Top Chef Finale Part 1 Ep Thread

[BTirish]

[ QUOTE ]
I agree and certainly don't blame it all on the editing. Hung's been a dick and he's not well-liked so that's going to come across one way or another. And if he loses I won't feel like he was robbed; as we've heard before, part of being "top chef" is the ability to inspire others to work with you. This may be Hung's downfall.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not so sure. I've caught a couple of reruns from Seasons 1 and 2 lately, mostly stuff from the end of each season. Hung seems to get along with the others much, much better than earlier "villains" like Tiffani and Marcel did with their competitors.

There just hasn't been quite as much tension among the chefs during this season: there have been group hugs and high-fives all around in all the recent episodes. You *never* saw people hugging Marcel, let alone refraining from cussing at him. There was the [censored] between Joey and Howie early (which they smoothed over) and people have had criticisms of Hung... but it doesn't really seem to carry over that much into how they act around him. They also obviously respect him, or at least respect his abilities.

Almost all of the recent criticism of Hung has come from Dale, and mostly in episodes when I think Dale probably feared he wasn't going to be surviving elimination. It's much easier to pretend that it's a team effort and to take this supposed moral high ground when you think you probably aren't going to win. It's like Howie "bowing out" in the episode where he was eliminated.

At this point, any of the three remaining could win. Dale has had a number of individual dishes that have really impressed the judges, so it's possible he could put together a really great finale meal.

I think I give the edge to Hung (and he's the one I'd like to see win), but I think it's going to be really close. I don't think Hung fits the Tiffani / Marcel type, despite the editors' attempt to hype up tension in the group.