Three chefs were narrowed down to two in the latest episode of Top Chef, after Beverly Kim’s redundant departure following last week’s inane cross-country shootout between she and Sarah. Says Grueneberg, “This is the second time Beverly’s left the competition. There’s a little bit of a déjà vu feeling, except now, she’s not coming back.” Can we be sure?

This season’s soporific production and recycling of tired “twists” tell us it would be wise to wait until the end of the episode to make really sure she’s not going to reappear. It’s doubtful, but it might provide the episode with a little excitement, though, considering the only thing up for debate is whether it will be Lindsay or Sarah going up against Paul Qui in the finale.

It’s certainly anti-climactic; Qui has impressed all season, each time more and more — if not with his talent, then with his staggeringly chill disposition. Headed to the last Quickfire, Qui gives us a taste: “Anytime we’re in the kitchen together, everybody understands that we’re competitors. At that point, it’s not ‘friends,’ because you can’t think that way in a competition.” It’s almost a shame that such a competitor would be wasted on a season like this one.

Qui's killed it, over and over again, repping hard for Austin, staying drama-free, and it was awesome. It’s tempting to think what could have been if we could have watched him with better-matched opposition and less crappy challenges, but only because his Zen-slash-laser focus comes off as more Zen than laser. It doesn’t matter what the terms are: Qui plays to win every time, but always plays as himself.

We start to see glimmers of a real person in Sarah when the chefs arrive in Chinatown. The specter of the once-again fallen Kim comes to haunt Sarah again, but this time, at least, she’s real about it. “We’re in Chinatown, and Asian food is not my forte,” says Grueneberg. “Thank God Beverly went home, because she would have nailed it.” Finally. She’s finally admitted it wasn’t Bev’s cut-throat competition style, but her talent that bothered her all along.

It doesn't even really matter who will be going up against Qui. All we need from this episode is great food. Can’t, for once this season, we just see some excellent, uninterrupted, exciting food? When the final three are greeted by Emeril and Padma at BaoBei Chinese Brasserie, and charged with making Asian food because “Vancouver has one of the highest Asian populations outside of Asia,” it could go either way. Given how Texas-less this Texas season was, it’s frankly shocking to see the Top Chef production so dedicated to representing a locale. Our hope to see some great food from this episode is fading fast until some heavy-hitters show up.

When Top Chef Masters Anita Lo, Floyd Cardoz and Takashi Yagihashi arrive a breathless and teary-eyed Sarah is nearly overcome. Her reaction serves as another parallel between her and Uchiko’s Qui. It’s not Yagihashi's talent or reputation that spurs her reaction — it’s her own relationship to him. She lacks the quiet and humble respect that is so innate in Paul.

The chefs pull knives to see which of the masters they’ll be working with, and to Sarah’s chagrin, Qui pulls Yagihashi. Lindsay’s working with Anita, and Sarah pulled Cardoz. The chefs will be in a tag-team with their respective masters, for $20,000, cooking in rotating 10-minute shifts. In direct opposition to last week’s frozen-food shoot-out, this is a challenge that really reaches toward the ideals of great cooking. Thank God.

The masters head in to the kitchen first, setting up the chefs to execute their dishes. The chefs won’t be able to talk to their teammates; they’ll have to go to their stations and glean what the masters have in mind. This is one of the rare instances this season that the true marks of a great chef — talent, timing, and technique — will be called upon. And though Qui may resent that based on his background he’s the odds-on favorite, his raw talent will surely see him through.

Yagihashi pulls geoduck [gooeyduck] clams, further evidence, as if any were necessary, that everything that lives in the ocean is terrifying. (Also, in the instance of this species, staggeringly phallic, as well.) His plan? Sashimi. “Paul works in a Japanese restaurant, if I grab these things, he knows how to make it and do good job.”

Lindsay’s got a tough road ahead. Lo’s vision is for a trio of scallops, highlighting three different Asian cultures. Things won’t be easy for Sarah either, whose partner, Floyd Cardoz, never won a single Quickfire in his Top Chef: Masters season. He leaves Sarah with the beginnings of a curry sauce.

Padma calls time, and the chefs head into the kitchen. They are all understandably disoriented, and feeling the pressure of cooking in tandem with these well-respected chefs. Lindsay’s station has the deconstructed scallops and the mise(!) for three preparations. Paul’s familiar with the protein left for him by Yagihashi, “a little bit of an acquired taste and texture.” Just as Takashi is explaining his vision, sliced geoduck with mushroom, Paul is looking for mushrooms in the kitchen. This guy is amazing.

