[Aloysius]

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It just felt very contrived, artificial and pointless.

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Agree on the first two points, but pointless? What exactly are you arguing? He changed the rules of a game where the time limit was arbitrary to begin with. And it forced the chefs to think on their feet and adjust on the fly. I imagine this is an important skill to have in most restaurant kitchens.

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I understand that it's all fair play. I just think it makes the show less interesting to watch when you have one guy making chocolate mouse and someone else making rabbit, then competing against each other.

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Also, you think it's less interesting when a very versatile ingredient, allowing for tons of room for creativity, is the focus of a cooking challenge? I guess you haven't noticed this, but many ingredients can go savory or sweet and you see this variety in choice all the time in these challenges. Honestly don't understand your complaint here, either.

Stevie - Actually in my list above Brian should probably be ahead of Joey. I think Tre and Hung are locks for Top 4, with Brian not too far behind.

Can't see any of the women making the Top 4, unless Casey emerges or every future challenge involves cheese and Sarah M starts dominating.

Dids:

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Hung kinda thinks way inside the box on a lot of these challenges and is getting outclassed. He's the only guy who just basically made a pie.

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Good point - I guess when he's out of his element he just sticks to the basics (which isn't a terrible strategy). Actually, Hung just looked exhausted this episode, maybe he's starting to be affected by this.

-Al