No need for a full recap in this episode. Our brave cheftestants were divided into two teams–Team Hetal and Team Tommy–to cook a vegetarian dinner for fifty member of the vegetarian culinary community. It ought to have been a slam dunk for Hetal but it was not. Tommy had problems trying to be a leader since most of his team tried to work around him but in the end all worked together to win the round. That left Hetal, Derrick, Olivia and Claudia to face the dreaded pressure test.

What does a cow, sheep, pig, and halibut all have in common? Answer: heads. The show sunk to a new level of surreal and disgust in one episode that most will want to forget. Poor Hetal. At least she was spared (or was it contrived that way?) the cows head. The sheep’s head is no picnic either. And being vegetarian she had to concoct a dish she could not taste to make sure it was seasoned properly. Oh boy. Olivia got the cows head, Derrick the halibut, and Claudia was pleased to get the pigs head. Coming from a culture that cooks and serves the whole pig, she is going to do it proud. And she does with a dish that got praised and saving her from elimination.

That left Hetal, Derrick and Olivia to face the dreaded fall of the scythe. Hetal’s dish was not that good. Gordon did not call it dreadful but it was not that far off. Derrick had fusion confusion, which is to say he threw disparate elements together hoping it would impress. Olivia, next to Claudia, easily the best looking dish. And it was cooked well for the most part but Gordon found the sauce hid the flavor of the meat. If you cannot taste the meat, how do you know what it is? Could it be that famous meat-in-the-can that is beloved in Hawaii?

I would have sent Hetal home. She failed in the team challenge and in the pressure test she produced a sub-standard dish. So she is saved because they like her, America likes her, and they want a vegetarian to continue on. Derrick and Olivia face the chop. Derrick is the hard driven rocker guy. He is determined and hard to put down. He showed cracks and produced a dish that in other circumstances he would not. Olivia’s only sin on the dish was that her sauce hid the beef flavor but that is enough. They have already decided it is her time to go. On her way out she proclaims Katrina the next masterchef. But it ought to have been Hetal walking out that door. If you cannot taste the food being cooked, you have a serious obstacle in getting into the top tier let alone the top two.

At least the show did not have its version of the infamous Godfather horse scene*. But it sort of came close considering how nauseous Hetal got.

*This scene like the movie is rated R.