2+2 app or browser? I too, really hate DVR'd shows being spoiled and avoid subscribed threads on shows, sometimes for months.

I was leaning towards finale just because you never know what crap will be thrown your way in the next challenge. Often a better chef goes home because of something they can't control.

When I realized you only get immunity for one challenge, I'd take the car every time.

You're not stuck with a car you don't want when you win cash. I'm assuming there's no way to get around the depreciation and somehow sell the car as new but I'm not sure.

How much money and prizes has Paul won so far? $30k and a Prius?

more I'd guess; just for the chili quickfire he got $20K.

[edit]seems like $50K. + the car; $30k for a couple quickfires, $15k for the block party elimination challenge and $5k from the BBQ challenge win

Ed was a boss, too bad. Paul is obviously talented, but way less entertaining than Ed

Goddamn
I like Paul way more. Ed can be a huge bitch at times, like how he kept bringing up how Bev "took his place" in the last ep. As if he would have turned down LCK if he were offered it.

lots of fail at basic human emotion understanding ITT.

He didnt bitch that bev took his place, he simply said it would SUCK if bev were to get his spot when she had been kicked off previously. He's not mad at her, he's just unhappy at the situation. Especially since ,after bev's come back, the fat *** should of been the one sent home if it had not been for her cowardness.

Looks like they're doing some sort of biathlon next week.

Finally caught this. Hate when I see this thread is active and I can't readpost in it.

I have such a mancruch on Paul. I just get the feeling these zero pretense to anything he does. He's not playing up for the cameras at all. In her blog, Gail said his dish was one of the best things she's ever had. So any result that wasn't Paul going home was fine.

The quickfire was OK I guess, as Pudge notes- silly given the stakes. However, unless you did something in shifts- it would be impossible to do with a lot more chefs.

While I think taking the car would be the smarter choice, and I'd hope its the one I'd make in that spot, I would also have a hard time faulting anybody for taking the lock. If nothing else, just being able to relax at that point in the competition might be a very night thing.

I liked the main challenge. Cool idea that added a slight twist but still left the chefs plenty of freedom. Shame they're restricting them to Whole Foods, as I imagine there's other spots where they could find more interesting/good product.

You kinda got the vibe that Bev's relationship with her mentor wasn't exactly the same as everybody else. It's like on Survivor where everybody's family shows up, but then there's the one guy who just has like his brother's best friend or something because it's clear nobody likes him.

For all the "omg don't use canned food" or whatever. Ed did taste the oysters and thought they were ok. Maybe he was wrong, but to some extent it feels like people were hammering the wrong mistake. I feel like it's not a foregone conclusion that you couldn't make a perfectly good sauce with canned smoked oysters, Ed just didn't pull it off. If nothing else, this is a "story" we've seen on the show so more that I wish the editors and judges would take a slightly different angle.

Pretty sure you're the one failing at understanding. Ed's inflection was pretty clear, that it was Bev specifically was an issue for him. It's like really, really obvious he doesn't like her.

odds that Paul pulls a "Blaise" and an inferior chef ships the finals?

Ed's biggest mistake was admitting he used canned oysters. That's like the kiss of death for a contestant.

The full version is better but can't find it anywhere.

Basically nothing to suggest he's prone to it. Blaise seems slightly more high variance.

If any of them were likable, I'd feel bad for the other chefs. Win or lose, the story is all Paul and if somebody screws up and wins it'll just be about how they were clearly worse and luckboxed a win.

In Sara and Lindsey you've got two people with rather famous mentors to whom they seem to own a great deal of their style. In part makes me root for Paul and Bev a bit more because maybe they're more of their own chefs? If Paul wasn't there, Bev winning would be fantastically trollish and I'd be all for it.

reading gail's blog, they would've been very surprised if Ed didn't admit to teh canned oysters. She pretty much spells it out that he had to go home as there was a synthetic taste to them. Basically Ed had a major flaw in his dish while lindsey had two minor errors

It's pretty much going to be a huge fail if Paul doesn't win. My order goes Paul>>>>>>>>>>Bev>Lindsay>>>>>>>>>>>Sarah. I am really going to regret wasting my time watching this season if Sarah wins, she cooks the exact same boring Italian style every single challenge, she's unpleasant to listen to, she's unpleasant to look at, and she's gutless too for taking the immunity instead of the car. If you think it's that likely that you'll be the one going home at the final five, getting to the final four isn't worth that much anyways.

I don't get the complaint that people always cook the same style. It's the rare chef that is super skilled in all different kinds of cuisine. Everybody got on the show because they cook well in their specific area- do we really expect them to change it up?

That said- with Sarah it does feel like she's doing a lot of the same obviously classic Italian dishes. Maybe within those dishes there's some creativity, but I do get a vibe that imagination isn't her strong suit.

I dislike Sarah, but I don't see all of the Hate for Sarah choosing immunity.

She earned the decision by winning the Quickfire Challenge. I see nothing wrong with taking a bye that you've earned and not taking the chance at competing and going home. No one complains when a Football team takes a bye in the Playoffs.

he's a smoker, no matter how good he is with food there still some subtle stuff that he cant taste. He should know better.

Way late to this thread. The second I heard Paul was on this show, I knew he had to be by far the favorite to win even before watching an episode.

Uchi/Uchiko are fantastic restaurants that change their menu very, very often and do so many different things so well that you have to know the people behind it are just insanely talented and great at working with what they have available as fresh ingredients and blowing you away with it.

The Omakase there is definitely one of my favorite dining experiences of all time. Absolutely a restaurant to not miss if you are in Austin.

That soup he made last episode just seems so much like an Uchi dish. Just perfect.

You don't take a bye in the playoffs. You are given it. You can't turn it down. Also, getting a bye does not mean giving something else up (such as a car). In fact, while some people may suggest that getting a week off can mess up a team's rhythm, I think that, on the whole, it is far more advantageous to rest your players. These are major differences from the Top Chef situation.

You think any NFL team/player would rather have a car or a game day check rather than a Bye?

She was given (earned) that choice and took the bye. Yeah, it might upset her "rhythm" but the rules of the game, she earned that choice.

Dude, the NFL vs Top Chef is completely different, you can't compare it to a game show where the point is to make money. Maybe there's a little more exposure gained by winning the whole thing vs merely making the five, but I doubt the difference is huge. I'd probably bet on Grayson getting the best exposure from this just because she's the best television character and most likeable of anyone who made it deep even though she's clearly not as talented a chef.

I was miffed how they're calling the top 4 the finals and how they're making it a big deal to get there. Both Padma and Sara were annoying when talking about it. The top 4 were already *in* the finals before they let Bev back in ...

It's ironic or something that your username is related to the concept of EV.

Interesting point (to me, as an ex-smoker). How true is this? I imagine it is, but have absolutely no idea how much/how little smoking impairs your sense of taste.

Either way - Ed getting bounced before the finals is the single most disappointing "early" exit for me (I've watched every season of Top Chef). I really think this guy had it in him to kill it during the Finals, and make for some great competition with Paul. Oh well, I think he still got deep enough, and came off likeable enough, that this was worth it for him.

How I See the Finals (To Win):

Paul: 40%
Lindsay: 25%
Beverly: 20%
Sarah: 15%

Well, they're taking them to another location where the final will be held. Typically that means a decent sized break before they started filming again, so it's a pretty meaningful thing.