Top Chef: Last Chance Kitchen: Where is David Murphy?

The premiere of Top Chef: Last Chance Kitchen arrived on Peacock today, and let’s just say that we were surprised by a key omission. Where was David Murphy? He was the first contestant eliminated from season 21 in Wisconsin. However, he was completely MIA during the second-chance aftershow.

What was going on here? Well, here is the thing: Murphy has not addressed his absence on social media, and the first Last Chance Kitchen episode did not mention him at all. Instead, we saw the debut of Soo Ahn as the “16th contestant” this season, someone who would have to advance through this part of the competition in order to make it into the main show.

Of course, we have a lot of questions. Was this always the twist? Or, was Soo an alternate who was brought in after things didn’t work out with David? It’s at least something to think about.

As for David’s absence in general, we would say to not think about anything too controversial right now. Until we hear otherwise, it could just be a matter of schedules not working out or David wanting to move on. It was clear that Top Chef itself did not want to bring much attention to it here, so we do tend to think that you won’t see or hear that much more about it through the rest of the season.

So what actually happened during this episode?

Well, let’s just say that Valentine had to compete with someone he’d never seen before, and that created an interesting dynamic where both parties had no real idea what the other party was going to do. Valentine tried to redeem himself by incorporating corn into his dish.

However, the corn was once again the problem — Valentine is gone and with that, the mysterious Soo sticks around for another episode.

What did you think about the first episode of Top Chef: Last Chance Kitchen, including the absence of David?

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