New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

One dish, though, stood out in terms of making the most of the simple ingredients the team was given, and that’s Shirley’s dish. She takes home her first Elimination win, which she attributes to her teammates.

On the other end of things, there’s plenty of criticism to go around. Brooke’s dish was way too heavy on acid, and Casey’s scallops were unappetizingly fishy and not good enough to be served raw (though she vigorously contests this point). As for the Red team, John innocuously implies that Jamie, of his own volition, took the chicken breasts and peanut sauce for use in his dish before being interrupted by Emily. That was NOT how things went down, she tries to tell the judges. John was the one who tried to get Jamie to take those ingredients - taking one for the team, so to speak - and thus was basically forced to make a crappy dish cause he had immunity. She also chides John for leaving her to do all the prep work for the lobsters.

The judges, though, are focused on the actual food and dishes served, and not any behind-the-scenes shenanigans, which results in a moment that will live on in Top Chef infamy. Right before the judges dismiss the chefs to begin deliberations, Jamie asks if he might be heard. When granted permission, he offers to relinquish his immunity and be judged alongside his own teammates. Emily shakes her head in protest. Tom says that the judges will take that offer under advisement.

Back in the stew room, the cheftestants offer mad respect to Jamie. Katsuji and John both readily admit that they would have never offered up their own immunity. Jamie says that he wouldn’t have felt comfortable advancing in the competition knowing that someone else went home because of/in spite of his own dish. Back at Judges Table, Tom and Michael are insistent that Jamie cooked the worst dish, while Padma thinks Emily’s was the worst, and Graham is on the fence. They also discuss the fact that Brooke incorporated far too much acid in her dish, while Casey’s scallops were undeniably fishy… but it’s the Red team that’s on the chopping block.

When brought back before the judges, Padma recalls Jamie’s offer to relinquish immunity and asks if the offer still stands. “It does,” he says.

“Are you sure?” Padma asks one more time.

“Yeah,” he says, reading the writing on the wall.

And yes, it’s Jamie who’s going home. It’s stunning and unbelievable and frustrating and unfair and wrong . . . and yet, somehow fair and right. It’s not as if he was given bad ingredients—I mean, you’d think almost every chef on that show should be able to make something good out of chicken breasts and peanut butter. And yet, how unfair that Jamie was asked to take one for the team by using those ingredients, and now he’s, well, he’s taking one for the team.

As the chefs hug it out, Tom calls out to Emily. “To be clear,” he says, “if Jamie hadn’t done what he did, you’d be going home.”

“I don’t want him to go home,” Emily protests.

“It’s done,” Tom tells her.

And with that, as Jamie heads out the door, Emily walks back to the Stew Room. And that’s the difference between Emily and Jamie right there.

Continued:       1       2       3       4