Cooks vs. Cons

On S2 E5 aired 7/5/17 Chicken Wing' It, one of the contestants decided to do his own item he wanted to prepare instead of chicken wings. He should not have been allowed to continue. Each of those contestants could have decided just like he did to prepare something else that they felt was more to their benefit. It was not chicken wings he prepared but mushrooms that probably tasted like mushrooms. Bad judgement on your part and unfair to the competitors.

Idk i liked it sorta bc I ran out of chopped episodes to watch but like the way they tried to judge ppl on whether they were a professional chef or a con (aka home cook), just screamed classist. Like objectively it wasn't classist but the comments the judges made & the way they said it ,especially geoffrey zakarian, just screamed I'm a snooty restauranteur better than u classist. Idk it just rubbed me the wrong way, other than that it was a fun, easywatch.

Thought this might be an interesting show. Had two episodes on the DVR. Watch one last night--- way too much emphasis on the judges. And the constant repetition of I.....Am......A........... (Cook/Con)!!!!!!!! Suffered through the show - even with being able to fast forward. Deleted the other one and removed it from my DVR listing. It's an interesting concept but poorly executed. End of review. Now I try to submit it and am told I don't have ENOUGH lines of comment!!!! You really want me to say more things about this poorly executed show which only seems to be a vehicle for job security for "celebrity" chefs??? End of review, again. Oops, still needed one more line - can I review this site which seems to be more about content than context? That should do it - 11 lines!!!!

A pretty standard Food Network competition show with a lot of familiar faces. Which is fine. I certainly enjoy these types of shows.

The big problem with this one is that the central concept of "cooks vs cons" plays no part in the actual competition. It doesn't make one whit of difference if the judges figure out the true identities of the contestants. It's just a grafted-on idea that gives them something to (repetitively) discuss.

They need to integrate the mystery aspect of the show into the competition.

Something like this:

1. Don't tell how many cooks and cons there are. Change up the ratio. Can't always be two and two. Makes it too easy/predictable.

2. Make the base prize the same for both cooks and cons, but add a bonus component at the end. If the winning contestant managed to fool the judges, they get an extra $5000 or something. This would give all the contestants incentive to deceive. Cons trying to pull off some pro techniques, cooks trying to dumb down certain aspects of their skills to come across as more amateurish.

Would make things way more interesting.

The judges (especially GRAHAM) are constantly saying "a home cook would never know how to do that" with simple things like.. 1) start a steak in cast iron and finish in the stove 2) use ginger root 3) plate with a sauce push 4) make a simple wine reduction. I mean SERIOUSLY? You are insulting your viewers, many of whom are very competent in the kitchen, you don't think we have learned anything from watching Food Network for the past few decades? Ugh. Will never watch this again for that reason alone - although Geoffrey's AWFUL acting is yet another reason. I don't think I have ever seen anyone so fake. Alton Brown is a much better host. And Graham.. Graham I am SO disappointed in you. I know you wanted to get out of Ramsey's shadow but this is just low.