S12.E18: 5 Chefs Compete

[BogoGog24]

I don't feel like Joy deserved a second chance but I do think she should have gone to apologize (if she actually never did). Her behavior was rude and selfish, no matter how upset she was. You don't leave your team behind or let customers go hungry because you're upset. She only showed she lacks the maturity to handle the pressure of a position like that. And not only that, but she (seemingly) did not apologize to Ramsay for it. I understand it can be difficult for the contestants to remember not to take GR so seriously because it's all for TV, maybe in the heat of the moment they forget, and they have been under so much pressure for weeks, but what Joy did and how she chose to handle it just shows she isn't ready for something like this. She's only 25, I think that is just way too young for something like this. I'm not surprised that she lacks the maturity.

 

Hoping for a Rochelle vs. Scott finale at this point and I'd be fine with either of them winning. No Jason or Melanie please. Both are just awful, personality wise.

[Julia]

When we were at Bryan Voltaggio's first restaurant, Volt, recently

 

Insanely jealous.

 

(if you're around there, you should try Bilbo Baggins in Alexandria. It's a really neat little tavern. /OT)

[Mama No Life]

I enjoyed this episode, perhaps b/c there were so many clearly unscripted moments: Rochelle's finger, Joy's epic meltdown, Stan Lee's hilarious commentary, and Jason shitting his pants in the jet. My favorite moment is when Stan Lee is muttering to his friends about how GR doesn't need to yell so much and then GR walks by and Stan Lee gives him the sweetest smile. lol!

Joy was showing signs of strain when they had to do the pumpkins. She kept talking about how tired she was and that she was just beat down. Then she told Melanie that she was the kind of person who would fuck something up at the last minute. Good editing there to foreshadow b/c I would have never predicted that meltdown prior to this episode. She totally overreacted, but that's what young people do sometimes. Sucks for her b/c I thought she was talented. Of course, after the BHG bathroom comment, it was probably for the best

Rochelle is the only one of the four I like, but she's clearly not head chef material. She couldn't even decide on freaking leftovers to make. She doesn't do well under pressure though she clearly is creative and smart. And cute. :)

[Fosca]

I second the notion of Stan Lee being kept as a sort of Greek Chorus.  I had more fun watching him this episode than the entire rest of this season put together.  I also would like to read the comic book that he puts Hell's Kitchen into; maybe that should be the next X-men movie?

[cooksdelight]

Does anyone know, did Stan Lee contribute to the opening comic book scenes?

[LakeGal]

I am glad Joy is gone.  I was worried they would talk her into staying.  She didn't deserve another chance after her actions.  I believe she would not have stayed this long if she had not had her friend Kaisha there.  They were a pair and Joy seemed to lose it when she lost her other half.  Nobody to help her vote out who they wanted.

 

I don't think anyone this season deserves to win.

[Brattinella]

 

 

She gets within sniffing distance of the finals and she quits as soon as she doesn't have Kashia to draw Ramsay's attention away during service and help game the vote afterwards?

 

Exactly.  What an ass.

Sorry, I don't know how to quote on this board!

 

 

[cooksdelight]

Depending on what type of computer you are using, there should be quote marks just above "reply to this topic" and you click that then copy your text in the box when it appears.

If you are on an iPad or similar device, use the [ then put the word 'quote' inside and end with ], then paste your text. End it with [ then the / and the word 'quote' and again close it with ]

Do not use the ' marks around the word quote, I just put that there so you'd know it was the key word.

Edited July 12, 2014 by cooksdelight

[Brattinella]

The only quote marks I see are the Multi-quotes right below a post.  I'm on a laptop on windows. 

 

Oh wait, I see the 'Reply to this topic' AFTER I start to reply.  Duh.

 

Thank you for your help!

[snowblossom2]

You know, Joy might have gone into the kitchen to apologize, but Gordon wouldn't have that on the show. They edited it out, made Joy go back and walk out the way we saw her. We'll never know.

Except didn't she say she didn't apologize? That she thought about it but didn't?

[Monty]

It definitely was THE! MOST! SHOCKING! episode this season.....*LOL*

It actually was! It's so rare that this show has something that's legitimately surprising, but the obvious front-runner walking out definitely qualifies. You know going in that you're going to get yelled at by Gordon, and you have to just shut up and take it.

