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'Hell's Kitchen': The semi-rise of Matt
We are a substantial way into this season of Hell's Kitchen, and no matter how much I rack my brain, I can't for the life of me figure out why some people are still on the show and who might actually deserve to win the whole thing. I know that those that have left already certainly deserved to go, but after watching the show week after week (tonight included), I think Gordon Ramsay needs to do some mass executions and separate the few who can from the many who unquestionably cannot.
Let's take a gander at some of our choices, you'll see what I mean.
First up tonight we got another look at Matt. He is one angry dude and while editing can change a lot, I can't imagine that he's a great chef who has just been made to look bad by sly editors and his ex-teammates. He actually suggested tonight that he did nothing wrong during last week's service. I don't think it possible for editing to have made Matt overcook one fish and then undercook the next. If it is, I'm buying an editing machine instead of frying pans next time I'm in need.
Heading into tonight's challenge, the blind taste test, Matt looked absolutely terrified. Even when it wasn't his turn, he looked terrified. His team was ahead, it wasn't his turn yet, and while he was smiling, his eyes showed fear. I kid you not, go back and check, the man was absolutely terrified of the blind taste test. He looked a little bit better when it was actually his turn and he got the opportunity to go head-to-head with Ben, but not great.
I'm a fair man, so I will say that he did well to name enough ingredients to help his team win, but he didn't actually "beat" Ben. He maintained his team's lead, but didn't have a better correct percentage than Ben in the challenge, they were both perfect.
Matt did impress me during the dinner service, when he actually did something right. He cooked a wonderful risotto and Ramsay finally complemented him. Rather than just saying "thank you" and walking away though, Matt tried to get Christina to taste the risotto. Then, speaking directly to the camera in a one-on-one, Matt acted like he had won an Academy Award, "I want to thank my wife, and my best friend, and Chef Ramsay, Chef Scott, Chef Gloria. Thanks a lot for helping me be what I am today." I'm not actually going to say here what I think he is today, it's not a nice word, and it killed me that Matt was labeled the best person in the kitchen after tonight's service. I can't imagine walking past a restaurant run by Matt let alone eating in one.
That brings us to Ben. I know that I said weeks ago that the man could win, but his attitude definitely left something to be desired. His hatred of Matt was bordering on the pathological tonight. He was so livid that Matt maintained the lead on the blind taste test that he couldn't even speak about Matt during his one-on-one with the camera. Possibly, possibly, Ben was just so angry because he knew how incompetent Matt was and couldn't take the fact that Matt was still around, but I'm not sure.
Ben was then stupid enough to tell Ramsay during dinner that he wasn't used to the "brigade system" and that it would take him some time to figure it out. Yeah, that's what Ramsay wanted to hear during dinner service. That's the exact sort of thing Ramsay appreciates, someone not being use to the system weeks into the show. It didn't get any better for Ben when he ran out of lamb wellington and didn't inform Ramsay.
I stood up for this guy and that was how he repaid me. He was off my list of acceptable choices right then. Plus, it was Ben's talking back to Ramsay that was the final straw leading Ramsay to shut down the whole kitchen for the night.
Speaking of talking back, there's the loud and yet silent one, Jen. We've seen no evidence that she can't cook, but she certainly should learn how to speak in a way so as to win friends and influence people. When she got loud during dinner service and tried to control the orders on the red team, she was, correctly, slammed by Ramsay. He tried to explain to her that she was confusing everything in the kitchen. Jen then shut down completely and refused to answer her team when they asked her questions, she even refused to speak to Ramsay. How is it that such a loud person, someone who is so quick to get angry at others, can't take any sort of criticism themselves?
Jen actually suggested to the camera, when Ramsay told her that she tended to act cocky, that she was always humble in front of him. Yeah. That's right. Humble. She's humble and I'm currently the frontrunner for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination (you and I both know that in reality I'm going to be the surprise choice on the fifth ballot).
Finally tonight, Rosann. Has there every been quite so much of a non-personality on the show this far in? She said after getting scallops right on the second try that she was "really excited that I got it right because I started off with the wrong foot." Rosann barely speaks (and when she does not well), and can't seem to cook. Speaking and cooking seem terribly, terribly important to running a restaurant, if she can't do either, how can she win?
Tell me, tell me right now – who do you think is going to win? I'm thinking maybe Bobby or Christina. Petrozza's stock went up tonight, but he still seems like a weak choice. Give me your thoughts though, because trying to figure it out on my own is hurting my brain.
Other bits and pieces:
- I love the fact that this season's taste test started with the chefs not being able to realize that that there was no meat in the meat dishes. I don't know why, I just did
- Ben's plan of nominating Louross was completely idiotic, was there any way Ben wasn't going to go home tonight after the dinner service? It just kills me that Matt is still there and Ben went home.
I'm going to go, take two aspirin, and fall asleep while reading The TV and Film Guy's Reviews. I suggest you do the same.
Given how many of them are smokers, is it any wonder they had so much trouble identifying what they were tasting!
Takara | May 13, 2008 11:34:08 PM | #Takara - thats exactly what I've been thinking!
Is smoking a trend among chefs, or is it just the types that end up on this show? It seems highly counter-intuitive!
Bethany | May 14, 2008 1:05:24 AM | #Just like last year, the producers are keeping the irritation afloat for as long as possible. Expect Muppet-faced Matt to consume a live baby next week, but remain on the show.
As for the smoking thing, yeah, I can't think of a single person on any of the seasons of this show that WASN'T a human chimney. Yet I can't recall ever seeing Gordon smoking!
