Sir RaiderDuck OMS

One thing I thought was REALLY telling: After Vanessa threw her big tantrum last week over being on the losing volleyball team, he gives her a 1:1 this week. More than anything else, that says "I want you here."

Question: Do we KNOW that Rachel's going to be the Bachelorette, or could this be another swerve by TPTB? Remember when they went so far as to shoot Bachelorette promo photos showing Caila holding the rose, only to decide on JoJo later?

The Yardbird restaurant at the Venetian will employ the winner as a glorified line chef, at least to start. If they suck, they'll be let go at the end of their contract. If they're good, the sky's the limit. All this show gives the winner is a legitimate foot in the door. The rest is up to them.

When the GF and I ate at Gordon Ramsay's BURGR in Vegas a month ago, I specifically asked about Season 10 Winner/Season 15 Sous Chef Christina Wilson. Turns out she's no longer the Executive Chef at BURGR, as she has now been promoted to kind of a "roving troubleshooter" role at all of Ramsay's Las Vegas restaurants, or at least that's what the waiter told me. He also said she was a GREAT boss to work for. And I highly, highly recommend BURGR's "Uber Cheese Burger." We're talking Food of the Gods here.

Might've been something with the feed provided to your local station. The commercial breaks had those on Hulu. Andrew's snuff habit is revolting. I suspect you returned for the same reason a lot of us do: it's usually entertaining, especially with Gordon's periodic outbursts, and the show telegraphs everything to the point where you can have it on as background while dinking around on your smartphone, just looking up when something interesting's about to happen. As for tonight's elimination: I would've eliminated the thoroughly unpleasant Andrew, whose steaks tonight sucked, and sent Aaron over to the red team in exchange for someone.

Gia's fate was sealed the minute Ramsay called her out on her cruddy garnishes and she threw up her hands as if to say "Yeah, whatever." Ramsay has never put up with backtalk or disrespect (nor should he, in his kitchen) and that was it for Gia; if the problem was only the other women disliking her, he could have swapped her out with someone on the men's team. IMHO, his anger at the men not finishing their service was partly because he wanted the women's team to lose so he could just toss her and be done. But Koop and Aaron were contrite and both show promise, so he said "F it" and kicked her ass to the curb anyway.

Gia was beyond worthless, but at least she showed fight in front of Gordon. Jessica had given up. And somebody needs to remind the gloating winners that sooner or later they'll be counting on at least some people from the losing team. Why make enemies when you don't have to?

ITA with everyone who thought Shake a la Fish Gut was disgusting and unnecessary. Drinking a shake made of raw fish has absolutely NOTHING to do with one's skill as a chef, but then again neither does go-karting. At least the opening credits this season are kitchen-themed. In a normal restaurant, I'm assuming they don't have the employees carry boxes of uncleaned fish through the main dining room? Maybe next season, Fox can invest in these new inventions I've seen called "service entrances" and "carts." As for the raw steaks: either Genaro didn't check the temperature of the stove or it had been messed with. A classic sign of a too-hot stove is a well-done outside and raw inside. To cook it more evenly, you turn down the heat and cook it longer. That being said, Genaro still needed to go. He obviously didn't give two shits about the competition and had already checked out. At least Aaron might improve with more experience.

Did a little bit of researching, and even for Bar Rescue, this one tops the bullshit meter: The weekly fetish event had been going on for months and even had its own website. His destruction of that cross was real, though. Apparently, it cost $1500 in parts and labor to replace. The bar has already been sold and is now operating under another name.

They're just being realistic. This is a bar that will have to appeal to locals, most of whom don't have a lot of money. If someone has $25-30 to spend on a night out, $5 drinks will look a whole lot more attractive than $20 drinks.

Would anyone else have preferred it if they'd ditched the bar rescue and just had Frank Cullotta talk about the old Vegas mob for an hour?

His apartment looked like shit. The winners are given the made-up position of "Head Chef," which basically translates to "well-paid line chef." Some work their way up to a real Executive Chef at these restaurants, some don't. But none is given a real Executive Chef gig straight from the show.

Thank you! I watched the episode slightly sloshed and wondered what was "off" about it; of course, it was the lack of room footage. Methinks Gordon didn't even stay at the hotel. I was wondering about the filets also. My guess is they have frozen steaks they just throw on the grill if need be. And ITA about the idiot husband who let the fire insurance lapse. You NEVER, EVER, EVER let fire insurance lapse. If it's too expensive, then sell the house/restaurant/whatever and you'll at least have the money. Decades ago, I worked in an insurance office where an older couple let their policy lapse because they thought they couldn't afford it anymore. A month later, their house burned to the ground and they had to live out their remaining time in a camper on their driveway. I don't understand how anyone could keep a straight face whilst charging $7.90 for that crap, let alone $79. And this just reinforces that Gordon didn't even stay there; otherwise, HE would have ordered it and then raged at the kitchen staff. I agree that the rooms must have been OK. How the hell do that many flies die in a room? If it were a lot of moths, I'd think the owners kept the lights on at night, and the moths got in through a hole and starved to death. But flies??? WTF?

Piper's branding was hard to take, although not as bad as what I thought was going to happen (i.e. using the stove to burn half her face off), but Piper almost went out of her way to earn it. She's treated everyone like shit this season and made the same mistake that Beecher in Season Two of Oz and Paul Castellano IRL made: thinking they could do whatever they wanted because they had the upper hand. People can only be pushed so far, and payback in these situations is seldom pretty. Now the big question becomes what Piper will do as payback: does she amend her ways, or does she say "Fuck it" and go full Nazi?

