S20.E10: More Than a Sticky Situation

[jewel21]

Quote

The chefs take on the blind taste test challenge with messy consequences.

Airdate: 08/16/2021

[xcrayon2215x]

I was surprised to see Steve do so bad, he was lucky that Josie was there. GR seemed nicer than usual, wasn't expecting that honestly. Antonio is not messing up in the dinner services anymore, he has stepped up a lot. I think that Trenton is the best now due to tonight.

[Ms Blue Jay]

I know that we all talked smack about Antonio early on - I include myself - but for the past 3 or 4 episodes he's changed so much and this time I actually found him likeable.

I loved Kaya's no bullshit attitude.  So awesome.  Ramsay must love her.  I love how Kaya doesn't do the popular thing and try to kick someone like Antonio or Brynn under the bus.  Just straight up no bullshit.  

Ramsay will accept a shit night from everyone - since when?  There's people he's definitely not accepted it from in the past and they've been kicked out for it.

Did Josie grab that hug unwillingly from Ramsay?  LOL so funny.

So little Melissa Joan Hart?  I'm surprised.  

Edited August 17, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[tinkerbell]

Its bad enough the amount of food that gets wasted every episode.  But this wasteful crap where contestants get food dumped on them, pisses me off.

And, they should ALL wear goggles.  Sticky salty stuff in your eyes is no joke.

[mertensia]

I'm so happy Josie left. I don't even care if Steve actually did worse.

A party bus and bowling? Seriously?

[Such A Flirt]

Gordon: I want you to have a deep conversation with your teammates.

Kiya: I'm putting Josie up.

Sam, Antonio & Brynn: OK.

That just cracked me up. And I agree about the food waste, the goggles and the hug!

[Yeah No]

I'm very happy Steve didn't go home.  His record has been flawless until this episode.  I've seen others do far worse more than once and not even get put up for elimination.  Josie has had at least one second chance already.  If Antonio didn't have a couple of second chances he would have gone home by the 3rd week.  So good on Ramsay for not sending Steve home.  I hope he learns from this and finds his voice.

[Chyromaniac]

Maybe I just watched too much Double Dare growing up, but seeing these kids get hit by buckets of goo and (hopefully) stale chips and popcorn didn't really phase me.  I'm less happy when Gordon splatters some poor piece of salmon or halibut just to prove a point, but that's a separate issue.

3 hours ago, mertensia said:

A party bus and bowling? Seriously?

Honestly when I was 23, I probably would have thought this was a pretty good reward.  Like, that's something I'd do with my actual friends - which sounds way more fun than some touristy Vegas thing.  Of course, the real reward is just getting out and not having to do the punishment - but even still, I think this was better than most of the prizes.  If anything, I'm still waiting for them to send a team to the Mandalay Bay Aquarium, which was one of the coolest things I saw on my lone Vegas trip (maybe after some seafood challenge).

3 hours ago, Such A Flirt said:

Gordon: I want you to have a deep conversation with your teammates.

Kiya: I'm putting Josie up.

Sam, Antonio & Brynn: OK.

That was pretty dope.  And good on Kiya for being direct with both them and Josie.  Of course, from what we saw she did have the more obvious decision.  For Megan, I don't blame her for having trouble deciding which problem was worse - Steve's quiet streak, or Emily's garnish goofs.  I do think there's a way to explain that to your team though, without making it seem like you're being indecisive.  Ultimately I think she made the smart choice - she picked the person that Gordon had to "pep talk," which means he definitely was having problems.  But, Steve is also someone that chef seems invested in, so he's probably not going to actually eliminate him.  I don't know if any of that went into her decision, but I think it worked out in her favor regardless.

[Chicago Redshirt]

11 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

I know that we all talked smack about Antonio early on - I include myself - but for the past 3 or 4 episodes he's changed so much and this time I actually found him likeable.

I loved Kaya's no bullshit attitude.  So awesome.  Ramsay must love her.  I love how Kaya doesn't do the popular thing and try to kick someone like Antonio or Brynn under the bus.  Just straight up no bullshit.  

Ramsay will accept a shit night from everyone - since when?  There's people he's definitely not accepted it from in the past and they've been kicked out for it.

Did Josie grab that hug unwillingly from Ramsay?  LOL so funny.

So little Melissa Joan Hart?  I'm surprised.  

It's not just that Antonio is likeable, because he was mostly that if a bit goofy and ass-kissy. But he seems to have pulled himself together in terms of his cooking. At this point, I could envision him as actually winning this thing, which I never would have said in the early episodes. Then again, I could see a plausible path for pretty much all the contestants remaining to be the winner if it were based on cooking skill and similar talents. I suspect the show is guilty of lookism, though, which probably means that Antonio, Kiya, and Megan wouldn't win because they don't "look" the part of a STUNNING head chef. 

