Last night’s Hell’s Kitchen marked the second consecutive week in which a chef was kicked out in the middle of dinner service. While last week’s sudden dismissal of J. came as a bit of a surprise, last night’s mid-meal elimination was about as surprising as the recent revelation that Robert Pattinson has poor hygiene (hello! Have these people ever actually looked at the obviously sexy greasy heartthrob?). We all knew it was coming, and after weeks of free passes so the audience would get the necessary dose of weekly drama and frustration, the thorn in everyone’s side was finally removed from the flaming depths of Hell’s Kitchen. Surely you’ve caught on by now that I’m speaking of…
…Lacey. But don’t worry. Apparently the show intends to squeeze everylast shameless drop from the Carol-Andrea feud — and how could weexpect any less?
But we’ll get to the exciting part in afew. Let’s get down to the business of recapping. This week Ramsaytested the chefs’ palates and their abilities to recognize certainingredients solely by their taste. Things didn’t look promising,however, when Ramsay had them taste a tartare he made to see if theynoticed that he had replaced the expected ingredients with decoys (seabass instead of scallops and tuna in place of beef). Not one of themknew the difference. A real promising batch of contenders we have here,folks! For the challenge, Ramsay blindfolded and headphoned (it’s aword because I say so) each chef and required them to eat and identifyspecific foods. With the teams uneven, L.A. offered to sit thechallenge out – a move that would come back and bite her in the tushlater. The commercial break came with the teams tied once again,although it didn’t feel quite as forced as previous weeks. On the otherside of the break, Paula brought a victory for the women.
The prize this week was a photo shootfor the cover of TV Guide, and while the women spent the afternoonbeing pampered with makeup and hair stylists, the men got to spend theafternoon waiting on the ladies and preparing both kitchens for dinnerservice. I gotta say that I don’t buy into the idea that women are onlybeautiful when glammed up— and I myself am unable to apply eyelinerwithout it looking like I did so while on the back of a galloping steed — itwas nice to see these attractive women not in chefs’ jackets surrounded by clouds of toxic cigarette smoke.
Come lunch time, as the men were servingRamsay and the women their meals, Danny forgot to serve the women first, causing Ramsay to bark “where’s your class?” at him.Perhaps Danny forgot the golden rule “ladies first,” but it seemedrather hypocritical and absurd for a man who consistently refers to hisfemale contestants as fat cows and bitches to be lecturing anyone onthe way to treat a lady. I love the pissy Brit, but come on. Meanwhile,Lacey flipped on her waa waa switch in the kitchen andpassive-aggressively mumbled things under her breath like a petulant third grader, winning her no love from her teammates.
Dinner service started off rough for theladies as Paula attempted to send out a risotto that was deemed toosalty by Ramsay — which he demonstrated, of course, by letting itdribble out of his mouth. Her second risotto, however, was perfect.Lacey, on the other hand, entered new and bewildering realms ofineptitude. After Ramsay rattled off some orders to her —she was onthe meat station tonight — her fellow chefs asked her what she needed.And Lacey responded, in true form, by flipping her freaking lid. Theimage of the doe-eyed drama queen running around in a panicked frenzy(it brought to mind the little wide-eyed ghosts from Pacman) shrieking “I don’t know!” and “I can’t cook meat!” (get that — the chef can’t cook meat)more than made up for the past few weeks of lame, artificial drama.Ramsay, stretching it out a bit longer for our enjoyment, pulled heraside and ordered her to “make the effort.” Had Ramsay been payingattention for the past few weeks, he might have known that no amount oflecturing/cheer leading/human language has any impact on her. So whenshe returned to whining to Ben to put her on something easier thanwellington, it was pretty obvious her goose was cooked. Finally, afterno improvement, Ramsay sent her on her whiny way. BOO-to-the-YAH!!! Isit wrong of me to take such delicious, beautiful pleasure in themisfortune of another? At least I’m not alone; I would imagine, mydarling PopWatchers, that there will be no mourning in the commentsfrom legions of Lacey-lovers. It’s rather telling too that, coupledwith the fact that the women couldn’t keep it together, once Lacey madeher exit the men immediately improved and managed to secure the win.
In the aftermath of the Lacey goodbye(and I mean, who really cares what happened after such a perfectclimax?) Ramsay told the women to nominate two ladies for elimination.After much squabbling and disagreement Ramsay called forward Andrea,L.A., and Carol. But, as we have learned from Colleen, Seth, and Laceybefore them, Carol and Andrea still have plenty of drama left in theirarc, and so L.A. got the blade. And so we said goodbye to two tonight.I predict Ben or Robert as the next to go. But I’ve been wrongbefore…
Note to Fox: Please stop promising that each episode of Hell’s Kitchen will be the “most controversial” yet. Anticlimactic doesn’t even begin to describe it.