[SourK]

It does kind of boggle the mind that any contestant who has ever watched this show before (let alone competing in it) wouldn't ALWAYS keep in mind that Gordo is playing a character, and be more sanguine about it when he really lays into them. Especially since they all should know that once he smells blood in the water, then it's really on. But I suppose in the heat of the moment, people just snap sometimes.

 

I think it would be hard to keep perspective once you were on the show. I remember Penn Jillette giving all of these interviews after he was on Celebrity Apprentice, where he said that, going in, you think you can hold yourself at a distance from it and remember that it's just a gameshow, but once you're there, all you do every day is film the gameshow, and you're sequestered in a hotel with the other contestants and you're not sleeping, and you're working really long hours, and the show becomes your whole life, and you start to get really emotional about stuff you shouldn't care about. (I'm paraphrasing, obviously.)

 

I feel like that would be true, though. Like, when people go to summer camp and, after they've been there a few days, the drama happening at summer camp means EVERYTHING, regardless of how little bearing it has on their lives before and after. I think the longer you last on the show, the harder it would be to keep perspective on what's happening, and the more you would buy into the show's values and narratives. At least, I think that's what would happen to me.

 

What's strange to me is this is two weeks in a row where we've seen cheftestants give Gordon some blowback, first Scott and now Joy. This year I was thinking that Gordon was doing a lot less yelling. There's still the classic, "HOW LONG?" "30 seconds, chef!" "OH MY GOD! YOU'VE GIVEN UP!" but I don't think he's called anyone a donkey once. But now that two of the contestants have fought back, it makes me wonder if he's actually been worse this year but, knowing that the frontrunner ended up walking out, was edited to look less like crazy angry dude.

 

I noticed that, too. When Kashia was there she used to mutter from time to time that she was tired of getting yelled at, too. IIRC, there was at least one time when GR heard her and asked what she said, and she told him "nothing." I think either something about this season is worse or more stressful than usual (doesn't have to be GR; could just be the general stress level is higher and people tolerate him less because of that) -- or, it could be that this group of contestants has been talking amongst themselves about how badly he treats them, which makes them feel emboldened to speak up in the kitchen. Hard to say.

[Julia]

I think either something about this season is worse or more stressful than usual (doesn't have to be GR; could just be the general stress level is higher and people tolerate him less because of that) 

 

My high water mark for toxic stress on this show is season 10, with the not-at-all-hot Kimmie, Tiffany and Robyn-on-Barb action (at least, before they turned on each other). This season is kind of fraught, but I was genuinely afraid one of the truckstop triplets was going to do someone a permanent injury before someone thought to put down a camera and stop them. This season seems relatively calm to me by comparison.

[QuelleC]

I think GR actually did some good for people on Kitchen Nightmares, and that's the show that got canned?  What's going on here is the definition of reality porn.  I feel icky for watching it.  No wonder Joy's departure wasn't trumped up in the ads as a shocking turn of events.  The abuse they go through, and choosing these particular people in the first place, reflects very badly on the show. I wouldn't go apologize to my abuser either and yeah she threw away a "sure thing" but we don't know she knew that. From cheftestants' comments there is a lot more than we're seeing and when they lose they do hours of hard physical work on top of everything else, plus share a dorm room with everybody.  Stress, stress, stress meant to break people for our reality tv enjoyment.  I think it must be worse this year since we've seen Andi step in so many times, that's new this year. Hell, the producers probably have meetings on how far they can push them.

 

I hear the show is very different in other countries but I have no way of accessing it without cable.

 

I think Joy wanted to leave with a little dignity intact, good for her. Employees or even cheftestants aren't there for you to bully.  I wonder if we'll see any change in GR in the remaining episodes because this is all on him.  From what he said, after next week there will be a final two.

Edited July 12, 2014 by QuelleC

[Kromm]

Does anyone know, did Stan Lee contribute to the opening comic book scenes?

Stan's a writer, not an artist.  And those scenes don't make much sense--I don't think they were "written" as much as slapped down in whatever arrangement got all of those idiots on screen in the order they wanted them to appear.

I think GR actually did some good for people on Kitchen Nightmares, and that's the show that got canned?  What's going on here is the definition of reality porn.  I feel icky for watching it.  

