The Brian Show: "I think I should stay just because I've cooked for cowboys, I've cooked for these people [he means Bryan, O'Brian, and MALARKEY!], I've cooked for every person under the sun, but I haven't cooked my food. At all. And this is our ["OUR"!] opportunity to show you what I would cook." Because all this time, he's been letting Bryan do the prep, O'Brian do the seasoning, and MALARKEY! do the cooking. "I do believe that my food is pretty entertaining and I think you and the world and my friends would love to see it, so…"

The cheftestants are sent away, and the judges rehash. They all really liked Dale's dish, except for Padma, who says, "It looked like too much on the plate." With Hung, Gail doesn't think the components showcased the elk. Colicchio says, "Brian was really emphatic saying he hasn't cooked Brian's food yet. I think that was a cop-out, I think this was his dish." Colicchio, you don't understand; it wasn't Brian's dish, it was Brians' dish. He hasn't been able to separate the Sybils and be just himself for years now. Ripert says Brian's dish was too sweet, and he feels as strongly as Roquefort that allowing the diners to choose their own cheese was a grave misstep. The judges don't really seem to like Casey's dish. "It wasn't memorable," Gail says, dragging out her italics again. Ripert quietly disagrees, because he loved the smoky tomato butter sauce. "Oh, yes," Gail nods, as if she hadn't just called Casey's dish forgettable. Ripert goes on that the sauce elevated Casey's dish: "Eet was more than completing eet, eet was making eet better." "You're right, there was that one component in the dish that really sang," Gail amends rather lamely. She wonders if it's enough.

The cheftestants toast the judges with red wine, with Brian saying that they have a "hard, hard decision in front of them."

The cheftestants are brought back and since this is part of the finals, Colicchio dispenses with his customary ReCrap and tells the cheftestants that the whole season has been really great for all of them. Ripert tells Dale that he is the winner of the night; Dale will get to cook with Ripert at the Food and Wine Weekend that he's hosting at the Ritz-Carlton on Grand Cayman. He'll get to do a demonstration with Ripert, and also spend some time in his restaurant. Damn. That's awesome. Dale tells him, "That's the biggest honor of my life." Ripert grins. Colicchio, again not ReCrapping, compliments all of them and has no negatives to give them, except maybe when he tells Brian that he thinks they really have seen Brian in his food, because "part of who you are is really looking to please the people you're cooking for and we appreciate that." Without drawing it out at all, Padma sadly tells Brian to pack his knives and go. Brian sketches out a bow, as Casey drops at the waist in abject relief. When she looks up, she's crying. Hung squats and holds his hand to his forehead. Brian walks up to the judges and shakes all of their hands. Hung and Casey both sort of fling themselves at Brian as Colicchio looks on and smiles.