The Quickfire Challenge this week is all based on a roll of the dice. Literally. They are really loving the Vegas theme this season. Each person steps up to a craps table, tosses a pair of dice and the number they land is the number of ingredients they have to include in their dish. Todd English is on hand for this High Stakes Quickfire, which means that the winner gets 15 grand. One of the brothers, Michael V., wins with his eight ingredients, and gets immunity for the week, while his sibling is one of the least favorite dishes.
Elimination Challenge: The chefs are paired up in a battle of the sexes! The ladies are cooking for a bachelor and the guys get to cook for a bachelorette at a swanky pool side soiree that looks nothing like any bachelor or bachelorette party I've ever seen. The twist being that all of their dishes have to pair well with the three mostly gross sounding shots that the happy couple just adore. Each cheftestant makes their own hors d'ouvres, and each team must do at least two for each shot.
Ashley doesn't like this challenge because she's gay and doesn't like that not everyone can get married, which I get her point, but she repeats this about ten times. Still, she sucks it up and creates not one, but two dishes. One of which is a pana cotta dessert that she's not entirely comfortable cooking. Has she never seen the problems with desserts on this show? After a lot of really amazing food, and some wilted looking offerings that seem to have spent a little too much time in the sun, the guys are dubbed the winning team. Padma calls in Bryan, Hector, Eli and Michael V. and they are singled out as the four best, and the judges just gush about how all amazing they were. This time brother Bryan wins.
Ashley, Eve, Jesse and Preeti are the worst of the worst. Ashley's watermelon dish was a success, but her panecotta was a massive failure. Desserts! They are the devil! She gets a pass, and Eve doesn't understand seasoning, so she's told to pack her knives and go.
Previously: The cheftestants arrived in Las Vegas, Wolfgang Puck threw food across the room and Jen Z. was the first one eliminated. Oh, and the Quickfires now earn the winning chef some extra loot in addition to the old school immunity.
After a lot of establishing shots to remind us that we are indeed in Las Vegas, and the contestants are staying in a fabulous looking McMansion instead of the typical apartment buildings, we see Jesse and Eve discussing hair, and then Jesse rehashes her performance in the last competition. She wants a chance to redeem herself. Eve wonders if she should cook for herself, or try and cook to please the judges. Gee, ideally both, Eve, but since you are in a competition and trying to win, pleasing the judges seems like the higher priority in these early rounds. Then Bryan discusses the sibling rivalry that he has with Michael. They are both very competitive. And brothers. In case you missed that the hundred or so times it was mentioned.
Then it's time for the Quickfire Challenge and Todd English. Kevin is equally impressed by Todd and the "big ass craps table" that has been brought into the kitchen. Kevin's never actually been near a craps table before, so he's a bit skeptical. Jennifer, who is really talented but looks exhausted in her interviews, says that Todd English likes simplicity and dubs him "pretty hot."
Padma says that great chefs need to be able to make something fabulous without leaving their pantries. Is that how it works? That's how I always cook, but I typically attribute that to laziness and hatred of grocery shopping. Anyway, the contestants have to toss the dice and whatever number they roll is the number of ingredients that they have to use in the challenge. Salt, pepper and oil are the only freebies from the kitchen. Jesse does this weird hand waving thing, like she's somehow waiting for permission to speak, and then says that two ingredients would suck. It would, but I'm not sure she needed to share that with the class. I'm sure they were aware. Michael V. says that he doesn't want to roll too high a number, because he'd hate to be forced to work with too many ingredients. So I guess to each their own.
Padma then informs them that it's a high stakes Quickfire, which means that they really, really want to win this (as opposed to all the other ones that they just don't care about) because they get cash money. $15,000 to be specific. That's not too shabby. Ashley takes this opportunity to address America and to tell us folks out here that chefs do not make a lot of cash. I'm not really in that industry, so I can't attest to the validity of that statement, but there must be some chefs out there who do make a lot of cash. Maybe like the one standing in the room judging this competition for instance?
Kevin's first up and says he thinks a lot of people will be freaked out by this, but he prefers working with only a few ingredients. Naturally, he rolls a 10. Maybe he'd have done better if he spent some time bonding with the craps table. Mattin rolls a 4. One of the brothers rolls an 8. Everyone continues to step up and roll, until we get to Laurine (who has made little impression on me up to this point), who rolls a 3 and decides that simple is the way to go. With three ingredients, she doesn't have much of a choice in the matter.
