S17.E12: Five Is the New Black

[Drogo]

The remaining chefs compete for the coveted black jacket in three challenges, including "Taste It, Now Make It," in which contestants must use their senses to recreate a dish; "Five Domes," in which contestants have 30 minutes to create a cohesive restaurant quality dish using mystery ingredients hidden under domes; and "Free For All," in which theys must make a dish of their choice using ingredients picked out by Ramsay.

[PhysNerd]

The only black jacket contestant I think who was the wrong choice was Robyn.  It has nothing to do with her dish, which looked delicious.  It's the fact that she is generally very scatter brained.  I see her as a great sous chef, but never the head chef.  I see greater leadership potential in Jennifer.  

I'm glad Elise is finally gone!  She was a great chef, but had such an insufferable personality.

[DoctorK]

I have been having internet issues, but I came here to see what happened (I failed to set to record tonight's episode). I will have to go to Cox's on demand to see Elise finally get knocked off. Worth the wait.

[cooksdelight]

Thank God and Greyhound she’s gone!

[nitrofishblue]

Don't care who wins now that Elsie is GONE!!!! To be honest Robyn has shown a lot of growth this season. Not a leader but she has improved a ton. I really don't want to see Millie win. He just runs me the wrong way and has all season, crappie attitude.

[mojoween]

I don’t think Robyn has a chance in hell of winning.

But who cares Elise is gone hooray!  And she did it all her own self, HA.

Personally I think Ben has the best chance.  

[Mystery]

Yay, Elise is gone and I can watch again! 

I was bewildered by Jen calling her dish "corn succotash." Succotash is a big New England dish, and it's corn and lima beans. I guess since she didn't have lima beans in it, she meant something like "succotash with only one of the traditional ingredients: corn." I laughed when she said a nice girl should win, not a "devil." Was Jennifer's departure in her season really the result of a conspiracy, or did she deserve to go? I know Gordon doesn't usually just take people's opinions of who they think the worst chef is.

Elise was gracious, but I hated how long she stayed on the show. 

When Christina winked, I thought they'd both be in. So she was just winking at Robyn?

[RedRobin]

OK lets see if I can get this straight, Milly being confident in his ability equals a "crappy" attitude (but it's OK for Nick & lazy ass Josh)??  Elise garners the "insufferable" tag (but again, it's OK for Michelle & Dana)??  Not saying that Elise was not arrogant as all get out, but she was no less a pain than the group of "mean girls" that encompassed her team.  The entire red team acted like a bunch of spoiled brats who subscribed to "groupthink".  They are two of the more talented chefs, but from the beginning they were constantly told that they don't belong in the competition, why would they want to play nice with this entitled group of people??  

[mertensia]

Elise is gone!  It's like a holiday! 

I don't eat fish. Can you really figure it out by looking at it, as Robyn apparently did?

I've eaten plenty of green asparagus but never white for some reason. Is there actually a taste difference?

[spiderpig]

YAY! YAY! YAY! YAY!

(You know what I'm talking about.  Finally!)

[riprock]

Is it mean to say I took pleasure in watching Elise cry? That scene of Robyn, Jennifer, and Elise in the living quarters breaking down was one of the more affecting things I’ve seen on this show.

Milly has been so one-note this season. His THs are always of him saying something and sweeping his arms around emphatically. Maybe he hasn’t been giving the editors the depth they need to make him stand out, but his relative lack of thoughtfulness in his interviews compared to, say, Nick, Michelle, Jennifer, or Dana makes it hard for me to see him as a head chef.

when Gordon let Elise keep her jacket I was afraid he was about to offer her a job!

I hope the finale is Nick and Michelle. Ben is so easy to forget, Robyn is too in her own head, and Milly is less interesting this year than in Season 14.

[preeya]

3 hours ago, riprock said:

Is it mean to say I took pleasure in watching Elise cry? That scene of Robyn, Jennifer, and Elise in the living quarters breaking down was one of the more affecting things I’ve seen on this show.

Milly has been so one-note this season. His THs are always of him saying something and sweeping his arms around emphatically. Maybe he hasn’t been giving the editors the depth they need to make him stand out, but his relative lack of thoughtfulness in his interviews compared to, say, Nick, Michelle, Jennifer, or Dana makes it hard for me to see him as a head chef.

when Gordon let Elise keep her jacket I was afraid he was about to offer her a job!

I hope the finale is Nick and Michelle. Ben is so easy to forget, Robyn is too in her own head, and Milly is less interesting this year than in Season 14.

