1992 replies to this topic

[behindme]

I've noticed that there's been a lot of speculation going on in seperate threads (such as the cheftestant threads, judge threads, and episode threads), and I thought it would be a good idea to have one main speculation thread as a lot of the other show forums have.

I'm going to start with tonight's episode, I suppose. I have a feeling that the most vulnerable people at this point are those who haven't "wow"-ed the judges--people who have been basically coasting in the middle. Marcel seems like he's pretty vulnerable, but I'm assuming that Frank's blowup at him isn't happening this episode, so I don't think he'll be going home.

[bbcookin]

Overdue to PYKAG?

Michael and Frank

Just PYKAG?

Josie. Marcel. Elia.

Boo hoo feel sorry for me. I'm stuck in Hawaii with no cable tv. I'm counting on keckler for a speedy recap AND my husband to set the DVR at home.

[lindseyquinn]

keckler, you read my mind on the speculation thread! I was just about to ask for one, when I read someone's post slating Betty for the win. My feeling is, "Not so much."

Sam, Cliff, and Marcel will make it far, I think, though I can't even guess at a winner yet.

I think Mia will go soon.

Edited by lindseyquinn, Nov 8, 2006 @ 2:10 PM.

[lsk]

Sam is going to rock the house in tonight's ep!

[lindseyquinn]

Sam is going to rock the house in tonight's ep!

I completely agree, Isk, and I feel he'll be one of the strongest contenders down the road, if not the winner.

[Ashforth]

I hope that the spoilery scene with Frank threatening to bust Marcel up real good is in tonight's episode so future speculation doesn't need to hinge around it. Based on what we can tell about performance to date, I am expecting that tonight's knifee will be Michael, Marissa, Frank or Carlos. At this point, I think I'll be disappointed if it is anyone else.

[bbcookin]

And what does everyone make of Betty asking to see the rules in writing? Does that have anything to do with her chemcial burn? Oh dear!

If there is any justice in reality tv land, Michael gets knifed! <keeping fingers crossed for justice>

[chefashley]

I definitely agree with everyone on the "middle-of-the-road" theory. If Marisa has to demonstrate her less-than-stellar pastry skills, she could hit the road. But other than that, Michael, Frank, and Mia really need to step it up. Carlos, too.

I don't know what to make of Betty and her asking for the rules in writing. I hope some of the things in the "coming attractions" (Ilan telling someone off, Betty asking for rules-in-writing, Marcel being threatened by Frank, Ilan slamming Marcel's dish, etc.) happen soon. The suspense is killing me!

I also don't know what to think about the whole "cheating" scandal tonight. Did these people not learn from the Otto incidence? I just hope it's someone who really wanted Otto eliminated for his actions, ie, Marisa.

[biakbiak]

I think Betty asking for the rules in writing might be tonight's episode. It appears from the preview that they break up teams of three and that she isn't on Sam's or Mia's teams (they appear to be on separate teams) when they are at panel discussing the cheating. So I think perhaps Betty's team is the one who "cheats" and she is asking for the rules to see if they really did break them.

[chefashley]

Could be, biakbiak. Good point, as well.

[link417]

Hooray for a speculation thread!

I think the Betty/rules situation is tonight's ep, as well. And if not, I don't think I could take THREE separate allegations of cheating in one season.

Just came back from the media thread, and I want to know what people think of this (possibly spoiler-y) quote from Andy's blog (from under the last photo): "Does this saladesque dish hold the key to the identity of the next Top Chef?"

I thought that maybe it could be hinting that SamTheMan is the ultimate winner, but then I thought that that would be a much too obvious hint and he wouldn't ruin the rest of the show like that.

[smrou]

I peg Sam, Cliff, and Betty as three of the final four, but as for who the fourth will be, I can't decide between Ilan and Josie.

I figure the next two to go will be Michael and Frank, and the Marisa will follow closely behind them, although of course you never can tell when someone will pull out something great and win a challenge unexpectedly (Dave in Napa) or end up on a winning team when it seems like it's their week to go.

