1. Up in the dorms, the women talk about the elimination. Tek is not used to being counted out, because she’s such a good cook (of course). We get some funny shots of Dave trying to do things in his debilitating cast like make his own dinner. This is, of course, presented with the requisite “funny music” soundtrack so we at home know to laugh at him, instead of feel sorry for him.
2. Mrs. Natasha James is with Ramsay. Her husband Staff Sergeant James just flew home from his 3rd tour in Iraq last night. His welcome home party is tomorrow night, right here in Hell’s Kitchen. I thought we were supposed to be honoring our returning soldiers. Anyway, Mrs. James is also here to judge our reward challenge: each team will create one appetizer and two entrees after a rep from each team interviews Mrs. James about what she and her husband like to eat. The winning dishes will be on the menu at the welcome home party.
3. Robert and Suzanne interview Mrs. James to find out what kind of food they like. The James family enjoys lobster tail, southern cooking, steaks, and nothing too crazy. This is good, as the current crop of contestants seem to have problems making “crazy” dishes like olive oil pasta and pan-fried scallops. Robert comes back to the Blue Team and immediately conveys what the James’ like; this results in dishes being created like twice baked potato mash, surf-n-turf, and a tomato bouillabaisse. The Red Team starts off considerably weaker—Suzanne is telling people what to do and with what ingredients, but never tells them the big picture of what the James’ like to eat.
4. For appetizers, the Red Team has Caesar salad w/ prawns. Mrs. James likes it, and thinks Staff Sgt. James would too. The Blue Team has spicy seafood-style bouillabaisse. Mrs. James really likes that, and the look on her face makes it seem like this win is going to the men. However the editing lies to us, and she picks the salad. For entree number one, the Red Team offers bacon-wrapped filet w/ shrimp, and the Blue Team has mac-n-cheese, stewed collards, and catfish. Southern soul always wins, so the Blue Team gets it. SHOCK AND A SURPRISE, we have a tie in the reward challenge. Entrees number two are a seafood pasta type thing w/ white wine sauce from the Red Team, and a bone-in filet and grilled lobster tail surf-n-turf, with a twice baked mash. Mrs. James lets us know that Staff Sgt. James will like the Blue Team’s dish a lot. And with that…
5. Blue takes it! I think these are the most reward challenges the men have won in a season ever. They’ll be fighter pilots for the day! As punishment, the women will be redecorating the dining room in prep for the party. The good news is the girls won’t be working for Jean-Philippe. The bad news is they’ll be working for Mrs. Chef Ramsay for the afternoon. She appears to be just as detail-oriented regarding plate settings and decorations as as Chef Ramsay is about what leaves his kitchen. Upstairs, the women blame Suzanne for not communicating. They claim the likes and dislikes Suzanne heard about from Mrs. James weren’t communicated to the team. Tennille is pissed because she suggested a jambalaya but got shot down by Suzanne. And we have our obligatory “Right Stuff” walk down the hell’s kitchen hall by the guys leaving to be fighter pilots (Get it? No? Ask your parents to explain the reference to you.). Top Gun quotes abound from Van (“We feel the need…the need for SPEED!”). Thanks Van! The guys get taken up and in the air are given the controls by the pilot, and get to fly the plane for a few minutes on their own. I want this reward. On the way back, the men talk about how they are going to keep the momentum going through the dinner service. This usually goes the opposite direction.
6. Dinner Service challenge: The women need to be taught the winning entrees by the men, and the editing suggests that the Blue Team is sabotaging the women by not giving them complete recipes. Slow Jim is asked what’s in one of the sauces and he just shrugs and gives a “f*ck you” smirk. No one told the women if the shrimp are tail-on or -off. This may not go well. Ramsay doesn’t really tolerate sabotage, because it affects what the customer is going to get. And as we start dinner, Ramsay tells us the theme tonight is Teamwork. Wow, what clever editing! Tons of friends and family of Staff Sgt. James are there. He comes in and looks really happy and emotional; I think he’s even crying. Personally I think he just realized he’s eating in Hell’s Kitchen, but that’s just me. Oh, and to pile on the emotions, his mom is there, too.
