The final eight pair up...

You want to check it, check it.

and Gordon Ramsay joins them

for a game of chicken.

Are you kidding me? This is gonna be epic.

Some will rule the roost...

- It's kind of a dreamy dish. - while others fall foul.

I don't expect to see that kind of crap

at this stage of the game.

and a shocking twist...

Tonight's pressure test...

or should I say, tests?

will eliminate one more home cook.

Come on down.

My heart is absolutely in food,

and I put everything on the line and quit my job

in the video game industry to be here.

You don't gamble, you can't win.

It's down to eight.

I got seven more people to knock down.

It's like a domino effect.

As soon as I knock one down, they're all gonna fall.

We began the search for this year's MasterChef

tasting dishes from thousands and thousands of home cooks,

and now we're down to you eight.

Wow.

Honestly, all of you, right now, should feel incredibly proud.

Yeah.

But you should also be feeling the pressure.

Tonight you'll be cooking in pairs.

Again?

Oh, my god.

The person who's going to pick your teams is...

You.

- Right on. - That's right, you.

You will pick your own teams.

Pick your partners smartly.

Trust me, best friends don't always make great teams.

- Don't look so shocked. - Off you go.

Let the bidding wars begin.

They let all the animals out of the cage,

and everybody's vying for position.

- Elizabeth. - Elizabeth.

Elizabeth.

I feel like a cool kid. I'm like, "This is awesome."

I wish I had been popular in high school.

It probably felt like this.

I'm a hot commodity.

It's like, I should be in high demand.

It's like the school dance.

- Daniel? - Daniel?

How do I tell Courtney,

"Mm, never, not in a million years"?

Jaimee, wanna do it?

You and I could be the match made in heaven.

Sorry, Willie.

I'm willing to listen to your ideas.

I'm the best working horse you'll ever get.

Leslie basically says,

"You can have complete creative control."

And I'm like, "sold."

Willie, let's do it.

All right, Christian.

- What? - Wow.

Your palate, my palate is right up there, so why not?

You need me, girl.

- Now, that is interesting. - I did not see that coming.

Leslie, you were like the insurance salesman.

Pushing...she was, like, trying to push you away.

I work in advertising, as you know,

and I appreciate the power of a great pitch.

And leslie came up and basically said,

"I will let you control me."

And then he had me.

I will never admit to any of that.

Mr. Submissive.

- What's happened to you? - Oh, my god.

Now that you have your teams,

it's time to find out exactly

what you will have to cook as a pair.

Now, a MasterChef has to be many things,

but to win this competition,

you definitely cannot be...

chicken.

But...

Buddy.

Each team is only going to get to cook

with one different part of this amazing chicken.

One of the most popular cuts anywhere,

these beautiful things, chicken wings.

I'd love to see a stuffed chicken wing.

I do not want to see a boring fried chicken wing.

Next, the legs.

Down, push through,

And then just let the knife do the work.

Beautiful drum, very forgiving,

steeped in the most amazing flavor.

And then the bit that everybody wants:

the actual chicken breast.

Probably one of the most recognized cuts,

but let's be honest, one of the easiest to overcook.

Which brings me to the final cut,

very often overlooked,

and it's called the chicken oyster.

The oyster is that little gem of meat that's tucked away

underneath the thigh.

One of the most tender parts of the chicken,

one of the most flavorsome, and it's a chef's dream.

Watching chef Ramsay break down a chicken...

He just, like...

And then the chicken just magically fell into,

like, eight parts.

So in the pantry, there are four boxes.

Each has a different part of the chicken inside.

You will be picking the boxes completely at random.

You'll have five minutes to collect your chicken

and to gather all the ingredients

that you need for that dish.

The two teams with the best dishes

will be safe from elimination.

The teams with the worst dishes will go into the pressure test

where at least one of you will be eliminated.

- Are you ready? - Yes, chef.

Your five minutes in the pantry starts...

Now.

Come on. Let's go.

Run, Christian!

So they're going in there, and they're assuming

they're gonna get assigned a chicken part,

and they'll shop for that.

Got the box, Christian. Got the box.

Little do they know...

- Open it. - Can't open it. It's locked.

Oh, oh, it's definitely locked. Okay.

They will not know

what chicken part they're shopping for.

How do you do that?

