So long, Antonia...

So, last night's episode of Top Chef was a little disappointing. We are finally to the top 4 for this season, and overall I like all of them but one: Lisa. I want Lisa to go home. Badly. This woman may be able to cook, but she is pure evil in the kitchen.

Last night's challenge centered around Puerto Rican flair. The Quick Fire Challenge used plantains (yummy!). I hoped the Quick Fire wasn't a prediction of things to come as Richard and Antonia were in the bottom. The Elimination Challenge saw the return of familiar faces as they were allowed a sous chef for this portion of the challenge. Since Stephanie was the winner of the Quick Fire, she picked the sous chefs for the remaining chefs. This could have been a golden opportunity as Dale returned and he and Lisa have no warm fuzzies between them. In fact, none of the sous chefs really had warm fuzzies with Lisa. (An indication, perhaps?) However, true to form, Stephanie was a peach and tried to match up the sous chefs so that people would actually enjoy being in the kitchen. Having known each other for over 10 years, Stephanie chose Dale for herself. The chefs were given a pig (a whole pig, how crazy!) and were required to come up with 3 dishes from it.

In the end, Lisa and Antonia wound up being in the bottom. In one of the biggest disappointments of reality television history, Antonia was chosen to leave and go home. So, somehow, Lisa survives to go on to the next round. And then, as if this wasn't bad enough, she later had the audacity to look at Stephanie and Richard and tell them that they could have at least congratulated her. I think Richard put it best in his off-camera commentary: "You got a bronze metal. Yeah, congratulations."

Here is my own personal commentary on the remaining chefs in the competition:

Stephanie: I think she is a doll! She has been a sweetheart throughout the whole competition and seems to have produced really good food! I think she has a good shot of being the fan favorite. She and Richard have been my top two picks from the beginning and I really think she also has a very good chance of winning the entire competition.

Richard: I have really liked Richard throughout this season too. He has a wonderful dry sense of humor that has kept me chuckling all season. :) He also has the ability to come up with unique food! Plus, he just recently had a little girl AND he and his wife own weimaraners. What's not to like??

Lisa: I have been waiting for Lisa to go home for several weeks now. This woman is pure evil who doesn't mind blaming everyone else for her problems. (Seriously, how many times can someone else mess up her rice?!?) The only positive thing I can say about her at this point is that in last night's episode, she had gotten a hair cut and color. One (very) minor point for her for doing her hair. But I can't wait for you to go home! And, evidently 91% of people think you should have packed your knives last night!

If Antonia was still in the competition, I really wouldn't care who won. I like all three of them and would have been happy to see any of them win. Now, I don't care who wins--as long as it isn't Lisa. I really don't think she has a chance anyway. Jason put it best last night when he said that Lisa might very well be the most disliked contestant in Top Chef history. That's certainly where she ranks for me!