Holiday Spirit

Top Chef - Season 2, Episode 8

Previously on Top Chef: Betty yelled at Marcel for being so selfish that he offered to help her with her shitty dessert. Flash forward to last week, when the chefs had to make breakfast on the beach. The odd conditions elevated Elia, but threw Frank for a loop. So long, Bull! Don't let the door catch your tail on the way out! Eight flour-flingers remain. Who will be eliminated tonight?

Cellblock. Marcel reminds us that Frank is gone as a gentle smile plays across his face. Heh. Always nice to outlast your enemies. And not to have someone who snores like a Mack truck as a roommate. Elia stretches, while Michael shows off his "physique". Thanks, you can put that away now. Sam tells Cliff that after Frank was eliminated, he grabbed him and wound up breaking Sam's knife bag. That must have been quite a good-bye hug. Sam interviews that he needs to focus and get back on track after sucking so hard in the last challenge. Mia interviews that she's getting homesick, and really misses her family and kids. You can pretty much tell by her face that she is completely over this entire enterprise. Ilan herds everyone out the door.

Quickfire Challenge. The chefs come into the Kitchen, where they are met by Padma and bottle after bottle of alcohol, which Betty notes loudly. Padma greets the chefs and wishes them happy holidays. You know, those holidays in the dead of summer when this was filmed. Padma introduces Kristin Woodward, a guest judge that Padma refers to as a "mixologist". I'm mightily tired of people adding "ologist" onto the end of their job titles in order to make themselves sound more impressive. Lady, you're a bartender. Embrace it. Padma tells the chefs that this round's challenges are all about entertaining, this being the "party season". If this is late August, she's right, cause it's around my birthday. Bring it! The Quickfire Challenge this week will be to create an original cocktail (choosing from the wide array of Baileys available) and a small bit of food to go along with it. Cliff says he doesn't really care much for mixing drinks. "I'm a cook," he Harolds. Marcel seems excited to put something together. Mia looks like she wishes someone would shoot her. The chefs only have twenty minutes to put everything together. Go!

Chefs grab dishes and food in a frenzy. Mia says she doesn't drink mixed drinks, so she doesn't really know what to do for the challenge. Ilan doesn't celebrate Christmas, so he starts making balls of paste made out of matzah as a Hanukkah snack. Betty tries to catch an errant lime, but it struggles away from her, and she drops it. There's a metaphor in there somewhere about her and me. Sam thinks he should make something "warm" and "comforting" for the "holiday season". He works on a hot chocolate kind of cocktail. Betty finds this Quickfire challenging, because she thinks the creaminess of Baileys lends itself better to an after-dinner drink, rather than an appetizer. Michael has a strong bartending background, so he's afraid people will make fun of him back home if he can't win this challenge. Because Michael's so great at challenges that incorporate things from his past. Cooking montage. Padma calls time, and she and Kristin go down the line.

Michael has made "tasty lacy", but it's not edible underwear. It's a martini-style drink made from Caramel Baileys, Bushmills, Guinness foam, and has a candied rim (I guess that means melted chocolate and nuts). His food is a cherry ice cream sandwich. Kristin announces that it's very dessert-like. Well, duh. Padma never said it couldn't be. Cliff has mixed original Baileys, rum, vodka, and topped it with some vanilla beans. Vanilla, indeed. His food is grilled beef and a little creme fraiche fondue with some nutmeg and chocolate. Now that sounds good. Kristin says she was hoping someone would do a burger and Baileys shake. It's impossible to tell whether she means that Cliff has met this hope or not. Kristin is really rubbing me the wrong way. Sam has made a drink from Baileys Hot Chocolate, Godiva liqueur, and heavy cream. There are a few huge, puffy marshmallows floating in it, which was a nice touch. His food is egg nog French toast (which sounds disgusting, but I've never been that big a nog fan), topped with apple, rosemary, and onions. Marcel calls his creations "Fire and Smoke". His drink is scotch coffee with Baileys and milk foam, and the food is pancetta, potato, and coffee grinds with vanilla vapor. Weird. Kristin dourly says that she likes the mixture of salty and sweet flavors.