Did anyone else get a real date rapist vibe from Chad threatening to confront her with "You know you really like me!" if he didn't get a rose? Dude went from "offbeat but a jerk" to "just plain creepy" when he said that.

Two possible reasons for Chuck's return: 1) He's "mobbed up" (this IS Detroit) and the owner literally cannot fire him without getting his legs broken. 2) He's supplying the drugs for the dancers. Two possible reasons for Sweet's return: 1) She's blowing the manager. 2) She's blowing the owner.

I thought it was hilarious how the son chewed out Gordon for swearing in front of his parents, then drops an s-bomb the very next sentence. That head chef was a clueless idiot. Gordon was right to chase her out of the kitchen. FYI to people who thought the show had been cancelled: Hotel Hell only airs every other season. I assume it's because Gordon probably schedules each taping when he has a week off here and there. Between his three or four other shows currently airing plus overseeing his restaurants and whatnot, it probably takes two years to get the logistics right for the eight episodes per season.

The truly ironic part is that the allegations against Cosby had been known and ignored by the media for years. It was only when comedian Hannibal Buress, tired of seeing a serial rapist scold other African-Americans for their moral failings, made "You raped women, Bill Cosby!" part of his routine and it was recorded one night, put on the Internet, and subsequently went viral. The problem with Cosby is the sheer weight of evidence of him. Over 50 women of different ages, nationalities, walks of life, and income levels have accused Cosby of sexual assault, using the same M.O. (drugging the women, then taking indecent liberties while they were unconscious and helpless) that he admitted to in a 2005 deposition. Either every single one of them is lying, or Bill Cosby is a rapist. There is literally no middle ground.

OUCH! And I'm an Oregon Ducks fan, so I should know better. Original post corrected.

When that awful checkout guy made the joke about the tampons, I loudly said to the TV "May I speak with your manager, please?" because that's exactly what I would have said in that situation. Get the jerk fired. ITA with everyone who says Sarah Paulson deserves an Emmy for this episode alone. Having watched a bunch of the trial IRL, one thing I've noticed is the lack of lawyers on the defense side. Kardashian, IIRC, was sitting by OJ almost every day of the trial, and Carl Douglas was only there during the DNA portion. And it looks like Gerald Uelmen's role has been eliminated and his lines given to other lawyers, probably to keep the proceedings clear to the audience. One final point: When Fuhrman was asked if he'd planted any evidence and he took the fifth, he HAD to take the Fifth. The Fifth Amendment offers a blanket protection, not a specific one. In other words, once you begin taking the Fifth, you have to take it for EVERYTHING. They could have asked Fuhrman if he'd shot Abraham Lincoln, and he still would have had to take the Fifth.

Something to remember every time you hear about the possibility of "planted evidence" in the OJ trial: California law at that time (and maybe even today -- I'm too lazy to look it up) stated that if a police officer planted evidence or committed perjury in a criminal investigation that led to a conviction, that officer would be subject to the exact same prison term the defendant received, up to and including the Death penalty. As the prosecution's decision not to seek Death was weeks away when all this supposedly happened, the officers would literally have been risking their lives planting all this evidence. Why would they have done this? OJ was not a symbol to the black community: indeed, he was what George Carlin once described as "openly white." He left the old neighborhood when he got his millions and never returned. If anything, the police showed him preferential treatment, including then-patrolman Mark Fuhrman sweeping evidence of spousal abuse on OJ's part under the rug. Some big conspiracy to "nail him" for some imagined slight simply makes no sense, especially in light of the potential penalties for having done so.

Point taken. OJ said he was going to get a burger, and Kato asked to tag along. Not the way I remember it, but facts are facts.

IIRC, their trip to McDonald's the night of the murders was literally the first time OJ had asked Kato to do anything with him.

I agree with your second paragraph. OJ Simpson's height of post-football fame passed in 1986, when he and Joe Namath were fired from Monday Night Football. He then went to NBC where IIRC, his sideline reporting and in-studio analysis were criticized in the sports media for their worthlessness; it was widely believed that Howard Cosell's infamous "jockocracy" rant when he left MNF (criticizing sports media for favoring ex-jocks over professional broadcasters and sportswriters) was directed at least in part at OJ. He could only have been accurately described as "beloved" within the fanbases of the USC Trojans and Buffalo Bills. Most sports fans (especially those of us young enough to have not watched him play) viewed him as just another ex-jock. Universally recognized? Definitely. Universally beloved? No way. (Edited because Bruins and Trojans are not the same thing.)

I have a small connection to the Diane Downs case: my mother was a music teacher at the school the two surviving children went to after they were sent to live with their foster parents. She only met the girl once or twice, but worked with the little boy a lot, and has nothing but contempt and dismay for his foster parents: he was mostly paralyzed from the gunshots but still had a little bit of movement and feeling in his legs and feet. Everybody from the school was encouraging his foster parents to send him to physical therapy because there was a good chance he'd be able to walk again someday, even if he had to use a cane. But he complained that the PT hurt (which it probably did), so his foster "parents" stop sending him, thus condemning him to a wheelchair for life. Sometimes, it's not about what a child wants. It's about what he needs. As for future ACS stories: Menendez Brothers Robert Blake/Bonnie Lee Bakley (Cold-hearted manipulative conwoman found murdered, possibly by famous Hollywood actor) Lincoln Assassination (lotsa stuff that hasn't gotten wide play, including a planned attempt on VP Johnson's life) Watergate (Although it's been done to death) Iran/Contra (might be too dry)