S14.E11: 8 Chefs Compete...Again

[cooksdelight]

The team that identifies the most foods in a blind taste test wins a shopping spree.

[cooksdelight]

Oh hell no, that was so unfair. Josh ruined all that tuna, that was a crime.

[Eolivet]

You can't tease me with Josh leaving twice in a row, show -- it's not fair. Are you listening, show? Are you listening when I talk to you? I'm just trying to help you, show, but I don't think you're listening to me. I have more experience than you, so if you'd just listen, I could help you. All I want to do is help you, show. 'Cause I'm the best viewer out there and you should be so lucky to benefit from my advice.

 

Go home, Josh...soon.

[Janimo]

Aw, crap! I wanted that doodyhead Josh to go. :(

[cooksdelight]

Did I hear right.... "the ONLY competition Chef Ramsay repeats".... being the blind taste test? Um.... I'm pretty sure he's repeated others as well. Or I just didn't hear the announcer correctly.

[BogoGog24]

No question Josh should have gone. I'd have to think wasting all that tuna is a far worse mistake than Randy simply having too many plates for his risotto? (Let's be real- producer shenanigans probably were the cause of that). Josh better go next episode. He wants so badly to be a leader, telling the others how to run their station when he can't even run his own.

[ZoloftBlob]

I totally think Randy had to go simply because he's cannon fodder. But really... if you have decided to boot someone from the blue team then *pick the fucking blue team* for elimination.

[ElleryAnne]

Did I hear right.... "the ONLY competition Chef Ramsay repeats".... being the blind taste test? Um.... I'm pretty sure he's repeated others as well. Or I just didn't hear the announcer correctly.

 

 

Maybe it's the only one that's been repeated every season?

[Madding crowd]

I find Randy to be a bumbling idiot in general, but I really wondered if something happened behind the scenes here. Josh wasted tons of fish and Randy miscounted plates. I was really tired though of Randy saying he never heard of this, never tasted that etc. You can't be a good Chef with such a limited knowledge. On another note: why did they have a five course dinner with 3 seafood courses (Lobster risotto, Tuna, Salmon). And each plate was huge followed by a steak course. Do people really eat like that? 

 

My favorite is Milly from Philly. He seems pretty chill.

[BogoGog24]

Randy seemed like a nice enough guy (except at the end when he thought his team had sabotaged him), just inexperienced I guess. 

 

Meghan has started to get annoying for me. Yeah she is a strong chef but her attitude sucks. When she was on the red team, she acted like she always had to babysit everyone (which in the beginning may have been true because there were so many in there that had no clue what they were doing). But I think she's quite condescending. She acts like she always has to babysit everyone or that no one else knows how to do anything. You can't lead a team that way. I too enjoyed seeing her get dunked twice. Hee.

 

Is Milly the second contestant after Justin from season 10 to get a perfect score on the blind taste test? I like Milly the best of the remaining men. I don't find the women particularly likable. Meghan is a strong chef, but like I said, attitude stinks. T- same thing. Why does she always get so huffy with Michelle? Michelle was simply trying to tell her that the cart was full and not to put anything else on it and she's like "I WASN'T GOING TO PUT ANYTHING ON IT OMG HOW DARE YOU ACCUSE ME OF GOING TO DO THAT SHUT UP MICHELLE!!!!!" I can't see T leading a brigade either. She would just talk down to all her employees and try to intimidate them with her size. Michelle seems too green, and is definitely way too young right now. Allison is somewhere in the middle. Honestly I don't see any of these people from either team winning or trying to lead a team.

 

Randy was never going to win, even if he was more "edumacated" and a better chef, since the old guys never win. So far the youngest winner was Danny of S5 at 23 (so not too far off from Michelle) and the oldest was Scott of S12 at 36. Most winners have been in mid to late 20s or early 30s.

Edited May 13, 2015 by BogoGog24

[sunshine2288]

Guess Josh brings more drama than Randy...

[BogoGog24]

But… but… Randy said they "weren't going to like" him that night…. Didn't he also make a reference a couple of times to killing his teammates? Randy was just about to bring the drama! Josh doesn't bring drama, just entertaining idiocy and delusion.

[mlp]

That ending really irritated me.  Ramsay had obviously already decided to eliminate Randy even though Josh committed a greater sin IMO .......... so there was no reason for the charade with the red team.  

 

The only one I actually like is Milly.  His grammar isn't good but I like the way he thinks.  Tonight he said something to the effect of "The way a person acts when stressed is the way they really are."  Rather profound.  Ramsay seems to like him.

 

T looked ridiculous wearing that tiny bowtie with a very casual outfit.  Michelle is immature and irritating.  Meghan can cook but she's obnoxious.  Josh needs to go.  I can understand why Ramsay gets frustrated with the lot of them, possibly for real.

