Original subtitles

Previously on "MasterChef"...

It's the return of the dreaded pressure test.

Chocolate, one of the most difficult ingredients to work with on the planet.

There were two dynamic duos that really did stand out.

- Tonna and Cait and Kayla and Ryan Kate. - Yay!

We made a traditional cannoli with cashew ricotta filling.

It looks like an over-fried egg roll.

The weird taste is the filling.

The duo leaving "MasterChef" tonight is Darce and Courtney.

Tonight, the top nine duos

face a brand new "MasterChef" challenge.

One of you is gonna leave the MasterChef kitchen

and the other will start a dish.

Then, at the 30-minute mark, duos will trade places

and the second cook will complete the dish.

He's gonna see this and know exactly what to do with it.

You've really got to set your partner up for success.

I honestly have no idea what I'm gonna walk out to.

All right, time for the big swap.

- Are you ready? - What the heck?

Ryan Kate really left Kayla a mess.

He doesn't know my vision. Don't put it on the fish!

I'm doing the best I can with what I got here.

- Wow, look. - Cait, the sauce!

I'm feeling dizzy.

Medic!

This is gonna be an exciting one.

- Ooh, I can't wait. - Yes.

- Top nine duos. - Let's go.

Welcome back, guys. Come on!

Oh, my God.

Top nine feels so amazing.

Not only did we stay safe from the pressure test,

but we also got one of the top dishes.

So we want it to keep going.

We want to be here and we want to be competing for longer.

Welcome back to the amazing MasterChef kitchen.

- Whoo! - All right!

Now, guys, this season, since you're all duos,

one thing we've been keeping an eye on is communication.

Even before you stepped foot in the MasterChef kitchen,

you all knew how to communicate with each other.

Some of you could probably finish each other's sentences.

Well, in this challenge,

you're gonna be finishing each other's dishes.

That's right. To really test how in sync you are as a dynamic duo,

we're gonna play a little game of...

recipe telephone.

- Recipe... - Oh!

- Okay. - What does that mean?

Here's how it's gonna work.

One of you is gonna leave the MasterChef kitchen.

- Ay-yi-yi. - And the other will start a dish.

Oh, my God.

The person who starts the dish

will have 30 minutes to begin the cooking.

Then, at the 30-minute mark,

the first cook will leave the kitchen

and trade places with your partner from the holding room.

And the second cook will come in and complete the dish.

- Oh, my God. - What?

Wow.

This sounds like one

of the most difficult

"MasterChef" challenges

there's ever been.

We're big communicators. We talk a lot.

And so the fact that we're just handing it off

without any communication is scary.

Now, if you're the first cook of the hour,

you have to set your partner up for success

by leaving culinary clues for them at the bench.

- Right. - If you're the second cook of the hour,

based on those clues, you have to complete the dish.

Ay-yi-yi.

Guys, at the end of the cook, we'll reunite the duos,

taste the top three dishes,

- and the bottom three dishes. - Okay.

The duo who cooks the best tasting dish

will win an incredible dinner at one of my restaurants.

- Wow. - And dinner at one of my restaurants.

And, of course, dinner in one of my restaurants.

Aww.

Unfortunately, the duo that cooks

the worst dishes of the night will be going home.

Now who's gonna start and who's gonna finish?

Let's start with Adam and Joel.

- I'm going first. - Wow.

First and second.

- I'll go first, Chef. - I'll go first, Chef.

- I go first, Chef. - Wow. Love that.

- I'm going first. - First.

- I go first. - Second.

And finally, Jesse and Jessica, who's going first?

- I'm gonna go first. - Wow.

Back home, Jess's nickname is Jess the Mess.

And that's because when she cooks,

- it is all over the kitchen. - Oh, I earned that nickname.

And I knew if I walked into that kitchen

and it was a disaster, I wasn't gonna know what to do.

Right. If you're starting the cook tonight, stay where you are.

The remaining nine, please follow Joe to the holding room.

- Let's go. Come on. - Good luck, guys.

- Yes! - Bye!

- Come on. - Good luck.

Let's go, let's go, let's go.

- Figure it out. - All right. Welcome.

Welcome, welcome to the holding room.

This challenge is by far one of the hardest ones

because I'm a control freak.

So I want to know what's going on,

and I don't have that right now.

And not being able to talk to each other

is gonna be really hard.

