‘MasterChef’ recap: Do hypocrites come any bigger than Krissi?

“MasterChef” executives, get ready for an avalanche of chiropractic bills. From all the neck injuries inflected when viewers watched Krissi drop from a top place to last place in the likability category.

Look at the bright side, “MasterChef” fans: That’s one less cookbook you’ll need to buy.

True, Krissi has had a loud mouth and sharp elbows from the start of this season, but she’s always managed to pull back just in time and remind us that she’s just a tough tawkin’ single mom who tells it like it is and makes rustic Italian food. The kind of homey dishes that might not look magazine-ready on the plate, but are plenty delicious. That makes her one of the more relatable cooks in the bunch.

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But that was before this week’s challenges.

Yes, this is a game, we all know that. And there’s a cash prize waiting at the finish line for the person who wins. That doesn’t mean you revel in someone else’s misery -- especially when you put them there.

It wasn’t all that long ago that Krissi was calling Jordan out for his [bleep!] move. Remember? When he decided to use the “get-out-of-jail-free” card for himself, and skip the elimination challenge.

In a move that had to have show producers high-fiving and dancing the jig, Krissi pulled what has got to be the most hypocritical move in “MasterChef” history and did THE SAME EXACT THING HERSELF. Of course, she defended it as “I’ve got a son at home...” blah, blah, blah, no one cares anymore.

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That was bad enough. But then -- then! -- she laughed and smirked and cackled as Bimi struggled and then ultimately failed in the lemon meringue pie challenge. Never mind that Bime’s fried chicken won rave reviews in the earlier challenge, where competitors had to cook for the cast and crew of “Glee” And never mind that Bime, while a pretty good cook to get as far as he did, is really not Krissi’s competition. He was never a front-runner to win this thing, and Krissi has been at the front of the class from the start.

In other words, Krissi was just kicking a man when he was down when she sneered, “Mission accomplished,” at Bime’s elimination.

Lynch was right. You’re a beast, Krissi.

A beast with a bull’s-eye on your back.

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Krissi’s gamesmanship overshadowed several other highlights, including Joe’s mama Lidia Bastianich making pasta. And one of the great verbal takedowns of all time: Joe taking the paddle to Howard for disrespecting said mama. (Seriously, Howard, what were you thinking? Trying to one-up Lidia? Impossible!)

Chef Gordon Ramsay threw down the gauntlet and told Lynn and Howard that one of them needed to do the honorable thing and depart the “MasterChef” kitchen. Howard fell on the sword, and it was a sword that was needed to cut that tension. Yeesh. Well played, “MasterChef.”

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