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The Green Team is the first to be judged. Their chili con carne is well received and Tom indicates that it grows on him with each passing bite. They sound safe as long as some other team failed, but if the other four trios all deliver the goods, lukewarm praise will be enough to send one of them home. The Red Team’s braised brisket & short rib chili was cooked due to the fact that Dakota could not acquire enough brisket at the grocery store. The judges are complimentary of the dish save for Mary Sue Milliken, as she expresses frustration with the stringiness of the dish.

The Blue Team creates smoked brisket chili with summer pickles, and those pickles prove to be a huge hit with Gail Simmons. Tom Colicchio loves every part of the dish save for the chili, which shouldn’t be a problem in a chili cook-off, right? The Black Team delivers chili mole with cornbread, which looks delicious. I am ready to say that it was surprise editing wherein they actually pulled off the victory right up until Tom ominously states, “Unfortunately for them, it’s not a cornbread contest.” His sardonic smile indicates they’re in trouble although Padma’s passionate defense of their mole muddles the issue somewhat. The White Team’s three bean and beef chili with poblano cornbread divides the judges. Gail hates it while Susan Feniger could eat that dish all night.

Padma quizzes the other judges on who their least favorite teams are. Tom says the Black Team immediately and with no real thought required. He had clearly made up his mind about who had the worst dish. Moto Chris, Beverly and Nyesha are confident in their dish, but Gail confirms Tom’s conclusion that this chili dish lacks heat. If they don’t win the people’s vote, they are probably in trouble. There is also some cursory discussion about the Red Team’s meat. It’s clear that the Black Team needs the democratic process to come through for them, though.

Beverly cries over nothing again. That’s two straight weeks. Beverly needs therapy. If she is trying to work her own Bravo show out of this, it’s working.

The Green Team is revealed to be the people’s choice in the chili cook-off. Once again, none of them is singled out as the winner. As expected, The Black Team is declared the losing team. With only three people on the team, the odds for elimination are scary. Padma then reveals that the three former teammates are now opponents tasked with turning their losing chili into a winning dish. This is brutal. To each individual’s credit (and totally out of character for Beverly), they continue to work together rather than turn on one another.

In the kitchen on the grounds of the rodeo, Beverly decides to strain the chili into a sauce and crusts in some tuna, thereby negating the overwhelming negative of the chili mole flavor the judges find too sweet. This is clever. Nyesha uses the gravy portion as the sauce in a Frito-crusted shrimp salad. By the end, she worries about the amount of sauce on her plated dish. Neysha, who I had considered one of the strongest performers in this cast, is in a lot of trouble. Meanwhile, Moto Chris nervously sweats over the fate of his best friend, Moto Richie, who is repurposing the chili by coating pork tenderloin and Fritos with the sauce. If the judges do not like Fritos, they are going to be very unhappy in a few moments.

As the dozen safe contestants look on, the Black Team presents their new, individual dishes. The judges quickly agree that Richie’s dish is disappointing due to its lack of seasoning and one-note nature. Padma disagrees with the latter statement, noting how much he had on the dish given the restrictive nature of the 30-minute time limit. Nyesha had correctly determined that her dish lacked the appropriate amount of sauce. The judges also express alarm at how little she has done to improve the dish, only shaving some corn on it and making other modest modifications. Based on their comments, Nyesha needs Beverly to perform poorly. But she doesn’t.

As Mary Sue Milliken states, Richie and Nyesha have created dishes that demonstrate embarrassment over the original flavor of their chili. Beverly, on the other hand, found a way to enhance its taste by altering the flavor profile. It is clear that unless this is a case of misleading editing, either Richie or Nyesha is going home. Sure enough, Beverly is complimented and informed she will not be eliminated.

The surprise is that Richie, not Nyesha is eliminated from the competition. To his credit, the young contestant handles his defeat with tremendous grace. His heart is clearly broken, however, and the mood grows gloomier when Moto Chris realizes his friend has been eliminated. He trips over a bench trying to run to console his friend. There is true beauty in this moment as friends come to grips with the fact that their time together on Top Chef has ended. The grace with which Chris handles the dismissal of his friend makes him someone I will be rooting for the rest of the season. Everyone should have a friend like this.

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