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The vets look on. Shirley notes that none of the rookies look happy and are all arguing amongst themselves, “but hey,” she concludes in deadpan fashion, “they're rookies.”

Amen.

Service begins the next day and the rookies are up first. They try to navigate the kitchen, figuring out who goes where. Annie gets started on her take on tomato pie - turning the pie into individual tarts, which is similar to something she's done before with green tomatoes. Meanwhile, Jamie (who's doing a vegetable casserole), vows that he will not burn his vegetables. This is going to be redemption for annihilating his vegetables in the first Quickfire.

Before we know it, the vets storm the kitchen, and things become even more hectic in that small space. Especially for the rookies. As their time runs out, BJ finds that his pork loin is woefully underdone, and finishes the pieces on the stove. Meanwhile, Jamie burns his broccoli.

D'oh!

Outside, the diners are brought in and ready to chow down. Along with Tom (who's, I kid you not, dressed like Colonel Sanders), Padma, Gail, and Frank, we have some notable chefs from the area, as well as the hosts from the previous night, Carrie and BJ.

The rookies bring out their dishes and the judges immediately note that there's no biscuit on the menu. “Guess I didn't inspire you to make biscuits,” Carrie comments. It's a “glaring omission,” adds Padma.

For the most part, the rookies' dishes are well received. Immunity-Jim serves not biscuits, but creole grits, which are well cooked and well-seasoned. Italian chef Silvia offers hoppin' john with farro, which is tasty but a bit over-seasoned and dry. Emily (who seems to get most of her face time with the camera by offering complaints about how things are going) has a pickled shrimp dish with cucumbers, which Tom loves. BJ salvaged his pork chops with peaches, but not entirely. Gail loves the acid in the dish but her pork chops were almost raw. So was the dough in Annie's tomato tart. Sylva has a Cornish hen with chow chow (a pickled relish), which is a hit with all the diners. Finally, Jamie has his summer squash casserole, absent broccoli, which is watery and not all that cohesive in terms of flavors.

In passing judgment, Tom declares that the rookies had a very nice meal with good spirit, just marred by a couple of misses here and there.

The vets don't make the same mistake. Their meal is, by and large, a resounding success. Shirley's pork and oyster stew is prepared perfectly. John Tesar bravely serves a rice and okra dish, even though Tom abhors okra, which everyone adores. Brooke serves corn biscuits that have great texture, but are not cooked all the way in the center. Amanda made an amazing whole-fish ceviche that has tons of flavor. Casey's collard greens are a huge hit, even though she took a risk in cooking them lightly. Padma adores Sheldon's eggplant dish. Katsuji's shrimp stew incorporated its flavors perfectly. And Sam's fried chicken is praised by the table.

There is no contest here. The vets clearly won the day, and they know it. When all the chefetants are brought before Judges' Table and the veterans are declared the winners, there is not even any feigning of surprise. They nailed their menu. Of all the dishes, Casey's “deceptively complex” collard greens, Frank's homey eggplant stew, and John's welcoming okra-and-rice dishes are named the top of the group. For her innovative and brave take, Casey is awarded the ultimate spoils.

I'm really impressed. If you'd asked any Top Chef fan who they thought would win this season, I doubt anyone would have picked Casey, Sheldon, or John. The fact that they had the three best dishes of the night really shows how deep this group of chefs is. This is gonna be a roller coaster of a season.

As for the rookies, Tom assures them that they didn't put together a bad meal - they simply went up against another team that “batted a thousand.” The three worst dishes, though, came from BJ, Annie, and Jamie. The pork chop that BJ served Gail was raw and thus unacceptable. Jamie's casserole was watery because his failure to strain the juices from his squash. And Annie's dish was all-but doomed from the start because there was no way she was going to be able to prepare pie dough and her tart in two hours.

While BJ committed the cardinal sin of serving undercooked meat, Annie's dish was a failure of both conception and execution, and thus, it's not really surprising when she's sent home. In her closing speech, Annie defiantly says that she's still confident in her skills, but notes that the Top Chef format really threw her off her game. The “atmosphere” of culinary competition is simply not her forte.

And that, dear girl, is why you're a rookie.

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