S14.E03: 16 Chefs Compete

[cooksdelight]

The teams compete to match the heads and tails of popular fish in order to win an advantage.

[Surrealist]

Just as I was thinking that this crop of chefs was marginally better than last season's, tonight happened.

 

I'm looking forward to the episode where the ambulance shows up because we get one for every season.

[cooksdelight]

I'd like the ambulance to show up, take someone away, and we never hear from them again.

No, not really.... but this group is still so lackluster and boring.

[ElleryAnne]

A smarter contestant would have hurt his hand before having to eat a pb&jelly-fish sandwich, and then stayed with the medics until lunch was over - or until the medics could be bribed to smuggle the sandwiches away on a gurney.  And is there really so little of substance among the footage that the editors had to include so much of the post-sandwich burp-o-rama and gagging?  I'm not a twelve-year-old boy.  The suggestion of vomit is not entertainment for me.

 

I'm no chef but even I can tell the difference between the head of a salmon and the head of a freakin' monkfish.  And what's up with the chef who said fish freaks her out?  Did she think a season on Hell's Kitchen would be fish-free?

 

Not sorry to see Michael gone, but I was half-expecting Nick would be gone.  But no loss either way.

[BogoGog24]

I've watched every episode of this show since S5 and literally forgot it was even on tonight. Shows just how boring and bland it's become. All the damn seasons run together anyway.

[EarlGreyTea]

Stop with the gross food eating. Not funny and it's just so gross to hear/see.

I've never had a horse in the race this early but I'm rooting for T. I think she's a semi finalist at the very least. Don't really care about anyone else which is more typical for me at this point in season. Also smart of her not to use her full name. This show is kind of a joke so I get it.

Of all the gimmicky things this show does, the one that has always amused me is waking up the contestants with loud noises. Never fails to make me cackle but I have always wondered: are they given enough time to brush their teeth? Given the disheveled look most of them have when they're woken up, probably not. Lovely.

Edited March 18, 2015 by EarlGreyTea

[Darknight]

I forget this show is on. But come on how can you not cook meat.

[backformore]

 

Of all the gimmicky things this show does, the one that has always amused me is waking up the contestants with loud noises. Never fails to make me cackle but I have always wondered: are they given enough time to brush their teeth? Given the disheveled look most of them have when they're woken up, probably not. Lovely.

Yeah, I always think if I were on a show where someone might wake me up and give me NO time to get ready - I'd sleep in workout clothes, including a sports bra - and I'd have those listerine breath strips and some water at my bedside.  Cause there's no way I'm on TV looking undressed.  

I hate when they show the chefs getting dressed, showing them in underwear.  what's the point of that?  Humiliation, I guess. 

[mertensia]

Okay just once I want to see a full-on rebellion against the nasty lunch.

I think Gordon et alia need to stop casting full grown idiots I wouldn't trust to pour out a bowl of Cap'n Crunch successfully.

[biakbiak]

Allison looks so much better without her Amy Winehouse eye makeup.

[Donny Ketchum]

I don't know how Nick could fail so epically in cooking meat.  Three times, no less!  I'd have almost been tempted to see him go!

 

That said, Michael was a disaster who was never going to get it together.  He was the men's version of Chrissa.  Best he leave now.

 

T, Alison, Michelle, Meghan, and Sarah (despite her moment of pleading to Ramsay) still look like the best of the women.   Christine, Monique, and Mieka are all not long for the game.  On the men, I still think Randy, Josh, and Milly are the strongest.  Probably Bret, too.  Nick and Adam are obviously gone soon.

Edited March 19, 2015 by Donny Ketchum

[Surrealist]

Of all the gimmicky things this show does, the one that has always amused me is waking up the contestants with loud noises. Never fails to make me cackle

 

Same here. I thought Michael should have been gone last week in a double elimination. Right now, I'm not rooting for anyone.

 

Alison's eye makeup makes me want to punch her in the face.

Edited March 18, 2015 by Surrealist

[cooksdelight]

Gordon took the words right out of my mouth when Michael was eliminated. Poor, poor folks in the senior's home who have to eat his food.

[blubld43]

Michael seemed to know very little about cooking in a professional kitchen; he stood around like he just didn't know what to do!  I wondered how he got on the show.

