10 p.m.

And we're back. Five chefs left battling for the title of Top Chef, including Crucian native Orlando Santos.

Chris is his top competition, and he's got motivation. His infant daughter needs surgery. He needs the money to pay for it. How are you suppoed to root against him?

This week's quickfire judge Francois Payard, who was called "The King of Macaroons."

They have an hour and a half to make pies, and just to make things goofily challenging, they have to make their pie one-handed.

Tori ran out to the kitchen and came back with the rolling pin. Her favorite idea is using her feet to roll it. We didn't actually see anyone roll out their dough, but it wouldn't surprise me if one had taken her tip.

Orlando was going to make an apple pie, but gave it up, How do you peel a bunch of apples one handed? He needed to saw the top off a water bottle to get liquid for his crust and filling.

Carlos is using liquid nitrogen to make his lemon curd set up.

Judging - Orlando's pie looks great. The judges liked it.

Matthew was disqualified because he used his other hand. He was hoping no one would see him, which means he was willing to cheat. Character issue much? Francois didn't like Sandy's, plum, too tart.

Orlando's is one of the top two, along with Carlos'. And Carlos won. Or as Orlando said, "Carlos and his damn liquid notrogen."

10:16

First time they've been given a budget and taken shopping. Three hours to do an event for 150 people, with a $400 budget. Chris is takng a risk, trying to make an ice cream he's never made before. He's also pissed off everyone else by commandeering the equipment.

Sandy admired Orlando's fruit. He offered to "sell" it to her. "Five grand." he said, getting a laugh from her.

He's talking about carnival and how it's very different here on the island than it is in the states. Believe it or not, a carnival in Iowa, say, features a lot of corn and fried foods, and hardly any costumed parade troupes. The St. Croix carnival is an inspiration for how he's handling his – it's one of those chef words I don't now - candy apple inspired dessert.

Judge Johnny is doubtful. It's supposed to be inspired by carnival food, and Johnny is worried the guests won't recognize it. It doesn't look like candy apples, but Orlando is confident the taste will be there.

Johnny is equally doubtful about Carlos's macoroon-based dessert. Chef Francois is "king of the macaroons" and if Carlos is off at all, it could come back and bite him. But Johnny shakes Carlos' hand, but he didn't shake Orlando's.

Orlando seems a lot nicer now that the numbers have been cut down. He commsierates with Sally, who left her pudding in the blast freezer when time was called.

Wouldn't you love a blast freezer?

10:28

To fight the tension, the guys play a drinking game. They're laughing a lot. How will they feel the next day? 

Orlando says only a half a bottle of vodka isn't much. Yep. He's Crucian.

Sally's pudding is as hard as granite. Carlos's macaroons are a disaster. He's gotta switch courses, and replace them wth angel food cake in something that looks a lot like a burger. It reminds us of our friend Joyce, who used vanilla wafers and marshmallow and chocolate to make these cookies that looked like hamburgers. Tasty!

Chris and Matt have their bro-mance, but Orlando and Sally are developing a nice relationship and Carlos is everybody's funny uncle. Everyone is still competitive, but they get along OK. They've got that camaraderie that you expect from people who have been through the mill together.

Jeez! Orlando's got about a dozen components in his dish, and the judges seem disappointed that he wasn't more literal. But as my daughter Kate pointed out, he's not a literal kind of guy.

Matt made a simple dessert and a simply brilliant idea – He bought three ceramic pigs and auctioned them off. It created a carnival atmosphere that people remembered. But can pigs embellish a simple dessert? 

10:48

Matthew and Sally are the top two and Matt won.

Carlos, Orlando and Chris are the bottom three, and they were the three doing the most drinking the night before. Coincidence?

Whoever goes home will be a good chef. They're at that level where everyone is good.

Gail is harsh about Orlando's. I'm really worried - really worried – about Orlando as they just bash him. None of the judges like the combination of flavors. "I don't see what Orlando was doing giving me a chocolate dessert and telling me it was a candy apple," Johnny says.

Carlos is getting hit pretty hard too, because of the nature of the angel food cake. They loved the look of it, but it was hard to eat, and too many pieces. They're also critical of Chris's, with an odd jelly and way too much going on.

Grit your teeth. After the commercial, somebody good is going home. And we're really worried it's our Crucian contestant. And if he goes home, do we even blog next week? Come on Orlando! 

10:53

They're fantasizing. What if they opened a store, the five of them, call it The Fantastic Five. Yeah, these are people who, no matter how competitive they are have shared a really hard experience and bonded over it. Whoever goes home, he will definitely be missed.

They're also doing the "You're all great, it's been great," thing, like they all realize how close it is.

Here we go.

The one going home is – Carlos.

Mixed emotions. Orlando is still in the game, but Carlos was, like I said, everyone's goofy favorite uncle. I'll definitely miss him.

So there are four of them left, and last season three made it to the final round. Wow. One challenge to go. See you next week.