If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the “Top Chef” kitchen. Or whatever that holding tank near the judges’ table is called.

Aside from a few scattered snide remarks from cheftestants, things had been a little too hunky dory and hug-riffic in “Top Chef” land prior to last night’s Elimination Challenge.

Then, almost immediately after Zoi Antonitsas was eliminated for unseasoned food and bad ‘shrooms, someone spilled a Nasty Ceviche all over the aprons of Evangelos “Spike” Mendelsohn, Antonia Lofaso, Jennifer Biesty, Lisa Fernandes and Dale Talde.

And unlike so many previous “Top Chef” battles after which I was confident about my allegiances, I didn’t seem to align myself with any of those five. I like all of them a little less than I did at the start of the episode.

Although he was right about Antonia needing to take a step back after winning immunity, no one was stopping him from putting his foot down about making a soup instead of the dish that sent Zoi, and could have sent him, home. Plus, he started the whole argument. But whether or not Antonia rejected the idea of a soup outright, she came across as defensive and pompous. Jennifer, understandably upset to see her girlfriend head home, seemed to be taking out her frustrations unfairly on Spike, who ironically was arguing a point that might have saved Zoi had an immune Antonia not been so bossy. Lisa, after moping around the kitchen for most of the night, griped at Dale for agreeing with Spike. Dale, apparently looking for a reason to snap, called out Lisa for her supposed hypocrisy and unleashed an expletive-laden diatribe.

The weird part? The person among the five with whom I probably agree most is Spike, who once again was the instigator. But he was absolutely right when he said:

I feel if you have immunity and you’re going into a group effort, maybe you should take just slightly a back seat.

And now “Top Chef” has some of the much-needed drama it’s been lacking in a season in which all of the castoffs have been predictable and all the contestants’ rivalries had been reasonably friendly. Now, it’s a battle royale.

That said, this means I’m rooting harder than ever for four of the people not involved in the argument: Andrew D’Ambrosi, Mark Simmons, Richard Blais and Stephanie Izard.

Oh, and there was some food on the show and stuff.

Antonia didn’t exactly endear herself to me to start off the episode, when she said she and Zoi got “jacked” for being among the two worst teams in the previous Elimination Challenge. Really? Granted, it was clear that while their dish wasn’t the worst, but based on the judges’ raves about the four superior dishes that week, it didn’t seem like they had a real argument that one of those four teams’ dishes was worse.

Still, Antonia deserved props and immunity for her sensitive and accurate palate during the Quickfire Challenge, correctly identifying the better-quality ingredients presented to her in 12 of 15 sets of samples while blindfolded. The worst score of 6 out of 15? Stephanie, arguably the female front-runner. I know! I was shocked, too.

Guest judge Ming Tsai warned the contestants to keep their food simple and well-executed for the Elimination Challenge, which asked contestants to create a first course inspired by the four natural elements—Earth, Water, Fire and Air—for 80 diners at a celebrity chef Meals on Wheels fundraiser.

After drawing knives, the teams were Richard, Andrew and Mark on Water; Antonia, Spike and Zoi on Earth; Stephanie, Dale and Lisa on Fire; and Nikki, Ryan and Jennifer on Air.

Team Fire wins it and Lisa wins the trip to Italy for using a cooking technique for a gooey bacon concoction that Tsai had never seen before. And despite being her teammate, Dale drank some more Haterade for his confessional and admitted his bitterness.

Upon first glance at the teams, I thought for sure team Water—with the immensely creative Richard and Andrew and affable team player Mark—would obliterate the competition with eventual Elimination challenge winner Fire finishing runner-up. Especially since Mark, a native Kiwi residing in New York, referenced how the Elimination Challenge kitchen could probably fit Yankee Stadium, home of the world’s most successful and awesome franchise.

But Richard suffered more from supposed “overconfidence,” as head judge Tom Colicchio called it (perhaps searching for something negative to say about that talented team at the time); the scales in the salmon were everywhere. Excuse me, waiter, but I didn’t order the vomiting through my teeth. Please send this back.

Still, perhaps benefiting from his track record, Richard was safe because the dish that team Earth served was universally panned by guests and judges alike. And while it was pretty sweet to see the judges call out Antonia for taking too much of a leadership role when she had nothing to lose, Spike came across like a 4-year-old when he sputtered his agreement in the judges’ room.

So next week, it looks like the argument will have a lingering impact. Who will suffer the most from its consequences? Post your thoughts below.

(Photo of Zoi by Matt Dinerstein; photo of Ming Tsai and Padma Lakshmi by Chuck Hodes. Both pictures courtesy of NBC/Universal)