After Padma tells them their time starts and they've got 30 minutes, everyone starts scrambling around the room like mad. Eve's got eight ingredients, and she's making a salad with asparagus and blue cheese. Michael's got his eye on the prize -- he's making gazpacho in a way that maybe people haven't seen before. This involves liquid nitrogen. And a lot of smoke floating around the room. Bryan interviews that his brother sometimes goes overboard on techniques, and he prefers classic techniques. He's making black cod and cooking it sous vide. Kevin is overwhelmed by his ten ingredients but literally says "fuck it" and decides to make less components with lots of ingredients. Jennifer got nine ingredients and would have preferred less, but she shrugs it off. She's making salmon and some emulsions. Jesse's got nine ingredients and immediately her mind goes to scallops. This is NOT Top Scallop! She forgets a pan to properly sear them in, so they are sort of off white looking, and she can't even fake it with butter, since that would be an extra ingredient. Then time is up and utensils are down.
Laurine had three ingredients and made an asparagus and leek soup with lemon. Jennifer had nine, and says she kept it simple and made salmon with lemon, garlic, shallot, parsley and jalapeno emulsion. Mattin put slivers of carrots in the shape of a four on top of his carrot soup with ginger to show off his number. Padma finds this clever; I find it annoying that they need to put subtitles on this guy. He was flirty with Padma. That doesn't need a special translator. Eve introduces her grilled asparagus salad with raisins, pine nuts and blue cheese. The asparagus is hanging off of the plate and my OCD just kicked in and wanted to cut them to the same length. Michael V. introduces his nitro gazpacho (which would be a fabulous name for a bar!), compressed cucumbers and toast. It looks a little disgusting, actually, no matter how good it tastes.
Kevin took his ten ingredients to make an asparagus and celery salad with fennel cream and a boiled egg. Was there a glut of asparagus in the pantry, or what? His is well presented and all on the plate though, so that makes me happy. Ashley and her eight ingredients make a grilled lamb with apricot mostarda. The lamb is bright red, and Padma comments that it is rare and just sort of pushes it around on the plate before walking off. Ashley shrugs, as if she wasn't trying to give the host food poisoning. Bryan made his packed black cod with carrot, ginger puree and daikon radish sprout. Todd comments that Bryan poached the fish very rare. Two in a row. Can they make it three? Sort of, since Jesse and her poorly cooked scallops are up . It's the most baby food looking plate I've ever seen on this show. The info on the screen says that it is scallops with chimichurri and smashed garbanzo beans with toasted garlic, but she could have fooled me. Todd says that chimichurri seems to be the sauce of the year. Hard to tell if he just had nothing else to say to her, or he's sick of tasting it, or he liked her take on it.
Padma wants to know how the chefs rolled with it. Todd thinks they all made a great effort, but Jesse is in the bottom for her mushy on mushy food. Eve and her off-kilter asparagus didn't impress him much either. He even says he thought her presentation could have been cleaner. I don't feel as bad about my obsessive compulsiveness now. Rounding out the bottom three is Bryan. He looks ticked off. Guess classic techniques aren't always the best way to go, especially since the first person in the top three is brother Michael and his new fangled method. I still think it looked kinda gross, which is why the at-home judging is very difficult. Jennifer's salmon hit just the right note and English was impressed with the way that Kevin married his flavors together. And the winner is... Michael V. He's not only excited about making a mark in the competition (and the cash) but also because he beat his brother. Bryan interviews that he needs to step up his game.
Elimination Challenge. Padma tells the contestants that they are experiencing another Vegas tradition: the bachelor and bachelorette party. What's week? Strip club food? All-you-can-eat buffet? Cooking for 50 hungry Elvis impersonators? Just how far are we taking this Vegas thing this season, exactly? Kevin admits to having had a bachelor party, and that it was debaucherous. Aw, I doubt it Kevin. He's never been near a craps table, and looks scared of his shadow. I wonder if he and his friends got drunk and played some hardcore World of Warcraft until five AM or something. Ashley interviews that she had personal feelings about the challenge because she's gay. She's looking forward to the day when everyone is allowed to get married. Padma continues that they will be split into two teams, men vs. women. Then men are cooking for the bachelorette while the women are catering for the bachelor. Hector says that the guys are strong and he feels that they've got a strong chance. The winning team gets immunity and the losing team is sending one person packing.
