating pool is reduced to crackwhores and Paris Hilton.

Stefan was robbed -- apparently daddy tom thinks this competition is named 'top personality'.

While in the end in may have been Carla's fault she handed away I even more angry when I read what Casey had to say on SideDish yesterday.

"Carla was not prepared and in over her head. The show did not talk about how the first course (crab) took her half of the friggin’ cooking time that day, I was left to work the rest of HER dishes.
She also did not have a plan. The ONLY thing she had in mind was a cheese course! I would NEVER do a cheese course. And where in the hell did french come from!? She is not even classically trained! It (the show) didn’t talk about how I worked on a sauce for 2 days and Carla forgot to put it on the plate… It didn’t show how the 2nd course (fish) was MINE. It didn’t show how she took the sous vide idea and decided to GRILL it last minute causing it to be tough… And it didn’t show how she WANTED to do the souffles which she does not even know how to make! That was HER food, because it certainly was me asking her how she wanted to do this and that while she was busy picking crab the entire time and making a souffle that didn’t rise!
I am done with TC. I did not influence her. She has NO ideas of her own, oh, except a cheese course."

Talk about a major Bitch.

Bunny Foo Foo inspires such hate in me. Is it because I've never seen her smile? I don't trust people who take themselves too seriously and Beaker should have known better. I feel so bad for her.
Loved the Millionaire Matchmaker/Travolta gag, you kill me Flipit.
Big Kiss

So while Casey was spending her morning trashing Carla to take out her anger with the Exes at Top Chef, this was Carla's quote on yesterday from another site.

"I really enjoyed working with Casey. I actually really wanted to work with her, I thought that we would connect. And I did not consider that it was Casey’s fault. You know, at that point we had all just given so much, and I was so emotionally exhausted. Going into that second finale, after winning the first one, I was on a high, but then we’re cooking again the next day. So when they said we had help, I was like, oh my god, I get help, and I just gave her too much power. She didn’t take it from me, I gave it to her.
I would love to give [Casey] a call to see how she’s taking all of this. I hate for her to get the brunt of it. If I could get on a loudspeaker and tell the whole world and everyone who watches the show, I would tell them, ‘Don’t blame Casey.’ I take full responsibility."

She should get her own show.

Dammit! DAMMIT-DAMMIT-DAMMIT-DAMMIT-DAMMIT-DAMMIT-DAMMIT-DAMMIT-DAMMIT-DAMMIT-DAMMIT-DAMMIT-DAMMIT-DAMMIT-DAMMIT-DAMMIT-DAMMIT-DAMMIT-DAMMIT-DAMMIT-DAMMIT-DAMMIT!!!!!!!!!

@*#%^(*@#*&*)$&#)(@*&&*(@#^!()$*!&*)$!@^#)*%&#()*&#@)*!@#)*&^(*$)!$&*%^@*#(&^)*!&^#)*&%!^($*&!^()$&!#)&*^#)^&!!!!!!!!!

(((deep breath)))

Fuckin' Hosea. Douchebag of the decade. I hate Marcel (and his super-cool Elvis-impersonator shades) but even he came off looking better than the buck-toothed bald-headed bitch-bastard Hosefuckin'bag. I hope it turns out that he and Leah ARE together on next week's reunion show, he deserves to be saddled with a shrieking psychohag like Her Stalkerness. They can make potatoes and whine together.

I was sooooo heartbroken watching Casey insert herself and her big fat fuckin' Bunny Foo-Foo Ideas into Carla's meal. I don't believe her bitter post-blogging for a second, if Carla was so completely out of her element then she'd have been cut so long ago... and I thought she WAS trained in classic French style? Anyhow, it's clear that Bunny sees that it was all her suggestions that went wrong because that wasn't Carla, and that's clearly why she's coming out swinging on the defensive. Ugh, bitch. HATE.

As for Stefan, wow, I was barely holding my shit together watching Carla weeping at Judge's Table, but when he started getting weepy-eyed, too, well, maybe I do have a heart buried down under all this fat, because first she cried, and then he cried, and now I'm gonna cry!!

