S17.E07: Trimming Fat

[Drogo]

Chef Ramsay gives the 12 remaining contestants a tutorial on how to best prepare six of the show's most popular dishes. Each team will have 25 minutes to recreate all six dishes, while every three minutes they will have to select one chef to kick out of the kitchen. During dinner service, they will compete in the "Fight For Your Life" challenge, during which the three weakest chefs from each team will be tasked to recreate Gordon's signature dish, tagliatelle with oysters.

[riprock]

I really love Michelle. She went for the kill with those choices. And her response to the returning, defensive Elise was terrific. 

Elise: “It’s on!”

Michelle: “It’s been on since the beginning! It’s a f-ing competition!”

It kind of feels like Elise will be gone next week out of overconfidence. 

[HKFan74]

I honestly like most of them, but Elise is such a terrible person. She's sarcastic, lazy, combative and all around unpleasant. It's too bad because she seems to be a decent chef. Winning shouldn't just be about the skills as a chef, but also as the person's ability to lead. Can you imagine having to work for that woman? She's just an awful person. I hope she's gone soon! Sidenote. There were 5 other people battling it out. They all stepped up and nobody else cried or threw a fit like a 3 year old.

Edited November 18, 2017 by HKFan74

[galaxychaser]

Elise is married! I feel sorry for her husband.  

[Aileen]

Such a fun episode! Loved both the new challenge and the elimination competition. This show usually feels so stale to me, but it was entertaining tonight. I'm glad robin stayed. I know she annoys most, but I find her likeable and think she'll be so crushed when she's finally eliminated (bc she obviously won't win).

[Zoe]

Question from a non-seafood eater: what's the point of putting the shells on a bed of salt if you don't want the salt in the dish?

[TDT]

1 hour ago, riprock said:

Elise: “It’s on!”

Why'd she charge in there like she was on a Bad Girls Club episode(cant believe i miss that show lol..hopefully VH1 will bring it back)

If Gordon doesnt eliminate her next ep he'll probably send her to the Blue team and switch her with one of the men(cause the Red team sure as hell don't want Robin back)

Edited November 18, 2017 by TDT

[spiderpig]

We know production does everything possible to keep Elise around for the drahmah, but the red team interaction is looking more like one of those women's prison movies (I secretly love) than a cooking competition.

Elise got more than her share of reaction time - raising her eyebrows, looking down her nose, pooching out her lips - all to show how disdainful she is of everything non-Elise.  Then there was that extended crying jag while we all knew she wasn't going anywhere, and that the producers were salivating over the inevitable Elise/Michelle throwdown.

On the positive side, I always enjoy watching Gordon demonstrating construction of his dishes.  He's so focused and precise. I reallyreallyreally wanted to taste those oysters.

[Star Aristille]

I appreciated the new challenge.  It's one I hope Ramsay implements in later seasons.  Though it does seem like the women did lose on communication, although I don't know why Nick was patting himself and his teammates on the back as much as he was.  Their communication was better in this challenge, but on the whole, it's not so great, either.  Also, Nick?  You can't say you "keep winning services" when you just lost the last one.

But the Cook for Your Life Challenge?  I liked the new variation on it.  This time, it's three from each team instead of one.  And I think Michelle made the right choices.  Manda is clearly the weakest member of the team, and Barbie and Elise, while strong chefs, seem to have problems with being team players (Elisa way more than Barbie, and I'm only assuming she's right about Barbie, because we haven't seen much of her, even though what we have seen has shown her working well with her team and getting along with them decently enough).  Nick was right to send up Robyn and Giovanni, but I was confused by him offering up Milly, one of the strongest on his team, instead of Van (good chef, but too excitable) or Benjamin (also a good chef, but communication issues).

