Hell's Kitchen Episode 8 (I think)

Hell's Kitchen Episode 8 aka '9 Chefs Compete' orig aired 9/1/2009

Recap: High Roller challenge, the Blue Team's weird choices win out but Blue Kitchen shut down in service, Van and Robert singled out, Red Team win but Suzanne's meddling is pointed out, Robert is sent home.

Teams return to the dorms. Dave and Van seem surprised that Robert was sent home, Dave even pointing out that Robert was a strong chef. Even Andy agrees that he has no room for error at this point. Once Suzanne leaves the presence of the Red Team (apart from Ariel, not sure where she was), they vent their annoyance with her.

New Day, New Challenge: Blindfolded Taste Test. Tennille sits out in order to even the teams. Van versus Ariel to start. Ariel gets 2, Van 1. Dave versus Suzanne: Dave 1, Suzanne – 2. Kevin vs Sabrina – One each. Andy vs Amanda – Andy and Amanda both get one, making the score 6-4 Red with two items left. If Andy fails, the game is over. So it's commercial time.

Can Andy rally for his team? Get some points with his crew? No, he can't. Disappointing considering he felt this challenge was right up his street. He defends himself slightly by pointing out the rest of his Team didn't do all that well either. Had they gotten everything right and he had failed, he'd look like more of an idiot than he did.

Reward: lunch in the dark. Punishment: hand making sorbet and cleaning all the glasses for them, as well as unloading the fruit for the sorbet.

Sous Chef Scott makes the guys a fancy lunch but purees it so they have to drink it like a protein shake. The Red Team's lunch is all night vision green and hard to watch. The Team accuses Suzanne of kissing up to Chef Ramsey, fueling their annoyance with her. This continues into prep for service and the Red Team, aside from Suzanne, forming a circle to 'cuddle' up and keep Suzanne out. Suzanne is aware that something is going on and comments on how catty women can be. Commercial.

Pre-service meeting: both teams will be offering a palate cleansing sorbet between courses. Ariel is assigned this on the Red Team. As the Blue Team has one less member than Red, they are assigned as a group to make sure it gets done. Chef Ramsey also calls for consistency.

Tennille and Andy both assume charge in their respective kitchens. This is an odd moment as we rarely see the members of a team do this. It does happen, it's not that unfamiliar, but I'm more used to seeing someone look like they've taken command rather than someone going 'I'll run it tonight'.

On the Red Side, Tennille councils Suzanne on the scallops Suzanne is preparing, feeling that they are overdone. Suzanne rejects this comment, takes them to the pass, and they are sent out without comment from Chef Ramsey. While in Interview Tennille treats this as an attempt to help, Suzanne takes it as an attempt at head games. To be honest, while I'm not a fan of Suzanne, I believe that was the intent as well. Interesting.

The appetizers go well for both teams and the sorbets start. Ariel heads out and Kevin volunteers to do this round for the Blue Team. Van takes over the appetizer station for Kevin while he's away. Van's first risotto is 'bland' but is able to fix it for Chef Ramsey. Unfortunately, while Kevin is serving sorbet, he comes across a table that received one of Van's risottos and they note that they found it 'disappointing'. Kevin is concerned that the Team falls apart without him. Kevin speaks like this often and manages to not sound like he's bragging about his abilities, most of the time anyway. He's a strong chef but I don't feel that he'll be in the final two for some reason.

On the Red Side, Amanda catches flak from Chef Ramsey. She notes that it's because she was working the garnish station, it's highly visible to him, and therefore you become more of a target.

On the Blue Side, Andy's lost track of what's going on, a clear failure while leading. Kevin returns from sorbeting to find the kitchen is lost. Chef Ramsey catches them in this state and hollers. They manage to find their footing and recover.

Back in the Red, Sabrina is working Meat Station and Suzanne the Fish Station. Their timing is off. In Interview, Sabrina accuses Suzanne of being off, of starting her fish too soon and making her look slow. She gets pressured into sending a lamb order before she's comfortable with it. Chef Ramsey lets it through but the customer sends it back as it's raw. Chef Ramsey tells Sabrina to leave the kitchen, sending her into the restaurant to eat her mistake. We go to commercial with Sabrina feeling bad and Suzanne apparently a point up on the rest of her team.

Sabrina eats her mistake. Tennille is sent to the Meat Station while she's gone. She sets a time for completion and will not waver when pushed to change it by Suzanne. Her meat goes out successfully, even from a customer perspective. Sabrina returns to the team clearly humbled.

