The cheftestants are lined up, and after Padma asks, Ripert explains that his least favorites were Brian for having an unseasoned and bland salad, and Dale for too much cayenne. As Ripert so eloquently puts it, "Zee cayenne wuz keeking at the end and we had eet een the throats." His voice is so lovely. Brian defensively tells us, "I didn't feel that I had failed in my seafood nature because when chefs consider, they don't consider trout seafood at all." I'm sorry, but that's so lame. Fine, it's not seafood because it didn't live in the saltwater sea, but it's still fish, and where it lived has nothing to do with you flubbing the dish. Also, does that mean chefs don't consider salmon seafood because they spend part of their lives in a river? This leaves Hung's acid-less fish and Casey as Ripert's favorites. Ripert reminds Hung that if he had included the lemon juice, it would have elevated the fish. He turns to Casey and tells her everything was really well-seasoned, that the corn and grapes go well together, and adds, "Also I think your dish has a sole." Wait, I thought it was trout? Okay, fine -- I'll stop the fish humor. Casey's dish had "soul." Because that's what she's full of -- heart and soul. And now I feel this odd urge to play piano. As the camera flashes to Hung's Furrowed Brow Of What Is A Heart And/Or Soul?, Ripert goes on that it's really important for food to have an obvious soul behind it. Casey's the QF winner, and she's choked up over it. Hung tells us that he tasted Casey's dish and thinks he's more refined. Padma sends the winners and losers to relax at "Aspen's gorgeous" Hotel Jerome.

The cheftestants get comfortable in their rooms, and Hung once again tells us a bit more of his family history. This time, we learn that his father "escaped" from Vietnam when Hung was a baby, so he never even met his dad until he was nine. That said, Hung's palate was trained by his mother, and he just wants to see the smile on her face when he wins.

The next day, Brian tells us about his revelation: "The Quickfire got me back in the mindset that this isn't fun and games and hot air balloons and hanging out in Aspen." The hot-air-balloon realization was very disappointing for MALARKEY! who had an idea that he could do a "Cooking Around The World In 80 Days" type of thing with Hung as his Passepartout. We're reminded that the cheftestants are given a $200 budget to bring special ingredients of their choice. Dale used his money to bring spices, Casey brought Pan-Asian ingredients, like chile threads, Hung brought "a lot of Asian ingredients," because "this time around, [he's] going to cook [his] style of food," and we don't learn what Brian brought. Maybe just hats. Like Bartholomew Cubbins.