As for the results, Ramsay confused me by sparing Milly first.  He made a crucial error and forgot one of the six oysters, and he still gets spared first?  Yeah.  Whatever, Ramsay.  I think that that should've been seen as more egregious than any other mistake made.  And I normally like Milly, but he was obnoxious by continuously declaring that his performance was perfect even though he admitted that he'd left off an oyster and was rightly called "not perfect" by one of the others.  Still, I was unsurprised that Manda made it out, too.  It sounded like her dish was one of the best of the re-creations, which surprised me.  Barbie getting by didn't surprise me, either, since it seemed like she just put on a tad too much pasta.  Elise getting through wasn't surprising, either, considering it's clear that she's once again the villain of the season.  I felt pretty good when it got down to Robyn and Giovanni, as I just want the red team to keep surviving, and this guaranteed that yet another blue team member would go.  I expected Robyn to be gone.  She was getting way too many confessionals, and she seems like the weakest left of everyone.  I was shocked that Giovanni was tossed instead just for having too little sauce.  Still, I'm actually enjoying that the men are dropping like flies despite being better as a team.

This was a great episode.  But now that it's back to service episodes next week, it looks like the women are up for another loss.  Must be courtesy of Elise.

Edited November 25, 2017 by Star Aristille

[OlfinBedwere]

I could tell that it was Gio's time to go from early on in the episode; he just seemed to be running on fumes, even in the reward. Shame too, as Nick is now the only one of the men I can bring myself to care about; much as I want to like Milly, he just keeps coming across as too loud-mouthed and arrogant. That said, Benjamin's actually coming across a fair bit better than he did in his original season, but I still wouldn't call him likeable.

[Star Aristille]

On ‎11‎/‎18‎/‎2017 at 2:09 AM, OlfinBedwere said:

That said, Benjamin's actually coming across a fair bit better than he did in his original season, but I still wouldn't call him likeable.

How was he in his original season?  I didn't see season seven.

Edited November 25, 2017 by Star Aristille

[OlfinBedwere]

30 minutes ago, Star Aristille said:

How was he in his original season?

Not too bad at first, but halfway through he got moved onto that season's trainwreck of a red team with the express instruction to get them working together better, and it kinda went to his head. He still made it to the black team, and his ego got so bad that at one stage he actually tried calling out a ticket in place of the then-sous chef, and it did not go at ALL well. See for yourself.

[Star Aristille]

3 minutes ago, OlfinBedwere said:

Not too bad at first, but halfway through he got moved onto that season's trainwreck of a red team with the express instruction to get them working together better, and it kinda went to his head. He still made it to the black team, and his ego got so bad that at one stage he actually tried calling out a ticket in place of the then-sous chef, and it did not go at ALL well. See for yourself.

Holy shit, was Scott angry.  Thanks for that.

[cooksdelight]

I know they each amp up the drama for more screentime, and attention, but Elise needs to go. I was so hoping she wouldn’t be a diva this time around, but she’s worse than ever. She does very little work, unless Ramsay is around and then she cooks well.

[Carolina Girl]

12 hours ago, riprock said:

I really love Michelle. She went for the kill with those choices. And her response to the returning, defensive Elise was terrific. 

Elise: “It’s on!”

Michelle: “It’s been on since the beginning! It’s a f-ing competition!”

It kind of feels like Elise will be gone next week out of overconfidence. 

 

A “nice person” and “team player” doesn’t come back from a competition rubbing her hands like a schoolyard bully yelling “it’s ON, baby!”   Oh and I loved Michelle’s comeback to  “Get used to this face!”   “Oh;your crying face?”  And an aware person would have taken note of the difference her arrival was greeted vis-a-vis Robyn’s—who isn’t even on their team. 

[AZChristian]

12 hours ago, Zoe said:

Question from a non-seafood eater: what's the point of putting the shells on a bed of salt if you don't want the salt in the dish?

The salt is just to provide some base so the shells don't slide around the plate.  In many restaurants, the policy is that nothing that is not edible should be placed in front of a patron.  Even if one is not supposed to EAT the salt on that particular plate, it would not cause harm if it was ingested.  On this episode, the chef pushed the shells too deeply into the bed of salt and caused the salt to get into the intentionally edible part of the dish.

[mojoween]

So refreshing to see Elise go back to the patio with all of the charm, grace and class you would expect of a lady.

