Top Chef Texas, Week 2: Shoot-Out at the Dimly Lit Corral

Andrew Curren has a sad, and so do we. (by courtesy of BravoTV.com)

So, I defended my dissertation on Wednesday and then drank a bunch of cocktails, so my recollection of this week's episode might be a bit hazy. Thank goodness for the magic of DVR.

This week featured the final qualifying round for a coveted blue Top Chef coat, and where we hometown boosters finally got to see Paul "Key to Our Hearts" Qui and Andrew "Easy Tiger" Curren in action on the small screen. We also learned the fates of those people in the dreaded, bone-dry bubble (seriously, was that case of Shiner on the shelves behind the cheftestants placed there to taunt them?), but we'll get to that in a minute.

Here are the highlights: Five spots left, eleven chefs yet to qualify plus the four people eating their hearts out in the stew room. Key to Our Hearts made it through, obviously, along with HighStrungBeverly! and the quietly confident Miami Ashley. The city of Austin made a boo-boo face when Curren, who failed to edit his plate, got bounced to the bubble. (But we are heartened to know that the same night this episode aired, Curren aced the Iron Chef Alamo competition. Vindication!)

Then it came time for the bubble chefs to meet their fates. Making it through: Grayson "The Fashionista" Schmitz and the troublingly choppered Edward Not-Cullen (who ain't afraid of no blood). Sadly, our Andrew got bounced once and for all, alongside Heartbreak Janine, whose tale of romantic woe was the real downer of the evening. The end.

...or is it? Don't forget this season's newest innovation, a weekly webisode called "Last Chance Kitchen." There you'll see Curren and Heartbreak Janine plucked from the jaws of defeat to go head-to-head in a pizza battle (really? We're scratching our heads over a pizza without cheese? Have these people met any vegans?) in a poorly lit kitchen. (Top! Secret!) No spoilers here, but I'll just say that our boy Drew ain't out of the picture just yet.