Sarah, too, seems to be in step with Cardoz. Though her “comfort level” with curries is a “zero,” she starts working on a cold crab salad to pair with the curry, just as her chef is saying he hopes she’ll do just that.

Time’s called again and Yagihashi pulls Qui’s dashi broth to use as a dressing. Lindsay’s made a “really nice” sauté of Chinese sausage, which Lo is happy to use with the scallops. Sarah seems to have fared the best; Cardoz explains that she’s “totally got his vision.”

Lindsay’s faltering — she returns to a station with three different preparations of scallops and says, “I think that doing some different styles is what she’s going for.” This is an incredibly ambiguous, and so, bleak, commentary, thinned out even more by Qui, who is not surprisingly plugging along and putting his own spin on Yagihashi’s dish. “Takashi-son is the man. He sets up the plates, slices the miru-gai, added cucumbers for freshness. It seems like the right choice to add a little Thai chili, since Padma likes spice.”

There’s $20,000 on the line, and when time is called, Paul’s usual concerns over his performance set in. “I put a lot of chili seeds on my plate. It makes me worried because the chili seeds are really hot, and it might be really spicy.” His fears are rarely validated, but if he made this addition with only one judge in mind, and overstepped, he might be right.

Before judging begins, the chefs and masters talk about the high-octane challenge. Lindsay apologizes to Lo, afraid her execution may have fallen short of her master’s vision, and it’s nice to see some deference from her for the first time this season.

Though Lo’s plan was for a trio of scallop, Lindsay presents the judges with a duo of scallop with bok choy and chili and scallop with fried roe, sausage and water chestnut. Emeril’s impressed with Lindsay’s knifework on the water chesnut, and Padma with the flavors overall. It’s usually Paul’s concerns that are misplaced, but it seems like for this challenge, Autry may be wrong about her performance.

Sarah’s pan seared cod with coconut curry and crab salad with Clementine and amaranth is plated beautifully, and, according to Emeril, is “very interesting.” Sarah dredged the cod in rice flour, sealing in moisture and adding texture, a move right in line with Cardoz’s plan. He was looking for the flour but was unable to find it. Her master is impressed: “She did exactly what I wanted.”

Paul’s miru-gai sashimi with yuzu dashi, fried white fish, scallions and chili, will hopefully end up on the menu at Uchiko. It looks fantastic. Yagihashi wanted a straight-forward preparation, and as far as he’s concerned, Qui nailed it. But Emeril and Padma both feel he may have been heavy-handed with the chilis.

There were criticisms for each dish: the sausage in Lindsay’s dish, Emeril felt, was a bit overpowering; Sarah’s dish could have used more acid; Qui’s sashimi was too spicy.

In the end, Sarah is named the winner. Cardoz finally wins Quickfire, and Sarah is taking home $20,000. She’s earned $30,000 so far in Canada. It’s really a question of who’ll be going up against Paul in the finale, and Sarah’s building momentum while Lindsay falters.

Apparently forgetting Sarah’s bout of sunstroke in the Salt Lick challenge, Padma tells the chefs that since they “beat the heat in Texas, and survived the cold of Whistler, we thought it would be fun to bring the two together” in the Elimination Challenge into a “Fire and Ice” cocktail party. Just as the “progressive dinner party” was not the politically progressive powwow my blue state roots would have me think, the “Fire and Ice” party is not one where the chefs will lay out containers of yucky-looking raw meat and veggies and cook plates to order. The chefs will each be responsible for one dish and one cocktail. The dishes must contain one hot and one cold element.

Lindsay’s under water again, judging by her vague rambling about the challenge. “Fire could mean spicy, but it could also mean temperature-hot, and ice meaning, very cold, or very crisp.” “Ice” meaning very cold? Illuminating, chef. She continues her descent at Whole Foods: “I struggle with how I’m going to do this dish, because I’m not really sure if I should take it literally, and set something on fire, or have something that is totally frozen.” Autry’s literal take channels the proclivities of one Chris Jones, and it will likely be her downfall.

Paul, meanwhile, sounds like he’s gearing up to make something great. “I want to do a play on a lobster bouillabaisse. I want to make something that’s visually stunning; something that feels like it’s cold, but then you eat it and it’s hot.” Bouillabaisse is an elegant dish, and Qui’s theoretical take on the concept is sure to impress.

