Jan 18, 2007

Top Chef 2: Jug Heads











No doubt about it. The nuts left the insane asylum last night. They cooked, they dished, they wrestled, they attended an ancient ristualistic rite of purification and mysticism through head shaving. And generally acted like jug heads and dolts.

Biggest Jug Head: Cliff, for getting thrown off the show. Bullying gets you nowhere, man.


Second Biggest Jug Head: Ilan. You'll never be cool like Yule, dude, so don't even try.






Third Jug Head: Elia, for confusing humor with stupidity. Sinead O'Connor has been over for, like, decades, girlfriend. Least you could have done was donate all that that gorgeous hair to a cancer patient for a wig.



Well, I think I look beautiful!

























Frankly, I think you jug heads look ridiculous.









Laughing all the way to the bank: Marcel. His foam is rising to the top. Who'd have thunk?

"You can save me, man. Please. Please. Please. Please! PLEASE!"


Amazingly, they cooked well last night and the right person got sent home. Too bad we couldn't sample the dishes.

Oh, and congrats, Sam, for winning another quickfire challenge. Next time you plate, dude, wipe the smears off the side of your dish. They look somewhat unappetizing.

11 comments:

jinxy said...

This season was so full of cheaters and "fudgers" it was actually kinda nice seeing someone getting kicked out on their asses.

I have to admit before this episode I was getting bored with this season, and I still hold to my assertion that this season pales in comparison to season 1.

Oh well, let's all hope for better things for season 3...

Anonymous said...

Enjoy your blog!

"Next time you plate, dude, wipe the smears off the side of your dish. They look somewhat unappetizing."

And thanks for making this crack -- it's exactly what I was thinking about in that QF close-up!

Anonymous said...

Oh, I agree. Those skid marks look like shit stains. I don't want to see doo-doo smears on my plate. No, thank you!

Vic said...

Seems those doo doo stains reflect how people feel about the entire show. One wonders: Why did the Bravo t.v. crew allow for things to get so out of hand? Was there no one to stop the chefs from assaulting Marcel?

I am beginning to think my post was way too gentle on these bozos. From now on, my gloves are off and I'm ready for war.

I agree with the TC2 folks: they should have fired all the chefs except Marcel, and asked the last three ousted chefs to return.

RVA Foodie said...

I for one am frustrated that every reality show insists on using a red herring imp character to create "entertaining" diversions from the actual competition. Last season, pompous Stephen was the Iago in the story. Luckily, he had a conversion experience that was heartening for thos of us who watched the reunion episode. This time around, it's the passive aggressive Marcel showing his total lack of social graces (a minimal requirement for someone running a busy kitchen). I know, chefs are supposed to be maladjusted cranky brats, but that behavior is not how you get to the top. A show that is serious about cooking would do wise to show less tolerance for the imps that bring everyone's level of conduct down three notches. Too bad none of this explains the ridiculous head-shaving. That's not likely to impress Eric Ripert, in my opinion.

cl0udys said...

ms. place
what do you think about the possibility that the chronology was not how it was presented?

http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/178/elia3iu3.jpg

There are several screen caps that show Elia with hair when Marcel angrily walks by after the incident. Maybe this is really why they shaved their hair?

Vic said...

clOudy,

Much as it will offend me, I plan on watching this episode again. Something does indeed seem off -too many people noticed a discrepancy. I was too busy taking notes for my blog to closely watch each scene.

As you know, I like to take the light, rather high road in dishing these chefs. But no more.

As Chef Carlos Fernandez pointed out in another blog,TC2: They Cook, We Dish, the chefs are living in a pressure cooker environment, and I'm glad Cliff owned up to his mistake.

However, WHERE were the BRAVO producers when this was going on and why didn't the film crew put a stop to this (for want of a better word) attack? Very worrisome.

I agree with Jason G - Eric Ripert was likely not impressed. Too bad. This could have been a career breaking moment for some of the chefs. Instead they came across as bullying dolts.

Look, I'm no fan of Marcel, who possesses a passive-aggressive personality. He's the kind of person who really gets under my skin.

However, NOTHING excuses violent behavior. Nothing.

Anonymous said...

i was wondering where elia was during this so called "prank".

i'm disappointed in this seasons chefs. it seems like all them have some growing up to do. to my shock, several of the chefs feel that their verbal and physical abuse towards marcel was warranted. i can't image any employer wanting to hire these second grade bullies to represent their restaurant.

Anonymous said...

I too am very disturbed by the discrepancies in the timeline. I saw these video stills posted on another site which confirm that Elia & Ilan indeed shaved their heads AFTER Marcel's attack:

http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/306/eliaqe1.jpg

http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/7414/elia2pj3.jpg

http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/178/elia3iu3.jpg

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/3945/elia4ve0.jpg

It's definitely Elia, with all of her hair, on the lower right on the screen. And her laughter is audible as Marcel passes her. That also indicates Elia was making fun of Marcel and imitating his hair after she witnessed the assault.

The other thing that upset me upon re-watching is Ilan's giddy screaming for the others to hurry up and shave Marvel's head. I felt chills when he yelled "he's holding him down for nothing?!"

Finally, Sam smiles and whispers to the camera, "Go in there." And Ilan then storms into Marcel's bedroom with his camcorder while he's undressing. There are no words...

The idea the these goons assaulted Marcel and VIDEO-TAPED the dirty deed and continued to party afterwards... it makes me sick to my stomach.

Why was Cliff the only person punished? I agree with Tom Colicchio. All four of them should have been sent home.

Roxanne said...

thanks for posting the links. i thought elia was above this childish let's gang up on marcel behavior. apparently, i was wrong. i have completely lost my respect for her. i sure hope that marcel wins fan favorite.

jinxy said...

I seriously think Bravo might have switched around the timing of events because they can't have the eventual winner looking how Elia, Ilan and Sam came off looking given the timing of things.

The Top Chef has to be respectable, and what's respectable at poking fun at physical violence?

Bravo tends to have this thing about making the winner look vindicated, and the rest of the contestors look worse previous to their wins or losses. It's kind of bizarre.