Either past performance was not taken into account and he lost fair and square based on what was presented, or past performance WAS taken into account and he still lost.
His food looked interesting for sure, and I would have been happy to see him advance and even win, but you’re making it out like he got robbed. Which seems wrong, especially given that we didn’t taste the food.
Expressing disappointment that he didn’t win, or disappointment in the setup of that particular finale seems fine (however, many finales have been just 2 chefs and there’s nothing inherently unjust in them eliminating the 3rd chef during the meal). But what doesn’t strike me as fair is somehow downgrading the win or performances of the 2 finalists simply because Eric’s food looked more interesting to you.
lurkerdan, It’s a TV show. Whether or not I’m “fair” in the sense of a viewer doesn’t really matter, does it? It’s my opinion on the show overall. But I didn’t downgrade Kelsey’s performance. (see below)
And how do you know that the judges didn’t take into account past performances unless you were one of them? The judges have voiced comments about cheftestants’ past performance in previous seasons. I made a statement that past performance will always be in the back of the judges’ minds. If you don’t think past performance factors into their decisions, that’s fine. It’s just what I think.
I said I personally think his looked outstanding, and my opinion was that the two finalists’ dishes were very much of a sameness, leaving for a rather boring finale…for me.
I never said Eric got robbed, I said I was disappointed he wasn’t in the finale, because I think he had some of the most interesting dishes.
See? I was glad for Kelsey! I didn’t downgrade the win. So, there you go.
Linda, you missed my point re past performances (and maybe I’m missing yours). If they came into play, they should have helped Eric, not hurt him, given his season long performance, yet he was still sent packing. If, as you say, it always is in the back of their minds, then the fact that he did not advance must mean his dish was clearly the worst. Going into the finale, he had the most wins and fewest lows of any of the chefs, so if past performance was a factor, it should have been a factor in favor of him, not against him. What I am saying is either it didn’t come into play and he lost because his dish wasn’t as good, or it did come into play, and helped his case, but couldn’t get him over the hump because his dish clearly wasn’t as good. But again, maybe I’m missing your point re past performance.
And I am glad that you’re not downgrading the performance of the other two, but obviously I wasn’t the only one to read your posts that way. Saying things like Eric is what “a Top Chef should be” read to a few of us (as evidenced by the number of likes Thimes post received) as denigrating the winner and the runner up.
Of course it’s a TV show, of course, none of us were there, and of course our favorite chefs sometimes don’t win. Your post read to me as saying Top Chef screwed up by not picking him. I have no idea, I didn’t taste anything, but it seemed to me like the two women earned their spots.
