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"Touchdown, Carla!" she exclaims backstage. Touchdown, indeed. "I won two tickets to the Super Bowl!!!" and of course, the first thing she does when entering the Stew Room is show off her Super Bowl tickets. I wonder if she's a dark horse for winning Fan Favorite.

Three unhappy men come out to judges table. They're all talented and they're all pissed off. Fabio tries to explain that when he sliced his venison, it was still medium rare. He then made the mistake of putting it on top of hot cabbage and it overcooked the meat. Scott, our guest judge, tries to say that intentions don't matter, only what's on the plate . . . but Fabio will have none of it. He's talking back to Scott, he's interrupting. It's not good. Finally, Scott puts the smack down on Fabio and our talkative Italian shuts up.

"This is your first time being on the bottom?" Padma asks Stefan. This makes me laugh. This is such a double-edged sword. Yes, he's been consistently good in the past but oh boy, it's almost got a "Well, you really messed up this time, didn't you?" overtone to it. In essence, Tom says that Dallas is a big in your face state ("city?" I write in my notes) and that Stefan's dish had no bold flavors at all. Scott calls Stefan out on the fact that he chose to go up against Andrea but lost to her. "You thought she'd be kinda weak, didn't you?" asks Tom. I love it.

Jeff tries to blame his failure on the fact that they had to use plastic plates and utensils to serve their food. He also says that he's surprised he got beat by a hot ceviche when it really wasn't a ceviche, especially when he did 19 more things on the plate. Toby retorts by saying that he preferred Josie because her flavors were more authentic. Tom says that the role of the chef is to create flavors and he made a watered-down version of a ceviche.

The chefs leave and the judges begin discussing. Padma says that Stefan's salad was abominable. Scott says that Fabio had no point to his arguments. Tom says that he didn't care of Jeff's dish at all and that he really didn't make a ceviche either cause he poached his shrimp. So there! Though they all had bad points I think Jeff goes home.

During the commercial break I see an ad that encourages you to vote for your Top Chef Fan Favorite. I'm SO voting for Ariane. Like 20 times. And I hope you do, too.

The chefs are called back out and the final judgments are leveled against them. Jeff's dish was a watered down version of ceviche. Stefan didn't give them the strong flavors from his region. Fabio completely overcooked his venison. I have my fingers crossed that Stefan goes home. I'm looking for any sign that Padma is going to start her next word with an "S" sound. Nope, it's Jeff. He shakes the judges hands and leaves. Fabio addresses the judges and thanks them for his second chance. Stefan passes up this chance for a speech and leaves.

As he packs his knives to leave, Jeff is pretty beat up. He says that he thought he had this challenge - maybe not a win but not a loss. He thought that Fabio would go home. He says that he's learned that his brain doesn't work the same way as other chefs, that he has a problem keeping dishes simple. I don't buy this excuse at all. Any person who's watched this show over the past four years knows that one of the most frequent reasons why a chef goes home (other than over or under-cooking food) is for having a FAR too complex dish. You hear it from the guest judges over and over - keep it simple. If you can't make a good simple dish, maybe you shouldn't try for a complex one.

Anyhow, Jeff is gone. Out of the remaining (somewhat mediocre) chefs, my prediction is that Stefan, Jaime, Hosea and Carla go to the finale. Anyone disagree? Go to "Site Info" in the top Navigation Bar and click on "BOP Feedback." I'd love to hear who you think will be in the final four.

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