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This being a Sudden Death Quickfire, the question is which chef will have to fight for his or her culinary life. There's little surprise there, as Padma explains that because Angelina plated no dish, she's automatically up for elimination.

I wrack my mind for which chef she should choose for her Sudden Death Cook-Off, and I quickly realize that there are no weak chefs left. The wheat has been separated from the chaff. I figure that her best bet is probably to pick Wes - and she does indeed. They'll have 20 minutes to cook a dish using only the ingredients that Javier incorporates in his Caesar salad.

Many chefs seem to have warmed up to Angelina as a perpetual underdog and she receives a significant amount of vocal support. That encouragement helps her put together a crostini with garlic, olive oil, grilled romaine, and anchovy. It's pretty underwhelming. It's basically a crostini with Caesar salad piled on top. Wes, on the other hand, has a fried egg with anchovy remoulade, grilled romaine, and croutons. It's not the prettiest dish, but it's far more creative than Angelina's.

Javier concurs and sends Angelina packing - a departure that's been a long-time coming (too long, some might say).

As Angelina walks off, Tom, Richard, and Emeril arrive from behind the chefs. With only 10 chefs remaining, they congratulate each person on making it this far and, passing out a variety of beers, they propose a toast.

Moving into exposition mode, Padma explains that San Diego is one of the top craft beer destinations, and all four of the judges collaborated on the four beers distributed amongst the cheftestants. The yellow bottles contain Padma's golden ale, with notes of jalapeño and ginger. The red bottles have Richard's stout, with ras el hanout, beets, and chocolate. The green bottles are Emeril's New Orleans-style beer with coffee, cayenne, and tangerine. Finally, the blue bottles are Tom's wheat beer, with lemon, coriander, and banana.

Surprising no one, for the Elimination Challenge, each cheftestant will have to make a dish that captures the essence of the beer that they've been given. They'll have $350, two hours to prep, and the opportunity to cook their dish at Richard's San Diego restaurant.

Before we know it, the chefs are off and cooking - but not before Wes bumps into a pile of half sheet pans and knocks them to the floor. Oh, Messy Wessy. You never change.

Many of the chefs are going through their own individual dramas. Marjorie struggles with operating a pressure cooker for the first time (really? You knew you were coming to compete on Top Chef and you didn't bother experimenting with a pressure cooker?). Karen wants to find a way to break Jeremy and Kwame's stranglehold on winning Elimination Challenges. Philip is frustrated with his inability to win challenges, despite cooking the most AMAZING, INNOVATIVE FOOD THERE IS. His ego is something else. Confessing that he's not sure how to wow the judges, “I'm just going to cook technically proficient food,” he vows. Aaaand, what exactly have you been aiming to do before now?

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