During last week’s sparklicious episode of Hell’s Kitchen, the chefs whipped up a variety of entrées for a Sweet 16 party. The dinner service was successful, but Matt, Rosann, and Shayna were considered the weakest links. Despite the fact that Matt and Rosann had been bumbling around and screwing things up for weeks, Chef Gordon Ramsay decided to send Shayna home for being too slow. To shake things up a bit, he also forced Matt to join the women’s team, where he’ll either stand out or fail miserably.
Tonight, Ramsay blindfolds the contestants and conducts a taste test challenge, while the ladies adjust to Matt’s presence in the kitchen.
The day after elimination, Ramsay kicks off a taste test. Each dish that he gives the contestants is missing one key ingredient: the meat. He gives them dishes like beef stew and sausage ravioli, but the meat has been replaced with soy products. None of the chefs pick up on it, which disappoints Ramsay, but impresses me. Who knew that fake soy meat could be so tasty?
Ramsay hates all of the contestants and thinks their palettes are as useless as donkey dung. He decides to give them a blindfolded taste test to see who can identify complex flavors. He feeds each contestant three items, and the team that correctly identifies the most foods will win the challenge.
Rosann and Petrozza start things off. Ramsay gives them bites of nectarine, chicken, and sweet potato, and Rosann guesses two out of three. Petrozza only gets one, proving that his palette is crap. Other team members step up for some blind bites, and the ladies pull ahead quickly. The showdown finally comes down to Matt (who is officially on the women’s team) vs. Ben.
This time Ramsay does things a bit differently. He gives the chefs a clam chowder that has numerous ingredients in it, and asks each of them to name off elements of the dish after taking a bite. Both guys do rather well, but Matt ultimately wins the competition. As a punishment for losing he challenge, the men have to clean the dorms. The ladies get a special spa day, which frightens me since I’m afraid Matt might take off his bathrobe. Surely they couldn’t show such a thing on network television, right?
For an extra bit of embarrassment, Ben is forced to serve the ladies iced tea while they relax and get facials. Meanwhile, the women are getting used to having Matt on their team. They may like him now, but the instant he screws up during dinner service they’ll all turn against him.
Hell’s Kitchen is open! Believe it or not, Rosann screws up her first appetizer. Scallops need to be cooked on both sides, Rosann. How is she still here? She eventually gets it right and sends the appetizer out, but the men’s team isn’t so lucky. Louross is handling starters on that side of the kitchen, and he’s also bumbling around and messing things up.
I kind of love Jen. She yells some orders in the kitchen, and when Ramsay tells her to shut her yap she claims that he must be on his period. Ha! She doesn’t say that to his face of course, but that would have been awesome. Jen immediately shuts down and start moping, refusing to communicate with her fellow chefs. I think that Jen has what it takes to win the competition, but tonight she’s off her game.
Ramsay no longer has Matt to berate on the men’s team, so he goes back to his other favorite punching bag: Ben. When Ben says that he’s having trouble adjusting to being on the meat station, Ramsay chews him out and tells him that they’re not on Dr. Phil. He doesn’t care about Ben’s feelings, he just wants him to get the job done. Ramsay needs his Lamb Wellington, and he plans to scream at Ben until it gets done.
While many of the chefs are struggling, Christina manages to do an excellent job on the meat station. Ramsay tells her not to piss her knickers in excitement, because there’s still a lot more meat to be cooked. Matt also does a great job with the risotto, causing Ramsay to remark that it’s the best thing he’s had all night. Meanwhile, Rosann fails yet again by attempting to serve raw salmon, and Jen continues her mopey silence. Ramsay is ready to throw them both in the fryer.
An order of Ben’s Lamb Wellington comes back undercooked, and Matt takes great delight in the fury that Ramsay unleashes on him. Ramsay kicks a trash can and tells Ben to shut his station down. Or, more specifically, he tells him to. . .
SHUT! IT! DOWN!
Ah, I’ve been wanting to type that again. The men are the losing team tonight, which means that Matt is safe yet again. Each team member has to choose someone for elimination, which leads to much strategizing. Ultimately, Louross puts Ben on the chopping block, and Ben does him the same favor. Bobby chooses Petrozza, and Petrozza nominates himself. Falling on your sword is usually a bad idea, but Ramsay admires his graciousness and maturity.
In what comes as a shock to no one, the person leaving Hell’s Kitchen tonight is. . .Ben. Check back tomorrow for our exclusive interview with the ousted chef.
Next week, someone from the women’s team has to move to the men’s team to even things out, and one chef cuts the top of her finger off!
– Don Williams, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of FOX)
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
