*sigh*
I can’t help but believe David should have been the one to go home this episode of MasterChef.
What was it? The excitement of winning the Mystery Box challenge that filled him with such glee he forgot what the hell he was there for? Was he simply thinking “too much pantry” to the point of forgetfulness, thus forgetting the rice for his rice pudding? Or was it something else all together?
From the get go I liked David. But, episode to episode, he’s been grating on me … and against the grain. Alone in the challenges, you see, David usually shines. And brightly. He has many, many times before. Take this Mystery Box challenge for instance: Spot Prawn Ceviche. It’s cool to see David rock ‘n’ roll on his own with a dish like that. It’s usually where his strengths lie. But that was the Mystery Box challenge. Winning it was, in retrospect, one of the worst things he could have done.
The follow-up Elimination Test was where he really should have shown. But he crashed and burned. Hard. Forgetting rice for a corn rice pudding? It was almost comical in its telling.
The bottom line was that that Elimination Test should have been David’s swan song. I don’t know how the judges decided Felix was the lesser of the two standing there that she should have been the ousted. All I can figure is they see the shining light in David that peeks out gloriously (despite his foibles) and they didn’t see that same fire in Felix.
Notes:
Quotations:
“It’s really, really, really inedibly disgusting.” — Joe on David’s rice pudding
“This is one of the worst things you’ve put in front of us …” — Graham on same
Clacked by Michael Noble 
on Jul 25, 2012 @ 03:06 EST5EDT
Just like Stacy being unfairly booted last night, I think Felix got the shaft tonight. If someone’s dish is inedible, and they forgot the main ingredient, that’s the person who should go. Felix’s dessert might have looked like joke cat poop, but it probably still tasted better than David’s.
I would have paid big bucks to know what Chef Ramsey was thinking as he watched Monti scream and throw Prawns around!
I also think David should have been eliminated. The chefs certainly seemed to all agree that it was totally inedible. For him to have such an advantage and throw it all away and present something inedible is reason for giving him the boot instead of Felix.
David always seems to skate by for some reason…I also thought it was finally time for him to leave last night.
A few years ago on Top Chef, one of the cheftestants made it into the top three despite being consistently not very good. What made it possible was that despite her dishes not always being good (though she occasionally did well), someone else had a worse dish and got sent home. Luck simply went her way but the other two–Stephanie Izzard and Richard Blaise–were far more talented. In the end she lost to Stephanie who won handily to get the prize.
In this case, Dave’s dish was too simple with some bad flavors(and lack of flavors as well) while Felix tried a more complex dish that required more finesse to pull off. As I recall when both did tiramisu, Felix had the far worse dish that Dave’s. Dave I think has a poor palate. I recall when Joe was tasting his mascarpone filling at his station and asked if he was satisfied noting he had turned the Italian cheese into cream cheese.
Personally I would have sent Dave home for taking a wonderful opportunity and ruining it. Forgetting rice and having to go begging for it and producing a substandard dish ought to have been enough.
*POST AUTHOR*
. . . . .
When it comes down to the heart of the matter for me, Mark:
“It’s really, really, really unedibly disgusting” wins out (so to speak) as a bottom-rung dish over “Desserts like this you should keep at home. Pretty disappointing.”
Both comments were directed at David and Felix, respectively, courtesy of Joe Bastianich.
I agree with you Michael and believe Joe wanted to send Dave home. Gordon and Graham did not go quite as far as Joe in their comments (though they were displeased). I believe Gordon and Graham were the deciding votes in this case. From what I am reading elsewhere, most people think they made the wrong decision as well. Dave has little chance of winning. It will take some epic mistakes from the front runners for him to be in the top two.