[mertensia]

Josh has the tuna debacle and Randy goes home. Yeah that's fair.

Cooksdelight I heard the announcer say the taste test is the only competition Ramsay has done *every* year.

Edited May 13, 2015 by mertensia

[BogoGog24]

Yeah there are challenges that get repeated but the blind taste test is the only one that occurs every season.

[OlfinBedwere]

While Josh more deserved to go home than Randy did, Randy would have been a goner next episode anyway, unless someone on the other team totally imploded.

 

Now it's looking like it'll be two from Milly, T and Meghan who reach the final, as opposed to the seemingly certain face-off between the latter two that the season seemed to have been building up to. Possibly even Alison might make a late bid for the final, as she's been very consistent overall. Nick's been doing okay, but I really don't see him winning. Likewise, Michelle's actually done pretty well, but there's no way she'll win, she's just too immature. As for Josh, the less said about him the better.

[AZChristian]

Given Randy's threatening demeanor in the "you're not going to like me" scene, and then Ramsay's uncharacteristically rare very gentle comments while firing him, I wonder if there was some genuine concern for the well-being of the other folks or Randy himself.

[Eolivet]

Randy was a veteran, right? One thing Ramsay is consistent about is that he's always very nice and respectful of veterans.

 

Why do I feel like this was an exercise designed to wind Josh up even further? The one thing I can enjoy out of Josh's continued existence is Ramsay/the show is clearly a predator playing with his prey before he/it goes in for the kill.

[AZChristian]

Randy was a veteran, right? One thing Ramsay is consistent about is that he's always very nice and respectful of veterans.

 

 

 

Maybe they saw something that made Production concerned about triggering an episode of PTSD.  Even though it's a TV show, it appears to be a very high-stress environment.  If that's why they let him go, I'm glad they were sensitive to his well-being.

[kassa]

I think Nick has been consistent throughout -- but last night he used the filthy rag to clean plates.  So I'd say he lost it right there.

 

Except that a little part of me seems to think that I said something similar about a former contestant who did something equally disgusting and went on to win.  

 

One possibility comes to mind, however -- did the producers place a folded up rag (clean side up) near the plates in hopes that somebody would pick it up and use it, only for Ramsay to swoop in and unfurl it with indignation?  Because that thing was pretty gross and they have always called out gross contestants in previous seasons.  If Nick didn't use such a rag at his station, why would he have it at the pass? 

[BogoGog24]

Nick also did really badly on the blind taste test.

[DropTheSoap]

I can see Randy going. When all is said and done, the guy should have been aware enough at his station to count plates. I think there's a lot of situations where Randy would be a good guy to put in charge. One of Ramsay's restaurants is probably not on the top of that list.

 

That said, Josh screwed his course. Then, he tried to micromanage everyone else's. (Glad to see Ramsay calling him on that.) He's so delusional in an unentertaining way.

 

I'm still Camp Meghan, even if I think she deserved the dunk.

[Jersey Guy 87]

Randy and Josh were going before the finals in some order, I was hoping Josh was first.  I'm now hoping he's next because he doesn't deserve a black jacket.  Although he did better on the blind taste test than I expected.

 

I guess he does the "each person is responsible for one dish" service so he can get a sense of real leadership skills before he goes to black jackets.  Sort of a prelude to the "run the pass" dinner service usually done at final four.

 

I'm expecting Meghan and T to advance to final four from the (original) red team and Milly and Nick from the blue team.  Michelle is too young and not a leader, Josh is Josh and I think Nick has been more consistent than Allison.  Or maybe Allison's choice of eye makeup just bothers me so I don't want to see her go as far.

[kassa]

Is it eye makeup or tattoos?  I've been assuming tattoos!

 

I wish they'd drop the goal being "head chef at the new Ramsay restaurant!"  Because... no.  

 

On the other hand, "you win a year of training under me and my chefs in my various restaurants" - that would be a prize a lot would want AND  leave the field open to somebody who's not necessarily head chef material right now.  So a fast learner could last quite a bit longer, or even conceivably win, if they exemplify what he's looking for.  You can train somebody which direction to slice a Beef Wellington and how to make risotto, but you can't instill a willingness to apply oneself or be a team player, or exhibit leadership skills or not back down when things go bad.  

[biakbiak]

Is it eye makeup or tattoos?  I've been assuming tattoos!

 

Pretty certain it's eye makeup; I block out most of this show but I recall seeing her on a few challenges were they didn't have time to get ready and she didn't have them.

[BogoGog24]

My final 4 would be Meghan, T, Allison and Milly. IMO Nick is starting to slip. Allison got her course out without issue and she seems rather consistent.

