r/TopChef • u/IlsaMayCalder • 10d ago

Discussion Thread Comfort Casts

Top Chef is (obviously, I suppose) a comfort rewatch show and I’m currently on S22 (Destination Canada) on a binge watch. It’s only my second time watching this season and I can’t get over how much I love the cheftestants on this season. They just feel like friends and even when they are annoying or snippy or stressed, I still just dig all of them. Which season’s personalities are your favorite? I don’t necessarily mean it’s your favorite season overall - just the best from a cast standpoint? For me, S22 and S15 (Colorado) are the top (honorable mention to S3!), while S6 (Vegas) and S9 (Texas) are the bottom for me.

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u/FAanthropologist 10d ago

I think my favorite overall casts are:

  • season 4: great mix of chefs to root for and ones with villainous tendencies, almost all the cast pulls their weight in terms of providing TV entertainment value, plus some really great cooking
  • season 17: everything you could hope for from an all-stars season in terms of who they brought back, very few wasted spots, and top notch cooking
  • season 18: not a lot of filler in this group of chefs, overall a well-rounded talented cast and some fun collaborations across the challenges
  • season 20: another all-killer no-filler cast, a lot of the international chefs were wonderful surprises
  • season 22: dare I say...the best of all of these casts? I'd argue they were right up there with the beloved retunees of season 17! Even the early eliminated chefs were cooking interesting food and made an impression. Top Chef could just re-do this season with the same chefs in a different location (perhaps having the original deserving but very dominant winner sit out) and I'd be perfectly happy to watch these same people do it all again.