The two-part, Bahamas-based season finale gets underway tonight. So grab a big floppy straw hat and a tropical drink, and join us as we all live-blog it in the comments! Bikini-wearing is optional.

You don't have to drink, of course, to enjoy this live blog—feel free to imbibe in any substance or sustenance of your choosing. But if do want to prepare a cocktail for our little viewing party, I'd suggest mixing up a Bahama Mama, in honor of tonight's locale. Here's a simple recipe I found online:

  • 1/2 ounce regular rum
  • 1/2 ounce coconut-flavored rum
  • 1/2 ounce grenadine syrup
  • 1 ounce orange juice
  • 1 ounce pineapple juice
  • 1 cup crushed ice

Just toss that all together in a blender, and enjoy. And here's how to enjoy this little Wednesday night party of ours, if you haven't joined us before: First, turn on your TV and keep your laptop or computer keyboard handy. Then, when Top Chef starts (at 10 Eastern on Bravo), post quips and observations about what you see in the comments section below this post. The rest of us will be doing the same (with or without the straw hats). To get an idea of how it all works, you might want to check out some highlights from last week. Other notable highlights included:

  • Everyone hated the "snack-bar quickfire" contest. Have Top Chef's gimmicky junk-food-challenges finally jumped the shark?
  • During the Ellis Island-themed challenge, commenter sarrible bemoaned that Marcel's earlier elimination meant that we missed a chance to learn about the native cuisines of his "horned elf-people" ancestors.
  • Commenters debated the pros and cons of okra. Pros discussed included: You can deep-fry it, and it can be good if it's "cooked perfectly." Cons included: It's slimy, it's slimy and it's slimy. Also, it's slimy.
  • In the end, nobody lost, and everyone was a winner. It was like the Top Chef Special Olympics!

Tonight's episode looks like a real winner too, based on what I saw in the preview clips. Here are few things to watch for as we live-blog tonight:

  • The quickfire round will feature a visit by memorable winners of seasons past, including Michael Voltaggio, Hosea Rosenberg, Stephanie Izard and, um, that guy who won last season. What was his name again?
  • In discussing a piece of kitchen equipment, Richard Blais will tell Mike Isabella: "You want to toggle the Fahrenheit to Celsius—you know how to do that?" To which Mike will reply, "Huh?" That exchange basically sums up all you need to know about both these guys.
  • We'll hear that one dish's ingredients include "pulled pork and pickled turnips," and that another contains "bacon, Brussels sprouts, and blue cheese." Based on that, I predict that the theme of tonight's elimination-challenge will be "ingredient alliteration."
  • Here's a new drinking-game rule: Drink whenever you see Padma wearing a bikini. My hope is that we'll invoke that one often tonight.

OK gang, it's time to get this limbo party started! Join me down in the comments, and let's see how low we can go!

[Image via Shutterstock]