Milly had a braided beard at the rock climbing and then a short beard later and it confused me.  

[Rammchick]

How is butchering a third of the oysters less egregious than adding too much pasta?  That seemed like obvious shenanigans.

Elise cried because she shouldn't have been there?  Then how about sucking it up and plain showing everyone how good you are?  And I had  to laugh at her saying she was finished being nice.  Elise was nice??

Edited November 19, 2017 by Rammchick

[Charlesman]

8 hours ago, AZChristian said:

The salt is just to provide some base so the shells don't slide around the plate.  In many restaurants, the policy is that nothing that is not edible should be placed in front of a patron.  Even if one is not supposed to EAT the salt on that particular plate, it would not cause harm if it was ingested.  On this episode, the chef pushed the shells too deeply into the bed of salt and caused the salt to get into the intentionally edible part of the dish.

Well, that just kinda begs the question of if the shells themselves are edible? Someone could crack a tooth trying to eat one! ;-)

[jewel21]

On 11/17/2017 at 11:01 PM, riprock said:

I really love Michelle. She went for the kill with those choices. And her response to the returning, defensive Elise was terrific. 

Elise: “It’s on!”

Michelle: “It’s been on since the beginning! It’s a f-ing competition!”

It kind of feels like Elise will be gone next week out of overconfidence. 

My favourite exchange was the following:

Elise: Get used to this face!

Michelle: Your crying face?

I burst out laughing, haha.

[backformore]

I swear the "next on Hell's kitchen" from last week included someone falling, and the announcer saying something about sabotage going too far.   

I hate when something is teased  but never happens.

[Mystery]

On 11/17/2017 at 10:25 PM, Star Aristille said:

I appreciated the new challenge.  It's one I hope Ramsay implements in later seasons.  Though it does seem like the women did lose on communication, although I don't know why Nick was patting himself and his teammates on the back as much as he was.  Their communication was better in this challenge, but on the whole, it's not so great, either.  Also, Nick?  You can't say you "keep winning services" when you just lost the last one.

...

As for the results, Ramsay confused me by sparing Milly first.  He made a crucial error and forgot one of the six oysters, and he still gets spared first?  Yeah.  Whatever, Ramsay.  I think that that should've been seen as more egregious than any other mistake made. 

 

About the challenge: now that the last one in the kitchen got a great reward, I'll be surprised if ANYONE agrees to leave if they do this again. 

About Milly: hear, hear. Anyone could have done a better job if they shucked one fewer oyster, painstakingly twirled one fewer set of spaghetti strands on a fork, etc. etc. If they do this again, Ramsay should have to judge it blind. He obviously wanted to keep Milly. He should judge it blind and they tiptoe away as he tells them to, and then he turns around and sees who's going home. I know that'll never happen, though. 

 

3 hours ago, jewel21 said:

My favourite exchange was the following:

Elise: Get used to this face!

Michelle: Your crying face?

I burst out laughing, haha.

As the youngest, Michelle is definitely still able to throw down like a kid in school (whereas adults lose that ability, I think). I hate Elise on this show. I'm tired of looking at the stupid faces she makes. I'm tired of how lazy she is. Sitting around watching everyone else work is MY job when it comes to Hell's Kitchen. 

[Charlesman]

7 hours ago, backformore said:

I swear the "next on Hell's kitchen" from last week included someone falling, and the announcer saying something about sabotage going too far.   

I hate when something is teased  but never happens.

I thought that was 2 weeks ago, about last weeks episode? Michelle 'sabotaged' Manda's pasta by having her send it up unfinished. Then she slipped and fell hard in the kitchen, but didn't drop her food and nothing came of it. 

[backformore]

3 hours ago, Charlesman said:

I thought that was 2 weeks ago, about last weeks episode? Michelle 'sabotaged' Manda's pasta by having her send it up unfinished. Then she slipped and fell hard in the kitchen, but didn't drop her food and nothing came of it. 

OK, thanks.   

