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Angelo’s pulled pork and Mike’s sausage and peppers are the final two dishes. After a few sophomoric pulled pork jokes, everyone confirms that Angelo’s dish is delicious and the Higgins Boy “loves Mike’s sausage”. Beavis and Butthead would laugh so much at the sausage conversation. What is clear is that Angelo will challenge Carla for the win this week while Mike while either be at the top or in the middle. Dale and Fabio are the chefs most likely to go home in what was largely a triumphant meal. Fallon and his loved ones are beside themselves at the overall quality of the meal.

At Judges Table, the top three contestants for the week are revealed to be Carla, Angelo and Antonia. This is great news for Angelo, who had been slumping a bit, as well as Antonia who is getting hot at the right moment in the competition. The winner this week, however, is Carla, who is duplicating her Season 5 performance. She is now tied for second with Richard in overall wins this season with three, one behind Dale. She has won or finished in the top group in five out of the previous six eliminations, meaning she is a legitimate threat to win this competition. An equally happy Antonia also takes this opportunity to unveil the Beef Tongue Song she created the day before. Let’s just say that I’m not expecting it to be performed by the cast of Glee any time soon.

The bottom grouping consists of Dale and Fabio as expected with Tiffany being the other person there. The judges berate her for the dumpling mistake, but their behavior reinforces the fact that she will not be the person going home for the evening. Instead, the decision comes down to a simple choice. Should Dale be punished for a disastrously salty dish that would have turned out okay if not for some forgetful prep work that led to the over-salting or should Fabio be punished for ignoring that his entrée was a hamburger and making meatloaf instead? The fact that Fabio also curdled the cheese appears to be the tiebreaker that settles the discussion as the recently hot chef gets eliminated for not making a hamburger worthy of the average Five Guys.

After finishing in the top group in four out of five challenges, we were reconsidering our evaluation of Fabio as a chef and will continue to do so. He is more than just a ridiculously charismatic personality. He has legitimate skill in the kitchen and proved himself throughout All Stars. We regret to see him go even if we do believe that in terms of pure cooking skill, he is the least talented remaining chef. Being eighth out of this group of eight is far from an indictment. We also realize as the two hug goodbye that a business that features Richard as head chef/creative genius and Fabio as the personality is a big money corporation waiting to happen. Someone needs to bring this to fruition.

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