The twelfth episode of Season 6 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on FOX, on September 29, 2009. On that episode, the individual challenge resulted with two winners, the punished chefs were doing compensatory work, and the biggest loud-mouth of the season was finally eliminated.

Intro

On their way back to the dorms, Dave confronted Tennille for changing her mind about the nominations. He not only decided not to trust her, but called her a bitch and said that she did not deserve to be in Hell’s Kitchen. However, Tennille told him that she gave Ramsay her honest opinion, though Dave said that she should have said something before elimination. Kevin watched all of that, and relished the fact that people were self-destructing as Dave angrily left. Meanwhile, Suzanne admitted to Ariel that she was shaking as it was her third time up for elimination, and feared that it could be her last chance. Ariel herself realized that she had to pull through from her poor night as they were in the final five.

Individual challenge

The next morning, the final five came downstairs and met Ramsay, who was ready to give them their first individual challenge. Ramsay explained that their dishes should not just taste great, but look great as well. For the Presentation Challenge, each chef would be cooking their own dishes for some of Bon Appétit’s staff members, which included Editor-In-Chief Barbara Fairchild that would be judging based on look alone, with Suzanne hoping that she would win, as Bon Appétit was one of the premiere magazines in the culinary industry. Then, Ramsay explained that out of the five dishes, two of them would be judged by Ramsay and Fairchild on taste to declare the winner.

With 45 minutes to cook, the chefs got to work as Kevin noticed that the pressure was on. He made a Caribbean sea bass with orange and papaya, while Suzanne made a calamari salad, though Dave thought that a salad was not what the Bon Appétit staff was looking for. Dave’s dish was a rack of lamb with fingerling potatoes, Ariel made prosciutto wrapped John Dory, hoping for a pick up after the previous night, and Tennille made an Asian inspired red snapper. However, Tennille’s snapper broke on the tray, and with very little time to cook another one, she put it on top of her garnishes to mask how screwed up it was. Eventually, all the chefs got their dishes cooked and plated in time.

The Bon Appétit staff went to look at the chef’s dishes. While almost everybody explained their dish with confidence, Dave struggled to describe his dish as he was not doing well in front of crowds. After that, Ramsay gathered the judges’ comment cards, and revealed that Tennille’s dish was the worst looking, with Dave commenting how Tennille presented garbage to the judges, and Suzanne’s dish got fourth place, though she felt that it was artistic. Then, Ramsay revealed that Kevin’s dish was the best looking one, and between Ariel’s dish was the second best. Ariel and Kevin presented their dishes to Ramsay and Fairchild, and both received praise as Ariel’s dish had edgy cranberry sauce, and Kevin’s dish matched the Caribbean taste he hoped for. After much deliberation, Ramsay declared Ariel and Kevin joint-winners as he could not pick a lone winner, and said that it was hard to choose the best dish out of those two.

Reward

Ariel and Kevin were rewarded with a Bon Appétit photo shoot with Ramsay and Fairchild at Shutters on the Beach, in Santa Monica, with Ariel stating that her family would be excited to see her dish in the magazine. During the reward, Kevin felt like a movie star and that it was a taste of what could come if he would win.

Punishment

The remaining chefs were punished by cleaning a street Hell’s Kitchen adopted, and the fact that Dave had to be near Tennille made him nauseous. Also, he warned that he would snap if she would bitch. Dressed in garbage crew jumpsuits and getting driven on a prison bus, Tennille frustratingly asked if she committed a crime. During the punishment, Suzanne called garbage collecting not the glamorous thing she has done, and Dave quickly got annoyed by Tennille ’s constant complaints. When they got back to Hell’s Kitchen, they had to clean the front entrance of Hell’s Kitchen, which included sweeping up the steps, shining the sign, and cleaning the carpet. Then, when Ariel and Kevin returned from their reward, Tennille got annoyed when they walked over the clean carpet. While sweeping, Dave’s fractured wrist started to swell up and he put it on ice. However, the pain continued to torture him as he lied on the bed groaning. Kevin came to check on him, and told that he needed to think of himself, but secretly wanted Dave to go home as he was his biggest competitor. However, Dave knew that everyone wanted to see him gone due to his broken wrist, but chose to stay.

Before service

The five chefs got to work prepping for that night’s service. However, Dave was starting to slow down, and Kevin stated that it was frustrating as Dave could not rely on people any longer. Kevin took the lead for prep, but Suzanne felt that he was patronizing them.

After prep, Ramsay gathered them and reminded that by that point, it was all about determination, while adding that he wanted a perfect service and warning Suzanne to show it. Then, Ramsay asked Jean-Philippe to open Hell’s Kitchen.

Dinner service

For that night’s service, both Ariel and Kevin’s challenge winning dishes were added to the menu. Before Ramsay read out the first ticket, he told the chefs to prove why they were the best chefs. Dave, Tennille, and Suzanne got to work on their appetizers, but when Dave asked if anything new was added to the cold appetizers, Tennille answered not, while calling him a fucking idiot. However, Ramsay reminded Tennille and Dave that he did not care if they were not liking each other, and was only concerned about teamwork. Then, Ramsay asked for the scallops, but Suzanne revealed that she did not have them on, and blamed Tennille for not giving her a proper time, much to Ramsay’s dismay. Despite the weak communication, Dave, Tennille, and Suzanne’s appetizers were accepted and sent out to the first table. However, more diners were coming, and more tickets were flown into the kitchen. Ariel tasted Tennille’s risotto and said that it was overcooked, but Tennille ignored her and sent it up. However, Ramsay ejected it and forced her to make a new one. Suzanne’s scallops were rejected as one was burnt and Ramsay accused her of not working hard.

While Tennille and Suzanne were struggling on their refires, Dave continued to push out cold appetizers as Ramsay was forced to send out incomplete tables. Suzanne and Tennille brought their refires, but Tennille’s risotto was overcooked again, and Ramsay lectured her to pay attention to her work, before asking who cooked the rice during prep. Kevin revealed that he cooked the rice, and then, it was revealed that all the rice was mush. While Dave said that Kevin screwed up, Tennille should have realized that the rice was overcooked herself. Suzanne got some good rice from the pantry room, but that led Ramsay asking why they were using the poor rice earlier, with Tennille noting that it was both her and Kevin’s fault. Then, Ramsay lectured Kevin on putting the overcooked rice on Tennille’s station as he was one of the most technical chefs of the final five, and asked him for a standard. With the new rice, Tennille’s third attempt was accepted, and Ramsay asked her and Kevin to look at the difference. With the risotto problem dealt with, appetizers were sent out to the dining room, and the chefs got to work on entrées. Recalling how poorly the previous service went, Ariel hoped that she would do better. However, her chicken still had some pink on it, and Ariel got frustrated for disappointing Ramsay. That forced Kevin to start over on garnishes, and he complained that he thought Ariel was better than that. Despite that, Ariel’s refire was accepted, and Ramsay sent the first table of entrées out. Suzanne brought up her sea bass, but it was raw and an angry Ramsay smashed a piece to the ground, with an irritated Kevin stating that Suzanne should be able to cook fish at that point. As a disappointed Suzanne basted her refire, a distraught Ramsay yelled that they were very inconsistent that night, before mumbling that it could not be possible. Meanwhile, Jean-Philippe apologized to the tables that had no fish.

One hour and a half into service, while Suzanne’s sea bass finally made it to the dining room, only half of the diners have received their entrées. Dave called that night a disaster, and Ramsay yelled at the final five to wake up, while ranting that it was like each chef was taking a turn to screw up. Ariel brought up her lamb, but it was sliced poorly, and a frustrated Ramsay pulled her to the dining room and asked her if she would send that poor piece if she was at the Araxi. Ariel answered that she would not, and deemed embarrassing to be called out like that in front of customers. As Kevin tried to rally the group, Ramsay told him that the only reason he got frustrated was that he had to watch that shit unfold before complaining that every table was getting screwed.

Two and a half hours into service, Ramsay gathered the chefs, said that he was done sending out incomplete tables, and warned them to either get it together or fuck off. Despite some struggles from Ariel, they managed to complete dinner service, but Ramsay was very disappointed in them for a disastrous dinner service.

Post-mortem

When the chefs were lined up, while Ramsay admitted that they managed to complete dinner service, he bitterly said big deal as he expected a poor performance like that weeks before, and compared it to a giant soufflé collapsing. After reminding them that they did not act like a team, he asked them to agree on two nominees for elimination.

Back in the dorms, Dave admitted that they all sucked, and believed that anybody could go home. Kevin suggested that all of them vote for two names, and Suzanne said that her votes were Ariel and Tennille. However, Tennille thought that she had a better performance than Suzanne, while Suzanne said that she was a better team player, and that her station was tight. However, Kevin knew that Suzanne was very inconsistent and nominated her. Ariel said that her nominees were Kevin and Tennille for the risotto incident, but Kevin knew that Ariel only said that because she refused to nominate herself, which Suzanne confirmed. Near the end, nobody knew who to nominate.

