Top Chef Recap

Finale Part I

By David Mumpower

February 6, 2014

Be careful, Nina. Stephanie used to lean on him like this, too.

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You may remember that by winning last week’s challenge, Nick garnered an advantage during the final competition. It proves to be a huge one, albeit one he fails to capitalize upon to the fullest. Padma and several previously eliminated players arrive in Nick and Nina’s (breathtakingly gorgeous) hotel suite. Nick has the ability to pick three assistants before Nina gets to choose any. The options are Carlos, Shirley, Janine, Sara, Louis, Travis, Stephanie, Brian and Jason. Since only six people in total will be chosen, the other three will become vacationers in a matter of moments.

Early this season, Nick and Jason revealed the details of their Philadelphia bromance. While Shirley and Louis seem like the obvious choices for the first two picks, Nick does the predictable in choosing his buddy, Jason. He does add Louis next, meaning he is not a complete moron. Then, he does something a bit odd in selecting Brian rather than Shirley. My suspicion is that Nick recognizes that Shirley still may resent him for not resigning in the aforementioned Elimination challenge earlier this season. So he chooses a drama free team instead.

Nick’s focus on team chemistry is a boon to Nina. She quickly adds Shirley as her number one draft pick. The two best chefs this season are now on the same team, so Nick has needlessly given himself an uphill struggle. The situation grows magnified with Nina’s second selection, Stephanie. If anybody in this game wants to be the cause of Nick’s losing, it’s the Bostonian he screwed out of the game. I understand why he could not select her for himself; her participation on the other team is a huge benefit to Nina, though.




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Nina’s final choice is a bit like Nick’s selection of Jason. Rather than choose a more talented chef, Nina picks her friend, Travis. Janine is a better chef, Sara is a more experienced one and Carlos would be similarly motivated to defeat Nick. So I think this is the worst of the four options with regards to cooking ability. In terms of team chemistry, however, the decision is understandable. No matter the reason, Nina’s team looks much stronger on paper than Nick’s. The real winner in all of this is Carlos. He gets to go to the beach with bikini-clad Padma, uber-hottie Janine and ultra-cool Sara. That may be better than the $125,000 and title of Top Chef.

Nina suffers the first bad break of the night. Unlike last week, this wound is not self-inflicted. Nina acknowledges that she is by no means a dessert expert. Still, she intends to use the delicious produce she discovers at the store to craft an ice cream dish. When Travis gets to the kitchen, he notices a problem. There is no ice cream machine available. She now has ingredients for a dish she cannot cook. Frankly, this is the fault of the production team as an ice cream maker should be provided. Hopefully, the issue will not prove costly to Nina.


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