Hell's Kitchen Episode Two

The plan for this episode is for me to jot down some comments as I watch it. Let's see how this goes.

- Robert immediately comes in to the Red Team and starts imparting things he learned during last season. Huge advantage. Dave from the Blue Team is shown agreeing with me.

- Challenge: clean as many shrimp as you can in ten minutes. One thing about a challenge like this is that Chef Ramsey always shows the Teams what he wants from them, provides an example for them to follow. Good call. Joseph, who seems to have a chip on his shoulder in general, poo-poos this as entry level work. Well, duh. It's day two. The Teams stunk up the joint last night and he wants to see what everyone can do with something 'basic'. It briefly rains ice and shrimp from the ceiling as Chef Ramsey calls for the shrimp tub to be filled up more. Geez!

- Lovely (yes, that's her name) is told to sit out the challenge to even up the teams. She rather lamely cheers on her team. Interviews from both Teams say that the other Team didn't look like they knew what they were doing. Ha! That's comedy gold right there.

- Last night's leader, Tennille, only manages one shrimp done correctly. Robert gets four and blames his mistakes on his pudgy fingers. The rest of the Team does excellently and the Red Team's total is 44. Blue Team starts strong but Joseph gets a relatively low completion at 5 and Dave does poorly. With only Jim left for the Blue Team, the score is 44 to 43. His first one connects but hits a bad run after that. We go to commercial with it tied.

- Jim's last shrimp is acceptable and they win again.

- Punishment: prepping the shrimp and lemon for the next service.

- Reward: Newport Beach, seafood lunch, and dessert on a mega-yacht.

- In an effort to show she's still providing value to the Team after her failure, Tennille tries to take charge. Of course, she ends up pissing off the rest of the team.

- Joseph gets lippy at lunch, noting that he's not here to get out and have lunch, he's here to win. Interview clip has him noting that talk gets you nowhere and he's not here to chit-chat. Interview with Dave has him noting that Joseph is way too intense and I tend to agree. There is a difference between planning and just talking. There's also something to be said about learning things regarding your Team and Employer, Chef Ramsey in this case, and if he doesn't get that's what's going on during some of this, then he might be WAY too tightly wound.

- After the Blue Team returns from their reward, final prep begins for service. Once again Robert is shown dispensing what he learned from last Season and gently takes control. He gets thanks. There's a feeling that the Red Team might rally around him.

- On the Blue Team, Tony has issues cutting grapefruit. First Kevin tries to help him out, and may or may not have helped due to the way Tony took the advice. Then Chef Ramsey sees that something's not right and gives him some hell. This ticks Tony off, not because of what Chef said, but because Kevin doesn't admit to being part of the process and Tony won't rat him out.

- Scampi at tableside tonight to spice things up. Van, a fish cook from Texas, is selected to represent the Blue Team. Interview notes that he has no front of house experience but has charisma! Charisma! So he should be fine. I kinda like Van. He seems like a Good Ol' Boy with skill. It also seems like he can be a bit obnoxious, like how he's reacted after winning challenges. I'm not sure if that's him being an ass or if he's so enthusiastic that he acts/speaks before really thinking about what he's doing. Tennille gets picked from the Red Team and she's much less enthusiastic.

- Tony still can't cut a grapefruit properly (over a bowl!) and gets called over as we go to commercial.

- Tony gets yelled at, he apologizes, and all is well for the moment.

- In interview, Joseph declares that they will act as a team and he is ready! If memory serves, he's an ex-Marine, could this be why he's so intense?

- Robert has everyone on the Red Team put their hands together and calls for communication and teamwork.

- Tennille's not sure how to approach the customers: sexy voice, 'white' voice, but she's gonna do it! Funny! She goes for funny instead 'Did you know they were supposed to be celebrity impersonators? I'm supposed to be Whoopie Goldberg.' Ha!

- Tony is on fish station. Enthusiasm for cooking fish! But he fires up an order of scallops as soon as he hears it, not when it's time and it goes to waste. Not good. Meanwhile, Lovely tries to cook scallops without turning on a burner and then tries to blame her teammate Tek for it. Funny, one of the things they laughed at upon entering Hell's Kitchen was a reminder to always cook with the stove on. Two episodes in and someone's already forgotten. Ha!