 

On ‎11‎/‎18‎/‎2017 at 0:25 AM, Star Aristille said:

As for the results, Ramsay confused me by sparing Milly first.  He made a crucial error and forgot one of the six oysters, and he still gets spared first?  Yeah.  Whatever, Ramsay.  I think that that should've been seen as more egregious than any other mistake made. 

I have always thought that GR has the final result in mind throughout the season.  Each week's eliminations are based on who has to go  in order to get the winner he wants.  

(much like Celebrity Apprentice, actually) 

[cooksdelight]

7 hours ago, backformore said:

I have always thought that GR has the final result in mind throughout the season.  Each week's eliminations are based on who has to go  in order to get the winner he wants.  

 

That’s exactly how it works, I think.

[bluepiano]

3 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

That’s exactly how it works, I think.

Yes, and why there will never ever be any blind judging on this show. Or Master Chef either, which also feels like it's scripted out at the beginning of the season. (I've been watching Master Chef Canada for the first time, and that feels refreshingly legitimate, with judges' decisions based on the food and not personalities or story lines).

Edited November 20, 2017 by bluepiano

[Carolina Girl]

18 hours ago, bluepiano said:

Yes, and why there will never ever be any blind judging on this show. Or Master Chef either, which also feels like it's scripted out at the beginning of the season. (I've been watching Master Chef Canada for the first time, and that feels refreshingly legitimate, with judges' decisions based on the food and not personalities or story lines).

And isn't it odd that it ALWAYS comes down to the last dish on the reward challenge?  Even if one team was way behind, GR would say "Now this LAST dish will be worth X points instead of the usual Y!"  

[Star Aristille]

1 minute ago, Carolina Girl said:

And isn't it odd that it ALWAYS comes down to the last dish on the reward challenge?  Even if one team was way behind, GR would say "Now this LAST dish will be worth X points instead of the usual Y!"  

There was one time when it wasn't like that at all.  In HK15's blind taste test challenge, the women won by a considerable margin of eight points to the men's three.

[Kerri Okie]

On 11/19/2017 at 9:37 PM, bluepiano said:

Yes, and why there will never ever be any blind judging on this show. Or Master Chef either, which also feels like it's scripted out at the beginning of the season. (I've been watching Master Chef Canada for the first time, and that feels refreshingly legitimate, with judges' decisions based on the food and not personalities or story lines).

Same here. I stumbled across a MC Canada marathon on the Cooking Channel a few weeks ago and I was hooked.  The drama is all about the cooking, not about the personalities.  There are no cute little hats or costumes to help us tell the contestants apart, and every TH doesn't start with "back home in ____..."  

Back to HK, I have mad respect for GR as a chef.  He's amazing to watch when he's doing demos, but he's lost all credibility with me as a TV persona since he's more about the drama than the competition itself.  I did enjoy that last challenge though.

[Charlesman]

On 11/20/2017 at 3:40 PM, Carolina Girl said:

And isn't it odd that it ALWAYS comes down to the last dish on the reward challenge?  Even if one team was way behind, GR would say "Now this LAST dish will be worth X points instead of the usual Y!"  

 

I'm fairly sure that GR has a good idea of what dishes will be best, and works out what order to call up the chefs beforehand, for maximum drama. 

[galaxychaser]

When is Robyn going home?  She can't cook and is too loud. 

[cooksdelight]

19 hours ago, galaxychaser said:

When is Robyn going home?  She can't cook and is too loud. 

Amen to that. I can see that Gordon wants her there for drama, but he couldn’t seriously consider hiring her.

[spiderpig]

13 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

Amen to that. I can see that Gordon wants her there for drama, but he couldn’t seriously consider hiring her.

I kinda wish he'd offer Robyn a dishwashing job (no offense to dishwashers) so she'd stay away from cooking competitions.  Isn't she supposed to be running a food truck in real life?  How does she get the time off to keep popping up on my screen?

[cooksdelight]

I guess her partner or someone who works the truck with her is doing all the work now.

[AZChristian]

3 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

I guess her partner or someone who works the truck with her is doing all the work now.

The partner is probably enjoying the peace and quiet.  Maybe they won't tell her where the truck is parked when Robyn is ousted.