02.02.07
Go Ilan!
Okay, so the finalists on Top Chef were not my first choices. Ilan was my number 3, behind Sam and Ilia, both eliminated in Hawaii just before the final.
I wanted to see Marcel tossed weeks ago. But, like the first season, they ended up with one person – Howard? – that I liked, and one I wanted to see go down in char-grilled flames.
As it turns out, we dodged a bullet. Marcel’s talent brought him very close to victory. What held him back? Marcel’s immaturity.
Chef Tom may be correct: in a few years, Marcel could well become the more famous of the two finalists. He takes risks, he’s creative – but ENOUGH with the foam, already! – and he’s more versatile than Ilan, whose passionate focus on Spanish cuisine will no doubt serve him well in the years ahead. But what cost Marcel in the final was his immaturity. His third dish was deemed fine as it was, but his comment to the judges about the missing fish tainted their memory of it. Marcel’s treatment of his sous chefs Sam and Mikey was haphazard in the leadup and ungracious in hindsight. As in previous episodes, Marcel is weakest when he has to rely on his fellow contestants, whom he has consistently treated as his inferiors. Sam saved him on the third dish, but Marcel gave him credit only grudgingly, mixed with a slam about Sam’s jealousy. Compare with Ilia and Betty, who worked their hearts out for Ilan, who treated them graciously and gratefully.
In the end, as Chef Tom said, it’s about the food. What happens in the kitchen doesn’t matter in the judging, except as it impacts what is served. In that respect, Ilia’s lobbying against Marcel rightly fell on deaf ears. But what we saw in the kitchen did play a role, and that reflected on the final choice. Ilan finished his courses feeling that he’d cooked his best meal ever (which was the challenge), and felt like a winner whatever the result. Marcel couldn’t bring himself to say it was his best meal ever because he was still too busy blaming Sam and Mikey for the imperfections.
And he’s been whining ever since.
Had Marcel learned to see his fellow contestants as colleagues instead of impediments to his ultimate victory, he likely would have won. He has a potentially bright future – but only if he pulls his oversized, ferret-coiffed head out of his posterior and learns to play well with others. But I can also see Top Chef working against him, because we saw him behaving badly week after week after week. Who would want to work with that PITA?
Guess we’ll find out.