Elimination

Kevin announced that Ariel was the first nominee, and Suzanne was the second. Ramsay called them down, and during their pleas, Ramsay noticed that it was Suzanne’s fourth nomination, but Suzanne said that she was focused on standard technique and perfection, and believed that she was a better chef than Ariel. Then, Ramsay accused Ariel of getting worse, but Ariel said that she was still passionate, and wanted to prove it to Ramsay. While Ramsay believed that both of them should leave, he eliminated Suzanne as she was given more chances than anybody else, and was on a downward spiral without return. Suzanne received a retrospective montage of her run during her exit interview. After Suzanne left, Ramsay sent Ariel back in line, and warned Tennille that she dodged a bullet. Then, he told the final four to bounce back, and warned them that neither of them was getting a free ride. Tennille acknowledged that she indeed dodged a bullet, and while Ariel was happy to be in the final four, she said that she would enjoy having gotten there by skills alone. Kevin boasted that he was more consistent than the rest of the chefs, while Dave noted that it was going to get cutthroat from that moment on.

Ramsay’s comment: “Suzanne had a red jacket, she had a blue jacket, she had a black jacket. Now, she has no jacket.”

My Opinion

The eleventh episode of Season 6 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on FOX, on September 22, 2009, airing as a double feature alongside the tenth episode. On that episode, the remaining chefs were merged into the black team, an exuberant celebration happened after the challenge, and half of the chefs let Ramsay down during service, leading him to do the unthinkable.

Intro

Back in the dorms, Van claimed that he fought for his life to stay as it meant everything for him to stay and win, while knowing that he could not make any more stupid mistakes. The next day, Van was still upset over his previous performance, but knew that he had to let it go. Then, he went to the living room, and found gift boxes. When he showed them to Dave and Kevin, it was revealed that they were containing black jackets. The rest of the chefs opened their black jackets, with Suzanne comparing it to Christmas morning, and they knew that while it was a great milestone to get to, it also meant that it was time for the individual game to begin.

Pairs challenge

The new black jacket chefs came down in the kitchen, and met Ramsay who was cooking a dish. As Ramsay was plating his dish, he noticed that there was no more red or blue teams, and gave them the dish to taste. The dish everyone tasted was one of Ramsay’s signature dishes, and after Ramsay explained how he would always try and imagine what the dishes ingredients were, he announced that the next challenge would be the Taste It Now Make It Challenge. Then, the six chefs were broken up into three teams of two, consisting of Van and Ariel, with the latter being concerned as Van has been nominated twice before, Tennille and Kevin, much to Tennille’s happiness, and Dave and Suzanne, which Dave decided to reluctantly go with. After, Sous Chef Scott brought a dish that was cooked in one of his own Los Angeles restaurants for the chefs to taste.

Each pair had thirty minutes to recreate Ramsay’s dish, containing fish, garnish, purée, and sauce. Everybody crowded around the dish as Dave decided to taste every fish to guess what the correct match was. Ariel could not figure out what the fish was, and while Van wanted to use sea bass, everybody went with turbot. For the garnish, everybody chose calamari. For the purée, Ariel and Van used celery root, while the remaining pairs used parsnip. For the sauce, Ariel and Van went with starfruit, Dave and Suzanne went with passion fruit, and Kevin and Tennille went with grapefruit. With their ingredients chosen, the pairs worked on their dishes, but Van accidentally dropped the turbot on the ground, forcing him to cook another one. Eventually, both teams got their dishes cooked and plated in time.

The first pair that was judged by Ramsay was Kevin and Tennille, followed by Van and Ariel, and finally Dave and Suzanne. After tasting their dishes, Ramsay revealed that while all of them got the protein correct, nobody got the purée as it was actually white onion. While calamari was the correct garnish, Tennille and Kevin forgot to plate theirs, and automatically lost. In the end, Dave and Suzanne got the right fruit sauce, and won the challenge. However, Suzanne openly gloated about their victory until Dave made her shut up, much to the other chefs’ annoyance.

Reward

Dave and Suzanne were rewarded with a trip to the London West Hollywood, along with Ramsay, where they would eat lunch with Season 4 winner Christina. While Dave was not happy to be with Suzanne for most of the day, he decided to make the best of it. On the ride to the restaurant, Dave asked Ramsay what to do for black jacket services, and Ramsay reminded them that while they were still cooking as a team, they had to focus on the individual aspect now. When they arrived at the restaurant, Ramsay gave Dave and Suzanne a tour before a meeting with Christina. During lunch, Suzanne asked her a lot of questions, but when Dave tried to say something, Suzanne talked over him. Then, Christina told them that they had to think ahead now as Ramsay could throw a wrench in any plans, as Suzanne felt that she could win the competition.

Punishment

The remaining chefs were punished by prepping for a Couples Night Service, as well as helping Jean-Philippe to decorate the dining room. During the punishment, Van was pissed that he did not get the chance to spend some time with Ramsay, and instead had to be with Jean-Philippe, who he called whistle britches. Jean-Philippe gave them instructions on decorating the dining room, but Tennille quickly got annoyed by his precise instructions.

Before service

While prepping for service, Van noticed that the mood has changed as everybody was eyeing up their competition, and announced that he was ready to take advantage of that. Dave and Suzanne came back and got to work, but when Dave asked if he could help anyone, he got cold shoulders and realized that they were all gunning for him. While Tennille said that they were playing individually now, they still had to work together because every mistake could hurt the team, and she caught Dave up to speed.

When everybody was lined up, Ramsay said that he was expecting the six chefs to be the dynamic team he hoped for. Also, Ramsay reminded them the theme of Couples Night for that service, and to help keep the romantic mood, he put Kevin on the tableside station. Once everyone was at their stations, Ramsay asked Jean-Philippe to open Hell’s Kitchen.

Dinner service

The menu of Couples Night featured a chopped salad appetizer, and a porterhouse steak for two that would be served tableside by Kevin. Ramsay called out the first ticket and reminded Kevin not to make the salad portions reasonable. Despite feeling confident on her station, Suzanne served two tortellini portions instead of three ordered, as Kevin tried to buy time in the dining room because of that mistake. Despite Suzanne saying that she needed two more minutes, it took way longer, and she screwed the timing of the whole team. Despite that, she managed to fix the tortellini refire and the synchronization between her and Kevin was fixed. Van was determined to make sure his fish was cooked properly, but Ramsay caught him searing a sea bass instead of cooking the scallops, and he warned Van that he would be watching him like a hawk. However, Van started to sweat in his scallops, and Ramsay yelled at him for that, before forcing the team to start the ticket over. Because of that, the kitchen received an overflow of tickets as very little food was being served, and Ramsay yelled at both Suzanne and Van for that.

Working on appetizers and entrées, Tennille took the lead and communicated with Van and Ariel, much to Ramsay’s praise as she was the last person he would have expected to do so. Then, Ramsay praised Tennille’s perfectly cooked lamb, but Van was late on the halibut, and placed it in a non-sizzling pan. While Van sent his halibut, it was raw and Ramsay bemoaned that it was too much as Van was disappointed by his poor performance. Then, Ramsay pulled Van into the pantry room and urged him to get a grip, with a warning that one more mistake could get him ejected. When they came back, Ramsay noticed that Ariel’s lettuce was burnt, which she did not notice, and Ramsay continued to go into despair. Eventually, Ramsay called Sous Chef Scott and both of them walked out of the kitchen, much to the shock of everybody, and Jean-Philippe asked if they would come back.

Without any Head Chef or Sous Chef, Tennille knew that if Ramsay would shut down the service, everybody could go home. So, she took the lead for the chefs, and communicated with Ariel and Van. However, Ariel was slow on garnishes and despite wanting five minutes, Tennille reminded her that they needed three minutes. Dave came to help Ariel and despite noticing that she was looking defeated, her garnishes made it up to the pass, and the only thing left was plating. Kevin got the first few dishes plated and sent out before returning to the dining room, leaving Suzanne in charge of plating. However, she refused to plate the dishes as she did not want to screw up, much to her teammates’ annoyance. So, Van decided to plate the dishes and send them out to the dining room. However, Van did not communicate with Tennille on the timing, and did not like how he was being treated like a girl. Despite that, food was leaving to the customers as Ramsay and Sous Chef Scott came back to the kitchen, with Dave noting that Ariel, Van, and Suzanne were horrible, even fearing that they would get shut down. Then, Ramsay yelled that nobody has ever pushed him to leave his own kitchen, before ejecting Van, Ariel, and Suzanne from service. Back in the dorms, Van went off that he worked his ass off despite getting yelled at Ramsay, much to Ariel’s concern, and went off to calm himself down. Meanwhile, Dave, Tennille, and Kevin managed to serve their last ticket, and when they were getting desserts ready, Ramsay pulled Tennille aside to praise her, saying that she gave the best cooking of meat he ever saw, much to her pleasure.

Post-mortem

When Dave, Kevin, and Tennille were lined up, Ramsay noticed that it was the first time in five years that he ever walked out of Hell’s Kitchen, and while he remarked that it was not those three’s fault, he called that night one of the most frustrating services he ever had. Then, Ramsay told the three of them that because they cooked their hearts out that night, neither of them would be going home, and asked them to agree with two nominees of the three people that got ejected from service.