The Blue Team is clicking. Andy reports that his supply of mashed potatoes is running low and he's concerned they won't have enough to complete service. While he is the bearer of bad news and it's not taken well, the Team and Chef Ramsey are able to adjust because he said something. Chef Ramsey is clearly not pleased but he would have been angrier had Andy not said something until he ran out.

Sabrina returns to the Meat Station. She and Suzanne call out times, agree that they are both ready, and Sabrina takes her lamb to the pass. Only Suzanne now needs another minute, having changed her mind. This is like bamboo shoots under his fingernails and Chef Ramsey quickly gets annoyed. The entire table's order is ready apart from one order of sea bass that Suzanne is working on. She checks and apologizes as she's messed up. They had to cook the entire order again. Sabrina shoots Suzanne the dirtiest of looks. I think they just lost the night right there. I'm wondering if she did that deliberately? Part of me argues yes, as some sort of revenge, but this is the sort of thing that will lead you to the chopping block and elimination so, if it was intentional, it would be a stupid thing to do. I don't think she's stupid so I'm leaning towards unintentional.

Andy does run out of mashed potatoes. Dave helps him generate more but Andy is sent to the three remaining Blue tables, who are stuck waiting because of the lack of potatoes, to apologize.

Suzanne asks for assistance from nearby Amanda. The order Amanda works on ends up not being cooked when taken to the pass. Chef Ramsey squats in the corner, watching the Red Team fall apart as we go to commercial.

Chef Ramsey expresses disappointment with Suzanne and Amanda: Suzanne for not checking on Amanda who was busy with her own work, and Amanda for not cooking the fish enough.

Dave, who you might remember has a broken wrist and is wearing a big cast, cranks out the needed mashed potatoes. Sous Chef Scott and Chef Ramsey discuss Andy's slowness aloud, feeling he's given up, to Andy's displeasure. I think Andy tries not to panic and shows a deliberate pace because of it. On the flip side, this doesn't seem to help him and with his earlier inability to keep track of the orders seems to indicate that this pace is probably not for him. The Blue Kitchen heads to desserts first. Both Teams complete their service.

Chef Ramsey is pleased that service was successfully completed but is disappointed that it's not a smooth process. He notes that both Teams are equally weak. The Blue Team wins service. Dave is singled out for praise. With one less Team member than the Red Team, the Blue Team whipped the Red Team's butt. Tennille is identified as the Best of the Worst, with Chef Ramsey noting that he wanted her gone a couple services ago but is now happy that she's around.

In Interview, Tennille loudly declared that her first choice is simple: Suzanne as she doesn't know how to work as part of a team. Privately, Tennille makes her aware of this and why. Suzanne is confused by the declaration that she threw people 'under the bus' and, rather than get into it with her, Tennille takes her to the rest of the Team so that they can express themselves to her. Suzanne tries to defend herself but Tennille tries to hammer it into her brain that Suzanne's reactions in the kitchen are not team oriented, even down to her verbiage, like saying 'I'm ready' as opposed to 'the Team will be ready in two minutes'. Tennille declared that, if she didn't need to pick two people, Suzanne would be up there by herself. Her second choice is less clear, noting issues with both Sabrina and Amanda as we go to commercial. I like sequences like this. Suzanne really doesn't seem to understand the problem that the rest of the group has with her but Tennille is able to clearly state the problem without it being a personality conflict. It's just not a matter of not liking someone as a person; it's a conflict in the way they work.

Nominees for Elimination: Suzanne – lack of teamwork amongst other things and Sabrina – hasn't stepped into the role that the Team needs to move forward. Chef Ramsey also pulls Amanda forward. Suzanne believes that this is a personal decision, not a work related issue. When asked, Tennille defends her decision, noting that she explained her reasonings earlier and that they were largely related to the cooking failures of today. Sabrina defends herself as a good cook and team player. Chef Ramsey says she was inconsistent tonight which Sabrina defends as Suzanne's fault. As Suzanne tries to defend herself, the rest of her Team agrees with Sabrina. Amanda defends herself rather generically.

Suzanne is sent back in line. Amanda is eliminated. The Red Team is clearly confused by this decision. To be honest, I am a little as well. It's not that I don't think Suzanne is awful and Amanda awesome, it's just that Amanda didn't really fail that badly this evening and Suzanne did show some serious issues tonight.

Trailer: Andy cuts the tips of his fingers off 'and he may never cook again'. Service looks to go horrible on both sides and it looks like Chef Ramsey ends up kicking the chefs out of the kitchen one-by-one as the night goes on. Good grief.