Tom Colicchio: On Point

Chef Colicchio's blog this morning was definitely on the mark about the shortcomings of last night's Top Chef. Echoing his thoughts, it was apparent in watching last night's abortion of a challenge that neither team was prepared enough to tackle it. The very same challenge was given in Season 1 with much better, if still not perfect, results. (However, and I could be wrong about this, but I'm fairly sure the contestants last season had more prep time with their spare space.) Last night's crew was, as Colicchio says, unimaginative, seeking only to do just enough to get by. Honestly, I think if Colicchio had his way he would fired about 4 competitors. Michael, unfortunately, did deserve to go home at this point. Sam's exasperation at having to carry him was becoming distracting in the kitchen. And with Ilan having to handle more than cooking last night - which he still didn't execute very well - Sam had to exercise his talents at an almost superhuman level. On the other team, the Diner concept just didn't work. They didn't, as Gail Simmons said, take it far enough. Undercooked chicken wings, meatloafy burgers and whatever that Oreo-Lemon thing was are just not what the judges are looking for this late in the competition. No one took the reigns on that team and really ran with the Diner idea. On the flip side, like Sam's questionable dessert or Cliff's decision to tackle the front of he house, at least it was a risk, even if it did not play out the way they had hoped. In the end, the challenge was difficult but not impossible and each of the competitors could have, and should have done better.

Oh, and one more thing. Marcel freestyling about how he has no friends in the beginning of the episode was PRICELESS. That is most assuredly going to receive "Save Until I Delete" (® Bill Simmons) status on the ol' TiVo. I mean, did you really think he went home at night and wondered why no one is friends with me? I didn't, but apparently, he did. Little tip, Marcel: Writing bad "raps" about how no one likes you is a surefire way to make sure you live a lonely life. Still, it was about a 15 on the unintentional comedy scale (® Bill Simmons).