- Tony's refired scallops aren't cooked properly. Kevin goes over and provides him with guidance. This works.

- Robert starts messing up on appetizers. Not a good start for the big fella.

- JP tries to give Van some advice but gets blown off. Then Van goes to a Red Team table and gets yelled at for it. JP puts their conflict down to a communications issue: they might both be speaking English, but Van's from Texas. Once he's turned away from them, Gordon can't help but grin.

- Apps start cranking out of the Red Kitchen but Tennille undercooks a Scampi order while trying to catch up. This sets the Red Team back.

- Van's doing good with his Scampi but spills an order. He attempts to refire but the pan has apparently gotten hot and he boogies back to the Kitchen to get a different, clean pan. JP catches him running and tells him not to run. Van kinda blows him off again and JP gets PISSED. As we go to commercial, JP is hollering at Van and Van's just trying to get past him.

- Chef Ramsey pulls them into the back and gives them some Hell. Both of them need to settle down and do their jobs. Van needs to listen to JP and JP needs to respect Van. They settle down and head back to work. JP gets the last word. Once the door opens, Van hustles out and JP goes 'Ladies first.' Ha! You don't mess with JP!

- Tennille comes in to report that she's behind by six tables. Chef Ramsey is not happy. Points for communicating I suppose but, to Chef's point, it makes her look like she can't cook. Blue Team is cranking out orders while the Red Team falls beneath. Andy has an issue cooking a chicken order. After cutting it, he realizes it's not done and tries to save it. Chef don't go for that and there's yelling. Red Team has chicken related issues as well.

- Tony gets confused and Kevin takes over his fish station. On the Red side, Lovely burns her fish. Then Kevin undercooks fish. Suddenly it feels like the entire Blue Team is cooking fish. Yelling gets them nowhere. Red Team burns their chicken. Both sides are stalled. Chef Ramsey gets ticked, pulls both Teams together, and says he's going to do something he's never done as we go to commercial. Of course.

- Chef Ramsey is peeved. Since they can't seem to cook anything, he orders them to make shrimp cocktails so that the customers will get something to eat. After finishing that, the Teams get yelled at again before the Kitchens are shut down. Neither Team has won. Both Teams are ordered to pick two names for possible elimination.

- As the Team discussions begin, Tennille tries to defend herself, that she did a good job. Tony accepts blame and volunteers to go on the chopping block. Interview has Tony mad at Andy for not doing the same. When Dave suggests Andy on the meat station be their other candidate, he gets defensive. In fairness to Andy, we saw him mess up all of one chicken. Lovely tries to defend her fish but Suzanne holds her to her errors. Suzanne seems good at that, kinda just on the wrong side of politely truthful. Lovely's opinion seems to be that at least she burnt it, as opposed to serving raw, undercooked fish and shrimp. Suzanne also holds Sabrina to account for her raw chicken. Jim suggests that Van's behavior with JP would qualify him for elimination and Van snaps, suggesting he should hit Jim. Whoa, temper much? And commercial.

- Van walks off with nothing other than verbal violence. The Blue Team is not happy with the way he acted and it factors in their decision.

- Nominees for elimination: Red Team: Tennille and Lovely. When Joseph gets asked to identify his Team's nominees, he goes "They know who they are." Holy crap, what is wrong with this guy? Blue Team: Tony and Andy. Chef Ramsey asked for 'first and why', Joseph gives him the guys names, no explanation. Chef calls him stupid and repeats the question slowly. Ut oh. Joseph sets his jaw for a moment, then identifies Tony and explains that he knows why, they all sat down together as men to discuss it. Chef remains confused. Joseph will NOT provide a reason for the nominees, just repeating what little he's already said. Chef Ramsey steps up to the line and makes things clear. Once Chef Ramsey steps back into position, he wonders aloud as to why this was so complicated, why the song and dance. Joseph snaps, noting that he's 'not no [female dog]' repeatedly. Some of the others in the line try to calm him done but he shuts them up. Joseph ends up ripping off his jacket and encouraging Chef Ramsey to step outside to the parking lot as he's not afraid of him.

- To be Continued- ?!? What the!

You know, I really didn't want to watch Episode Three yet tonight...