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Welcome to another episode of Hell’s Kitchen! With only six chefs left, we're starting to get down to the best of the worst here. Pretty soon, one of these people will start appearing more competent (or is that less incompetent) than the others. Won't they?
Last week, the Red Team won the challenge and the Blue Team (rightly) blamed an unapologetic Jen. At dinner service, the teams competed in a battle of the menus that the Blue Team lost. Chef Ramsay sent Louross home after Petrozza voiced his opinion about who should be eliminated. Finally, Ramsay moved Matt and Jen back to their original teams.
This week, we pick up the action right after Louross’ elimination. Chef Ramsay sends the chefs back to the dorms, where Jen taunts the Blue Team guys. Bobby and Petrozza aren’t thinking Jen is so bad now, are they? Matt is definitely a worse option for them. Corey and Christina are no happier about getting their old teammate back either. They’re also both surprised that Louross was sent home.
The chefs don’t get much time to rest after last week’s disastrous dinner service. The phone in the dorms rings at 6 a.m. and they’re ordered to get down to the kitchen. Once there, they all are blindfolded and driven to meet Chef Ramsay. Everyone stands – still blindfolded - on the roof of a building. In front of each chef is a table with a covered platter. Chef Ramsay greets them and tells them to take off their blindfolds. They are standing on the roof of what will be London West Hollywood, the restaurant where one of them will become the executive chef…..maybe. Ramsay then tells them to take the cover off the dishes in front of them. On each platter is a brand new, black chef’s jacket. From here on out, there are no more teams. So that whole moving Matt and Jen to their original teams thing was kind of pointless.
To inspire the chefs even more, Chef Ramsay calls two big Guido-y guys holding suitcases forward. The briefcases are opened to reveal $250,000 – the prize for the show’s winner. Matt cries and squeals like a little girl. Downstairs, Ramsay gives them a tour of what will soon be the restaurant: it’s just an open space right now.
Ready, Set, Cook!
Back at Hell’s Kitchen, it’s time for the first individual challenge. Chef Ramsay reveals that this time, they’ll have to put their own spin on a basic ingredient. Again, we get the tables with covered dishes. Each chef takes the cover off their dishes to reveal the ingredient they will be working with. Matt gets veal, Christina will be using sea bass, Bobby draws duck, Jen gets beef, Petrozza will use chicken and Corey – who thinks she will have to use pork – ends up with lobster. Live lobster. Blech.
The chefs will have 45 minutes to prepare a unique dish. Chef Ramsay urges them to come up with something that is both delicious and innovative. Jen boasts about her cooking prowess, calling her food vibrant, creative and bold. We’ll see about that. The kitchen is a storm of activity and it’s quickly time for the chefs to plate their dishes and present them to Chef Ramsay for judging.
Matt presents a veal loin roasted with a morelle demi glaze. Chef Ramsay says there’s hardly anything wrong with it flavor-wise. Christina’s prepares pan-seared sea bass with a tarragon chervil burre blanc. Ramsay calls the sea bass robust and meaty. Petrozza manages to stuff a chicken breast with proscuitto, duck confit and vegetables. Ramsay comments that he’s never seen a chicken breast stuffed with so many ingredients. Ramsay is disappointed in Corey’s asparagus and lobster soup because she didn’t use the whole lobster. While watching Jen slice her rib eye so thinly, Chef Ramsay admits he was worried it might be dry. He compliments her on keeping the meat very moist. While Ramsay thinks Bobby’s version of duck noodle soup is delicious, the duck is tough. He says that, otherwise, the dish would have been close to perfect.
Chef Ramsay’s decision comes down to a choice between Christina and Jen. Both presented highly imaginative dishes, but Jen’s was a little better. Her dish will be on the menu at the next dinner service. Her prize for winning the challenge is a trip to Las Vegas to meet last season’s winner, Rock. Jen bawls as if she has real feelings. Chef Ramsay tells Jen she can choose one of the other chefs to go with her. Jen chooses Corey, who looks mortified. Christina is happy to not be chosen: she didn’t want to go anywhere with Jen.
The punishment for today’s challenge losers is just as much fun as it usually is. Today is delivery day at Hell’s Kitchen, so they will be unloading trucks all day and putting supplies away. Chef Ramsay sends Jen and Corey off to get ready for their trip. Jen tells us she picked Corey to go with her because she knew they would have a good time. Corey says it just shows how fake Jen is that the person she picked to share in the reward is the person she’s been talking the most smack about.
Just Desserts
Soon enough, trucks begin pulling up and honking at the loading dock. They have to check all of the food and then unload it. Since this punishment didn’t go so well last season, they should probably be checking those food shipments really carefully. Christina pretty much takes over and the guys, of course, resent her.
