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8) Travis Masar
I hit Travis very hard for the disaster that was the Vietnam episode. What I believe I did unfairly was that I did not credit him enough for coming back and winning the following elimination challenge, the Halloween party. I still think he is a self-absorbed twerp but that is not to say that he is in over his head on Top Chef. Thus far, he is squarely in the middle with a win and a top group showing against a bottom group showing and a carving disaster last week that could have proved fatal had others not choked worse.

9) Sara Johannes
This placement is another hunch. Sara was the first person shown this season. I have to believe that this was not coincidental. As such, I am slotting her higher than her performance to date would justify. Sara finished in the top bunch during the first challenge. Since then, she has finished on the bottom twice, including crafting a meal last week that would ordinarily be cause for dismissal from a job, much less a cooking competition. Sara is a cool chick and an engrossing individual but she has done little of note on the show thus far.

10) Brian Huskey
I mentioned that Nicholas was getting face time. That does not always mean good things. The inverse is also true. Not getting face time does not always mean bad things. Brian could be headed toward a deep run on the show so there is no point in putting him out front thus far. Alternately, he is like Bene, a nice man and gifted chef who does not make for great TV and is not cutthroat enough to be a threat to win Top Chef. Brian has zero finishes in the top group and only one finish in the bottom group, meaning that he has barely caused a ripple thus far. I really like what I have seen of him as a person, though.

11) Louis Maldonado
This ranking for Louis is actually a bit lower than his actual play justifies thus far. My philosophy here is simple. During a Quickfire elimination challenge, Louis narrowly avoided being voted out. He has received little camera time thus far, and he seemed even more nondescript than Brian. I think that he too is another Bene. I want to reinforce that I would take a Bene as the chef of my restaurant anywhere any time. The problem is that the lack of a killer instinct is regularly a fatal flaw on Top Chef.

12) Patty Vega
I honestly had not expected Patty to last this long due to her horrible set of nerves at the stat of the season. To her credit, Patty has not only redeemed herself but also flashed significant skill in the kitchen. She has even finished in the top group twice recently. Still, there is no ignoring the fact that Patty has far and away the most finishes on the bottom of the remaining players with four. Yes, three of those occurred during the first three challenges but the other one happened last week so I cannot state with confidence that she is past her battle with nerves.

13) Janine Booth

Janine has already defeated six (!) opponents in Last Chance Kitchen. As impressive as that stat may be, she still has another 10 or so she would have to knock off in order to earn re-entry into the competition. Until such a time as we are close to the end of the season, the defending champion of Last Chance Kitchen will remain at the bottom of the Power Rankings, even if something odd happens as was the case with eventual champion Kristen Kish last season. The odds are stacked against lightning striking twice like that.

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