by Teresa Gubbins

Did she torpedo Carla's meal or did Bravo just make it look that way?

Ex-Dallas chef and former Top Chef contestant herself Casey Thompson re-surfaced in a controversial role on the finale of Top Chef Season 5, which took place on Wednesday night. (If you haven't seen the finale yet, spoiler is coming soon.)

Thompson, who currently lives in San Francisco, where she's doing "personal appearances" and private events at wineries in Napa Valley, was one of three chefs, along with Richard Blais from Season 4 and Marcel Vigneron from Season 2, who were brought back from prior seasons to serve as sous chefs for the finalists: California caterer Stefan Richter, Boulder, Colo. chef Hosea Rosenberg, and Washington, D.C. caterer Carla Hall. Carla got last pick and ended up with Casey.

The general direction of the series seemed to imply that Carla was going to win, given the fact that she'd come from behind, found her stride, and as a Southerner seemed most in touch with the cuisine of New Orleans, where the finale took place. She'd also become the emotional favorite: During a commercial break, Bravo showed the results of a viewer poll that overwhelmingly picked Carla to win over arrogant Stefan and weak-willed Hosea.

But Hosea won after his overall meal struck the judges as the best conceived. Stefan, who'd been the early favorite, lost it on a retro dessert plate the judges didn't like. Carla imploded, serving a beef entree whose texture was tough, and a disastrous final course missing its key component: a blue cheese souffle, which Carla overcooked.

The episode showed Carla allowing Casey to change the direction of her courses when Casey suggested using the trendy sous vide method to cook Carla's entree of beef, and suggested Carla's cheese course consist of a souffle rather than the tart Carla had envisioned.

The show makes it look like Carla approached the meal as a collaboration, but in the Top Chef Book of Appropriate Behavior, a Top Chef is open enough to absorb other people's input but commanding enough to know what to reject.

Is Casey getting scapegoated for the show's outcome? This, from the blog of Gail Simmons (one of the judges):

Ouch. Casey appears to be feeling some heat if you follow the updates on her Facebook page (times are California PST):

• 8:08pm: Casey says, "congratulations Top Chef".
• 10:04am: Casey says, "we did our best."
• 11:04am: Casey :(.
• 11:10am: Casey I would NEVER do a cheese course. EVER.
• 11:30am: Casey is done with Top Chef.
• 11:55am: Casey has to say- "that WAS Carla's food". done.

"No one knows better than you that those shows are edited," sympathizes one of her friends.

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