The Most-Unforgettable Sabotages from the Cutthroat Kitchen: Time Warp Tournament

Travel back in time in evilicious style with a look at the most-diabolical challenges to befall the chefs.

Finale: The Return of the Boy Band

Though not necessarily by their own design, Chefs Won, Perry and Clay form the world's newest culinary boy band after Chef Gentile sabotages them in the Round 1 BBQ chicken pizza round. While one chef takes the lead and preps his dish, the other two round out the backup dancers with "Boy Bobs," according to Alton, and show off their moves. "I'm the Timberlake here," Chef Clay says of his take-charge ability.

Compact Ingredients

Believe it or not, Chef Gentile is actually pleased to give up his basket ingredients and open countless CD cases to find his pizza ingredients inside. At least, he is at first. "I didn't grab cheese in the shop, so this was a blessing," he says. Later, though, when he struggles to find barbecue sauce, he admits, "I'm wasting a lot of time."

Forever Fried Calamari

Fresh off their chart-topping band performance, Chefs Won and Clay join together again in Round 2's fried calamari challenge, this time at the bow of a boat. It's up to them to take turns at the helm, reaching around the other person in order to reach their prep stations. The guys manage to share the time easily enough and move from each other's table. As Chef Won notes, "As long as you keep the communication open — and this goes for any good relationship, right? — then you get a lot more things done."

So Sheepish

"Even though I'm ripping them open pretty easy, I'm not getting all the things I need," Chef Gentile admits of the flock of ingredient-stuffed sheep he's tearing apart in order to find fixings for his calamari. Though he manages to find bread and starts toasting it to make breadcrumbs for the batter, he burns the bread in the skillet and is forced to crush crackers and rice instead.

Playing the Blues

Chef Won learns the hard way that the saxophone is a tricky ingredient as he's forced to mix his cookie-dough ice cream mixture in it in Round 3. "I don't know the proper notes to hold the saxophone and close up all the holes," he admitted. He manages to concoct a creamy base nevertheless, but his cookie dough proves more difficult.

Dare: Accepted

"Fine, like, I'm having a blast," Chef Clay said of running what Alton called a "physically challenging obstacle course" inspired by the one made popular on Double Dare in the 1990s. He's forced to endure that slippery, creamy slope twice as he gathers ingredients from the bottom of a pool and makes his way to the ice cream machine.

Meet the Champion

Because of time constraints, Chef Clay executes what he calls a "no-cook custard," but still his finished dessert bests Chef Won's. Ultimately Chef Clay earns the title of first-ever Cutthroat Kitchen: Time Warp Tournament victor.

Heat 4: Bringing Back a Trend

Remember when shoulder pads were the "it" fashion in the 1980s? Alton made sure that the competitors did when he unveiled a duo of shoulder pad workstations on which chefs Guy and Craig had to prep their Round 1 Chinese chicken salad dishes on pads on each other's shoulders. "This is chaos," according to Chef Craig.

Checking Out

"With this sabotage, I'm going to have to completely change my dish," Chef Craig noted of his second challenge in Round 1, the mandate to rent all the ingredients for his Chinese chicken salad from VHS boxes. And with each "video" he picked up, a Bob charged him.

Necessary Accessories

Though cellphones are now small enough to fit into pockets and can hold a library of music, in the 1980s a cellphone was as large as a forearm, and a boom box was a monstrosity. Thanks to Chef Won's purchase, chefs Elizabeth and Guy had to carry the phone and the boom box, respectively, as they prepped blackened fish in Round 2. "I feel like I got the world on my shoulder right now," joked Chef Guy.

Riding the Waves

Unfortunately for Chef Guy, the situation only worsened in the second round, as Chef Won sabotaged him with another sabotage, a shaking Miami Vice-style boat in which Chef Guy had to prep his fish dish. "I lost my salmon to the deep ocean," he said after dropping the pan with the fish on the floor. He'd picked up what he called "backup fish" in the pantry, so he managed to cook and plate that — a piece of halibut — in time.