Back in the dorms, Tennille told the rest of the chefs the news, and berated Suzanne for refusing to plate the dishes. Despite Suzanne arguing that she did not want to screw up the plating, Kevin remarked that she should know by that moment what her own standards were. While the three of them agreed that Suzanne was the first nominee, they were torn for the second. While Tennille noted that Van had a miserable night on the fish station, Dave brought up Ariel’s name as it was her burnt lettuce that drove Ramsay to the edge, though he secretly admitted that his decision to keep Van was a strategic one. However, Ariel did not want to be thrown under the bus, even though she knew that her night was not great, and while Tennille knew that nominating Ariel for one poor night was not fair, she struggled on who to choose. Despite that, they agreed that Suzanne and Ariel were the nominees that night.

Elimination

Dave announced that Suzanne was the first nominee, and Ariel was the second. However, when Ramsay asked Tennille for her opinion, she said that Van should be nominated instead of Ariel. Since Ramsay had mixed feelings of the three problematic chefs of that night, he called all three of them down. During their pleas, Ariel said that she wanted to prove that she could bounce back, Suzanne said that she was nervous, with Ramsay warning her that she was spiraling down, and Van said that he was trying his best and hated being nominated again, along with getting ejected from service. After, Ramsay sent Ariel back in line, noticed that Van and Suzanne have been nominated three times each, and eliminated Van for his back to back struggles on the fish station. But, before Van left, Ramsay told him that while he could cook, he needed to keep it cool and let his food do the talking. Van received a retrospective montage of his run during his exit interview. After Van left, Ramsay sent Suzanne back in line, and told Tennille that he appreciated her telling him the truth about Van. However, Dave was not happy that Tennille threw Van under the bus, and said that she should watch her back as he was determined to win.

Ramsay’s comment: “Van may be a poissonier, but his performance on fish was anything but Van-tastic.”

My Opinion

The tenth episode of Season 6 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on FOX, on September 22, 2009. On that episode, one team mistook their main protein during the challenge, both teams created their own menus, and a total meltdown by two chefs during service.

Intro

Tennille was extremely happy to see Suzanne leave the red team, and called it a new day. Meanwhile, Kevin bluntly told Suzanne that the blue team was not happy about that decision, and told her that they did not like her attitude, while reminding her to act as a team member. Suzanne promised her new teammates that she would work herself to their level, though Van and Kevin warned her that there was no throwing people under the bus anymore, unless she wanted to be under the bus as well.

On the red side, Tennille expressed concerns about the red team being down a member, so they would have to be perfect. Ariel was concerned as well, as Sabrina has been a disaster during the last two dinner services, and had to either step up her game or go home.

Team challenge

The next day, both teams went downstairs, but were confused to find Sous Chef Scott waiting for them instead of Ramsay. Then, Sous Chef Scott revealed a giant television where it was revealed that Ramsay flew to Whistler overnight. Ramsay showed the chefs Whistler and the Araxi, before explaining that the Araxi was known for its local ingredients. He also revealed that he had arranged for the restaurant to send over fifteen of their ingredients to Hell’s Kitchen, as Sous Chefs Scott and Heather revealed them to the chefs. For the Fifteen Canadian Ingredients Challenge, each team would have to create three entrées using all the fifteen ingredients, while making sure that they would not use them more than once. Before the video feed broke off, Ramsay revealed that he would be coming back with some special guests.

The chefs were given two and a half hours to create their dishes before Ramsay would come back. Both teams went to their kitchens and discussed what to do. The red team divided the fifteen ingredients into three entrées, but when Sabrina asked for some suggestions on the lamb, neither Ariel or Tennille answered her, much to her annoyance as she felt that they were looking down on her for being nominated a lot. In the blue kitchen, Suzanne offered to give some inputs on the dishes, but the men ignored her as Kevin felt that all of her ideas were crap. In the red kitchen, Ariel and Tennille found a perfect combination for a protein that they thought was lamb, but Sabrina knew that it was venison, and decided not to tell them as payback for not including her. Both teams managed to get their dishes cooked and plated before Ramsay’s return.

When Ramsay came back, he said that the Araxi was amazing, and revealed his two special guests, Olympic Medalists Sasha Cohen and Johnny Moseley. Kevin and Ariel presented their first entrées, and Kevin revealed his caramelized salmon with pan seared leg of lamb, and Ariel revealed her grilled salmon with melted leeks and grilled shrimp. While Ramsay and the judges felt that there was too much richness with the red team’s leeks, they loved the blue team’s texture. Because of that, both judges agreed with Kevin’s dish as the best, and the blue team led 2-0. Tennille and Dave were up next, and while Tennille announced that the red team made a lamb dish, Ramsay instantly knew it was not lamb, and Tennille stumbled that it was venison. Then, Ramsay asked the red team why Tennille announced the dish as lamb, and Ariel believed that since they have worked with lamb a lot, it was a simple misidentification, much to Sabrina’s amusement as Ariel and Tennille got caught lying to Ramsay. After that, Dave revealed his rack of venison with a cranberry sauce and beet carpaccio. While the blue team’s sauce was criticized for looking scary, the judges liked how the red team prepared the kale. So, both judges agreed that Tennille’s dish was the best, tying the score at 2. The final round was between Van and Sabrina as he knew that it came down on him to win. Sabrina revealed her lamb with mushroom brulé and sautéed artichokes, while Van revealed his grilled shrimp with kale and roasted tomatoes and sunchoke purée, but stumbled on describing the dish. While the blue team’s shrimp were sweet and delicious, it was also too thick. On the other hand, the red team’s mushrooms were too salty and had too many flavors going. In the end, both judges gave points to the blue team, and they won the challenge 4-2, with Kevin happy that the blue team finally won.

Reward

The blue team went to Campanile, and got Whistler beanies that Ramsay picked up on his trip, with Ramsay jokingly stating that Dave needed a clean one. Arrived there, they met the Owner and Chef Mark Peele, who gave them a demonstration on how to make stylized everyday food like grilled cheese. Then, the blue team toasted to their victory. When they got back to Hell’s Kitchen, Dave set his mind back to full gear as he knew that nothing in Hell’s Kitchen was predictable.

Punishment

The red team was punished by going to a local farm and pick fresh products for Hell’s Kitchen, which included milking the cows and cleaning the pig pens. Dressed in farm attire, the red team participated in a lot of farm chores. During the punishment, Ariel was forced to face her fear of pigs as she got chased by one as a kid at a county fair, and said that she was traumatized. The smell of shoveling the pig pen almost made Tennille throw up, and she called it the worst punishment yet.

Creating new menus

The next day, the chefs went downstairs ready for anything that Ramsay had for them. Then, Ramsay revealed that they would really have to work as a team, because he was giving them control of their own menus as he ripped up his own menu in front of them. Ramsay explained that both teams had to make a menu that had three appetizers, three entrées, and three desserts, and wanted everybody to have an input.

Back in the dorms, both teams had an hour to create their menus. Van brought up some of his own dishes for the blue team, which they liked and eventually, they were collaborating on their dishes and agreeing with most of the ideas. Suzanne felt that it was great as she wanted to kick the red team’s ass. On the red team, while Ariel’s pork ravioli idea was accepted, both Ariel and Sabrina were not keen on Tennille’s suggestions as they were not fine dining dishes. While Sabrina called most of Tennille’s ideas stupid, she herself did not have any inputs, much to Tennille’s annoyance. With only two minutes left, the blue team came down to their kitchen and showed Ramsay their menu, as the red team went down not long after, despite not being comfortable with it. While Ramsay liked the blue team’s menu, on the red team, Sabrina openly mocked Tennille’s Asian salad, much to Tennille’s anger. While Ramsay was not too sure about the red team’s menu, he told them to make sure that they would balance their spices.

Before service

With both menus approved, the chefs began their prep. However, Tennille was still angry over Sabrina’s comment, and felt that she was getting thrown under the bus no matter what she would do. That led her to snap at Ariel as the latter knew that tempers were at an all high. In the blue kitchen, they were working well together as Dave was ready to kick some ass. Once everybody was ready, Ramsay asked Jean-Philippe to open Hell’s Kitchen.

Dinner service

As both teams were ready for service, Sous Chef Heather reminded the red team that with one less member, they had to work together. However, tensions were still high between the three members as Sabrina wondered why they could not unite. Most of the first tickets went to the blue team, and while it concerned Sabrina, she calmed down after they finally got a ticket. In addition to all of their own menus, both Ariel and Tennille had to coordinate with Dave and Van on tables that had different team orders. Tennille struggled with the char as she never made it before, and asked Ariel for some help, who answered that it needed more seasoning. While Tennille did that, it was rejected for tasting too peppery, and Ramsay reminded Tennille for some finesse. In the blue kitchen, Van sent up his scallops, but Sous Chef Scott noticed that he sent seven instead of six, and after a quick math lesson, Ramsay called Van Dumbo.

