Top Chef Finale: Verdict? Yay! but meh...

So, I was going to post a season finale commentary tonight, offering an overall assessment of this year’s programming (a “year in review,” if you will), but then the Top Chef finale was on and I’ll just have to comment on that first… in spite of the fact that although this season ended with a win for the right person, it closed out with a bit of a whimper and a hint of a yawn…

As had been predicted all season, Stephanie ended up taking the cake (which is ironic, given that her cake kind of sucked) in the Top Chef finale last night. I had put my money on Stephanie as a favorite early on, but was never sure she’d come out on top. Yay! Although, as long as Lisa didn’t win, I don’t think anyone really cared if Stephanie or Richard took it in the end. We’ll get to more of that later…

All in all, this wasn’t Top Chef’s best season. By any stretch. From day 1, I was pretty annoyed with the majority of the cast. Most of the chefs were either annoying (Lisa, Spike, Andrew) or completely forgettable (what’s-her-face, that one guy, and you know, the one with the chef’s hat?), making for a less-than-enthralling season overall. And, weirdly, several of the contestants knew each other already. Out of the who-knows-how-many people who tried out for this show, several of the chefs had known several of the other chefs for years (Stephanie and Dale had apparently been friends for 10 years? Wow, didn’t find that out till the penultimate episode), others knew each other back in the day, and even a couple (Jenn and Zoe) ended up on the show together. What are the odds? I mean, little over a dozen made it on to the show and some of them know each other already? Kind of odd. Anyway, that wasn’t a big deal really, but it just changed the vibe a bit.

This season just didn’t seem to have the same gusto of seasons past. Season 1, which I only caught later, in reruns, had some truly classic characters and a formidable villain for the finale. Harold and Tiffany made for a completely enthralling smackdown that was a close race to the bitter end. The true highlight of the season being the classic line, “I’m not your bitch, Bitch!” directed at Season 1 villain, Tiffany. Awesome. Season 1 truly had the most interesting chefs with the quirkiest personalities.

Season 2 was also completely awesome, with Ilan and Marcel (who I actually kind of liked) going head to head. The final battle, between two worthy chefs is what makes the finales really engaging, edge-of-your-seat entertainment. It was satisfying to see Marcel lose, but it wasn’t entirely satisfying to see Ilan win. Everyone wanted to see Sam win. And, really, everyone just see Sam, a lot, and in any capacity (wink, wink). :-)

Season 3 had no villain in the finale. All villains having been eliminated pretty early one, the finale saw a three-way battle among Dale, Casey, and Hung, all of whom were talented chefs and none of whom were totally hated by everyone on earth. All the chefs were pretty likable and all seemed to like each other quite a bit. It made for a less-than-nail-biting finale, but was still quite enjoyable on the whole.

This season, I think the producers decided that the finale needed a villain, noting that Season 3 wasn’t quite the royal rumble of Seasons 1 and 2. Henceforth, the completely undeserving, snide, bitchy Lisa was ushered in to the finale. Of the 13 (14?) eliminations that led up to the finale, Lisa graced the bottom of the judging barrel seven times. SEVEN. If that’s not a clear-cut sign she shouldn’t have been there, I don’t know what would be. She should have gone home after restaurant wars (if not before), and Dale should have been in the finale with Richard and Stephanie. Even Antonia would have been a much more deserving competitor. But, with Richard, Stephanie, Dale, and Antonia all being rather chummy, the producers of the show simply couldn’t allow that and we were subjected to yet another episode of Lisa. Blah.

She actually did pretty well in the finale, but then again, she didn’t take any risks at all and cooked the only kind of food she ever cooks, Asian. Richard couldn’t quite pull his menu together and came in third, actually telling the judges that he “choked.” Which sadly, he kind of did. Stephanie’s dessert didn’t pan out (heh, get it?), so she and Lisa went in to the final judging table pretty evenly matched. Which is exactly what the producers would have wanted.

They did their damnedest to make the audience think that they might give it to Lisa, but fearing that no one would ever watch the show again after such an injustice, gave the prize to the rightful winner. Between Richard and Stephanie, they won 8 of the 14 eliminations, 4 a piece. Lisa, somehow, won 1 elimination challenge. I think the show wanted to take a jab at Lisa by allowing the chefs to choose their sous chefs based on number of wins, with Lisa taking a very distant third.

Anyway, it was good to see Stephanie win, but it wasn’t exactly a winner of a finale. The fatal flaw? They made the chefs work by themselves. The real joy of seasons past was that the finale included the contestants who had already been eliminated come back and serve as sous chefs. The best was when they got to choose who they worked with. And even better, they got to put their two cents in about how it was to work with whoever they worked with and let the judges know just what kind of a leader he/she was. I love that part.

Annnnd, this season didn’t have that. It didn’t even really feel like the finale.

Anyway, I’m hoping the show wises up for Season 5 and realizes what works and what doesn’t. Until then, we’ll have Season 5 of Project Runway to keep us company (premieres on July 17th). It’s way better than Top Chef anyway.