Video Game Comes to Life

Who needs Pac-Man when Alton brings Snack Man to the party? During Round 3's toaster pastry test, this human-powered video game forced Chef Won, donning a breakfast-pastry costume, to navigate the kitchen while dodging two walking toaster Bobs, who would fine him each time they tracked him down. "I used to play football, so I'm kind of used to this," Chef Won admitted. But his competitor, Chef Elizabeth, wasn't convinced by that.

Crimping and Cooking

Not just for hair anymore, the '80s-favorite crimping iron turned out to be Chef Won's sole cooking device in Round 3, which meant he had to sandwich the heated plates around the pastry dough to cook it. Though his finished dish didn't quite resemble a traditional toaster pastry, when the elements of his offering were combined, they were "really reminiscent of a toaster pastry," according to judge Antonia Lofaso; Chef Won walked away with the win.

Heat 3: Better Together

Chef Mortenson wasted no time in sabotaging his fellow rivals in Round 1's hamburger mac and cheese test, as he spent a combined $17,400 on two sabotages: one a banana-seated bike on which chefs Clay, Adia and Martha had to move about the kitchen together, and the other a fondue pot full of ingredients that Chef Martha had to dig through to find all of her usable items. "We got to go. We got to go," Chef Clay urged Chef Martha as she struggled to sift through the gooey fondue.

Suffering the Consequences

"She doesn't have the stuff that I hid in there that's the good stuff, and I'm afraid that she's just not fighting for her right to go back and do a little bit more shopping," Alton noted as he watched Chef Martha's Round 1 dish come together. Despite Chef Martha's best efforts, her finished dish indeed left much to be desired, as judge Richard Blais found it to be too unlike classic hamburger mac and cheese, and she was sent home.

Feeling Funky

In Round 2, the Cutthroat arena turned into Funky Town for Chef Adia, who found herself on a dance floor connected to a disco ball as she worked on her quiche. "I didn't think this sabotage would be that hard, but I'm struggling," Chef Adia admitted. She was strategic about her prep plan, as she noted that she didn't want to waste time moving between the dance floor and oven.

On the Bottom

Chef Mortenson was saddled with just one sabotage in Round 2 — a mandate to cook his quiche on the bottom of a bell — and while he ultimately went home following that, his elimination wasn't necessarily because of the challenge. Instead, his mango-avocado sauce, which he served on the side, was more of a problem, as judge Richard noted it was "incredibly acidic."

Do the Disco

While Chef Adia was attached to a disco ball in Round 2, she became the disco ball in Round 3, as the first of two challenges she dealt with forced her to don an oversize disco-ball costume and spin around as she maneuvered through the kitchen while prepping crepes suzette. "The trickiest part is that your arms don't touch," according to Chef Adia. "I want to add orange segments to my sauce, but I can't even hold the orange to cut it."

The Return of the Stone Age

Chef Clay started Round 3 with a full $25,000, but he ended it with just $1,300 after spending $8,500 on the disco ball, plus a whopping $15,200 to force Chef Adia to cook on stones. "Totes got to have this," Chef Clay said of the auction. Though Chef Adia made do with the double whammy of sabotages and managed to make (mini) crepes, her dish couldn't best Chef Clay's.

Finale Bound

As Chef Clay enjoyed a sabotage-free Round 3, he had no trouble turning out an impressive crepe dish for judge Richard. "I loved your sauce," the judge noted. "It's got a lot of depth to it. You really can taste the cooked liqueur."

Heat 2: "The Condiment Invasion"

Whereas the British band The Beatles brought the "Yellow Submarine" in the 1960s, Alton unveiled his "mustard submarine" in what he called "the condiment invasion" in Round 1's joint party-punch and party-snack test. For Chef DeMarco, who wound up in the middle seat in the boat between Chefs Perry and Nancy, this sabotage was anything but smooth sailing. "This is not a cookie that I want to be in the middle of," Chef DeMarco said.