[biakbiak]

Your first sentence answered your question.

[Jersey Guy 87]

Allison looks so much better without her Amy Winehouse eye makeup.

 

I kept wondering who the new chef was, then I realized she took her weird eyelashes off.  Not sure if she looks better, but at least less freaky.

[Eolivet]

Stop with the gross food eating. Not funny and it's just so gross to hear/see.

Of all the gimmicky things this show does, the one that has always amused me is waking up the contestants with loud noises. Never fails to make me cackle but I have always wondered: are they given enough time to brush their teeth? Given the disheveled look most of them have when they're woken up, probably not. Lovely.

 

Agree so much on point 1. The fact that these contestants don't know how to make a risotto is humiliation enough. "Fear Factor" went off the air over 10 years ago.

 

Waking them up always makes me uncomfortable, though. I remember a tell-all article several years ago about this show and "Project Runway" where former contestants said the show basically makes them do a dinner service, an elimination round, then plies them with alcohol and keeps them up until all hours to tape their confessionals (explaining their loopy, aggressive behavior). Whenever the show tries to insinuate that the contestants have been partying and acting so irresponsibly that they deserve to be awakened 45 minutes after getting to bed, I think of that article.

 

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain... with booze and a camera.

[Julia]

Bret made me laugh. Trichinosis is bad, especially for a pregnant woman with a fetus. On the other hand, I personally vote for Nick to sit down and eat a great big bowlful of blue pork, if he's OK with that For Him. Honestly, though, if Michael was that bad (and I don't doubt that he was), why spend all the screen time concentrating on people who weren't even called up at the end? 

 

Sara is hella annoying, but then her Linked In profile says "Chef Sara" is a "chef instructor" and a "private chef" while working full time as an accountant, so she's cannon fodder and I can concentrate on wanting Mieka to go home.

Edited March 18, 2015 by Julia

[illini1959]

All the damn seasons run together anyway.

 

 

Amen to that.

[fishcakes]

I think I'm done with the show. It's so boring and basically indistinguishable from every other season. The contestants suck, but in exactly the same way they always suck. Raw meat. Rubber scallops. Second verse, same as the first, Third time is the charm, then cut to the dining room where D-list actor is saying, "this is really good." Feh. And really, I'm just over Ramsay's personal abuse of people. The bit at the end where he called the red team up looked like it was going to be a run-of-the-mill "get it together" moment, but then the one woman committed the horrendous crime of saying, "let us try again." I know they need to trump up reasons to throw the whole kitchen out, but that was weak, and Gordon repeating it over and over again in a mocking way was so ugly.

[Jersey Guy 87]

The thing with the gross food eating is there is never any consequence for not working hard (or really, at all) during the punishments - there is always a contestant who does nothing during the punishments and continues to stick around because he/she is not the worst cook there.  So if you had to eat something gross simply don't eat it - nothing will happen to you as a result.

[ElleryAnne]

but then the one woman committed the horrendous crime of saying, "let us try again."

 

 

The reaction to that was ridiculous.  She may have sounded young by saying it, since it's not like anyone was going to suggest otherwise.  But it's not like she suggested deliberately serving undercooked pork or boiling a puppy. I was surprised GR cleared the kitchen at that point - especially since it was already obvious that one of the men would probably be going home, and the blue kitchen hadn't even been kicked out yet.

[Evenshorter]

Bret made me laugh. Trichinosis is bad, especially for a pregnant woman with a fetus. On the other hand, I personally vote for Nick to sit down and eat a great big bowlful of blue pork, if he's OK with that For Him. Honestly, though, if Michael was that bad (and I don't doubt that he was), why spend all the screen time concentrating on people who weren't even called up at the end? 

 

Sara is hella annoying, but then her Linked In profile says "Chef Sara" is a "chef instructor" and a "private chef" while working full time as an accountant, so she's cannon fodder and I can concentrate on wanting Mieka to go home.

As opposed to a pregnant woman with a cat, or a porcupine, I guess.

[nitrofishblue]

I have a new way of watching this show. I DVR it since there is something else on at the same time I want to watch. This morning I played it and had it on fast forward. Guess what, I could follow what was happening even though there was no sound. The show is so darn predictable that you don't need dialogue. The script remains the same season after season. The only thing that changes is the "chefs", just different faces. They must have the laziest writers of any show on TV.

