The Masterchef finale – “Bring it!”

There she is: America’s first Masterchef. And she’s only twenty-two years old. My. When I was twenty-two, I was so inept in the kitchen that I put dish-washing liquid into the cup of my dishwasher. Bubbles welled up and spit out everywhere. I called my Mom in a panic, while they covered me and the floor, ala I Love Lucy. Seems the liquid for washing dishes in a sink is WAY different than the kind you put in the actual machine. Who knew? Not me. I was living on Campbell’s soup and Oreos.

But not our new Masterchef. No, Whitney was a little dynamo from the moment she stepped into the auditions. I’ve mentioned how stable and steady she has been all through this competition. She’s confident without being obnoxious, like Lee and David. She’s innovative and doesn’t crack under pressure. Not even in the finale, when she dropped her chicken on the floor with less than nine minutes to go until serving. I’ll separate the proverbial yolk from the white here and tell you what I saw….

In the final four, they picked names out of a hat to see who would challenge whom. David beating Sheetal in this part was no news, and any one of them could’ve bested her. She only ended up in the finals through a string of luck anyway.

The bigger story was Whitney being up against Lee. After all the smack that Lee has thrown at us this season, I just really wanted to see him go down. If you’ve read any of my reviews, then you know how I despise overconfidence and conceit. Reminds me too much of a boss I recently had. I find, more often than not, that people like this are only partially as good as they say they are. Don’t read me wrong here. Obviously Lee’s talented. I just need him to show me and be quiet.

After Whitney kicked Lee’s behind, she was faced with yet another Boy Who Loves Himself. David tells us numerous times during the final hour that he will be the new Masterchef. He plays to the crowd so much that my Gordon has to tell him to shut it. And why he picked Beef Wellington as his signature entree is beyond me. Except it really did illustrate his arrogance. To choose one of Gordon Ramsay’s best known dishes in the finals is presumptuous to say the least. And when it wasn’t up to snuff, he cried about it. Idiot.

It was a classic battle of good versus evil here. And I’m chalking that up to the creative editing that the producers have been using all season on this show. Sweet Whitney versus pasty full-of-himself David. Everyone was pulling for her by the end of the challenge. I must admit, I thought she was dead in the water when she dropped her chicken. But as in all classic stories, she pulled it out and emerged triumphant. It was rather like a Disney movie. With cooking and stuff.

And I’m happy. I really am. She’s adorable. Watch we see an interview in six years and she’s turned into Rachel Ray with an Oprah sized attitude. Gosh, I hope not.

Some thoughts I’ll leave you with about Masterchef as a whole….

1. Oh Da Drama! Must we have the scary music and Gordon always pausing for a commercial when we are about to find out the least little thing? That and the recapping after the commercials. Look people. I just went to the bathroom. I can remember what I saw 3 minutes ago!

2. Graham Elliot is pretty funny. My new catch phrase that I’ll be using as often as the situation warrants is “Apple pie is so bad ass.”

3. To the writers; Have I said “Oh Da Drama!” yet? Not every challenge can be the “most important one of your lives.” OK?

4. If I have already caught on in this first season, that every time a contestant talks about how great they are they will get kicked off that episode, possibly you should change the format up a bit.

5. Speaking of the format … some deserving people were kicked off because of happenstance due to how the game is set up. It kinda wasn’t fair. And if anyone tells me “life isn’t fair,” I’ll scream.

And lastly. Thanks to all of you who’ve checked in and read or left comments this Summer. I’m not done! Oh no. My Gordon and I are returning next week for the premiere of Hell’s Kitchen! Hope to see you there.

Clacked by Tara Shrodes
on Sep 16, 2010 @ 00:00 EST5EDT