'Top Chef: Las Vegas': The rise and fall of Jennifer

What is going on with Jennifer? When this season of "Top Chef" started, she was a the blond dynamo from Eric Ripert's kitchen, boasting about making boys cry with her sergeant-general-style authority and wowing the judges with her sophisticated dishes.

But something -- and I haven't figured out exactly what yet -- happened to Jennifer over the course of the competition. She's retreated into her oversize chef's jacket, scared of messing up challenge after challenge. On Wednesday, she found herself on the bottom again next to two people she could easily trounce in better days.

So she didn't get the eggplant she wanted -- so what? That's hardly an excuse for making a dish that, to this viewer, looked like eggplant, some fennel and sliced tomato with some sauce. I'm not vegetarian (and I'm not too veggie friendly, as previously discussed), but even I know that I'd expect more if the contestants were given two hours to work.

There wasn't even a real curveball in this episode -- the chefs found out they'd be meat-free with two hours to go and not having prepped anything for the meaty dishes in their minds. They were working with clean slates.

Perhaps Tom is right: After lasting this long in the competition, some chefs get cabin fever and go batty. Jennifer's been sick; she's stuck in a house full of frat boys. But whatever her deal is, she needs to fix it fast. Kevin and Mike V. have got the right approach: All confidence, all the time. It's a competition after all. No guts, no glory. Increasingly, I'm thinking the end will be a Kevin-Mike V. showdown -- and I can think of nothing more exciting (unless Jennifer can Pull. It. Together.)

As for Robin and Mike I. ...

Why couldn't veggie guest judge Natalie Portman send them both home? Really, I'd like to fast-forward to the Final Four already. Now, we still have to wait through Eli and Robin getting the boot. As Mike I. would say, "Whatever, whatever."

I had initially pegged Mike I. as a possible dark horse, given his pedigree and first dishes, which impressed the judges. But he's devolved into nothing but a big talker, full of hot air and disappointing dishes.

The latest: Cutting leeks into medallions so they, I don't know, resemble the shape of a scallop and call them "a play on seared scallops"? Lazy, not to mention the fact that he screwed it up. He didn't even cook his leeks correctly. An undercooked leek is about the furthest thing from a scallop I can think of.

Then there's Robin, who keeps squeaking by week after week. The judges said this time her dish was all over the place and seasoned inconsistently. They should have sent both her and Mike I. home, period.

But I don't care so much about who's getting the boot between now and the Final Four -- Eli is memorable only for the idiot things he says to the camera; I can barely remember what he cooks. So what's going on with Jennifer? Any guesses? Is she just tired or out of ideas?

-- Denise Martin

Photo credit: Bravo

Comments

[Jude74]

It has only been 4 days in real time since Jennifer was sick, apparently she had a pretty high fever. I would bet she is just worn out. However they did say her dish tasted good, it just wasn't big enough so she is still cooking good food. I think she will bounce back, go Jen.

[tv]

It's soooo obvious who the final four should be... just get there already.

[g. radcliffe]

I want to go the each of the V boys restaurant and announce loudly that I won't be eating there since they are such a..h...s. I am so tired of hearing them whining about everything one moment and the other claiming that they are so much better than everyone else.

When the competition started I thought Jennifer and Kevin would be two of the final three but after watching her "sauce" the dinner guests I doubt the judges will let her get to the final round. For the sake of sanity I hope it is Kevin in the winner's circle.

[mykalona]

If you go to the Top Chef website and watch the behind the scenes, you find out that Bryan is a nice guy--it's all in the editing to put the drama between the two siblings. There's a clip where everyone is complaining and Bryan says how great this whole experience has been, and one of the recent ones showed Bryan go and give Robin one of his restaurant aprons. Robin was talking about how nice he was and how he made her feel part of the team (especially compared to Mike V). If you really watch, Bryan is only an a.. to his brother.

[HappyTim]

Didn't they say it will only be Final THREE this season? Perhaps I misheard, and there's always the potential for a curveball like last season, but I'm fairly sure they said it would only be three in the finals.

The vegetarian challenge was a disappointment. My girlfriend and I are fairly sure Natalie Portman is Vegan, and the dishes seemed to reflect that with the lack of cheese or dairy. Vegan cooking is really tough, especially without time to plan a dish. Clearly they wanted to challenge the chefs, but unfortunately the end result was the winners made competent food while the loser was confused what constitutes "protein" outside of meat. We were amazed no one went the relatively safe route of cooking asian style, and no one used Tofu. Make a great sauce, throw some tofu in it which will soak up the flavor, boom, quality veggie dish. I suppose it's possible they weren't given access to tofu.

I agree that Jen seems off her game. My girlfriend and I were wondering if she had been drinking. She went from being borderline anal retentive to clearly not caring much about her quick-fire result. It's sad, because it would be nice to see a woman crack the finals and god knows Robin isn't going to make it.

You are spot on that the next 2 eliminations will be boring aside from the potential of Jen crashing and burning. Robin has gotten lucky for weeks and Eli has hung around in 5th to 6th place most of the competition. This period does tend to sort of be a lull in reality shows, where it has become clear to anyone watching who will be in the finale and it's just a matter of trimming the middle people off. It happened in season 5 as well. I'm surprised you ignored Brian in your write-up. Brian, Mike V and Kevin have won all but one elimination challenge (which Jen took), and none have been in the bottom except on team challenges. Kevin is looking more like a favorite, but you can't forget about Brian!