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Jamie and Tiffani are not so lucky. Tom thought that the addition of cucumber water made the fish bland, and Gail chimes in saying that it was all washed out. Then, Tom hits Tiffani HARD for not removing the bloodline in her bluefish, saying that it was overly fishy. Gail found the components out of proportion with each other.

Padma asks Antonia what she thought of Jamie and Tiffani’s dishes. She wants to know if Antonia thinks that if she had tasted them, she could have prevented the presentation of two bad dishes. Antonia, predictably but understandably, starts to cry. She’s being asked if A) she knew that her teammates were making bad dishes and B) if she should have saved them. Oh lord, this poor woman.

Based on the subsequent discussion amongst the judges, it doesn’t sound like anyone from The Boys will be going home. Yes, Fabio didn’t have a lot to do, and yes, Richard made the disgusting gastrique, and yes, Marcel again displayed an inability to present any dish without a foam . . . BUT

Tiffany didn’t remove the bloodline in her bluefish, which made it too strong. Kerry also found it to be heavy-handed, lacking finesse, and overall, a “muddled mess.” As for Jamie, she was the opposite of Tiffani. She was too light, too refrained, and the use of the broth washed out the dish.

I am really, really worried that Tiffani is gonna go home. Tiffani has long since been my second favorite chef this season, and frankly, if she’s sent home, my motivation for watching this show will plummet.

The cheftestants are called back. Antonia didn’t give her teammates feedback to help their dishes, Tiffani had a heavy-handed dish, Jamie had a bland dish, Fabio wasn’t in his dish, Richard made a bad gastrique and Marcel’s overall conception of the dish was too complicated.

Sigh. Tiffani and Jamie are going home. I hate this show.

In their closing remarks, Jamie says that she feels good about her dish, and if the judges didn’t like it then they didn’t like it. She’s not happy that she didn’t get to cook in two challenges, but she’s proud of how she did.

Tiffani wanted a different experience on Top Chef. She says that she was aware of how she was perceived in Season 1 and has tried to become a different person. She feels clear about how she is now, and that knowledge outweighs any pride she had in making the finale in Season 1. I love her.

In closing, I just want to remark that I think the producers thought this season would be a fantastic experience for all - a gift to the hard-core TC fans, who would get to see some of the best chefs for a second time. However, I don’t think they realized that, for a lot of fans, these chefs were not only great cooks but great PEOPLE. I feel a deep emotional investment in many of these cheftestants, and it is NOT fun watching them get eliminated a second time. It’s gut-wrenching and I’m not enjoying it.

In other seasons, you don’t really care too much about the chefs that depart as #10-16 - you didn’t have time to get to know them and they don’t seem that skilled, most of the time. Not here. We know they’re good people and we know they’re highly skilled. Watching them leave this early (Jenn, Casey, Elia, Tiffani) is a horrible, saddening experience.

Hopefully, this season picks up in the next couple of episodes, but so far, I find this dish to be bitter, bitter indeed.

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