S16.E09: Spoon Fed

[Drogo]

The remaining contestants prepare for their next challenge - a blind taste test during which each team must determine the taste of pureed baby foods. The winning team will enjoy a relaxing day of massages and a nice lunch, while the losing team must prepare the kitchen, all while hauling in bags of ice and boxes of wine.

During service, both teams start off strong, as they try to impress guest celebrity diners - actor Josh McDermitt ("The Walking Dead") and TV host Jeannie Mai ("The Real") - but excuses and miscommunication ultimately lead both teams to failure.

[riprock]

Koop got robbed. No one on the blue team really disputed that Paulie kept asking for more time on his lamb, which blew the ticket. And if they're supposed to always have one spare lamb ready to go (a surprising policy; I would have thought Gordon would insist that the lamb be just finished, given how much emphasis they put on how food "dies" at the pass), then he blew that part of his job too.

[mlp]

Every time I think this show can't get worse, it does.  Highchairs and baby food catapults?  C'mon.  That's side show stuff and beyond ridiculous in the context of a show ostensibly about cooking.  The only reason I keep watching this nonsense is so I can follow the boards.

[biakbiak]

The chefs marveling at the "amazing view" from the hotel room cracked me up.

[Michel]

On ‎12‎/‎9‎/‎2016 at 10:42 PM, riprock said:

Koop got robbed.

He most certainly did.  He only made one mistake, while Paulie made two.  Actually, to hear Devin say it, it sounded like he made even more than that, but we didn't see them.

I already greatly disliked Paulie, but this episode made me absolutely hate him.  Throughout the weeks, he's been slowly getting unmasked as the truly incompetent, blame-shifting boob he really is, and this episode really exposed him as that, more than any other episode prior to this one.  He should've been the one to go home.  No doubt.  And I absolutely think that Ramsay only spared him because he heard about Koop's tantrum at the dorms (which surprises me, as he said three seasons ago, when the blue team attempted to eliminate Bryant, that he doesn't care about the behavior in the dorms).  Granted, it was smart of him to play that card, as I think Ramsay was all but ready to toss him before he heard that, but it still sucks that that is what saved him and sent Koop home.  He's now the weakest chef there, and I am floored at how clueless and oblivious to that fact he seems to be!

That said, Koop had one damn thing he could've said.  One damn thing that could've saved him and sent Paulie packing, and I kept waiting for him to say it.  All he had to do was bring up, at least once, how Paulie continuously shifts blame to other people and never takes responsibility for his mistakes.  All he had to do was say that to Ramsay and tell him that if he asked Shaina, Wendy, and Devin that, they'd all confirm it, which I'm pretty sure they would have.  But he didn't, and I have no idea why not.  Sorry, Koop, but you got totally screwed on this one.  But you're better than this show, anyway.

Alas for Koop, this was the returnee bubble elimination.  Whoever got eliminated here would be the last chef not brought back at the end.  So Pat, Genaro, Jessica, Gia, Aaron, Aziza, Johnny, and now Koop have all made their final appearances and won't be returning for the finale.

As for the rest of the blue team, Shaina, Wendy, and Devin all did perfect jobs tonight.  This is one time when they should've been allowed to finish and just have Paulie and maybe Koop thrown out of the kitchen.

I don't know in what world Andrew thinks Kimberly would've been the team's weakest link.  By far, that looks like Matt to me, which he proved for the second service in a row by being the only team to make a mistake (or at least one we saw, because Ramsay made it sound like they made more that we didn't see).  And next week, it looks like he finally blows his top and gets even worse.

Well, despite the fact that the red team didn't reveal who's going over to the blue team this week, the previews for next week seem to indicate that it'll be Ryan.  I saw Matt, Andrew, Kimberly, Heather, and Heidi all sitting at the table together, and again in the back room during service, and Ryan wasn't with them in either segment.  Frankly, I hate that this amazing team is getting broken up, but if they had to be, I'd have hoped that one of the two men would get thrown back to his original team.

Even worse, the previews also seem to indicate a red team loss, which sucks, because I really want another chance to see Paulie get booted.  With Johnny gone, he's pretty much the most unlikable chef left now.  If they do lose next week, I really hope it's Matt who goes home, as he's probably the second-most unlikable chef left.  I don't want to see any of Heather, Heidi, or Kimberly go home before they deserve to.  Andrew's getting better, too, so I don't think I want him to go home, at least not before Matt and Paulie do.  After they leave, he can, but not before.

Up until the elimination decision, this actually wasn't that bad of an episode.

Edited December 13, 2016 by Michel

[mojoween]

I can't believe Matt is still here.

I love that Andrew is ostensibly the one who lost the challenge since he was last up.  I also loved Kimberley's reaction to his "flirting" with Whatsherface.

Another week, another blue challenge win that means nothing since they shit the bed in service.  Maybe losing out on prep time is really hurting them.

[spiderpig]

Even though we know the job they promote as the ultimate prize seldom seems to pan out, this is supposed to be a competition for a responsible position in a higher-end restaurant.  An extended job interview.

We know the producers love and encourage all the internal fighting among the contestants, but how could they not draw the line at physical violence on camera?  When Koop not only threw the chair but broke it, Mr. pig and I both said "OK, Buster, you're out of here".  This, combined with Koop's comment on an early episode that he doesn't do clean-up in his restaurant - "the service bitches do it" - told us he'd way overstayed his welcome.

Buh-bye.

[Canada]

I can't even hate watch this show anymore.  Maybe it's the return of Top Chef making me realise just how shitty this show has become.  Maybe it was the baby food splatter game.  But I can't do it anymore.

