Thank Goodness For Hung and His Smurf Village (Top Chef 3; Episode 10)

For your consideration, I present to you Hung’s Quickfire dish.

That’s some crazy shit.

Yes, Michael Schwartz, that was some crazy shit! I had a really hard time understanding this episode. I had predicted that Casey would crash and burn, but then she kicked me in the ass by winning the elimination challenge. However, I refuse to apologize. I praised Sara for her phenomenal performance the previous week, but I’m still not sold when it comes to Casey. She’s just all over the place. At times, she appears to have the culinary skills of a 5-year-old child; while at other times, she manages to impress the judges (and herself) by cooking up something surprisingly good. I can’t take it anymore.




I can see why some people get annoyed by Brian. But I enjoy watching this man light up the screen. Yes, I want to have sex with Brian. Sorry, I have the terrible habit of falling for straight guys; that really needs to stop. Anyway, let’s move on. Brian won the quickfire challenge by creating a successful dish using SPAM. Interestingly, Brian mentioned Tom Colicchio’s major complaint—that Brian never steps outside of his comfort zone. It’s going to take more than seafood to win Top Chef. And I’m glad he kind of acknowledged that.



I can’t quite explain Casey’s win, but, I have to admit that it put a big smile on my face. Finally, the women ended the night victorious. With the exception of CJ, the men seemed disoriented and uninspired. In previous episodes, my beloved Gail pointed out Howie’s time management problems. The guy does not work well under pressure. Sure, he’s a good chef, but cheffing is not for the faint of heart. Stress comes with the territory, a fact that most chefs should be aware of.



To his credit, Howie has made some successful dishes, but he’s also failed miserably on a number of occasions. He also seems to lack that creative drive that many great chefs possess in abundance. It’s kind of a shame to see him go because he gave us bloggers a lot of material to work with. For example, Howie had the following to say about fashion,

Do I look like I care about fashion? This is from Target. This is all I have.

Hung offered the following,

I love fashion! I like to wear, like, clothes that fit me, not clothes that look like a box.

Hm, I think I know what’s he’s trying to say. And he’s right. Some adult men in this country are still wearing baggy jeans and shirts that should only be worn by severely obese individuals. Oh, and I found it kind of funny that no one bothered to ask Dale what he thought about fashion. I mean, he’s the (out) gay man on the show; he should have something to say about fashion. Right?

Casey, of course, won the elimination challenge, but, as I mentioned before, it’s going to take a lot more to win me over. Now, I think it’s safe to say that many bloggers had issues with this episode. For starters, the judges seemed quite unreasonable. One can only do so much with a $350 budget. There are other complaints about various aspects of the show. I’ve complained about the lack of female talent; others think this season is boring compared to other seasons; and the list goes on.

I actually think these criticisms are not limited to Top Chef; they reflect a greater problem with Bravo reality television. For example, Bravo’s newest offering, Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style, got less than stellar reviews. And I can see why. To be honest, I enjoyed watching Tim Gunn do his thing; yes, I consider myself a fan. But the show failed to capture my full attention. It actually looked like a makeover show that one usually finds on some other cable networks like the TV Guide Channel or A& E. And I find that very problematic. We’re talking about Bravo, the home of Queer Eye and Project Runway!

On a positive note, this episode of Top Chef offered hope. And it presented itself in the form of a slightly crazed bisexual named Hung. During the quickfire challenge, Hung worked passionately to create a dish that defied explanation. At this stage in the game, it would seem wise to stick to what’s been done before. But Hung dared to think outside the box. And the other chefs rightfully applauded his bizarre display of self-expression. He has earned my support. Yes, I hope Hung makes it to the final.

So, I agree with most that this episode was a bit disappointing, and I think Bravo needs to start injecting some creativity and innovation into its reality television programs. Seriously, they could have done so much with Top Design but failed to deliver. You know, I was so close to giving up on Bravo, but Hung’s quickfire masterpiece made me reconsider my position. Thank goodness for Hung and his defiant Smurf Village.