Gregory and Doug both got artists drawing from the landscape, which I think helped them tremendously. Mei's artist's work, while visually unappealing to me, at least had elements that related specifically to food. Melissa's artist was definitely a handicap, as I can only see Mei being able to take advantage of those…

Yeah, it just doesn't make sense otherwise. And why would all of the eliminated chefs unanimously agree to put George back in, when they didn't even have a chance to get to know him? It sinks.

George's comment last week about the final four being a female Asian, a lesbian Asian, a gay black man, and a straight white guy made me dislike him beyond his gross hair and sweatiness, but when he referred to Stephanie Izard in this episode as "that chick from Chicago," any chance of me sympathizing with him was…

It's always had those two sponsors, at least this season, but it's usually only mentioned once at the start, and then a quick image of Glad garbage bags in the pantry.

I liked the family stuff, but agree that the lack of elimination should not have come at the beginning of the episode. It stripped the challenge of any meaning for me.

I love her. Yeah, Tammy was not so good. But I think she's funny and she always makes me laugh. She's like Will Ferrel for me: doesn't always make good movies, but I will watch them anyway. I really don't think the fact that she's fat has anything to do with her humor. She's always been a physical comedian, and just…

Hmm, yeah, I forgot about the sauce comment, and the vegetables. I must have been clouded by my grief for Doug :) And thinking back on it, his chicken did look like it needed more sauce.

I too was surprised that Katsuji was eliminated. The set up with Doug talking about how comfortable he is with pork liver and how difficult goat liver is to work with made it seem like Doug was indeed doomed.

I actually prefer the lack of prizes. Having re-watched a bunch of seasons, it almost seemed grotesque how much money and cars they started throwing at the winners.

Sweet.

I've been doing the same thing, and man, Joey annoyed the hell out of me. I haven't re-watched the first season though. Does it hold up well?

Poor little Dougie! He was my favorite, but maybe it's not over for him yet. Though even if he made it to the final three, I don't know whether he could beat Mei or Gregory.

I'm with you. I was almost embarrassed for them, especially adorable Dougie who thought Dickinson was Jane Austen. Why force chefs, who probably haven't read this stuff (except maybe some in high school) talk about it on national television? It seemed somehow offensive to me.

I was getting annoyed by that too. There is no way that every single element should be related to the author or the work.

Yeah, I agree. Gregory's dish didn't make sense when you think of The Raven. I mean, it's basically just a raven in that poem. I would have liked to see something from a short story.

Yeah, but Hawthorne is not best known for The Blithedale Romance. I thought that was an odd choice. I also don't think skimming Walden would have given Mei the information she had… more like skimming the internet. But I'm incredibly cynical.

I know! How on earth is that even possible? Unless, and this is what I suspect, there was a specific list of works that the contestants got and the judges got. Otherwise her claim makes zero sense.

This episode made me crazy. I kind of hated it. Using these authors was such a stretch as a challenge, and it was fairly obvious that they were being fed specific information about the authors, or given a choice of works to choose from. Gregory had one line that I swear should have come from a poetry teacher and not a…

Tried to watch season 6 of The League on Hulu Plus, but it's locked unless you have a cable subscription. Which makes me wonder, what's the fucking point? I like Hulu, but really, really hate that it advertises shows that it actually puts big restrictions on. Like, don't fucking come and tell me I can watch The League…

It's hard to pick out of all the chefs. I tend to relate to the women who are clearly great, but maybe lack a bit of confidence. Brooke, Stephanie Izard, Casey. But yeah, Carla is just delightful.