[aliya]

4 hours ago, spiderpig said:

Even though we know the job they promote as the ultimate prize seldom seems to pan out, this is supposed to be a competition for a responsible position in a higher-end restaurant.  An extended job interview.

We know the producers love and encourage all the internal fighting among the contestants, but how could they not draw the line at physical violence on camera?  When Koop not only threw the chair but broke it, Mr. pig and I both said "OK, Buster, you're out of here".  This, combined with Koop's comment on an early episode that he doesn't do clean-up in his restaurant - "the service bitches do it" - told us he'd way overstayed his welcome.

Buh-bye.

It reminded me of that woman from Jersey the other season who dumped a full ashtray on another contestant. I thought, "She's gone" and she was. You're right about this being an extended job interview and if you bark and curse at everyone (unless you are GR), if you get physically aggressive with others, you aren't going to stay. I don't know why they don't realize that everything they do is on camera and GR knows everything. He's not looking for a lawsuit by hiring one of these temperamental idiots.

[Omega Mu]

20 hours ago, biakbiak said:

The chefs marveling at the "amazing view" from the hotel room cracked me up.

Imagine that, a view of FOX Studios!

[Michel]

18 hours ago, spiderpig said:

Even though we know the job they promote as the ultimate prize seldom seems to pan out, this is supposed to be a competition for a responsible position in a higher-end restaurant.  An extended job interview.

We know the producers love and encourage all the internal fighting among the contestants, but how could they not draw the line at physical violence on camera?  When Koop not only threw the chair but broke it, Mr. pig and I both said "OK, Buster, you're out of here".  This, combined with Koop's comment on an early episode that he doesn't do clean-up in his restaurant - "the service bitches do it" - told us he'd way overstayed his welcome.

Buh-bye.

 

13 hours ago, aliya said:

It reminded me of that woman from Jersey the other season who dumped a full ashtray on another contestant. I thought, "She's gone" and she was. You're right about this being an extended job interview and if you bark and curse at everyone (unless you are GR), if you get physically aggressive with others, you aren't going to stay. I don't know why they don't realize that everything they do is on camera and GR knows everything. He's not looking for a lawsuit by hiring one of these temperamental idiots.

See, while both of these make perfect sense, my problem with this is that by getting rid of Koop, Ramsay makes himself look like a hypocrite for not getting rid of Bryant from HK13 over the same anger issues, and Jackie from last season over her own anger issues.  It's like Ramsay was basically saying he doesn't care about what happens in the dorms . . . except for when he does.  If he can let Bryant and Jackie stay on the show despite their tantrums and outbursts, he sure as hell could've let one tantrum from Koop slide, too.

I don't know.  Maybe it's my soreness from Ramsay sparing Paulie yet again when he absolutely didn't deserve it in any way, but I don't think Koop's tantrum was as bad as it was made out to be.  Certainly not compared to past tantrums or outbursts from past contestants.  And at least no one was hurt or even close to hurt by it.  So I'd have written it off as one knee-jerk reaction and moved on.  Now, if he'd stayed and lost it a second time, then I'd have been ready to take action.

Edited December 11, 2016 by Michel

[mertensia]

Pauline should have gone but I have no problem with Koop going. He was never going to win, his attitude towards the wait staff guaranteed that.

[WescottF1]

I'm fairly certain watching and pausing the previews for next week, it's plain to see who gets moved over to the Blue Team.

[OhioSongbird]

Who?  I only half watched.  As far as I'm concerned Matt and Paulie can go in a double elimination.  Blaming everybody else for your fuckups is childish.  You're grown ass men so take responsibility.  Your Mommas must be sooo proud...*rme*.

 Good riddance to Koop and his cringe worthy hair.  Uh, dude....you're not 10 anymore either.

[WescottF1]

Ryan.

[Michel]

2 hours ago, WescottF1 said:

Ryan.

I identified Ryan, too, in my first post on this thread.  You can see Heather, Heidi, Kimberly, Andrew, and Matt all having a team meeting without her at one point, then standing without her in the back room, possibly during a service, at another.

4 hours ago, OhioSongbird said:

Who?  I only half watched.  As far as I'm concerned Matt and Paulie can go in a double elimination.  Blaming everybody else for your fuckups is childish.  You're grown ass men so take responsibility.  Your Mommas must be sooo proud...*rme*.

I don't like Matt, either, but when has he not taken responsibility?  Paulie definitely hasn't, but I could've sworn that Matt has.

Edited December 12, 2016 by Michel

[OhioSongbird]

I remember Matt getting all up in GR's face in an early ep.  GR was not happy and gave him a good dressing down.  Can't name one specific incident off top of my stuffed-up head (got the cold from hell) but he has deflected his mistakes on somebody else before.

I'm glad Koop is gone...dude has serious anger management issues.  Chair didn't deserve that......

Wendy is becoming one of my favorites.

[WescottF1]

On 12/11/2016 at 6:42 PM, Michel said:

I identified Ryan, too, in my first post on this thread.

I missed that as I was posting from my phone.  This site only displays properly on my PC at work some of the time.

[MajorWoody]

On 12/10/2016 at 2:55 AM, biakbiak said:

The chefs marveling at the "amazing view" from the hotel room cracked me up.

But you can see "all of California" from there!!!!!!

 

As has been stated, based on the previews, unless there is some phony misdirection going on, Ryan will be traded to the Blue Team.

 

I thought both Koop and the weasely Paulie should have gotten the boot in a well deserved double elimination, but I guess that wasn't in the script.

 

Interesting how the Chef who made a TV career highlighting his volatile temper axed Koop for displaying his volatile temper.