Just a quick note to say the blog isn’t entirely dead, my thesis isn’t entirely finished, and I still have opinions about Top Chef.
It’s been a weak year, with some of the worst themed challenges of the show’s run and no especially strong personalities to root for or against. It goes without saying that none of the top three contestants this year could hold a candle to any of last year’s top three (Kevin Gillespie had more total wins than Ed and this year’s Kevin combined. And he came in third place). My predictions…
I’ve come to really appreciate Angelo’s high-strung energy; I believe he’s totally genuine and genuinely weird. But he’s been coming undone, Jennifer C.-style, and I have a feeling he won’t pull it out.*
I can’t stand Kevin. He’s an arrogant moron, never more so than in the baseball concessions challenge, in which he transmuted a strategic desire to screw Angelo into an torrent of moral outrage. With only one Elimination win and one Quickfire win (for a team challenge), he’d be the least distinguished chef to ever win Top Chef. (Side note: Kevin is chef at the only genuinely fancy restaurant in my hometown, so I was predisposed to like him. For future meals with my parents, I’m going to stick with Chick & Nello’s.)
Ed is… well, Ed is Ed. He’s not that great, but he seems to be pretty good. He’s a nice enough guy. And he’s on an upsurge (3 Elimination wins and 2 Quickfiers in the last 5 episodes). Like most Top Chef’s past, he will get the title and the crown, get razzed by the New York Times, and watch the also-rans run off with the fame and plum jobs.
See you next year!
* [SPOILER] (highlight to read) It’s more than just a feeling. Angelo is apparently participating in an upcoming Top Chef All-Stars series, so he’s almost certainly not the winner. [/SPOILER]