 

That would NEVER happen.

[xcrayon2215x]

Glad to see Elise go, didn't expect Robyn to get a black jacket but with Jennifer screwing up in the challenge I can see why. I like these types of challenges more than the dinner services to be honest, a Nick vs Benjamin final seems the most likely.

[spiderpig]

I guess I should get a life, but seeing Elise get her marching orders filled me with absolute joy.  One of life's little pleasures. Now I can focus my efforts on promoting world peace.

[Rap541]

Quote

The only black jacket contestant I think who was the wrong choice was Robyn.  It has nothing to do with her dish, which looked delicious.  It's the fact that she is generally very scatter brained.  I see her as a great sous chef, but never the head chef.  I see greater leadership potential in Jennifer.  

I think the problem is that it was too difficult to pretend that Jennifer hadn't screwed things up badly in the challenges. Plus, Jennifer doesn't bring drama, and if Elise goes, someone needs to be the drama queen for a couple more episodes. That said, Robyn, Jennifer, Elise are all around the same skill level and competence and all would be good sous chefs but not head chefs so I think it was a fair choice. (I'm talking skill, Elise's personality is such that I think she'd be difficult as a sous chef)

Quote

OK lets see if I can get this straight, Milly being confident in his ability equals a "crappy" attitude (but it's OK for Nick & lazy ass Josh)??

In fairness, I think Josh got the boot well before Milly. As for Milly's attitude? I think he's fairly drama free but is sometimes poked into making comments for the camera and says things he probably shouldn't. Milly hasn't been the shining star  - Ben and Nick and possible Michelle have been the front runners and I would be genuinely surprised if Milly made it to final two because Milly makes dumb mistakes and dumb decisions.

Quote

Elise garners the "insufferable" tag (but again, it's OK for Michelle & Dana)??  Not saying that Elise was not arrogant as all get out, but she was no less a pain than the group of "mean girls" that encompassed her team. 

The problem is that Elise is arrogant, proudly declaring how she's the best no matter how badly she fucks up and any time anything goes wrong, she is perfect and everyone is sabotaging her and she NEVER does anything wrong even when she is the only one to handle a dish - Gordon even called her on THAT, that she was the one responsible for her choice of ingrediants as she proudly insisted she was not at fault for how poor her dish was as she only had x, y and z. No one is saying the other women or the men are winning prizes for their behavior but "FUCK YOU I AM THE BEST NO MATTER HOW SHITTY I DO THINGS KISS MY ASS FOR IT NOW! IF YOU DISAGREE YOU'RE A BITCH!" gets really old as it happens over and over and over with Elise. Mean girls or not, the rest of the red team are employable and Elise's behavior makes her unemployable.

[Rammchick]

Ding, dong, the witch is gone!

[LakeGal]

I expect Robyn & Milly to be the next 2 out.  Ben seems the most drama free. I could see him winning. 

[Destiny74]

Did Ramsey realize that Robyn made three dishes that were incredibly similar.  They were all protein and a hash.  I think her win over Jennifer was valid seeing that Jennifer didn’t cook her scallops correctly, but can Robyn not come up with a more original dish than protein and hash?  I actually would have liked to see her fish dish.

[Fex]

Okay, I have seen that clothing change couple's act before. But where? When? How? I honestly have no idea. Have they been on other TV shows?

I have a soft spot for Robyn, but... I think Jennifer should've gotten the black jacket. Robyn is too easily rattled.

[preeya]

2 hours ago, LakeGal said:

I expect Robyn & Milly to be the next 2 out.  Ben seems the most drama free. I could see him winning. 

 

This was my exact prediction, with either Ben or Nick opening the door.

[mertensia]

43 minutes ago, Fex said:

Okay, I have seen that clothing change couple's act before. But where? When? How? I honestly have no idea. Have they been on other TV shows?

 

 

They were on Big Brother this past summer.

[Yeah No]

So predictable that they waited until the black jackets to get rid of delusional Elise.  I suppose I should be dancing in the streets over it, but what a crock that she ever had any chance in hell of winning.  She was there purely for her entertainment value.  For all we know her food sucked next to everyone else's.

[OoogleEyes]

Even though I actually hate watch  this show, this episode kind of brought me to tears....

Yay Robin!

[cooksdelight]

I kept watching Elise with lipstick/no lipstick in her talking heads, and boy did she look worn out! That filet was rawwwwwww. Robyn’s crying almost made me stop watching, but I stayed to the bitter end. If Jennifer had cooked those scallops to where they had that nice crust on each side, she’d have won.