We're so used to doing every challenge,

cooking things at the same time, you know?

It's like, what are they gonna get done within 30 minutes?

- Right. Everybody, ready? - Yes, Chef.

- Your 60 minutes start now. - Let's go.

Let's go!

Oh, my God!

It's a lot of stuff to get done.

You think... you have any predictions?

I have no idea.

- Okay. - Rice it is.

I think what's gonna separate us from the other couples

is that we grew up cooking together.

So I'm gonna go first because I'm the oldest and I am more organized.

When Joel cooks, he tends to get a little crazy

and messy and chaotic.

So I'm gonna set him up as best I can.

So we've got a Mediterranean grilled shrimp

with a beet salad and asparagus.

And I know that these are flavors that he loves,

so he's gonna see this and know exactly what to do with it.

Okay.

So, an exciting challenge.

This is the first time of the season the duos aren't cooking together.

This is a tough challenge. You have to be strategic

and hope that your partner will pick up

- on the clues and indications that you leave behind. - Sure.

All right.

We are going to do an elevated version of our wedding dish,

crispy skin grouper with fondant potatoes.

Timothy and I just got married only a month ago,

so this dish should be fresh in his mind.

And if it's not, oh, we're gonna have a conversation.

- Awesome. Cool, cool, cool. - Five minutes gone.

You've got 25 minutes to go before we switch.

- You've got to move, guys. - Oh, my gosh.

This is very difficult for me right now.

I don't like not having my other half here,

so I'm feeling overwhelmed at the moment.

How are you, Michelle?

- I'm a little... - Frantic?

This 30 minutes is gonna go by really fast,

and I'm seeing that happen right now.

It's getting away from me a little bit.

Okay, tell me what you're thinking.

I'm doing a crispy skin salmon

with some roasted vegetables and Israeli couscous

that's gonna sit on some white wine broth

and an herb oil over the top.

- That's a lot. - Yeah, yeah.

All right. So what's important right now for you to get done?

Right now, I want to get the couscous going.

I don't think that's something Zach would have known to do himself,

so I want to make sure that he sees that that's what I'm envisioning.

- Okay. - As far as him executing that vision,

I'm crossing my fingers.

Biggest thing is just make it as convenient as you can

with what the steps are in your vision.

- So that Zach can pick up your ideas and complete them. - Right. Yeah. Okay.

- Okay. Good luck. - Thank you.

You're doing good. You're doing good.

- Tonna. - Yes.

- How are you feeling? - This is stressful, Chef.

- Tell me about the dish. - We're going to do a New York strip

with fennel carrot salad

with a creamy mushroom peppercorn sauce.

- Right. - And a parsnip purée.

- They're not parsnips. They're white radish. - Oh.

- It looks like a parsnip. - That's white radish.

And you can't make a purée out of that.

It's too bitter. You'll need to start that over.

- Okay. - There's not a lot going on in here.

Anything you can get on in terms of reduction,

- sauces, purées, get them going, please. - Thank you.

Yes? And leave some clues behind.

- Yes. - Give a little indication on what to do, right?

- Got it. Thank you. - Oh, my goodness me.

I'm so flustered

because I'm feeling extremely lost without Cait.

Cait's very calm, collected,

but I don't do well under pressure,

and I'm freaking out about that.

Coming up to 10 minutes gone.

You've got 20 minutes remaining before we switch.

So these duos are separated

in the cooking of the dish over one hour.

So one starts, and then one brings it home.

- This is stressful. - But my big worry

is Tonna's station, there was nothing going on.

Literally, there was a pan of boiling water. There was no reduction.

She is all over the place.

- This is insane. - So Michelle is also frazzled.

She has so many things going on that she wants to do.

She has a couscous that she's cooking.

She's talking about making a white wine broth.

- You have asparagus. It's a good idea. - Wow.

It's just a lot, and I'm not sure

her husband Zach is gonna follow her complicated vision.

- Wow. - Oh, God.

- Yeah. - 45 minutes remaining.

Let's go. Right, Jesse, tell me about the dish.

I'm going to be doing a seared pork chop with a peperonata.

The peperonata is gonna be some onions, some garlic, some Dijon mustard.

Right, and Jessica, is she familiar with this dish?

We play with this dish a lot at home.

And she'll see this, and she'll be like,

- "I know exactly what he's doing." - Right, the pork chop.

