Living in MasterChef - Let the BloodLetting Start!

I wrote this on 6 September of 2013, but even though I reset the date here, the damned thing set it today's date. Unreal.

Well. Four contestants left. This is a two-hour episode, so we will kill off one contestant in the first hour and the next at the end of the second hour. The new season of shows will be starting all too soon, so this week and next will be the end of the show. They are currently filming the contestant efforts for the 2014 season, as we have seen the ads for the different cities they will be touring to get new participants.

Now, they show a few minutes of the last episode, then give a quick snapshot of the upcoming episode. Very often they take things out of context, but this time, I think Krissy is actually threatening Jesse. We'll see.

The way this will play out seems rather obvious to me. There are two mystery boxes, so it is a safe bet that with four people left, it will be teams of two. This means that the winner from the last episode will get first pick for a teammate: Luca. Luis and I paused this and conferred and agreed that if we were Luca, we would pick Natasha as our teammate and leave Jesse to be killed by Krissi, who is the worst team player of all time. (That sounds like an exaggeration, but it isn't - there have been some truly abysmal players, but at one time or another, they put aside their problems to make a cohesive team. Krissy would not know where to start. It seems that she is perfectly comfortable killing her own chances to win just to screw someone else; and most of the time, she just goes crazy, gets all angry and worked up over nothing, and loses interest in performing. She still hasn't figured out that this will not get her anywhere - that this is the reason (a huge part of it) that she keeps ending up in pressure tests for elimination. While it is to her credit that she has survived as long as she has without getting killed off in an elimination round, she still doesn't realise that she is doing this to herself. I also hate to think the lessons her son is getting, but that is another story.

The boxes contain enough to make a MasterChef, restaurant style three course meal: appetizer, entree and dessert. This is standard at this point. Luca is the winner with two Mystery Box wins. Luca said it's a no-brainer that he won't pick Krissy (of course - who would?); he did what Luis and I thought he would and selected Natasha. Good man. Jesse in the one-to-one interviews that are interlaced with the competitions, said, "Worst nightmare just happened right before my eyes. I'm stuck... with "The Thing". She does't work with others - at all. Like she has no concept of the word 'team'." We howled with laughter at that. And we agreed we would both have done the same.

Both teams are conferring to come up with ideas for dishes. Krissy comes up with greens with lobster meat and fry an oyster on top for garnish. Jesse kills it, saying she can't "see it". Quite frankly, neither can I. A fried oyster as garnish? The whole thing sounds so unappealing. And Jesse knows it. Krissy then steams a little while agreeing to Jesse's idea for an appetizer. Then Krissy wants to do this appetizer: raw asparagus with a vinaigrette. No. I agree with killing this off as well. And Krissy tries to do the lobster salad but Gordon tastes the dressing for the lobster and says it doesn't taste nice. Heh, heh, heh. We laughed at this.

Both of them are going to be in trouble with the dessert.

It is obvious that Krissy and Jesse are not a cohesive team. And Krissi isn't able to cook any of these dishes. Jesse tells Krissy how to make a crepe, and Krissy tells Jesse she is uncomfortable with the crepes. Jesse said to her, "Babe, you abandoned me on the lobster, so you have gotta pick something you can cook." Krissy is furious: she tells the camera in those one-on-one bits, "What did you just say to me, bitch?!" Here we go again. She's all pissed off and can't handle it. She has the worst anger-management issues I have ever seen. She is a one-woman nightmare. I have no idea why she is so unstable, but she is. Then, as if we weren't aghast at her comments, she said, "I'm literally gonna take this hot pan and smash her in the face wit' it." How delightful - educated and nice; what a talent you are.

Jesse continues cooking and Krissy leaves the kitchen, saying that she has to leave or she will be going to jail today. I would have loved to see security show up and cart her off to jail, but no, she ends up bailing out. She left Jesse to cook all by herself. Well. If this doesn't guarantee her getting kicked out, nothing will.

Jesse is cooking her ass off and is searing the lamb as it isn't cooked enough - Krissy is still in the pantry, trying to calm down. She finally goes back with just a minute or so to go. She's really valueless at this point, but Jesse manages to get it all done.

Blue team goes up first and shows a strange looking seafood salad, but while it isn't well-plated or attractive, it is tasty. The lamb dinner is much better, although again, not well plated. The dessert is an issue. And shockingly, Natasha whispers to Luca that she is sorry about the dessert. We are shocked - we have never heard her apologise for anything!

Jesse told Joe what the appetizer was and said that Krissy did the original vinaigrette, but she changed it. Krissy admits she did not know that the vinaigrette was different. Joe loves it, and Krissy takes the fall for it. Gordon criticized Krissy for leaving. She deserved it. And Jesse did it all.everything. I'm so proud of her. And Gordon said the lamb is fantastic, she nailed it. Krissy had nothing to do with it, as well, so this gets her again.

