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A Ferry Ride out of Hell
February 16
On the second episode of the
fifth series of Hell's Kitchen, the men won a challenge involving
scallop preparation. The reward for the victory was a helicopter ride to
Catalina Island. We find out that Robert Hesse would not be invited on
the helicopter because he was too heavy for the insurance policy.
Chef Ramsay calls Robert in to tell the bad news. On the upside, he
would be allowed to take a ferry to meet the group at Catalina and join
up. Ramsay also said that Robert was a vital member of the team, that he
deserves to celebrate with his team, and that this was just bad luck.
We get lots of footage of Robert on the ferry, looking wistfully out on
the water, interspersed with footage of the men's team laughing it up on
the helicopter and on a submarine. The kicker is that when Robert meets
up with the rest of his team, the day is gone and Robert is sent back.
In essence, he won a round trip ferry ride.
What the hell?
I have a real problem with this. Contestants are booked long in advance.
Gordon and the production company knew that he was going to be on the
show at an early enough stage that they could have picked a different
reward for that challenge, rather than kludging together the altogether
unsatisfying ferry solution. Either book a contestant that won't weigh
down your transportation, or book a different reward.
The editors were able to spin the episode in a way to provide a sort of
uplifting tone with the one-on-one conference with the Chef, but we also
saw that Robert really felt bummed that he wasn't able to enjoy the
fruits of his labor alongside his team.
All the other shows are able to
make their reward trips work, or they award actual tangible items as
opposed to an experience. Hell's Kitchen has been on the air long enough
to know better, and it is to the show's collective shame that they
dropped the meatball.
Travis Eberle tips the scales at none of your business. Send him
recipes at
traviseberle@gmail.com
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