How you gonna set her up for success?

I'm gonna pre-grill it a little bit,

get the fat cap rendered down,

and then I'm gonna let it sit on a pan,

and then she's gonna pop it in the oven.

And I'm gonna leave a thermometer in the pork

- so she knows it's not cooked. - Gotcha.

We're halfway, young man. You got 15 minutes to go.

- All right. Thank you. - Yes? Let's go.

Whew! Time flies in here.

Ryan Kate, do you have a master plan for today

- in that big brain of yours? - I do have a master plan.

Kayla and I are going to be making a filet mignon

on top of a garlic parmesan mashed potato

with a roasted asparagus, a honey-glazed carrot,

and a chimichurri sauce.

You have the most ingredients.

That could be like sending mixed signals.

- You have to be really careful. - Yes.

All right, so what's the strategy?

I'm hoping to have all the things prepped

so that it can be ready for her,

and I think she'll be able to pick up right where I left off.

- Good luck. - Thank you.

All right. Get that. I need to get the vinaigrette going so he knows...

Come on, come on.

We are doing a lamb with a roquefort sauce.

Azu will know perfectly what we are doing here because...

The good part to cook alone is that I don't have to discuss

with her about what we're gonna do, no?

Oh, come on, Tina.

Speed up, Julio. Speed up.

Julio, smells good over here.

- What do we got? What are you making? - Yes, Chef. Thank you.

So we're gonna do a pan-seared airline chicken breast.

We're gonna make a chimichurri sauce and tostones.

How does she know to do this?

I'm from Brazil. I grew up... it's a Sunday lunch for us.

And how much of this are you gonna get done before her?

The tostones, I'm gonna peel them,

so that's gonna be the clue for Rachel to fry them again

and leave the chicken ready.

Cool, well, you got a plan.

Just make sure that you clean up a little bit so that

it's not too confusing for your wife.

Sometimes there's so many things,

- people don't know where you start. - Yes, Chef. Absolutely.

- Thanks, Julio. - Thank you, Chef.

- Tina! - Yes, sir.

Tell me about the dish.

I want to make lobster spaghetti.

I chose this dish because I cook lobster many times before

and I believe Aivan, she knows exactly what's in my mind.

Right, but you've got literally just six minutes to go.

- Okay. Yes. - And there's nothing cooked yet.

- I know. - Get a pan on,

get it nice and hot so you can start your sauce.

- Okay. Yes. - Please, Tina.

- Okay, okay. Yes, sir. - Please, Tina.

- I'm coming right now. Okay. - Please, please, please.

Oh, boy. Final five minutes, everybody, before we switch.

Nice, nice, nice, nice.

- Tina! - Yes?

- Faster! - Yes, Chef!

Tina, she's doing a lobster and spaghetti.

Honestly, she is way behind right now.

- There is nothing being cooked. - Lobster and...

Aivan has got so much work to do.

Wow, look. Jesse's searing those pork chops.

- Look at the speed of Jesse. Yes. That's it. That looks good.

That looks nice, yes.

Ryan Kate picked the filet mignon,

but she has too many components,

too many ingredients on the bench.

Oh, boy. Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow.

- There's not much going on there. - No, not at all.

Kayla has got her work cut out.

- Oh, my God. - Wow.

- Okay. - Clean your station! Organize!

Make sure they know what to do!

Leave your duos the clues.

Brie. Asparagus.

I am prepping everything in little piles

so she knows exactly where everything comes together.

I'm just hoping it doesn't take too long to figure out what's going on.

- We got this. Let's go, guys! Come on.

- Yeah! - The white wine fish broth

is going to just allow the dish

to be cohesive all together,

and I want to have some clues out for him.

So I put the stock and the wine in one little area.

So crossing my fingers that he can understand what all these things mean.

Um...

Come on, Tonna!

There's nothing going on Tonna's bench.

Cait is gonna be so behind and so lost.

Time is running out and I'm worried that she's not going to know

to add the cream to the sauce.

So I'm gonna set heavy cream next to the sauce.

Sometimes she gets, like, really crazy ideas.

I'm praying that I know what she was doing.

30 seconds to go!

Tina, please! Speed! Oh, man.

I honestly have no idea what I'm gonna walk out to.

Let's go. Leave them clues!

Five, four, three, two, one.

- Stop the clock. - Hands up. Let's go!