Ben/Nick/Michelle will be moving on and I am torn as to who I’d like to win. I like all three.

[Chicago Redshirt]

I actually enjoy watching Elise, but understand why people hate her so much. I don't care that she inflates her cooking skill (who doesn't on this show) or that she doesn't accept responsibility for her own failures. (again, a rare quality among contestants here). But anyway...Boop!

I am sure we will get one more chance to watch her this season, because the show will almost assuredly stick to the format it's had for umpteen years for the finale: the last two chefs will pick from ex-competitors to create a brigade to cook their menu.

So we will likely get Elise talking heads about how she should not have been picked wherever she gets picked, how she either is going to do her best to help her chef win or she isn't, about all the perceived failures of her chef or not, etc. It's contingent as to who the final 2 are. I think if she's on a Ben or Nick team, she would be mostly respectful. I could see her actively trying to sabotage Michelle or Robin, although I don't see it as likely Robyn gets that far. 

[justawatcher]

At the beginning, I predicted the winner would be one of the following four: Benjamin, Jared, Jennifer, or Van. I'm down to one left LOL!

I am going to go with a Michelle win, but any of them would be okay. The reason is- this chef will be the face of a new restaurant. Any of them would represent him well. Even Robyn.

[Charlesman]

On 1/13/2018 at 7:30 AM, preeya said:

That would NEVER happen.

I wonder. Gordon Ramsey wasn't mean enough to Elise. He was supportive and talked positively to her about keeping up with what she was doing, which will only feed her delusion in the future in her life. 

After all we went through having to put up with her shit all season, her exit wasn't cathartic enough. She needs a scolding, a solid dressing down, someone to rip her ego apart until she finally gets what a horrible, terrible, awful human being she is. Instead Ramsey just fed her ego more. 

 

Honestly, there way he tolerated her all season makes Ramsey look oblivious, incompetent, or otherwise incapable. Was he not paying attention to services? Is he deaf? And blind? Does he not watch the footage of the show? Do the producers not tell him what's happening? Did he not watch her previous season? 

Seriously. Gordon's either an idiot or an awful judge of character. He should have ripped her a new asshole, not praised her for being one. 

Edited January 14, 2018 by Charlesman

[preeya]

1 hour ago, Charlesman said:

I wonder. Gordon Ramsey wasn't mean enough to Elise. He was supportive and talked positively to her about keeping up with what she was doing, which will only feed her delusion in the future in her life. 

After all we went through having to put up with her shit all season, her exit wasn't cathartic enough. She needs a scolding, a solid dressing down, someone to rip her ego apart until she finally gets what a horrible, terrible, awful human being she is. Instead Ramsey just fed her ego more. 

 

Honestly, there way he tolerated her all season makes Ramsey look oblivious, incompetent, or otherwise incapable. Was he not paying attention to services? Is he deaf? And blind? Does he not watch the footage of the show? Do the producers not tell him what's happening? Did he not watch her previous season? 

Seriously. Gordon's either an idiot or an awful judge of character. He should have ripped her a new asshole, not praised her for being one. 

Everything on a reality show is done for ratings. GR is an Executive Producer of the show so I'm sure he knows exactly what goes on both on and off the screen. She (Elise) was there to create drama and have people like us talk about it. There was no way in hell she was ever going to be employed by GR. It's also likely that Robyn and Millie won't be either.

Edited January 14, 2018 by preeya

[Charlesman]

4 hours ago, preeya said:

Everything on a reality show is done for ratings. GR is an Executive Producer of the show so I'm sure he knows exactly what goes on both on and off the screen. She (Elise) was there to create drama and have people like us talk about it. There was no way in hell she was ever going to be employed by GR. It's also likely that Robyn and Millie won't be either.

Oh, I'm well aware of this. Which is why I said "looks like". Ramsey looks like an idiot by not reaming out Elise. And, that's what the audience wanted. That's what those ratings were building towards. 

On all counts this was a terrible misread of the situation by the show. Misunderstanding what the audience wanted, what they contestant deserved, and what that does to GR's perception and reputation. 

[Yeah No]

8 hours ago, Charlesman said:

Oh, I'm well aware of this. Which is why I said "looks like". Ramsey looks like an idiot by not reaming out Elise. And, that's what the audience wanted. That's what those ratings were building towards. 

