Hell’s Kitchen looks to be turning up the heat and the cooks are feeling the pressure. We’ve already seen the battle lines being drawn. As the number dwindles, more and more chefs will take a stand. The question for this week’s episode is: will this be Anton’s last stand?
The Aftermath
Just to remind everyone, Melanie is now on the Blue Team and plans to run the show in the Red Kitchen. Can she succeed with a team full of egos? Melanie tells us that she plans to lay down the rules (read that law), but I doubt she won’t win friends.
The Team Competition
Gordon Ramsay calls them together and shows them four beautiful dishes for them to taste. There is a different protein and dessert for each team. As two from each team tastes the dish, I wonder what Ramsay has done to the dishes. The faces tell the story as each dish must taste or smell horrible. The truth is that the dishes were made to look beautiful but fool people. Tartare was really watermelon? Don’t they know the taste of watermelon? We’re about to find out with Ramsay’s famous “Blind Taste Test.”
Joy and Rochelle are up first in this regular competition. Each must tastes four ingredients and the team with the most correct wins. Rochelle puts the Blue Team up 3 to 2. Next up is Anton and Gabriel and the score is Blue 4, Red 3. Anton’s palate is not as well defined as I thought. Scott and Jason are up and Scott has a great palate getting two right. Kashia and Melanie follow. While Joy asks for additional time on the last ingredient, she makes a mistake. Kashia has won. The Red Team wins with a score of 6 to 4. The Red Team will be going ice skating with Rachel Flatt (US Champion and Olympian). The Blue Team will be making ice cream the traditional way and carrying in ice blocks.
The Red Team arrives at an outdoor ice rink and watches Rachel Flatt practice. Kashia is scared because she’s never been ice skating. She skates like I do — holding onto the wall. Wait a minute! Scott is flirting with an Olympic athlete and falls flat on his back. The Blue Team, meanwhile, is chunking ice and Mel breaks a nail. They’re having to hand crank the ice cream and Rochelle evidentally has never used an ice cream churn before.
Prep and Dinner Time
The teams start their preps and the Red Team already is in confusion. Anton is full of questions, which makes Joy mad. Everything makes Joy mad. The Blue Kitchen isn’t much better as Gabriel is being very quiet (or focuses as he tells the team). Ramsay calls him out for one-on-one time. Aw, Ramsay does believe in him as they return to the kitchen.
At service, the Red Team seems disorganized, yet Scott does get the risotto out. The Blue Team has Mel directing everything, with Jason behind schedule. Both teams have appetizers going out and most of the restaurant gets served quickly. Then the Red Team has a math disaster. Kashia didn’t send up enough scallops. She pulls it together and entrees begin coming out of both kitchens.
The entrees are causing their usual problems. The Blue Team sends up raw chicken and the Red Team can’t prepare salmon to Ramsay’s standards. While the Blue Team bounces back, the Red Team is on a self-destructive course, which ends when Anton can’t get his Wellington’s out. When Andi calls him on his behavior, he talks back. Wait a minute! Did I just hear Anton say he’s not taking orders from sous chef Andi? Anton, get a grip. Ramsay has her there because she is good, so take her orders. She’s Ramsay’s second in command. Ramsay tells Anton to get it together.
The Blue Team has Mel trying to take control, but it is Gabriel who assumes responsibility and gets the orders out correctly. Rochelle has problems but gets it together and receives a compliment from Ramsay. He asks if she’s ever cooked on the line before and she tells him no. Ramsay says she looks like she has five years’ experience. The Blue Team get a compliment because they have met all of Ramsay’s standards. Mel thinks it’s because of her. Get a grip, Mel. He didn’t compliment you!
The Winners and Losers
Ramsay congratulates the Blue Team, and then declares the Red Team the losers. They must nominate two for elimination. Anton is put up because of the Andi situation. Scott is also going up, but he feels Kashia should be up there.
Joy is asked for the nominees and the first is Anton. The second nominee is Scott. Anton tells Ramsay that he (Anton) is great, but Ramsay feels he has peaked. Scott feels he is continuing to improve. Ramsay sends Anton home. See what happens, Anton, when you talk back to your sous chef! Anton sees Ramsay as making a mistake and that he’s really the winner of Hell’s Kitchen. Ramsay warns everyone who remains that it is what they do in the kitchen that counts. With six people left, it’s time to step up the game.
Next Week
Ramsay shocks everyone with a surprise and special guests. Joy breaks down and looks to walk out of the competition while Jason laughs.
Hell’s Kitchen airs Thursdays at 8pm on FOX.
(Image courtesy of FOX)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
