Spoilers for the Top Chef finale follow.
The W and I wailed in dismay last night as we watched Carla get steamrolled out of making her own food. At the start of the season we never would have guessed Carla would make it to the finale ("That's what I believe, Tom!"), but we've been rooting for her the whole way. And what got her there was staying true to herself, executing perfectly on simple dishes. So when she let Casey talk her into sous viding her beef, a technique Carla had never used before, the chorus of "Nooooooooooo!" from our living room could be heard down the block. When Casey nudged her from a cheese tart to a cheese souffle, we knew Carla was in trouble. I just felt so terrible for her. She lost for the wrong reasons, and she'll never know what would have happened if she'd only cooked her own food (or drew a different sous chef!). I think the judges would have loved to have awarded her the title, if Carla had only given them the room to do so.
But if it couldn't be Carla, at least it wasn't Stefan. The man was clearly the best chef throughout the entire season, but he was just so insufferably smug about it that each week I not-so-silently hoped for his comeuppance. Crowning him as Top Chef would have been respectable and certainly deserved, but schadenfreude was certainly more satisfying.
As for Hosea... meh. He was good but not great throughout. Head judge Tom Colicchio has long maintained that they make each decision in a vacuum, with no regard for past performance. This season's winner certainly bears that out.
Hosea won the title, but Carla won our hearts.
Posted by Peter at February 26, 2009 11:49 AMI did think it was interesting that Carla's ability to be easily overruled was alluded to in an early episode of the season (probably unintentionally, because I think the episode aired before the finale was taped).
It was a shame that her passivity came back to bite her in the finale. No doubt in my mind she could have pulled it out otherwise.
Posted by: justin s on February 27, 2009 4:49 PMI don't know, I would rather have seen Stefan win than Hosea (although I agree that Hosea deserved to win given TC's laudable consistency in awarding winners based on a single night of cooking). Hosea doesn't seem to have the passion, creativity, or skill to be a worthy Top Chef. At least Stefan has the skill.
But yes, Carla's loss was very disappointing, although she brought it on herself. I'd commented before the final that she struggled in the team challenges, and while I didn't expect her to run into this problem in the finale, there is no question that it was foreshadowed. My favorite moment of the season was Tom's reaction to her Oyster soup. Both when he first tasted it, and then especially at the judges table. When Carla started to say she mis-seasoned the soup both Emeril and Tom's reaction was, 'Don't you be criticizing that soup in my presence'. I'm also confident that Carla (like Fabio) will do just fine with a wider suite of career opportunities going forward.
Posted by: Lou on February 28, 2009 8:19 AMI didn't think Josea had a chance. I liked him but as it got toward the end I was thinking he'd be history. I thought Stephan would win it (following several smug sinners like Ilan and Hung) but was glad he didn't. I mean really...a choc-covered banana? P-leease!
As for Carla...wtf, mate!
SHe blew it JUST like the person that talked her INTO blowing it...Casey during her season. Come to think of it, Marcel and Richard Blaise both blew it in their seasons too. I guess she soaked up the blowness.
I felt the same throughout the season. Didn't think she'd last much until she started doing simple non-artsyfartsy dishes Really well and she was the FIRST topchef ever to really cook or rather bakeconsistent WONDERFUL pastries. (and multiple times)...so why a souffle????
THe person I HOPED would win SHOULD have....Jeff.
When he came back I was happy and his final dish rocked...but alas it was not to be. He SHOULD have been deemed the winner as EVERY ONE of his dishes was a winner and Carla did NOT deliver excellence in all of her dishes. Stupid pointless fat pig Emiril. Another reason now to dislike him. :)
Fabio had potential especially whenever he picked a page out of granny's playbook but he screwed up one too many times.
Posted by: Matt Lovell on March 3, 2009 5:05 AM