Twenty minutes into service, and the first table of appetizers were sent out. However, one of Ariel’s ravioli dishes was sent back for having stone cold pork, and she felt embarrassed for screwing up her own dish. In the blue kitchen, Ramsay saw that Van’s scallops had black shit on them, and Kevin got annoyed and said that it was not rocket science. In the red kitchen, a determined Ariel pushed out more appetizers, but two of her ravioli dishes were sent back again for being stone cold, while Sabrina asked what was going on. Ramsay accused Ariel of rushing her dishes and also berated her of being laid back over it. In the blue kitchen, the blue team pushed out their appetizers and began working on entrées. When lifting a heavy pan, Dave’s aggravated his right wrist and got into a lot of pain, much to Kevin’s concern. Dave went to the back store to see a medic, and while he told the medic that he could move his fingers, they sent pain to his injured wrist when he did so. While Dave was experiencing a lot of pain, he refused to quit, went back to the kitchen, and immediately got to work, much to Kevin’s praise. Dave’s bisque was accepted, and the blue team managed to send out more dishes.

One hour and fifteen minutes into service, both teams seemed to be excelling as their entrées were being sent out. Ramsay asked Sabrina for the ribeye entrée, but she was not ready and went on a slow pace, forcing Ramsay to tell her to speed up. In the blue kitchen, Van brought up the sauce for the halibut, but accidentally spilled some on the pass, and got lectured by Ramsay for that. Then, when Van chuckled over that, Ramsay lectured him again for that, while urging him to fight back. In the red kitchen, Tennille started sweeping up her station and Sabrina asked how she could have that much time to do so. While she managed to get her broccollini out, Ramsay suggested that Tennille serve it before she swept. In the blue kitchen, Van’s halibut was raw, and Dave said that Van should know about timing by that point.

One hour and forty-five minutes into service, and Van’s mistake has left both kitchens at a standstill, with the diners getting restless. Kevin gave Van some pointers for the halibut dish, and despite Suzanne’s concern, Van sent it up. However, the halibut was raw again and Ramsay angrily smashed it, before ordering Van to get another one going. In the red kitchen, Sabrina brought up her halibut, but it was raw again, and a frustrated Ramsay declared it rarer than a sushi bar. Then, Ramsay berated both Van and Sabrina for failing to cook a halibut, before shutting down both kitchens, which frustrated Dave as they could not get passed the halibut fiasco.

Post-mortem

When both teams were lined up, Ramsay announced both teams joint-losers as they screwed up on their own menu items, while asking them to nominate one person each for elimination.

Back in the dorms, Kevin believed that Van should go up based on his poor performance, but Van said that Suzanne should be instead. However, Suzanne refused to go up due to being the new guy and that she worked hard that night. Van asked Dave and Kevin if they wanted Suzanne gone, but while Kevin thought about it, Dave said he had to think on his gut feeling. Meanwhile, Sabrina said that Tennille should be nominated for keeping them waiting on vegetables, but Tennille retorted that Sabrina should go up as she had a poor performance and gave no input on the menu, despite the latter arguing against it, which left Ariel as the tiebreaker.

Elimination

Sabrina announced that she was the red team’s nominee, though she believed that it was based on previous services. Dave announced that Van was the blue team’s nominee, and while he admitted that Suzanne was the weakest chef on the blue team at the moment, Van had a more problematic performance. Ramsay called down Van and Sabrina, while reminding them both about their raw halibut. Despite Ramsay feeling that he could not go further, Van declared that he was not done yet, and Sabrina said that she could lead any team. In the end, Ramsay eliminated Sabrina for her disintegrating performances, but before she left, Ramsay praised her for her big heart and dedication. Sabrina’s received a retrospective montage of her run during her exit interview.

Ramsay’s comment: “Sabrina wanted to be the head chef in Whistler. Now all she needs to do is take those red lips and whistle on out of here.”

My Opinion

The ninth episode of Season 6 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on FOX, on September 8, 2009. On that episode, French cuisine was the main theme, some fingertips got sliced, a walking wounded made one of the craziest performances ever during service, and one chef’s luck ran out.

Intro

On their way back to the dorms, Tennille thought that Ramsay made a terrible mistake by not sending Suzanne home, but added that her being on the chopping block was a humbling experience. However, Tennille added on that if Suzanne would not get it, there would be no hope of her getting it at all. Suzanne herself realized that she would have to change in order to get into good grace with the red team, but Ariel told her that she had to realize how she was interacting with the team in order to succeed, while adding that nobody was going to put up with her attitude any longer.

Team challenge

The next day, both teams went downstairs and met Ramsay, who explained that one of the most important stages of his career was in France, while adding that every great chef’s dishes were based around the French cuisine background. Then, Ramsay explained that the crepe was a French classic for being delicious, simple, and extraordinary. For the Crepe Challenge, each team would have to create four different crepes based on breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. Ramsay called up Jean-Philippe for a cart. Then, the two of them started communicating in French, but none of the chefs could understand what they were saying, before Ramsay gave a demonstration on how to cook a crepe. After, Ramsay revealed that there were arrays of ingredients in both kitchens for the chefs to use, and gave them twenty minutes to make their crepes.

Both teams discussed who was doing what, and while Suzanne offered her help by giving her teammates some equipment, Sabrina called her a kiss ass, and Ariel believed she was trying to overcompensate for last night. In the blue kitchen, the men struggled to make their crepes, as Kevin said that Ramsay made it look easy, and Van was struggling to spread the batter around. With five minutes left, neither team produced a decent crepe as Sabrina stated that it was taking a lot of practice. Eventually, both teams got their crepes finished and plated, but Dave called it a disaster.

Ramsay revealed that Jean-Philippe would be judging the challenge with him, though he jokingly said that he wanted an authentic French palate but had to go with second best, which was Belgian. On the breakfast round, Ariel and Van went for their respective teams. Van’s bacon and quail eggs crepe was praised for having a tasty filling, but the crepe itself was deemed spongy, while Ariel’s smoked salmon with herbs and honey crepe was praised for having a nice color and for the filling, giving the red team the lead at 1-0. On the lunch round, Andy and Tennille went up, and Tennille’s pepper jack bacon, shrimp and black bean salsa crepe was criticized for being very spicy. On his hand, Andy’s ham and prosciutto cheese with avocado crepe was praised for having a great color and for the flavor combinations. Because of that, Andy won the round, and tied the score at 1. On the dinner round, Suzanne and Kevin went up. Kevin’s seafood crepe with goat cheese got mixed reviews as there was a lot going on but had a great flavor, and while Suzanne’s filet and quail egg crepe was praised for tasting delicious and having a perfect seasoning, she annoyed everybody with her long spiel about how great her crepe was, especially Tennille and Ariel. Despite that, both Kevin and Suzanne scored, and the score was still tied, though Kevin felt that Ramsay was throwing a bonus for the red team. Finally, on the dessert round, Sabrina and Dave presented their dishes. Dave’s cream cheese and mixed berry crepe shocked Ramsay and Jean-Philippe for its poor presentation, with Ramsay comparing the look to diarrhea and refused to taste it. Sabrina’s poached pear with chocolate ganache crepe was declared delicious, and the red team won the challenge 3-2. After the challenge, Ramsay announced that for that some French dishes would be added to the menu during the next service.

Reward

The red team was rewarded with a full French experience, which included mime lessons. During those lessons, Sabrina got satisfaction when fake punching Suzanne. After, they went to one of Los Angeles’ finest French restaurants, La Cachette.

Punishment

The blue team was punished by prepping both kitchens for that night’s service, and Kevin expressed his frustrations about losing another challenge. Back in the dorms, Dave stated that he could not make the crepe properly, and apologized to the blue team about costing them the challenge. During the punishment, Sous Chef Scott asked if they hated winning challenges as Kevin complained that there was nothing going great for them at the moment. For lunch, the men got boiled cow tongue, stale baguette, and head cheese, with the smell of the cow tongue alone almost made Dave throw up.

Before service

The red team returned from their reward, and both teams got to work prepping for that night’s service, which included newly added French dishes to the menu. While cutting the potatoes on the mandolin, Andy accidentally sliced his fingertips, and Sous Chef Scott immediately called for a medic. After looking at Andy’s fingers, the medic called for an escort to bring Andy to a clinic for stitches. Dave believed that the blue team may not see Andy for a while, and Van complained that the blue team was already at three injured people, while believing that the blue team was cursed.

When both teams were lined up, Ramsay reminded them about the new menu, while adding that he wanted success. After, Ramsay told Jean-Philippe to open Hell’s Kitchen.