Ilan has made a drink of original Baileys, mixed with egg whites, foamed with Guinness, and topped with scotch. His food is horseradish and beets on matzah, with a pan-fried egg yolk on top. That sounds fairly nasty. At least there's a little latke to go along with it. Mia's "Chocolate Mama" is Mint Chocolate Baileys, Crown Royal, and some orange juice. Her food is grilled mango and Brie on a Danish apple crisp. That drink doesn't sound very good, but the food sounds wonderful. Kristin thinks that Mia's drink presentation is extremely basic. Mia nods her head like, "Whatever, bitch". Elia has made cappuccino with Caramel Baileys, and infused it with ginger. Yum. Her food is a classic petit four, made of chocolate and carmalized nuts. Betty has mixed Parrot Bay coconut rum with heavy cream, lime, sugar, Caramel Baileys, and cinnamon. Take out the coconut, and that sounds good. Her food is scallops marinated in the same rum, with mint, parsley, and cilantro. Kristin points out that the cream and lime juice have combined to form a rather disgusting-looking curdled crust on top of the drink. Ew, yeah. Nobody wants a chunky cocktail. Kristin has to go the extra bitchy mile by supposing that it may taste good, taking a sip, and announcing that it doesn't. Betty is embarrassed.

Padma gathers everyone, and asks Kristin who she was least impressed by. She picks Mia without hesitation, due to her presentation. Huh? I mean, yeah it was overly simple, but picking her as the worst because of that? This loss piles onto Mia's general frustration with the competition. She's going down fast. She seemed to be fine last week, so this dissatisfaction and ennui of hers seems like it's coming from out of nowhere. Betty is chagrined to be in the bottom as well, and interviews that she's really got to prove herself worthy. Now the good news. Cliff's cocktail was delicious. You'll note Kristin never takes Cliff to task for an overly simple drink, which I'll remind you was regular Baileys, regular rum, regular vodka, and some vanilla beans. Fancy! Kristin also loved Sam and Michael's entries. Aw, Michael finally excelled at something! Ilan and Marcel give him uber-heterosexual congratulatory elbow bumps. Padma asks Kristin to pick a winner, and she comes up with Cliff, for whatever reason. Seems like bullshit to me, but it's not as if I can taste those drinks and food. Never cracking a smile, he shakes Ilan's hand and exchanges uber-heterosexual fist bumps with Michael, Marcel, and Sam. So, Cliff's got immunity, which he doesn't particularly seem to care about.

Elimination Challenge. Padma tells them they'll be drawing knives. Well, sure. Do you guys realize that in eight episodes, the chefs have been broken into teams in half of them? That's...an awful lot for what's supposed to be an individual competition. And as commenter Jared (welcome, by the way) aptly says, team challenges are pretty heavily slanted against the leaders. No matter what goes wrong on the losing team's side, the leader always shoulders the blame. That's not particularly fair, and more to the point, it's not particularly entertaining. So anyway, all the chefs draw knives. The orange team turns out to be Sam, Betty, Marcel, and Ilan. The black team is Cliff, Mia, Michael, and Elia. Padma tells the chefs that the winter holidays are the busiest time of year for the restaurant and catering business. The Elimination Challenge this week will be to cater a Christmas party for a Los Angeles magazine. That holds their Christmas party in the summer. Yeah, this isn't a totally fake party set up by the show at all. The teams will get $1500 to shop for food and equipment, and four hours to prepare their food in the Kitchen. The chefs will also have to decide how to display their food. They'll be judged on taste, originality, leadership (see?), and "wow" factor. And naturally, someone on the losing team is being sent home.

Betty is justifiably worried because she actually caters in Los Angeles. If she comes off looking bad in this challenge, it can legitimately have an ill effect on her business. Ilan decides, without asking for any input from anyone else, that Sam will be the leader of the orange team. Everyone agrees, though Marcel seems a bit hesitant. Sam's first act as leader is to tell Betty and Marcel that they'll have to get over hating each other for now. He interviews that he's pretty comfortable in a leadership position, and the orange team starts discussing what they'll serve for the party. They soon have a long list of ideas. Betty interviews that it's very important to have great food and a large selection for a Los Angeles party. Because we in the rest of the country are just happy with a trough of cocktail weenies. The orange team easily settles on a menu. Since we can't overdo it on adults able to have a rational conversation without letting their egos draw them into childish spats, let's check in with the black team! Sigh.

