By Kim
Before the credits, we get some backstory about how Marcel was pissed at Dale after the Dim Sum challenge, because Marcel thought he should have won, of course. And being Marcel, he has to be an asshole about it. Gross.
No Quickfire Challenge this week. Instead, they jump right into the Elimination Challenge, where they go fishing in Montauk and then have to cook what they catch for a beach party. They're working in teams of three, and it's a double elimination. The guest judge is Kerry Heffernan, a local chef.
There's a lot of drama around the fishing segment in terms of which teams actually catch fish, but it turns out to be a non-issue by the end. After fishing, the teams all shop at a local farm stand for their other ingredients (although that must have been supplemented by a pantry or other shopping trip, since farm stands in New York don't typically carry crème fraiche or tortillas, for example). The big deal is that Marcel, Blais and Fabio decide to make just one dish while most of the other teams do two or three, as noted below.
Antonia, Jamie and Tiffani: Jamie made striped bass, watermelon salad with fresh dill, shaved radishes and cucumber water. Tiffani made smoked blue fish with tomato, roasted corn and zucchini ribbon salad. Antonia made open-faced porgy po' boy with Old Bay mayo and cabbage slaw. Jamie's food doesn't impress the judges, and Tiffany's isn't their favorite, but they do like Antonia's.
Dale, Carla and Tre: Dale makes a fish taco with bass, corn and avocado relish, crème fraiche, radishes and cabbage Carla makes a smoked blue fish lettuce wrap with pickled watermelon rind, radishes and bagel croutons. Tre makes striped sea bass with gazpacho salad, tomato and avocado. The judges like all three dishes.
Tiffany, Mike, and Angelo: pickled blue fish, spicy watermelon, shallots, red chilies, confit potato and dill, and also striped bass with corn puree, tomato, Aleppo spice rub and watermelon. The judges seem mixed about both dishes, finding nothing to really hate, but only a few things to love.
Blais, Fabio, and Marcel: sea bass, succotash, corn puree, tomato confit, Concord gastrique and jamon air. The judges are kind of underwhelmed.
And yay, Carla wins the challenge! I really thought it was going to Dale, but I think both of their dishes were good, except Carla's was a little more creative. I mean, making a fish taco on the beach, even though it was perfectly executed, is not so outside the box, and Carla's tribute to New York with the bagel and smoked fish was awesome. When Carla bursts back into the Stew Room ecstatic, Marcel makes her feel like an ass, since he reminds her that means that his team is on the bottom, and totally deflates her legitimate excitement. Shut it, Marcel.
So the bottom two teams are Blais, Fabio and Marcel, along with Jamie, Antonia and Tiffani. Blais's team tries to argue that it really was a team effort, making it nearly impossible for the judges to pick one of them to eliminate. The judges pick some issues out with their teamwork, though. Tom tells Antonia that, if she had been on a stronger team, her dish probably would have won. Ouch. But they really, really hated Jamie's bland food and Tiffani's overly fishy fish.
So in the end, the cheftestants going home are Tiffani and Jamie. Well, Jamie was overdue, and Tiffani has really struggled. I thought she would do better, honestly, but she definitely has had a reputation rehab. Jamie, um, not so much.
And week! Restaurant Wars! Bourdain returns! Angry Dale returns! Looks awesome.
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Before the opening credits, we get some new footage from the episode. While in the Stew Room, Jamie confessed that she thought her name was going to be called, not Casey's. But the judges called Casey's food "inedible," which is the kiss of death. Antonia points out that Casey at least tried something different and didn't just "put up a dumpling." Um, burn? Meanwhile, Marcel is complaining because apparently Dale only made eight good portions (the ones for the judges, I guess?) and still won. So when Dale was talking about calling people out for not working last week, he was talking about himself? Or maybe Marcel is exaggerating? Anyway, Marcel feels like he was robbed, AS USUAL. Dale interviews that Marcel should count his plates, so I guess Dale is denying it.
That night, the ladies all go to sleep, but some of the dudes are upstairs drinking on the roof. It's Marcel, Tre, and Dale. Marcel is swigging gin straight out of the bottle, and he gets all up in Dale's face, claiming that Dale is a pussy who gamed the system for the win. The most embarrassing part is that Marcel has put on his "street" persona to issue this proclamation, and it's just sad. Dale deals with it calmly and then wisely gets up and leaves. Marcel's drunk; there's no reasoning with him. Dale interviews that it's a good thing he took anger management classes, or Marcel would be getting a beating. I'm glad. Dale could win this thing, and he doesn't need to get sent home for kicking Marcel's ass, no matter how much Marcel deserves it. Tre has one of the greatest interviews of the season when he says that, over the weeks, he's noticed that "Marcel is kind of an asshole." Heh.