- All of you, make your way down to the front. Let's go! - Come on. Fast.

All right. Be right back.

Run, Ryan Kate! Let's go!

Oh, my goodness me.

Bring them in, come on.

All right, time for the big swap.

- Let's go! Come with me. - Okay.

Let's go, let's go, let's go.

- Quick. Quick. Quick. - Here we come.

We got this.

- Whoo! - All right.

Let's go. Starting cooks, get out of here. Get in the holding room.

- Bye-bye! - Let's go. Duos, come in.

- Quick, quick, quick. - Let's go! Let's go!

Get to your stations. Let's go. Let's go. You got this!

- Whew. Yeah, man. - Water, please.

- Yeah, man. I never even saw my bottle. - I need my water so bad.

I left it under my bench. Oh, my God.

- All right, we got some shrimp. - Asparagus.

The time restarts now!

- Let's go. - Okay.

- Take a moment. Figure out where you're at. - Yep. That's it.

All right, let's get my head in the game.

Do you feel that you left your partners

- in the right situation? - Absolutely.

Well, I have a little surprise for you.

- Oh, my... - Yeah!

- What? - Let's go.

Come on, Rachel. Keep cooking.

Where are we at here?

Where's the broth? We need a broth, Zach.

- We need a broth. - Yes.

Vegetable stock.

Oh, my God. I'm really nervous right now.

There's a lot that we had to do in that 30 minutes.

The pressure and the intensity in here is super overwhelming.

I am just, like, overheating.

- I'm feeling dizzy. - You okay?

- You all right? - You okay, baby?

I'm not feeling good at all.

- If you faint... - Get on the floor.

Don't hit your head like I did.

- Get your legs up. - It's okay.

I just feel dizzy.

Medic!

I'm feeling dizzy.

- Medic! - I just feel dizzy.

- You'll be okay. - Hey, breathe.

Zach is gonna make sure the dish is great.

- Breathe. Breathe. - There you go.

- That's it. 1, 2, 3. - There you go.

Good job. There you go.

This competition is just getting more and more intense,

and it's overwhelming.

And I'm worried about Zach.

I'm questioning whether or not he's gonna understand

and see my vision in the way that I intended him to.

So, honestly, it's riding on him reading my mind.

Hope he knows what he's doing. Okay, he's still cooking the couscous.

- Come on, babe. - I'm not sure if I want to watch this.

I cannot believe it. I have almost everything ready.

Oh, my gosh. We've got lobster, asparagus pasta.

- Oh, my God. - Garlic, herbs, chimichurri?

What the heck?

Honestly, the second person going,

- they've got their work cut out. - Yeah.

Because that's when you're gonna look over the clues

and try to work out what dish your partner started making

- and then bring that home strong. - Yep.

Look at the picture on Cait's face.

- Like, "Where the heck am I?" - Look.

I see the New York strip steak and the parsnip purée,

but I see this bowl, and it has a white vegetable in it.

I don't even know what's in the bowl right now,

but I'm just gonna have to go with the flow and work with it.

- Get those in. - Oh.

- Okay. - I see asparagus in the oven, and I see potatoes.

So I'm thinking steak dinner.

I wish she put the carrots on for me.

But I immediately get really, really stressed out

when I see carrots that need to be cooked,

and the steaks are still in the package.

How in the heck am I gonna get all of these components

cut, cooked, done, and plated?

Pivot and adjust. Come on, Kayla.

Good job, Adam.

This is really similar to how we cook all the time,

and the ESP between brothers, it hit pretty good right now.

Pork chops, and then we have a glaze.

I think the best set up so far for me, Jessica and Jesse.

- And Jesse. Yeah. - I mean, he has left Jessica with sort of pretty much

two-thirds of the way there.

The only thing I'm not sure Jessica knows

is how far the pork chops have been cooked.

So he said he's gonna leave a probe in there as an indicator.

- That's good gameplay. That's good. - Honestly.

Let's see where he's at on this. Those look beautiful.

Need to be finished off in the oven.

You see it, baby. You absolutely see it.

You can get cream in there.

Cait put the cream in the purée

but some was supposed to go into the sauce.

I'm still trying to figure out what all she's got in there.

If the cream doesn't get into the sauce,

it's just not going to get thick.

And I know runny sauce is never going to go over well with the judges.

As a parent, it's hard to not jump in

when you feel like they need your help.

