Top Chef (Season 16)

I've never recapped Top Chef before because the quality is relatively consistent from season to season. But I've been making more of an effort to just log the shows I watch, so here's some observations from Season 16.

• There was no powerhouse chef (like a Paul Qui or Kristen Kish) to speak of from this season that simply steamrolls everybody. That made the question of who was going to win it all a little more interesting to follow, but it's hard to actually know who was the "best" chef of the group

• I wasn't particularly invested in any of the individual chefs this season except for Eric. I was hoping he would win, and maybe he'll get another chance to compete if they continue this practice of re-admitting chefs from past seasons to the competition.

• Speaking of re-admitting past chefs, the one time that there was anything resembling a conflict among the contestants was when Brother Luck made it back into the competition. Overall, this crop was a likable group of people, but apparently they liked each other so much that the thought of having Brother compete alongside them was too much. From just the under-their-breath snippets and what we saw in the confessional, they were legitimately awful to Brother, who has to be one of the nicer contestants the show has ever seen. This reflected well on no one.

• Another interesting issue was a team competition early in the season in which Eddie used up nearly all of his team's budget and felt so bad about it that I thought he was going to voluntarily eliminate himself at Judges Table. Ultimately, one of his teammates went home for a mistake that wasn't related to what they had to shave off of their shopping budget, but I definitely felt bad for him and wanted him to do well the rest of the way.

• Nini must have been much more likable off camera, because the group seemed very loyal to her. The editing made her seem very abrasive.

• Brandon came off as super arrogant in the first couple episodes and seemed impossible to work with, but he really did seem to make good decisions in the kitchen and seemed more helpful later on. He was frequently snapped up as a sous chef to help for challenges later in the season, which I never would have guessed after watching him early in the season (both that he'd be an eliminated chef and that someone would actually want to work with him)

• That Kelsey and Sara were both friends before this competition had to make competing in the finale a wild experience. They both handled it well, and I have to imagine that both understand that the runner-up gets so much value in exposure that "losing" isn't really losing.

Season Grade: B-