Frank Rook | May 14, 2008 2:12:47 AM | #Obviously no one here works or has worked in the restaurant industry. EVERYONE smokes. Waitresses, cooks, everyone. That's one thing I like about the show, is as much as the editing of the show makes it completely Hollywood, the smoking shots are completely real, that's what they do.
I liked the fake meat portion of the taste testing. I like how they speeded it up a bit this year. Unlike previous years though, there isn't one person I see as a front runner. Someone who I think could actually run one of these restuarants. That won't keep me from watching though.
Can someone explain to me why I think "and now....the continuation of Hell's Kitchen" is like the coolest line on TV. It's cracked me up for years and I still love it.
realgenisu | May 14, 2008 6:05:35 AM | #Me too! I sit here every week and marvel about all the smoking and think they just HAVE to have weakened palates for tasting because of it. My husband says they smoke cuz they are stressed out!
Kate2 | May 14, 2008 6:38:42 AM | #There is not one contestant on this season's HK that would make me want to eat in a restaurant that is run by them. They all seem incompetent, not knowing how to fully run a kitchen.
Cynic | May 14, 2008 6:51:31 AM | #I don't believe that Matt has never eaten a cat.
Jason | May 14, 2008 7:01:27 AM | #thanks to next weeks preview, i already know who gets sent over to the men's side.
'where did the tip of your finger go'
wednesday | May 14, 2008 9:43:53 AM | #"Why do they all smoke" Your kidding right? It's called, I need a break, smoking is a great a excuse, suddenly a chef is a smoker. I'll assume you folks wondering this have never worked a gig where your on your feet 8 hours straight.
Paul | May 14, 2008 10:27:51 AM | #As for the show....I am so glad Ben was exposed as the weasel he is. Don't get me wrong sad Muppet Matt is not going to win, nor would I be excited to eat at any restaurant he cooked in, but Ben really bothered me. He was like the kid in little league that pointed the finger at everyone else even while he was dropping fly balls.
Paul | May 14, 2008 10:30:16 AM | #My favorites to win are christina, and petrozza.
joey | May 14, 2008 10:44:44 AM | #I want to see Christina and Petrozza run a resto together. They can cook, and they have heart. Send all the other bulloxy grandstanders to H*ll. Though a match of Jen and Bobby, and another of the whiners Rosann and Muppet Matt would also be hilarious and just punishment ... but they would be the next episodes of Kitchen Nightmares
Stella | May 14, 2008 5:40:48 PM | #>"Why do they all smoke" Your >kidding right? It's called, I >need a break, smoking is a >great a excuse, suddenly a chef >is a smoker. I'll assume you >folks wondering this have never >worked a gig where your on your >feet 8 hours straight.
I worked as a waitress many summers in high school, college, graduate school, and when I moved here until I could find an office job.
I don't smoke.
Carolyn | May 14, 2008 6:22:18 PM | #The taste test thing had to be rigged after the women went up 5-1. In prior seasons, each chef had 3 chances. This time, after the women go up 5-1, making the Matt-Ben matchup worthless, all of a sudden, we have 10 items in the last contest? Fake. Fake. Fake. Just like the two former winners, Heather and Michael, both voting for Rock's dish last year in Vegas when he went down 3-1 so the Vegas bigshots could decide the challenge winner. Like Heather wouldn't have voted for Bonnie's entry even if it tasted like crap.
No idea who will win, but I'd toss Rosann and Matt for sure. And how long before we hear someone say the winner "will be AMONG the chefs at Ramsey's new restaurant" instead of "head chef." Imagine Ramsey opening his new restaurant with one of these fools leading the kitchen?
My final two, would be Bobby vs. Corey/Christina. They are about the same.
Belmont | May 14, 2008 8:18:45 PM | #when i was 22, i worked at a restaurant where i was the only non smoker. i actually started smoking because it was the only way i could take a break. it lasted one week. not worth it. havent smoked since.
s | May 14, 2008 11:02:03 PM | #p.s.
Sam....yummmmm
I would like to know if Chef Ramsey added real meat sauses or juices to the soy meat products.
One would expect these meat eaters to recognize the absence of flesh and blood in the food. A vegetarian would surely know if meat were in there.
Any industry that includes ridiculous numbers of hours straight on your feet includes smokers. This means the restaurant biz, entertainment, medicine. It's not cause and effect, but it is the atmosphere. Hell, I even knew a non-smoking actress who worked on an anti-smoking PSA where everyone on set was smoking. Eventually, she picked up the habit as well.
I think the problem with the meatless challenge was that the instructions were "what's missing" not "what's been replaced." So they didn't say meat was missing since it was obviously there ... just not real. I don't think a vegetarian would necessarily know if meat products were in a dish if the meat weren't in any familiar physical form. For example, if chicken stock were used instead of soy for a soup.
Hanh | May 15, 2008 9:33:47 PM | #Josh, since I critisized your recap of Earl this week, I must say that this recap is very good, with lots of observations and humor. Well done (not too rare)!
Mike | May 17, 2008 10:47:17 AM | #OK, HK fans, be sure to catch this week's installment of The Soup on E! network. They do a parody of HK called "Hell's Kitchen in Hell."
Favorite line: The devil/Ramsey blasts one of Hitler's dishes, and then yells, "This is the worst thing you have ever done!"
Frank | May 17, 2008 10:50:55 AM | #I just watched last weeks episode of Hell's Kitchen on tvcartel.com and I think Ben was an idiot. Why in the world would you talk back to Chef Ramsay? I am suprised he left with both of his legs intact.
I don't know if I like Matt still. He was a big baby before he started cooking with the girls.
john | May 17, 2008 2:43:08 PM | #
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