The morning, the cheftestants have to wake up at 4:30 AM for a mystery activity. I love how they show everyone groaning and pulling the covers over their heads, and then Carla is all calmly frying herself an egg in the kitchen while drinking coffee. She would be the best roommate. She would probably make you breakfast, and you know she's tidy. Anyway. The cheftestants report to the kitchen and find no Padma. Tiffany jokes that no one woke Padma up that early. Maybe her baby did. Anyway, they find a note and a map telling them to go to Montauk, which is allllllllllll the way out at the end of Long Island. No, further. No, FURTHER. Like, go until you can't go anymore, and that's where it is. That would be quite a drive. No wonder they had to get up early. There's also a sign on the table that says, "Gone Fishing," so the cheftestants know what they're going to do once they get there. Obviously, hunting wild game, right? So then there's a commercial for their vehicles as they drive out to Montauk.
And it is gorgeous. They meet Tom and Padma at a lighthouse, and Padma tells them that it's the most popular fishing spot in New York State. Really? With all the fly fishing in the Adirondacks and everything? Padma says that they're skipping the Quickfire this week, and the Elimination Challenge is to catch fish, and then cook whatever they catch for a party of 200 people that night. They don't say what happens if they don't catch any fish. That would be interesting. Vegetarian meal? And they'll be working in teams of three, which is disappointing to just about everyone. It's also a double elimination, probably because everyone is getting sick of team challenges, but they need to start dwindling the numbers if they want to be able to get through an episode and actually show all the food that was cooked by each individual.
They pull fake fish out of a net (really, producers?) to set up the teams. Antonia ends up on a team with Jamie and Tiffani, and she's kind of internally rolling her eyes and groaning. She's worked with them before, and it didn't go so well, so she's not looking forward to doing it again. Dale is just happy he's not on Marcel's team, given their dust-up last night. They will head out, two teams per boat, and see what happens.
There are a lot of "the sea was angry that day" shots as they head to their boats. The Susie E II will be transporting Team 2, which is Marcel, Angelo, and Tiffany, along with Team 4, which is Marcel, Fabio, and Blais. As they board, Angelo confesses that he's terrified of sharks, because he saw Jaws too many times, and he won't even swim in a pool. Will he bathe? Because that's about the same amount of danger. Look, when I saw Jaws, I was a little nervous about swimming in a pool or a lake too. But I was seven. Angelo be crazy.
Everyone on the Susie E II is suddenly an expert fisherman. Blais and Fabio are talking about what a great fishing spot it is, and how many fish they are likely to catch. Then Fabio is lecturing Marcel about how there are a lot of birds, so that's a good sign that there are also a lot of fish. And apparently, Fabio's father is on some national fishing team? Like for the Fishing Olympics? I think he just made that up. So they'll definitely catch a ton of fish, right off the bat, right? You guys have to help me out; I've never watched television before.
Over on the other boat, the Sea Wife IV, are Team 1, consisting of Dale, Carla, and Tre, along with the doomed Team 3 of Antonia, Jamie, and Tiffani. The captain gives them some instruction on how to snap the pole up and down for maximum effectiveness, and commands them not to pay attention to how people do it on other boats. I kind of want a whole episode just about this captain. Although I guess there's a ton of that sort of thing on A&E or Discovery. Dale interviews that his dad is quite the fisherman, so fishing reminds him of his dad. And there's even photos of Dale's dad holding various fish and little Dale with him. Aw. Dale. I feel like he's getting a winner's edit, not just in this episode, but overall. That reminds me of when a friend was putting together one of those rehearsal dinner slideshows for another friend (who shall remain nameless, although she's divorced now, so perhaps the point is moot), and she was complaining that the future husband was kind of white trash. And we were like, "What makes you say that?" And she said that every photo the parents gave her of the future husband as a kid, he was either in his underwear or holding a fish. Can't really argue with that. Carla confesses that despite being on fishing boats before, she's never "held the rod." Then she realizes what she just said and smiles goofily at Tre, who laughs. I love their team.