Jiggling with Eviliciousness

Thanks to Chef Nancy, Chef Joe found himself digging through an oversize layered gelatin mold to unearth all of the ingredients he could use to prep his Round 1 punch and plate. After "going karate style on this gelatin mold," as he put it, Chef Joe was able to fish out the necessary ingredients and even admitted later that Chef Nancy's purchase of the challenge may have been for naught. "She wasted her money, because these ingredients are much better than the ingredients I got in my basket," he explained.

Fight for the Right to Cook

The art of the protest took over the arena in Round 2 when Alton auctioned off a two-person sabotage featuring protest signs-turned-prep stations. Chefs Perry and Joe were forced to work together if they wanted to execute their chicken Kiev dishes, and they weren't always united in their goal. "I sense a little animosity here," Alton joked with the guys. "You know, the '60s were a time of peace and love and harmony, but I'm not really feeling that from you guys."

Meet the Prep Pool

Though the actual Bay of Pigs may be in Cuba, Alton brought it stateside when he auctioned off a floating prep station swimming with toy pigs, in which Chef Nancy had to work on her banana pudding in Round 3. "I'm having to whisk my cream by hand," Chef Nancy explained. "I really am worried about time here."

A Big Step for Chef Perry

Even though Chef Perry was feeling the heat — literally — in his spacesuit getup in Round 3, he managed to execute a winning banana pudding that judge Jet Tila said had "a lot of layers of flavor." With his victory intact, the chef earned a coveted spot in the finale heat.

Heat 1: Calling All the Chefs

Though mobile phones reign supreme today, in the 1950s it was all about landline phones and phone booths, similar to the ones three chefs had to cram themselves into during the Round 1 American breakfast test. "Being squeezed in that phone booth," Chef Gentile said, "we have to work together as a team. And I know there's no way that's going to happen when we're all out to cutthroat each other."

Impromptu Concert

Just as swarms of people screamed for the legendary hip-swinging King back in the day, so too did the Bobs for Chef Gentile, who needed their enthusiasm if he wanted them to hand over ingredients for a TV dinner in Round 2. "Elvis would not be proud," Chef Dwayne told Chef Gentile as the latter did his best onstage.

Sputnik Meets Sabotage

"It's a red scare, for sure," host Alton Brown declared of his Sputnik look-alike. It made an appearance in Round 3 when Chef Gentile, sabotaged yet again, was forced to use it as his sole cooking tool. Here the judge of Round 1, Simon Majumdar, experiences it for himself on the After-Show.

Hoopin' and Cookin'

Chef Dwayne dished out both sabotages in Round 1 and somehow managed to escape them once again in Round 2 — until Chef Gentile made him and Chef Guilherme hula-hoop around the kitchen while prepping the rest of their TV dinners. "Dwayne, when I hula, you hoop," Chef Guilherme joked of working in tandem with his competitor.

The Infamous Dress Returns

You know that now-classic photo of Marilyn Monroe in which her white dress is blowing? Chef Gentile was forced to re-create that scene in Round 3's milkshake and fries test as he donned a dress and dealt with constant wind. "The dress is all in my face, and to be honest, it's super-hard to focus when all this stuff is just flying around," Chef Gentile explained of his situation.

Diner Scenes, Step by Step

Chef Guilherme was a one-man diner decorator in Round 3 as a time-sucking sabotage meant he'd be laying black and white floor tiles with each step he took. "I got to go to the ice cream machine," Chef Guilherme noted. "And trust me, with those tiles, it feels like miles."

Against All Odds

Despite the many sabotages that befell Chef Gentile in this battle, he managed to outcook Chef Guilherme in Round 3 and earn the title of 1950s champ. He's earned a spot in the finale, where winners from the 1960, 1970 and 1980 rounds will face off against each other.

Want More of the Time Warp Tournament?

Check out Food Network's Cutthroat Kitchen headquarters for more insider coverage of the tournament, and check out the latest installment of the After-Show with Alton and the judges.

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