Host Jonathan Bennett welcomes eight returning all-star teams of pumpkin carvers, cake artists and sugar masters to battle in head-to-head challenges. The losing teams face a brutal do-or-die showdown, and judges Shinmin Li and Andrew Fuller decide which teams survive.
The Chopped judges are hitting the kitchen after hours, where in the first round, they must work "watermelon brains" and chocolate-covered bugs into some spooky Halloween-themed desserts. Trash-talking leads to ingredient thievery in round two as they attempt to reinterpret grandma's meatloaf, and in round three, a French custard proves very tricky to incorporate into appetizers.