As Antonia, Tiffani, and Jamie are joking about how big of a fish they're going to catch, Dale has already hooked a fish. As they reel it in, Dale dedicates it to his father and the other team looks a little worried. Not that worried, though. They have five hours and they're like five minutes in.
Over on the other boat, there haven't been any bites yet. Angelo, as is his wont, is overmanaging the process. Mike is holding the pole, and Angelo keeps point out spots where he saw fish jumping. Um, that doesn't help. They all keep talking about how they're totally going to catch a fish, but no one is catching a fish.
Back on the successful boat, Antonia catches a fish and squeals like she's 11 and just won backstage passes to see Justin Bieber. What I really love is that Carla is celebrating with the other team, because it's fun, and seriously, who cares? The ladies all do a little "Antonia" dance. And everyone on that boat just keeps catching fish after fish after fish.
So how's the other boat doing? Not good. They're worried because they know that they need five to seven big fish to feed the crowd. Angelo asks Mike if he needs a break from manning the pole. I bet Angelo asked that every three minutes. You know it's killing him to sit back and do nothing.
The two boats pass near one another and the loser boat finds out that the winner boat is winning. The winner boat makes fun of the loser boat's fishing technique. This is all very entertaining but I wish we knew what happens if one team just doesn't catch any fish. Will it affect the judging if they have to make vegetarian dishes or whatever? Because otherwise, the stakes are pretty low and we're spending a lot of time watching people wiggle fishing poles around for no reason. Marcel interviews that if you don't catch fresh fish, you might as well pack your knives. Okay, but they're only sending home two people and there are three people per team, so how does that work? And would they really send someone home for something that is really totally chance? I don't get it.
There are two hours left in the fishing period. Finally, Fabio and Mike both get bites on their lines. That changes their luck, and the fish are being hauled in fast and furious. Marcel gloats that he's caught two striped bass himself. Tiffany gets a bite and Mike and Angelo have to kneel down in front of the seated Tiffany to help her hold the pole. So of course, Mike makes gross jokes but Tiffany keeps her cool. I get why she would be annoyed, and Mike is gross, but I don't know that I could refrain from making pole jokes in that setting. I've already had to hold back from about three "That's what she said" jokes in this recap alone. Blais also laughs that he and Fabio are "sitting in Marcel's lap, holding his rod." See? It's not possible to avoid making that joke.
On the other boat, Dale has hooked a big one. No, bigger. No, seriously, it's huge. The others on the boat laugh at Dale reeling it in, because his face is all red and he's sweating and grunting, but when the fish lands on the deck, no one is laughing. This thing is seriously nearly as tall as Dale. I don't think Dale is particularly tall, but even if he's only five feet tall, I would put this fish at three-and-a-half feet. I mean, when he holds the tail near his feet, the head is nearly to his shoulders. That's one big fish. Dale jokes that it's bigger than Marcel, and has the same anatomy: "really big head and then a little body, like a little bobble head doll." The producers got boners when that catch happened, no doubt.
The fishing period has ended and the boats are headed back to the harbor. Blais, Fabio, and Marcel start menu planning, and they decide to do one dish with multiple components. Well, Blais and Marcel decide. Fabio just kind of sits there, mute. Well, Fabio does bring up the point that if they do just one dish and something goes wrong, they're sunk. Marcel thinks the key is to keep it simple, though. In an interview, Fabio points out a little more cut throat reason to agree to the one dish theory: if they end up on the bottom, the judges will have a difficult time figuring out who to send home. That sounds good in theory, but the judges are pretty good at teasing out individual contributions, and if I were on a team with Blais and Marcel, I might be a little worried about being the odd man out.
The teams arrive at the harbor and check out their catch, which is all lined up on the ground. Antonia admits that she never understood why people go fishing until today. Most of the people I know who go fishing just like to sit out in the quiet nature and sometimes avoid their family members. Dale is really proud of his catch, and brings up his dad again.
To round out their menus, the cheftestants go shopping at a local farmers' market. This isn't like a small roadside stand though; the selection is pretty extensive. Angelo consults with his team briefly and they all agree to just buy what looks good and then figure out the dishes later, which is a great way to shop when you have access to fresh food like that. Just buy what's fresh or what inspires you and figure out the rest later. I mean, each team has $150, which goes a really long way at a farmers' market. Angelo doesn't believe Mike when he claims that a pepper is spicy, so Angelo takes a bite. Then he winces and asks why Mike would give that to him. Heh. And then I think Angelo hits Mike in the nuts with an ear of corn or something, because Mike collapses to the ground. Those two are quite the comedy pairing.