Elia seems to suggest doing two dishes, preferring quality over quantity. Mia points out that if they only do two things, those things better "fucking kick ass". First idea for the kick ass menu is a smoked salmon roll. You'll find no greater champion for smoked salmon than I, but that doesn't sound very impressive at all. Elia also thinks about making gazpacho. For a party where the guests aren't seated? How are they supposed to eat it? Mia suggests using Gorgonzola cheese, which Elia and Cliff disagree with, because it's apparently one of those really divisive cheeses that some people loathe. Mia interviews that three of the four people on the black team are natural-born leaders (read: bossy). I'm not going to go into a huge rant about how good leadership is about a lot more than forcing your ideas upon others. She does make the very valid point that she runs a catering business, and thus has valuable insight into the challenge. She offers some other suggestion about chicken skewers, which Cliff doesn't even really listen to before quickly shooting it down. Dude, let the woman talk. So cold lobster and cold salmon are now the only ideas on the table. There's a heavily edited back and forth, meant to suggest that Mia objected to only serving an array of cold seafood, and Elia arguing that the dishes are locked in (implying that she won't brook any disagreement). You'll note that they don't show Mia and Elia saying this. It's just the soundbites, and I'm extremely doubtful that those lines went down in that order as an actual conversation. Now back in the real world, Mia tells the others that she feels like her "professional experience is not being appreciated", which was a nicer way of saying "Shut the fuck up and listen to me". Elia responds that they respect her, but are trying to come to a consensus on the menu. Both fair points. Mia again tries to suggest something, and Cliff again interrupts, not listening to a word of it. Cliff. SHUT UP.

Commercials. Oh, BRAVO. A Clay Aiken Christmas? I wasn't aware your programming was available in the fourth circle of Hell.

Time to go shopping! The chefs have an hour to get their supplies. In a warehouse store, Michael and Mia pick up food for the black team, while Betty and Sam load up the cart for the orange team. Meanwhile, at the grocery store, Marcel and Ilan are buying seafood. The clerk offers to put some mussels in a plastic bag, which Marcel tells him not to do, because they'll suffocate. The clerk says he'll wrap them in paper instead, which Ilan and Marcel are fine with. Ilan prods Marcel for being a dick to the clerk, which he really wasn't. He did sound a tad snotty, but I don't think he was trying to condescendingly educate the clerk (ala Stephen); he just didn't want the clerk to be thinking "What the hell's wrong with plastic?" to himself. Marcel interviews that although it's a team challenge, you have to do something to show individual strength. He calls Sam and asks if it's OK for him to go solo on some creation involving endives. Sam's like "Whatever".

Cliff and Elia are shopping together, and agree that something's wrong with their lobster appetizer idea. I'm not really sure what. Elia says something about it not being "high-end" enough, which makes no sense. Anyway, the point is that Cliff calls Mia and Michael and tells them that the lobster idea is no more; they're changing the menu. He doesn't say why. He doesn't ask for feedback or suggestions for a replacement appetizer. He just delivers the news like he's fucking Moses bringing the commandments down to the people. Three guesses how much that soothes Mia's anger over having no creative input in this team. She tells Cliff she's not happy with changing ideas mid-stream with no discussion, which Cliff patronizingly interviews is Mia "wanting to fight about everything". Yeah, how dare she ask to be a contributing member to the team? Cliff. SHUT UP. Mia interviews that Cliff is stubborn, and that everyone has to do what he wants, whether they like it or not. I'm confused why Cliff is so bent on getting his way in this challenge. If he truly believes Mia's ideas are worthless, why fight her on it? He's got immunity. It's not like she can drag him down with her. Michael makes pretty much the same point, and decides to buy the lobster tails anyway, just in case. The chefs at the warehouse store check out. Betty and Sam have two full flats (those large dollies) of food, while Mia and Michael only have about one half-full one. Betty is curious about what the black team will be serving with so few ingredients. Mia interviews something similar to Betty's earlier point. She caters for a living, so the last thing she wants is to lose the challenge, and have people think that she's "not professional", and that she's a caterer that "doesn't know where her head is at".

Kitchen. Everyone streams back in for their four hours of prep time. The orange team is the very picture of organization as they divide up tasks. They've got a ton of food to prepare. Their menu includes: crab cakes, shrimp skewers, pickled mussels, calamari with dip, bread pudding, beef tenderloin with blue cheese, cauliflower a la plancha (I think that means grilled), croquetas, salmon mousse, confit of pork, mushroom tart, vegetable terrine, and a chorizo and egg tostada. Wow! Props to them for pulling all those ideas and ingredients together in such a short time. Mia interviews that the black team decided that Elia would head the team. They're deciding this now? No wonder they fought so much before. Waiting to pick a leader until after the menu is decided upon and the food is bought is pretty damn pointless. Man, this is shaping up to be another episode in which one team is so clearly superior, that all the suspense is sucked right out.