Dinner service

As the blue team got their first ticket, Andy returned to the kitchen, with stitches on his fingers. Unfortunately, Andy did not remember what the menu was and where he was stationed at as Kevin tried to catch him up, and Dave decided to help him. Because of that, Dave’s risottos were accepted and the men were off to a fast start. In the red kitchen, Sabrina sent up her risottos, but they were bland despite her arguing that she did taste them, and Ramsay brought over Dave’s risotto to show her the difference. While Sabrina’s second attempt was accepted, Ramsay asked if her next attempt was going to be shit. In the blue kitchen, the men were waiting on Andy for his crepes, but they had a poor presentation as Ramsay lectured the men to at least have some self-respect. With Andy slowing down the momentum on appetizers, Kevin decided to jump in, and made a respectable crepe. In the red kitchen, the women have served half of their appetizers and were moving onto entrées. Tennille communicated with Suzanne and Ariel on timings, but then, Suzanne announced that she needed six more minutes on her meat, despite the fact that Tennille and Ariel only needed one. Then, Suzanne said that she wanted eight minutes, and soon annoyed Ariel for calling out inconsistent timings. When Ramsay asked why things were slowing down, Suzanne stated that the oven was having problems, while getting a warning not to be a smart ass.

In the blue kitchen, Andy continued to fall behind on the progress, and kept relying on Dave despite the latter working on his lamb. That forced Dave to work two stations at once, much to the shock of Kevin and Van, with the latter remarking that despite having one working arm, Dave could cook. All of Dave’s dishes were accepted, and Ramsay told him that he was ten thousand times better with one hand, as the blue diners received their entrées and appetizers. Then, Ramsay looked to the red kitchen for their entrées, but Suzanne already sliced the lamb despite being one and a half minutes left before Ariel’s garnishes were ready, and Ramsay said that he was getting sick and tired of her shit. Then, Ramsay lectured Suzanne that slicing the lamb early would cause the meat to lose its goodness, while telling her to get a grip. Ariel complained that Suzanne fucked the red team again, as Ramsay reminded Suzanne that they were working on his timings. In the blue kitchen, Andy decided to work on the truffle salads as that was the only thing he could do with injured fingers, but spilled one, much to Kevin’s dismay. Then, Ramsay noticed that Andy put too much dressing on the salad, and Dave believed that Andy was dangling from a cliff holding onto a dandelion. Ramsay accused Andy of giving up, and while Andy argued that he was having problems with his dexterity, Ramsay reminded him that Dave has been cooking with one hand for the last three weeks, and ordered him to get a grip. In the red kitchen, Suzanne finally sent up her lamb, but only had two medium and one normal instead of the one medium and two normal ordered. Suzanne struggled on her remaining lamb as Ramsay was forced to send out an incomplete table, while complaining that he had never seen someone so inconsistent. Sabrina brought up her frog legs, but they were missing the garlic, shallots, and parsley, despite her arguing that she put them. Ramsay told Sabrina that he wanted them done his way, but when she tried to argue, Ramsay called her full of shit, before tossing the legs away as Tennille stated that Suzanne and Sabrina were sinking the red team. Because of that, the red diners did not receive their entrées, and the blue diners were getting impatient as well.

In the blue kitchen, Andy continued to struggle as he could not get his crepes cooked properly, and Kevin called it a disaster. Kevin decided to help out again, but when Ramsay noticed that Andy was not doing anything, Andy stated that he was helping Kevin. However, Ramsay retorted that Andy was only watching Kevin, and ejected him from service, though Andy felt that Ramsay did not have to be a douchenozzle to run a kitchen. Then, Ramsay warned the remaining blue chefs that if somebody else would act like a fucking idiot, they would be ejected as well. When Ramsay returned to the red kitchen, he saw that Suzanne’s mid rare lamb was medium well, and had the red team touch the lamb chops. Then, he berated both Suzanne and Sabrina for being inconsistent, before ejecting them from service, with Tennille fearful that they might get shut down. However, Ramsay relocated Ariel on both the fish and garnish stations, while relocating Tennille on the meat station. With some help from Sous Chef Heather, Ariel and Tennille got their entrées out at a good pace, while in the blue kitchen, Dave, Kevin, and Van also found a great pace for their entrées, with Kevin stating that they did not need Andy. Eventually, both teams served their last entrées and completed service.

Post-mortem

When both teams were lined up, Ramsay was disappointed that neither team gave the next level performance that he requested, and that three chefs were ejected, which never happened before in the show’s history. So, Ramsay declared both teams losers as neither team were at full strength at the end, and asked them to work together and nominate two people for elimination overall.

Back in the dorms, Andy said that while the blue team carried him a lot due to his injured fingers, he refused to go up for elimination. Suzanne argued that she was trying her best, but Tennille argued that she did not get the fact that she sunk the red team due to her poor performance. Sabrina brought up how she did not season enough, with Ariel noting that the three ejected people had more bad services than the rest of them. Dave knew that Andy was the obvious nominee, but asked Ariel which red chef got yelled at the most. Ariel answered that Suzanne did, which led Kevin to state that Suzanne was the obvious nominee. Because of that, both teams agreed that Andy and Suzanne would be the nominees, and Sabrina was relieved that she dodged another bullet. But, Suzanne was confused and asked why she was seen as the bad guy and why she should go up for elimination. While Suzanne claimed that she was a team player, Tennille and Ariel knew that it was a lie, though Suzanne felt that it was not fair. Dave realized that Suzanne had to go home that night as everyone hated her, and Kevin thought about nominating Sabrina instead of Andy to make sure Suzanne would go home. However, Sabrina refused to be nominated, which left both teams questioning on what to do.

Elimination

Ariel announced that Suzanne was the first nominee, and Andy was the second. Ramsay agreed with that decision and called them down. During their pleas, Ramsay accused Suzanne of being in a downward trend, but she answered that she could cook at any station, despite Ariel and Tennille arguing that the red team would be better without her, which Ramsay took with interest. Then, Andy stated that he was getting better during the previous few services, and that his dexterity was the problem due to using his left hand for most of the work. But, Ramsay reminded Andy that Dave and Kevin have sustained serious injuries, and neither of them let that drag their performances. In the end, Ramsay eliminated Andy for his inconsistent performances, but before he left, Ramsay told him that he had a big heart, while urging him to stop panicking.

Team switch

After Andy left, Ramsay surprised everybody and called Sabrina down, and despite wanting the old Sabrina and Suzanne back, he feared that it might be too late. Then, Ramsay asked Suzanne to take off her jacket, but instead of eliminating her, he relocated her to the blue team, much to the men’s dismay and the red team’s relief. After, Ramsay warned Sabrina and Suzanne to come back quickly before sending them back in line. When the chefs were dismissed, Tennille called it bullshit that Suzanne was still around, but was also glad that she was finally out of her way. Kevin did not want Suzanne on the blue team, but knew that she would go home no matter what team she was on.

Ramsay’s comment: “Andy has had good and bad moments in Hell’s Kitchen. Unfortunately, most of them were bad.”

My Opinion

The eighth episode of Season 6 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on FOX, on September 1, 2009. On that episode happened the annual Blind Taste Test, an incredible comeback by one of the most unlikely chefs during service, and an unexpected elimination.

Intro

On their way back to the dorms, Van expressed shock that Robert got eliminated, while Andy wondered how many more times he could be nominated before being eliminated. Dave told Tennille and Van that he honestly thought Robert was a stronger chef compared to Andy, and knew that if Andy was nominated one more time, it could be his last, which Van agreed with. Meanwhile, Sabrina told Amanda and Tennille that she has had enough of Suzanne’s know-it-all attitude, with Tennille adding that Suzanne may not realize how close she was to go home.

Team challenge

The next day, the teams went downstairs and met Ramsay, who explained that the most important tool for any chef was their palate. So, their next challenge was the annual Blind Taste Test, and Ramsay called Sous Chefs Scott and Heather to bring up the domes containing the food. Andy boasted how strong his palate was, and Ramsay told the red team that because they had an extra person, Tennille would sit out to even both teams at 4 members. Suzanne said that it was a good choice as she felt Tennille was the weakest chef on the red team, and boasted about having a better palate than most people she knew.

Ariel and Van were first for their teams to compete. Ariel got cream cheese, and both of them got leeks, making the score 2-1 for the red team. Dave and Suzanne were up next, and while both of them got turkey, Suzanne got egg yolk, making the score 4-2 for the red team. Dave was not proud of his performance, and gave himself an F. Kevin and Sabrina were up next, and they could only guess grapefruit correctly, making the score 5-3 for the red team. Andy and Amanda were the final pair, with the blue team urging Andy to shine. Andy got lychee, but Amanda got avocado. With the score 6-4 for the red team, Ramsay warned the blue team that if Andy would get the next ingredient wrong, the challenge was over. Andy mistook the ahi tuna for salmon, and the challenge ended with the red team as the winners.

Reward

The red team got a special culinary experience as they went to the Opaque at the V Lounge in a limousine. When they got there, Ramsay revealed that they would be eating lunch in the dark. While eating with Ramsay, Suzanne started to suck up to Ramsay, much to Sabrina’s annoyance.

Punishment

The blue team had to make a palate cleansing sorbet for the next service, as well as cleaning the sorbet glasses and taking in deliveries of fruit. During the punishment, Dave found out that the berries were all in one container, and had to pick them for organization, while Van whacked the pomegranate clean to the point that it almost looked like a crime scene. Later, Sous Chef Scott presented the men’s lunch, and while they were happy that they got duck and risotto, they were soon less happy when Sous Chef Scott blended them all into a smoothie. While Kevin called the smoothie fucking disgusting and Dave stated that you were not supposed to drink duck, Van drank his without any problems. When the women returned from their reward, their giggling and bragging about their reward angered Van.

