Master Chef (spoilers)

[mbcdefg]

Who watched the latest episodes?

Having the chefs' sons on the show was cute. Graham's little boy was adorable.

I'm really surprised that they didn't re-shoot the Paula Dean episode.

It is a such load of horse. fucking. shit. that Krissi has made it this far. She's a mediocre cook and there's nothing unique about her except her trashy mouth. This show is so fixed that it really makes me want to quit watching once this season is over.

[osumelissa]

The sons showing up and picking the mystery box was cute.

I think the Paula Deen episode was probably filmed too long ago to reshoot - I'm guessing the winner had already been crowned by the time the Paula Deen scandal broke.

I really thought Krissy was going to get eliminated in the first hour of last night...until I saw that on my guide the episode was titled "Top Five Part 1 and 2" (or something like that). I do agree that at the Pressure Test, James deserved to go home for his pancotta.

[mbcdefg]

Aug 29, 2013 10:18:01 GMT -5 osumelissa said:

The sons showing up and picking the mystery box was cute.

I think the Paula Deen episode was probably filmed too long ago to reshoot - I'm guessing the winner had already been crowned by the time the Paula Deen scandal broke.

I really thought Krissy was going to get eliminated in the first hour of last night...until I saw that on my guide the episode was titled "Top Five Part 1 and 2" (or something like that). I do agree that at the Pressure Test, James deserved to go home for his pancotta.

The older boys leading Graham's son around by the hand was cute

Re: bolded ... I dunno ... Krissi seemed to make more mistakes overall (the overdone steak and leaving the skin on the pear). James's only real problem was that the panna cotta didn't set. And I feel like "Don't put a steak in the oven or it'll overcook" is a much more common-sense type of mistake to make than "Your Greek yogurt panna cotta didn't set properly." I feel like Overdone is a much bigger offense than Underdone (except when it comes to raw meat).

And the way the judges kept emphasizing "You made a good effort" to Krissi was clearly their justification at keeping her in the top 4. They're obviously going to keep her on the show as long as possible to manufacture drama, because Luca and Jessie are nice people and Natasha isn't THAT bitchy all the time. I think Krissi will go home next but they'll have one big final blowout to squeeze out the last bit of ratings from her (as evidenced by the teaser for the next episode where she's doing her bitchy talking head to the camera).

Someone in The AV Club/Onion review brought up that the judges initially told James that he'd made it to the top 4, then they declined to choose between Krissi and Natasha and James wound up being the next one eliminated. That's pretty crappy of them. I was SO angry at the point where they told Krissi to go upstairs but before they told Natasha that she could stay.

I do understand that they point of this show is to get ratings, but it REALLY bothers me that Krissi is a success simply because she's a nasty bitch. She's not that good a cook, and if she was a nicer person she would've been sent home a long time ago. I get that drama = ratings, but it really, really bothers me that kind, hardworking people are getting the shaft because the network would rather have a bitch on the air than a nice person who's a better cook. It's so trashy to keep appealing to the lowest-common denominator.

[osumelissa]

I completely agree that are keeping Krissy around for the drama she brings so it keeps the show "entertaining". Honestly she should have been eliminated weeks ago.

The reason I think they were right about James in that pressure test was that all the judges agreed his pancotta did not set properly...something James also knew when he take it out of the refrigerator. The judges disagreed about whether Krissi's steak was overdone or not. At least that is how I interpreted the editing and comments.

Honestly with the way the judging has gone this season, they should just stop now and give Luca the win. That is obviously what they have been setting up since the beginning.

[mbcdefg]

Aug 29, 2013 13:17:17 GMT -5 osumelissa said:

I completely agree that are keeping Krissy around for the drama she brings so it keeps the show "entertaining". Honestly she should have been eliminated weeks ago.

The reason I think they were right about James in that pressure test was that all the judges agreed his pancotta did not set properly...something James also knew when he take it out of the refrigerator. The judges disagreed about whether Krissi's steak was overdone or not. At least that is how I interpreted the editing and comments.

Honestly with the way the judging has gone this season, they should just stop now and give Luca the win. That is obviously what they have been setting up since the beginning.

I agree, it's pretty obvious at this point that Luca will win. I wouldn't be upset if Jessie or even Natasha wins, but I don't think they'd allow a woman to win yet again.