Meanwhile, in Vegas, Jen and Corey ride down the strip in the requisite limo. We are spared the clichéed footage of them standing up out of the sunroof and waving at pedestrians. They arrive at the hotel and check out their room. Corey tells us the closet in their room is bigger than her entire apartment in New York. I just have to mention right here that Jen is dressed like a contestant on Flavor of Love….only with pants.
Back in Hell, there’s another delivery at the dock. This time, it’s the ice order. Everyone gets to work carrying huge bags of ice to the kitchen. Matt whines that his back and shoulders hurt now. Christina tells him his attitude sucks and he tells her to shut up. He can quit any time he wants, Christina shoots back. Matt goes off, swearing and ranting. He tells us he should be in Vegas right now.
I love how, even in Vegas, the production staff managed to find a restaurant stock room for Jen to sit in for her confessionals. This made me laugh so hard I didn’t even pay attention to what she said. Probably more of her usual. Jen and Corey arrive at Terre Verde to meet last season’s winner, Rock. He gives them a tour of the restaurant and then they all sit down to talk. Rock’s big revelation? In a nutshell, Chef Ramsay is looking for style over substance. At least that’s what I got out of it. This would explain a lot.
The next morning, Matt claims he feels inspired to work harder and vows to not fail. Christina tells us Matt is driving her crazy. You and me both, sister. Matt continues to talk to himself. He then demonstrates his new level of crazy for Jen and Corey, who have just returned from Vegas.
Chef Ramsay arrives for the pre-dinner service talk. Tonight, they will have double the amount of customers because they will all be cooking from one kitchen. He then assigns each chef to their stations. Jen and Petrozza will be on appetizers, Bobby on fish, Corey on vegetables and both Matt and Christina on meat. Ramsay explains that every station needs to get off to a good start. Christina vows to kick Matt off of their station if he blows it. Matt says some rude things about Christina and calls her immature. Pot, meet kettle.
The Part Where Foreshadowing Walks Right in the Front Door
Is it a bad omen that, just as dinner service begins and the first order hits the kitchen, Matt almost immediately sets a pan on fire. He then blows on the fire to put it out. Chef Ramsay shouts at him: he’s just going to splatter oil in his face. Jen is faring a bit better so far. Ramsay compliments her first order of risotto. While Jen is on hot appetizers, Petrozzo is on cold appetizers. He sends up his first appetizer and Ramsay notices chives stuck of the bottom of the plate. Ramsay calls Petrozza over, calls him a pig and tells him to clean the bottom of the plate.
Jen smugly tells us she knows she is a better chef than anyone else in the kitchen. Ramsay then calls her forward because her next order of risotto is too salty. Thirty minutes into dinner service, about half of the appetizers have gone out and the focus moves to entrees. Chef Ramsay calls out a meat order and Matt can’t repeat it back to him correctly. Matt isn’t communicating with anyone, including Corey, who’s on vegetables. Matt and Christina vow to try working as a team and to stop sniping at each other.
In order to get the meat out faster, Christina devises a clever way to cook the beef: she puts it in an already hot pan with some chicken. Ramsay catches her and shouts at her to get that beef out of the pan. Bobby then gets caught doing the same thing: he’s cooking salmon and scallops in the same pan. As someone who’s allergic to shellfish, Bobby should know better, Ramsay scolds.
It seems to happen in every dinner service. It’s the moment when orders begin coming back to the kitchen. This time, it’s undercooked beef. Ramsay calls Matt and Christina forward. He then asks how long Christina cooked the meat. She tells him that Jen told her she should cook the beef for 4 minutes. Jen throws Christina under the bus and blatantly denies this.
One and a half hours into dinner service, Corey sets a pan on fire and burns her hand. Chef Ramsay orders her to go see the medic, but she repeatedly refuses. After much badgering, Corey finally goes to the medic, but returns to the kitchen pretty quickly. In the dining room, perople are starting to get rude about not being served. Honestly, have they never watched this show before? Food may not be going out to diners, but at least one person in Hell’s Kitchen is eating. Ramsay catches Matt “tasting” the Wellingtons. Ramsay yells at him, but we see him sneaking more food. Pig.
Chef Ramsay calls out another order and now it’s Christina who can’t get the order straight. Matt picks this moment to start flipping out again. Bobby boasts to us that he’s totally got this whole thing down: he doesn’t know what’s up with the rest of them. Of course, Bobby messes up on the next order, but gets things straightened out pretty quickly and without a lot of drama.
Matt, on the other hand, seems to be drama’s co-pilot. Chef Ramsay calls him and Christina forward to show them some raw Wellingtons and over-cooked rib eye. Matt meekly reaches for the rib eye and Ramsay smacks his hand away. Matt then tries to apologize to Chef Ramsay and then, oddly, goes up to take the order ticket. What the hell is he doing? He then moans to Ramsay about his migraine. Matt tells us that he’s not the problem: it’s the other chefs. He’s a team player, he just doesn’t have any team players around him. He then whines about how he can’t concentrate any more. Petrozza observes that Matt is fried. Cue Matt mumbling “Send me home.” Yes, please.
