Monday, January 16, 2012

The Top Chef Texas Last Chance Kitchen Redemption Island Twist Does Not Work For Me

I am liking Top Chef Texas, but I am not liking the Redemption Island addition called Last Chance Kitchen.

For one thing, to watch Last Chance Kitchen you have to watch it online on the Bravo TV Last Chance Kitchen webpage.

The last Chef standing in Last Chance Kitchen gets to re-enter the competition. I do not know how that works.

Several episodes ago there was a Top Chef Texas episode where Padma told two Chefs to pack their knives and go.

Those two Chefs Padma sent packing were Dakota and Nyesha. The Chefs had been paired in teams of two, with it being Nyesha's misfortune to be paired with Dakota, who messed up whatever it was Dakota and Nyesha were cooking. Dakota accepted full blame for the error.

After being sent packing Dakota and Nyesha soon found out about the Last Chance Kitchen Redemption Island twist.

In a 3 way Last Chance match up it was Dakota vs. Nyesha vs. Whitney, cooking in a wok with cactus as the main ingredient.

Tom Colicchio is the sole judge in Last Chance Kitchen. He judged Nyesha's cactus dish the best, and thus began Nyesha's string of beating one Chef after another.

The following week Nyesha was up against Heather the Bully, with the challenge being using 3 techniques, Frying, Injecting and Foaming to make a dish.

Colicchio again liked Nyesha's dish best.

Next up was formerly fat Malibu Chris, who was sent packing by Padma due to bad barbecue at the brutal BBQ challenge. Chris and Nyesha had to make a dish from ingredients bought at a Gas Station.

Colicchio again liked Nyesha's dish best.

The latest Chef told to pack his knives and go was Ty-Lor, a victim of the brutal Restaurant Wars. When Ty-Lor faced Nyesha the challenge was to make a pastry dessert in 30 minutes. Each chef got to pick a sous chef from the already booted Chefs. Ty-Lor picked Malibu Chris, while Nyesha picked Ty-Lor's friend, Heather.

Colicchio again liked Nyesha's dish best.

Now, I'll get to why I don't like this Last Chance Kitchen Redemption Island twist.

This week Ty-Lor goes from the exhausting Restaurant Wars to being told to pack his knives and go, to finding he is still in it and has to do some more cooking.

Meanwhile Nyesha is not exhausted from Restaurant Wars, she just calmly relaxes and awaits her next opportunity to have Colicchio like her dish best.

The week before, when Padma sent Malibu Chris packing his knives and going, it was after a grueling, staying up all night, of BBQing, and then being out in the hot sun the next day, finishing the BBQing.

While Malibu Chris went sleep deprived and cooked in grueling heat, Nyesha just calmly relaxed and waited in air-conditioned comfort.

Clearly this gives a HUGE advantage to the Chef who is already on Redemption Island, waiting in Last Chance Kitchen. With each fallen Chef, Nyesha gets stronger, as she has more and more time to rest, while the still competing Chefs are put through all sorts of misery.

I can see where there will be some semblance of poetic justice if Nyesha keeps knocking off the incoming Chefs and gets back in the competition, after her earlier elimination, which seemed very unfair.

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