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Never say The X Factor is always the same. Just last week, Nick Grimshaw was smugly grinning about how strong his category was - only to discover to his horror that the opposite was true. And last night, Simon Cowell was disgusted to be mentoring the Overs... only to find out that actually, they were full of talent.
The problem with Grimshaw's Six Chair Challenge was that with little talent on offer, at least at first, the stakes didn't feel too high - it was only when the (now reinstated) pantomime villain Mason Noise appeared that the drama level got ratcheted up.
It was a similar story with Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, whose Groups were squeezed into the end of last week's episode and the beginning of Sunday's, with no real events to speak of (the closest we came was with Silver Tone and BEKLN, connected by a brother and sister in each group - but both of them got a seat in the end).
Come to Simon Cowell, though, and things really started to get interesting. He might have moaned about having the Overs - and his apology to the category backstage meant little when he carried on complaining to the other judges - but he perhaps couldn't have predicted quite how difficult it would be to choose just six acts.
Hence the swapping - and lots of it. Cowell seemed utterly baffled to be in a position where the acts were really showing him what they could do, so we had U-turns and last-second changes of hearts and people going in and out more than in the hokey cokey.
There were stand-outs, of course: Anton Stephans was again an utter joy, astonishing us with his powerful vocal, making us laugh with his snappy 'Botox' comeback to Cowell, and even having us well up a little with his impassioned pitch for a chair. Then there were the likes of Jennifer Phillips - who has been consistently good - and little-seen contenders like Ebru and Kerrie-Anne Phillips, who became welcome surprises.
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But this should have been enough drama: instead, Cowell seemed determined to be "mean" (as dejected hopeful Stephanie McCourt described him). Perhaps he was annoyed to get a category he didn't want, but it was almost verging on the unprofessional as he dispatched Holly Johnson with little ceremony (or even a glint of kindness) and dubbed Max Stone "boring". There's a difference between being honest and being rude.
Max, of course, got the last laugh when the audience hounded Cowell until he agreed to take him to Judges' Houses - having previously swapped him out - but not all of the contestants were so lucky.
It was McCourt that we really felt sorry for; after a fine performance, she was blasted for not being "friendly" or "warm". What's worse, though, is that Cowell's harshness rubbed off on the audience, who began to boo and chant "off" at McCourt, a girl who simply liked singing and thought this was the place to do that.
The Six Chair Challenge has always been gladiatorial, but it's normally in support of the acts at least a little bit (urging them to get seats, for example). Led by Cowell, it turned into something altogether crueller here and almost felt uncomfortable to watch.
Even after Cowell chose his top six, he took to Twitter yesterday to admit he'd made two "big mistakes" - let's hope his thoughts on who those mistakes are remain private, at least for now.
Because now that the inherent drama of the Six Chair Challenge is over and done with, we'll have to look elsewhere for the big talking points in the show. Mason Noise's return has already provided one, but actually Judges' Houses shouldn't struggle too much - with a place in the live shows at stake, the pressure is on... and with the decisions being made live, there probably won't be much need for Cowell to be cutting.
The X Factor continues with Judges' Houses on Saturday (October 24) at 7.30pm on ITV.