The black team's menu is a surf and turf canape (which is only being made because Michael chose to buy the ingredients for it, even after Cliff and Elia nixed the lobster idea), seared scallops with endive, smoked salmon with avocado mousse, and strawberries with mascarpone and pancetta. Did I read those links incorrectly, or are they really throwing dried pork into their dessert? Also, where on Earth did that $1500 go? Ilan disdains the other team having so few dishes for a large party, saying that a large crowd will have differing palates. True. If someone doesn't like seafood, all they're going to be able to eat on the black team's table is that odd dessert. Mia pleads with her team to make some extra food in case they run out. She's really disappointed in the team, saying she's not getting the level of camaraderie she's used to. When I first watched this episode, I found Mia unpleasantly whiny (and there's certainly going to be much to discuss later), but now that I'm seeing this again, I feel for her. Time runs out.

The chefs arrive at the totally fake Christmas bash, which is nicely decorated with Christmas trees, ribbon, and fake snow. There are eight hours until the party, so it looks like the chefs are getting a lot more prep time than usual. There are mobile kitchens set up for each team, which they seem to like, but look crowded and uncomfortable to me. Elia and Cliff are looking forward to the party, thinking they'll do well. Sam is worried not only about winning the challenge or the competition, but looking like a complete ass in front of the party guests. He suggests that his team work on getting their stuff ready one thing at a time. The orange team goes back into functional organizational hyperdrive. I love it. The black team plods along slowly, not having as much to do. Mia thinks the high-end nature of their ingredients will make up for such a lack of choices. Ptom stops by to check in. The orange team is doing great. They not only have a large variety of food, but there will be a large enough amount of each dish so that they won't run out quickly. Ptom is obviously not thrilled with the black team's lack of dishes. He ascertains that Elia is the team leader, so he'll be able to eviscerate her later. Cliff interviews that he's not letting Ptom's comments deter them, but the black team looks pretty shaken. Elia interviews that she doesn't like comparing herself to others. Once she makes a decision, she's not going to change it because someone else is doing it differently. Marcel is fairly confident, but worries that the other team's simplicity could work in their favor.

Commercials. Mastercard thinks a cheese and cracker platter costs $30? Not overpaying for simple appetizers: priceless.

With twenty minutes until the party, Padma brings over the rest of the judges. Ptom is there, of course, but Ted Allen is standing in for Gail this week. And there's a guest judge, who is thankfully not Kristin. It's someone with actual credentials, which is nice. His name is Lee Hefter, and he's an executive chef in a Beverly Hills restaurant. I bet he'd charge $30 for a cheese and cracker platter. Just for posterity's sake, Padma's dress is a very odd combination of black and mustard yellow, and has spangles or polka dots on the bottom. Weird. Has Lupe been dressing her? Time runs down, and the chefs set their tables up. Ilan is confident on the orange team's behalf. Mia says that her group went into the challenge as a team. Huh? Whatever. The party gets going. Sam tells Marcel and Betty that he'll check in with them in fifteen minutes to see if anything needs replenishing. He interviews that he and Ilan will stick to the kitchen, while Betty and Marcel serve. Betty works the crowd, as always. Marcel flirts with a blonde lady, and we learn that the orange team is serving half their dishes now, then will re-set with the other half, forming an entirely different menu. Good idea.

Meanwhile, Mia and Michael are serving for the black team, while Elia and Cliff take care of kitchen duties. Various guests are shown enjoying their food. Ironically, we hear for the goddamn third time that the black team prefers to focus on quality, rather than quantity. A random guest interviews that the black team certainly has fancier food. But all is not well in Black Team Land. Their table is essentially empty. Maybe there was a massive rush of guests, but in the shot they show, there is almost literally not a single scrap of food on the table, and Mia is having to explain to a guest that it'll be right out. The guest is kind of a dick about it. Elia interviews that she wanted to cook during the event, rather than in advance. Jiggety huh? I understand that their food would no doubt taste better that way, but that is an extremely foolish idea for a catered event. Michael is trapped into having to run back to the kitchen several times, only to be told that food's not ready. And this is when Ted Allen drops by. Rut roh. Mia interviews that she's going to "stand her ground" out by the guests, and does the best she can to hold down the fort. Elia prepares a tray of scallops to be taken out, and I've got it paused. There are ten on the tray. TEN. Sigh.

