Top Chef's Final Four,TAR's Final Three and we say farewell to a major player on Heroes

Top Chef: Las Vegas left the strip and went to Napa Valley for the start of the finale,bringing the Brother Voltaggio,Kevin and Jennifer together at a train station where a very pregnant Padma(congrats there,hon!)and guest judge Michael Chiarello(a contender on the Top Chef Masters series)were ready to give them their last Quickfire challenge of the season.

The challenge was to make a grape based dish while onboard a train and since this was also the last high stakes QF,a shiny new car was added on as yet another incentive to do well. Michael V wound up getting those car keys for his stuffed grape leaf plate,which pleased both Padma and Chiarello very well:



For the Elimination challenge,all of the chefs had to cook for a "crush party",which celebrates the grape harvest,using only locally grown and produced foods. Salt and pepper were the only exceptions to that rule,plus they each had to make two dishes;one vegetarian and one protein based.

As expected,the Brothers Voltaggio did well here. Michael's turnip soup with foie gras and pears was enjoyed while his poached egg with veggie pistou had a couple of problems with it. The vegatables were cut up so finely that they became lost in the dish and Padma's egg wasn't served correctly.

That's probably why Byran was chosen as the winner here,even though both of his plates needed some more seasoning. His goat cheese ravoli was well liked and the braised short ribs with fig glaze had a nice texture to it:





Joining them for the second half of the finale will be Kevin,whose brisket was tough or "toothsome" as he preferred to call it,but wowed the judges with a seemingly simple plate of roasted beets and carrots. I was so glad to see him get to the Final Three,he's been such a nice guy and a great chef this season. Also,I think he defended the brisket politely yet firmly,pointing out that since the meat was being served on top of a pumpkin polenta,too much tenderness might've turned the whole thing into mush.



That left Jennifer as the one to pack her knives and go home. I knew she was in trouble when the judges tasted her cherve mousse with mushrooms and found it extremely salty. Her duck meat and squash puree went over well,with Judge Tom saying the meat tasted very "ducky"(he meant that in a good way)but Jen had originally planned to grill her proteins but let the fire die out in the kitchen before she could do so.

A minor point to be sure,but someone had to leave and Jen's nerves have been getting very unsteady lately,so perhaps this is for the best. Next week is a showdown between the Brother V and Kevin,and my fingers are crossed for Kevin,big time. Byran winning would be okay,too,especially since his brother is such an overly competitive creep:





Heroes ended their fall season(the show will be back on in January)with a long overdue swan song from Nathan Petrelli,who has spent most of this volume as a hybrid of ghost and possessed personality trapped within Sylar's body. Peter tried to force Sylar to release his brother's spirit and take control but Nathan knew it was a losing battle.

I've never liked Nathan to begin with(he's a devious character,just like his mom)so having him take his final bow here is fine with me. I do have to admit that show creator and writer Tim Kring certainly did give him a nice moment of tender tragedy in saying his farewells to Peter. Maybe this will strengthen Peter to go on and be a true hero on his own:





The Amazing Race is down to it's Final Three and sadly,the Globetrotters will not be amongst that number. What did the guys in was an early Roadblock that had one team member trying to figure out a word puzzle in a Kafka themed challenge and Big Easy agreed to work with Sam in working it out.

Sam got the answer first and then told Big Easy,"It starts with an F,that's all I'm saying." What kind of backhanded behavior is that? If you don't want someone to get ahead of you,don't offer to help them out and then renege on it later. Not cool,guys!

Big Easy and Flight Time wound up taking a four hour penalty,which set them way too far back in the pack:



The Globetrotters were great contenders and I'm sure that I'm not the only one sorry to see them go. Since Sam and Dan have been playing dirty pool for the last few legs and Megan and Cheyne don't impress me much,my allegiance is now fully with Brian and Ericka for the win. The two of them seem to be a really great couple that balance each other out nicely. I didn't think I would like them at first,but they grow on you after awhile. Good luck,Team Yellow!:



RANDOM NOTES:

LEGEND OF THE SEEKER: While other shows are packing up for a winter break,LOTS is moving onward with more new episodes. Coming up this weekend,Zed has a bout of 18 Again-itis as Shota turns him back into a younger version of himself. Troublesome to be sure,but ,then again, it gives Richard a chance to try out his techniques on dealing with rebellious teenagers with magic powers: