Top Chef: Colorado episode 7 review: The most intense elimination yet
Were there some problems for Tanya that were absolutely her own doing? Sure. Her precision wasn’t great during what was defined by the judges as a precision-based task. If she wanted to get effusive praise, the only way for her to do that would’ve been by nailing almost every single element that she threw out there. That didn’t happen. Yet, you can also argue that she was distracted routinely by Claudette, who didn’t have a great dish and, more than that, showed for the second time this season that she’s not a great team player — at least in the confines of the competition. If there are communication breakdowns and issues over decision-making once, it’s a fluke. More than once, especially with this small of a sample size, and it starts to become a little bit more of a pattern.
If we were the judges, we would’ve probably sent Claudette out just because A) her dish didn’t seem to be any better and B) she had already been eliminated once before. We know that Tanya didn’t meet the challenge as much, but we consider resume a little more than the other judges often do.
Do we think that Tanya did herself any favors by being so stubborn in front of the judges? Probably not. She hurt herself far more than she helped herself in some of those moments.
Elsewhere in this Olympic episode…
The Winter Olympics theme for the elimination challenge was really fun, especially since it showed some of the serious divides in the house. For most of the season we’ve thought that the Top Chef Bears (Bruce, Joseph, and Joe) were the resident likable goofballs. However, it seems like their shtick is wearing thin on other people, even if the three all did kill the elimination challenge and draw a ton of praise from the judges for some of what they threw out there. Also, apparently Tanya and Carrie weren’t always the best of friends based on the argument that they had at the end of the installment.
Earlier in the episode, the breakfast-themed quickfire challenge was fun! It was a great opportunity to see how some of the chefs serve Nutella, while also making us super-hungry for breakfast at the same time. We should say, however, that the editors didn’t exactly do a great job of hiding that eventually Carrie was going to win that. From the moment she started her monologue of how she was doing something different from everyone else you might as well have thrown a blinking sign over her head reading “Winner.”
Final Verdict
A very interesting, dramatic episode with an elimination that bums us out. It does feel in retrospect that Tanya may have just felt like she was over the competition and we get that — given everything that she’s accomplished in her career she doesn’t really need it. She can just go back to doing the same amazing stuff she was doing beforehand … depending on the Last Chance Kitchen results.
What did you think when it comes to Top Chef: Colorado episode 7? Did the right person go home in your mind? Share in the comments!
Also, be sure to like CarterMatt on Facebook in the event you want more insight regarding Top Chef whenever you want it. (Photo: Bravo.)