Jennifer thinks that it is ridiculous because it doesn't matter if you are a "boy or a girl", and that makes her pissed off. I get the feeling she's pissed off a lot though. Anyway, it doesn't matter, but the show was looking for a simple way to split them up, and given the challenge's theme, it does sort of make sense. She's probably just sour because Hector had a good point about the men being stronger as a team, and since she's clearly the strongest person on her team, she's getting the shaft.
Bachelor Greg and Bachelorette Karen walk in carrying trays of shots, apparently of their three favorites; A Moscow Mule, Tequila and a Golden Delicious. The chefs have to come up with hors d'ouvres that can be paired with these shots and each team needs to make at least two dishes to go with each shot. They've got ten minutes to meet with the happy couple to plan their meal. Ash runs through the challenges again, and explains the drinks and says that the Golden Delicious is "sweet, gooey and disgusting." Bachelorette Karen explains that she's a pescetarian (meaning she eats fish but no meat or chicken) and that they also need to make at least one dish for her vegan pals. She likes spicy foods. Bachelor Greg has a sweet tooth and loves Japanese food and seafood. Robin is excited about the battle of the sexes, because when she started out cooking was a man's world. Try telling that to Jennifer.
Whole Foods madness. Bryan wants it to go well for the bride and the groom, because he's married so he likes doing things for other people? Or something like that. Seems like a nice thought, but I like it better when they are just like "I want to win." Laurine thinks that lamb goes well with the Golden Delicious, and thinks that they'll win because at these sorts of catering things people like what's comfortable and familiar, and the guys will go complicated. Interesting theory. Jennifer is yelling for an employee to help her get octopus. Eli is making tuna tartare. Ash tells the guys that the bride likes orchids and gets stuck with the responsibility of keeping a plant alive until the day... because he's the gay guy. But he's OK with it, because "gay guys grow flowers better than straight guys."
In the Top Chef kitchen they've got two hours to cook and prep. Jesse thinks she's in the bottom a lot and doesn't want to be in the bottom again because she'll likely go home, since she was at the bottom for the Quickfire and last week's elimination. Michael's got immunity so basically he's all about beating his brother. He decides to make a frozen version of the Golden Delcious shot, paired with a goat cheese cookie. Eve feels good about designing a dish based on a shot because she has her diploma in Wine and Spirits. Just because you know about alcohol doesn't mean you can cook well. Ashley wants her team to win, despite her personal feelings about the challenge. She thinks that the women are feeling outmatched and thinks it could boost their confidence. Hector asks who's going to win and someone shouts back that it won't be him, and he starts laughing. I think I like Hector. He's making a tofu ceviche. Bryan is also out to beat his brother, and he's making a sweet and sour meringue. It melts in your mouth, but not in your hands, basically. Ash has no idea what Bryan is talking about. Neither do I, but now I don't feel so bad.
Ashley says she's got time to spare and could do another dish... as a group. Jennifer says they should keep it simple, so they have perfect execution. Wise move, don't bite off more than you can chew at this stage in the game. Jennifer interviews that it is stupid. However, Ashley wants to make the bachelor happy and give him something sweet so she decides to make a bay leaf panna cotta. And she's not a pastry chef. Good lord. People should not make desserts on this show if they don't know how to. Will they never learn? The girls start getting cocky, though, because they are all packed up and ready to go, while the guys are scrambling. Michael I. says they struggled a bit, but they pulled together. I'm so happy that we've seen blissfully little of him this entire episode.
Back at the house, Ashley is pissed that they have to basically do a "wedding challenge" when at least three cheftestants are gay and not allowed in that institution. Preeti agrees with her, but she feels guilty that she's not more fired up about it. Ashley says she realizes that she's in Vegas and knew that it was coming, but she still doesn't feel good about it. While I totally get her point, it isn't like this is the first time they've done wedding themed challenges on this show. Hell, they had to cater Gail's fake bridal shower last year. I think she had to have known that it was in the realm of possibility, especially given the amount of catering type challenges they have on this show.
