THE SECRET TO SKINNING AN EEL? CONFIDENCE.

Tongues are wagging. Celery stalks are braising. Chefs are chopping off their own fingers (if next week's teaser is to be believed). With Wednesday's crucial episode behind us, the fifth season of "Top Chef" is winding down, and the show's producers find themselves tasked with a special sort of sorcery: finding ways to make the show unpredictable when the winner has been obvious from the start.

Why do we watch "Top Chef"? Its premise is simple: skilled individuals fighting each other on camera for supremacy in their field. The neat part, and the audience-friendly part, is their medium. Food is something we all understand. Or at least we think we do. The show's mixture of expertise and accessibility makes it addictive.

Wednesday's episode saw the elimination of Jamie, a keen chef out of San Francisco who resembles a glazed donut with tattoos: round, tasty, ever-so-slightly dangerous. She was good with scallops, but her expulsion was bound to come sooner or later.

Which brings us to Stefan. Stefan, of course, is the clear winner. Dear Stefan. The producers have had a tough job creating an illusion of competition when Stefan is so obviously superior. A shrimp-coloured German chef for whom skinning an eel is "like riding a bike", Stefan's personality is an irresistible cocktail of competence and mischief. Arrogance too. But if there's nothing worse than a braggart, there's also nothing sexier than justified cockiness.

This doesn't mean I'm going to ignore Padma Lakshmi when she pops up to repeat the Bravo slogan, "Watch What Happens". (Does anyone ever ignore Padma Lakshmi?) Oh, I'll be watching. Not because I need to know who will win, but because I'm dying to see how he does it.

~ MOLLY YOUNG