- Okay, Kayla. - Hello.

Is there anything on the bench that's confusing you?

I don't think anything's confusing me,

but there's a lot of things that have to get cooked.

I'm gonna try my best to get it all done in time.

Make sure all the filets are medium rare.

Make sure you get a proper sear even around the outside.

- Yep. Yes. - Turn them on their sides.

- Good luck. - Thank you.

Come on, Kayla.

I can see that Kayla's rushing.

- Oh, my God. - And I'm just feeling guilty and wishing that

there was a way I could have made it easier for her.

- What's going on, Zach? - We're gonna do

a crispy skin salmon with an Israeli couscous.

What is the vision for the couscous?

I was trying to bring it together like a risotto.

She started that for me, and I'm really hoping not to let her down today.

I'm doing the best I can with what I got here, Chef.

These minutes are gonna go by so quick,

- so put yourself in high gear... - Okay.

- And make it happen. - He doesn't know my vision.

He didn't get... he didn't get the broth.

I had the broth ready to go.

- Come on, mi amor. - Okay. These are going in.

Why mushrooms? Why is she grabbing mushrooms now?

What are you doing with mushrooms?

I didn't grab mushrooms for a reason.

She's deviating from my initial idea.

Five minutes remaining. Let's go!

- Oh, dear Lord. - Oh, my God.

I think that Ryan Kate really left Kayla a mess.

- Wow. - She had to pan-sear those filets herself.

I really don't see a lot of things coming together.

Oh, boy.

Two minutes! Here we go.

Start plating, please!

Plating! Two minutes! Let's go! Come on, baby!

- Okay, get... oh, my gosh. - This is intense!

Let's go, mi amor. You got this.

Yes. Come on, Rachel. Come on, Rachel. You got it.

Hurry, Kayla. Hurry, hurry, hurry!

30 seconds to go!

The sauce! Cait, the sauce! The sauce!

- Let's go, Zach! - Oh, my God, Zach.

- Don't put it on the fish! - That's my girl!

Here we go.

Ten, nine...

Eight, seven,

six, five, four,

three, two, one.

And stop! Hands in the air.

- Unh! - Ha-ha!

- Well done. - That's my girl!

- Love you, Rachel! - That's my girl!

There you go, Kayla.

- Okay. Are you ready to see these dishes? - Absolutely.

- Yes! - Come on with me.

- Yes, please. - Go meet your partners.

Freaking fantastic job. I'm proud of you.

I'm proud of you.

- I glazed the plate. - All right. Okay.

Plates look great. I think we killed it.

Yeah, the communication was on the table,

and now it's on the plate.

It looks like the brother ESP

really worked out on this one.

That first 30 minutes was not cool.

I don't like cooking without you!

And I didn't get that sauce thick enough.

- It reduced down too much. - Yeah.

My intent was to have it a cream sauce.

I didn't have enough time to, like, rest, so there's some juices happening.

I feel like it might be over.

It's not what I had envisioned.

- What was the vis... - I had a broth going, too.

It was gonna be the broth with the couscous in it.

Oh, yeah. So, no, I didn't put that together.

There was just a lot of broth there, so I didn't know what to do.

Well, I didn't want this much couscous on the plate.

Okay. Yeah, but you don't, like...

But, babe, you need to understand that I was leaving things for you.

Did you have that come into your mind when you were coming back?

Like, "Okay, what clues?" That was a big part of this.

Yeah, I'm a little bit worried that this is it.

Wow. Well done.

That was intense.

Now we need to take one last look at all of your final dishes

and see which duos are at the top

and, sadly, which three duos will end in the bottom pack.

Kayla and Ryan Kate.

What did that go in? A blender?

- I immersion blended it at the end. - In the mashed potatoes?

Yeah, I ran out of time to go get a ricer, so...

Adam, is that what you envisioned the dish to be?

It is 95% exactly what I wanted on the plate.

Interesting.

There are a lot of really great-looking dishes out there today.

- But unfortunately... - Our dish is looking a little sad.

- Not a little sad. A lot sad. - It's looking sad.

- You tasted it before you plated it? - I did, yes.

Zach and Michelle, how long did that couscous cook for?

Michelle, you started it.

Yep, it cooked for the majority of the cook.

- An hour? - Yeah.

Thank you.

Right.

Julio, are you happy the way this looks?