On all counts this was a terrible misread of the situation by the show. Misunderstanding what the audience wanted, what they contestant deserved, and what that does to GR's perception and reputation. 

I couldn't have said this better myself.  It's really stretching Ramsay's credibility to overlook the elephant in the room with Elise and act like he's taking her seriously.  Is it his decision to do that or some producer's idea?  I'm assuming this is basically his show and he doesn't have to do it if he doesn't want to.  Whatever it is I agree with you that this is not what the audience wants to see.  I'd rather see him reaming her out at least when he sends her home so we know he still has some shred of sanity and integrity left in him.

[djlynch]

On 1/13/2018 at 8:42 PM, LakeGal said:

I expect Robyn & Milly to be the next 2 out.  Ben seems the most drama free. I could see him winning. 

On 1/13/2018 at 11:24 PM, preeya said:

This was my exact prediction, with either Ben or Nick opening the door.

He has been pretty drama-free, but I keep thinking that he's not getting a lot of attention from the edit, although that may just because Nick seems to give better talking head. Then again, my pick before this week was that Jen was going to make it to the final two, so I may be missing some clues.

[preeya]

8 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I couldn't have said this better myself.  It's really stretching Ramsay's credibility to overlook the elephant in the room with Elise and act like he's taking her seriously.  Is it his decision to do that or some producer's idea?  I'm assuming this is basically his show and he doesn't have to do it if he doesn't want to.  Whatever it is I agree with you that this is not what the audience wants to see.  I'd rather see him reaming her out at least when he sends her home so we know he still has some shred of sanity and integrity left in him.

I just had a "what if" moment. What if, when the eliminated players return to work for the last two chefs, Elise ( I even hate typing her name) makes an attempt at sabotaging her chef (perhaps Michelle), and she's exposed and chastised by GR, never to darken Hell's Kitchen again. That would certainly satisfy me and my penchant for "getting the elephant in the room."

[beverlyoc]

I've predicted a Nick/Michelle finale (with Nick winning) from the beginning.  Why?  They are the youngest.  The winner isn't going to run anything, but I think Gordon is looking for the next Christina, Scott, Heather, etc. -  someone with talent whom he can groom to be a valuable asset in his organization. Milly is too old - untrainable, as was the case with Jen.  Ben is borderline too old - and also communicates poorly in the kitchen. I could see GR offering Robyn a job - she has shown the most growth since her original season and with proper tutelage could learn to be a valuable sous chef.  Elise never had a chance - GR's organization doesn't have any time for her kind of drama.  YMMV.

[Mystery]

On 1/14/2018 at 5:09 AM, Chicago Redshirt said:

I actually enjoy watching Elise, but understand why people hate her so much. I don't care that she inflates her cooking skill (who doesn't on this show) or that she doesn't accept responsibility for her own failures. (again, a rare quality among contestants here). But anyway...Boop!

I think you forgot "she insists on taking the best ingredients for herself every time." 

Even though she didn't know what to do with them. 

[Colorado David]

huh, elise has 12k followers on twitter. who'd have thought? 

[preeya]

1 hour ago, Colorado David said:

huh, elise has 12k followers on twitter. who'd have thought? 

Probably all her enemies keeping tabs on her. (keep your friends close and your enemies closer)

[GalvDuck]

On 1/12/2018 at 11:11 PM, Mystery said:

When Christina winked, I thought they'd both be in. So she was just winking at Robyn?

Ick, no...I don't like the thought of Christina winking at Robyn.   Robyn grates on my last nerve.

But Christina!  Can she please have her own show?  I would watch her read a phone book....

[cooksdelight]

Well, they are both lesbians, she might have a crush on Robyn? LOL, I’m pretty sure she has a girlfriend already.

[GalvDuck]

16 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

Well, they are both lesbians, she might have a crush on Robyn? LOL, I’m pretty sure she has a girlfriend already.

Yeah, I knew that.  Robyn just comes off as low-class to me.  Christina seems a bit more refined.  I think they both are in relationships already.  I remember Christina's girlfriend being there when she opened the door in her season to reveal the winner. 

Now, if Christina winked at me, that'd be okay.  

[backformore]

On ‎1‎/‎16‎/‎2018 at 3:39 PM, Colorado David said:

huh, elise has 12k followers on twitter. who'd have thought? 

Not saying it's the case for Elise, but there are ways to "buy" twitter followers.  I have heard of people doing it before going on a reality show, to boost their perceived popularity.