I'm surprised (and disappointed) Michael wasn't the one dumped. His food this week was slagged by the critics slightly more than any of the others (including Jen), I thought. As long as he doesn't win, I don't care. The other two are both likeable.

Finale has been spoiled by people magazine.

Michael's win gives hope to douchebags everywhere.

Great, I think I'll skip it.

They did have the best guys out there for the finale, it's just too bad Michael is such an ass. I had a hard time seeing past that to see if his food was really that great.

When did Bryan get all those tattoos? I don't remember him having tattoos during the season.

I don't care for Michael, but you can't say he isn't a deserving winner. He just seems like such a dick, but I think it's the lack of self awareness that makes him really unlikeable. In contrast, Stephan from season 5 was a dick, but I still liked him b/c he was completely self aware that he was dick. He kind of played it up. I found him funny.

there was a break between the last ep and the finale.. so plenty of time to get some ink

It seems like anyone who cooks pork belly in the finale loses.

Season 1: Tiffany's artichoke risotto with porketta (pork belly)

Season 3: Casey's pork belly and roasted peach with creme fraiche

Season 4: Richard's pressure cooked pork belly with mirin and pickled radish

I think Michael was unfairly demonized during the show. I mean he really was one of the best competitors in all 6 seasons, and he could have easily won the title in any other season.

Also, his "fight" with Robin was portrayed extremely unfairly. She flipped out because he was sticking to the plan, while she was having another one of her brilliant moments of "inspiration", which was obviously going to tank the dish, and their menu.

Oh well, was rooting hard for Kevin... I think he will be the one to watch moving forward...

I couldn't give two shits about Robin. My dislike for Michael comes from his dismissive attitude towards Kevin. He also looks like a wormy punk and I got rather tired of the sibling rivalry angle.

I don't like Pork Belly!

I do think this was the very strongest final 3. and a great season.

All 3 have great futures ahead of them.

Great end to one of the better seasons. I would have been happy with any of the 3 winning. They were all deserving. I'm left wondering if things could have turned out better for Kevin if he had chosen two better chefs to work with. Bryan and Michael having Jen and Eli to work with was a bit of an advantage.

Michael was deserving of the win, based on the comments. And all 3 chefs were extremely talented, and have great futures. But yeah, of the remaining 3 (or 4, if Jen is included), Michael was clearly the least likable. And Sweet Baby James nailed it, the main reason was his dismissiveness of the other chefs, especially Kevin. Because Kevin is clearly an extremely talented chef, but Michael seemed not to accord him much respect because, essentially, his style was different. Kevin couldn't cook like Michael, sure, but what Michael never realized is that he can't cook like Kevin, either.

I wish it had been a surprise but as I pointed out last week you could tell from the previews who Padma was looking at when she called the winner. As usual I find myself preferring the food of the runners-up. Oh well, now they can all fade back into obscurity.

Congrats to Michael. Pretty good season overall. With Padma being pregnant, I wonder when they will start shooting the next season. I read that she is 6 months pregnant right now and will probably have the baby in March or April. I think we won't see another Top Chef edition until Fall 2010 if they start filming in middle to late Summer.

I just hope they don't go back to Katie Lee Joel. Even Kelly Choi had more life than her.

Apparently Bryan's restaurant in Maryland cost $1.5m to open. That's crazy.

I agree, Robin was an annoying hag. There were so many other reasons to dislike Michael. I'll agree he's a great chef, but that doesn't mean I was happy about his win. I would have been happy if Brian won and I just loved Kevin, who showed that you didn't need fireworks to make a simple, elegant meal.

It was a great season though. Between the three of them they won 12 of the 13 elimination challenges, that's insane!

Kevin beats out Bryan for fan favorite. Interesting tidbit-a possible reason that Kevin sucked in the finals(besides having Preeti as a sous chef) might be because his wife filed for divorce 2 days before the finals. He definitely seemed distracted.

Brilliant timing on her part. If he had won she probably would've been entitled to a piece of the prize money. Maybe he sandbagged it on purpose.

That "Watch What Happens" show was the biggest trainwreck I've ever witnessed! As soon as the Fan Favorite was announced, I turned off the show.

Season 1's reunion was the worst. And the worst part it, it was filmed after the finale - which makes everyone's attitude towards Tiffani really inhospitable.

I don't think Preeti had anything to do with it. He was probably just too distracted.