Last night was a near perfect episode of Top Chef Masters. I know I just wrote about the show last week, but tonight was pretty special and I wanted to point out what it gets right that so many other reality competition shows don't.
At the start of last night's episode, Top Chef Masters was down to the final seven cheftestants: American Offal chef Chris Cosentino, Venezuelan chef Lorena Garcia, American chef Kerry Heffernan, French chef Thierry Rautureau, Southern Love chef Art Smith, Asian French chef Takashi Yagihashi and American World chef Patricia Yeo. Each chef is an accomplished, award-winning chef and successful restauranteur. They don't need to be on this show. Sure there have to be professional and long game financial benefits to appearing, but essentially they have left their successful professional lives behind to win money for the charities of their choice. I like to believe in the chefs' sincerity with each of the wins for their charities.
I'm not trying to castrate their sense of competition. They obviously want to win, and at times this season their personal drives have conflicted, which is fine. But what's truly fascinating is the genuine feelings of support and admiration that the chefs have for each other. They slap each other on the back in appreciation and whisper sincere words of praise to each other. They trust each other and the opinions and palettes they can bring in the crucial tasting periods.
You can't help but get the feeling that they genuinely like each other. In tonight's episode we spent three minutes with the seven of them as they went out to a sushi bar for dinner and drinks. There they applauded food as it was delivered and shared war stories of their times in kitchens all over the world. It was three minutes of unadulterated camaraderie and pleasure. I could have spent an hour just listening to these folks swap stories (I did watch too many seasons of After the Catch).
But I prefer for them to cook, and, oh, how they cook. Last night's Quickfire Challenge was a perfect showcase for the show. The cheftestants were to create a meat and vegetarian version of the same dish which The Indigo Girls (one eats meat, the other doesn't) would then judge. This is a perfect challenge for budding home chefs, who are too often presented with the a similar dilemma when meal planning for a large group, and how elegantly the professionals presented their solutions. Every single meal (even the one that mistimed the finish) looked delectable and easy to create. So many times this season the judges have liked most everything that was served to them, and I get that. These are people who are not only excellent at what they do, but they enjoy it and want to share their love for their craft. This doesn't only make them good chefs but good artists and ultimately makes good television. It's dazzling to watch people who are good at what they do do good work. Shouldn't all television aim for that at all times?
For reality competition shows, the problem lies in the very nature of the genre. These programs are too often filled with desperate people who are pressed to do desperate things to themselves or each other to achieve what they consider to be greatness. This greatness could be fame, riches or notoriety (no matter how fleeting those three are). In casting, too often producers mistake bravado for confidence. Bravado is a purely oral action, and more oftentimes reaction to an outside stimulus. Confidence is an inner assuredness that is deaf to outside provocation. Our favorites, our heroes, on other reality shows (and, let's face it, on scripted programming too) are the ones that exude confidence not bravado. Bravado may get the soundbite or be the sexy beat, but true success is found when confidence and competence is rewarded.
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