So last night’s episode continued in Miami where the final four of Melissa, Jeffrey, Debbie and Jamika were greeted by Iron Chef Michael Symon at their hotel, the Eden Roc. Symon assigned them their first challenge of the day, a live cooking demo on a Miami network TV morning show. But what Symon didn’t tell them was that each of the chefs would be sabotaged in one way or another during their demo.

Debbie went first and planned on making crispy catfish with edamame succotash, because, you know, she’s Korean. But Michael replaced the catfish with chicken and took away a few other key ingredients. To Debbie’s credit, though, she didn’t flinch, rolling with the punches as if she knew what was happening. The judges were watching in another room and were very impressed as well.

Melissa was making a tapenade caviar with potatoes, but the host of the show was sabotaging her by throwing things into her dish, most notably a ton of extra hot sauce. Melissa was perturbed and started talking a mile a minute like she usually does when flustered, but otherwise she did okay.

Jeffrey was making a pea/arugula/gorgonzola grilled cheese sandwich, but for him there were constant technical difficulties. He had to maneuver a microphone and a knife at the same time, all while trying not to stab the host, and he did pretty good. Jamika was making an herb roasted chicken and kept dealing with failed time cues and interruptions. She was not having fun as she was being messed with and the judges picked up on that.

Debbie wound up winning the challenge, much to the delight, we’re sure, of Susie Fogelson. Then it was on to the main challenge, and since Michael Symon was a guest on the show this week, it was an Iron Chef challenge of sorts—not one in which they all used a common “secret ingredient,” but in which they would be tested again and asked to think on their feet. There were four wood fire grills and work stations with pantries set up for each contestant, and Michael LaDuke with Red Lobster was on hand to announce the challenge—they would each have to make a seafood dish of their own creation using one of several different types of fish on hand, as well as incorporating one form of shellfish. They had 45 minutes to do this, and Debbie had the first choice of fish since she won the initial challenge.

She chose tilapia with, of course, Asian flavors. Melissa chose Arctic char which she was going to marinate in citrus and grill. Jamika was making mahi-mahi with tropical flavors, and Jeffrey a barramundi with Mexican ingredients. But then came another twist. Symon approached each chef, and with the help of fellow judge and Iron Chef Bobby Flay, began taking away key ingredients from each contestant. They took each of them out of their comfort zones big-time—replacing Debbie’s Asian ingredients with Mediterranean flavors; Melissa’s citrus with habanero peppers; Jeffrey’s Mexican flavors with Asian ingredients; and Jamika’s pineapple with celery root. Damn. Each of them was flipping out, but none more so than Jamika, who had never worked with celery root before. In fact, Jamika was getting testy with judge and network executive Bob Tuschman….yikes.

But each of them wound up coming through. Debbie made her tilapia with fennel, orange and olives, but forgot to use the capers Flay gave her, and then tried to cover up that fact by lying about it….hmmm, Debbie lying? That never happens. But they all liked her fish. Melissa wound up sweetening and lessening the heat of the peppers and Flay was extremely impressed with that. She also slowed down her presentation this time.

Jeffrey made his barramundi with wasabi and other Asian flavors, and while he was worried about how it would all turn out, it indeed worked and the judges loved his dish. Jamika finally caught on to the celery root and wound up making the most of it, but the judges still weren’t thrilled with her freak-out.

At judgment time, one of them would have their dish featured on Red Lobster’s menu, and that person was Jeffrey. Because of that, he was also safe for the week, ensuring a spot in the final three. It came down then to Jamika, Debbie and Melissa. The judges talked about how each of them had something special to offer, but at this stage of the competition, they begin to look at them in terms of who will be a star for the network. Each of them had deficiencies, but each of them had great qualities. They talked about Melissa having finesse, but was she enough of an expert? Debbie showed she could handle adversity well, but she again showed a lack of integrity…of course, she is Korean. Jamika is an excellent cook but her “shutting down” and not having fun during the challenges was a negative.

So after deliberating and admitting that they had a very difficult decision, the judges sent Jamika home. Well, we all saw that coming, didn’t we? Melissa has been on fire lately, and Jeffrey was safe for sure. And we all know now how much Susie loves Debbie, but she is on thin ice. So there you have it….we are down to Melissa, Jeffrey and Debbie. Who is going to be your next Food Network Star? I’m going with Melissa, but Susie Fogelson may fight me on that. See you all next week!

Jamika went first and she made a seared tuna salad with a miso vinaigrette. It looked like a decent salad but the judges were a bit underwhelmed and not impressed with a lack of creativity. She also made a comment in her presentation about airline food and “the toilet not being your friend” on flights. Are you kidding me? Ted Allen called it TMI and he was correct.

