The first episode is always the hardest elimination. Though we (judges) don’t have any attachments yet to any finalists, we also are just getting to know them. So figuring out who should stay and who should go is always a combination of intuition, a few pieces of evidence, and a lot of what you think their potential might be. Basically, you’re filling in a lot of blanks on your own.
But sometimes when I watch the final cut of the show as a viewer – out of the heat of battle, and fully edited with all the interviews and behind-the-scenes footage put in – I get a different point of view. In this episode, I’m not sure we sent the right person home.
Eddie was the other candidate at the bottom of the pack. His BLAST bowl – inferior ingredients not elevated at all by cooking technique – was one of the other worst received dishes. When I was going through the buffet line I asked him about his culinary POV and got a torrent of words that made no sense. I asked him to say it in one line and he couldn’t. His presentation was earnest, no hint of humor or passion.
If I had it to do again, I probably would have voted to send Eddie home. But I’m hoping that it was just nerves that strangled Eddie into dullness. Otherwise, he’s got a killer combo of intelligence, looks, food passion and rebel personality that could pay off. With Jen on the other hand, I felt like she had already laid all her cards on the table. I liked her. I think both she and Eddie can probably cook better than either did on this one day. But I thought her point of view and culinary command would limit her greatly. Eddie just seemed to have many more possibilities.
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