It might be a couple of days before my blood pressure returns to normal. Tonight's lead-in to the finale was—for the most part—Top Chef at its best. With only five chefs left in the competition, this intensely stressful episode had plenty of time to linger on both the chefs and the food. And despite my grumblings the past couple of weeks about who went home, the remaining chefs stepped it up, leading into one of the most anxiety-ridden judge's table in memory.
Which brings me to tonight's first major eyesore. Can we just forget about the Quickfire? I certainly wish the producers had. Top Chef brings in Dan Barber of Blue Hill Farm, focused on local foods and sustainability… to judge a quickfire involving only processed food prepared on a ferry heading out to Ellis Island. It's a ridiculous challenge this late in the game. We watch Tiffany assemble nachos like a concession-stand pro, and others flail when attempting to step up to this non-challenge. Mike delivers a soup out of a hot dog roll and pork rinds. Antonia (put on your Blais voice) takes the bread from one sandwich and the cheese from another sandwich and toasts it. Blais' contempt is palpable, and he's right. Everyone thinks everyone else's dish is bullshit because the whole challenge is bullshit. Nothing is at stake here; not elimination, and certainly not the chefs' pride. Tiffany says being on the bottom was "embarrassing," but really? The whole challenge is a throwaway. Who's going to be ashamed for losing a challenge like this? Let's just forget this ever happened and unpack the rest of the episode.
For the elimination challenge, Top Chef pulls out a few reliable reality-show tropes to warm us to the chefs before sending most of them home. Raise our emotional investment in these folks, and we'll watch with renewed conviction. Scarred by memories of reality-show contestants everywhere melting into a hot, teary mess the moment mothers show up, I was rolling my eyes as the chefs' family members walked across the lawn. What can I say, though: It didn't take too long before I was sucked in. The extended episode allowed us to see family dynamics and a few seemingly candid moments, and these folks were all perfect for each other. Mike's passive aggressiveness surfaced in his mother joking at the table; Blais' wife pumped him up after the meal like an expert cornerman, feeding his neurosis; Carla’s husband lovingly explained that she likes to “create food memories."
The family members were here, of course, to complement a Top Chef staple challenge: Cook your life story. This season’s twist leans on the chefs' backstory; the show hired a genealogist to research the chefs’ heritage. (Though this world-renowned genealogist didn’t seem to get much farther than the great-great level.) The concept’s a good one, I thought: Pushing them to think concretely about their family—with their family present—would inspire them beyond what we’d expect: Italian folks cooking Italian food, and Southern folks cooking Southern food, and, well, Blais being Blais. Of course, that’s what happened anyway, but the dishes ended up being more nuanced or at least rooted in a specific idea. So the inspiration worked, to a certain extent. Richard pulled together the most cohesive narrative, analyzing the challenge successfully and seizing on threads in the folder that would translate to the kitchen: chemistry; meat; the marriage of Ireland, England, and the Midwest.