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'Hell's Kitchen': Ramsay gets burned
With four chefs left heading into tonight's episode of Hell's Kitchen, I think we all knew where the weak link was. I can't be sure that any of the remaining contestants deserve to win, but there was one of the four who clearly did not. Jen had to know that her days were numbered. She had to know that she was living on borrowed time. She didn't act like it tonight, but I can't believe that she didn't know that she was dangling by a thread.
Right off the bat tonight, Jen suggested that the other three were threatened by her. She didn't even mean that in the "I'd like to physically hurt them and keep reminding them of that fact" way. She actually meant that the other chefs believed her to be the best one there and were worried about her prowess. The woman was delusional, but thankfully she fell back to Earth (at least for a little while) with tonight's challenge.
Gordon described the challenge as "the mother of all challenges," by which he meant that they were cooking for pregnant women, not that he stated as much clearly until the women walked in. I would have guessed they were feeding their mothers and the rest of their families. Obviously, I was wrong, but not as wrong as Jen with her notion that they were going to cook for the likes of Jay-Z, Beyoncé, and 50 Cent.
Each chef had to come up with a dish and cook 80 portions. Three of the four (everyone but Jen) went with sandwiches, and that definitely seemed like the right way to go. Three of the four (everyone but Corey) managed to get their food done on time. Before the pregnant women even received arrived, things didn't look terribly promising for Corey or Jen.
When the 80 pregnant women did show up, they were less than amused by Corey's delay. Apparently it really is a bad idea to keep pregnant women waiting for food. Corey came in last in the challenge. Jen and her non-sandwich dish came in second to last. It was Christina that, somehow, came out on top again (she was two votes ahead of Petrozza).
Christina got to go shopping at Lisa Kline as her reward (what would they have done if Petrozza had won?). Jen got to stay at the restaurant and eat the extra bits of sandwich that the pregnant women left on their plates. This wasn't the first time we've seen her do such a thing either. Why does she eat other people's discarded food? As Jerry once said to George "adjacent to refuse is refuse."
Jen and Corey were clearly both angry at Christina for winning (why they weren't upset at their own lack of competence, I couldn't say) and that upset boiled over into the dinner service. Amazingly, the anger seemed to drive both women and they started off very strongly with their appetizers. Eventually though that wore off and Jen did fall down on the job on the risotto, with Ramsay having to bully Jen into actually cooking it properly.
Ramsay got a little hotter than that however when Christina left him to grab a pot handle without informing him that it was more than just a tad warm. After properly chastising Christina for burning him, and warning her not to do it again, Christina handed him the next pot… and burned him again. To prove that he wasn't making it up for the television audience, Ramsay poured water over the pot handle, and it boiled instantly. What was going through Christina's head, I can't even imagine. She was certainly carrying the pot with a towel wrapped around the handle so as to not burn herself. Did she think that Ramsay's fingers were made of asbestos?
From there, things got, momentarily, really bad. Jen refused to cook eggs for the scallop appetizer, pretending like she was too busy. Then, Corey knowingly undercooked fish and sent it to the pass. Ramsay called Jen on the former and the diner called Corey on the latter, sending the fish back to the kitchen. Ramsay was upset, but it wasn't bad enough for him to shut down the kitchen, and things did turn around. Dinner service got finished, but both moves seemed egregiously stupid.
Ramsay referred to the night as their "best service so far" and rather than choosing a Best of the Worst, had the four chefs come to a consensus as to whom should be placed on the chopping block. The contestants decided to each write down two different people who they wanted on the chopping block. Christina ended up with three votes against her, which was odd because she didn't vote for herself to be nominated and Corey didn't vote for her either. It was clear that someone had backed out of the agreement. Who could it possibly have been? Yup, Jen cheated with the nomination. Classy.
In the end, Petrozza, Corey, and Christina had to chose one of their number to be nominated against Jen. They were looking for someone to go head-to-head with Jen who would leave Ramsay no choice but to fire the vicious, angry, woman. They chose Corey, and she survived.
At the end of the day, Ramsay took Jen's chef's coat and sent her packing. Finally.
Odds and ends:
- Corey actually suggested that if it had been men present during the challenge she could have "worked that" to her advantage. I might actually like her less than Jen. She deserves to be there more than Jen, but I think I like her less.
- Question time – only three chefs remain, you have a 33 percent chance of being right, who is going to win it all?
If only it could be that nice guy who runs The TV and Film Guy's Reviews. He is deserving, really he is.
Last season I was rooting for Rock to win, but I could see it going either way. Both chefs seemed to display more or less consistent abilities. This season? It's really down to who is the least bad among them. I'd have to go with Christina, mostly because she seems able to create good dishes, at least in the challenges. She might need to brush up on her basic science, though, like how fire makes things hot.
Am I missing something with Corey? Is she stunning beautiful in ways that I am blind to? She looked moderately attractive at the photoshoot with professional stylists and makeup, but usually she looks very plain to me. The constant comments she makes about how she can easily sway men seem delusional at best. Nothing to do with whether she is a good chef or not, but the arrogance makes it hard to like her.
Should be interesting if Jen comes back for the final show as an assistant chef. I'd be very nervous for whichever of the final two gets stuck with her.
Anyone know why the desserts never seem to be part of the show? Tonight and on other episodes we see the contestants making desserts, but there's never any discussion or focus about how they turn out. One can probably be a good "executive chef" without being a good dessert chef, but it seems as relevant as some of the other aspects they are judged on.
Brad | Jun 18, 2008 1:05:55 AM | #Corey has a great body, but her face leaves a lot to be desired (whether un-made or made up).
