We're a couple of die-hards, so in celebration, we took it upon ourselves to rank the eight seasons.
This was not a good thing to attempt before lunch.formula was getting stale.
On the plus side, the producers finally wised up enough to replace the insufferable Toby Young, whose canned bon mots would have gotten him instantly booted from rimshot! Ripert may not be very quick with a quip, but he's a great chef, handsome, and a pleasantly French foil to Tom's bearlike charm. There is no question in my mind that Stefan can run circles around Hosea. Notice how “awkward” he found it when Leah returned to the program, to have a second chance at making it to the finals. Yes, Stefan was a bit of a bastard — but there was sincerity and in his bastardness. Carla was a reassuring presence, who consoled near-losers and losers at every turn. Hosea represents everything that is wrong with modern America: the sense of entitlement, the instinctive nativism, the smarmy passivity. I would trade 300 million Hoseas for one Carla, or even one Stefan. In the ensuing days, I’ve seen people argue that the show did not reward the best chef, and that Carla and/or Stefan was robbed.(Most of Bravo’s web site voters disagreed with the call.) Much as I agree with the first point, I think the second is wrong.