Ramsay shouts, “You guys are a bunch of f^%&( losers!” As if to illustrate his point, Matt gets an order wrong again. He then stops everything to take some medicine. I kind of zoned out at this point. The sound of Matt’s voice tends to do that to me. I did catch some b.s. about him not having any feeling in his hands. With that, Chef Ramsay takes Matt by the hand and guides him through the kitchen and out the door. He orders him to go upstairs and lie down. Matt complains that he wanted to work through it. Ramsay growls at him to get out.
Matt’s Not in Right Now, Can I Take a Message?
We’re two and a half hours into dinner service, and the only thing leaving the kitchen is Matt. Jen says Matt just wouldn’t take any responsibility. Cut to a pot of burning rice that Christina finds on her stove. Jen admits she left the rice on the stove and forgot about it. Ramsay, who’s in a mood to throw people out of the kitchen, tells Jen to get out. Since he’s on a roll, he throws out Christina too: she’s been cooking on that stove for an hour and didn’t notice the rice. You know, everyone else sucks too, so Ramsay throws the rest of them out too and shuts down the kitchen.
Man, these people suck. It just gets worse every week. I’ve been recapping this show for a few seasons and I don’t ever remember Ramsay shutting down a dinner service this late in the season. At this point, I wouldn’t trust any of them to run a hot dog cart, much less the kitchen of a fine dining restaurant. No offense to hot dog cart vendors out there. Ramsay looks disgusted with all of them. This should have been their best dinner service. Instead, it was just pathetic. He sends them back to the dorms to decide which of them will be nominated for elimination.
Matt then asks Ramsay if he can speak to him privately. Ramsay sighs and so do I. Does this guy ever quit? Matt then whines about his migraine some more. Ramsay says he’s like to see some manliness out of Matt. Yeah, I don’t think that’s going to happen, Gordo. Matt the Delusional then tells us he’s going to win this show.
Meanwhile, the other chefs all agree that Matt is going to be nominated. When Matt hears the news he boasts that nominating him will be waste of time. He guarantees he won’t be sent home. They all think he’s a complete nutter. The chefs turn their attention to nominating a second person. Corey and Christina want to put Jen up, but Jen argues against them. Bobby thinks Christina should be nominated because the meat station was so bad. Corey offers to be the second nominee because she just screwed up tonight.
But….Who Will I Mock Now?
Back in the dining room, Petrozza gives Chef Ramsay their first nomination. Matt will be up for elimination because his attitude sucks and he failed during tonight’s dinner service. Corey names Christina as the second nominee because the meat station sunk tonight and she was part of the reason. Corey then stupidly blurts out that she wanted to be nominated but the others wouldn’t let her. Ramsay agrees with Corey and tells her to step forward with Matt and Christina.
Each nominee makes a plea to stay. Corey acknowledges the fact that she screwed up and let her emotions get the better of her, but she doesn’t think she deserves to go home. Matt believes he should stay because (get this) he gets picked on by everyone. He claims to still be there to win. He says he still fought to give good service tonight even though he had a migraine and he definitely doesn’t think he was the worst. Christina was the worst, Matt says. Christina thinks she should stay and Ramsay interrupts her. He wonders if she just needs a bit more experience. Christina says she thinks she’s getting better everyday and says this competition isn’t just about experience: it’s about heart. Still, Ramsay again wonders if Christina should get more experience because he thinks she gives up too easily. Christina disagrees with him again.
Much to my relief, Chef Ramsay announces that Matt will be going home. Can I get an “amen!"? Corey and the others smile. Matt tells us Hell’s Kitchen is a lot different than what we think. No, no it’s not. I think Hell’s Kitchen is a lot different from what YOU thought it would be, Matt. Matt, who earlier professed his ability to be a team player now says the whole teamwork thing was tough. He says he’s happy with how far he’s come and knows his career isn’t over…..until all of his prospective employers get a load of the sweaty pasta episode, that is. In spite of the fact that Chef Ramsay pretty much yelled at him 24/7, Matt says it was an honor to work with him.
Chef Ramsay tells us that Matt was just a little bit worse than the other chefs. He then tells the remaining chefs to think hard about how they can unite as a team.
Ramsay closes the episode with a little rhyme: “There once was boy named Matt, whose kitchen performance fell flat. He was far from neat, miserable on meat…so I kicked him out and that’s that.“
Next Week: It’s a Hell’s Kitchen first when the chefs open a cooking school for bimbos. Watch as Barbie wannabes murder defenseless lobsters in horrific ways and render Petrozza speechless! Plus, the chefs show they’re willing to lie, cheat and steal to get what they want.
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Thanks for another great recap, Crit. 
I'm sure you'll find someone! Awesome recap, Crit. 