Before service

The next day, both teams began their prep for that night’s service. Despite their victory the previous day, Sabrina still felt that Suzanne was annoying, and the remaining red team alienated her, and formed what Sabrina called the “anti-Suzanne team”. Suzanne knew that she was being targeted and hated that she had to be around them.

When both teams were lined up, Ramsay announced that they would be serving a palate cleansing sorbet to the customers, and while he chose Ariel from the red team to serve the sorbets, Ramsay told the blue team that one member would have to work double shifts. After Ramsay announced his goal of having all of the diners getting served that night, he asked Jean-Philippe to open Hell’s Kitchen.

Dinner service

Before the first tickets came in, Tennille told the red team that she would make sure to get appetizers out strong, while Andy told the blue team that he wanted to take the lead for that night. On the first ticket, Tennille told Suzanne that her scallops were getting too dark, but the latter ignored her, much to her dismay. When Suzanne did send her scallops, they were accepted. In the blue kitchen, a determined Kevin got his risottos accepted and both teams got their appetizers out without problems. With the first orders out, Ariel went out to serve sorbets, while in the blue kitchen, Kevin went out for the first order as Van took over the appetizer station. Van’s risotto was rejected for tasting bland, but manage to recover with some extra mascarpone cheese. However, the risottos were not well received by the diners, and an annoyed Kevin felt that his team was relying on him too much.

With all the sorbets served, both teams began working on entrées. Ramsay pushed Amanda for the tagliatelle, and despite Tennille offering some help, Amanda ignored her, causing Tennille to state that her teammates were having ego problems. Amanda brought up her tagliatelle, but she made too many portions, and Ramsay accused her of disappearing again. Despite that, Amanda managed to bounce back. In the blue kitchen, the men looked to Andy for the orders, but he did not know what was going, and did not communicate properly. Because of that, the lamb and halibut were not ready, and Ramsay accused the blue team of being confused while lecturing them to pay attention. After that, the blue team got refocused and served their entrées to their appreciative diners. In the red kitchen, Sabrina said that she needed four more minutes on her entrées, but Suzanne announced that her fish was ready, leadingò Ramsay to ask why they could not work together. As Suzanne impatiently waited, Sabrina managed to send her lamb to the dining room. Unfortunately, it was bloody and rare for the diner, and Jean-Philippe brought it back to the pass. That angered Ramsay and accused Sabrina of doing that on purpose, before sending her out to the dining room to eat her mistake, much to her dismay as she believed it was Suzanne’s fault.

One hour and a half into service, the red team was at a stand still due to Sabrina being in the dining room. Ramsay relocated Tennille to the meat station, and she firmly told Suzanne that she wanted three minutes instead of the two the latter called out. Tennille’s lamb refire was accepted and the women were able to send out entrées again, while in the blue kitchen, the men found a great rhythm as Van’s lamb was cooked perfectly. Ramsay called Sabrina back into the red kitchen and, after lecturing on sending raw meat to the customers, allowed her back to cook. In the blue kitchen, the men were finishing off their last tickets, but Andy announced that he was running out of mashed potatoes, much to his teammates’ dismay. Andy was able to get his last bit of mashed potatoes to the pass, and they were barely accepted. In the red kitchen, the women were near the end of their tickets as well, but while Amanda and Sabrina brought up their dishes to the pass, Suzanne said that she needed a few more minutes on her sea bass. Despite Tennille trying to rally the women, Ramsay told her that if she stood at the hot pass for five minutes, she would realize how painful it was watching it all. Suzanne broke her sea bass trying to get it out of the pan, and Ramsay forced the red team to start over again, while giving Suzanne all the wasted entrées. Tennille angrily accused Suzanne of sinking them, but Suzanne argued that she could not let her station look like a dump as the red diners were starting to get impatient.

In the blue kitchen, the men were at their last three tickets, but Andy ran out of mashed potatoes. Dave grabbed more potatoes and began making a fresh batch, as a pissed Ramsay told Andy to go to the three tables and tell them how their entrées were delayed for the mashed potatoes. In the red kitchen, Suzanne asked Amanda for some help on the fish, but their attempt came out stone cold, and Suzanne blamed Amanda for that mistake. Then, a very dismayed Ramsay bemoaned that it was not possible, while urging the red team to speed up. In the blue kitchen, Dave got the mashed potatoes ready, with Ramsay and Sous Chef Scott noticing the fast speed Dave and comparing it to Andy’s slow speed. Dave managed to bring up the mashed potatoes to the pass, and the blue team managed to serve all of their remaining entrées, with the red team finishing not long after.

Post-mortem

When both teams were lined up, Ramsay admitted that both teams served all their diners, but that it should have been a lot easier by that point, and called both teams equally weak. Despite noting that it was a close decision, Ramsay named the blue team winners, and singled out Dave as the best performer, while urging him not to stop. Then, Ramsay pointed out the red team that while they had an extra person advantage, they got their asses whipped. After, Ramsay named Tennille “Best of the Worst” for having her best service so far, and asked her to nominate two people for elimination.

Tennille was extremely happy of being “Best of the Worst”, and told Suzanne that she was her first nominee for being a poor team player and throwing people under the bus. Suzanne disagreed with that, but the rest of the red team agreed with Tennille as the latter reminded Suzanne that it was about the team by that point. Despite that, Suzanne still felt that she did not do anything wrong. Tennille still had to choose a second nominee but struggled with choosing either Amanda, who was very careless in cooking, or Sabrina, who had some rocky services.

Elimination

Tennille announced that Suzanne was her first nominee, and Sabrina was her second. While Ramsay agreed with Tennille’s decision, he called down Amanda as well. During Suzanne’s plea, she said that she was pissed that her team did not like her, and felt that she was nominated out of spite, but Tennille retorted that she nominated Suzanne based on both her poor teamwork skills and her poor performance. During Sabrina’s plea, she revealed that she struggled with the meat due to Suzanne, and while Suzanne argued against that, the rest of the red team argued that Sabrina was correct. After Amanda’s plea, Ramsay told Suzanne to get back in line, much to Tennille and Ariel’s dismay. Then, Ramsay eliminated Amanda as he believed that she may not have what it was taking to be a head chef.

Ramsay’s comment: “Amanda was a sweet girl, but sweet girls don’t make great head chefs.”

My Opinion

The seventh episode of Season 6 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on FOX, on August 25, 2009. On that episode, one of the most desired rewards happened, one chef returned for service despite their teammates’ annoyance, and a deadly mistake was made twice by a fan favorite during service.

Intro

Back in the dorms, Sabrina knew she just dodged a bullet, and she admitted that she screwed up during service with full knowledge that one more raw food would mean a tanned rawhide from Ramsay. Meanwhile, Andy told Dave that they should get rid of Robert as he believed they would be a cohesive team without him.

Team challenge

The next day, both teams went downstairs without any sign of Robert, but the blue team were ready for anything. When they got to the dining room, Van asked what the covered object behind Ramsay was, but knew that Hell’s Kitchen was unpredictable, while Tennille thought they were going to grab lobsters from a tank. Then, Ramsay announced that it was time to push everybody’s creativity, and Sous Chefs Scott and Heather revealed the object, a craps table, which made Kevin nervous as he sucked a gambling. Ramsay explained that for the Craps Challenge, each team would be given a 12-sided dice that had letters on them, and the letter they would lend on would be the first letter of an ingredient randomly chosen. Then, they would cook a dish using their ingredients.

The red team went first as they won the 700 Calories Challenge the previous day, and Suzanne was up first. She landed on R, and picked rabbit as she felt that it was versatile. Amanda rolled an H, and chose haricot verts, which was French for green beans. Tennille rolled a P and chose potatoes, Sabrina landed on G and chose garlic, and Ariel rolled an H and chose hamhock. By the end of the red team’s round, Dave was concerned as the red team had a classical dish. After that, because Robert was not there yet, Ramsay told the blue team they would have an extra roll. Andy landed on H and chose haddock, but Dave landed on F and chose figs, much to Kevin’s dismay, and Sabrina’s amusement. Van landed on A and chose angel hair pasta, as Suzanne and the red team gloated over his weird choice. Kevin also landed on A and chose apples, though he admitted that the blue team was already in the shit by that point, and Andy’s second attempt landed on T, and he chose tomatoes.

Once the ingredients were picked, Ramsay gave the chefs thirty minutes to cook a dish with those ingredients. The red team immediately got to work by discussing a dish Ariel came up with, and separated their workload. In the blue kitchen, the men struggled with deciding what to make, as fig was their oddball ingredient. Dave began prepping the figs, but Van felt that he was trying to compensate for choosing figs in the first place. In the red kitchen, Suzanne butted into her teammates work, much to her teammate’s dismay, but they continued to work smoothly. In the blue kitchen, Kevin grabbed some of Dave’s fig pieces and put them into the tomato sauce. To Kevin and Van’s surprise, the figs made the sauce taste great, rising their confidence and finally coming up with a dish to work with. In the red kitchen, the women were working on their final touches, and while Tennille suggested that they add some sugar to balance out the garlic purée, Ariel ignored her. Both teams got their dishes cooked and plated in time.