Flipit, thanks so much for taking on this terrible season, they better come with some actual GOOD CHEFS next time around (hey, maybe that bitter guy who was at Daddy Tom's restaurant when they had the 50 chefs who didn't make it on the show over to bitch about everything... you know, the one who introduced himself as Wal-Mart?). Anyhow, awesome job, you always inspire the rest of us to work harder.

love, J-Mo :)

P.S. I can't believe nobody else mentioned that the Russian caption translated to "Free eggs and potatoes for my entire people!" LOLOLLLL!

"Where the seniors at?"
Priceless. I couldn't stop giggling at this one.

I cannot believe now much this one episode has changed my view on this show and the people involved in it. I never liked Toby Young, but he gives a well though out review on his blog. I didn't care much for Stefan, but seeing him try to comfort Carla was touching. I cried for her too - don't tell anyone. And lastly - Casey.

I never really particularly cared either way for her; she just never made a real impression. I didn't feel bad about her losing. Even after this show, I was upset that she seemed to think that this was her second chance, but it was still Carla who ruined it for herself and she knew it. And I really felt for Carla because I believe we all have had a moment in our lives where we made a bad decision and really screwed ourself over and it hurts! Still, she was sweet, professional, and kind in insisting that it was her own fault she lost and please don't blame Casey. She did interviews yesterday saying the same.

So how does Casey repay this kindness? By spewing out this mean-spirited, incoherent pack of half-truths and out-and-out lies. I know that none of us really know what happened that day, and honestly, I can see Carla getting flustered, but Carla did have a plan (that she should have stuck with instead of listening to this bitter turncoat) and SHE IS FRENCH TRAINED. Heck, the school she attended has her front page on their website for Pete's sake! People MAY have thought bad about Casey yesterday, but mostly in the “Ha-ha, the Casey Curse strikes again!” sort of way. But now she has shown herself to be a selfish, thoughtless, egotistical mean-girl.

Sorry about the long response, and I will be watching the reunion. Hooties and Hoos, love ya, Flipit!

Oh and..
"Free eggs and potatoes for my entire people!"

ROTFLMAO! Brilliant!

Dammit Flipit, I wanted to get some work done this morning!! Then I saw this recap was posted, so work was put to the side...

Great recapt of a sad show. The Uncle Fester reference just set the tone for me, although I was torn between giggles (at your wittiness) and anger (at the outcome).

I was so upset that Carla allowed herself to be led. The most important meal of her life, and she tries a technique she's never done before? Where were Juanita and Ronda to snap some sense into her? I truly felt for her, I think her nerves just got the best of her. But after reading Casey's comments - totally unprofessional and now totally hating on her. Honey, your fifteen minutes have long since expired, get over it. My heart goes out to Carla, and I'm hoping for a fan fav win for her.

I tried to get on team Stephan, but he did not seem to care about his food that much, ever. There was no passion in his cooking, only a "let me get it on the plate and get it out" sort of tude. Way overconfident.I never heard him talk about food the way really great chefs do. He was the best in a mediocre group, and it must have been a real spanking to lose to Ho sea.

Hosea coasted through thanks to Richard's help and Carla's meltdown.

Flipit, big thanks for such a season of laughs. Sending you big hugs xoxo.

PS - Can one of you chefs (talking to you, Yeschef!) clear something up for me? Whenever I see a sous vide dish on one of these shows, it usually tanks. To me and my limited (read: microwave queen at best) skills, it looks like boil-n-bag. When is this a good choice of application? I would not think that beef would come out well this way.

casey is such a bizatch!! i had no idea! i mean i knew she had a stick up her ass but i thought she was nice. my bad!! i am mortified to read those comments. i am surprised none of you are talking about the fabio / stefan diss. i am still mad about that one. anyway i have had pages to rant i just wanted to thank you guys for reading and commenting. it's been a fun season, and at the end there was actually a couple of people to really root for, which doesn't always happen. of course they didn't win...i'm trying carla's positive attitude and it's totally not working for me. LOVE

Great re-cap Flipit! You honestly never fail to make me laugh, even when I am in a bad mood (due to the outcome of this season and overall joke this show has become). That said...