I don't really mind, because I like Luca and I've been rooting for him for a while. But the show is so obviously fixed that it's not much fun for me anymore. I don't know if I want to watch it anymore after this season. Plus that whole Walmart ass-kissing episode left a very bad taste in my mouth.

[mie]

It's very annoying that Krissi is still there just for the sake of drama. I feel bad for James because the judges did congratulate him and tell him that he made it into the top 4.

[munkii]

Aug 29, 2013 13:40:30 GMT -5 mbcdefg said:

I don't really mind, because I like Luca and I've been rooting for him for a while. But the show is so obviously fixed that it's not much fun for me anymore. I don't know if I want to watch it anymore after this season. Plus that whole Walmart ass-kissing episode left a very bad taste in my mouth. 

This! Those dinosaur breasts James cooked (it seems Walmart loves their genetically modified animals), were disturbing. I hope MC will start to see that the Walmart push is a bit of a put-off and, really, very unsavory. At minimum, maybe they'll start getting their meat from another sponsor.

Signed,

The vegetarian who shouldn't even care about such things

[Poeticxpassion]

I was very annoyed during the first hour of the show. The way the judges were talking to Krissi and Natasha, I knew neither would be eliminated. Krissi can not cook. She gets lucky and even admitted cheating by copying the things in her cart by looking at everyone else.

I want Luca to win, but I will boycott next year if Krissi makes the top 3.

[Deleted]

Gordon Ramsey makes me WET !!!!!!

God bless xoxo
Meredith from Iowa
Jayda is my baby!!!!

[msmerymac]

Aug 29, 2013 13:17:17 GMT -5 osumelissa said:

I completely agree that are keeping Krissy around for the drama she brings so it keeps the show "entertaining". Honestly she should have been eliminated weeks ago.

The reason I think they were right about James in that pressure test was that all the judges agreed his pancotta did not set properly...something James also knew when he take it out of the refrigerator. The judges disagreed about whether Krissi's steak was overdone or not. At least that is how I interpreted the editing and comments.

Honestly with the way the judging has gone this season, they should just stop now and give Luca the win. That is obviously what they have been setting up since the beginning.

You're assuming the judges actually base who wins on how good the food is. They can say almost whatever they want about the food. Overcooked? Undercooked? The contestants never taste each other's food, so the judges can say whatever they want, and they also choose who to keep in consultation with the producers. 

[mbcdefg]

I'm done watching once this season is over.

I also thought about watching the Juniors show, but I saw the promo commercial and the kids seem incredibly irritating.

[Dumbledork]

Sept 8, 2013 20:44:28 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

Aug 29, 2013 13:17:17 GMT -5 osumelissa said:

I completely agree that are keeping Krissy around for the drama she brings so it keeps the show "entertaining". Honestly she should have been eliminated weeks ago.

The reason I think they were right about James in that pressure test was that all the judges agreed his pancotta did not set properly...something James also knew when he take it out of the refrigerator. The judges disagreed about whether Krissi's steak was overdone or not. At least that is how I interpreted the editing and comments.

Honestly with the way the judging has gone this season, they should just stop now and give Luca the win. That is obviously what they have been setting up since the beginning.

You're assuming the judges actually base who wins on how good the food is. They can say almost whatever they want about the food. Overcooked? Undercooked? The contestants never taste each other's food, so the judges can say whatever they want, and they also choose who to keep in consultation with the producers. 

That's not necessarily true. More than a few times this season Gordon has stepped back and said something along the lines of, "Hey, come taste this and see how good it is. Learn from it and then step your game up." The outdoors challenge was one big example, but there have been other solo dishes he's asked contestants to taste. He gets a bad rep, but I honestly think he's a great teacher in the kitchen and wants talented chefs to get better.

I think they've probably played the Krissi villian card up for good tv. Joe seemed particularly fond of her and I don't think he's all that easy to woo. As awful as Krissi is, I also lost respect for Jessie after her multiple "fat cow" comments. Not cool.

I hope Natasha wins, but I won't be too upset if Luca pulls it off in the end.

[noodleoo]

Sept 9, 2013 0:57:23 GMT -5 Dumbledork said:

Sept 8, 2013 20:44:28 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

You're assuming the judges actually base who wins on how good the food is. They can say almost whatever they want about the food. Overcooked? Undercooked? The contestants never taste each other's food, so the judges can say whatever they want, and they also choose who to keep in consultation with the producers. 

