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The surprise of the episode, a scary one for me personally, is that Dakota and Nyesha do not have a smooth run in the kitchen. To the contrary, Nyesha cedes the responsibility of cooking the venison to Dakota. And Dakota winds up in the weeds. The dish cooks nowhere near as quickly as she had anticipated. Nyesha has been vigilant with her time updates, but the problem is out of either player’s hands. The constant opening and closing of the oven by all the contestants has prevented it from sustaining heat. Regular cooking times are out the window.

The judges quickly acknowledge that the meat is too rare but that the dish is otherwise delicious. My favorite team is in a lot of trouble for the inverse reason as Grayson and Moto Chris. This is a game preparation challenge and the one aspect they messed up is the critical portion.

Paul and Sarah do not have a smooth run, either. Sarah messes up sausage, a protein she states that she cooks every day. She is furious with herself but even more alarmed by the thought that her incompetence could send Paul home, which is commendable of her. For his part, Paul is focused on an even larger issue. He does not want both Texas chefs sent home from Top Chef: Texas in the same challenge.

Ed and Ty live the dream of every Top Chef contestant. Their pairing performs perfectly. There are no major hiccups and they deliver a delicious looking dish of sorghum quail with pickled cherries and eggplant. As Tim Love quickly states, “the quail shines." There is absolutely no doubt regarding who will be winning this round; Padma confirms this when she requests only team at Judges Table. Ed and Ty win the challenge and earn $5,000 each.

The fun begins when the six teams must decide which half of them will be forced to defend themselves at Judges Table. Paul steps up and states that Heather and Beverly, Grayson and Moto Chris and Nyesha and Dakota are the three obvious choices. It is clever of him to get out in front of the others in hard defining the bottom of the group as he clearly will not name himself, but Paul strikes me as an above board player. I believe he is not playing games here.

Eventually, a hand vote is performed. Grayson and Moto Chris are unanimous selections while most (but shockingly not all) people select Heather and Beverly. Finally, about two thirds of the participants name Nyesha and Dakota. Based on this straw poll, Grayson and Moto Chris are in trouble as long as Heather does not blow up at Judges Table.

Oddly, Grayson and Heather start bickering with each other rather than defending themselves and their teams. Heather is once again vile. My primary thought in watching the episode is whether Heather is somewhere else in the world right now thinking, “God, I’m heinous” or “Grayson is such a brat”. If it is the latter, there is little hope for her as a human being.

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