-- Shares Facebook Twitter Reddit Email At points during this season of "Top Chef," it seemed as though Laura Ozyilmaz was unfairly being pigeonholed as something approximating a "villain," something the show has largely gone without for many seasons now. As the series itself matured, with Padma Lakshmi as its guiding force , it was softer, kinder and more professional, with memories of forced head shaving a long-ago occurrence that'd never occur in today's "Top Chef" landscape. However, at the end of the day, "Top Chef" is still television , so there always needs to be a storyline, rootable contenders (and in almost all cases, someone to perhaps root against).
In this season, Ozyilmaz was sometimes slotted into a sort of antagonist characterization, with throwaway shots and confessionals used to establish her as somehow objectionable. For me? I saw a remarkably talented, intrepid, competitive chef who was cognizant of the fact that she was part of a competition and television show that could truly change careers — and lives, at that. And she competed at the highest level, using her knowledge, her expertise and some strategy to ensure that she'd perform as well as possible against some incredibly skilled competition.
Related "Top Chef" finalist Savannah Miller talks eggs, North Carolina and why taking risks is "addictive" Unfortunately, though, Ozyilmaz was unceremoniously booted from the competition in episode nine, titled "The Good Land." However, much like current host K.