I can't even believe the outcome of this show! Carla... I knew as soon as I heard her listening to Casey (Cursy?). Casey needed to realize SHE was to be a SOUS CHEF to a finalist on this season - NOT use this as her second coming. You know, it speak volumes that even an arrogant guy like Marcel knew what his place was, and yet Casey didn't. Carla's sobbing honestly made me get teary eyed, and I felt like the Grinch did when they show his heart growing inside of him watching Stefan comfort her.

Hosea on the other hand... well he can take a long walk off of a short cliff in my opinion. I agree, it seemed like his dishes mostly (at least VISUALLY, since I can't speak to the actual taste) represented Richard... so congratulations Hosea... or something like that...

Toby also redeemed himself a little but when he (accurately) pointed out that if they were to judge by soul, Carla basically had that by a landslide. If only...

I can't even say great season... which saddens me. Being friends with several chefs, I have followed this show since the beginning, and ultimately feel it has become a joke, a parody of what it once was. I guess the best thing about it was the recaps, and the knowledge I have gained from your recaps and other commenters. So, I thank you!

Re: sous vide, it is a delicate technique, for a delicate protein, traditionally fish. It can be done for beef, with good results (though I question the application to the time frame the constestants had). The biggest problem, is its use in the finale! Don't use anything but the best technique that you KNOW will work. Searing gives texture and flavour. There is a reason why it is used the most.

Sigh. I almost couldn't bring myself to even read this (my fav recap of my fav show) but thank-you so much for lightening my day.

And thanks to J-Mo for spelling out what I so strongly felt.

Thanks Reagan for the info. I'll go back to my Stouffers in the micro now :-)

J-Mo- you posted at the same time I did, so I did not see your post till after mine went up. All I can say is WORD! You said it the way I wish I had.

"It can be done for beef, with good results (though I question the application to the time frame the constestants had). "

Especially since they give the impression that they don't seem to do it a lot in their work kitchens. I wouldn't do it in a competition unless I did it a lot and was expierenced with it and had the time.

Sous vide is done with cooking times up to 24 hours. Plus you have to minimize the risk of food poisoning otherwise you can get botulism. So it's not something you want to do on your own without researching the technique.

Searing is a tried and true technique hundreds of years old and doesn't take that much time compared to sous vide plus you are less likely to eff it up even a home cook can do searing correctly with little training.

Sous Vide is just the fancy name for it. Cryopacking is the more common name and it's only been around since the 1970s. So the reason these chefs on Top Chef want to do it like the molecular gastronmy is that seems cutting edge.

Thanks Yeschef, knew you would provide a great explanation. I had no idea about the potential problems. Personally, I try to avoid food poisoning wherever possible...but hey,even I can sear food, sometimes even without setting off the smoke alarms. THANKS.

Ooooh, this is getting GOOD!! Casey Thompson is now attempting to backpedal her horrible nasty comments about Carla by claiming that what she wrote about the show was unfairly published:

"Just after the airing, an acquaintance contacted me on facebook and, it turns out, was seeking to create some controversy. She did not represent herself as a reporter and did not ask for a quote. Instead, she took advantage of me.

I’m a fan of Carla’s and as disappointed as her fans are that she came up short. I’m more disappointed that my great experience with a fellow female chef of Carla’s talent would be damaged by such reckless and unprofessional reporting.

I feel hurt and compromised. The publication who is involved has always treated me well, but in this case– it should be embarrassed.

Casey"

Sidedish has now fought back with this little tidbit:

"Hmm, Casey-Gate has proven, once again, that Facebook creates more enemies than friends. I have had several e-mail exchanges with Casey this morning and she is obviously unhappy with what happened.

I just want to make one thing clear: I have read the original Facebook exchange between Sarah and Casey. Sarah clearly asked Casey to make a comment on the results of the Top Chef show for SideDish. Casey replied. Sarah copied and pasted Casey’s reply. Any claim that Sarah tricked Casey is false. Let’s move on."

BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

love, J-Mo :)

WOW... I liked Casey for a little while during her season... thats since gone out the door... she has sour grapes smushed all over her, and I love how people conveniently forget that this is the TECHNOLOGY age so if you say nastyness, others will read said nastiness.

Casey should have to pay back her fan favorite winnings! Ugh.

Oh, how I hate casey! I am so glad she is getting her ass handed to her today!

this. show. is. bull.

seriously, i bet top chef wonders why they have these really interesting, high rated seasons but everyone is always dissatisfied with the winners. between seasons 2, 4, 5, the best chef didn't win. sam, richard and stephan ALL got screwed. because they look at the final as a stand alone meal. it's ridiculous. stephan made the best dish of the night. that plus winning, oh i don't know, EVERY SINGLE CHALLENGE throughout the season should have been enough. ridiculous.

I think everyone else has said most of it for me already. And thanks to those of you that posted about Casey's comments - I had no idea. What a fucking bitch.

So I will add just this. As they announced the winner, I turned to my sister and said "Fabio was wrong, apparently it IS Top Pussy." Hate. Hose. So. Much.

Flipit, thanks for all the laughs this season, you are AWESOME!!!

SWAK, PottyMouth

Carla is such a good soul that always tries to inject some positive vibes into everything. When she was crying, my heart almost broke. It is so different from what we normally see because even when she makes mistakes she says she had fun and gave love. So for that bitch Casey to say such a thing... Well, she can suck my dick! Ok, I don't actually have a dick, but if I did she could SUCK IT! Ooh I know... she can suck Hosea's dick. I bet it tastes like potatoes and feet.

Does anyone else think that Millionaire Matchmaker lady looks like the bastard love child of Eve Ensler and a muppet? Just sayin'....

Wow, a lot to take in today!!!! Firstly, what a laugh riot this recap was, that picture of Sharon Stone, tooo funny, and flashing the beaver being dragged out, I think I echoed laughter off the back walls of my office building!!!! Bless you for all you do, I wish God would answer your prayers--they are always so selfless!

Casey's comments are like smacking a puppy, is she really that stupid, and to know that she wasn't even on the defensive, coz let's face it, she's one mother F in hated bitch now, but again, wasn't even the case and she bad mouths our precious Carla . . . sniff, she def made me cry, and Stefan hugging her, but I'm easy. I too was dying inside watching the whole thing, but I absolutely knew for sure that Stefan was not going to win it--he had the loser's edit from the beginning.

As much as I hate Hoser (and it's less without dishrag cheater by his side) at least he would say he was going to out cook Stephan, Stephan was like us, just bashing away at him and everything about him. It is pretty amazing what a complete lack of charisma Ho has . . . is there one person on planet earth besides dish rag that would hit that, for reals, everybody hates Toby, but I'd do him . . . (I guess that truly is indicative of nothing . . . )

Anyboo, Hootie Hoo!!! I know our Carla and Fabio will be just fine. And Flip, it didn't upset me when Fabio tripped his bud at the bus stop, You know it must have been true, and it probably was more painful to Fabio to admit it than anything--it was probably painful of them to hand Ho the win, right!?

Oh well, maybe next year they will reconsider the one meal, one goes stuff and use some common sense!!! Maybe next year Carla or Fabio will be a judge, or guest, or mentor or helper . . . I wouldn't be surprised!

not gonna lie, i think stefan threw it. it had to be on purpose. he did enough good things to have the best dish of the night, but didn't do quite enough to win.

from what he has said, he is too smart to be stuck in a 2 year contract (like the winner has to sign).

i really think he lost on purpose.

This is my first time commenting ever but I've been lurking for awhile, reading your recaps every week flipit :D

You're amazing and had me laughing at every word so for that I thank you.

I'm really disappointed with the outcome of this all. I mean Hosea...I can't remember a thing he did except kiss that Stalker Leah. EW.

lovepsychedelico, Hosea was the one who spent an entire challenge making roasted potatoes and threw Ariane under the bus (with the help of ever-loyal Stalker Leah).

