Masterchef US Season 5 Episode 18

It is the final 3, and also the semi-finals!  The top 3 are Courtney Lapresi, Leslie Gilliams and Elizabeth Cauvel.

Pictured: Smugness, excitement, and "i-totally-got-this"

I thought it was always quite clear that these 3 were the top 3 among all the contestants.  while i was rooting for Leslie to win, i felt he could only go as far as 3rd as he lacked the versatility that Elizabeth and Courtney had.  My fears confirmed in the opening teaser where they showed the celebrations when the winner was announced - Ahran was clapping but not celebrating, meaning that her good friend Leslie had not won.

The first challenge was to cook an entree for 50 chefs from around the country, including famous personalities such as Cat Cora, from Iron Chef America.

As it is difficult for one pax to cook for 50, the cooks got help from 2 sous-chefs, made up of other contestants that had already been eliminated.  The allocation was done by chance, through the picking of fortune cookies. Elizabeth got Victoria and Jaimee, Leslie got Ahran and Christian, Courtney got Willie and Daniel.

Elizabeth cooked pan seared  red snapper with cauliflower trio, Leslie cooked a filet mignon with herb gnocchi while Courtney cooked a pan seared halibut with beet dashi vermicelli.  It was interesting to see Leslie in full control of the menu as well as the actual cooking process,  given that in his previous partnerships with Ahran and later Elizabeth,  he had ceded full control to his team mates.  it really showed his progression, especially as he was trying a seldom heard combination of beef and gnocchi.

Leslie is on fire

Courtney on the other hand seemed to lose control of her team and it seems that while she is good at cooking, leadership is not her forte, given that she had also struggled as team leader in episode 15.  Instructions were not clear, Daniel and Willie didnt know what to do and the team struggled to get  their plating done in time.

Still, the food was well received and but it seemed that Elizabeth and Leslie were ahead. it was important for both to win, as it would not be easy to defeat Courtney in an elimination challenge. Leslie in particular appeared desperate to avoid another elimination challenge,  having already been through (and survived) a record number of 6 challenges. 

It was Elizabeth who emerged as the first finalist in front of her idols, much to her delight, meaning it was time for Leslie to face his seventh elimination challenge.  He looked pretty downcast, as if he was a cat who knew that he has used up all of his 9 lives.

The challenge was announced and the cooks had to make 3 desserts- New York Cheesecake, Florida key lime pie and Boston cream pie.   Courtney's strength was in baking, but Leslie seemed to be familiar with  the key lime pie and wasnt ready to go down without a fight.

Leslie tries his best Tom Cruise impression

The stress of the moment seemed to get to both contestants,  who started talking to themselves. Courtney as usual was remarking how beautiful her dishes looked while Leslie seemed to be all over the place, muttering to himself instructions and trying to find his utensils.  In his own words, he is "always on the verge of a nervous breakdown, but never going there".

While Courtney appeared the more composed of the two, her food was not without flaws. In particular, her cream for the cream pie was runny which meant that it better taste good or else she would lose on the dish.

Sloppy seconds, anyone?

Time was soon up and Courtney easily had the better cheesecake.  However, Leslie stormed back to win the key lime pie. It was down to the wire and you couldnt have scripted this better. Although Courtney's last dish wasnt visually appealing, Leslie in his state of disarray had used salt instead of sugar.   This basic (and not uncommon- Courtney had also used salt when making donuts in episode 4) mistake eventually led to his elimination.  

What a pity, for if he had taken his chances, he would have made it into the top 2. Nonetheless, i
am sure not many would have expected Leslie to go as far as he has, especially in the early episodes when he was known more for mouthing off instead of his culinary skills.