It definitely needs more of the chimichurri sauce.

Thank you.

All right. Is this the kind of plates that you serve at home?

- After a big hike, yes. - Thank you.

- Some great dishes there. - Yeah.

I know.

- In agreeance? Yeah? - Yeah.

Agreed?

All of you, well done. Tiffany, Joe, and myself agree

that there were three dishes that were an absolute standout.

This first duo left great clues behind,

and that formed a very cohesive dish.

Please step forward,

- Jessica and Jesse, well done. - Baby!

This dish is a testament to how strong we are as a team,

even when we're not side-by-side cooking.

I started off with a chargrilled pork chop

with a maple black pepper glaze,

a smoky chipotle sweet potato,

broccolini, and a peperonata.

So I did some agrodolce onions,

not knowing to put them into the peperonata,

but we still have that sweet and sour effect.

First of all, Jesse, the way that you worked

- across those first 30 minutes was exceptional... - Thank you.

And, Jessica, you picked up on the clues,

and it's almost like you were working side-by-side again.

Listen, it looks a little bit thrown on the plate last minute.

However, I'm excited to taste it. Shall we?

- Temperature, what do you think? - Medium.

- It's cooked beautifully. - Nice and juicy.

- You set me up for success. - Good job. Good job.

Pork is cooked beautifully.

I think it needs more glaze on that pork chop before it comes out of the pan.

However, it's hard to believe that you've been separated for 30 minutes each.

- Really good job. - Thank you, Chef.

I love the fact that the broccolini has lots of crunch,

has a little bit of spice in there.

And I know that you weren't going for the onions with the agrodolce,

it was supposed to be with the peppers.

But honestly, I love that it's a little more sweet.

It's a little more sour. It's a whole 'nother flavor profile.

- It's great. - Thank you, Chef.

The peperonata, I have to say, is fantastic,

and that's a hard thing to make.

My question is at home, Jesse left the counter

like, super organized, ready, right?

And then, Jessica, it looks like a tornado hit.

I earned the nickname Jess the Mess for a reason.

- Good job. - Grazie.

- Really good job. - Thank you.

All right. The next dish we're gonna highlight tonight,

this duo's connection carried them to success.

Please come forward...

- Rachel and Julio! - Yes, let's go!

- We're feeling amazing. - It doesn't get old.

I knew I set Rachel up for success,

and I knew she was gonna nail every single ingredient

and make a beautiful plate.

I was going for a pan-seared chicken breast,

salted asparagus, chimichurri sauce,

tostones, and bacon farofa.

But I also wanted to add some sautéed mushrooms,

because I felt that would add another texture and umami.

The mushrooms are underneath the chicken.

Visually, it's rustic, right?

It looks like we've been invited round to your house

for Sunday night dinner.

It's charming. Shall we?

Rachel, you cooked the chicken, right?

Yes. First, I seared it in the cast iron pan,

- and then put it in the oven. - Still glistening.

Chicken. Lovely.

The asparagus itself has a lot of flavor as well,

but really a lot of that flavor is coming from the chimichurri.

And I like that you added the mushroom.

I think you just did a really, really good job.

- Thank you, Chef. - All the flavors are great.

The cooking techniques are great. Good job.

It's just so nice to see chimichurri, you know,

on a white meat as opposed to a red meat.

But it needs more of it. But I think more than anything,

Julio and Jesse tonight having confidence

in your partners to bring it home...

- 100%. 100% - I love that.

- Thank you. - Thank you.

- Here we are again. - Well done.

Okay, the final duo to earn a spot in the top three,

please come forward, Tina and Aivan.

- Wow! - Okay.

We made a lobster garlic butter pasta

with pan-seared lemon asparagus and sautéed mushrooms.

Tina, is that what you envisioned the dish to be?

- Yes. - It looks inviting.

I got really nervous, Tina, when we first started.

20 minutes in, you just had raw lobster and no sauce going.

But, Aivan, I'm gonna commend you for bringing this whole thing together.

- Thank you, Chef. - Shall we?

- Yes! - How did we cook the lobster, please?

We tossed the lobster in a butter garlic sauce.

We used the head tomalley of the lobster as well,

added garlic, onions, and shallots.

This is a great dish of pasta.

The lobster is tender, has a lot of flavor from the butter.

- Good job. - Thank you, Joe.

I think the lobster is perfectly cooked.