Blais and Fabio are shopping together, pulling a wagon around and discussing the ingredients. Antonia interviews that those two are inseparable and having some sort of bromance: "The professor and the strange Italian immigrant." I would watch that reality show. Then again, I have low standards.
Carla has caught two bluefish, so I guess her team is just cooking what they caught individually. Anyway, she explains that bluefish is kind of a trashy fish, so she's looking for ingredients to balance that, although she knows that it's a double elimination, and she's concerned about going home because she got stuck with a crappy fish.
Based on what we found out about Jamie during her season, you'd think she'd be all over this challenge, since she claimed to love to cook fresh food grown locally. And she did a lot of seafood. So she's going to win, right? Tiffani points out that everyone is kind of wondering what's up with Jamie this season, so Tiffani plans to try to keep her distance so she doesn't go down with the ship.
The cheftestants arrive back at their condo or suite or whatever and go about eating dinner and relaxing before tomorrow's party. Tre interviews about how his wife told him not to miss his family, and stay focused, but he still does miss her. He says some really nice things about his wife that are totally getting him laid after this episode airs. But it also made me really nervous that Tre was going home since it seems like the "I miss my family" thing often means someone will either win or go home.
The day, the cheftestants arrive on a beach in Queens to cook. They only have two hours, so the rush is on. Jamie is just bitching, bitching, bitching about everything. There's sand in her shoes. It's hot out. Her cucumber is dripping while she tries to cut it. Antonia and Tre both interview that Jamie's complaining and whining is constant and annoying. Jamie interviews that she doesn't think the team aspect of this challenge is that important, because people are always out for themselves no matter how the challenge is structured. As a result, her team has decided to make three individual dishes instead of working together. Antonia gives Jamie a heads up that one of her foods is frying. Jamie says it's supposed to, not snappy or anything, and Antonia says breezily that she won't bother telling Jamie stuff like that anymore. I don't know if Antonia just got worn down by all the complaining or what, but that seemed like an overreaction.
Carla explains that fish is tricky to clean because, depending on the fish, you may have to remove bones or tendons or whatever. For the bluefish that she's cooking, there is something called a bloodline, which is bitter and fishy, so she has removed it. This will be important later.
Blais, Fabio, and Marcel have a lot to cook, so they are rushing around. Marcel explains that they wisely chose to put Fabio out front during service, since he's a kiss-ass. But somehow that also means that Fabio is only doing prep work, and basically acting like a sous chef. He's chopping vegetables while Marcel and Blais do all the cooking. In Fabio's mind, it's because not everyone can be the rock star, and someone has to do the prep. He's right, but I don't know if one person needs to do all the prep. It could be a good way to avoid responsibility if the dish fails, but it could also be a good way to get sent home because the judges think you didn't contribute. Blais explains that Marcel is the one that wanted to do one dish, and it's very complex, so now he's kind of wishing they had done two. But it's too late to change up, I guess.
With an hour left to service, the cheftestants are stirring, tasting, and seasoning their food. Tiffany interviews that she's worried about the double elimination (like everyone) and she feels even more pressure than usual because she works in a seafood restaurant, so her reputation is on the line.
Colicchio shows up to see what's doing. He meets up with Blais, Marcel, and Fabio first, and is surprised to hear that they're only doing one dish. He asks what they're going to do if their one dish fails, since they have nothing to fall back on. Fabio is confident the dish won't fail. Blais interviews that if Tom asks you about something, he's "loading ammunition," that is, you know what the judges will be looking for and why your dish will sink or swim. So now Blais is even more freaked out.
, Tom talks to Tiffany, Angelo, and Mike. They are doing two dishes, and they all chit chat about how great it is to fish, then go to the market, and then just cook what you found. Although the fish isn't as fresh since it's not at least a day old. I kind of forgot about that.
Moving over to Dale, Carla, and Tre's station, Tom takes a moment to congratulate Dale on the "catch of a lifetime." Seriously. Dale explains his dish, which involves flour tortillas. Tom asks if the tortillas are made from scratch, and Dale says they're not. Damn, Tom. That's kind of asking a lot, isn't it? I mean, mixing and baking tortillas while also cooking the fish and everything else? Let's not get crazy. Sure, it would taste better, but that's asking a lot. Also, it's obvious that the cheftestants were allowed to shop someplace other than the farmers' market since I doubt they sell tortillas there. Or many of the other ingredients referenced. Dale admits that Tom's questions have caused him to second guess himself.
