Oh right…I thought it was Tom that questioned that.

If you're talking about Melissa, then I wouldn't expect Padma to suggest anything because she told Melissa she really liked the grey charred eggplant filling in the ravioli.

Is there any punishment for anything in the first round? Tom keeps saying "You made it through the pressure test" but they don't say what happens if they fail. What if they run out of time? Do they not get invited to New York to battle head to head? If so, I guess we can assume that every team we see is going to…

Well I see it differently. Taking inspiration from a literary work is by it's very nature going to lead to wildly different interpretations, because unless the work in question is food related, the possibilities are wide open. However, if you are presented with a painting, and asked to take inspiration from that to…

Nobody said they had to use the same colors as the artist. There are many ways to "take inspiration" from the artists' work in preparing a dish. Really, it left the chefs a lot of leeway to do whatever they wanted. Everyone did great, but someone has to go home. It's like Tom told her, she did nothing wrong, it…

I was also surprised Gregory didn't take it. It may be that they really liked the was that Doug's plating very closely mimicked the artist's painting, not so simple to do when your dish is basically chili. And/or it must have tasted amazing.

I do think it is quite plausible that the artist assignments were random. We don't know how much time they spent getting to know them, and given the stakes involved, I'm sure each of them would have found a way to connect with any of the artists.

Well, that's because you've never had my cannelini beans with sage.

So they had an hour to cook, and had pressure cookers at their disposal, and none of these four chefs attempted to start with dried beans for the quickfire? Canned beans are a decent product, but this is top chef.

That sucks. Did it record Best New Restaurant instead, or nothing?

Yes you can be the only one who thinks that. Everyone at the table thought his dish was delicious. They felt George's dish was more innovative, but ultimately a failure.

Personally, I was shocked at the swiftness of Dewey's death. I expected him to make it through the majority of the season. Given the genre and it being the final season I am totally prepared for some major characters to die. I didn't expect it to happen in the season opener.

I wasn't suggesting Billy was in on the plan. I imagine they would have made him do it at gunpoint.

The tone of his voice when he mentioned they have the same genes, really suggested something nefarious. Also the hug was reminiscent of the hug Doc gave his boys when he was getting ready to harvest their kidneys.

So JJ was totally planning on harvesting Doc's organs before the shit hit the fan right? That's why he invited Billy Quizboy.

It wasn't clear, but I believe Doug will face next week's cast off, or cast offs in a final LCK in Mexico.

-So are disappointed Asian parents a "trope" or a "stereotype"?

I didn't have a huge problem with the no-elimination elimination either. Getting a seat in the finale is a big enough deal to make the challenge exciting…another way to think about it, is in a way, it is elimination light, as three of the four are now on the bubble. Given the structure of the challenge, it really is…

Seems pretty non-sexual to me. I don't think it was really necessary to apologize. Thankfully she didn't go one step further and pull the video, because that would have just been silly. I wonder if any of those who have complained have ever seen the movie, The Professional.

But if his goal was to do it as traditionally as possible, which seemed to be what he was going for, he didn't quite nail it. As Jacques pointed out, there were some non-traditional veggies on the plate, and not enough sauce. He came close though.