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Shirley was by her own account seeking to find her voice as a chef. During a shrimp dock challenge, a conversation with the locals enabled her to do exactly that. Since then, Shirley has been absolutely dominant. With eight wins this season, Shirley claims more victories than Nina (4) and Nick (3) combined. The only tragedy possible tonight would be if Shirley did not earn admission to the finale. She has been the best chef this season. As such, she has earned the right to make it to the end.

Tonight’s episode begins with the revelation of who is the champion of Last Chance Kitchen. I Shawn Spencer’d my way into determining the results last week. The preview commercial does not reveal the face of the winner (obviously). The footage that aired does show the hand of the player in question. Carlos never removes his wedding ring, even when he cooks. Louis does not wear his ring in the kitchen. Ergo, the winner of Last Chance Kitchen is Louis. This is the rightful result as Louis has absolutely dominated with eight consecutive victories.

The chefs in the Winner’s Bracket do not know any of this yet, though. All they have been asked to do is perform blind judging of the dishes crafted by Carlos and Louis. The results are decidedly close. One player has overcooked their protein while the other’s flavors are less satisfactory. The players all note how strange they feel being on the other side of Judges Table.

The guest judge tonight is Sam Choy. People who watch Dinner: Impossible will remember him from an episode where chef Robert Irvine roasted a full boar in a ground pit, one of the most badass cooking feats I have ever watched. And he also made an appearance on Hawaii Five-0. Choy is an iconic figure in Polynesian cuisine.

Moments after Louis is revealed as the Last Chance Kitchen winner, Tom Colicchio and Padma Lakshmi announce that the Quickfire Challenge is next. All of this happens in moments, and that has to be disorienting to the players. The challenge involves Spam, a Hawaiian staple. Long (long loooooong) time readers of BOP may remember that one of our writers, a Hawaiian native, constantly heroicized the flavors of Spam Musubi. It is one of the most popular Polynesian dishes. I will be overwhelmingly disappointed if none of the contestants cooks this dish.

The chefs are given 30 minutes to prepare their finest Spam flavors. Nicholas freaks out because he has “maybe eaten it once” in his life. He also confides that he should have researched it because it is so popular in Hawaii, but he didn’t. Preparation is everything, Nick.

Louis has a different issue. A bunch of locals are onlookers during the challenge. They treat the situation as a food festival, constantly interrupting the contestants with questions. Shirley wins my entire love by choosing to craft Spam Musubi. I adore everything about this woman. She is a winner who makes smart decisions to boot.

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