I'm sure that Ramsay has avoided booting someone who has had a rare off-night in favor of someone who had a less shitty night but also had less potential. Obviously the structure of the game means that people can't expect to always get a break for their first screw up. But it does happen, I'm sure.

It seems like Ramsay was a lot more mellow this episode. He seemed to enjoy himself even, like during the blind taste test and he wasn't checking his watch during the elimination. His closing remarks were surprisingly nice. 

[preeya]

As predicted by a few last week. Bye, Bye, Josie. It was inevitable.

Edited August 17, 2021 by preeya

[Sir RaiderDuck OMS]

17 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Ramsay will accept a shit night from everyone - since when?  There's people he's definitely not accepted it from in the past and they've been kicked out for it.

It means Ramsay really likes Steve and potentially pictures him as the winner. To his credit, Steve seemed to understand that he's lucky to still be on the show. Time will tell if the lesson sunk in.

 

4 hours ago, preeya said:

As predicted by a few last week. Bye, Bye, Josie. It was inevitable.

She'd been put up five times in nine eliminations. Sooner or later, the bell will toll for thee. And Ramsay made it a point to compliment her on the way out and give an unusually mild closing comment.

[fishcakes]

Antonio is growing on me. The Jumble, the perfect Wellington, and I LOLed at how befuddled he was in the previews for next week.

Honestly, Steve seemed pretty fed up last night, which was why he was so quiet. He's usually not super loud anyway, but he was shutting down and I think it's because of the punishment. He was right that the picking bits of food out of the carpet was absurd, given the existence of vacuum cleaners. It was solely a way to demean the contestants and he was probably questioning whether or not the prize of being GR's protege is worth putting up with that kind of thing. It's like the garbage challenge where they have to sort out the recyclables, which is stupid as everything is already contaminated with food waste and no recycle center will take the stuff that way. They have to go through the garbage only to have it all end up back in the garbage. I'm glad he didn't quit or get eliminated though as he's been my favorite since the beginning. OTOH, I had to laugh at him a little for this:

Gordon: Why should you stay?
Steve [mild-mannered guy trying to be tough]: I'm ready to KICK ass and take INITIALS because getting the whole name takes too long!
Gordon [craps bigger than Steve]: Uh. Okay.

Edited August 17, 2021 by fishcakes

[AZChristian]

23 minutes ago, fishcakes said:

It's like the garbage challenge where they have to sort out the recyclables, which is stupid as everything is already contaminated with food waste and no recycle center will take the stuff that way.

Not necessarily true.

[fishcakes]

Oh that’s interesting. Where I live they used to say a small amount of food residue was okay, but in recent years they’ve been saying if it’s not clean and dry, it and anything it touches becomes garbage. It’s good to know that’s an exaggeration because with some food containers that can be a pain.

[seacliffsal]

I think Emily may be next out.  Other than her, I think almost anyone could win.  However, I do agree with another poster that some of the remaining contestants may not have the "look" that Gordon prefers.

[mojoween]

The taste test has to be fudged, right?  Because how on earth would steak taste like turkey or chicken?

Edited August 18, 2021 by mojoween

[EllaWycliffe]

On 8/17/2021 at 1:54 AM, Chyromaniac said:

Of course, the real reward is just getting out and not having to do the punishment - but even still, I think this was better than most of the prizes. 

No risk of serious injury and not really an opportunity to get rip roaring drunk, agreed. 

[judyri]

For me, Josie was on the chopping block when she intentionally lost the challenge for her team because 'they were mean to her'.

[sandwoman]

Josie the vegan was never going to win the job of working at a steak restaurant. It was past time for her to go.

[bluepiano]

On 8/16/2021 at 6:16 PM, Ms Blue Jay said:

Did Josie grab that hug unwillingly from Ramsay? LOL so funny.

 

I didn't think so. GR actually gave her one of the nicest send-offs I can ever remember. Not even the usual snarky voice-over as she took her final walk. All he said was that she wasn't ready to be a head chef. He seemed to genuinely like her.

[mertensia]

On 8/18/2021 at 2:11 PM, mojoween said:

The taste test has to be fudged, right?  Because how on earth would steak taste like turkey or chicken?

I don't think it is. When you're used to seeing what you're eating that helps give you context as to the flavor. Plus they mostly seem to be chain smokers.

[preeya]

10 hours ago, mertensia said:

I don't think it is. When you're used to seeing what you're eating that helps give you context as to the flavor. Plus they mostly seem to be chain smokers.

 

10 hours ago, mertensia said:

The taste test has to be fudged, right?  Because how on earth would steak taste like turkey or chicken?

The blind taste test is GR's favorite challenge. IMO, of all the challenges this one is likely to be the most legitimate.