saaaaaaara, saaaaaaaara

i regret that i only caught the quickfire challenge and the judges table of last night's top chef episode thanks to a brief intersection of "dude night" and "chick night," but i feel like it was enough to pass judgement.

i hate to see sara go as i enjoyed her 'tude, but she apparently made two serious execution errors between the quickfire and the elimination. and as much as i don't want to cut her, that's just not acceptable of a top chef. it's something howie would do.

and then there were casey, brian, dale and hung.

(side note: i didn't watch much of last season's top chef for reasons unbeknownst to me ((probably because HAROLD! wasn't involved)) so i may have missed such a change last season, but why are they sending four people to the finale?)

i'm a wee bit underwhelmed by my options here. i have nothing against the four finalists, but none of them really just make me want to scream their name the way dreamy Harold did and still does.

even though i don't usually play the chick card, i am pulling for casey to win because it's time for a woman to win. i still wanna grab her shoulders and shake her like a polaroid picture (and not in the outkast kind of way) every time she speaks, but i completely understand when she says she often finds herself the only woman in a kitchen full of men -- my job makes me the only gal in an all-boys club often and it's ANNOYING.

i thought i was going to absolutely hate hung after the first episode, but i have to say he's disappointed me in the anatagonist role. he holds no candle to stephen from season one (who incidently i came to love after the reunion/season finale). he has enough flashes of goodness that he's just not the asshole that i think he wants to be deep down inside.

dale was my initial fave heading out of the starting gate, but again he failed to hold my interest. i still very much like him, but he just didn't kick ass and take names like a certain top chef whom i've already named did.

and brian. brian, you could be so cute (like dreamy Harold). but as soon as i start to think you're cute, you get this weird bug-eyed look on your face and you do something weird that just makes me long for the face of tre (and Harold).

oh well, project runway will be back soon.