Wow, Lindsay's earrings … awful. In the first few shots of her, I thought they were her earlobes. Fashion Police-level disaster, definitely.

Paul is more of an all-along frontrunner than a dark horse, as evidenced by his boatload of cash and prizes. If he doesn't win, it will be — well, not a travesty; this hasn't been that exciting a season. A disappointment.

I had to wonder, what the hell would Heather have done had she made it to the finale? Assuming her gondola held.

Half-bushel (n.) the aftermath of a first-time bikini waxer's realization that it hurts too much to keep going. May or may not be a literal "half"; often manifests as a regular bushel with a strip missing.

The clip of her singing was the best moment of the episode, hands down. How cool is it that she was willing to make the Little Green Frog faces on national television?

Good point, and I did think Judge stopped short of driving it into the ground, which would have been easy to do.

Noticing that the two singers look like completely different kinds of douchebags (and Beavis noting that "they complement each other" — very sly) was dead on.

The digs at standardized testing were brilliant, and if anything could have been more savage. A friend of mine worked as an aide in a severe-impairment/autistic classroom, and those students were expected to pass, too, at least as far as the school's rating was concerned. And every student had to attempt the tests,…

Three words, hedonist: Pot. Brownie. Challenge.

SPOILER re Last Chance Kitchen

Perfect simile — and alas, as with the Cheddar Bay Biscuits, I just don't have the self-control. I could suck it up and watch LCK before reading the AV Club review, I guess … but a tiny little "SPOILER" would still be appreciated.

I've come to see Chris J. as a version of the nerd stereotype in an old kids-at-camp movie. At first, you think they're setting him up as the computer-genius stereotype. Then it turns out he's the wacky-explosion/shoot-the-whole-plan-to-hell stereotype. There's a thin line.

Nope, it was in the main body (toward the end) of the dinner-party ep. And even if the spoilers were just in "Stray Observations," that's the best part. Reading the review and skipping those would be like eating duck and leaving off the delicious perfectly rendered skin.

All is not lost. There is still Grayson.

I really enjoyed this review, although I don't think the episode deserved an A. Hopefully Restaurant Wars will, though.

Dean Fearing looks like Pennywise's uncle who only gets to visit on holidays due to the strict rules of his group home in the sewer. Pennywise himself without the makeup … I'm picturing Tim Curry. (But with the fangs.)

Everything's secret in a Freudian sauce.

Tell that to my thesis, "Top Iconoclast: Deconstructed Dishes in a Freudian Sauce."

The bell pepper gag in the American Iron Chef intro is based on the original announcer's intense hatred of bell peppers. A lot of people dislike them — they're a more Western-world ingredient and an acquired taste.

I think Chris J. pulled some brilliantly passive-aggressive, anti-bleached-blonde-gaudiness, Beckettesque 99-percenter subterfuge. Forcing the high-society audience to eat a greasy, ribbed cigar, simultaneously an international totem of wealth (a la Mr. Monopoly/Rich Uncle Moneybags, Castro, etc.) and an obvious…