[Blarg]

Okay saw it.

Hung for the THIRD TIME IN A ROW scoffed at people criticizing his dish -- arroz con pollo (rice with chicken). Worse, the criticism seems far from something academic or for refined palates in any way. People simply said his rice was overcooked and his chicken dry.

Seriously, what is wrong with this guy? I don't think I'm out of line by saying that as an Asian, he has had rice a billion times -- I grew up around Asians and can't think of a single one who that would not be true of. And he blew it. This should be part of his arsenal, not a threat. And doing chicken? feh, minor stuff. That he couldn't master this simple dish is telling. And then getting a snotty attitude about it, after multiple snotty attitudes, is telling as well. This guy is living in his own world of self-regard, and invulnerable to humility and learning experiences. He is WAY too young to think he knows everything there is to know already. Especially about cultures that have basically zero in common with his own.

Lia leaving seems a bit much. So her food was bland. That doesn't make it bad. Others were cited -- like Hung -- as outright bad. What gives here? We have lost Camille the first time she was ever at the bottom, while Howie survives multiple times and so does Hung. And now we lose Lia for not being as bad as the other dishes she's competing against. The Indian girl's ceviche was described as something that could only qualify as quacamole if you closed your eyes when eating it, because it had too little fish in it. TOO LITTLE FISH! In a ceviche dish! WTF?

So dry chicken plus dry rice, and a ceviche that's guacamole, stay while a dish that is merely bland stays? I dunno about this.

I was glad to see Joey finally pull something out of his ass. And Howie strongly and repeatedly praising his dish, and even handing him his wine bottle after his win, was classy and very cool all around. Taking his past tussles with Joey into account, I like Howie a lot more after this episode.

I guess I always have a soft spot for the underdog. I'm not that fond of Joey, but I still get some sort of a charge when he wins, just because he has so much hate and failure behind him. It's like he cut free a dooming anchor, and it's hard not to get behind his breathing free for a change.