The UK one sure.  The US one was pure exploitation, and under the surface maybe even more slimy than his competition shows. What the people on it "got" was a free makeover and free publicity, and the "cost" was often total lies/overt manipulation to make them look like assholes and fools.  So they bit their tongues and accepted that cost, and for a SMALL percentage of them it saved their restaurants (in a lot of cases they simply died a year or two later, when the publicity factor from the show wasn't artificially boosting their numbers anymore).

[Sara2009]

The one thing last night's episode proved is that for all the complaints that reality TV is scripted, that most certainly was not. You cannot script that. That was almost as disturbing (on a

different level) to watch as the Brandon Hantz

meltdown on Survivor. Someone so completely

losing control of themselves to the point where

you begin to feel uncomfortable watching. That is

real reality TV.

I do think it's Scott vs. Melanie, and then I think it's a toss-up. I have to wonder if there's a reason we keep seeing "the softer side of Scott."

(Also, it was a no-brainer he'd pick Jason for the reward. Scott is married. There was no other choice.)

People can have friends of the opposite sex even if one of them is married. It's not like the reward was romantic in any way.

[OhioSongbird]

Damn....this was a hot mess.  Joy was a hot mess.  She'll regret this forever.  I had her pegged as winner, too.  Now I think Scott (my preference) just ANYONE but that sexist asswipe Jason (damn why does my son have to have the same name ;( ).  I couldn't believe Joy and Melanie just stood there when Rochelle cut herself.  Also surprised Gordon didn't find out about it right away and had to ask the cooks where she was.   She was a trooper coming back for service.  That must have hurt like hell (no pun intended) but she no doubt had novocaine so it was numb for the moment.

 

Stan Lee needs to come back every week.  He rocked!.  My son actually watched some of this ep 'cause he was there.  Spiderman is his hero.  I kept his Spidey sheets, pj's, and Halloween costume.

 

He also said he would be out of there in a heart beat after telling GR to go fuck himself. 

 

That's my boy!

[Surrealist]

Out of everyone referred to as a VIP this season (or probably every season), Stan Lee is the only genuine VIP who's been on the show.

[Drogo]

 

 

(Also, it was a no-brainer he'd pick Jason for the reward. Scott is married. There was no other choice.)

 

People can have friends of the opposite sex even if one of them is married. It's not like the reward was romantic in any way.

 

Agreed.  

 

If it were my wife on the show, I'd want her to select the person she liked the most or who had been the most fair with her throughout the game, or the person who had shared rewards with her in the past - male or female- to share the reward.  I would hope most married folk would feel the same.

 

I'd feel like a real Ike Turner if my wife were afraid to go on a fun chopper ride with another man because she thought it would hurt me.  

 

I don't think marital fidelity was the reason Scott selected Jason... I think he genuinely enjoyed the last reward they spent together at the winery, and Jason has been his biggest ally throughout the season... I also think Jason is the only chef who would select Scott for a reward he'd won. 

[Surrealist]

Except that Jason doesn't think Scott is good enough to wind up as one of the Finalists.

 

Of course, Jason assumes he'll be one of the Finalists. Along with Melanie, since Joy walked out.

 

He's a repulsive character, but there are lots of men in Chicago like him. I'm not surprised he's out of Chicago. I doubt he's a native. He's one of those douchebag bro transplants who lives on the North Side.

Edited July 12, 2014 by Surrealist

[Kromm]

Out of everyone referred to as a VIP this season (or probably every season), Stan Lee is the only genuine VIP who's been on the show.

Stan isn't stuck up about things like reality TV (he's even done two shows himself), but really having Stan Lee show up on another show is like the comic book equivalent of having Steven Spielberg show up.

[Drogo]

I have to admit I like Jason more since seeing him fanboy over Stan Lee.  

[aliya]

 

My high water mark for toxic stress on this show is season 10, with the not-at-all-hot Kimmie, Tiffany and Robyn-on-Barb action (at least, before they turned on each other). This season is kind of fraught, but I was genuinely afraid one of the truckstop triplets was going to do someone a permanent injury before someone thought to put down a camera and stop them. This season seems relatively calm to me by comparison.

