Top Chef: finale coming up!

[Jenise]

SPOILER ALERT

So it's down to the final two. And slow as the season started, I think it's the right final two. Paul was obvious from the beginning, but Sara soon emerged as the second strongest competitor and I'd have felt robbed on her behalf if Lindsay had pulled it out last week. If she had, it would have been a fluke. She's a strong, disciplined chef, but she seemed so middle of the road in her tastes. Her food was never adventurous, surprising or clever. Maybe she was just playing it safe, but she didn't seem creatively strong enough to envision, let alone take, the kind of risks the others took (and paid for, like Ed). Where Paul and Sara did, and the dishes were winners.

So now, whose contest is it to lose? I'm thinking Paul's.

I think Paul has the edge in the finale, but he's got to be on his best game to pull it off.

Agree with your assessment of LIndsey. She didn't seem to have the creativity of some of the other chefs and especially Paul and Sara.
Whenever Paul is cooking cooking, I find myself wondering, "Huh? What is THAT going to be?" But he always pulls it out and it's always something wonderfully surprising for the judge's tastebuds.
I think Sara is pretty imaginitive too, and she seems to have mastered the art of pasta making. They always love her pasta.
Looking forward to the finale.

Somehow I have found this season uninspiring in every respect. I don't have a horse in this race, but I did get pretty tired of the piling on many did with Beverly. Okay, she's Asian and most of her dishes are Asian inspired. What's the problem? And, she was no more aggressive (assertive, really) than any of the rest of them. For that reason alone I was hoping she would make it to the final 3, but not in the finale. I think they picked the best of the four that were left, but not necessarily the best chefs in the competition. Oh, well!

[Jenise]

Agreed re Beverly, Jo Ann. Especially early on, when that Mama Cass-looking lady chef was on her case all the time. She was a real bully, and whatever Beverly did or did not do at least she held her head high and did it with class. That goes a long way with me. Paul does seem deserving, though. At least, if he wins it will seem clear and decisive, like Mike Voltaggio's win, or Richard Blaise's. The sandbaggers who never won any of the heats but somehow ended up winning in the end have just disappeared, like Hosea. They got the money and are plenty happy enough with that, but for us viewers it's not a great ending if the Best Man (or Woman) doesn't Win. And we never want to see those people again.