So Popwatchers, how do you feel aboutLacey? Anyone out there eager to rally to her defense? What about L.A.?Who do you think will be the next to say bye-bye?
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Lacey hung around waaay too long. I think had Ramsey seen her behavior during the punishments (refusing to prep, etc) she would’ve been gone long ago. Her doing the Queen wave while saying goodbye was hilarious.
And yes, Fox needs to tone down the prmos. I believe they kep billing last night’s episode as shocking because he fires 2 cooks. He’s done that in past seasons, no?
I will almost miss Lacey because of her idiotic statements. Choice last night was.. This is a cover girl face!?! And excuse me, my Mom never had to tell me… Don’t make any enemies! Lacey wants us to believe.. I’m not like this, it’s not me, it’s them.
Good gawd what a chaotic mess. Disgusting hags Paula and Andrea are so over-rated! They suc a-s-s.
Goodbye Lacey!!! I literally jumped and cheered at her departure. I couldn’t STAND that b*tch. I mean my Lord, “I can’t cook meat!” and you want to run a kitchen?! Winner. *rolls eyes* I couldn’t be happier that I no longer have to listen to her “wah wah wah” each week. I’m sad that LA left though. I enjoyed her comments on the lack of common sense these people possess. It’s a shame that the 2 b*tches who are sabotaging each other are still there. I really hope they leave soon. At the same time. Like have to walk out hand in hand…and then fight outside…that would be awesome. Andrea is annoying and just provokes Carol to be even more annoying. I hope Robert wins. He’s hilarious.
I love Danny I hope he wins it. He can cook and he is just a good person too. Andrea adn Carol are anooying as heck please kick them both off already. Robert is hilarious!!
I was really impressed with the Blue’s Brothers when they were able to complete the dinner service with only 3 cooks and no drama. Despite early impressions, Giovanni is really stepping up to the plate. I think he may be a dark horse in this competition. Lacey, Meh. Whyever did they pick a contestant who was there to LEARN?? The producers had to know that she would never be a serious contender.
Guess I’ll play devil’s advocate and speak in Lacey’s behalf. Don’t get me wrong. She deserved to leave 100% with her uncooperative performances and her ineptitude at the kitchen. She was a cancer in the kitchen. Yet at the same time, I’m not hollering with fists pumping in the air. Watching her descent into mediocrity was more depressing than gratifying. Maybe I’m sympathetic because Lacey’s worst aspects remind me too much of myself than I’d like to admit. Who knows? At least Ramsey was finally willing to put Lacey out of her misery. I really hope she takes her own advice post-HK, and escape her miserable rut or she’s not going to live very pleasantly.
Carol on the other hand should thank her lucky stars LA was ousted for the most random reason in HK’s history. When blue team loses a teammate and STILL finishes dinner, that reflects badly on you. My my, was her cooking a travesty. Andrea’s hardly any better, and only encourages Carol’s argumentative nature with her own bickering. As much as Andrea ranted against Lacey’s bad behavior when she was on the reds, Andrea’s hardly a poster child on integrity either. With those two present, LA at least deserved an extra dinner. I guess I can buy the ‘lack of leadership’ excuse from Ramsey, seeing as he gave awful cooks Colleen and Lacey a pass, along with Ben’s tragic dinner last week. Still, Carol, and in a lesser extent, Andrea, deserved to leave so much more so than LA. I can imagine next week won’t be so kind to either one.
Robert’s pretty funny when not being too crass, and maybe he can cook, but as far as leaders, Giovanni and Danny may be best. Prediction for Lacey in 10 years: divorced, pregnant, with a previous child, fatter, diabetic, with chronic fatigue syndrome. Keep in touch girlfriend.
The only reason Lacey stuck around so long was the entertainment value. I hope Danny wins. It will be him against Giovanni in the finals, I predict!
The only surprising thing was Ramsey sent two chefs packing in one episode, but I thought it was coming because the show did skip a week for an awards show last month, so I thought two chefs had to go in one episode to get back on schedule. Lacey was easy, but most of these people are delusional. How about Ben pumping his fist when told “the losers will also participate in the photo shoot.” Did he not watch prior seasons? Do the losers ever get anything good in Hell’s Kitchen? And he still says “I’m the best cook here.” He might be the worst. And as a subscriber to TV Guide, I doubt that photo shoot will be on the “cover.” Let’s see. Jennifer Love-Hewitt or the Hell’s Kitchen smokers? I think we’ll put Jen on the cover.
Finally, how much food did Eric McCormick eat? He had spagetti lobster to start, lamb second, then the show him waiting for his entree?
what you forgot to mention was how Ramsey let Lacey come back into the kitchen to say goodbye… she came in – tried to do a sad prom queen wave, held back tears & backed up a bit before leaving the room. None of the guys even paid any attention to her. Goodbye whiny chick!! don’t let the door hit you on your can as you leave the kitchen!!
