"Casting Stones" -
June 13
Last week, things got heated up as the
blue team had to work the second dinner service
without air conditioning, but they got through it and
won again. And Dewberry, who had deserted his station
in the red kitchen for a moment, was given the boot.
10 remain, and things are not going to get any
easier...
Small stone, big pain
After the elimination, and the teams
returned to the dorms, members of the red team had
mixed reactions about Dewberry's departure. They
thought that he'd be relieved to be out of there, but
they did say they'll miss him, though they do
understand why he was eliminated from the
competition. Meanwhile, Jeff goes to the bathroom to
deal with some pain of his own. Yes, it's those
stomach problems again. This time, upon coming out of
the bathroom stall, it seems that he has what appears
to be a tiny object, which he then places on a tissue
that he then folds up. Why? Because that tiny object
happens to be the kidney stone that had caused his
stomach problems during the past few days! And what
does Jeff do with that kidney stone? He shows it to
everyone! Jeff first shows it to Elsie, who is in
disbelief by its small size. He then shows it to
Andrew and Jessica, and she compares it to a mustard
seed.
Shopping under pressure
The next day, the chefs get changed and
head out to the kitchen for another meeting with Chef
Ramsay. He comments on how the red team has shrunk,
now that it's down by 2 members, and he then sends
Michael to the red team to even out the teams. He
steps forward and trades his chef's jacket for a new
one, signifying the switch from blue to red, before
joining his new teammates in line. After mentioning
that this would be a good opportunity for Michael to
emerge as a leader, Ramsay goes on to explain the next
challenge. Each team will cook a 5-course meal for a
VIP, and Ramsay is that VIP. He then sends the
contestants outside, and the sous-chefs, Maryann and
Scott, are waiting at a grocery store.
The method of transportation to get to
that store: a double-decker bus. (I guess I shouldn't
be surprised, since Ramsay did come from the
U.K.) The blue team sits on the top
level, while the red team is on the bottom. This is
so each team can make plans without the other
overhearing. With red, Jeff says that he has a soup
idea, but Chris doesn't seem too confident in that,
considering Jeff's current track record (despite the
kidney stone). With blue, they are also discussing
soup, but Andrew is starting to think that Ralph is
trying to overshadow his ideas with ideas of his own.
Upon reaching the store with their menus ready, they
file out of the bus and in front of the sous-chefs.
Scott explains that each team will have $100 for their
shopping as Maryann holds up the money, and they'll
only have 10 minutes to get what they need. That's
not much time or money to get ingredients for a
5-course meal, so things could get quite hectic in
there.
Scott blows the whistle, and they're off!
Each team gets one cart, and they run in and start
looking for what they need. Everyone on a team has to
stay together, though. On the blue team, Jessica
grabs some milk, but Ralph says that they need cream,
not milk. She asks where the cream is with
7:45 left. At least they're all
working as a team, while over with the red team, Jeff
wanders away from the group for a moment to get some
bread, holding the team back for a bit. Jeff's
behaviour is understandably getting on the nerves of
his teammates. Meanwhile, the blue team grabs some
peaches as they reach the halfway point of this part
of the challenge, then they run to another section.
They hit another cart as they run, and Jessica,
carrying a pineapple, almost slips while behind the
team. Back with red, Jeff is still lagging behind,
looking in one section while the rest of the team is
trying to move on to another.
With under 40 seconds left, though, the
red team is done shopping, and are at a cashier, while
the blue team is still hurrying to get what they
need. Some of them are running back and forth between
the cart and various parts of the store, frantically
trying to get everything. This is sort of reminding
me of Supermarket Sweep... With time winding down,
Ralph has bacon to add to the cart, but there's not
enough time to get to the cart, which is being ran
towards him, so just before time expires, he throws
the bacon like a basketball... The whistle blows,
signifying the end of the 10 minutes... And it's in!
Afterwards, the teams have their groceries in bags,
and are back on the bus, going back to the restaurant.
A full meal in 60 minutes
Once they arrive, they are given 1 hour to
prepare their dishes. In the red kitchen, Jeff goes
to work on his soup, with Michael offering some help.
He still isn't sure if Jeff can be reliable at this
point. But Michael has apparently fit in quite well
with the red team, while over in the blue kitchen,
Ralph is trying to fill the leadership hole, keeping
the team in order. But Andrew is seeing him as a
control freak, and he doesn't like it at all. With 15
minutes left, the teams have made good progress, and
with time winding down, we see that Michael has
decided to add an H, a pitchfork, and a K made out of
mushrooms to the side of a dish of his, to look like
the Hell's Kitchen logo. It does look neat.
Time is up, and the teams are ready with
their 5-course meals, covered, as Chef Ramsay walks
into the dining room and sits down at a table. The
teams line up with each person holding one of their
dishes in front of the table, ready for tasting.
