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The queries at Top Chef involve responsibilities as usual. The difference is that all six players wear their fear on their faces. Being up for elimination is always scary but being one of the worst chefs in a situation such as this represents unspeakable failure. I empathize with all of them (yes, even Stefan).

Brooke reveals that she cooked the duck, and Padma wants to know what went wrong. Gail assails Stefan over the cabbage preparation. A funny moment occurs when Joshua is quizzed about the grits. He honestly states, “I’m always going to be apprehensive making grits for Hugh.” Without missing a beat, Hugh quips, “At this point, I am apprehensive to eat your grits.” This is why Hugh deserves a spot at judges table. He is hysterical.

The judges administer the most savage beating upon CJ’s gangly frame. As expected, they lash out at him for creating a burger rather than something more original. I bite my tongue as I mentally catalog at least three different instances where a contestant defending him/herself at judges table was told exactly the opposite. CJ notes the same dual-edged sword issue I mentioned earlier. This is a problem for the judges, not him, yet I expect he will be the one who suffers for it.

Amusingly, CJ takes a shot at Danyele and Lizzie’s chocolate dessert, which he considers a debacle. While the judges all laugh, they also make the point that CJ’s burger was even worse. Top Chef is all about kicking people when they’re down this week.

The judges confer and in the process elucidate how atrocious all of the meals were. Tom wants to eliminate John and Joshua for the pork and grits dish. Hugh is emphatic about the burger. And Padma hates Stefan and Brooke’s duck. Ordinarily, Tom gets his way in these instances but he defers to the tiebreaking vote, Gail. Given that she had already expressed disbelief that CJ felt he had prepared a good burger, the choice seems obvious. CJ and Tyler are eliminated from the competition and thereby relegated to Top Chef Kitchen. I will add that they (as a team) upended Kuniko and remain alive thanks to something called hay ice cream. So CJ is not 100% gone yet but the odds of him winning Top Chef are remote. He’ll never win Padma’s heart now.

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