Ariel presented the red team’s pan roasted tenderloin and leg of rabbit with a garlic rosemary purée with hammock stock. Ramsay praised them for not making the leg dry, but found that the garlic purée tasted strong. After, Kevin presented the blue team’s braised haddock with a tomato and fig sauce on top of angel hair pasta. While Ramsay called the fish delicious, he noticed that it was a tough decision as both dishes were executed well. Despite that, he named the blue team winners as the red team’s garlic purée obliterated the other flavors on their dish, much to Tennille’s frustrations as Ariel did not listen to her. The men were happy as Dave picked figs on a whim, and Andy compared his team as the MacGyver of chefs.

Reward

The blue team went on an overnight trip to Las Vegas, which excited Van as he never went there before. When they arrived, they rode in a stretch limousine and Van proclaimed himself as a Vegas virgin. Then, they arrived at Palms Casino and Resort, where they saw a big televised sign welcoming them. They stayed at the Hardwood Suite and played multiple games, before toasting their victory.

Punishment

The red team was punished by participating in Delivery Day, and prep both kitchens ahead of the next service. On their first delivery, Tennille’s box of lemons broke, forcing the red team to pick them, with some of them even rolling under the truck. Later that night, Sabrina complained that they have been working since the morning, carrying deliveries, doing inventory, and prepping both kitchens, ending her rant by wanting their night to end. Unfortunately for them, Jean-Philippe came over and told them that a delivery of his wine has arrived. Suzanne complained about her sore arms and back, while telling Jean-Philippe that it has been the shittiest day since her arrival. Once the wine was delivered, Jean-Philippe told the red team to get some rest for the next day. However, at 1:15 am, another truck horn blared, which forced the red team to perform one more delivery. A grumpy Tennille called that fucking bullshit, but Ariel told her to do her job, so they could get it done.

Before service

The next morning, a groggy red team came down to prep, still tired from the punishment, with Amanda noting that the mood was pretty low for them. The blue team returned from their reward and as Van noticed the women’s mood was low, Tennille hoped that the men were tired as well. When the blue team got up to the dorms to change, Dave noticed that Robert was still not there, but Van stated that they did not need him. They went to prep despite being a man down, unfazed, while Suzanne’s bossy nature caused Ariel and Tennille to consider removing her from the red team.

As the blue team began their prep, the men felt bonded together, with Andy stating that the atmosphere has changed without Robert around. Just then, Robert returned back from the hospital, though the blue team was not happy to see him. Robert realized that he was isolated for being gone a few days, but did not care as he went back upstairs and made himself a cheeseburger. While Andy said that he wanted to see Robert healthy, he also wanted him to pull his own weight for the team.

When both teams were lined up, Ramsay asked Robert how he was feeling, which he explained that he did not have a heart attack but was warned to watch his limits. Then, Ramsay revealed that for the first time in the show’s history, there would be chefs tables for some special VIP guests, as the Hell’s Kitchen crew set up the tables. Also, Ramsay revealed that he invited some of his Executive Chefs for that night, two from New York and two from West Hollywood, although Kevin felt that Ramsay would be extra picky as the chef tables were very close to their stations. After telling both teams to make sure not to make him look stupid in front of his own staff, Ramsay told Jean-Philippe to open Hell’s Kitchen while keeping an eye on his guests.

Dinner service

Once service began, Executive chef Carl Bertka and Pastry Chef Haru Takakishi sat in the blue kitchen, while Head Chef Stuart Collins and Chef De Cuisine Josh Emmet sat in the red kitchen. Dave promised Bertka and Takakishi that he would make sure they would have a great night, and began working on their risottos. In the red kitchen, Ramsay informed Ariel that the chefs table has been seated for seventeen minutes without being given any introduction. Ariel greeted Collins and Emmett, and took their order. In the blue kitchen, Dave got his risottos accepted and the chefs enjoyed their dishes. Then, Ramsay said that if the blue team would keep that momentum going, it could be a miraculous fucking start. In the red kitchen, Ariel served the chefs table’s appetizers, but they told her that the scallops were a tad overcooked, without salt on them.

25 minutes into service, and both kitchens managed to serve half of their appetizers. The blue team began their entrées, and Van was confident on his sea bass as he was working as a fish cook. However, it was soon sent back to the pass as there was plastic on the skin, much to Ramsay’s dismay, as Robert stated that it could make someone choke. In the red kitchen, the women began working on their entrées as well, but Sabrina felt that Suzanne was acting fake busy. Despite that, the women served their initial entrées out. In the blue kitchen, another sea bass containing plastic was sent back, and Ramsay yelled at Van and asked him to pay more attention to his dishes. In the red kitchen, Ramsay found out that Sabrina was cooking fresh garnishes in a dirty pan, and called her a pig for not grabbing a clean pan. In the blue kitchen, the men were focused on getting entrées out to the dining room, but forgot about the chefs table. After being reminded by Ramsay, Van went over to take their order, but struggled to explain what the items were exactly. In the red kitchen, while Amanda has served the chefs table’s fish, Ramsay complained that they were dragging the other tables. Despite that, Amanda and Tennille managed to get their entrées to the pass, and out to the dining room.

In the blue kitchen, Robert was heavily disorganized on the meat station, and sent up inconsistent chops to the pass. After Ramsay yelled at Robert for that, Andy noted that he should be better than that as he had more services than any of them. In the red kitchen, the chefs table were enjoying their meat entrées as the women were only two tickets away from finishing. However, Ariel needed a little more time on the pasta, which made Amanda impatient as she needed that for her fish entrée. Ramsay told Amanda to calm down and wake up, though Amanda felt that was more Ariel’s responsibility than herself. In the blue kitchen, Robert brought up his rabbit, but it was raw, and while Ramsay had the team gather around, Kevin continued to work despite being summoned, and got lectured by Ramsay on that. After berating Kevin for continuing to cook despite being summoned and Robert for acting like a baby, Ramsay ordered the blue team to switch off. In the red kitchen, the women pushed their last table and were happy to have finally won a dinner service. As the blue team was clearing down, Dave commented that it was painful to shut down in the middle of service, especially in front of the chefs table.

Post-mortem

When both teams were lined up, Ramsay said that while they got off their best start yet, they lost focus in the middle of service. Having the comment cards from the chefs tables, the red team got positive reviews, while the blue team got mediocre reviews. Since the red team clearly showed more hunger that night, the blue team were named the losers, and Ramsay chewed out Van and Robert for their poor performances. After, Ramsay named Dave “Best of the Worst” as he got the blue team off to great start on appetizers, and asked him to nominate two people for elimination.

Back in the dorms, while Robert acknowledged that he had a poor service, he felt that Andy did not deserve to be around. Robert pleaded to Dave that Andy should be up for elimination as his past two nominations showed he was the blue team’s weak link, while Andy argued that Robert was a lazy motherfucker. That led to an argument between the two of them, where Robert called Andy a cocksucker, and Dave struggled to choose who to nominate as the wrong choice could look bad for him.

Elimination

Dave announced that Robert was his first nominee, and Van was his second. While Ramsay agreed with Dave’s decision, he called down Andy as well. Then, Ramsay told Andy that he did not feel he was the Araxi’s head chef, and reminded Van about the plastic incident and asked if he has peaked, but Van answered that he did not and stated that Ramsay’s twenty years of experience showed that he could spot talent. After, Ramsay sent Van back in line, before asking Robert and Andy for their pleas. However, that led to another argument between both of them as Andy claimed that Robert has been a liability for the blue team, while Robert said that Andy has been under the radar a lot with a threat to quit as a chef if Andy would win Hell’s Kitchen. Once they were finished, Ramsay called up Andy’s name and sent him back in line, before eliminating Robert for failing to live up to his great run on the previous season, and serving raw rabbit despite having more Hell’s Kitchen services than anybody else. Before leaving, Robert stated that his journey was not over yet and Ramsay said that he could not wait to see him again, while thanking him for coming back. Robert also guaranteed that Andy’s time was running out, and received a retrospective montage of his run during his exit interview.

Ramsay’s comment: “Robert’s closing plea was quite entertaining. But I’m not looking for a performer, I’m looking for a head chef, and Robert’s not that guy.”

My Opinion

The sixth episode of Season 6 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on FOX, on August 18, 2009. On that episode, an embarrassing punishment occurred, one chef did not participate in service for health reasons, another one fought back like nobody did before or after them, and a shocking elimination that anybody saw coming.

