Man, that was painful. I can't imagine why she was brought back except to make show more Seinfeldian.

I doubt Kristen would have outright won the fried chicken competition, but she certainly wouldn't have produced a mess of grease in a banana leaf. I suspect she would have been in the middle in that one. The point is, though, is she still understands what the judges want and how to make food taste good.

Josie's elimination came one episode too late. If Kristen had told the truth about the broth taking too long and the gelatin just never coming together, her speech taking full responsibility would have kept her on. I think more than a few people had Kristen winning the season, as she is clearly the superior cook and…

And in Stefan's case, it may not have been just a rehash. Collichio hasn't been to culinary school in a very long time, and I know that I never had to make it in school, so he seemed to have been just talking.  Just a long line in the questionable decisions the judges have made this year. That said, I agree that…

The dish became popular for the reason you stated, but as Brooke said (I'm paraphrasing) "You did a pedestrian version of something that wasn't even fried chicken." Cordon Bleu certainly has a place in the culinary world, just not this particular episode.

AMC set the bar too high…
…for itself.