The morning they are outside by the pool at the hotel and there are cabanas, which Jennifer says are bigger than her old apartment in New York. It is a pretty sweet looking pool area. They get to work setting up the food in the hot sun. I personally have never been to a bachelor or bachelorette party that took place during the day, but maybe this is their kick-start to their night of drinking and strippers? Preeti realizes that she forgot a plate garnish, so she takes some shiso leaves and tosses them down on the plate and thinks they look awesome. Eve is having some issues with the lack of flavors in her dish, and is told she needs salt. Eve almost obliviously stabs Jennifer in the head with a big old knife. Yay, teamwork! Laurine (who has had significantly more screentime this week) says that the boys' dishes all seem so contrived and the girls are familiar and the client will be happier with this. Again, interesting theory. She'll be wrong, no matter how many times she repeats it though. Even as a non-foodie, I love trying out new things at cocktail parties. In fact, that's my favorite time for tasting new things -- they are bite size and there's no commitment issues like you face with ordering an entrée you may
not love.The hungry masses arrive. Ashley says (again) that this challenge is hard because she's gay. To her credit she decides to try and put that aside to be happy for the couple... who are about to get wasted on Top Chef's dime. Mattin says that the girls are very hot, but he's too busy to flirt. Bachelorette Karen toasts to herself. Padma and the judges walk in. She's wearing this awesome blue short-suit. Is that a thing? I'm so fashion hopeless. It's like a one piece short and tank-top... whatever, she looks amazing. Also judging are Gail, Tom and Todd. They descend on the girls' tables first.
Robin made a Duck Mole with cocoa nibs and apricot to pair with the Golden Delicous shot. Laurine made a Moroccan lamb chop with pomegranate pine nut relish to pair with the same shot. Over at the Tequila table, Eve made a shrimp and avocado ceviche with smokey tomato salsa and popcorn. Jennifer made octopus ceviche (which she annoyingly still continues to call cee-veech) with citrus vinaigrette.
The judges take their dishes and retreat to their cabana. Eve's ceviche is up first. Todd plainly says that it was "nasty." Tom complains that she didn't learn her lesson from last week on cooking shrimp. Jennifer's paired well with the drink, per Tom, and had a nice bit of acid according to Gail. Outside the drunken bachelors are loving the octopus. Gail says that Robin's mole was nice and Todd says it is hard to pair alcohol with food. Um, that's the whole point of this challenge, Todd. It's supposed to be hard! Laurine gets credit for nicely cooking her lamb chop from Tom, and Todd, who looks a little buzzed from all the shots already, says it pairs nicely with "this" (pointing to the shot in his hand).
Ashley also had the tequila shot. She made a watermelon carpaccio with ricotta salata and aged balsamic on it. Then her dessert, a bay leaf panna cotta with cranberry powder and honey, pairs with the Moscow mule. Preeti's prepared coriander and sesame crusted tuna with spicy eggplant and a wonton crisp, on her shiso leaf. Jesse did a Thai chicken lettuce cup with shiitake mushrooms, shiso and ginger beer. It matches the ginger in the shot, and she's excited because the men seem to be eating it up and coming back for seconds. Oh what do they know? They are all drunk at this point.
In the judging cabana, Todd says that Jesse's lettuce cup had way too much going on, and it doesn't make sense with the shot (despite her putting ginger beer in the shot). Tom says that Preeti's dish was pedestrian and not professionally done, and Gail points to her sad shiso leaves that have been wilted in the sun. Gail gushes about Ashley's watermelon dish, but says that her panna cotta isn't her set. Tom says it is unfortunate that she made two dishes because one of her dishes was good.,/P>
Time for the judges to taste the guys' food and the Golden Delicious table is up first. Michael V. says that he made the same drink, but with fresh products for his apple sorbet and goat cheese cookie. Kevin made a chilled almond soup with king crab, cucumber and white grape. He put in extra cucumber to pair with the apple in the shot.
Tom says that Kevin's is delicious but wishes it were colder. Gail calls it lovely. Michael's goat cheese cookie is excellent and gets high praise all around.
At the tequila station, Mike I. Created artic char with smokey caper sauce and cara cara orange. Bryan made a sweet and sour macaroon filled with guacamole, corn nuts and a corn purée. I've watched his sequences over and over and I blame my unsophisticated palate because I still don't understand how exactly this is made, but it looks pretty. Ron, who I almost forgot was on the show this week, made a lobster cocktail with habanero tomato sauce. Hector made a tofu ceviche with guajillo-achiote tortilla for all the vegetarians. Thoughtful.