7. The first orders come in, and the Blue Team gets to cook for the guest of honor. And appetizers go out! With no problem? Really? But it’s not all smooth sailing, as the Red Team sends out a cold mushroom dish. We’re only a few minutes (of show time) in, and according to voice-over guy, all of the blue appetizers are done. Slow Jim is on the grill, doing the steaks for the surf-n-turf entrees. He seems genuinely taken aback that it’s the most popular item coming in on the orders. Really? The filet mignon and lobster tail entree? This surprises you? Scheming Kevin makes a small show about helping out Slow Jim a bit, knowing that it makes him look better in Ramsay’s eyes.
8. Tek’s on the grill for the Red Team. A couple of the steaks brought to the pass look OK but are really loose to the touch in the middle, and Ramsay knows that means they’re raw inside. The steaks need to start on the grill to get nice markings, but need to be finished in the oven so they cook all the way through. This failure essentially brings the Red kitchen to a standstill. Tek is rapidly losing her composure at her station and starts floundering. Some of the steaks are OK, some are charred black on the outside. Ramsay knows that you can’t serve both of those on the same table and makes sure he lets the Red Team know that too, by yelling, kicking the garbage can, and saying to no one in particular that he’s “so embarrassed.” In predictable reality show fashion, Tek blames he failure at the grill on the fact that people were yelling at her and telling her what to do. Raw lobster goes to the pass for the red team, and with that, NO entrees have gone out from the Red kitchen. Ramsay is livid, especially since the Blue Team is on their LAST entree.
9. Boston Andy Whose Restaurant I Ate At Last Night is hovering around Stoner Dave’s station, most likely waiting for Stoner Dave to drop something so he can swoop in like Scheming Kevin and make a show of “helping.” Stoner Dave I think can see through the ruse and tells him to back off, he’s got it. The Blue Team is collectively exhaling that they made it through a complete service with few problems. Despite getting picked on by Ramsay, Slow Jim didn’t screw up too bad at the grill station. But there’s no time to celebrate, as Ramsay puts the Blue Team in the Red kitchen to help (well, if by “help” you mean, “get the orders out so the other half of the restaurant can finally get some food”)! All but Scheming Kevin (doing the Blue kitchen’s desserts) is finishing the Red Team’s orders. And they do! During the cleardown, Ramsay lays in to the red team for failing. No one is the best of the worst, and they need to come to a consensus about the two people they want off of the team.
10. The men celebrate back in the dorm, while the women gang up on Tek and Amanda for the grill failure and “being weak” respectively. Back downstairs, Tennille is asked the nominees. She names Tek as the first nominee, and the second nominee she tells Ramsay is herself (based on what the women voted on that we didn’t see? They made it look like it was all Tek and Amanda.). Anyway, Tennille says she’s not the weakest person, and Ramsay asks her who, in fact, is the other weakest person. She calls out Amanda. Ramsay calls all three to the front. Tennille claims that she’s growing and getting better every day, etc. Ramsay sends her back to the line. Tek says she has it in her to be so good, ugh this all sounds the same after six seasons. Amanda knows she can get stronger as time goes on. Ramsay isn’t convinced, and he asks her three times if she’s SURE she can handle this show (and gets a “yes” all three times, obviously). And with that, Ramsay calls for Tek’s jacket. Tek exit interviews that she’s a “crazy badass girl”, and she’s so much better than Ramsay saw. I call BS on all of those exit interviews. If you’re that good, it should show in what you do. A steak should be a staple of ANY restaurant’s menu, regardless of cuisine type. If you can’t cook it correctly, here’s something you may not know: YOU’RE NOT AS GOOD A CHEF AS YOU SAY YOU ARE. Spend the money you’re going to spend on a new tattoo on a cooking class or two.
Next time, on Hell’s Kitchen! Dinner is bad! Tennille dares to talk back to Ramsay! And Robert may have more heart problems! Chef Scott calls for a medic! I thought this was a cooking show!