[aliya]

I'd like to make a comment about Randy and PTSD.  I'm the widow of a Vietnam combat vet (he died after VN). For those of you who weren't around then, vets were treated very poorly, including by the media, who took every opportunity to mention that someone who had robbed a bank or whatev was a 'Vietnam veteran,' as if veteran status alone explained why that person did a criminal act or 'went off.' 

 

Saying someone who has served in Iraq can't take the stress of a TV show is belittling to the vet. You have no idea if Randy has PTSD or not. Yes, the show is stressful, but there's no reason to assume he's going to take out the other chefs or do himself harm because he's a vet. As to his comments re "You won't like me..."  this guy has dealt with a more than these guys. Why should he be buddy buddy with them when he thinks he's been treated wrongly? I would probably feel the same way, only I would not have broadcast it. 

 

Randy was not going to win, but I did hope to see a bit more of him. You know Ramsay was touched when Randy said he watched HK tapes overseas. 

[Janimo]

Thanks for the "reality check," aliya. I can't think of a better way to express myself on the spur of the moment.
I did (and still do) like Randy, and think Josh should have been eliminated before Randy.

[cooksdelight]

You know Ramsay was touched when Randy said he watched HK tapes overseas

So was I. Thank you for your post, aliya.

[KHenry14]

Did anyone else think they dumbed down the palate test this season? Seems to me that they used really basic ingredients this time around, as in previous seasons people would blow this challenge. 

 

Final four really looks like T, Allison, Meghan and Millie.  At this point I'm thinking a final two of Meghan and Millie. 

[Donny Ketchum]

Two days late, but yes, that elimination was completely unfair.  Randy wasn't gonna win.  The last few weeks had shown that in spades.  But he was on the winning team.  He shouldn't have been eligible.  Ramsay just gave Josh another reprieve to keep him for drama and drama alone.  At this point, we'll never be rid of him if Ramsay continues making excuses for him.

 

I was glad the women got their first win in a while, though.  It was a win they needed.

 

Honestly, as said above, if Ramsay had decided he was going to dump Randy, he should've just given the win to the red team.  Alison, T, and Michelle all led their courses with no mistakes (save for a plating error for Michelle), while Josh floundered big-time on his.  His was the only real mistake.  But Randy made his plate-counting error and Nick used the rag.  That should've cost them the win right there.

 

As it was, I think this was only the second time Ramsay's booted someone from the winning team (with Raj from HK7 or HK8 as the first).

 

I honestly hope Josh gets sent packing before the black jackets.  But I'm thinking we're seeing a Nick or possibly even Michelle boot for that instead.

Edited May 16, 2015 by Donny Ketchum

[Such A Flirt]

That was total bull. Randy was never going to win this thing, but Josh was clearly the worst.

 

Go Meghan!

[AZChristian]

I'd like to make a comment about Randy and PTSD.  I'm the widow of a Vietnam combat vet (he died after VN). For those of you who weren't around then, vets were treated very poorly, including by the media, who took every opportunity to mention that someone who had robbed a bank or whatev was a 'Vietnam veteran,' as if veteran status alone explained why that person did a criminal act or 'went off.' 

 

Saying someone who has served in Iraq can't take the stress of a TV show is belittling to the vet. You have no idea if Randy has PTSD or not. Yes, the show is stressful, but there's no reason to assume he's going to take out the other chefs or do himself harm because he's a vet. As to his comments re "You won't like me..."  this guy has dealt with a more than these guys. Why should he be buddy buddy with them when he thinks he's been treated wrongly? I would probably feel the same way, only I would not have broadcast it. 

 

Randy was not going to win, but I did hope to see a bit more of him. You know Ramsay was touched when Randy said he watched HK tapes overseas. 

 

 

Aliya, I mentioned the possibility of the stress of the show triggering potential PTSD in Randy.  Please know that I meant no disrespect of Randy, and certainly no disrespect towards veterans.  My husband is also a Vietnam veteran, and I'm well aware of what these guys had to deal with when they returned home.

 

I was genuinely concerned when I saw the show and he seemed to be reacting so differently than what we'd seen from him in the past.  He seemed so even-tempered and able to deal effectively with everything for weeks, and then he just seemed to lose it emotionally.  I don't see this as just a little stress from a TV show.  This is weeks away from his family and home, being forced to interact daily with people you don't know - some of whom you probably don't like - and they are all trying to claw their way past you to a life-changing opportunity at the end.  There are lots of people who haven't handled that level of stress well.

 

The bottom line is, I wish him well.  He seems to be a really nice guy, and I hope he succeeds in his career path.  Again, no disrespect was intended.

[aliya]

I just saw this as a teachable moment. I didn't take any disrespect from anyone.