I'm not devastated, but I am annoyed with Stefan. The thing about his food, it's not all that creative, so it has to be perfect, and he screwed up two courses. Hosea undoubtedly made the better meal. Damn.
The usual random series of observations:
1. I was pleased that Stefan happily chose Marcel and especially liked his comment, "He's a bit of a twat . . . but who's not?"
2. I felt a sense of doom as soon as Casey uttered the words "sous vide." There's no way Carla was going to feel comfortable with that method, and it was very disappointing that she reverted to her old way of kowtowing to the stronger personality. That she went on to agree to a soufflé just hammered her coffin nails in that much more firmly. Too bad. I think she would have won.
3. Tom's dislike for Stefan was very apparent.
4. I hate it when a judge criticized a dish on the grounds that it's old-fashioned (Gail's "It's so 1982" re FGS's dessert).
5. Stefan was very sweet to Carla when she broke down at judges' table and later in the stew lounge. That guy is such a softie, and it's not even well concealed. I don't see how anyone could be intimidated by him.
6. Toby didn't quip! And he sounded sincere when he said, "If we're going to give it to the most soulful chef, we should give it to Carla." Plus he seemed to want FGS to win. Doesn't make me like him, and I hope he doesn't return as a judge, but at least I didn't want to belt him.
7. If I were one of the other contestants, I'd be pretty pissed that Fabio was invited to the finale meal.