Debbie went next and while she had the steakhouse fare, she instead copped out by making a spinach salad. I was feeling like this would backfire, and her biggest advocate, Susie Fogelson, asked point blank, “where’s the steak?”

Jeffrey made a bruschetta with basil and a poached egg that looked pretty awesome. The judges loved his dish and his presentation.

Melissa made some sort of chicken/chorizo/potato dish that, frankly, looked amazing. I had that same feeling as I did last season when Aaron McCargo Jr. made those bacon wrapped potatoes, that I wanted to jump through the TV and eat it. Melissa gave an interesting presentation in which she mentioned that she grew up in a Spanish-speaking household and they loved her food too.

Michael tried making oysters but since they basically can only use small or butter knives in airports, he couldn’t shuck them. So he instead made a shrimp and clam dish with a frisee salad. The judges didn’t like the execution or his presentation, and Michael was named the worst of the five. Yikes.

Jeffrey, meanwhile, won the challenge and his prizes were 1) to have his item on the menu at the Italian restaurant in the terminal, and 2) to assign tasks at the main challenge.

After landing and seeing their awesome digs at the Eden Roc Hotel in Miami, they met Ted Allen in the lobby, where he assigned the main challenge. They would have to work as a team to cater a cocktail party at club Nikki Beach for a bunch of random guests as well as Allen and the show’s judges Bobby Flay, Bob Tuschman and Susie Fogelson. They had a $1500 budget and each chef had to create two appetizers, and the team had to come up with a cocktail. Jeffrey assigned Michael to tend bar, himself to greet guests and Debbie, who is a caterer, to run the kitchen with Jamika and Melissa helping.

Debbie was in her own world, only focusing on her own two dishes, while Michael was having a great time behind the bar and Jeffrey was right at home greeting guests. But the food wasn’t coming out fast enough, and the overall service suffered.

Debbie, despite bringing her team down and not taking responsibility for the poor service, had the best food of the night, according to the judges, with her passion fruit chicken kabobs and Korean beef torta with daikon radishes. Did I mention Debbie is Korean? She didn’t but she mentioned it enough the first few weeks so that we would remember, and then made another Korean dish in the episode.

Jeffrey made crab tostadas but used store-bought tortilla chips. Big no-no, and Allen called him out on it. He also made Cuban bites, which the judges were okay with but not bowled over by. Jeffrey did a nice job serving and greeting but it wasn’t enough to overcome a slow kitchen.

Melissa made three dishes–chicken bites, some sort of seafood “shooters,” and a grilled vegetable appetizer. She made reference to the fact that someone should have a vegetarian dish, and that one was a big hit with the judges and guests. Allen commended her on having a veggie option, and while making three dishes was maybe too ambitiious, she claimed that the third one was the veggie option, and was worthwhile.

Jamika made jerk chicken and Flay called her out on it not being spicy enough…she also made a mango shrimp with slaw on top that everyone loved.

Michael’s dishes could not match his intensity. He made a margarita marinated salmon tartare that the judges said was flavorless, and a fried shrimp that also didn’t go over well. All this from a guy who has wowed everyone with his food so far. Michael also made a comment to the judges about not liking being in front of a camera. Oops….there is the second instance of TMI. Dude, you’re fighting for a job that pits you in front of a FREAKING CAMERA for a living.

Anyway, the group drink was a chile margarita, but again Flay complained about the lack of spice, saying that Miami folks can handle more heat. At the chopping block, Jeffrey complained that the dishes everyone came up with were too complicated, and that created chaos in the kitchen. He also said that he thought Debbie would do a better job running the kitchen with her catering experience. Debbie then proceeded to say she was doing too much, but everyone else pointed out that Debbie was only concerned with Debbie. And that was accurate. Tuschman called her out because Jamika and Melissa helped with Jeffrey and Michael’s dishes and Debbie didn’t. In all, the judges though there was too much “overpromising.”

Jamika was the first one to safety, as the judges said her dishes were well-liked even though the chicken wasn’t spicy enough. Melissa was also safe, and she is a strong contender week after week. Jeffrey was next, and he is also a contender.

So it was down to Michael and Debbie. Debbie, who has been championed by Susie each week, made killer dishes that everyone loved, but she once again showed a dark side–that of a liar and manipulator, and it made everyone uncomfortable. I’m seeing shades of JAG from two seasons ago. Michael, meanwhile, made a critical error with his “camera” admission and for that, as well as for his flavorless salmon, got him booted off this week. I think Michael had this coming, though he could do really well with his own show and I think he’d be extremely entertaining. He agrees with me, because he said so on his way out, but dude needs to take some lessons on how to make nice with the camera. Meanwhile, Debbie dodged a bullet and the judges have basically warned her of that. Being Korean and being up Susie’s butt can only take you so far, so she and Jamika will likely be the next to exit.

What do you all think? We’re down to the final four, yo!