Also, the way that you have just the right amount

of sauce on here, it's very good.

- Thank you, Chef. - This dish is delicious.

To cook the lobster from raw without blanching it first,

- there's an art in that. - Yeah.

Because 30 seconds over, it's rubber.

It needs a touch of acid for me at the end.

But aside from this, the flavor's really good.

- Good job. - Thank you.

You know what else would be good acidity?

- Is just two broken tomatoes on here. - That's it, yeah.

- Some point of acid. - I was gonna say blistered.

I know you worked hard on those fricking lobsters.

Those lobsters is crazy.

That's a tough one.

I really want to win this one.

- Agreed. - In agreeance?

- Mm-hmm. - Yeah?

Three outstanding dishes tonight.

We are all in agreeance.

There was one dish that we felt had the edge,

and earned the prize of dinner at all our restaurants.

That dish belongs to...

There was one dish that we felt had the edge.

That dish belongs to...

- Rachel and Julio. - Yes!

Let's go! Yes.

- Thank you, Chefs. - Well done.

I can't wait to welcome both of you

- to all of our restaurants. - Yes! We can't wait.

Right, all of you are safe from elimination tonight.

- Yes! - Congratulations.

Head up to the safety of the balcony.

- Well done. - Yeah!

Again! I love you so much.

Gordon, Tiffany, and Joe, we're coming to your restaurant.

That bill is gonna be expensive.

- Wow. - They keep cooking like that, they're gonna be unstoppable.

Now, unfortunately, there were three duos tonight

who clearly had some crossed wires.

The first duo we need to take to task, please step forward...

Tonna and Cait.

Whew.

It's embarrassing to be in the bottom three again.

And the room is silent.

All you can hear is the defeat.

- You want to hide and... - Throw up everywhere.

Today, we have made you a New York strip steak

with a parsnip purée,

asparagus, fennel, and carrot slaw,

with a mushroom red wine sauce.

Tonna, what was your vision?

To have a cream sauce for the steak.

- But... - I picked up the heavy cream

out as just being for the purée, so I didn't get that memo.

- Mm. - So, visually, it's got good and bad parts.

Lovely sear on the New York strip.

But we don't put a shaved carrot and fennel salad with a red wine sauce,

so it's a little bit all over the place.

- Right. - Noted.

The asparagus are delicious, and the purée is actually okay.

But the sauce bleeds into the purée, so it's just all over the place.

- Okay. - The steak is nice,

but I would have rather it being whole instead of sliced, you know?

- For sure. - Just so we don't lose some of those juices.

There are three things that are terrible on this plate.

The raw fennel, the raw carrots like a crudité,

it makes no sense on the plate.

The mushrooms are not integrated in any way.

And if you call that a wine sauce,

I call that dumping half a glass of Cabernet in your dish.

- Damn. - Thank you, ladies.

- Thank you. - Thank you.

Oh, man.

Okay, the next duo had a shaky start,

and they really relied on their partner to push through.

Please come forward, Zach and Michelle.

Wow.

I'm worried that I didn't execute Michelle's vision.

- I just feel like I let us down. - Thank you.

In front of you is a crispy skin salmon

with Israeli couscous, roasted vegetables,

wilted rainbow chard, and an herb oil over the top.

Is this what you intended the dish to be?

It was intended to have a white wine broth.

I saw the couscous going.

We make couscous at home with, like, a risotto a lot,

so I locked in on that.

I think that my vision was a little particular in hindsight.

And it obviously didn't translate.

Looking at the dish, couscous feels a little dry.

I know that you said, like, risotto style, but when I think of risotto,

I think of the finish of it as well,

where it's creamy and there's something else, some butter, some cheese.

- This just feels like boiled couscous. - Shall we?

The cook on the salmon, please?

- Medium rare. - Yeah. Beautiful.

Good job.

Salmon's cooked beautifully, seasoned beautifully.

Both sides, skin like the bacon of the sea.

And the salmon's just pink all the way through, so it's translucent.

But when you've got a bloody fish like this

that takes eight, nine minutes to cook,

everything else around it should be so much better.

- Yeah. - I think with the broth,

this would have been a very different dish.

The couscous would have had a chance to cook in it.

It would have had all the flavor.

I think that choosing Israeli couscous

and to cook it in the style of risotto and to transmit that

without being able to communicate unfortunately tripped you up.