I'm watching this season now on YT as I work. OMGosh. What a terrible bunch of people. I vaguely remember Kimmie from when the show first aired, but damn, Tiffany, Robyn, et al were just terrible - terrible to watch and to hear. The constant screaming at each other, the belittling, just awful. Compare to Season 11 with the women being all-for-one for most of the season. Yeah there were some loud moments, but nothing like these creeps. I wouldn't hire a one of them (tho apparently Christina still has her job).

[Surrealist]

Stan isn't stuck up about things like reality TV (he's even done two shows himself), but really having Stan Lee show up on another show is like the comic book equivalent of having Steven Spielberg show up.

Exactly.

The best part of this season has been Stan Lee's commentary. He needs to do the HK narration.

Edited July 13, 2014 by Surrealist

[Intuition]

Wow, color me blindsided by that episode!  I had Joy picked for the winner, and I liked her the best too.  The others left are really not exciting me at all.  I could live with a Rochelle win but I don't even think she is ready for the position.  That leaves Scott but he's such a panty waist.....Ugh....

 

Looking back on it, I think Joy's comment about making it to the end and then messing something up was a bit of self-fulfilling prophecy there.  One way or the other she was going to make it come true.  I think Gordon was being too hard on her but then again the way she messed up was by giving up and leaving.  I think her leaving was more about being upset with herself than at him.  She is one of those people with a "self sabotage" button.  It's a real crying shame, but knowing that she is only 25, I figure maturity had something to do with her walking out.  You can only explain so much with Ramsay's harshness this season, although that was a factor too.  It now makes perfect sense why she was so upset when Kashia left - She was Joy's major source of confidence and without her she seemed to lose it all.

 

Then again I noticed myself before this even happened that it looked like Ramsay was being harder than usual on the chefs this season, just based on the way he was baiting them and their reactions to him.  Sure, they could have been emboldened to stand up to him by talking amongst themselves about the way he treats them, but he was just so obviously going way over the top in some cases with his criticisms, even for him.  In truth, we don't know how much of his criticism is really warranted concerning the food itself because the audience can't taste it.  I'm basing my opinion on their reactions and I do think it stems from him and something about him that's different and even more frustrating this year than in the past.

 

 

This was so blatant, it wasn't even a turbo prop. Maybe I can cut some slack for Ramsey because he is a chef and is totally ignorant of technology but where were the directors and editors? This is just as pathetic as when the History channel thinks that 50 mm is the same as .50 caliber. Reminds me of a situation where a tech editor kept changing "ordnance" to "ordinance" on reports on munitions.

 

I find it hard to believe that a guy that owns something like 15 Ferraris and has appeared on "Top Gear" can be all that ignorant of the different types of airplane engines out there.  My hunch is that he was only briefed about the planes from others who actually WERE ignorant about airplane technology or had not researched the company enough to know that they weren't in reality jets.  I am sure that Ramsay himself didn't really ever see the planes firsthand to know what kind of engines they really had.

 

BTW, I agree about Stan Lee's refreshing commentary.  He could do a sort of MST 3000 on it all by himself!

Edited July 13, 2014 by Intuition

[QuelleC]

Stan Lee should be hired he was the best part of the show.

Both the guys are being pigs and they wouldn't choose a woman to accompany them on the reward no matter what.

Edited July 13, 2014 by Athena

[Surrealist]

Rochelle, Rachelle, whatever her name is. I have no doubt that she's probably a nice person.

That said her giggly behavior bugs the shit out of me.

I know it shouldn't, but she and Jason are two extremes I would want to do without if I were working in that kitchen.

[cooksdelight]

I'm basing my opinion on their reactions and I do think it stems from him and something about him that's different and even more frustrating this year than in the past.

Maybe he's not getting any? LOL, just kidding, but I have also noticed his short temper this season as compared to others. But he seems to take it easy on Rochelle. I think he sees potential in her that maybe isn't being shown to the audience. She reminds me of Mary. Without the baby voice.

[OlfinBedwere]

Both the guys are being pigs and they wouldn't choose a woman to accompany them on the reward no matter what.

In Scott's case at least, I don't think it's that he wouldn't want to invite *a* woman so much as he just wouldn't want to invite one of the three women that were there. He sure as hell wouldn't want to bring Joy, considering she tried to get him thrown out instead of Kashia at every opportunity, and aside from the previous episode he's never been on the same team as Melanie or Rochelle (and Melanie's habit of trash-talking and downplaying the men probably won't have endeared her to him either), so he probably just brought Jason along since he was the contestant he knew and got along with the best.