We got to get stuff in the basket.

We got to shop blindly, basically.

All right, let's go.

- We'll need an onion, right? - Yeah.

We just got to think of everything we can get.

First of all, this is dangerous, I mean very dangerous,

because you can't just focus on one particular dish.

So you cover all bases and shop for four cuts.

I have a dish

that would work with three out of the four cuts.

I couldn't have picked a better partner. She's smart.

She knows where she wants to go with this dish.

It's a New Delhi curry. I've made it a million times.

It's awesome. It knocks everybody's socks off.

I'm thinking to myself, "Wow, man.

Did I pick a winner, finally."

Are you cool with that? I mean...

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

You tell me what you want. That works for me.

Stick to home. Let's stick to home.

I think the chicken should be lemon pepper.

That's kind of plain and simple.

Okay, well, think of something else.

I think dumplings with a butternut squash

would be amazing.

I don't think so.

I told him I don't think

chicken and dumplings is a good idea,

but Cutter don't listen.

It's like his way or the highway.

Let's go, guys.

Let's go.

Right. In front of you is the key to this challenge.

Please open those boxes.

- Get in. - Come on, Courtney!

What cut chicken have you got?

I'm hoping it's the big ol' breast.

And it is.

A big ol' chicken breast.

- Oysters. - Oysters.

I don't want wings,

'cause that's the biggest challenge

as far as I'm concerned.

We're really hoping for the legs.

It's the chicken legs.

It's exactly what we wanted.

I know we can make an amazing dish with this.

The wings. Not what I wanted, man.

Honestly, not what I wanted.

It's got the least amount of meat on it.

That's gonna be a tough one to knock out of the park.

You will have 45 minutes to cook us

the very best chicken dish of your entire life.

Is everyone ready?

- Yes, chef. - Yes, sir.

Your 45 minutes starts...

Now.

Christian and I are doing a pan-seared chicken thigh

over a "cannelli" bean puree with a heirloom tomato sauce.

I know that it's gonna work for us.

Come on, guys. Speed up.

Wow. What about those teams?

I mean, here's the big one for me: Christian, Courtney.

Never would have thought that these guys

would have picked each other.

Well, you know, the past is the past.

I mean, we don't want to be the ones to go home, you know?

I'm thinking... for the chicken oysters,

I think we just season them simply, simply.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

- Saute them in a pan. - I agree.

Why did Elizabeth pick Leslie?

He convinced her. He got on his knees and said,

"I'll do whatever you want. You got to pick me."

Oh, wow.

He's a crafty old dog, this little schmuck.

Okay, so how do you want to do the wings?

Jaimee and Daniel have the wings.

That's the devil in the box tonight.

That's the one that nobody wants.

Would they go down that gourmet route?

Would they do that chicken lollipop,

- you know, when you scrape all the meat down? - Very technical.

I don't know if they have that kind of experience.

- How do you get that out? - I don't know.

The dumplings may not be the right way.

Let's just get that chicken in there,

and then we can talk about it

while we're doing everything else.

Cutter and Willie... Dream cut was the breast.

They should have the best dish.

So, here, you've got the chicken,

and I'll start making the broth.

I can get the hollandaise going with the boil,

and we'll get the asparagus.

- What is he doing? - Oh, no. Oh, no.

Getting the hollandaise ready.

Cutter, did you just say hollandaise with a broth?

No, hollandaise on the asparagus.

With a broth.

No?

Ten minutes gone.

35 minutes to go.

Let's go.

- Right, Elizabeth. - Hi, chef.

Describe the dish.

A sauteed, marinated chicken oyster,

and then we're making a green New Delhi curry

to go around the outside.

Love that idea. Whose idea was this?

This was my idea.

- What's going on, Daniel? - What's up, Joe? How's it going?

How do you turn wings into an entree?

That's what I was curious about.

We got some oven-roasted fingerling potatoes.

We're gonna mix that up with a little arugula at the end.

We're gonna make sure

that these things are packed with flavor.

But I still don't understand the dish,

because chicken wings on the bone still

doesn't seem like an entree to me,

especially a restaurant-quality entree.

But that's the hand we were dealt,

so we'd better roll with it, right?

- Big Willie, Cutter. - Yes, chef.

You got the breast, the dream cut. Okay, what's the dish?