top chef finale

(S06E15) Well, it's pretty hard to argue with a Top Three whose members have won twelve of the thirteen elimination challenges, as Tom tells us at the beginning of the episode. Some of you may think that Jen was robbed in favor of creating more drama by having the Voltaggio brothers in the finale, but I disagree. She had a several-week stint toward the end where she just fell apart and barely made it through elimination. None of these guys had that, so they absolutely deserve to be here.

However, it is mighty convenient that having brothers in the finale tugs at our heartstrings just a little bit more, since they bring the moms in for the final challenge. I love the idea of having the chefs create a first course that reminds them of childhood memories, especially since we got such good stories out of it. Kevin's mom loves fried chicken skin! Brian was inspired by the texture in his mother's simple dishes, while Michael was a picky eater who "hated everything." I guess he got past that.

These finales are becoming predictable. They always bring back the last few contestants to either judge or help in the finale's last challenge. This one was a little anti-climatic. I've been rooting for Harold to win for several weeks now. I think his food has been better (ha - funny how us viewers will say one meal is better than another, as if we has Taste-O-Vision on our TVs - but I'm going by the judge's comments), and Tiffani just seems like the type of person I wouldn't get along with in the kitchen. Not that Dave is any better. But he's "over the top" annoying. Tiffani is "slow boil" annoying.

A superficial way to pick a favorite? Maybe, but it's a reality show, edited to show drama and not everything that happens in the competition, so how else can we judge?