Michael | Jun 18, 2008 3:55:38 AM | #I keep wondering about that $250k job offer... does the Executive Chef have to pay all of the other chefs out of his/her salary? If not, somebody is going to be grossly overpaid. Or, is it a job offer plus severance package?
Chris | Jun 18, 2008 6:44:01 AM | #One of the things I love about this show is the end result. Most reality shows have this monetary prize at the end. People's dreams come true, they don't have to work, blah, blah, blah. But with HK, I don't think people realize that the winner gets a JOB, and it may pay $250,000, but it will also require them to work at least a 6 day/60+ hour a week job. Which ok, I'd still do for $250,000, but it's not as cushy as it seems. The other thing I like about HK, is it's not far off from how a real kitchen operates. All those crap jobs they have to do when they lose a challenge. Those are the same crap jobs they have to do on a daily basis in a real restaurant.
Anyway, thank God Jen is gone. She was almost unbearable to watch. Voting twice for Christina was hysterical.
realgenius | Jun 18, 2008 7:24:58 AM | #According to information leaked on Eater LA and a number of other places, the so-called "executive chef" position that the winner gets is a load of hooey. The restaurant has already opened with an executive chef (or more accurately, chef de cuisine) in place, while the HK winner is going to be a "senior sous-chef". Hard to say if that was always the plan, or if Ramsay changed plans when he realised how hopeless this year's crew of contestants was. Either way, the winner definitely won't be in charge.
There's also speculation that the $250,000 that Ramsay refers to is actually a one-time payment, and that the winner will then be working for a more reasonable sous chef salary.
GC | Jun 18, 2008 7:56:05 AM | #"what would they have done if Petrozza had won?"
I know there's very little "reality" in reality TV, but that "win" just confirmed to me that EVERYTHING is utterly set up.
josie | Jun 18, 2008 8:32:10 AM | #DING DONG THE JEN IS GONE!!
Finally! The witch has been cast away...i'm sure her inflated ego will keep her afloat!
Petrozza might be sloppy but it seems he's consistent with cooking. So he's messy, someone can always clean up behind him...better than under or overcooked food.
Also if they really want to be cooks, regardless of the money involved, to work at an establishment of that caliber must be well worth it in and of itself right?
J | Jun 18, 2008 8:54:39 AM | #all of ramsey's shows are set up. anyone notice when he 'burnt' his hand, it was his left hand that grabbed the pot but he was running his right hand under the water?
wednesday | Jun 18, 2008 9:49:09 AM | #Did anyone noticed Ramsey used a towel to grab everything in the scenes before he burned his hand on Christina's pans?
JC | Jun 18, 2008 10:06:44 AM | #I think the show is letting viewers believe that the winner will be the "Executive Chef" while in reality, the winner would actually become the "senior sous-chef"
Zedman | Jun 18, 2008 10:17:21 AM | #I am thinking that Christina wins. Why else would they change it to Senior Sous Chef? I can see the finale where he says that she is the winner, but being recently out of culinary school she is not ready to be executive chef but her experieince is not that of an entry level. How long did they say she has been cooking? I think it was 5 years. Can you hit senior sous chef after 5 years?
Ramsay's Shirt | Jun 18, 2008 11:51:26 AM | #Very glad Jen is gone. How many times does she have to brag after getting a compliment? "Man, I nailed that risotto." To quote Ramsey, "I've had enough." After cooking it 10 straight days, you should "nail it" you fool. I also love how she thinks she should win every challenge, and then gets put down quickly, like last night's 3rd place. A fish dish for lunch isn't exactly a great choice. How about Ramsey telling Christine if she burned him again, "she's out" and then he didn't follow through.
Belmont | Jun 18, 2008 12:30:23 PM | #Great catch on the hand burning. He grabbed the pot both times with his left hand. He then waters the left hand, but later waters the right hand. I also love the interviews. After the first, Christina says "won't happen again, trust me." So they interviewed her during the service? No, creative editing of course. She must have said that about doing it twice. And Jen saying "you could smell Ramsey's skin across the room." Get lost.
| Jun 18, 2008 12:39:22 PM | #I just can't get over the claim that Jen is only 24 years old. Every time that factoid appeared on the screen I kept thinking it must be a typo - and I've been thinking that all season long. I guess I kept expecting them to correct the number (to like 34), but they never did. Now they don't have to anymore.
vncntdl | Jun 18, 2008 2:46:12 PM | #Thank heavens she's gone. She was a detriment to service. You can NOT be a leader if you don't understand teamwork. There were many times she played the race card, just totally acceptable. Her, me against the world, behavior wound up getting her a well deserved squashing.
Rags T Tiger | Jun 18, 2008 5:54:34 PM | #I didn't like Jen at all and I am very happy that she is gone!!
Lisa | Jun 19, 2008 1:58:05 AM | #i dont know what this show will do without a villian like jen. the show cant survive without drama and the cooking is mediocre at best.
maybe they will play corey up as some sort of jezebelle with petrozza. i cant think of anything else that works for story in this endgame.
I like the show and I liked when Ramsay is teaching leadership. If I'm Ramsay's shoes, I will keep both -- Christina and Petrozza. They will be good chefs in any restaurant.
Thanks Ramsay, you are doing good job!
Roin from Chicago.
Roin | Jun 24, 2008 7:28:28 PM | #Having seen the hand burning incidents again, I think he burned both hands (different hand each incident) but the editing of the sink footage made it seem like it was the same hand both times.
| Jun 25, 2008 1:04:08 PM | #
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