1. Cold Starters
Blue - Jessica presents grilled
pineapple with Yucca potato (though she hesitates when
trying to mention the potato). Ramsay says it's
tasteless, and it doesn't do much for him.
Red - Elsie presents a salad (no
mention of what type it is). Ramsay likes it, saying
it's nice.
2. Hot Starters
Blue - Ralph presents roasted corn
chowder. Ramsay says it's very nice.
Red - Jeff presents a puree of white
onion soup garnished with a parmesan and roasted
garlic crouton. Ramsay is actually quite impressed,
saying that Jeff turned something boring into
something delicious.
3. Fish
Blue - Wendy presents ginger scallion
pan-roasted salmon with bok choy. Ramsay likes the
bok choy, and feels that the meal was not bad. That
happens to be the first positive thing that Wendy has
done this whole season.
Red - Chris presents poisson over
cauliflower, with grilled scallions and a scallion
oil. Ramsay says it does nothing to him, and that it
is better off served to a sick rabbit. Ouch.
4. Meat
Blue - Andrew presents a grilled rib
eye with an ox tail mushroom sauce and white peaches.
Ramsay notes the odd combination with rib eye and
white peaches, and can't wait to see how it tastes.
He does so, and says that it doesn't work, calling the
dish disgusting.
Red - Michael presents a grilled
porterhouse with that H-pitchfork-K mushroom
combination right by it. After Ramsay notes that, he
tastes the porterhouse, and says that it's tasty and
delicious.
5. Desserts
Blue - Mary Ellen presents a trio of
creme brulee. Ramsay says it's delicious,
flavor-wise.
Red - Jimmy presents a vanilla poached
pear with feta cheese on the side and a port wine
reduction. Ramsay found it simple, but dull.
With that, each team got positive feedback
from 3 courses, and negative feedback from 2.
Definitely an improvement from the first day. So now,
Chef Ramsay will have to decide which team's courses
compliment each other better to determine the winning
team. And he chooses... the red team! He liked the
balance, and felt that their dishes "out-flavored"
those from the blue team. So, as the reward, Ramsay
will be bringing the red team to a cool pub that he
likes to go to while in L.A. And as the punishment,
the blue team will be cleaning the dorms. And that
includes the toilets.
The blue team gets started, with buckets
in hand, and as they clean, Andrew expresses that he
would obviously rather be at a bar than cleaning
everything. The red team later arrives at the bar,
where Ramsay once again congratulates the team for
winning the challenge, and Michael says that it's nice
seeing this different side of Ramsay; the side that
doesn't berate people who make bad food. They drink
and play darts, and Jeff notes that he sucks at darts
after missing a throw. As they enjoy themselves, back
at the dorms, the blue team continues cleaning. When
the red team returns, the blue team is still hard at
work with the chore. While Elsie, Jimmy, and Chris
are outside at a table, they see Andrew walk out with
a rug and apparently vent his frustration by smacking
it against a rail to remove the dirt from it. After
that, Chris says that he'll be shocked if red loses at
the next dinner service, with the way things are going
now.
Jeff vs. his team?
The next day, the teams line up early in
the morning for another speech from Chef Ramsay. He
notes that they should be getting better now, and they
should now be coming together He is obviously
expecting this dinner service to be better than the
first two, especially after how both teams did in the
challenge the previous day. The teams begin preparing
for the dinner service, and the preparations turn out
to be running smoothly But then, Jeff puts a hot
baking sheet on the counter, and Elsie, not aware that
it's hot, picks it up with her bare hands and
immediately drops it afterwards. Chris says that Jeff
should have put a towel on it, and Elsie gets those
out. It's now more clear than ever that Jeff is the
odd-man-out on the red team at this point.
During a brief break from preparations,
the red team (sans Jeff) gather to discuss a problem:
Jeff. They feel that his still being there could hurt
the team. Elsie then goes to get Jeff, and when he
arrives, the team switches the subject to who will do
what during the service. Suddenly, Chris and Jeff
clash about what to put on endives (Chris says
powdered sugar, Jeff says butter), and they begin
arguing. Jeff then gets up and starts yelling at
Chris, then storms off after Chris tries to explain
that it is nothing personal, and that he is trying to
get Jeff to work with the team. Things are definitely
not looking good for the red team, teamwork-wise.
Teams return to the preparations, and moments before
the opening, in the red kitchen, Jeff seems to be
working slower than expected. Over in the blue
kitchen, things are under control, and Ralph is quite
confident that the blue team will once again do better
than the red team in the dinner service.