[backformore]

Okay just once I want to see a full-on rebellion against the nasty lunch.

I think Gordon et alia need to stop casting full grown idiots I wouldn't trust to pour out a bowl of Cap'n Crunch successfully.

I don't get the point of the nasty food for lunch.  I really don't understand why ANY of them would try to eat it.  They try to make it like a team-building thing, "we all have to eat it".  But really - what if everyone says No?  Ramsey isn't even there, does he give a shit who eats and who doesn't?  A better show of solidarity would be if they all banded together and said they'd rather go hungry than eat nasty shit.

 

I think I'm done with the show. It's so boring and basically indistinguishable from every other season. The contestants suck, but in exactly the same way they always suck. Raw meat. Rubber scallops. Second verse, same as the first, Third time is the charm, then cut to the dining room where D-list actor is saying, "this is really good." Feh. And really, I'm just over Ramsay's personal abuse of people. The bit at the end where he called the red team up looked like it was going to be a run-of-the-mill "get it together" moment, but then the one woman committed the horrendous crime of saying, "let us try again." I know they need to trump up reasons to throw the whole kitchen out, but that was weak, and Gordon repeating it over and over again in a mocking way was so ugly.

Yep - i swear, they could accidentally mix things up and show an episode from a former season, and nobody would know the difference.  

And the "let us try again "  thing - so what?  I thought it was pretty brave, except that I also suspect she was prompted to say it. 

This show sucks, I usually have it on while I'm doing something else.  Last night I couldn't even tell you who left, and I don't care.  AND - I don't know any of the names of any of the people.   

 

Waking people up with an airhorn?  That is borderline abusive.  Someone with anxiety issues could go into a panic attack.  (Me, I'd wet my pants)  the people doing it always come across as evil, like they're enjoying it too much. 

 

I always think that the "winner"  is pre-determined anyway.   ramsey does what he wants, which is a lot of yelling and name-calling.  It seems like the point of the show is humiliation and manipulation. 

 The show would almost be a parody of itself, except it's not that good.  This might be it for me. 

[EarlGreyTea]

Waking people up with an airhorn?  That is borderline abusive.  Someone with anxiety issues could go into a panic attack.  (Me, I'd wet my pants)  the people doing it always come across as evil, like they're enjoying it too much. 

 

 This is true. I forget that they are  given such little sleep. No wonder people blow their stack at other contestants. On a lack of sleep I am a pretty unpleasant person. All that standing for hours in the kitchen doing prep and then having Ramsay screaming all night - I'd be crying myself to sleep.

(The airhorn still makes me cackle though).

 

I think I'm done with the show. It's so boring and basically indistinguishable from every other season. The contestants suck, but in exactly the same way they always suck. Raw meat. Rubber scallops. Second verse, same as the first, Third time is the charm, then cut to the dining room where D-list actor is saying, "this is really good." Feh. And really, I'm just over Ramsay's personal abuse of people. The bit at the end where he called the red team up looked like it was going to be a run-of-the-mill "get it together" moment, but then the one woman committed the horrendous crime of saying, "let us try again." I know they need to trump up reasons to throw the whole kitchen out, but that was weak, and Gordon repeating it over and over again in a mocking way was so ugly.

The Z-List (D is too generous for these people, with the exception of David Beckham who was only on there because he and Ramsay are pals) are hilarious. I love how Ramsay feigns admiration of them and how the contestants pretend to know who some of them are. Some of them act like they're hot stuff when they haven't been relevant in years.

Edited March 18, 2015 by EarlGreyTea

[cooksdelight]

Before you know it, John Travolta will be showing up for dinner. Complete with his bad toupee and scary stretched face.

[EarlGreyTea]

Yeah, I always think if I were on a show where someone might wake me up and give me NO time to get ready - I'd sleep in workout clothes, including a sports bra - and I'd have those listerine breath strips and some water at my bedside.  Cause there's no way I'm on TV looking undressed.  

I hate when they show the chefs getting dressed, showing them in underwear.  what's the point of that?  Humiliation, I guess. 

