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The next morning, Angelo can barely move. He says that he’s in excruciating pain and can barely open his eyes. A doctor shows up and gives him some meds to help with the pain, though it won’t shorten the duration of the illness. He gives him a 20% chance of cooking the next day.

Meanwhile, the five chefs show up in the kitchen to see what proteins they’ll be working with. They know they have a duck and meat course, but they’re not sure what’s at their disposal. Apparently, Tom and Eric woke up early to scour the market for the best proteins. Eric pulls out a red mullet (also known as rouget), some cuttlefish, cockles and slipper lobsters. Tom has some pork belly for them and a whole duck. Clearly the rouget will have to be the focus of their seafood dish and the duck will be the star of the meat dish, but all proteins will need to be integrated somehow.

And I’m sure you’re wondering what’s happening to Angelo. Well, Hung will be in constant communication with him via phone so that he can execute Angelo’s vision. If Angelo still can’t cook tomorrow, well, Tom says that they’ll deal with it then.

The chefs head to the grocery store to pick up the rest of their ingredients. Kevin is listening dutifully to Michael V.’s suggestions Ed is getting annoyed by Ilan’s constant stream of advice, and Hung is doing a great job of trying to get everything Angelo needs.

They soon flood the kitchen and prep work starts. Ed laments the fact that he already cooked his fried banana fritter in the last episode. I agree, he sort of wasted the dish. Everyone loved it so much, it would have been a nice advantage to be able to serve it for the real finale.

Meanwhile, Angelo is back in the hotel getting checked out by the doctor again. The doctor offers him an antibiotic shot that has a 3% chance of working. Angelo will take whatever he’s got. The doctor pulls out a needle and sticks it in. “I bet that’s not the first time he’s gotten something stuck in his behind,” I idly think to myself.

The next morning, Angelo is feeling better. He gets cleared to cook by the doctor and then immediately jumps to his sketchpad. Ed comes over to inquire as to how he’s feeling, and when Angelo responds affirmatively, anyone watching can tell that Ed is just a wee bit disappointed. “It would have been cool to have just me and Kevin in the finale,” he tells the camera.

Back in the kitchen, there’s only a few hours before dinner gets served. Angelo is thrilled that Hung is such a fast worker. Ed thinks that Angelo is scared. Kevin feels like he’s taking a huge risk with his dishes.

In the dining room, a bunch of chefs start milling in. I immediately smile when I see Susan Fenninger show up (she’s such a joyful woman), but am confused as to who the other diners are. No introductions are given, so I guess we’re just supposed to take away that these are serious names in the Asian culinary world.

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