Hell's Kitchen Episode Three

I'm going to try and make this one shorter. Episode Two's entry seemed a bit too much recap and less comment orientated. If you like the longer version, let me know. I really don't want to make this the 'week of Ramsey' but writing notes on the Hell's Kitchen season is something I've meant to do for awhile. I'd get most of the way through a season, and go 'I should be writing notes' because I can never remember how my opinions change through the season. It's an experiment. Aren't they fun?

For the record I'm currently drinking a 250th anniversary Guinness at the moment. It's like a normal Guinness but with a lighter aftertaste and it's all sorts of fizzy, like Dr. Pepper level fizzy. Not bad but not all that different from the normal Guinness as far as I can tell at the moment.

- Last episode's promo promised the end of the 'fight' with Joseph as well as firefighters and alarms and medics. Panic in the Hell's Kitchen...

- Even with the normal 'last episode' recap, this episode starts with the end of the last, showing the entire build-up of the Joseph/Chef Ramsey conflict. Which I like. Moments after Joseph gets in Chef's face, a couple of bouncers or something come up to block him. Joseph gets in his face, continuing to swear at Chef and call him names in an attempt to provoke him, but Chef Ramsey doesn't flinch. Clearly disappointed, Chef Ramsey tells him to leave and Joseph does after flipping them all over and continuing to swear. Outside, Joseph notes that he doesn't need some 'limey bastard' telling him what to do and that anyone that would hire him would be proud to have him work for them. He comes across as completely crazy. Normally he may be a 'normally' intense guy, just focused, and decided to go on the offensive with Chef Ramsey to see what would happen or to look like a bigger man. I don't understand the logic but it didn't make him look good. It made him look like a lunatic. I wouldn't want to hire him based on that.

- That doesn't count as the elimination? Kevin is directed to provide the information Joseph wouldn't give and he quickly does so. Lovely, Tennille, Tony, and Andy are pulled forward to defend themselves. Tony gets eliminated. He had some problems but had a lot of heart. Robert gets immediately bounced to the Blue Team to balance out the two guys that just left. Fair enough. Chef Ramsey seems distracted by Joseph's insanity and, really, who can blame him? It's the hot topic of the dorm when everyone returns. That and the girls hugging Robert as they say 'bye' to him.

- Fire trucks arrive at 2AM, after they've barely slept. It's a fire drill! And challenge time! The firefighters can prep and have teamwork, unlike the Teams. The first Team to feed their side of firefighters win! Wow. This season has started out pretty crazy and active. They have three pasta dishes that can be ordered so it's not just like cranking out a bunch of spaghetti.

- 20 minutes in and not even garlic bread as gotten out. Really? Heck, I can make garlic bread. How long does it take to toast bread? I understand that they're tired and it's gotta be throwing them off. Still, the first few episodes of a season are just clearing houses. All the pretenders are cleared out. Occasionally you get a strong person that gets hurt and knocked out but it's mostly people failing on simple things. Lovely is working bread for the Red Team, they finally stop trusting her and check her bread. It's fine and gets sent out. Lovely doesn't show any signs of lasting. Andy's having the same problem on the Blue Side and we go to commercial with no Blue bread.

- Red Team are now hustling. The Blue Guys end up pulling the garlic bread from Andy and going like the Red did. Once that's done they immediately start catching up. The pasta challenge becomes a heck of a race with minimum failures and issues. The Teams do really well and the Red Team squeaks out a win by a few seconds. Robert bemoans that he doesn't care what Team he's on but the Teams he's been on have lost so far.

- Reward: Spa day with a helicopter ride.

- Punishment: Cleaning firefighters equipment and trucks before cleaning the restaurant.

- Van yells cheerfully to the girls as they leave. He's just a loud, goofy guy I guess.

- Dave tweaks his wrist cleaning the fire truck but only reveals that in Interview. Kevin twists his ankles walking back into the restaurant, apparently slipping on some water from the engine cleaning. At this point, Dave reveals his injury as well. They go to the hospital to get checked out. Holy heck. Suddenly the Blue Team is all fragile. Commercial.

Brief time-out as I replace the empty Guinness that was mostly gone when I started. Now I'm drinking a New Glarus Black Wheat that foamed over a bit when I opened it. Bother.

- The injured return not long after the girls return from the spa. Dave's got a mild fracture and a torn ligament. Kevin stretched a ligament in one foot and severely sprained the other. Both are planning to stick around. Hardcore.