I think it's funny when people like Casey claim they were "tricked" into saying things. Now, I realize that a skilled and tricky interviewer can get people to talk shit, but all this Sarah did was ask for Casey's comments, as I understand it. You still SAID that horrible shit about lovable Carla, you shady bitch. Nobody put those words in your mouth (or your computer). Whether you got "tricked" is irrelevant; you are still a c**t.

It's obvious that she WAS on the defensive because she KNEW that it was her fault that Carla lost.

Also, I think that Stefan is way too competitive to lose on purpose. And if he had wanted to do that, he would have nailed it. As it was, he was very close to winning. He probably shouldn't have made a dessert.

P.S. I've always thought Stefan was kind of a sweet guy at heart. Arrogant alpha male, yeah, but really pretty sweet.

I don't know why, because he was pretty obnoxious. That sure didn't help him with the judges.

I can barely comprehend the level of disgust and disappointment, but on the other hand, without said disgust and disappointment, the recaps would not have had as much material to draw upon. But still; Hosea? Damn. As much as I hate to admit it, he had the best meal overall.

I am shocked at what Bunny Foo Foo said about Carla. When she said she was not classically trained (or however she spewed her venom), I remember back in Season 3 when she made "Cocovain", please forgive the spelling, I remember Daddy Tom telling her it is made with an old rooster and Foo had the "My French Grandma didn't tell me that" look on her face. Shut your souffle hole Casey, and what is up with your face? It looked like you had about a hundred Botox injections. I used to think you were kind of hot with a nice rack, but your bitterness has made you kind of ugly.

Speaking of racks, thanks for highlighting Gail's, which to me was the best dish of the night, and most of all thank you for the great recaps of another season gone bad. You are truly laugh-out-loud funny and you gave me another reason to look forward to Fridays.

Great recap - I had heard there was supposed to be an "upset" and when our beloved Carla flamed out, my heart just sank. It's Lisa from last season all over again except IT'S THE WIN!!!!! AHHHH AHHHH AHHH! Actually, I like Hosea much better than Lisa, but still.

Stefan should have won, hands down. EEET's Top Chef, not Top MEEEEL. I loved Stefan, so many American just didn't get his humor and irreverence. If you really look, he's a clown at heart and a nice guy, I just melted when he went to comfort Carla, not once but TWICE. That aside, he just blew everyone away if you look at total performance. SO disappointing.

I did the same thing you did Flipit! Screaming and banging my head on my keyboard! Will the judges ever get a f*cking clue!?

.....and Casey, you're bitch. No covering your ass there. AND Carla IS classically trained so piss off you bitter hag.

Unfortunately, the judges had very little influence on the outcome. It's mostly the producers influence.

Flipit, great recap!!

Damn - Damn it - Damn it all to HELL!!! Hosebag won and I am royally pissed about it. Thankfully you didn't have to try to convert the dog, so he can continue to be a heathen canine.

Poor Carla should have went with her (and the spirit guides') vision and did what she planned with her meat and dessert. Lord knows the girl can do fine making pastry - the tart would have been a shoo-in. Casey should have remembered Daddy Tom's comment from a couple of seasons back - "It's Top Chef, not Top Sous-Chef"! Bitch! You should have just done as you were told and not meddled with the menu and confused Carla. Even Marcel helped and didn't try to foist his opinions on Stefan (which probably wouldn't have worked anyway). BTW, I miss Marcel's turkey-shaped hairdo that he had in his season. I'll take the beautiful "real" Bunny Fu-Fu (a Tucson drag queen) any day over this skank. We need to give her a different monikker if we ever have to see her scuzzy face again.

Great shots of Gail's bewbs!! Even though I love the boys, I can still appreciate a nice rack on a gal!

I felt so sorry for Carla when she cried at Judge's Table - she boned it, she knew it and she admitted it. I couldn't help thinking that Fleasa would never have admitted that anything of hers wasn't perfect, and would have stood there with her arms crossed looking like a sour-twat. Kudos to Carla!!

