Flames

on the side of my face. Breathing, breathless. Heaving breaths. Heaving...

You knew it was coming. You knew it. You knew that I couldn't hold my peace when it comes to Top Chef any longer. ESPECIALLY THIS EPISODE. So keep away if you have not seen it yet. Cause I'm 'bout to explode with Spoilery goodness.

Ready?

Are you sure?

Okay.

How much of a nailbiter was that episode? I mean, seriously? Red herrings galore! I gasped with shock and horror when Dale left Stephanie's dish out. HORROR. What a horrible way to get eliminated--due to someone else's mistake. Although she was clearly upset, she handled the situation with incredible aplomb, and came out on top because of it. Yay Stephanie! I'm rooting for you even more now! Can you even imagine if that happened to Lisa? Aside from my cheering a little (OKAY, a lot), she would scream at her sous chef, scream at the other chefs, and declare SABOTOGE to the cameras. She wouldn't be able to recover like Stephanie did.

And that's why I hate that she's still there. But I can't say anything about it, because it's clear that Antonia just choked, proving my theory that she's the Casey of this season. And that sucks, because I think she's a better chef than Bitter Face, and I would've loved nothing better than to see a showdown among the three most talented and level-headed chefs this season has had. It's a damn shame.

And I hated when Lisa demanded that Richard and Stephanie congratulate her, after Antonia emotionally left. Hey Lisa, Antonia kept talking about how much she'd invested in it and how emotional the whole process was for her. Let the other chefs mourn the loss of a good competitor, who put her whole heart into cooking for this. I get that you don't like that the other chefs don't think you deserve to still be there. I know that must suck for you. But that was incredibly uncalled for and simply spotlights the fact that you feel insecure and out of place next to these better chefs. Better being the operative word. Damn. I also didn't like that she cooked Puerto Rican food instead of her normal fare, which seems like a cheap way to appeal to the people. And it worked.

This is making me nervous. Really nervous, because these sort of insecure/angry feelings can very easily light a fire under someone like Lisa, and I really hope that she doesn't get a second wind because of it. As Colicchio says time and time again, this is Top Chef not Top Cook, and Lisa hasn't proven adequate leadership skills to be able to deal with her fellow chefs appropriately and hasn't even consistently put out good food. Some of the other winners may have been jerks in the kitchen (or life, like Ilan) but they were able to get it together and prove their worth. Consistently. She's kind of like a culinary succubus who drains better chefs of their skills/willpower, which may seem harsh, but that's what I'm getting. Even Richard and Stephanie, who are two cheftestants who never badmouth their colleagues, obviously can't stand her.

The previews for next week make it seem like a surprising outcome, so I'm a little worried about this. I swear, if she wins this competition, I'm not watching again. Okay, that was a lie, I'll still watch, but I'm TOTALLY writing an angry letter.

I AM NOT AMUSED OR ENTERTAINED BY THIS.