Kiss the cook – Lacey’s gone!! I couldn’t believe it when she said she didn’t know how to cook meat. How is it she landed up on the show? I can’t remember what her first dish was on the show that qualified her to play. I would have told her to pack up her knifes after the first show when she “quit” & walked off.
I think Paula is going to at least get to the finals. Before last night you never heard Ramsey yell at her. Even with her one bad risotto her next was perfect then she wasn’t really seen the rest of the episode. Reminds me of Rock when he won. He never really got slammed for his cooking. Paual versus Danny in the finals.
How can any of these moron’s take on a top knotch eatery? They can’t even palate a mushroom. Where did he get these people anyway.
Oh, and by the way they are dirty, greasy and just slobby looking.
where did they come from, some little whole in the wall dive?
Boy, Carol just doesn’t get it. She’s not nearly as gifted as Andrea. Despite that, the strongest chefs in the competition are the men. Paula will probably be the last woman left, but she’s not shown nearly as much leadership ability as Giovanni. Last 4 chefs standing will probably be Giovanni, Paula, Danny and it’s a tossup between Ben and Robert. But I’m getting really tired of Andrea and Carol’s back-biting behavior.
Folks, don’t forget that the main purpose of reality TV shows is to entertain the audience. The more successful reality shows are the ones that bring in the higher ratings. Forget about the great salary of the winning chef to run the future restaurant in Atlantic City. Sure they are casting a few chef want-to-be’s that can actually cook for a living. You have seen several people chosen for this position who can actually do much of a job at cooking. They probably chosen more for their entertainment and drama values than their cooking skills. The two “drama queens,” Carol & Andrea will be kept as long as they can keep the fireworks going until they are of no more use. My picks for are Giovanni #1, Paula #2, Danny #3, and Robert #4. Did anyone notice that when it comes to doing the makeup routine or sexy things, the girls happen to win. I liked it how the show made sure that it showed the gals with the nice figures in their bikini’s at poolside back early in the series. All about ratings.
It’s obvious to me that Robert is going to win. He’s a doll, with the attitude that the NJ restaurant needs.
The show is more rigged than wrestling. How else can the challenge each week come down to the second before the first commercial, it’s never a blowout. And yes, the guys getting dolled up for the TV Guide shoot doesn’t seenm to work. I guess they can always have two rewards ready depending on what gender team wins.
To Janice: It’s the Borgata, not Circus Circus. And I wouldn’t call Robert’s attitude “New Jersey” I would just say that he is a downright nasty bastard.
Do any of the contestants have the skills, attitude and professionalism to be the new head chef at a restaurant? Or have any redeeming qualities as human beings? (I’m actually not being facetious, I’m just trying to find someone to root for on this show.)
Did Robert really say, “I’m not Helen Keller” during the blind tasting segment? How can anyone root for this insensitive, ignorant slut?
Can you imagine what must be going through the heads of the people competing for the head chef position? Yeah, someone is going to win it but can you think that maybe any one of them are actually qualified to be the head chef of a Gordon Ramsey Restaurant. Sure, some of them probably think that they will become famous celebrity chefs after this show, but come on. It would be very difficult for me to be on that show broadcasting to millions of homes with Chef Ramsey belittling me, calling me slow-life names just to entertain and bring in the big ratings so he can have more of the same shows in the fututure. Would be interesting to see how much these competitors are being paid to be on the program. The producers of this show will have to get really creative when they get down to the final contestants and eliminate the persons that we tune into each week that we “love to hate!” If you have ever seen many of the Top Chef Shows you can see people who are much more qualified to be head chefs
Buckley201: There are actually a couple of these people who have the skills to be head chefs. Pay attention to the challenges, especially those involving creating dishes and taste tests. Those who do well usually hang around to the end, even if they screw up on some of the services. Ben has been praised more than once during the challenges. Robert, Andrea, and Paula all have done well. Carol, Danny and Giovanni have been so-so, while everyone whose been eliminated so far hasn’t done well at all. Ramsey will let you hang around if you show that you have some decent culinary skills even if you have a bad service. Right now, Carol is in the biggest danger of being eliminated because she’s not as good as she thinks she is. Andrea has shown some real culinary skills and she’s only had one bad service. Paula always does well on the challenges, so she’s going to be one of the last chefs eliminated.
Send Carol home. She is a whinner and blames everone for her short comings. She hates Andrea and I know to run a kitchen, you must have team work. This show is just reality, but the world is real life.
When Lacey got kicked out it was such a delicious moment. I enjoyed it & laughed so hard. Lacey is such a whiny brat. LA didn’t deserve to go. She should have stayed for a few weeks longer. She seemed like a good/steady worker.