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The episode goes wrong the moment Moto Chris enters the Whitman home. He notices that Justin is quite the cigar aficionado. Chris locks in on the idea of making a presentation that will appeal to Mr. Whitman. There is some good in this but most of the decision making is terrible. If we rewind to the Quickfire challenge, Chris recognized an opportunity with the cornfield and took it. The strategy did not pay off when the corn proved less than satisfying, but I admire his creativity. It was the right note of daring for the moment.

With regards to the cigar, however, Chris is not learning from a past mistake. He is still desperately attempting to demonstrate to the judges that he has Big Ideas, and this comes across as a bit insecure. Even worse, once he locks in on an idea, he has trouble letting go. Sometimes, you have to drop back and punt when a play doesn’t work. Chris is standing in the home of a woman who plans parties for a living and he is worrying about her husband’s opinion. That’s a tactical error.

The entrée portion of the evening will occur at the estate of Kari and Troy Kloewer, which “smells the smell of money”. The Kloewers are not afraid to speak their minds about their likes and dislikes. This causes Ty to note that while the husband may be crush worthy, the wife is very, very, very high maintenance. This leads Chuy to offer the hilarious comment that people like her and exactly why he doesn’t provide the cuisine for lavish affairs. He much prefers being able to kick them out of the restaurant once he’s done with them. Chuy is having a good episode.

While the first two houses were lovely, Kameron & Court Westcott take the tile of most lavish home. It’s more of a stately mansion, really. The Westcotts seem like lovely people who could buy and sell me, but upon noticing the husband, I realize my earlier Desperate Housewives joke was prescient. Mr. Westcott seems is a foot shorter than his wife and has a “giant gummy bear” addiction. What a strange way to audition for Real Housewives of Dallas, which is what this entire episode feels like.

The only noteworthy cooking aspect of tonight’s episode involves Beverly (huge surprise). She enters a kitchen she is sharing with four other competitors. How does she proceed? Beverly of course hoards as many cooking items as she can reach, fills up the entire sink with her stuff and blocks the others from using the stove. This is not a joke. There are four other Top Chef contestants in this kitchen. Three of them are shown on camera complaining to her about the absurdly self-centered behavior. At least one of them calls her Sabotage, which is a nickname that I hope sticks throughout the season.

“Are they going to be like ‘Wow, what is this on a plate and why did you serve me a cigar?’” – Moto Chris, entering the acceptance phase

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