Todd says that the tofu ceviche is an interesting idea, and it has nice flavors. Gail says Hector did a beautiful job. Gail says that Ron's lobster had no flavor. Todd agrees; when he hears habanero, he expects heat. Mike I.'s artic char is flabby. Tom says it is one of the few dishes that doesn't match at all with the tequila. Gail likes Bryan's play on chips and dips. Todd says that meringues are tough to make, and gives him high praise.
At the Moscow mule station, Eli introduces his dish as "tuna tartare with some Thai stuff." Way to sell your dish, Eli. Mattin made a bouillabaisse with aioli crouton and petite basque croquette. Ash made an Asian chicken wing with pickled pearl onions. We see the classy bachelorette yelling across the pool that the girls are going to out drink them. Nice. Real nice.
Todd says that Eli's tartare matches the ginger in the drink, and Gail says it was seasoned very well. Padma says that Mattin's croquette wasn't good and Gail complains that the bouillabaisse was off with the drink. Ash's chicken wing makes Todd happy, and says he could eat them and drink that shot all day. Presumably when he's not on a national TV show.
After the judging and food is gone, the guys take off their shoes and chef coats and jump in the pool. Laurine says she was shocked and that she thinks people would rather see girls in wet clothes than fat boys. Mattin looks like he works out though, as he rips off his shirt (but leaves his little neckerchief on). Ash refuses to jump in; he's too mature for that, so he just drinks beer along the side. It's pretty hot outside. I'd have been in the pool too.
In the most pointless interstitial of all time, Mike I. informs us how he makes up nicknames for people. Like calling Eli and Kevin "the pickle brothers"... because they like to eat pickles. So they are like two pickles in some brine. OK... moving on. Eve's the ninja because she walks into walls. Jesse is pancakes (for no explained reason) and he can't say Preeti's name, so he just calls her Purty. He says people will get tired of him quickly. Oh, I already have.
The cheftestants all sit around the Stew Room, and Ashley says she had a fun time. I'm glad; she seems to have gotten her political stance out and then made the best out of a sucky situation. Good for her. Mike I. asks if the girls are bringing home the gold and Jesse says "like Michael Phelps." Then Padma thankfully comes in, puts a stop to the incessant chatter, and asks for Bryan, Hector, Eli and Michael V.
Judges' Table. Padma informs them that the guys won and that they were the best of the best. They start with Eli. Gail says that she's eaten a million tuna tartares in her life and that his had great acid and lots of seasoning. Todd thought the ginger matched well with the ginger in the shot and he did a great job. Todd tells Michael that he knocked it out of the park. Tom tells him that from concept to execution, it was great. Todd tells Hector that his dish could change people's minds about tofu. Tom is proud that Hector had the huevos to make the dish. Gail says that Bryan's macaroon just melted in her mouth. Todd says it was a play on what they all know and it was whimsical and fun. Todd says they loved all the dishes and it was a tough choice, but the winner is Bryan. That's one win for each brother today. Bryan's happy that he won an elimination challenge, even though Michael did get the $15,000 chip. Tom reiterates that they were four truly special dishes and it is going to be a tough season.
Hector proudly tells the other chefs that Bryan is the winner, while Eli is stuck telling Eve, Jesse, Preeti and Ashley that they have to face the music. Laurine moronically asks if that means that the boys won. Hmm, given that this show follows the same format pretty much every week and Padma said that the winning team would have the winning chef and you just found out that Bryan won, yeah, I'd say they won. This is not hard or confusing at all.
Padma says that Jesse's dish was very watery, and Jesse says that she put in ginger beer. When Tom asks her if she included actual ginger, she shakes her head, but looks like she might cry as she says she didn't want it to be too gingery. Tom says th
at it was too much in the middle, not gingery enough, but watery. And now she's actually crying. There's no crying in Top Chef. Toughen up, Jesse. Gail says there were a lot of great ingredients, but it just didn't work as a dish. Jesse admits that she didn't put her best foot forward.Eve says that she didn't feel super confident about the shrimp, but that the groom loved Mexican flavors and she wanted to do something for him. Eve was hoping that the shrimp would have more flavor. At this point he gets all frustrated, as he does (which I adore!), and he's like, if you knew it didn't have flavor, why in the hell didn't you make an attempt to fix it if you are a chef on a goddamned cooking competition show? She says she tried, but much like pasta without salt, she couldn't do anything since the shrimp was already done. Tom just shakes his head and the editors put in that great little baffled bong noise, so you know that Eve just dug herself a big old hole. Todd, still trying to think the best of her, or maybe just too tipsy from all the cocktails, tells her that she has to learn to adjust and compensate for things if they get screwed up.