As much as I have not cared for Stefan in this whole competition, I sure didn't want Hoser to win. I threw up a little in my mouth when they announced he won. Yuk!

I am looking forward to the reunion show, as it will be an end to the torture of this season. Hopefully next time they have some cheftestants with personality AND TALENT that can make it exciting - like, Lee Ann, Tiffany, Marcel, Hung, etc. I think the quality of the cooking this season just was not up to par for the show.

Silver Spoons to you! See you on next week's recap!

J-Mo: Loved the Russian interpretation!! Very clever!

Flipit your are too funny. I have not read one comment anywhere (except Daddy Tom) defending Hosea winning. After Lisa last year and Hosea this year this show is a joke. Hosea won one challenge and even that one he had help from the other chefs. Tom might think Stefan's food has no soul but Hosea has no soul and no character.

I've always thought that, for the finale, the judges should consider the chefs' entire body of work during the season, not merely the results of one meal. The show is "Top Chef", not "Top-who-can-cook-the-best-meal-today". Anybody can win on a given day.
I understand why they function that way throughout the season, but for the finale? Maybe this is why so many are upset with the outcome, including me.

Flipit, your recaps were Aces throughout the season and, with all of the accompanying comments, the only bits of solace to be found. Thanks and LOVE.

arizonatom, I live in Tucson, too! Love the Bunny!

Since this show is somewhat like Project Runway, it's too bad they don't follow that model more closely. Sure, PR has a lot of freaky challenges and short time frames, but when they get to the end, they let the top people have sufficient time and money to produce a small collection.

Instead of saddling the TC contestants with freaky ingredients and freaky sous chefs, give them a chance to really show what they can do. Then it will be less of a stunt and more of a true measure of the "Top Chef."

Make the challenges and Quickfires during the season weirder and more challenging if they want to appeal to that side of reality shows, but keep it real for the finale.

Pixielated, I absolutely agree 100%. I mean we all enjoy the craziest of quickfires, but at the end of a season, we want someone who can actually cook to win. I think this season's winner is actually worse that Ilan. I mean, at least Ilan made some good dishes and won some challenges. Hosea is a hack.

I am just as disappointed in the finale as anyone else in the result, but Hosea did the best in the end. I mean, there should have been a requirement for a dessert, rather than the option for a dessert, so Hosea could be exposed for the fraud that he was. It seemed a little unrealistic that if they were cooking a full course meal, a dessert would be optional rather than required (BULLSHIT, *cough cough* BULLSHIT!)

I love Carla and hope she wins the fan favorite money (hootie hoo!) and I bet that she will.

As far as Stefan goes, you can tell he has a heart and that he is a generally nice guy, just arrogant when it comes to cooking. You could tell this, as the other posters noted, in his unrequited love for the Turtle and his respect of Carla, as she bawled her eyes out at the Final.

Flipit, thanks for a wonderful season and overwhelming recaps of underwhelming chefs... and you know I'll be back for Season 6.

I agree with everyone, but I think MasTequila said it best: EEET's Top Chef, not Top MEEEEL

They should check this out and make some changes next year. I do realize it could be too predictable if it's based on the whole year, but even ANTM considers the past!
when you can't even compare to Tyra . . .

ugh, Hosebag the Douchebag is TOP SCALOYPE?!?!?

nnnnnnOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

J-Mo said it all... upthread...

Nothing -- not ONCE -- did Hosebag ever do anything stunning or original.

I've eaten Scallops and Foie Gras and I'm here to tell you -- never again.

Way-hey too rich.
Extremely unoriginal -- even DaddyTom said he'd "had it before..."

DUH - everything Hosebag ever came up with I swear I'd already seen on a menu, somewhere, during the past 5-9 years.

Serving Scallops with Foie Gras -- that's like wrapping everything in prosciutto - 'cos everyone likes bacon, right?

LAME!

Beaker, Stefan, Fabio -- ANYONE but him for the win.

UGH!