From left to right: Yvan Lemoine, Justin Warner, Michele Ragussis

As this is a review of the finale, naturally, it contains the winner. If you have not seen the finale and want it to remain a surprise, please stop reading now.

The finale of Food Network Star brought all of the season 8 contestants, their mentors, and the judges together for one last time. In what amounted to a glorified talk show clip show, the contestants shared their thoughts and behind-the-scenes footage and flashbacks aired between the conversations.

Most of the show consisted of high school superlatives and gossip. Viewers found out that Team Alton liked being called the nerds, Giada didn’t mind that her team was called the cheerleaders, and Bobby felt that “the jocks” was an accurate term for his “take no prisoners” team. Then the show went into how annoying Michele and Nikki found retro-rad Emily because she would wake up the house with a shrill good morning, which was followed by Malcolm being voted cockiest and Nikki being voted the most competitive.

Once all the nonsense is cut out, the show actually gets somewhat exciting. Over 4 million votes were cast for the next Food Network Star. While Justin clearly seemed like the frontrunner all along, there was no guarantee he would win. Would America forget to vote for him because he was guaranteed to win? There was also the possibility that viewers loved Martie’s southern charm, Yvan love for his family, or Michele’s passion for New England’s food.

In the end Alton was “a proud papa,” Justin Warner won because of his unique “Rebel with a Culinary Cause” view. It certainly helped that Alton and Justin was the only mentor/mentee relationship that actually made sense. This season of Food Network Star may not have been the most interesting, but at least the right person won.