Tom talks to the three ladies . Antonia caught porgy, which it seems is not the most desirable fish, but Tom says that if you kill it, you've got to cook it. Tiffani is cooking with bluefish, like Carla. Tom points out some of the drawback to bluefish, but Tiffani LOOOOOOOVES bluefish, and won't hear of it. Tiffani is also now second guessing herself. Do you think Tom does that on purpose, or is it just a side effect of who he is? Maybe he just likes fucking with them.
The sun is going down, and it's almost time for service. Blais keeps telling Fabio what to do, including making the corn puree. Fabio assures him that he's going to get everything done, but Blais is anxious, so he keeps bringing it up. Fabio takes it in stride. Mike notices that Blais is ordering Fabio around and wonders if the bromance is over. Speaking of bromance, Mike asks Angelo a question and Angelo kind of snaps at him and says, "You remind me of someone I fired once." Ouch.
As the minutes wind down, Blais goes into panic mode, as always. Fabio tries to calm him down. Blais tastes Marcel's succotash, and decides it's a little overworked and heavy, but it's not like they can start from scratch now. Plus, I'm sure he figures that it's Marcel's component and Marcel's problem.
The diners come in, as Tiffany says, like "a herd of cattle." The interesting thing is that they recognize the cheftestants and express excitement to try their food. Fabio and Carla both have a lot of fans. The judges arrive and exclaim over how pretty the setting is. They also spend a lot of time showing the judges ordering cocktails at the bar. Was that really important to show? Were they thin on content this week or what? Because I could always watch more of the judges' deliberations.
First, the judges go to Blais, Fabio, and Marcel's stand. Padma introduces the guest judge, Kerry Heffernan, restaurant owner and Tom's fishing buddy. Marcel introduces the dish: sea bass, succotash, corn puree, tomato confit, Concord gastrique, and jamon air. Okay, so that's a piece of fish with corn and beans, tomato, grapes (?) and air of ham. I can't see why the judges might not think that's too busy! Why not make the succotash its own dish with a piece of fish? That's a busy plate, is all I'm saying. And why grapes? That would be like putting grape jelly on your fish. Yuck.
At the same time, the judges are going to sample the offerings of the team of Dale, Carla, and Tre. First, they have to talk about Dale's fish, because everyone has to talk about Dale's fish. Anyway, Dale makes a fish taco with bass, corn and avocado relish, crème fraiche, radishes, and cabbage. Carla makes a "tribute to a New York bagel," which is smoked blue fish lettuce wrap with pickled watermelon rind, radishes, and bagel croutons. Tre explains that this dish is his version of gazpacho, with striped sea bass with gazpacho salad, tomato and avocado.
The judges gather at a picnic table. They kind of wonder why Blais's team only made one dish. Padma first talks about how Marcel's beans are overcooked and mushy. Heffernan isn't sure about serving foam on a beach; it's inappropriate for the setting. Some of the other diners point out that the corn puree was good, but the rest of the components overwhelmed the fish. Moving on to the other team, Heffernan likes the texture of his taco. Is that like enjoying the cut of one's jib? In a dirty way, perhaps? Gail likes the smokiness of Carla's fish, and Heffernan compliments the dill and the pumpernickel. Heffernan thinks Tre took a big chance in sautéing his fish on the beach, but it worked, and the fish is well cooked. Was Heffernan the only one who talked about the food? Maybe Tom is drunk. Maybe that's why they showed him ordering cocktails.
Jamie is preparing for the judges' arrival. She cooks her fish but notices that the skin is sticking to the pan. To me, that says that the pan's not hot enough, but I'm no expert. The judges arrive and pick up Jamie's striped bass, watermelon salad with fresh dill, shaved radishes, and cucumber water. Cucumber water? That sounds like it would have no flavor whatsoever. It's kind of like when Jamie had to make the braised celery, which is the dish that got her eliminated. There's a subtle difference between "light" and "flavorless." Tiffani made smoked blue fish with tomato, roasted corn, and zucchini ribbon salad. Antonia made an open-faced porgy po' boy with Old Bay mayo and cabbage slaw. Tom knows the porgy has a lot of bones, and Antonia adds that means less yield, so presumably she couldn't do a filet or something.
