etee's Blog

Hell's Kitchen
July 09, 2007

Last week, HELL'S KITCHEN was All About Melissa. This week -- not so much. Oh, she was there all right, but surprises (and things not so surprising) took center stage this week.

The Red Team were happy that Melissa was 'transferred'. The Blue Team -- not so much. No Surprise.

Jen lets slip during a group discussion that she has not been telling 'the whole truth', and that she in fact has some experience in fairly high-end restaurants, such as Morimoto. Surprise.

During the challenge, Bonnie comes up with an original dish that truly impresses Chef Ramsay. So much so, in fact, that it is the featured item on the menu during the evening's service. Surprise.

The Red Team wins, and gets to go on a photo shoot with Chef Ramsay, where they pose like Charlie's Angels. No Surprise.

The Blue Team, as the losers, have to sort through all the garbage, sending Rock into a rage and unleashing a torrent of [NAUGHTY WORD] [NAUGHTY WORD] [NAUGHTY WORD]. He is even more [NAUGHTY WORD]ing [NAUGHTY WORD]ed when he is called to the photo shoot -- and told to empty the trash there. Surprise (but just a little.)

During service, Melissa screws up pretty much everything she touches, causing Mt. Ramsay to erupt -- multiple times. No Surprise.

Josh and Brad also screw up dishes. The lack of food coming from the Blue Team causes a censor overload, as everyone is [NAUGHTY WORD]ing [NAUGHTY WORD]ed. No Surprise.

Chef tells the Red Team that if they [NAUGHTY WORD] things up, they only have themselves to blame -- and they take it as a complement. Surprise.

Chef finally closes the kitchen, after an entire table of food is sent back, thanks to the Blue Team's ineptness. Blue Team is declared the loser, and is sent away to select by consensus two nominees. No Surprise.

Melissa doesn't think she should be eliminated. The rest of the team disagrees with her. No Surprise.

Chef Ramsay doesn't even mess around with hearing who the nominees were - and Melissa is summarily 86'd. No Surprise.

Chef then calls Josh and Brad up, and lets them sweat a bit as they have to beg for their life explain why they should continue. Do the spiky gods get another sacrifice this night? In the end... no. Brad and Josh are given One Last Chance, and told to get back in line. Surprise.

In the end, Melissa's departure from HELL'S KITCHEN was only delayed a week. We saw a fairly serious flaw in Rock's character, as anger which leads to violent assault on kitchen utensils is normally not a good thing to have in a kitchen. On the other hand, Jen continued to perform, and her admission that she has some high-end experience helps to explain why. It also brings a new dimension to Reality TV "strategy" that we haven't seen in this series before. Which, ultimately, makes the game more interesting.

Next week: The teams design their own menu, and the paint starts flyin'... in Hell's Kitchen.

(cross-posted at etee too)