The Metal's Too Heavy on Next Great Baker

We're down to six bakers on the Cake Boss contest spinoff Next Great Baker.

As the new episode opens Monday night, Buddy reminds the contestants that they're only two weeks away from the finale. “This is where I want to see your fire,” he says.

For their baker's challenge the contestants have to do a kitchen triathlon. Against the clock they'll have to stock Buddy's kitchen with nine 50lb. bags of sugar, scoop 35lbs. of flour by hand and then frost a tray of cupcakes.

It would be extremely polite to say that most of these contestants do not look athletic. Ryan is loading the sugar bags, and he's hurtin'. “I think I'm going to die,” he wheezes. Marissa says he needs to get...um, some of those round things found in sports.

Then it's Megan's turn. She just picks up two bags and starts marching. This prompts Marissa and Nadine to try two too. Nadine falls down harder than the skier in the Wide World of Sports promo. Marissa starts choking. Buddy urges hers to vomit. The decision to hold this challenge is worse than Ron Burgandy's choice of milk.

But somehow Marissa beats all of the other contestants. She gets some free cookware, but Buddy says he's going to pick the teams. He separates the boys and the girls. Ryan and Marissa are mutually happy they're apart.

Now it's time for the elimination challenge. The teams have to bake a heavy-metal themed birthday cake for Mauro, who enters dressed like a roadie for Motorhead. He's a big metal head.

The cakes have to be three feet tall and spew pyrotechnics. “If there's one thing I don't like it's a dud,” Buddy says.

The boys seem to be off to a good start, the girls not so much. Megan is skeptical of Nadine's design, then botches coloring flames into the base of the cake and has to redo them. Marissa doubts Megan's skill. The girls plan to have a big guitar sticking out of the cake, and Megan thinks it will fall.

The bakers break overnight, and when they return for day two Buddy is angry. He says the cakes so far are so awful that he'll eliminate two contestants.

Carmelo had been working on sculpture that overnight fell on the floor. He tries to fix it even though Buddy said it has to go in the trash. Ryan and Chad tell him not to reuse it, but Carmelo persists.

Buddy also hates the flames that Megan redid. Marissa starts wiring the pyrotechnics but she's having trouble. She starts barking urgent orders at her teammates like the captain of a demo squad charged with blasting the bridge behind a fleeing army.

Megan is frustrated. Marissa is frustrated that Megan is frustrated. Neither of the teams complete their cakes according to design.

Buddy sees they haven't finished but has them deliver the cakes to Mauro's party.

It's a party in the parking lot of the Lackawanna factory. A rock band is playing on a makeshift stage on top of a box truck and Mauro and guests are headbanging.

The girls go to get their cake out of the truck and see, as predicted, that the guitar fell over. The boys are sure now that they're going to win.

The girls reapply the guitar but it falls again on the presentation table. Everybody groans. Ah, the agony of defeat.

The boys' flames slant sideways in the wind. Buddy deems the girls' cake unsafe for their pyro demonstration. Buddy says the girls failed, but that the boys shouldn't assume they're all safe.

During the judging, Buddy says everyone disappointed him. He asks Carmelo what happened, and Carmelo mentions his team lost a lot of time because the statue fell on the floor.

Chad then tells Buddy that Carmelo reused the statue. Carmelo flashes Chad a nasty look.

“You want to feed my family stuff off the floor?” Buddy yells. He says he should eliminate Carmelo just for that.

He turns his attention to the girls. Marissa criticizes Megan for having to do the flames over and over again. Megan blames Nadine for the guitar falling.

Buddy has to eliminate two contestants. He spares Marissa for showing great heart, and also Ryan for having talent and drive.

Buddy says Carmelo always talks about his potential, but that he makes too many mistakes. He needs his next great baker now, and sends Carmelo to the box truck.

Buddy then spares Chad but says he needs to be more vocal when problems arise during the challenges.

Now it's down to Megan and Nadine. Buddy says Nadine still has a lot to show him, but that he's going to give her a second chance.

So there are the two eliminated contestants, Two-sack Megan and Five-second rule Carmelo. It's to the box truck baby, you're out of the band.