The judges leave to confer and the teams wait. It is obvious to us that the red team won't win, but still - Jesse did a hell of a job. Sure enough, the Blue team gets it. Natasha let out an ear-splitting shriek, Luca hugs her (and here, we are so unimpressed with Natasha. She has the worst body language in the world. She did not hug Luca back and she looked away. It was awful). Then the teams separate, and Jesse goes upstairs with Luca and Natasha, and tells them what really happened. Then Krissy goes up there to tell Jesse off, what a moron. The only bitch here is Krissy. But on the other hand, Jesse is excited to be in the pressure test to kick Krissy's ass. And we - myself and Luis - are excited for her. We want to see Krissy sent home.

Jesse shows up in a dress and high heels and is just gorgeous. Krissy is still the angry overweight woman carrying around a grudge against everyone else. I termed it in the first post I did: fat woman's attitude. She is just bitter, bitter, bitter. But they are both smiling at the thought of 75 minutes to make one chocolate mousse, one chocolate volcano and one chocolate soufflé. Krissy is a baker; but not all of this is just baking. She is not one to make high-end foods of any kind. But Jesse is the Queen of Time Management, she is neat, organised and has a plan. Krissy is overconfident and angry, and this is where I would have put into place my plan to overset her with sarcasm, something I am so much better. She just curses and gets angry.

Joe thinks Krissy is better, but it is obvious that Jesse is working a little faster and is more organised. I'm thrilled. We're both betting on Jesse. I suspect everyone is betting on her, really.

And sure enough, after a conference, they give Krissy the axe! Luis and I are cheering like mad, and Jesse is thrilled. Krissy begins crying, but we don't feel a bit of sympathy for The Beast. We know she says she is doing this for her son, but we just are not feeling the love.

Here is an article that substantiates what I have been saying all along:

'MasterChef': It's bye, bye, Beast, as final two emerge

Whew! The "MasterChef" finale came mighty close to including the most reviled competitor in show history. Instead, the final two competitors standing will include thesecond-most disliked competitor of the season, Natasha Crnjac, a 26-year-old homemaker from San Diego.

Now, Natasha will face off with Luca Manfe, a 31-year-old restaurant manager from New York City, he with the charming accent and the never-give-up story line. His first stab at "MasterChef" was a failure, but he came back for more and fought his way into the finale by absorbing every polishing note the judges hand him.

But will it be enough to pull past Natasha, whose multicultural background has seemingly given her the dazzling ability to cook across an array of cuisines -- while teetering on stilettos?

If it comes down to calculated cooking chops and flat-out shrewdness, Natasha has this won.

Let's not forget, after all, that this is the woman who needed a garlic handout from a fellow competitor just a few short challenges ago, yet refused to pay it forward when Jessie needed some butter this week because, hey, a competition is a competition, right?

Or will Luca bring the most heart to the finale and edge her out? (Luca being the guy who gave Natasha some of his garlic when she needed it, and also gave Jessie the needed butter. He has said repeatedly he wants to cook his way to the top, not win by trying to submarine someone else. Awwwwww.)

Winnowing the field down to the final two was a decision nearly overshadowed by the other "news" of the night: The elimination of The Beast.

When Krissi roared into "MasterChef" competition, she seemed like an instant fan favorite. She was a struggling single mom who tawked Philly tough and cooked homey, rustic dishes that reminded Joe Bastianich of his momma's cooking. (No small compliment, given that his mother is Italian cooking legend Lidia Bastianich.)

Krissi's food might not look as if it belonged in a five-star restaurant -- but you'd certainly like to see it on your dinner plate. As a result, it was easy to envision Krissi using "MasterChef" as a launching pad, a platform, for helping moms and dads nationwide who love cooking yet still feel overwhelmed by the daily dinner-time dash.

And, who knows, that can still happen.

It's just that much harder when you've transformed yourself into the most hated contestant in "MasterChef" history, and earned a nickname The Beast.

Krissi is either as ill-tempered, foul-mouthed, hypocritical and self-absorbed as she appeared on TV -- or she was playing it up for the cameras, knowing that's one sure way to get camera time? Either way, Krissi proved to be such an unlikable personality that it became hard to root for her, even though her cooking skills were standout and her son was as cute as a button.

It made for good TV, sure, but who is the ultimate beneficiary of that when the season wraps?

What do you think? Too harsh of an assessment of Krissi? Will she be able to leverage this beyond local Philly stardom?

Krissi's departure was quickly followed by Jessie's elimination, leaving Luca and Natasha as the final two standing. Natasha was thrust into the early role as the show's villainess, in part because she enjoyed pointing out how pretty she is and how talented she is, and generally being high on herself.

Like Krissi, Natasha seems to enjoy playing the baddie -- but is she winning the battle and losing the war? America, do you want her to be your new "MasterChef"?