I think Mia, Marcel, Elia, and Carlos are middle-of-the-pack types, but I could see Carlos or Elia as a dark horse.

Edited by smrou, Nov 8, 2006 @ 5:19 PM.

[behindme]

I can't decide between Ilan and Josie

This is a crazily far-fetched theory I've been developing, but here goes:

Last year, Ken was first in the theme song. Harold was last. The rest were jumbled up in no particular order. This year, Suyai was last and Josie is first. It could be that they switched up the winner & the first person who was knife'd. Then again, I'm not too keen on the idea of Josie winning, and it doesn't seem too plausible at this point.

[link417]

This is a crazily far-fetched theory I've been developing, but here goes:

Last year, Ken was first in the theme song. Harold was last. The rest were jumbled up in no particular order.

That's weird, because I noticed something similar. I never actually compared my theory to a list of the cheftestants in the order that they were knife'd, but it seemed to me that (for the most part, anyway) they split the field into the top half and the bottom half, and interchanged them. As in, they had the bottom of the bottom and then the bottom of the top, and kept switching all the way up to Harold. I don't think that's exactly how it went (like I said, I never got around to seriously looking at it or anything), but pretty freaking close.

Though I dunno about this season.

[RecT]

This is a crazily far-fetched theory I've been developing, but here goes:

Except that the promos were out well before the season started & well before the finale was filmed (very recently iirc). The entire show would have to be a sham with everything predetermined (including how good/bad someone will cook on a particular day) for that theory to work.

Hopefully the producers aren't too politically correct & demand that there be an "x" in the final 3-4 (woman, gay, minority, etc) & that the contestants actually be judged by the food that they produce. My top 3 picks at the moment are Sam, Cliff & Ilan. Betty is doing great now but I don't see her doing as well once things start to get more complex/fine diningish.

Tonight my guess for PYKAGing is either Michael for another food disaster or Marisa having to actually cook something other than a dessert & she's the one caught cheating.

[tarragon918]

Thanks for the Speculation thread!

The more I've read and heard, the more convinced I am that there is entirely too much manipulation by TPTB--editing is everything on these reality shows, apparently. Yes, I knew that going in, and it's one of the main reasons I don't watch many of them. That said, I've spent most of the week trying to figure out what is going to happen tonight from the previews. Which of course were probably highly edited! LOL

My favorites so far in the competition are Cliff, Mia (despite what the judges said about her fries last week!) and Sam. I think Betty has the chops, but the whole scene with Marcel last week did not sit well with me--I agree Marcel is annoying and maybe a bit weird, but Betty just seemed to blow up at him. And we have no idea what was edited out ... and in!

My picks as possible PYKAG tonight? Michael, who is teetering on the fence (Coldickio definitely does not like this dude, folks--and I gotta add that whoever thought up that name for him hit the nail right on the head!!), or Marisa. Both have scored disasterous dishes, especially Marissa, whose clunks have been desserts, supposedly her forte.

And where is Mia willing to go to?! LOL Please Mia, don't be the teller of tales! GAH!

[biakbiak]

I hope I am wrong on this but I worry that Michael is going to last longer than he should for the simple reason that Lee Ann used the nickname Midge to refer to him in her blog which seems overly familiar with someone you haven't really spent time and she didn't show up to help out with production until the six episode. Hopefully, she just uses nicknames easily.

[chefashley]

I hope the nickname thing isn't true, because Michael needs to go home to his wife and stay there. Harold calls him Mikey in his blog, so maybe they just don't like typing "Michael." As a matter of fact, the judges call him Mike in their blogs, so who knows.

[LolaRuns]

I guess it depends on how scripted you believe these shows are. My argument for Betty was that she would be the maximum contrast from the previous winner.

From male to female
From high cuisine to comfort food

Dave wasn't let into the finale last year, but now Betty wins.

I'm just arguging that it would be a good reality tv "story".