That's not necessarily true. More than a few times this season Gordon has stepped back and said something along the lines of, "Hey, come taste this and see how good it is. Learn from it and then step your game up." The outdoors challenge was one big example, but there have been other solo dishes he's asked contestants to taste. He gets a bad rep, but I honestly think he's a great teacher in the kitchen and wants talented chefs to get better.

I think they've probably played the Krissi villian card up for good tv. Joe seemed particularly fond of her and I don't think he's all that easy to woo. As awful as Krissi is, I also lost respect for Jessie after her multiple "fat cow" comments. Not cool.

I hope Natasha wins, but I won't be too upset if Luca pulls it off in the end.

In Jesse's defense, Krissi did call her a bitch and say she wanted to bash her face in with a frying pan. So I give her a pass on the cow comment. I can't wait for them to get rid of Krissi. It is obvious she doesn't deserve to be I. The top 4, she should have been gone long ago.

[mbcdefg]

Does anyone want to talk about the finale?

I admit that we sort of skipped ahead on the DVR throughout the episode, and I was also cooking dinner so I didn't pay much attention. The ending was no surprise to me, and I really don't think I'll tune in next season.

[mie]

I'm not surprised that Luca won since he had the better "story" this year.

[niemand88f]

Yea this season has not been great. I was unsurprised that Luca won, but glad he beat Natasha. Even though this season wasn't great I'll give it a chance next year - I enjoyed previous seasons a lot and hope they can get back to that.

[msmerymac]

Yeah, it's not my favorite cooking show, but it's something to stack the DVR with for when I want to watch something. My husband doesn't watch though (he pretty much dislikes all Gordon Ramsey shows except the F Word), except for maybe the last few episodes. I feel like the good episodes are few and far between. I enjoy the team challenges where they go places and actually do things, like cooking in restaurants, but the rest of it is just the same all the time.

Both this year and last year it was so predictable. At least last year I wanted Christine to win the whole time and she really deserved it. This year, I think they could have gone in any number of directions, but I didn't LOVE anyone. Well, I wanted Bri to win, but otherwise, yeah, I didn't think anyone was great.

And the previews for Master Chef junior creep me out.

[jennybee1018]

Did anyone else suspect a Luca win once his parents arrived from Italy? I suspected it from the beginning!

I'm okay with the Luca win - I did like him better anyway! It seems like maybe Natasha was better at plating the food, but Luca had better flavors, technique, etc. Who knows!

I'll probably continue watching just because it's usually on in the summer when there aren't many other shows to watch!

[noodleoo]

I used to really like this show, but this season was so predictable, staged and unusually nasty. They obviously only kept Krissi for the drama, and she really seemed like a genuinely horrible person. The second half of the season was really bad. I was a pretty loyal fan, but I'm not sure ill watch any more seasons of it.

And yeah, not really interested in the junior version. It was bad enough when they had the chefs kids and Gordon was encouraging his son hitting on Jesse. That was so inappropriate.

[osumelissa]

I was totally unsurprised by the Luca win. I saw it coming many episodes ago.

[mbcdefg]

Sept 15, 2013 21:27:43 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

And yeah, not really interested in the junior version. It was bad enough when they had the chefs kids and Gordon was encouraging his son hitting on Jesse. That was so inappropriate.

Ugh, yes, that really bothered me too.

Not only in basic principle, but because you'd never see one of the boys hitting on overweight Krissi. Or a daughter hitting on Luca or James. Or one of the boys hitting on Luca or James. Nope, just a grade schooler making an awkward pass at the token blonde. And then being congratulated by his dad for doing it.

[noodleoo]

Sept 16, 2013 15:02:12 GMT -5 mbcdefg said:

Sept 15, 2013 21:27:43 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

And yeah, not really interested in the junior version. It was bad enough when they had the chefs kids and Gordon was encouraging his son hitting on Jesse. That was so inappropriate.

Ugh, yes, that really bothered me too.

Not only in basic principle, but because you'd never see one of the boys hitting on overweight Krissi. Or a daughter hitting on Luca or James. Or one of the boys hitting on Luca or James. Nope, just a grade schooler making an awkward pass at the token blonde. And then being congratulated by his dad for doing it.

Yes, these are all the reasons it bothered me too!