Consider me crushed. In last night’s Top Chef finale, Carla Hall allowed her sous chef (former TC-er Casey Thompson) to elbow her ever-reliable spirit guides out of the kitchen, resulting in two dishes weren’t quite Carla at all.

“It seems that you let your sous chef talk you out of cooking the food that got you to the finale,” Tom Colicchio told Carla at Judges’ Table, “and I’m not quite sure that I understand that.”

“I’ve proven that when I cook my food, it’s really delicious,” Carla responded, eyes welling up big-time. “Do I think that my food is good? Yes. When I make it? Yes.”

Heart. Breaking.

With that admission, the D.C. chef/caterer was out of the running. Coming into the finale, she was in a great position to win, and after seeing the food Hosea and Stefan brought to the table, it should have been a cake walk for Carla—if only she’d stayed true to her talents. Stupid soufflés! Love vibes only make them curdle!

Thankfully the cocky Stefan got his just desserts, finishing his presentation with a dated plate of sweets that “sang 1982” to Gail. Hosea being named Top Chef wasn’t much consolation, of course, but an all-too-fitting capper to what had been an underwhelming Season 5.

Looking forward to next week’s reunion show, though. Fingers crossed that the ‘Bird is the word,’ and Carla takes home the “Fan Favorite” prize.