On to Preeti, who claims she was happy with her dish when Padma asks. If you are in the bottom four, saying you were happy with the way your food turned out is never the correct answer. Preeti babbles on that people were coming back for seconds and thirds. Tom wants to know if she marinated the tuna, and she says she did it overnight, and Tom says it was overcured. Preeti looks surprised. Padma says it was hard to pick up with the soggy shiso leaves underneath, and Preeti blames the hot temperatures. Tom says she should have been aware that the judges were coming, and replaced the shiso leaves with new ones, so at least it would have been good for them... if not for the drunken bachelors who clearly didn't give a shit. She says that she did change them, but they wilted that fast. Tom throws his head back in disbelief. Gail jumps in and says Preeti should have taken them out altogether. Todd complains that she had too many thoughts in her dish and they didn't work cohesively.
Padma wants to know why Ashley decided to do two dishes. She claims that they had the time and money, so they decided to go for it. Padma doesn't understand why she didn't do one amazing dish. Hey, isn't that what Jennifer tried to tell her when she came up with the half-assed dessert idea to begin with? Ashley's really got no defense. Todd says she did do one amazing dish, and Ashley says she gets why she was called out. To her credit, she doesn't bring up the fact that she's gay and took issue with the challenge. She just focuses on her lame dessert; she admits that her panna cotta had a bunch of problems, but she chose that because it was "ninety million degrees out" so she didn't want to do something hot. Padma liked the bay leaves, but thought it came across a little too woodsy, and Ashley says she got a bit overzealous in toasting the bay leaves. At least she knows what she did wrong. That's my favorite kind of chef on this show. Instead of the ones who argue that their dish was good, when it clearly wasn't. Todd asks if the leaves were fresh or dry, and she says she used both. Tom wants to know why she would have used dry leaves if she had fresh ones available. Ashley says it was a mistake and she isn't a "dessert technician." Clearly, it seems that the judges appreciate her honesty and get that she's actually a good chef, so they are giving her a rough time so she doesn't screw up again week.
The contestants head back to the stew room. Jesse's convinced she's going home. Eve just looks sad. The judges' all agree that Ashley's watermelon was good enough to get her another week, even though her panna cotta was a mistake. Todd again talks about how much he loved that watermelon dish. Tom says that Jesse's lettuce cup was sloppy and watery. Padma says that she thinks Jesse understood what she did wrong. Gail wants to know how long Jesse can keep making mistakes -- this is the second time and it is only the second week. She had a good idea, but she's got no follow through. Go Gail! Gail says that Eve's dish had flavor, but it was off-balance. Todd says that with those classic flavors, when you put them together she has to have a clue what she's doing. Tom doesn't think that Eve understands, and he thinks she's throwing everything against the wall and hoping that something sticks. Which is sort of how I cook, but I'm not a chef by any stretch of the imagination. Gail says that Preeti's dish felt flat. Tom reminds them that there was amazing food at the party, and that her tuna just isn't the kind of food that is going to stand out. He also complains that tuna shouldn't have been marinated for that long, and she should have known better, but she thought it was good. We flip to see Preeti in the stew room defending her dish and talking about how it was such a crowd pleaser.
The judges call the foursome back and Tom reiterates what their challenge was, for people (like Preeti) who just missed the message the first hundred times. Tom says that if Ashley had focused on one thing, she wouldn't have been in the bottom. Preeti's dish was overcured and didn't pair with the shot. Eve's dish had too many things going on and none of it good. Jesse's flavors were muddled. He thinks that any one of them could have been sent home for their dishes, but the person packing their knives is Eve. She realizes she's not the Top Chef, but she didn't feel like herself in this setting, and thinks her combinations are unusual and didn't make sense to the judges... or probably anyone else.
Watch Eve's exclusive exit interview video.
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