Top Chef All-Stars Premiere

TOP CHEF IS BACK, READERS.

Quick spoiler alert / spoiler space for anyone who hasn't read through Book Two of The Hunger Games (I swear to G-d, there's a reason). Don't worry, there'll be another spoiler space after that brief discussion in case you want to skip right after to the Top Chef discussion minus my tangent into literature and analogy and so for.


*
*
*
S
P
O
I
L
E
R

S
P
A
C
E
*
*
*

So, in book two of The Hunger Games, about halfway through, Katniss Everdeen is called back to The Hunger Games for the "Quarter Quell," a special event that occurs in Panem every 25 years. This time: the male/female tributes from each of the 12 districts in Panem are "reaped" from the pool of victors instead of from the total population pool of 12-17 year old teenage boys and girls.

It's The Hunger Games All-Stars.

And as soon as it's announced, the book picks up after lagging for a while on the laurels of HOLY SHIT THE FIRST BOOK WAS AMAZING WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!?

I feel like that's what happened with Top Chef last night, after a truly lackluster 7th season and a 6th season that was really only a battle between four people anyway. Forget Top Chef Masters (fun, but frivolous and without real stakes) and Top Chef Just Desserts (which was colorful, sweet confectionery goodness, don't get me wrong).

Top Chef is back.

*
*
*
S
P
O
I
L
E
R

S
P
A
C
E
*
*
*

Top Chef is back, with characters we (the Constant Viewer) already know and love (or love to hate). And we already know that they're all incredibly talent chefs. We know their personalities (and are, in some cases, hoping for a change but secretly demanding that nothing has changed and that Marcel is just as much of a talented douchebag as ever). There's no culling to do, no trimming the fat. Normally in these competition shows, it takes weeks to whittle away the boring contestants, the ones who don't truly belong, the extraneous characters who get in the way of the real talent and magnetic personalities. Every cut is going to be painful instead of merely being necessary and a step towards the final group.

I've watched All-Stars editions of reality shows before (The Amazing Race... and it was a hoot... haven't watched either Survivor edition because, again, I've never been a Survivor viewer). This isn't the first time it's ever been done, obviously. But it feels different, to me, than other All-Stars casts.

Why? I believe (and correct me if I'm wrong) this is the first time that a skills competition show has done an All-Stars season. There have been specials from both Top Chef and Project Runway with "All-Stars." But this is a whole season. And it's not a game that people are playing outside of their daily lives, taking a 40 day trip to the wilderness or jetsetting around the world. This isn't something these people are really doing for "fun." This is what these people do for their careers. The stakes are insanely high, personally and professionally. And it's something that, really, since each contestant's last time on the show, they had a real opportunity to improve. To become better, more multifaceted chefs.

Which is why the first elimination challenge (which, especially in Season 7 / DC, were more often poorly conceived than not) was so pitch-perfect. "Here's what sent you home last time. Now fix it."

And how devastating it must've been to be sent home first (and I must say I totally disagree with the decision, based on a cooking talent level... it should've been Stephen, but he's too colorful and annoying a character... but, yikes, if Elia didn't fully descale that fish and it was served partially raw... that's a problem!)

I cannot wait for the rest of this season. Especially after the "trick" the producers pulled on the contestants, splitting them first into seasons for the quickfire and then into two groups for the elimination and letting the chefs listen to the others critiquing their food in front of the judges. It's always a little weird when that happens because while the first group of diners in unaware they're being watched, the second group is all-too-aware.

Because the season really did risk being low on drama. And the beginning of the episode was (almost) all hugs. Sure, there were little spats that were going to develop... but now it's on, as every chef has vocally lambasted someone else's finished product (while praising others). Another reason Elia was probably eliminated. She wanted no part in that drama.

Congrats to Angelo for the win. It'll always have the asterisk of "if Blais finished on time, would he have won," but while you proved yourself awesome among lesser cheftestants in DC, you've now proven yourself awesome among the best. Even if not all of them had their finest day.

Who are you rooting for? Who are you rooting against? Who do you want to stay on so you can root against them?

My fingers are crossed this season's ratings are well above DC's because... damn, this show just got good again.

Hoodie MFing hoo, bitches.