[Brooklynista]

I wonder if Joy knew she was a shoe in for the win while she was in the kitchen. I often wonder on these competition shows if the contestants are remotely aware of how it's going to look to us on the outside.

This is the one time I wish this show had a reunion episode. I'd love to know how much Joy kicked herself after seeing she had the winners edit and her temper tantrum likely cost her $250,000, or At the very least a strong recommendation from Gordon.

Edited July 13, 2014 by Brooklynista

[cooksdelight]

Gordon isn't big on doing reunion shows for some reason. If he realized what a ratings-grabber they usually are, I think he'd change his mind. I'd bet that Joy is kicking herself after watching this all play out. I wonder how much of a shield/crutch Kashia was for her?

[Xantar]

I honestly don't see how Gordon was being especially hard on Joy. The issue of what order to bring up the various component of the halibut dish is one we haven't seen before, but that's presumably because it's pretty basic. Joy wasn't communicating with her team and completely shut down. Jason and Rochelle were both trying to get her to talk and she wasn't doing it for some reason. So although Gordon was aggressive, I don't think he was making up an entire issue that wasn't there before. And Joy kept shouting, "I'm trying to explain!" but what was there to explain? She wasn't talking! I don't think she actually had anything to explain. She just blew up.

 

Rochelle, Rachelle, whatever her name is. I have no doubt that she's probably a nice person.

That said her giggly behavior bugs the shit out of me.

 

I liked Rochelle at first, but now her giggling and flighty talk is way too much. Who would honestly accept authority from her?

 

And I'm sorry that she cut off a piece of her finger, and I'm glad that she was able to bounce back and apparently do a good job in the kitchen. But that is a seriously klutzy move. I would understand making a shallow cut somewhere, but to actually cut deep enough to remove the tip of her finger means she was sticking her thumb way underneath the knife blade. I thought everybody is always taught to curl their fingers in to avoid exactly this sort of thing.

[Surrealist]

I liked Rochelle at first, but now her giggling and flighty talk is way too much. Who would honestly accept authority from her?

And I'm sorry that she cut off a piece of her finger, and I'm glad that she was able to bounce back and apparently do a good job in the kitchen. But that is a seriously klutzy move. I would understand making a shallow cut somewhere, but to actually cut deep enough to remove the tip of her finger means she was sticking her thumb way underneath the knife blade. I thought everybody is always taught to curl their fingers in to avoid exactly this sort of thing.

I agree. It would be difficult to accept authority from Rochelle.

I think it's cool that when she cut off part of her thumb, she took care of it immediately, and then returned back in time for dinner service. Joy and Melanie just went on and on about how gross it was. Really. It's not that gross. I've seen worse.

I don't recall Rochelle making any mistakes once she returned either. Actually, she's made few mistakes this season.

She just has to dial back the giddiness and girly girl crap. She's not working at a daycare.

Edited July 13, 2014 by Surrealist

[Rapunzel]

I know that Rochelle may not be quite ready to run a higher end kitchen yet, but I think it's important to remember that nearly everyone that wins this show doesn't end up with a head chef job anyway. They typically end up with a lower level position and some of them have been able to advance after that. I think, as others have mentioned, Gordon is really looking for someone he can mold into his type of chef. I think he sees Rochelle as someone with a good amount of talent that is eager to learn, easy to work with and would be a good mentee.

 

Scott hasn't been perfect, but I think he's a better chef than Melanie or Jason and I would go to restaurant that he worked at but would avoid anywhere Melanie or Jason worked at like the plague. Scott also appears to be a good person overall and he tried to comfort Kashia when she was upset about being yelled at in the kitchen despite the fact that all she ever did was throw him under the bus pretty much every elimination. I also think he is teachable and that he would work hard to do a good job and that his personality is more akin to someone who could accept direction or criticism and work better in a team environment than Melanie or Jason's is. I mean lets face it, Jason is a filthy, misogynistic pig who looks like he could snap at any minute and Melanie is a completely delusional idiot with a huge ego for someone who can't even cook mashed potatoes and had no idea that you couldn't just add cornstarch to them to thicken them up. That is cooking 101 and she's made several really basic mistakes. And let's not forget her disastrous performance in the blind taste test. She thought that red bell pepper was honeydew melon. How do you make that mistake?