Love this post. I agree. It gives me an idea for a new thread - Strategies we'd use to win the show. Much of this show seems like humiliation now instead of actual cooking. I only started watching in the Elise season so I don't know if it was originally more legit.

[cooksdelight]

Here you go!

http://forums.previously.tv/topic/23746-what-strategy-would-you-use-to-win-hells-kitchen/

[Surrealist]

(The airhorn still makes me cackle though).

 

The Z-List (D is too generous for these people, with the exception of David Beckham who was only on there because he and Ramsay are pals) are hilarious. I love how Ramsay feigns admiration of them and how the contestants pretend to know who some of them are. Some of them act like they're hot stuff when they haven't been relevant in years.

 

The airhorn was the best part of the show.

 

I love trying to guess which ZListers will be on because that's about the only segment that keeps me awake.

 

They didn't show T as much last night. I'll (erroneously) assume that that's because they're setting her up to win the whole thing. Then again, I thought the same thing with regard to MCJr and Ayla, then they booted her right before the Final.

 

T's the one I think probably cooks the best out of all of them, but that's not saying much with this group.

[threebluestars]

I kept trying to remember how Allison got a black eye.

[EarlGreyTea]

I've been wondering this for several seasons now: why do they never show the cheftestants making dessert? It's like that course doesn't exist. Once in a while we'll see a few stray shots of what looks like strawberry shortcake. I've always been so curious about what's offered and why that course doesn't affect the kitchen service performance.

[WickedTuna]

Stop with the gross food eating. Not funny and it's just so gross to hear/see.

From your mouth to TPTB's ears. Or whoever the hell decides those things.

I've started watching the beginning and a little of the dinner service and then just tuning back in for the booting. I have a feeling that soon I'll give up altogether. Last night's beginning was boooring.

[EarlGreyTea]

From your mouth to TPTB's ears. Or whoever the hell decides those things.

I've started watching the beginning and a little of the dinner service and then just tuning back in for the booting. I have a feeling that soon I'll give up altogether. Last night's beginning was boooring.

I usually skip even watching who gets booted until at least 12 contestants have left. So much cannon fodder makes for a boring elimination early on. I barely know any names yet! And then they recap the entire elimination in the next episode anyway. The dinner service is 90% of the draw of every episode for me. I was channel surfing while studying for the GRE a few years ago, and something about watching people getting screamed at calmed down my test anxiety.

Edited March 19, 2015 by EarlGreyTea

[placate]

How many episodes in are we?  I haven't even bothered to learn their names.  Gotta admit I think I got more entertainment out of doing my taxes while watching this show than the actual show itself.  Good thing they have that irritating recap after every commercial break for those of us who have stopped caring.  Why didn't any of the morons pick the fish off the PB&J?

[cooksdelight]

We've had three episodes thus far.

[Jersey Guy 87]

We've had three episodes thus far.

 

And somehow it seems this season has already dragged on forever.

[cooksdelight]

I attribute that to the repetition. Same thing every week. I'm waiting for the dreaded "To Be Continued" any day now.

[lynny]

I am going on record right now: I like Milly. And, I don't care who knows it. I've liked him from the first episode. Even if I hate his stupid beard. Something about him, makes me happy. And, it seems like he's a decent cook. And, he doesn't seem to be a big screamer/ drama bringer. Him and T are my favourites right now.

[cooksdelight]

I like Milly too. He seems to know his way around a kitchen, and how to stay out of the drama. And he smiles a lot. I also love T, probably because she's from down here in da south, and I can relate to her and her style of cooking. I bet she makes a mean plate of biscuits and gravy.

[Drogo]

Khaleesi is into this season, but doesn't have any favorites.  She has the emotional attachment level of a hermit crab owner. 

 

"The girls are trying to put those fish pieces together that don't line up.  It's like FrankenFish."

 

"I like Milly, but that was really stupid to let the other guy take some of his rice."

 

Michael:  "I feel sorry for the surfer because she won't get to meet me."

Khaleesi:  "Yeah she'll be fine."

 

"I don't remember a season where there were so many empty hot pans with oil in them.  It's like they're all cooking invisible food."

[ElleryAnne]

This show would be so much more interesting if Khaleesi live-blogged it.  