It's too bad, because some of the components in the dish are really good.

- Thank you. - What a shame.

- Almost. - Okay.

The next duo who did not meet our standards tonight...

please come forward...

Okay, the final duo

who did not meet our standards tonight,

please come forward...

Kayla and Ryan Kate.

Wow.

I'm absolutely gutted.

I am worried about the execution of everything,

and I'm just disappointed for both of us.

We made a filet mignon on top of a garlic pecorino mashed potato

with roasted asparagus, honey-glazed carrots,

and a chimichurri sauce.

Is this what you intended the dish to be?

- Yes. - Ladies, sadly, it looks sloppy.

Three expensive filet mignons,

and they're all seared completely differently.

- It's such a shame. - Cook, what have we gone for?

I wanted it to be medium rare,

but I believe that it's going to be medium.

- Wow. So you know it's overcooked. - Mm-hmm.

- Wow, and who cooked them? - I did.

And at what state did you find them when you arrived?

They were in the package still.

You came in and nothing was seared?

- No. - Wow. Ryan Kate, what were you doing?

Mostly set up the station,

make sure we have all the ingredients and equipment.

So the only thing you finished is what?

- The prep. - So you didn't finish any cooking?

- No, I only had 30 minutes. - Okay, sounds good.

Shall we?

Yep, it's just a little bit overcooked.

Yeah, mine's medium, as well.

There's a couple of fundamental cooking technique issues here.

My steak is actually medium rare,

but the carrots, you can hear...

Which is... the carrots are the simplest thing.

They should have been boiled beforehand.

And also, asparagus here,

I mean, if you look, it's just...

- Mush. - What?

It just feels like, Kayla, you just had too much on you to do,

and, Ryan Kate, you didn't do enough.

My actual filet is seasoned beautifully.

And then everything else just falls apart. It's such a shame.

- It's just very, very badly executed. - Mm-hmm.

- Thank you. - Thank you.

- Bad strategy. - Yeah.

- It's okay. - Right.

What have a very tough decision to make.

Please give us a moment.

I love you, too.

Tonna and Cait, it's a tough one, that one.

- Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. - Just didn't work, right?

There's something to be said about Cait.

She made a major effort

and saved what she could of some bad ideas.

Yeah, Zach and Michelle, I am shocked.

Yeah, they got lost in translation.

- Yeah, bad strategy. - Yeah.

Kayla and Ryan Kate?

At the end of the day, Kayla had way too much to do.

So she was just trying to get it done, and it was too much.

Yeah. So what's the worst dish?

- Oh, God. - Whatever happens...

- We in agreeance? - Yeah.

What a tough night.

Sadly, it hurts us to say goodbye to yet another duo.

But we are all in agreeance

that the duo leaving "MasterChef" tonight,

sadly, is...

Kayla and Ryan Kate.

- Wow. - Zach and Michelle,

Tonna and Cait, please say goodbye.

- Aww. - Kayla and Ryan Kate,

first of all, just go back to the beginning.

Spotting you two from 10 years ago was an absolute joy.

And watching that "MasterChef" bond grow into a tremendous

friendship for life is outstanding.

Promise me you'll go back and continue,

not just this friendship,

but this amazing culinary journey.

- Definitely. - Yes, Chef.

Come and say goodbye. Come on. Let's go.

- Take care. - Bye.

- Take care. - Thank you so much.

I just feel really disappointed.

But, you know, we put our all out there,

and I'm proud of us for getting everything on the plate.

Of course, it doesn't feel good,

but I'm definitely not disappointed in our team.

If anything, this competition made our friendship stronger.

- Yeah. - And I know that I have a friend for life

- who will always have my back, and that's what matters. - Yeah.

Bye, y'all.

Next time, it's full steam ahead

in the second team challenge of the season.

You'll be cooking for a VIP fine dining experience.

- Ooh. - These are full-on Michelin star dishes.

- Oh, boy. - But this is no ordinary service.

One duo from each team will be cooking on the moving train.

- Oh, my God. - It's a race against the clock...

The diners are boarding the train.

Come on, come on. We got to go faster.

We got to get these out before that train stops.

To make sure everything stays on track.

- It should be medium rare. - That's black and blue.

Do you both know what you're doing?

All these ducks are overcooked.

There's gonna be hell to pay.

This is a freaking train wreck!