- During the pre-opening pep talk, Chef Ramsey declares one member of each team will be a waiter tonight. As soon as he says 'Blue Team', Dave raises his hand to volunteer, not wanting to be a cause to slow down his team despite the fact that he says he's fine. No one volunteers on the Red side and Lovely is chosen.

- Van's on apps tonight. He's loud, no surprise, but communicating. He gets complimented on his food but chastised for his shouting. He's happy to be starting the night off right. Tennille is on fish and quickly shows she doesn't know what she's doing there. Suzanne does try to help her but gets nowhere. Chef Ramsey has to step in to straighten Tennille out. In the first episode she didn't look bad but has not shown any strength since. I don't believe she'll last at this point. Robert makes the mistake of asking Andy for help with some scallops. Andy messes them up. Chef Ramsey yells at Robert because Robert delivered them and Robert accepts the blame. It's interesting seeing the Robert/Chef Ramsey relationship this season. On one hand, Robert has to be treated like the rest, as a newcomer. On the other hand, Chef Ramsey has a higher expectation from him because he's already seen what Robert can do. Robert insisting that he has Chef's back is pretty wild.

- Tennille starts messing up the scallops completely. Suzanne actually seems nice as she's explaining what Tennille's doing wrong but Tennille expresses her dislike in Interview, noting that Suzanne likes to hear herself talk. She may not be wrong but what Suzanne was telling her was constructive. Tennille ignoring her is not helping anybody. She ends up spilling some of the excess oil she was using and starts a fire. She also gets annoyed because people keep checking for updates from her and just won't let her cook. While I understand her point of view, the sometimes just needing a moment to realign your thoughts, I've watched this show enough to know that you need to communicate in the kitchen. They can't just let her sit when they're waiting on her timing. She's messing the Red Team up at the moment. After Chef Ramsey calmly puts out her little fire, he tells her to take control of the situation and she does, relaxing and putting out quality food. Due to her issues, the Red Team is behind.

- Out in the restaurant, Lovely is not helping by messing up tickets. She gets sent to find a special bottle of wine and this takes her 45 minutes. Amanda messes up her lamb order and the Red Team's momentum begins to stall, even with Ariel trying to straighten them out. On the Blue side, Kevin, with his two bum ankles, is cooking up a storm. The Blue team gets a big lead but Robert forgets to start a salmon order for their last table. This gives the Red Team a chance to rally and they do, barely beating the Blue Team, just like they did in the challenge. Good grief! I like Robert and was sad to see him go last season because he seemed like he had skills and was a good guy but he's been very unfocused so far during service.

- Despite both Teams finishing, Chef Ramsey's not thrilled. He checks the customer comment cards for feedback. Despite finishing first, the Red Team's 'above average' percentage is 81. Blue gets 83 and wins. Ariel is deemed 'Best of the Worst' and has to chose the two to go up. Tennille pleads her case, that she did rally. Amanda compares herself to Lovely 'Is she better than me?'

- Nominees for elimination: Lovely and Tennille. Ariel expresses her reasons very well. Lovely lacks experience. Tennille has potential but is a current weakness to the team. She doesn't say they suck or anything like that. In a way, it's complimentary. Both nominees defend themselves well. Tennille notes her problem during service and how she came back from it, declaring herself strong. She does blame her team for her problem, that she feels they weren't supporting her, and that's not good. Lovely admits her lack of experience and owns up to the 45 minutes she was gone, but points out her customers were satisfied and she always maintains her composure.

- Chef Ramsey thanks them both before honestly pointing out he doesn't think either will win. Lovely is returned to the Team. Tennille is told to wake up before being returned to the Team. Due to Joseph taking himself out of the competition, he counts as tonight's elimination, a gift as it were. He has one more serious thing to say to everyone: 'I ain't nobody's [female dog]!' There's a laugh to end the show but the voiceover promises troubles for tomorrow...

- Teaser: Failure to communicate. Robert gets ticked and is shown toe-to-toe with Kevin. He's also shown breaking things and yelling that he almost died for this last season. Dave's injury is worse than he thought and he may have to quit the competition. It ends with cries for a medic. I love these teasers. They are so 'what the heck!' sorts of well done. The next episode is tomorrow. Goody!

I probably won't watch it until Wednesday so tomorrow we'll have to have something different to talk about. Good thing, right?