[BogoGog24]

And somehow it seems this season has already dragged on forever.

Like CooksDelight said, probably due to repetition, but also probably because they keep running seasons so closely together.

[aliya]

I still love the show, but maybe I'm weird. I frequently have HK on in the background while I'm working and love the YT extended vids of him yelling at people. I have seasons 1-10 on DVD which are uncensored. It's almost like watching a different show.  I like seeing Rock and Dave and LaTasha win and don't mind watching their seasons. Ja'Nel was very good and it's funny to see the guys lose all the time, but I always get sad, thinking of how proud her mother must have been, and then have Ja'Nel lose the job due to drugs. Some individuals like Raj, Robert (the big guy), Will, are just fun or interesting to watch. But then there are seasons (Elise anyone?) that make me cringe. There's so much hatred going on amongst the contestants it's hard to watch the show.

 

I just saw an episode in which Ja'Nel mentioned that some people hadn't brushed their teeth. And yeah, I'd probably sleep in a sports bra and decent pajama pants and there's no way I'm doing anything without some kind of shoe or flip flop on. I don't see the sudden wake up calls as abusive. These people have seen the show, they know to expect the unexpected. 

 

I admit that for the past few seasons, I haven't cared too much for the contestants, but I still like the show. I don't know why they put in the really poor cooks (OK, I guess I do), because these people want to do well as much as anyone else. It must be crushing to realize you are not the chef you thought you were (and may never be). On the other hand, I enjoy watching people have a good time on the prizes. Who wouldn't want to go out on the ocean in a yacht, or play paint ball against Ramsey, or have Wolfgang Puck make you a meal? I must be getting old. I'm happy to see other people be happy and have once in a lifetime experiences.  

[Snarklepuss]

I get it with the trichinosis but hasn't that almost gone away thanks to modern practices with pork?  Like under 20 cases per year in the US?  I read that it's now almost exclusively overseas or with wild pigs or those raised in a small farm.   On a lot of shows I see pork being cooked to around medium with some pink showing through.  Not that I would ever defend pork that rare, though.  Better safe than sorry.

 

I admit to not being done with this show despite freely admitting that everyone disgusted with the chefs and the repetition is absolutely correct.  I must be nuts.  Then again I started watching the show a few years in, so I don't remember when it was any different.  In fact I think my second season was the one with Elise, which was quite toxic.  I actually thought the show improved after that!

[Snarklepuss]

I live not even 3 miles from the senior community where Michael is a chef.  He is not the executive chef and my guess is that he is only a line cook and probably not one of any note either.  The community seems to get decent reviews although I admit I don't know anything first hand about it.  I'll have to check around with friends and see what they know.  The head chef in my cafeteria at work might know something and he often watches the show.  Speaking of that, even he would be a better contestant than a lot of these "donkeys"!  Although I shouldn't even insult him by making that comparison as he is an excellent chef.  I am lucky to have a subsidized cafeteria with great food.

Edited March 20, 2015 by Snarklepuss

[Julia]

I'm not compelled by it, and I'm not particularly rooting for anything, but it's decent wallpaper TV. Nothing's going to happen to really disturb me, nothing's going to happen to really offend me, and it has pretty decent point and laugh value. It's worth the hour I spend sort of watching it while I crochet.

[cooksdelight]

Hey folks, we have a Small Talk Tapas thread for off-topic chatter, and a Fix The Show thread for the things you'd like them to do or stop doing. Thanks!

[Surrealist]

This show would be so much more interesting if Khaleesi live-blogged it.  

 

Tell me about it.

 

Actually, I'd love to have Khaleesi do the voiceover for the show.

 

Also, I realize that it's a rookie mistake to put a hot pan under the tables where someone can pick it up. However, it's also a rookie mistake to send up raw pork not once but twice  (GR's usual: "Are you trying to KILL someone?!"). Couldn't Michael and Brendan have been eliminated? Or was it Nick?

 

Damn. I don't remember. I'm too lazy to look it up.

Edited March 20, 2015 by Surrealist

[BogoGog24]

I think the difference where Gordon was concerned is that he was able to stop the pork from being sent, whereas if he did not catch Michael putting the pan away, somebody would have picked it up and gotten burned. One incident was preventable, the other not.