Sarah calls upon her classical Italian training, planning on a baked pasta cooled off with a frozen ginger mousse. “I’ve never made this before, and that’s scary, but I know I have to take a risk.” Given what’s going on at the fish counter (Lindsay choosing halibut, the fish Bev overcooked at her instruction in the Restaurant Wars episode, as her protein), her risk will likely earn a big reward: the chance to cook against Paul in the finale.

Qui’s ups the ante with just a few minutes left to shop. “I’m going to do something I learned about from my new chef de cuisine. He uses essential oils a lot to enhance certain flavors. I’m going to have things that look like clear ice and snow, and hopefully it will be good… if I pull it off.” There’s little doubt.

In the kitchen, the pressure is on, but Sarah’s not feeling it. “This is the last challenge that determines the final two. Lindsay and Paul have a tendency to second guess themselves a lot, and even though I’m making a new dish that I’ve never made before, I still believe in myself to show the judges that I deserve to be in the finale.” She says as she’s rolling out dough, “I haven’t seen pasta like this since I was in Italy.”

Paul’s rather confident as well. “A big part of my dish for today is to make an excellent lobster stock,” says Qui, as he is “ripping through” 30 pounds of lobster. “I’m in the zone.” Please. Qui’s mailing address is “the zone.”

Tom checks in with the chefs, and the anticipation to see Qui’s execution of his vision deepens when he explains his dish in full. “There’s going to be a pernod chili that looks kind of like an ice cube, and lemon snow. The broth will be poured tableside so the whole thing melts into the dish.”

It appears Lindsay’s jettisoned the idea of actual fire when she explains she’ll be serving a hot protein over a cold salad, specifically, halibut over a celery root remoulade.

There hasn’t been a lot of Colicchio’s no-nonsense commentary in the past few episodes, but the wait proves worth it when he asks Lindsay about her choice of protein. “In Restaurant Wars, you had a halibut dish. Beverly had to execute it; it was somewhat overcooked. But it seemed like it could have been the way you taught her to pick that dish up that did it. Are you serving halibut to try to set the record straight?”

Lindsay’s response? “I knew that would probably come back to haunt me. But you know, I like to cook fish, and I just want to make sure what’s hot is hot, and what’s cold is cold, because that’s the most important part of this challenge, I think.” More or less every time you cook you are going to want to go ahead and make sure that what’s hot is hot, and what’s cold cold. Maybe try to set the bar a little higher for one of the most important plates in your career.

Tom seems impressed by Sarah’s cannelloni stuffed with five greens flavored with red chilies, toasted garlic and anchovy. A nod to the dish’s authenticity, he says, “It’s almost Calabrian, right?” Her hope for the cold element, a spiced mousse, is that it will melt down onto the pasta, oozing down and becoming a sauce.

With an hour to cook, the chefs are all in the weeds. They’re all hoping for the tried and true “twist” of having eliminated chefs come in and lend a hand. There are new faces in the kitchen, but they belong to the servers. Paul, with an impressive authority, gives them their places on the floor and continues working.

When the bartenders are selected, the chefs start explaining their cocktails. Sarah’s making a citrusy cocktail with a prosecco float, which she hopes will serve as a nice palate cleanser. It’s a very thoughtful pairing, one that suggests Sarah hasn’t been portrayed over the course of the season as the chef she really is. Paul’s “thrown off” by having to making a cocktail, but his solid interpretation of the hold and cold theme is well represented in his drink, which will be topped with a gelee foam meant to mimic snow.

Lindsay’s in an all-out tailspin. “Paul, Sarah, and myself have all developed a friendship, but this is a competition, and we’re all after the same goal. You can’t really know who you can trust and who you can’t.” Compared to Paul’s thoughtful, pragmatic feelings on the subject of competition we heard at the top of the hour, Autry’s paranoid observations are juvenile.

When service starts, the nerves set in. As Paul plates his dish, he says, “Don’t second guess yourself.” Then, as the plates go out, he says, “At this point I’m just not feeling on my game.” Qui’s never as sure of his talent as he should be, but it’s the first time this season that he’s expressed his feelings so vocally and immediately.

His dish, king crab with lobster broth and lemon snow, is absolutely as visually stunning as he’d intended, and paired with a “Pan Am” — a cocktail with kaffir lime, Thai chilies and rum. While Tom is disappointed in Qui’s usage of arugula as a garnish and not as an element of the dish, he is impressed with Qui’s sweet and spicy drink.

