Top Chef: Oh, Carla, Where Were Thou?

Like gillions of other people last night, my partner Fey and I watched the season finale of Top Chef: New York on Bravo. As much as I hate to admit it, I've become a huge fan of these contest shows, and am probably more vested in their outcomes than I should be. When Aaron "Big Daddy" McCargo, Jr. won The Next Food Network Star competition over Dallas' intensely more talented Lisa Garza, I stopped watching the network in a fit of pique for almost two weeks.

But I digress. Top Chef. Once Ariane had to pack her knives and go home, I thought I would no longer care about the competition. But the underdog performance of Washington, D.C. caterer Carla Hall caught my imagination.

Get this--a competitor who is nice. Who helps people. Who cares about people (other than herself). And who wins! Fey and I fell in love with her, and were hoping against hope that the egos of Hosea and Stephan would cancel each other out, allowing our favorite to quietly steal the prize.

But alas, that was not to be. Carla. Carla, Carla, Carla! What were you thinking? The challenge was easy: make the best three course meal of your life. Time and time again, you had it pounded into your head--Be Yourself. Do Your Thing.

Carla, you had the chance to easily take it all. But you let yourself be swayed by a sous chef (who, incidentally, did not win the previous season....) and away from your strengths. It broke my heart to watch, and while I'm still happy that Hosea won over Stephan (who wouldn't be?), I'm still depressed that you didn't pull through at the last minute and score a Victory for Goodness and Light.

Carla Hall Talks to the Washington Post