Everyone's a critic (well, not
literally)
The clock strikes 7PM, and Hell's Kitchen
is once again open for business. The customers file
in and are seated (must be new customers who didn't
even hear about the first two services). As the first
orders are taken, Ramsay gathers the two teams for a
quick meeting. He explains to the teams that 2 top
food critics happen to be customers on this night, so
there will be a lot of pressure on them. He then gets
them back into their kitchens to cook. What they
weren't told is where they'd be seated, and that each
critic is dining with a friend. Melissa Clark is at a
red table, and Kate Krader is at a blue table. Their
tables are right beside each other, and they will each
sample the same food from both kitchens, to keep
judging impartial.
The blue kitchen gets its first order, and
the team is off and running. Ramsay reminds them to
treat every table as if one of the critics is there.
Meanwhile, in the red kitchen, 20 minutes into the
service, Jeff had put up appetizers on the hot plate
for evaluation. But once Ramsay gets a look at them,
he calls Jeff over. He says that of 2 dishes that
were supposed to be similar, one has all the lobster,
and the other has none. Yes, Jeff somehow screwed
that up. He is asked to fix that, and Michael comes
over to help. As Michael takes care of it properly,
sous-chef Maryann tells Jeff to thank Michael, and he
does. Then, he mumbles that they're expecting too
much from someone (and I quote) "who's never been on a
****ing line before".
Maryann obviously can't believe Jeff's
apparent incompetence, and she asks if he wants
Michael to take care of the meat as well. That is
when Jeff starts openly complaining. Chris notices,
and soon after, so does Ramsay. He calls Jeff over,
who says that he's trying to do what he can, but
Ramsay says to stop shouting and just do what he has
to do. After reminding Michael of the risotto that he
has to do, Ramsay calls for a main course from the red
team. He then heads over to the blue kitchen in the
hopes that things are going better there. He wonders
why the spaghetti isn't ready yet, and Wendy says the
water isn't boiling yet. She then says that she is
boiling cold water because she thought it was supposed
to boil faster than hot water. Huh? Correct me if
I'm wrong, but that just doesn't make any sense.
30 minutes in, and the red team is sending
out appetizers, 2 of which are going to the critics.
Melissa tries the lobster spaghetti, prepared by
Jeff. She says it's very good. Michael must have
helped with that one. Kate tries the crab risotto,
prepared by Michael. She's not much of a fan of it.
Jeff might have helped with that one. Meanwhile, the
blue kitchen are now sending some of their appetizers,
and guess where 2 of those are going? Yep, the
critics. Melissa tastes another lobster spaghetti,
this one made by Wendy. She says it doesn't really
come together. Kate then tries another crab risotto,
this one from Andrew. She calls it a mess. Bad news
overall for blue so far.
But what do the customers think? We're
about to see, as Andrew's crab risotto is served to
one. But after some tasting, that customer apparently
gets sick. She throws up the risotto onto the
ground! The maitre d', Jean Philippe, as well as
Kate, both notice this, and as Kate makes a remark
about it to Melissa, Jean reports the bad risotto to
Ramsay. He calls over Andrew and tells him to taste
that risotto, but he says he knows it's too salty. As
Ramsay tells him to just taste it, you have to wonder:
If Andrew knew that it was too salty, then why did he
serve it without fixing it or something? He tastes it
and reiterates the saltiness, and as the sick customer
and the others at that table leave the restaurant,
Ramsay scolds Andrew about serving such bad food,
especially when there are critics out there. To say
that things are not looking good for Andrew would be
an understatement right now.
At 8:37PM, Ramsay calls for lamb and bass
from the red kitchen. Guess who's responsible for
that? Jeff. Is it ready yet? Nope. Ramsay is
really losing patience with Jeff now, as he starts
yelling at him about how he's so slow with most
everything. When Jeff tries to explain himself,
Ramsay tells him to just move it. Back in the blue
kitchen, Ralph is leading the team, and they have
gotten some of their main courses out. Jessica seems
appreciative of Ralph's leadership, and when she calls
for help, he heads right over there to help. Ramsay
then notes that it seems like Ralph is doing all the
work.
At 9:09PM, only 2 main courses have come
from the red kitchen, and once again, Ramsay talks to
Jeff, this time about having Michael help him. Jeff
tries to say that Michael pushed him aside to help,
but Ramsay just sees this as an excuse for Jeff to
blame someone else. Ramsay scolds Jeff some more
about how he hasn't done anything right tonight yet,
before telling him to get back to his section. Ramsay
then calls out an order to the red kitchen. But now
it seems that Jeff wants to pull a Dewberry and desert
the team! Chris tells him not to, and Ramsay asks if
Jeff is gonna run off. Jeff then apparently changes
his mind, saying he's not a quitter. Looks like
someone is flip-flopping... But then, after Ramsay
tells him he's not a cook either and goes back to
check on some dishes on the hot plate, Jeff, albeit
quietly, calls Ramsay "an a******"! Uh-oh.
