I worked in a Burger King for my first-ever job. The staff there was basically of the opinion that fuck the fry-to-order shit, they'd just let that same fish fillet sit for hours and then serve it to the first person that ordered it.

Once again I was surprised to see Dale rein himself in with the argument with the waiters—what was that argument, anyway? I got the impression that he had an issue with one of the servers, something like that. Either way, old Dale would have blown a fucking fuse—he did need some intervention from the others, but he…

Sweet moment: her calling out to the other team to have a good service. I don't think I've ever seen someone do that in a team challenge before.

Marcel in a nutshell
Colicchio on Marcel's stress level: "Sometimes people thrive on it, and sometimes it's kind of a…weird energy."

Apparently I didn't remember Fabio's season well enough, because I didn't get Dale's comment about getting Fabio for FOH being a coup—but damn if he isn't right, Fabio's got all the charm, composure, and confidence for it and he can handle the staff as well. He's another one that I have trouble taking seriously, but I…

The Professor and the Weird Italian Immigrant show is getting better each week. Blais's "talk to me" in the waiting room and Fabio sitting on his lap (did I see that right…?) was so amazingly odd couple fun.

weird Angelo of the night
"Did you know that if there is even one droplet of blood, a shark can smell it from two miles away :| I don't even go in pools because of sharks."

It's cool to ironically root for Marcel.

I wanted to punch Marcel in the mouth for killing her buzz about Amsterdam. She was literally bouncing, for God's sake, and he had to cut right through that with crankiness about his own failure. Lame.

Another great Fabio moment talking about his short ribs: "the first ever Top Chef miracle!"

I actually haven't liked him much this season until this episode. I think it was some combination of them showing one of his sharper moments from his season—did I really forget that the "Top Scallop" comment first came from him?—and the turtle on a leash. If that didn't melt your heart…well, you're probably not a…

I still have yet to see him call his food "sexy" this season, and I'm waiting for it. Angelo, what planet did you come from?

Mostly what was funny to me was how he was clearly prepared to say more than that, and point it out much more clearly—and then didn't have to, because Jamie seemed fully willing to do it herself.

Douchebags I like
Angelo—Less the arrogant hotshot that they painted him in his season and more and more just the most incredible weirdo. I'm not sure I'd want to hang around him, he is just the bizarrest combination of bullshit Zen and obsessiveness, but he's fun to watch.

I thought it was interesting that Spike talked nonstop about how someone else had their hands in his dish, and Tre said nothing, or at least it was edited that way. Maybe he just felt stupid about someone else cooking his salmon—which, he should.

I think it was oddly malicious of Tom Colicchio to inform the other contestants that Angelo had been accused of sabotage last season. I guess it does make the playing field a little more even, since the contestants have seen all the other seasons but his—but if that wasn't planting ideas in their heads, I don't know…

What I actually liked about the call-out was how it played out. Blais kind of mildly pointed out that she had an odd arc going on, she got defensive and reacted hard with "why, because I didn't cook?"—leaving everyone else with the eyebrows raise of "…uh, yes. That would by why."

The best part of Stitchesgate was the torrent of war stories it unleashed. I was waiting for "One time I cut my whole finger off and I just duct taped it back on and kept going! No big deal!"

hmmm
I was surprised to see Angelo at all this season, but he's had an interesting sort of Russell-on-Survivor effect (oh God, I watch too much TV) where none of the chefs have actually had a chance to see what he can do. I have to say, I was sort of assuming that his success last season had more to do with a weak…

the return of likability!
Not as good as having a show full of consistent characters, of course, but I was surprised how many characters they managed to redeem that had been bugging the shit out of me, mostly only for seconds at a time, but still.