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The product placement was bad enough with the Glad and Swanson products, but they don't even try to blend it anymore. How about Hosea's phone call on his T-Mobile Sharp thingamajiggy? That camera zoomed right in on the "product". And all the cookbooks being shilled! Shameful. Korbel in plastic was funny, and yes, I'm sure the plates were also. Maybe it was Gladware?

My favorite quote of the night was Fabio speaking of Martha Stewart, "My Grandma would be so ashamed of you, you would not believe it."

I totally think Leah should have won the "text your vote" tonight... I'd take her into my bed and show her what a real chef can do with random body parts... No offal needed.

But I know Bravo is generally watched by women and gay men, so it was no surprise that "Bippity Boopity Bada-Bing" Fabio won the vote.

Also, it's too bad Jamie doesn't like the boys... I'd love to show her a taste of the "other side" (and I'm much more suave than Stephan... and I have hair!)

Ya know, Tom, it's possible the cheftestants might have been able to produce better dishes if you have them more time to cook! Just making grilled cheese sandwiches for 250 would take an hour or so, at least if you had to slice the bread and cheese yourself! Geesh. What a stupid challenge.

Clearly the WORST episode EVER of T.C.

Martha was a major P.I.T.A. and egotistical as can be..."oh yes, scallops, we dive for them in Maine in the winter"...I bet she does!

Unnecessary musical interlude, dumb challenge, over the top product placement intervals & bad results

They will lose viewers if they don't get back on track...whatever happened to it being all about the food? (real food - not deviled eggs for heavens sake)

OMG PerkyMac, I'm glad someone else sees it! Took me five episodes to figure out he looks (exactly) like Chase and not someone I know.

I love Martha Stewart. Charm doesn't work on her.

The whole fridge thing seemed like it could have been done on purpose by the producers, so they could have a nice 'holiday spirit' episode where everybody helps everybody else out and no one gets kicked off.

It looks like next week they will finally address one of my main complaints about this show: the endless catering challenges. It was really bad last season, and last night was a perfect example of why. When you give the chefs 3 hours to prep to feed 300 people, they aren't making their best food, they're making what they think they can make 300 servings of in the time they have. It was funny when Tom came into the stew room to castigate them all for the uninspired food, as if he feeds 300 people by himself all the time. Next week it looks like maybe they're just going to let the chefs cook. That will be a nice change.

Totally agree, worst episode yet... and Martha judging the "One Pot" meals?? ALL her recipes take at least 5 pots and are rarely simple!!

Let them cook with decent ingredients in a decent amount of time. As everyone has said "it's about the food".

This episode was definitely not my favorite. I actually felt bad for each of the cheftestants...it was as if the episode was designed to set them up for failure. First, of all the catering challenges this was the only one that was worked as an individual challenge rather than a group challenge. The theme was borderline ridiculous....Fabio was not the only one with the "crap" theme. If the producers were desperate to do a Christmas themed show there are so many possibilities--engage various family and cultural traditions. Second, the time constraint was bizarre.....even for people who cook for living and know the tricks of the trade, three hours had to be difficult. I think the choices each chef made was designed to insure that they would have a product to put on the table--they relied on safe in order to put food on the table. As for Martha...was it just me, or was she even more robotic than usual---really....does Martha actually dive for scallops or does she have her in house personal scallop diver do it. I am really sick of the prizes for winning....just getting to the next step should be prize enough. I am really getting tired of the guest judges just being on the show to shill their newest cookbook. I really appreciated the way the chefs pulled together to help Hosea and Radikha....showed a lot of class (if, in fact this was producer oriented...and the hope was that the other chefs would allow the unfortunate ones to fail....I am glad the producers failed). Only goes to show how this episode could have been better. All this being said...I am still a fan and will watch religiously.

@ chefimposter, comments like that make me so glad i don't work in a kitchen with a bunch of greasy pigs anymore.

did anyone else think it's funny that the book Ariane won was 'Cooking School'? seems an odd choice for a Top Chef.

p.p.s. my favorite quote was fabio in the preview for next week's episode, "this is top chef, not top scallops."
can't wait.

@chefimpostor, ewwww. seriously? i'm usually a lurker, but your comment made me vomit in my mouth.
i'm sure jamie's sexual preference is the only reason she's not bedding a sleazy neanderthal like yourself. why are straight men so delusional?

Yeah. I wouldn't put it past the producers to create drama by causing the fridge incident.

The product placement is annoying. I mean...it seems Martha only showed up so she could give out a copy of her cookbook to promote it. (seeing as she didn't stay the whole episode).

The food is going to be disappointing if the show becomes Top Caterer again. With the time limits set the way they are and the number of people being served, they can't help but settle for something that they can make enough of.

And Arianne must be amazing a cooking meat correctly or something. Cause it just doesn't seem that impressive unless the rest of them are grossly over- or under-cooking stuff.

Totally agree with everyone here in that the dishes were totally uninspired and just plain BORING! Hopefully the next episode should be better because in the previews it shows Tom telling the cheftestants that they can cook whatever they want.

I also agree that the product placements are getting ridiculous. I thought it would stop with the Swansons broth and Glad products; boy was I wrong!

I predicted a win for Hosea in the beginning of the episode when he was talking to his sis about their dad who is suffering from cancer. Which brings me to another point...what is he doing on some reality show if his dad has cancer. Get home dumbass! Take care of your dad who has cancer! He told his sis non-chalantly on the phone that he'd be home in 2 weeks or something to check on them. I know there is probably more to it than that and a lot of editing goes on but Hosea came off like an unfeeling prick.

As an Indian-American I'm pulling for Radhika. I agree that the producers don't show her much doing the QF challenges. I totally found myself asking where she was and what she had made.

did anyone see next week's preview? they're sending home two people!

Oh, and another thing. I enjoy it.

When the open fridge was discovered I thought that they were about to reveal that as the episode's twist. It did seem contrived.

Knowing that this season was filmed in the summer - and not in real time - I've had a hard time believing the Thanksgiving and Christmas episodes, and this distracts me. In the Thanksgiving episodes one of the chefestants wished a Whole Foods cashier a "Happy Thanksgiving" and that just seemed weird. The AMFAR party seemed less Christmas-y than I expected, which was good.

Glad that Tom gave them all a slap on the wrist at the end. The chefs have to step up. The food has been boring. Is it bad that when I saw Melissa in the last episode I thought, "She's still there?" They don't seem to give her much screen time and it makes it look like she flies under the radar. What are the editors trying to tell us? Ariane, Leah and Jamie (token lesbian of the season) seem to get the most screen time out of the women. Carla and Radhika get screen time but less. The editors love the guys, especially "the Euros". Hosea is the "contestant with the sick father".

@austintxgirl: It wouldn't be the first time a reality show contestant competed while a family member was sick. A contestant on The Apprentice left mid-season to be with her mother, and I think there have been others. It's sometimes added to the narrative. I suppose that if his dad was really bad Hosea would be there.