The orange team hums along happily. The judges come through the line, and Betty explains some of their dishes. Lee asks who came up with the ideas for the dishes, and Betty says that it was definitely a team effort. She and Marcel effortlessly schmooze the judges. Padma compliments the presentation. And crap, someone in my apartment building is making something for dinner that smells really good. For all the talk that the black team is focusing on high-end food, some of the orange team's things look plenty fancy to me (the beef tenderloin, for example). As Padma said, everything is presented well, and despite the fact that there are thirteen dishes, everything looks well-stocked. Mia presents the judges with the black team's food, except the surf and turf, which has run out. Luckily, Michael is soon back with another tray. While talking to the judges, he manages to neatly insert the fact that he came up with the surf and turf by himself at the store. People party. The orange team celebrates the great job that they've done. The black team has no such joy. Mia interviews that she thinks Elia is a great chef, and has the makings of a great leader as well. Elia hopes that being chosen as the team leader won't bite her in the ass.

Commercials. BRAVO poll. "Who is the sexiest chef?" And the four to choose from are Betty, Elia, Ilan, and Sam. I'm sorry, what? One of these things is not like the other.

Judges' Table. Ted is surprised at how different the two teams' menus came out, given that they had the same resources. Let's get down to the extremely obvious choice of which team to pick as the winner. The orange team had a wide variety of food, presented it beautifully, and kept it stocked. The black team's table was barren, though Lee does pick out their scallops and strawberries as the two best dishes overall. Ptom and Ted say that the orange team's food didn't stand out as much. The judges make a decision. Padma comes back and summons the orange team to the table. They emerge, and are proclaimed the winners. Duh. Their win is as unsurprising to them as it is to the audience. Credit is given to Sam as the leader, and Marcel shoots himself in the foot by announcing that although Sam is great, he (Marcel) doesn't need the guidance. Ted asks him to clarify that, but all that's established is that Marcel can be kind of a douchebag. Lee is asked to announce the challenge winner, and it's Sam, of course. Zzzzz. He wins a set of knives. Sam is happy, but interviews that Marcel was trying to steal his thunder. Which is true, and which I'd be angrier about if Sam didn't have that coming after that whole cheating accusation and turning Frank against him for supposedly disrespecting Frank's toothbrush. Sam plays the whole disappointed dad act in saying that Marcel should just be happy to be on the winning team. Again, it's true, but I don't care for the "Why can't the guy I'm constantly degrading and plotting against be happy for meeeeeeee?" whine. The orange team is dismissed.

The black team emerges. Curiously, there's no gong noise this week. They're informed they're the losing team. Elia is asked where the mistakes were tonight. She says it was a lack of organization at the end. Lee says that the black team didn't present anything that made him think he had to go back for seconds. He did like the scallops, and asks who made them. Elia gets the credit for that one. Lee says that if they had done, say, eight dishes like the scallops, it would have been a more "memorable" approach. Michael is asked what he was in charge of. He says he was the communication between the serving and the kitchen. They're asked why they couldn't keep food on the table, which was pretty much Elia and Cliff's fault from where I'm sitting. Elia says it's because they were cooking everything right there, and that they weren't working fast enough. Mia says that she wanted to do more dishes, and that she suggested six, but was shot down. Timpani of Doom as Cliff makes a face like "What? She never said anything of the kind!". Which makes sense, since Cliff never listened to a single word coming out of Mia's mouth.

Mia continues on into the "I didn't feel like my opinion was being heard" argument, and Cliff actually has the balls to interrupt her to take her to task for throwing Elia under the bus (tally mark!), because the real problem was Mia's complaining. That's right, it wasn't the small amount of food or the fact that Cliff and Elia chose to cook for 200 people on the spot. No, the team failed because Mia objected to letting Cliff steamroll her. Asshole. And again, YOU HAVE IMMUNITY. You're not going anywhere. Why work up the effort to fight about this? Mia defends herself by saying that although she felt like her opinions weren't heard, when she found that she wasn't going to get anywhere, she just went along with the team's decisions. Which is true. She also says that she and Michael were the sole reason the black team even had a surf and turf to serve. The judges say that no matter what the reasoning is, the black team didn't function as a cohesive unit. Which is all Elia's fault, of course. Sigh. Cliff is asked who should go home. Naturally, it's got to be the person who isn't falling all over herself to suck his dick, so he chooses Mia.

And this is the point where Mia snaps. She yells at Cliff that he can't deny that she spoke up for herself. I don't see how that's supposed to sway him, when speaking up for herself is his entire problem with her. This gives Cliff the ammunition he needs with the judges, like "See what a handful she is?". Mia screams that Cliff can go ahead and throw her under the bus (tally mark!), she doesn't give a fuck (and additionally, she doesn't give a "black bone", which I'm not going to even attempt to delve into). She yells that Cliff can put his dick away, because he has fucking immunity. Oof. Mia, remember when you were worried that people would find you unprofessional if you lost the challenge? I'm thinking that losing the challenge is the least of your worries, image-wise. Not that she's not right about all of this, but she's hysterical. Not exactly a quality one looks for in a chef. Elia is asked if she has anything further to say. She simply says that she doesn't want to be eliminated, but takes responsibility for the team's loss. The black team is dismissed. Back in the Kitchen, Elia is fairly confident that she's going to be the one to get eliminated. Mia says that Elia shouldn't be the one to go; that Elia has more talent in her little finger than a lot of the chefs have overall. Mia adds that she has a successful business to go back to, and maybe she belongs there.

Deliberations. Elia probably has more passion, knowledge, and talent than Cliff or Michael, but was an unsuccessful leader. I was worried that she'd be unfairly blamed for not being able to wrangle Cliff and Mia's tempers (which Lee unfortunately does bring up), but Ptom does make the fair point that she may have closed herself off to legitimately good ideas from her teammates. Meanwhile, Mia is saying that she'd be willing to go home so that Elia can stay. She says she doesn't care, because she's the only one of her family to ever make anything of herself. I'm sure her family was thrilled to see that on television. Now Mia goes into a long, rambling speech about how she had to sell drugs when she was a kid, and how she knows what it's like to walk the streets. Cliff asks her if she's done being a martyr, and while I completely hate him this episode...seriously. I hate to sound unsympathetic to the trials she's gone through, but what in the world does being her being poor as a kid have to do with ANYTHING? She throws out another "threw me under the bus", and says that Cliff had immunity, and could have just sat back and let her give her ideas. Thank you! Back at the table, Ted duhs that Mia seems to be angrier at Cliff than anyone else. Nice catch, genius. Ptom says that Mia probably didn't fight as hard as she is now for the menu. Ah, another favorite Catch-22 of the judges. If someone fights for their ideas, they're too uncooperative. If they don't fight for their ideas, they're too meek. There's a cursory reference to Michael, but we all know he's not going anywhere this week. The judges make a decision.

Commercials. I can't decide whether I want to watch Top Design or not. I'll probably give it a shot.

The black team comes back out to the table. God knows why Cliff is even out there. Ptom wonders if he would have done more as team leader. I don't really know what that question means, and don't really care. Michael is coasting. Ptom can't believe that Mia really fought for her ideas as hard as she claims to have done. Elia failed as a leader. True to her word, Mia volunteers to go home in place of Elia. Elia tries to stop her, but Mia is so clearly done with this entire show. She's tired and angry and homesick. Ptom says he can't believe that someone as tough as Mia would just give up. I hate to remind Ptom that this is a silly reality show, but come on. It's not like Mia's giving Elia her kidney. Mia brings up her troubled childhood again. Yeah, not a fan of that. It's noble of her to sacrifice her chances for Elia's sake, but Mia should read up on Godwin's Law. Just because she was a homeless drug pusher doesn't make her the winner of every arbitrary argument. The judges accept the deal, and Mia is eliminated. I've since read that Elia was, indeed, the judges' choice to go home, so she really dodged a bullet. Elia hugs Mia and tells her that she didn't have to do that. Mia knows that, but wanted to. The touching hug is somewhat ruined by what appears to be a giant booger in Mia's nose. Mia hopes that Elia has success in the future, and is proud of her own accomplishments in life.

Listen, I get that reality shows have to be packed with drama, and clashing personalities, and blah blah blah. But when the tension of the interpersonal relationships overshadow the point of the entire show, which as you've probably forgotten by this point, is to BE A GOOD CHEF, that's not entertaining. If I wanted to see people fight, I'd watch Springer. Also, the team leader on the winning team automatically won, and the team leader on the losing team (would have) automatically lost. That is extremely fucking boring. Please get back to individual challenges, and please, for the love of all that is good and holy, can we focus on some food?

Overall Grade: D