It's one thing to just think that. It's
quite another to say it, especially when someone else
might hear it. In this case, Maryann heard it, and
she tells Jeff to repeat what he just said. Ramsay,
hearing the sous-chef, calls Jeff over and asks what
he said. He then just up and says it. Wow. Then,
Jeff takes off his chef's jacket and walks out of the
kitchen, into the dorms, and apparently out of the
building, saying he's had enough! I guess he is a
quitter after all. As the red team is trying to hold
everything together, Ramsay lets them know that it is
official, that Jeff is out of the competition, and is
not coming back. Despite this, the team has to just
keep going, and get those dishes out.
Over in the blue kitchen, things are
starting to fall apart there. Only 5 main courses
have been served, and Ramsay calls for an order.
Wendy says it'll be done in 10 minutes, and Ramsay
isn't pleased. Ralph then calls for a repeat of the
order, and upon hearing it, he says he can get it in 5
minutes, which seems to be what Ramsay wanted to
hear. Wendy was apparently lost when it came to meat,
so she asked Ralph for help. He does help, as we find
out that this dish is for the critics. The dish is
served, and they get to taste Wendy's lamb. Kate felt
that it was overcooked, but Melissa liked it.
Back with the red kitchen, and it seems
that Jeff's departure has helped the red team, as
they've gotten a good rhythm going, and they're
getting their dishes out there more quickly now. Now
it's time for the critics to try Michael's lamb. Both
of them say that they liked this lamb better than the
first one. Advantage: Red. The red team also
currently has an advantage in terms of number of
entrees served, as by 10:02PM, they served 15, while
the blue team has served 8. Those are still low
numbers this late into the night, though. And Wendy
once again gives a poor excuse when trying to explain
to Ramsay why something isn't moving quickly enough
yet. This is followed by Ramsay telling her to just
shut up.
The majority of the customers are still
waiting for their main courses, and some of them start
leaving the restaurant, one having dumped her drink on
the table before doing so. It's looking like yet
another disaster for Hell's Kitchen, as we see a brief
fire in the blue kitchen, Jimmy being questioned about
a bit of meat that he was responsible for, and Ralph
slipping and falling to the ground. At 10:17PM,
Ramsay has once again had enough, and he orders the
kitchens shut down. The dinner service ends early for
the third time in a row, and the customers leave.
The critics' decision
Afterwards, the teams are lined up and
ready for the announcement of the results. He'll be
relying on what the critics said for his judgment this
time. He says that neither team's risottos were good,
but the red team's lobster spaghetti was better than
that of the blue team. Same with the lamb. So, based
on that, Ramsay declares the blue team as the losing
team. Despite Jeff quitting, there will still be
someone eliminated the normal way that night, as
Ramsay then asks Ralph to make the nominations for
elimination this time, since Ramsay was at least
impressed with how Ralph has done.
To the dorms they go, and Jessica is
worried that she might end up going home. Mary Ellen
comforts her, as Ralph is sitting nearby, possibly
thinking about who to nominate. He did notice what
happened with Andrew and Wendy, but he also was
worried about Jessica He figures that it'll be tough
to make these nominations.
Which link is weaker?
As the red team is sitting nearby, safe
for the first time (though Michael may be starting to
get comfortable there, since this is his third time
being safe), the blue team files into the dining room
for nomination and elimination. Ramsay asks for the
first nomination, and after some hesitation, Ralph
chooses... Wendy, because her section (meat) had been
holding back their service. Ramsay asks for the
second nomination, and Ralph chooses... Andrew,
because of his bickering with Ramsay. He agrees with
the choices, then asks Wendy and Andrew to step
forward.
It is now time for those two to plead
their cases. Wendy admits that she had done a
terrible job, but she says she'd appreciate an
opportunity to continue. Huh? She didn't even say
anything about doing a better job! She might have
doomed herself there That is, unless Andrew doesn't
fare any better with his case. He admits to
disagreements, then after Ramsay asks for another
reason after mentioning the salty risotto, Andrew says
that he's a team player, and he's trying to help the
team. Okay... Ramsay takes a moment to think about
his decision, then announces that the one that is
going home is... Wendy. She hands over her chef's
jacket to Ramsay as he mentions how lucky Andrew is
that he's still in it, and Wendy walks to the dorm to
leave Hell's Kitchen.
With 8 left, next week, Ramsay offers a
crash course in basics, the contestants see (thanks to
a billboard) that they can't escape him as long as
they remain in Hell's Kitchen, and one team will
apparently do something that hasn't been done there
before. Could it actually be something good? We'll
just have to wait and see.
[By the way, one more thing. At the
beginning of the end credits, it was mentioned that
Jeff actually left as a result of an injury. If
that's the case, then what injury? That kidney stone
from earlier was no longer a problem by the time he
quit. Did I miss something?] |