, which loves to torture its contestants with new elimination mechanics, Pressure Cooker constantly switches things up. In one round, the chefs rate one another’s dishes and must subsequently eliminate the face behind one of the three lowest-ranked plates. In another, the chefs must make their judgments based on a blind taste. Later on, eliminated chefs return to judge their former foes’ creations, also with a blind taste test. It’s a mess, and intentionally so—a gambit that, again, will likely titillate some viewers and frustrate others.
Sergei Nicholas Simonov, Caroline Guiterrez, Jenna Pecha, Edward Porter, and Mike Eckles in Pressure Cooker.
Terence Patrick/Netflix
Each chef appears to have a slightly different value system in this game. Jeana Marie Pecha, one of the younger chefs, works to stir things up in the house from the jump—forming alliances to which she only half-commits. Others, like Robbie Jester, play (and cook) from the heart. Two of the chefs, Sergei Nicholas Simonov and Caroline Gutierrez, form something of a “work husband/work wife” dynamic and quickly become a power block within the show. Although the competition can be cutthroat, the series also finds moments to peel back layers on some of its key players. Pecha, who mostly seems like a wily game player in the beginning, deepens as a character later on, as she discusses being placed in foster care as a teenager, setting out for Mexico at the age of 17, and developing a passion for the country’s cuisine.
Ironically enough, the most questionable component of Pressure Cooker can often be the cooking itself. There are some seriously talented chefs in the bunch, but as the competition comes to a full boil, it can be hard not to feel like some of the extra bells and whistles are meant to cover up some blah technique overall. The winner (which we will not spoil here) is a somewhat predictable choice by the end, a conclusion that’s both emotionally satisfying and somehow underwhelming. It might take a little more simmering to get all of Pressure Cooker’s elements to meld just right, but on the whole, this dish has potential.
