SurlyDuff, I have bookmarked you to talk to before I make that journey over the Canadian border to get shitloads of Havana Club rum. It's proper Cuban rum and it is h*ckin DELICIOUS. Thank you for your advice in advance <3

So S5 was the first TC I ever watched, and I was LIVID at Casey after the ending. And my GOD she apparently got super shitpiled online, which I can imagine is kind of a monstrous thing to happen to you, and would make anyone defensive (and Casey can get defensive)

I refer you to the S3 quickfire where they had the Bombay Sapphire rep, who won a little competition in my heart for being the most Britishy person I've ever seen on Top Chef, maybe even outside of the BBC, and who blurted out at CJ "You're very tall" the second he met him.

Can we officially call this a thing now? The Vanilla Curse? I cannot for the life of me, across all 14 seasons, think of a moment where vanilla was added to a savory dish and it was AT ALL a success. It's not "kiss of death" level, but HOO BOY it has never worked out well in my recollection AT. ALL.

I AM SO GLAD YOU MENTIONED THAT! Who the hell does that kind of crap in a kitchen, stopping work to yell at someone who was cooking at an exec chef level when you were in diapers? (that ass Ken from S1 was the same way vs. Hubert Keller. Good lord, what a complete prong THAT dude was) I watched Masters after seeing…

So heartily agreed. I mean, if that were true, he'd never have won anything. Or had Tom as impressed with his food. I never saw him as a real TC contender, and I admit I was surprised to see him as top 3, but as top 4-5 I had him pegged. I think it was time for him to exit, and he took it very well.

At the comment about Blais I actually yelled aloud "OH MY GOD HE DOES, HE DOOOOOOOES!" Best observation ever. Also the helluva shade thrown his way by Colicchio (which was well-deserved. "Playing it safe"? Uh, NO. More like CHECK OUT THE OVARIES ON BROOKE)

Quick notes:
* really clever catch by the writer RE: the "Fitz" as "son of" thing. Although honestly I wish I could believe it was intended that way from the start and not to be a cheeky connect to "Simmons."
* does anyone else think Patton Oswalt improved the "Quack" line and probably made everyone crack up the first…

The thing that kills me - and HAS killed me - about Agents of SHIELD is that they have so many good hooks but it's SO DIFFICULT for them to write a really clever and dangerous character. (They more they tried to sell me Ward as a hyper-dangerous villain, the more I kept noticing how Brett Dalton's "acting face" looked…

And then Sam (or Billy?) punched Ward in the face in S2 and was like "THAT was for Eric."
And I was super jealous of Patton because I LOATHE BRETT DALTON
(controversy GO!)

I wish I could Like this statement but I will merely show my support as follows

I think pretty much everyone groaned at the Sudden Death Quickfire today. I can imagine that producers want to keep the show fresh, and keep innovating, but I know there's things that are successful that they want to bring back - for instance, next week's Quickfire is straight out of Top Chef Masters (which I think is…