Andrew sends Team Gorilla and "Da Bears" to the takedown round, saving Richard the humiliation of being raked over the coals for a second time by Wylie. Colicchio explains that these two teams were chosen because they offered the "three dishes that we thought were the worst dishes of the evening." All together now: the mushrooms, the blini, and the crab salad. Dale's first to speak for Team Bear -- he doesn't "think we executed the mushrooms properly." No shit. Gail wonders about the fact that the mushrooms were on the table one second, gone the next, and Nikki chalks up the failure of the dish to the "holding" pattern. Then Dale cops to topping them with the pecorino in order to make them look better. The real problem? NO ONE TASTED THEM AFTER THE CHEESE WAS ADDED. And the cheese, apparently, transformed the mushrooms from the party's wallflower to the wasted girl all over on the dance floor.

"I'm not trying to put blame on you, Nikki," says Dale, clearly trying to put blame on Nikki, as Padma tries to unravel ultimate responsibility for the little turd blossoms. Dale argues that he didn't produce the dish, and that he wouldn't serve the dish, although he was the cheeser. While it could be claimed that the mushrooms were Nikki's dish (and Dale does try), there were obviously too many cooks in the kitchen (haha), and the fact the no one tasted them before they were served (a task that should probably have fallen to Nikki, as the primary force behind them, or Dale, who added the final ingredient) is pretty unacceptable. Always taste your food, people!