Wow! Wasn't expecting Lisa to sneak through. Well, that should take care of any conspiracy theories about the producers determining the course of the show. Each challenge is truly judged by that day's performance. Just like in "real life" there are those that just seem to slither their way to the top--somehow.

Dale--short term memory problems?

I didn't have a problem with all the pork dishes. Puerto Rican's love pork and plantains so I think for a big challenge it was ok. I think Stephanie did a tremendous job of creating light and attractive hors d'oeuvres. The chicharrones and papaya salad was a great idea.

I was laughing out loud when Lisa demanded congratulations and said that the guests were loving her food. She is truly delusional.

What was sad though was that Antonia undercooked beans, which is unforgivable, and she was kicked off, but Lisa undercooked rice, TWICE, and is in the final three.

o.k., she undercooked rice once and made inedible rice pudding.

What we didn't really see, something that the judges said, was that Antonia's table was not crowded like the others. That was probably the deciding piece right there.

I think Richard wins.

So ticked! I really dislike Lisa!! She's so gnarly. I was impressed with Stephanie not flipping out on Dale and then making a dish the judges really liked. I think she is going to win, but I like Richard's classy style too. I liked his comment about Lisa asking for congratulations "congratulations on getting the bronze". ha ha! Oh, and can Padma be any more gorgeous? I think she needs to tone it down for the sake of the other poor women on the show.

I can see Stephanie winning as well, but the thing about Richard is that he came into Top Chef as the "molecular gastronomy" guy and has, time after time, shown that he is much more than that.

I liked seeing what dishes came out of one ingredient--there was something Iron Chef about it. Plus, there was some improvisation with the competing chefs not being able to do the shopping. I was happy to see chicharrones, and I really loved Richard's joining of the Latin and hometown flavors. I feel bad for Antonia and equally bummed to see Lisa moved on. Like Richard said, she does seem like a dark cloud in the kitchen, always finding something wrong with everything. I'm looking forward to see what everyone turns out, though!

I think I would have to favor Richard slightly because of his ability to think way outside of the box. He's proven that that can fail him miserably but when successful it tends to be "out of the park."

Stephanie has already proven that she is a fantastic chef too, I just hope she really did some homework for the final challenge and goes into it with a creative and solid plan.

I was surprised and bummed that Lisa got a pass, but found the clip of Nikki saying that Antonia wasn't on her game interesting in retrospect.

While I think both Antonia and Dale are probably more talented chefs than Lisa, I think the end result will be the same: it's a duel between Richard and Stephanie, with the third person left in the dust. And since both are talented, I think it'll come down to who's more "on" that day.

When is the reunion show? I thought they'd do it in between the two finales.

I'm a big fan of Richard, but would be happy with either him or Stephanie winning. Lisa's attitude... oy. I loved how she got "Reality TV Villain" entrance music.

PS, Richard, who once talked about how working with kids made him want to go home and make a "baby Blais," now has one. Overwhelmingly adorable pictures here.

I think that Lisa should have packed her knives a few episodes ago. I am glad that Dale came and atoned for his mistake last night with a fabulous dish.

The baby Blais is very cute. I wonder if he got any ideas for cooking tools or devices during his time in the hospital. I noticed he cooks with giant tweezers.

All I could say to that was "What in the f*** just happened?" I was so angry. Lisa is a consistantly poor chef and has been on the loser circle far too many times, but Antonia can't cook pease and she's out? Needless to say, I was thoroughly displeased with the result of last night's show.

We both think Lisa making into the final three is one more piece of evidence that the producers would rather have good tv than the best chefs in the finale. Does anyone else remember Sam going home, and Padma crying as she told him? Last night was a similar occurrence, as padma choked up when she asked Antonia to pack her knives. I think undercooking beans is a much smaller mistake than making three bad tasting dishes. If Lisa wins, I swear I'm not watching next year, I've been burned too many times by these damn producers.

Lisa undercooked rice and shrimp, made inedible laksa and baby vomit with wood chips.

I don't get it.

My prediction is that Stephanie will take all. They've been generously sprinkling the show with "no woman has ever won Top Chef" soundbites since the very beginning.

And yes, baby Blais is adorable!

I think the Top Chef people figured Antonia wasn't going to win and having Lisa as one of the final three would be more dramatic. Lisa is the Marcel of this years Top Chef. I think it sucks! She is such a downer!

Can you please not put pictures like that on the front page? No offense to any meat-eaters, but I totally lost my appetite.