At the final stand, the judges meet up with Tiffany, Mike, and Angelo, who collaborated on two dishes. They made pickled blue fish, spicy watermelon, shallots, red chilies, confit potato, and dill, and also striped bass with corn puree, tomato, Aleppo spice rub, and watermelon. Tiffany says "a little" before every item, and Angelo calls everything "beautiful." They might want to work on those verbal tics.
The judges eat the second team's food first. They like the fish and the smashed potatoes in their first dish, but Gail doesn't like the competing flavors in the second dish. Tom thinks the fish is cooked well, but the watermelon doesn't work. Angelo does have to put watermelon in everything, doesn't he? Then they move on to sample Jamie's dish. Tom notes that the fish isn't seasoned. Perhaps it was, but all the seasoning was on the skin? Which you wouldn't really eat anyway? Heffernan points out that cucumber water is redundant. Heffernan admires Antonia for using the porgy, but the other diners really love the dish. Padma wanted acidity in Tiffani's food, and Heffernan thinks it is crude and lacking elegance.
The judges go and talk to some random diners. One lady loved Carla's refreshing food, while another guy says that everything was good. Well, that was helpful. Meanwhile, Mike is pretending that Angelo wants to chat up a nearby lady (or maybe Angelo really does, but doesn't he have a mail order bride on the way?), and Angelo hides under the table.
The judges reconvene to discuss their findings. They think all the cheftestants did well, and Tom talks about how awesome it is to catch and cook your own fish. Meanwhile, Jamie tells her teammates that a lot of people came back to their stand for seconds. Blais tells his teammates that Jamie's fish was a disaster because the skin fell off and it broke apart. Jamie interviews that she thinks only doing one dish is a cop out, since the judges can't tell who did what. And she would know what a cop out looks like, am I right?
Without naming names, Tom tells the other judges that it will be easy to find one person to send home, but it's going to be tough to figure out who the second eliminated cheftestant should be.
Weird interstitial. The cheftestants decide what fish their competition would be. Angelo says that Mike blows a lot of gas, so he would be a blowfish. Carla thinks Tre would be "one of those creatures who buries himself under the sand," because he's so quiet until he laughs. Dale decides that Angelo would be "a mermaid, a siren of the sea" and the editing geniuses cut to a shot of Angelo looking regally off into the distance while riding on the boat. Hilarious.
Stew Room. They all marvel that two of them are going home. Blais has a little notebook out and has apparently been taking notes on what he thought might be wrong with their dish. I would say he's a nerd, but a nerd would have those notes on a smart phone. Then again, they're probably not allowed to have smart phones. Blais says he's always pessimistic and Antonia says he's going to give himself an ulcer. Tiffani says she's also pessimistic.
Padma comes in and asks to see Dale, Carla, and Tre along with Tiffany, Mike, and Angelo. After they exit, Marcel tries to play like anyone could imagine that those two team are on the bottom, but everyone else kind of knows the score.
Judges' Table. I am eternally grateful that they finally added that apostrophe. It really bothered me. Padma doesn't make them wait long before saying that the teams before them had the best dishes of the night. And the winner of the challenge wins a trip to Amsterdam. Mike quickly runs down who did what on his team, and the judges have praise for all of the elements. They move on to talk about how Dale's fish taco was a perfect match for the setting and delicious. Carla explains how her dish was a tribute to New York, and Gail says that she went in a different direction than they expected, but it was perfect, and Tom calls her dish "brilliant." So Kerry announces that the winner is Carla! Yay! Carla! She is delighted to get to go to Amsterdam. She is grinning ear to ear.
They head back into the Stew Room and Carla is nearly crying as she jumps into the room and yells, "I won! I won! I'm going to Amsterdam." But it's Carla! Who is so kind and cute. Everyone claps for her and makes supportive noises, except for stupid Marcel who says, "Sorry if I'm not super ecstatic right now, because that means that we're on the bottom." And, yes, he's right. Perhaps she shouldn't have celebrated her win quite so loudly, but she wasn't gloating. She was genuinely excited! And if Marcel is truly surprised that his team is on the bottom, he's a dummy. So, shut up, Marcel. Carla immediately apologizes and her face just falls. All her joy is gone. After the others head in to see the judges, Carla says that she should have contained her excitement, and everyone tells her it wasn't a big deal and she gets to celebrate her wins like anyone would. But you can tell Carla's balloon has just been burst. Poor Carla.
