I am SO OVER Leah. She has been doing this giving up/slacker/oh, I just don't care anymore thing from the beginning. She fucking gave up in the quickfire, and I would have gotten rid of her based on that. I think that Jamie is a MUCH stronger chef. I haven't liked Leah for a while, and I now actively dislike her. I will say that tonight was the first night that she showed real passion.

Like I said, I'm really over Jamie too, but there's no question she's head and shoulders better than Leah. Even just on this challenge, with overcooked fish and not the slightest idea of what the flavors or sauces were supposed to be.

Maybe if she hadn't tried to imply that Ripert's dish was a crappy dish to begin with?

Oh! Speaking of getting and not getting it, that was a great moment with Ripert and Carla and the non-Bearnaise Bearnaise.

Okay, I am very amused. Just stopped the tivo to see an infomercial called "Core Rhythms", that's endorsed by SYTYCD's Mary Murphy. She's wearing this crazy shirt that has chain necklaces attached!

I was VERY surprised by who went home on TC tonight. I thought that was going to go the other way for sure.

I was glad to see Carla showing actual chops, too.

I really liked both of the skill challenges tonight -- sometimes it's not about creativity and twists, sometimes it's just about knowing food.

I was pretty shocked that Jamie went home instead of Leah. It seems to me like not understanding the ingredients in a sauce would be a bigger deal than overcooking some celery.

But I agree with Jesse - these were GREAT challenges and I would like to see more cooking and less wackiness overall.

It baffles me that Leah used to work the fish station at her restaurant back home. BAFFLES.

Tom C says:

Jamie expressed that Eric’s food really didn’t do much for her, and as misguided as that may be, I respect it. As good as Eric is, his work isn’t every chef’s cup of tea. I don’t know whether this affected Jamie’s enthusiasm for the challenge at hand; I do know that it was obvious to all the judges that hers was the weakest dish. That celery was inedible. While we selected the top three and bottom three dishes and discussed them as such, five of the six were actually well done, and the only chef that any of us ever considered sending home that night was Jamie. She knew it, too.

Which isn't how they edited it, but I guess we have to take his word!

Which isn't how they edited it, but I guess we have to take his word!

Not how they edited it at all. Wow. It's a shame, because I think Jamie has real chops, and I think she knew she fucked up, too. In another situation (i.e. not a timed competition), she would have dumped the celery and substituted it, or fixed it.

Leah needs to go next, please god.

And Ripert says:

For example, the black bass, the dish that Jaime had to reproduce, represents our style and philosophy the most and therefore was the most difficult to replicate.

Which makes me wish all the more that Leah had been the one to go. I'm just so sick of her attitude.

[edit: However, he goes on to say,

The black bass recipe was inedible. The celery was an embarrassment and the sauce was burned and way oversalted.]

I had been wondering this, and checked the cast bios to learn (or be reminded) that Stefan was born in Finland, but grew up in Germany. I kept getting confused!

Is there any way he doesn't win this?