Top Chef jumps the shark?

Okay, it's official. I now feel sorry for Marcel.

I'm not saying that none of this is his fault and I'm not saying that he should win either, but seriously, that was just wrong any way you look at it and I have to give him kudos for not reacting back and making the situation worse. Sheesh, what is up with the chefs this year? Cliff, I've always seen you as having attitude but I didn't think you could be that stupid. Ilan, why did you continue to film? Elia, why didn't you try to help? Sam, why were you just lying there, letting it happen? The whole scene was just supremely uncomfortable to watch and I couldn't believe it was really happening. And it kind of ruined what could have been a light, fun, harmless segment with the chefs, which we haven't seen much of at all this season. The reveal with Elia and her wig in the confessional was one of the funniest things ever and I almost didn't even remember it.

The sad part is that the first two-thirds of the episode was excellent, drama-free, and was exactly what I watch this show for. The guest judge was intelligent and gracious, and the food was beautiful and looked like things I'd really want to eat. I was ready to take back my statement from just yesterday that I wanted only Elia to win. Sam really brought it in this episode. He won the Quickfire and essentially won the Elimination as well. Yes, he's arrogant, but I feel like a certain amount of arrogance is tolerable when there's real talent there as well. And he's already an executive chef, which demonstrates to me that he's already got some leadership chops. Elia, while very intelligent and talented, showed once again that she can be too much of a perfectionist and too emotional in the kitchen, which may just be a sign of her youth. Marcel, to me, is still kind of all over the place with his food. He might make beautiful and interesting plates, but nothing he's made has made my mouth water. Ilan executes what he knows extremely well, which is obviously Spanish cuisine, but I don't think he's shown a lot of creativity. I guess anything can happen, but the final judging tends to be more of a "body of work" call, and if that's the case, then Sam's gotta win.

Both Lee Anne and Gail claim, in their blogs, that the finale will be all about cooking and not drama. Which isn't surprising, I'd hope that the chefs learned their lesson afer this horror of an episode. '

And hopefully this is also a lesson to all Top Chef wannabes out there. USE YOUR BRAINS.