Blais, Richard and Marcel are called upon first to explain their dish. Marcel says that they caught five stripers, so they decided to make one dish. Gail asks again why they decided to only do one, and Blais says that they were told in a challenge that they didn't work well together as a team, so they wanted to show that they were capable of doing so. So do two dishes! Or three, but collaborate! That's a terrible excuse. Tom asks about who did what. Fabio admits that he did ninety percent of the prep while Richard and Marcel did the cooking, but they all pushed one another. Tom asks if there was a trust issue, meaning that Blais and Marcel didn't trust Fabio with their precious food. They say no, but Tom smirks, thinking he's onto something. The judges explain that the dish wasn't really appropriate for the beach, and it was too heavy and muddled. They also complain about that it was served in a plastic dish, but it wasn't appropriate for that dish. Since they couldn't change the serving vessel, they should have changed the dish. Man, they hated it.
Moving on to the ladies, Antonia starts explaining her concept, but Colicchio interrupts her to say that if she had been on a different team, Antonia would be going to Amsterdam right now, because her dish was awesome. Former stoner Antonia is crestfallen that she lost out on an opportunity to legally smoke some weed. Jamie explains that she saw the watermelon and cucumber at the market and wanted to make something light to go with her lightly flavored fish. Tom wonders if she needed to add water to the cucumber (in other words, he doesn't think so). Gail points out that the entire dish was washed out and flavorless. Moving on to Tiffani, the judges tell her that she screwed up by leaving in the bloodline. It's not clear if Tiffani didn't know that, or knew but did it purposely, or what. Gail and Padma want to know if Antonia thinks she could have helped her teammates more, and Antonia starts crying. She says that she doesn't want to see either of her teammates go home. Padma reminds them all that two of them will be going home, and dismisses them.
Back in the Stew Room, Mike says that Marcel or Blais could go home, since their dish was their idea. The losers walk back in, and Blais says that it wasn't clear what the judges will do, and they clearly weren't unanimous.
So what do the judges think? Well, they all agree that the biggest problem with Tiffani's dish was leaving the bloodline in, and the fishy taste was too strong. Jamie's dish was bland, and Gail says that the broth was really the problem. Padma thinks the problem with Richard, Marcel, and Fabio is that one of them needed to step up and say that there was too much on the plate. Kerry points out that if Fabio spent all that time chopping, he probably didn't contribute much to the concept or cooking of the dish. Gail wonders if Blais and Marcel should be penalized for making a dish with too many components. Blais made the gastrique, which Gail hated. Marcel made the foam, which was a foam, and thus not really appropriate for the casual setting. Back in the Stew Room, Jamie tells Carla that the guys' team did a "composed restaurant dish," and Carla agrees that one person from that team needs to go home.
The cheftestants are called back in to hear the results. Tom says that Antonia put together a great dish, but her teammates let him down, and maybe she could have helped them more. Tiffani's dish was heavy and fishy, while Jamie's was bland and watery. For the other team, they had too many elements on the dish and wasn't as good as the food from the other teams. Fabio didn't seem to contribute to the final plate. Blais made the gastrique, and everyone hated it. Marcel made the unnecessary foam. So which two are going home? Take it away, Padma. And, it's Tiffani and Jamie. I knew it would be Jamie; I was really surprised about Tiffani. And I do wonder whether the fact that they couldn't pick apart the guys' contributions led to their staying. But I would guess that ultimately, their dish was better than Tiffani or Jamie's.
So let's compare Tiffani to Jamie, shall we? Tiffani was very hated during her season, and totally redeemed herself this season by being funny and self-deprecating and hard-working. Jamie was a mixed bag previously, and really damaged her reputation by being sullen and grouchy this season. No matter what you think of her cooking, her attitude can't be disputed. She's been saying in interviews that she was edited poorly, and that may be true of her cooking. But her attitude - they can't manufacture that. And they can't manufacture how the others reacted to her attitude. I think she was grouchy and bitchy and whiny and sullen. She even admitted in an interview I read today that the first time she had fun all season was when they went fishing. Anyway, she doesn't need this show. I'm sure she will do fine for herself. And Tiffani's going home to her girlfriend, which it was kind of weird that they made sure to include that at the very end of the episode, but let's hope that all works out. And week, Restaurant Wars!