 

As shocking as Joy's departure was, especially the way she went out, she was kind of always my third favorite (after Rochelle and Scott) primarily because of the whole nose picking thing (which totally grossed me out) but also because of the fact that she really did use Kashia as a shield and saved her time and time again when she shouldn't have been since she knew she could beat her in the end.  I've been saying for a while now (long before Joy departed) that I would love to see a Rochelle vs. Scott final 2. I hope it happens - I would honestly be okay with either of them winning if that were the case.

Edited July 14, 2014 by Rapunzel

[Surrealist]

I know some have their issues with Scott, but he's been the only contestant who hasn't really annoyed me that much. YMMV.

 

Rapunzel- This is true. They aren't going to get a head chef position. Rochelle would work well in a restaurant, but I think she needs to tone down the giddiness a bit, regardless of the position. I would prefer working with nice people (which she seems to be), but I wouldn't want to be around ones who pour it on too thick (which she seems to do at times). I'm not sure which personalities Gordon would rather deal with, but someone like him probably wouldn't last. Ego clash.

Edited July 13, 2014 by Surrealist

[aussieinsydney]

I'm team Rochelle and have been since Gordon asked her in one episode if she'd aever done any line cooking and she replied she hadn't. He seemed very impressed and so was I.

If she gets that far, (or if it's due next episode maybe?) I'm looking forward to seeing how she handles running the pass. Hopefully the meek mouse she seems to be will disappear and she'll come out strong and in control. If not, I can't see GR giving her a chance at the title.

[backformore]

People can have friends of the opposite sex even if one of them is married. It's not like the reward was romantic in any way.

This was in reference to Scott choosing Jason for the "jet"  reward.  While I agree that one can have opposite-sex friends, think of how the show might portray it if Scott chose melanie.  Ramsey would make a remark, the camera crew would "catch"  them being close. there would be innuendo that Scott had some sort of crush.  Scott was smart to avoid this. 

[Drogo]

 

While I agree that one can have opposite-sex friends, think of how the show might portray it if Scott chose melanie.  Ramsey would make a remark, the camera crew would "catch"  them being close. there would be innuendo that Scott had some sort of crush.  Scott was smart to avoid this.

 

Doing that flirty edit with singles Ralph and Rochelle (a little guy and big girl) was cute, but I think HK would avoid implicating its competitors in alleged infidelity, expecially marital.  All it does is make the competitors unlikeable and turn off any moral fans who watch.   

 

There was something like this on Top Chef some years ago where Hosea flirted with (and I think kissed) a fellow competitor after speaking publicly in THs about having a longtime girlfriend, she also had a boyfriend at home- and when he won the season the fans and message boards were aflame with Hosea-hatred.

 

Joy/Melanie suck as people, so they were out.  Scott knew what the reward was before he made his selection, and Rochelle's many-many-emotions in a tiny plane rolling around in the air? May have been more of a punishment than a reward.  He made the right choice. 

[cooksdelight]

There was something like this on Top Chef some years ago where Hosea flirted with (and I think kissed) a fellow competitor after speaking publicly in THs about having a longtime girlfriend, she also had a boyfriend at home- and when he won the season the fans and message boards were aflame with Hosea-hatred.

Hosea and his girlfriend were engaged. She saw the show and gave him back his ring. There was more going on there than we saw, I think.

[Julia]

Funny you should mention that. I've been binge watching the Top Chef franchise on Hulu and I've just now gotten to New York. It's a shame about Leah. She was doing far better than Hosea was - for cause, as near as I can tell - right up until she started pulling the sleepy kitty crap. After that, they never took her seriously again. And yet, I don't think she was engaged...

 

I don't get that from this show. Maybe it's because they're specifically pitted girls against boys as soon as they walk through the door?

Edited July 14, 2014 by Julia

[OnceSane]

I think producers of reality shows will do whatever it takes (especially with editing) to get eyeballs on their show.  I don't watch Top Chef. so in that case it could have been all on the contestants.  But I'd bet the producers would be willing to make something out of nothing & there's nothing the people on the show can do about it because of the contracts they sign.