Dear Jenny,
Did you see last night's Top Chef? What did you think? I think that while I was watching, I had several urgent things I wanted to post about, but I did not write them down and consequently, they are now gone. That shouldn't stop me from blathering on anyway, though, right?
First, I do remember that Betty packed her knives and went and I do remember that that makes me happy. I could fill many posts with all that I do not like about Betty, but I'll limit myself to two -- wait, three -- observations: 1. What I hated most about her was how much she played up to the camera. It was hard to avoid looking at her, every time there was a group shot, because every facial expression was so out-sized. You could practically see her mind work: "Now do 'surprise'! Eyebrows up! Big circle for that mouth!" 2. The persecution of Marcel (about which more later) was completely ridiculous and annoying. Was that her exit line? "I wish I could have stayed longer than Marcel." Enough already. Marcel is less than half her age and on a completely different career path. Suck it up, trying being nice for a change, and then, seriously, pack your knives and never come back. 3. Why didn't Betty go home earlier? Is she a better chef than any of the ones she beat? Remember the pumpkin "crème brûlé"? Beet and red pepper soup? Gross.
In general, I've had it with the "We Hate Marcel" club. What is going on here? Am I missing something? Is the editing on this show so bad that the scenes in which Marcel is really awful are being left on the cutting room floor? I don't think so. My read is that Marcel is the victim of one of those disturbing Lord of the Flies things, where someone gets pegged the scapegoat more or less at random and then can never recover from it. Yeah, he seems a little arrogant (which sets him apart from Sam how exactly?), but basically harmless. Time and again, though, we've seen really inappropriate responses to him -- mostly from Betty, but from Hank, Sam and now Ilan as well. The Ilan stuff this week really made me sad. He was one of my favorites, but now, I'm not so sure. It seems like Elia is the only grown-up left.
I think I had something to say about Padma Lakshmi, also. Wait. Two things: 1. She's really coming along as a judge and a host. She had a couple funny bits this week. 2. At some point during the tasting, she used the word "flaccid." I was going to make a Salman Rushdie joke, but now I feel bad about it. Sorry. (Midnight's Children was awesome.)
Love,
-- Pete
P.S. I won't miss the screeching, either.
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