That said, I think it's unlikely that they are going that road because Betty has been in the spotlight too much (very visual reactions to winning, various feuds). It seems to me that most reality shows prefer winners who creep up on you (either because they do constant, but not high profile work in the background; or because they do bad in the beginning and then recover)

[belligerent]

Uhhh, how many episodes of this show are there supposed to be? I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that there might be a double or team elimination a bit down the road, since they started with 15 and have only sent three packing so far. We're already 4 episodes in and there's the same number of cheftestants as there was at the beginning of last season.

[porkchop1]

Two to a team? If the team loses, both members pack their knives?

[belligerent]

Yeah, something like that. They've done that before on Project Runway, in the second season.

[heebiejeebie]

Well by not eliminating anyone last night, they enabled themselves an extra toss perhaps that lets them get rid of someone who screwed the pooch that particular challenge. And then someone they just want to get rid of. Like, say Michael. Or even Betty if there truly was any unease and dislike over the position her sugar use put the judges in. Now they have the luxury of Padma saying "________ you cooked a horrible dish and didn't season it and didn't follow the guidelines of the challenge.. pack your knives and go....and Michael? While you may have been on the winning team, we actually thought the team won in spite of you. We still have seen nothing that suggests you don't take this seriously and are wasting our time. So pack your knives and leave."

In many ways the no elimination not only got them out of at least one sticky situation in a way that avoids one of the contestants screaming unfair to being tossed due to the whole cheating allegation. But it also gives the judging panel and the producers a bit more dramatic license. Win-win. They got the dramatic clippage/pimpage for last night's show. And room for a future shocker of a heave in the episodes to come.

I do think that certain chefs are tapped to be in the top half even before challenges start. I think Stephen should have been dropped a couple of episodes before he was and yet was kept. I don't think it was just for the drama either but rather because he also brought a greater facade of experience and ability than what he actually had. I think certain appearances of ability go much farther than they should have in the first season. And I think that it will this season as well.

And I think that Sam and Cliff being on the chopping block last night was part and parcel to the result we ended up seeing Tom deliver. So I'm betting that when someone who is favored has to go; someone who has done really well so far and has demonstrated considerable potential. When that person, due to the challenge restraints has to be sent home, domeone who is not a favorite of Tom's or Tom's and Gail's. Someone deemed safe. Will also get the toss due to overall general performance or attitude.

[lindseyquinn]

Last year, Ken was first in the theme song. Harold was last. The rest were jumbled up in no particular order. This year, Suyai was last and Josie is first.

Anyone from 'cross the Atlantic goes first?

[link417]

Josie's quote on the ep 5 preview video ("Marisa and I have been really good friends throughout all this. We're the only ones that really trust each other") has me thinking that something might happen between her and Marisa next episode.

[missgentry]

Ilan is my pick. He cooks great food (in real life too), keeps his cool, doesn't snitch on his teammates and is flying under the radar so far.

[behindme]

Keep in mind that there are four finalists this year, not three. My brain isn't working right now, so I can't really compare the number of cheftestants left to the number of episodes left, but maybe they were planning on not eliminating someone and this is just how it worked out.

[jm chen]

Keep in mind that there are four finalists this year, not three.

Is this speculation based on the Project Runway change-up, or an acknowledged fact? I hadn't heard it before, but I don't know if it's common knowledge and I just haven't heard it, or if you might want to put it under a spoiler bar.

Also, I speculate that they will eventually show Sam shirtless and my television will explode.

[behindme]

Is this speculation based on the Project Runway change-up, or an acknowledged fact? I hadn't heard it before, but I don't know if it's common knowledge and I just haven't heard it, or if you might want to put it under a spoiler bar.

No, it's an acknowledged fact. Padma said it at the beginning of the first episode. It was along the lines of "Four finalists will be left to compete in our finale in Hawaii."

Right now, my picks for finalists are Ilan, Cliff, Elia, and Mia. I think that they've been the most consistent so far--although, Mia did bug me last episode when she didn't tell Betty that it was she who threw her under the bus.