Rocky Moments

Hung was his usual cocky self, once again finishing early (although with all his ingredients in his dish this time). The judges weren't thrilled with his meal. Tom said its competing flavors gave it ''seasonal disorder.'' I thought this would have been the perfect time for Eric Ripert to stand up and say, ''Seasonal disorder is right. It sure gave me an autumny ache!'' and then high-five Gail Simmons. But I guess four-star chefs aren't really one for puns and/or kickass disses. Their loss.

Then came Brian, who braised his elk and then apparently put an entire Whole Foods into a blender and poured it over the meat. As usual, he put on a show for his eaters, donning a cowboy hat and describing his meal in such lengthy detail that Bravo had to preempt The D-List. But his key mistake was giving people the choice of two cheeses to eat with his meal: Ripert said not deciding this himself was ''a crime.'' This strong statement seemed a disproportionately stern rebuke for just offering a choice of cheese; I wondered if the producers hadn't edited out an earlier scene where Brian knocked a cowgirl over the head with a gorgonzola and stole her chaps. That's gotta be at least a misdemeanor in Cheese Court.

When brought in front of the judges, the final four were made to state why they deserved to be in the final three. This was a humanizing moment, of which there haven't been many this season. That's probably for the best. This isn't The Bachelor; we tune in to see people's kitchen skills, not their life stories and hopes and dreams. But I did like hearing them say why cooking was so important to them. It certainly worked to Dale's best interest and also gave the first sign that Hung isn't an android sent from the planet Confit.

But Brian really didn't step up, dwelling only on wanting to stick around for the finale so he could show the judges what he could really do. This was a bad approach, because it made it seem like everything he's done before was subpar. It might make the judges think, ''Sure, he may work magic in the finale, but did everything previous from him suck, in which case, were we dopes for letting him go this far?'' Plus, he was constantly criticized for concentrating exclusively on seafood, and his comment during the quickfire that trout ''isn't really considered seafood'' might have made him seem like even more of a narrow talent. Now, the antitrout bigotry might be common in the seafood-chef world, but it seemed kind of fishist to me. Do trout have to swim at the back of the school? (Hey-oh, I'm here all week, don't forget to tip your arctic char!)

It looked for a moment as if Hung could be sent packing, which I'm glad the judges didn't do, although it would have been in keeping with many of their impulsive evictions in this season. I'm still annoyed that Tre and C.J. were bumped after isolated losses that were clear anomalies, considering their previous standout dishes. Ousting the contestants for one bad showing and not taking into account all their accomplishments is arbitrary and Apprentice-esque, good only for drama and surprise, but bad for the integrity of the title of top chef. This is why I hope Dale doesn't win: He seems like a nice guy and a great chef, but he's never really shone in this competition. He's only narrowly avoided eviction and then pleasantly surprised everyone by fighting his way back to the middle of the pack. To leapfrog him over Hung and Casey based on one finale dish (however good that may be) would be random and unfair. Save that crap for Donald Trump.

And so next week it all ends. My money's on Casey in this little kitchen morality tale, just because of Hung's established lack of ''soul.'' I hope she does win, and I know where I'll be: celebrating in front of the TV with a plate full of my specialty: toast and toast sauce.

What do you think? Who's going to win? Who should win?