Sarah’s mousse is frozen solid as her plates go out, and while she tries her best to melt it, Bev’s acuity with an ice pick would certainly come in handy right about now. Her five greens filled pasta with garlic, chili and spiced sformato is well presented, and her bright yellow citrus agrumi complements the colors on her plate. The judges struggle to cut through the frozen mousse, but are very impressed with her flavors.

The cocktail doesn’t go over as she’d hoped. The judges feel it’s a great drink, but would be better enjoyed, say, with Austin’s unofficial sport of day drinking than what’s Sarah’s got on the plate.

Even though it’s all she’s been talking about, Lindsay somehow feels that hasn’t taken the fire and ice part literally enough, and makes an 11th hour decision to serve her dish with a spoon of tomato ice. She paired her halibut with fiery celery root salad with an “Encendido,” which is essentially a spicy bloody mary. The judges are split on Lindsay’s dish, but they can all agree that her halibut is well cooked.

Unfortunately, the kale is raw. Gail’s impressed with the tomato nage, calling it “out there” (a big compliment for the literal Lindsay), and saying it was “the best seasoned piece of ice” she’d ever had.

At Judges’ Table, Paul’s dish was critiqued first. Even though he’s a lock for the finale, there’s no doubt he’ll take the criticisms to heart — and never make them again. Conceptually, the dish “was there,” but the judges felt Qui was perhaps a bit gun shy after the criticism he received in the Quickfire, as the dish could have used more spice.

When Tom asked about the arugula, referring to it as an “afterthought,” Qui explained it’s use in the dish and then said, “I was happy with the plate I put out,” and then pointed to his head and said, “It just keeps going, and I can’t turn it off.”

Real talk: anybody who’s ever engaged in a creative endeavor knows that the hardest part about making something you care about is forcing yourself to choose the moment when it has to be done. It doesn’t leave your mind, it leaves your hands. Qui is the real deal.

When asked why he thought he should be in the finale, Qui simply responds, “I just want the opportunity to cook the best meal I can put out for you guys.”

Sarah’s critique had one focus. The mousse was too frozen. Tom’s on her side. “I thought your dish was really brave. I could tell this pushed you right out of your comfort zone. That said, the dish was a little too cold.”

She wants to be in the finale, she says, because “So much of food, to me, is a place and a memory. And I want to be able to tell that story.” It’s the sentiment of a true lover of food, and it seems she’s being positioned as stiff competition for Qui in the upcoming finale.

Gail has great things to say about Lindsay’s dish, deeply impressed with the flavor she coaxed out of its elements. Overall, though, the dish was scattershot, and had too many ingredients. According to Tom, hers was the best paired cocktail, but Emeril didn’t care for the way it separated.

Lindsay acknowledges her shortcomings when she makes her case to be in the finale. “I think that I have a little bit more to show. I’ve learned so much about myself as a chef, and I think the opportunity to pull out all the stops, that’s what really I want, that’s why I came here.” Her answer is non-committal and unimpressive, and as the chefs leave the judges to deliberate, the writing is on the wall. This was a challenge between Lindsay and Sarah, and there is a clear winner.

For the purposes of production, though, there can’t be, so the judges spend time “deliberating” over who should make it into the finale. Sarah’s mousse was frozen, but Lindsay’s dish was theoretically problematic, so it’s surprising when Padma calls Sarah’s name first — until she says, “You are moving on to the finale.”

Lindsay and Paul look at each other, and they exchange the two of the best glances in reality show history. They are pitch-perfect in the context of the elimination, and of the season as a whole. Paul’s is a humble, appreciative nod that says, “Ostensibly, realistically, it could be either one of us. But we both know it’s me.” Lindsay’s eyebrows rise in apathetically feigned congratulations, which pairs very well with her “I want to end you” grin.

Lindsays’s dismissed, and Paul is named the winner. Sarah says she’s known all along it would be her and Qui in the finale, and though it hasn’t been so clear for the viewers, during this episode we got to see Sarah in a way we haven’t all season — as a talented chef. She might be more competition for Qui than it had previously seemed, but it’s not possible she’ll be all the competition she needs to be.

However, if this episode was any indication, next week’s finale will have a lot of what we started watching Top Chef for in the first place: Talented chefs making beautiful, exciting, artful food.