Ash got a lot of screentime from the very beginning, which immediately had me pegging him for the boot. But even more worrisome was the fact that Jen was sick - like, near-puking sick. The Quickfire was a fascinating concept: the product-placed Cookster.com is all about getting a recipe based on keywords, so the chefs had to pull a slot machine to get a mood, a flavor, and a type of cuisine to inspire their dishes. The guest judge was Tyler Florence, who seemed to like everything he ate, with the exception of Eli's dish. Robin got in trouble with Padma for suggesting that the curry in her dish was Middle Eastern inspired (it's not), and spent most of her camera time justifying her continued existence on this show. She failed at both tasks.

In the bottom were Robin (deemed "elementary"), Eli, and Jennifer (for putting caviar on a scallop, which was the opposite of her descriptor, "adventurous"). In the top were Jersey Mike, Kevin (who did a Koren-inspired dish although he never cooks Asian), and Michael. Kevin got the win, and since it was a high-stakes Quickfire, he was given the option of choosing between immunity or $15,000. He took the money, which was the smart play. Kevin has never been in danger in this competition, and that's a nice chunk of change.

Padma teased that the Elimination Challenge would be revealed later, and sent the chefs home. Of course, the challenge was at home, specifically that the chefs had to throw a dinner party for Macy's Culinary Council - a group of well-known chefs, although I was unfamiliar with most of them - as well as the regular panel, with Toby Young continuing to sub in for Gail. Do. Not. Want. And the cheftestants had only three hours to do it. It was a team challenge, and the chefs had to draw knives to determine the pairs, and which of the Culinary Council chefs' style of food they would be creating.

The teams were Eli/Ashley, Robin/Jersey Mike, Ash/Michael, Kevin/Jennifer, and Bryan/Laurine. The teams were each given grocery bags filled with ingredients their assigned Culinary Council chefs would use in their restaurants. Ashley and Eli staked out the prime spot in the kitchen, and things ended up with Michael and Ash having to use electrical appliances in a totally different room. However, the two of them seemed to have a good rapport. Meanwhile, Jersey Mike initially hated having Robin as a partner, but then decided that since he could dominate her since he is obviously the stronger chef (in his words), it was OK. Also, I suspect he knew that should things go south, she would make an easy sacrificial lamb.

At the walkthrough Tom seemed unimpressed by Ashley and Eli's idea to do prawns on top of gnocchi. That's understandable; I don't know how those two things would go together at all. Michael and Ash (well, Michael) had a very complicated idea about ravioli filled with egg yolks that would spill over pancetta-wrapped halibut to create a kind of carbonara sauce. Tom was dubious about how that could be executed, but Michael seemed confident.

And, as if on cue, Michael started to have major electrical problems with his equipment, and their fish became bad news. Meanwhile, Robin was apparently burning her tuna, and Michael prepared to throw her under the bus, while Ashley had issues with cooking and seasoning her prawns.

Just a note: almost all of these chefs were working with seafood. Isn't it funny how much fish the chefs on this show use?

The judging chefs were not fans of Michael and Ash's halibut dish, but enjoyed the same fish as prepared by Bryan and Laurine. Ashley and Eli's gnocchi were deemed too salty and a textural disaster, and the prawns were not seasoned enough. But Kevin and Jen's beef and tomato dish was a big hit. Surprisingly, Michael and Robin had a successful meal on their hands. That was strange given how much time was devoted to their seemingly fractious relationship.

Judges Table:  Brian/Laurine and Jennifer/Kevin were in the top. I think this may have been the first time Laurine was in the A Group, although the other three are winners circle regulars. Toby loved Kevin and Jen's dish, and they got the win, with Jen getting the individual win for her sauce. Yay! And she got a $10,000 Macy's gift card. That is a fucking amazing prize. I can't believe this was Jen's first Elimination Challenge win. I thought for sure she'd won before this.

In the bottom: Michael/Ash and Ashley/Eli. In the waiting room, Bryan was spectacularly grumpy, and downright dismissive to Kevin when the group tried to dissect the losing dishes. I worry that Bryan's starting to lose his head a bit. At the judges table, the panel dismissed Michael's excuse that the electrical problems screwed up his cooking. I don't know; as excuses go it's a pretty solid one in my book. Most of the criticism was put on Michael, while Ash lavished praise on him, and admitted to happily playing sidekick for the evening. Tom had a huge issue with that, and questioned whether Ash believed he could really take the competition.

Meanwhile, Eli said he was happy with the sauce and the prawns, and that got him in trouble, since several of the prawns were undercooked, and they were universally underseasoned. Ashley did her normal nervous spiral, and when asked about the saltiness of the gnocchi, admitted that she knew it would be a problem but served them anyway. The judges did not like hearing that. Back in the waiting room, Ash admitted that he might have talked himself into getting sent home.

In a shocker of a boot, Ashley got sent home. I didn't think she'd make the finals, but I certainly thought she'd outlast Robin, and probably Laurine, Ash, and Eli. I wonder if there was more to judging than what we saw, since she seemed the least likely to go home based on the footage. Additionally, what was with all the time spent on the Mike/Robin pairing if absolutely nothing came of it? Strange editing this episode. 

Next week: Everybody starts sniping.