Here's why everyone hated Marcel. He calls his co-workers "unmotivated". It was Sam who pulled Marcel's ass out of the fire when he lost his fish, and that's the dish he was complimented on. Did he own up and say it wasn't even his own idea? Of course not. He threw Sam and Mike under the bus by blaming them for losing the fish. That's why he lost, if you ask me. On food alone he was looking better, but his attitude to his people lost it for him.

did you even watch the same episode i did? Marcel DID give credit to sam for that SPECIFIC dish, he brought it up HIMSELF, it's not like he waited for the judges to say "we heard from sam he did this and this". Comprehension fail…

jesus elan. all u do is spanish food and u can't even pronounce "anguila" correctly.

Chris, he was totally right. Angula is the baby eel, anguila is the grownup eel. I personally got the feeling Marcel was a tool. I also think the other participants were childish, but I can see that Marcel's answer to the situation was being even more obnoxious which kinda didn't help.

love that quote by marcel – "I thought it would take more than fucking saffron and paprika to beat me – apparently not." very well said

Marcel deserved the win. He was naive to pick 2 people that were close with Ilan. Michael didn't bring the fish on purpose and Sam purposely took out the vinegar teardrops from the cooler. He knew that he heat and humidity of the kitchen would kill it and it did. It was hard to watch grown-ups bullying someone. It was surreal! I hope the judges felt like shit when they actually saw the show and actually saw it all go down. As for Betty, she was the one that started the whole thing. She is an awful human being.

I think Marcel's response was the most dignified anyone in his shoes could be. I did not see it as obnoxious at all, and if anything felt he was TOO kind to his sous chefs behavior. It was obvious from the team choice that nobody was behind him for the win, as any votes to work for him were "tossing it up" or whatever. To work with that kind of support, and still manage to wow the judges the way he did, shows his talent and deservedness.

As for the third dish, it may have been Sam who brought calmness to the situation, enough to collaborate with Marcel his idea of how to save the night, but in the end it was Marcel's ingredients and plan on that plate, not Sam's. Without Marcel, Sam would have never came up with any of it, plain and simple.

I do agree with the judges speculation on the best Chef (of the two) as of this season being Ilan. However, Marcel is surely the true Top Chef, as he will quickly exceed any standing Ilan may have. Ilan has less ambition and drive, and would prefer to stick with what he knows rather than learn and expand into new culinary ideas.