Intro

Before heading back upstairs, Ramsay called Amanda over as he was concerned about her remaining stamina in the competition. So, Ramsay urged her to bounce back quickly and wished her luck. Amanda knew that she had to do anything to bounce back as she was on her last chance. Back in the dorms, Robert told the blue team that the women had no chance of winning if they would keep up their winning streak, as he felt the red team lacked teamwork and bonding, while calling it pathetic. Meanwhile, Tennille made it vocally clear that she did not want to be back up for elimination, and was pissed off that they judged her nomination based on her past mistakes. Sabrina realized that emotions were getting high in the red team as Ariel was still bitter about their pathetic performance that night.

Team challenge

The next day, both teams went downstairs, with the morale of the red team being low. Ramsay explained that for every one of his restaurants, he was always making sure that there was a low-calorie option for his diners. He introduced the 700 Calories Challenge, where each team would be making three dishes containing a total of 700 calories maximum. That news dismayed Robert as he was taking 700 calorie bites and loved to cook with butter, cream, and fat. Ramsay asked for one appetizer, one entrée, and one dessert from both teams, and to help them out, he called up a few nutritionists. Then, Ramsay revealed that behind both teams were ingredients with the calories labelled on them, and gave them 45 minutes to cook their dishes.

Both teams got to work deciding their ingredients as the nutritionists weighed in the calorie count for both teams. The blue team paired themselves out for their dishes, with Kevin and Robert working on the appetizer, Jim and Van working on the entrée, and Dave and Andy working on the dessert. In the red kitchen, Sabrina, who was working in a health club and spa, took the lead for the women and helped them decide on ingredients. In the blue kitchen, the men were over their limit at 1054 calories, and have not gotten close to the dessert dish, which forced them to take away some of the higher calorie ingredients, and to trim off the fat on their pork chop. With 20 minutes to go and none of the blue team’s dishes being cooked, Ramsay urged them to speed up. In the red kitchen, the women began cooking their dishes, and Sabrina helped Amanda out on the fruit dessert without minding about holding Amanda’s hand as it could win them the challenge. In the blue kitchen, the men were still counting their calories, and Ramsay informed them that the red team were cooking their dishes. With only 12 minutes left, the men decided to start cooking despite being 100 calories short. During that, Dave tasted the fruit filling and wanted to add sugar, but Andy said that it tasted fine. Eventually, both teams completed their dishes and plated in time.

Before tasting their dishes, Ramsay asked both teams if they respected their calorie limit, which they all answered they did, with the blue team’s calorie total being at 597 and the red team’s calorie total being at 694. The first round was the appetizers, with Tennille presenting the red team’s pan-seared scallops with a mango chutney, containing 204 calories. Ramsay praised the dish for tasting good and that the presentation did not look like it was 204 calories as he did not feel cheated. Kevin presented the blue team’s appetizer, which was a grilled queste seafood salad, containing 156 calories. Ramsay praised the elements of the dish and called it refreshing. Because both teams presented good appetizers, Ramsay gave them a point each, tying the score at 1. The next round was the entrées. Ariel presented the red team’s cottage cheese and mushroom stuffed pork chop, containing 308 calories, which Ramsay praised the portion control and the peppered water crest. Then, Jim presented the blue team’s pork cutlet with sober noodles and broccoli, containing 210 calories, but Ramsay criticized the portion cuts as they looked too small on the plate and the pork looked boring. So, the red team won the entrée round, giving them the 2-1 lead. Finally, Amanda presented the red team’s dessert, though Sabrina got concerned as Amanda asked a lot of question about it. Amanda revealed a fresh fruit bowl with a lemon ricotta cream and coconut milk, containing 182 calories, and Ramsay praised her and Sabrina for turning a boring cheese into something zesty and refreshing. Dave went up to present the blue team’s dessert, and Amanda stated that the blue team had to at least serve a giant piece of chocolate to beat them, and while Kevin was starting to feel concerned about the blue team’s fate, Andy was confident in the dish. However, the blue team’s egg white crepe with a fruit compote filling and blackberry yogurt cream caused Ramsay to chuckle at the minimalistic presentation and criticizing it for tasting foul, while stating that he would serve that to someone who just came out of a heart bypass, calling it a joke. So, the red team scored on that round and won the challenge 3-1, with Sabrina being happy about winning, while Dave declared he would not listen to Andy anymore.

Reward

The red team’s dishes would be featured on that night’s menu. In addition, they were rewarded with a day at Venice Beach, being transported in mini convertibles, and got volleyball lessons with a famous volleyball player. They were very happy going to the beach, and Sabrina was excited about riding in a convertible. At the beach, they met Jean-Philippe, who introduced them to Annett Davis, Olympic volleyball player, which star struck Suzanne. Davis showed the women some lessons, and they played a couple of games with her. Later on, the women toasted to their future victory for that night’s service. When the red team returned to the dorms, they each received gift baskets that contained Vitamix blenders and cookbooks.

Punishment

The blue team had to get the ingredients needed for the red team’s dishes at a local supermarket, and prep both kitchens for that night’s service. During the punishment, Van got aggravated as things were going poorly that day, and Sous Chef Scott told the men to stop and go to the supermarket. Arrived outside, they found a conference bicycle, which Kevin noted to be difficult as Robert was at least 500 pounds and Dave had a cast on his arm, and called it embarrassing. During the bicycle ride, Sous Chef Scott was driving a motorcycle to guide the men, and Andy said he was enjoying it, until going up the hill. They struggled getting up the hill, with Robert almost being out of breath, and Van trying to find a rhythm. Arrived at the supermarket, the men grabbed some ingredients, put them on the bike, and got back to Hell’s Kitchen.

When they returned, Robert broke off from the team, exhausted from the bike ride, and Kevin and Van were concerned that Robert was having a heart attack. Robert told the blue team that he would see a medic, much to Dave’s concern, and the medic decided to send Robert to the hospital immediately. Then, Sous Chef Scott informed the blue team that Robert was rushed to the emergency room without news on if he would come back. A concerned Kevin said that it was the same situation Robert was in during the previous season, and Dave and Van got concerned about Robert’s health.

Before service

Once prep was finished, both teams lined up and Ramsay informed the red team about Robert’s condition, which shocked them and that he would not be able to perform in that night’s dinner service. That meant both teams were evened at 5 members, and Ramsay wanted both teams to perform well that night. Once everybody was ready, Ramsay asked Jean-Philippe to open Hell’s Kitchen.

Dinner service

Both teams got their first tickets and got to work on their dishes, but Andy misheard one order of scallops instead of two, and blamed Ramsay’s accent and speed for mishearing the order, though Ramsay called Andy brain dead. In the red kitchen, Ariel brought up her scallops, but they were boiled and Ramsay accused her of not caring anymore. In the blue kitchen, Jim’s risotto was rejected for being too peppery, he got chewed out by Ramsay for looking like a dead corpse, and was ordered to show emotion. In the red kitchen, Ariel managed to bounce back with better scallops, but Ramsay chewed out Tennille for making more spinach than needed and told her to cook for each table, while calling her a stupid cow. That angered Tennille, who thought Ramsay should learn some respect, especially while she was working hard. In the blue kitchen, Jim’s second attempt tasted bland, and Ramsay asked the blue team to taste it, while calling it baby food, which Jim jokingly answered that baby food was tasting good. Van knew that Jim was cooking like a zombie and was not showing emotions. Because of Jim’s mistakes, no appetizers were leaving the blue kitchen and the diners were getting restless.

In the red kitchen, the women were close to completing appetizers, and Ramsay asked Tennille for the mashed potatoes. However, the potatoes were stuck to the pot and there was not enough for a two-people serving. Tennille argued that she did not want to serve extra servings like last time, but Ramsay accused her of treating it like a joke, and called her both pathetic and crap. That was the last straw for Tennille as she called Ramsay crap herself, much to the shock of her teammates, and Ramsay ejected Tennille from the kitchen as Tennille kept insulting Ramsay. In the back hallway, a heated confrontation erupted as Ramsay sternly warned Tennille not to call him crap unless she wanted to leave through the front doors, but Tennille kept yelling that she was busting her ass for him. However, Ramsay told Tennille that she was not listening and told her to shut up and behave, while allowing her back into the kitchen. She got back to the kitchen while angrily asking her teammates to get off her station. In the blue kitchen, Ramsay asked Jim for the risotto, but his third attempt was not good as well, much to Ramsay’s frustration as the blue team was still on their first table, and Kevin said that it was painful to watch. Despite Jim stating that he thought it tasted fine, that served to be the last straw for Ramsay and told Sous Chef Scott to make the risottos, and Ramsay noted that their dysfunction might be due to Robert not being with them, as Kevin called their situation embarrassing.

One hour and fifteen minutes into service, and because of Sous Chef Scott, the blue team finally sent appetizers to their diners. In the red kitchen, the women began their entrées, but when Ramsay asked for the chicken, Sabrina claimed that she sent it up already. However, it was neither at the hot plate nor at a table, and Ramsay ordered her to get a chicken cooked. In the blue kitchen, the men began their entrées, but Sous Chef Scottpointed out to Dave that he was cooking the wrong garnishes, and Ramsay urged him to wake up. Kevin took the lead for the entrées, but that led to a minor spat between him and Dave over the garnish timing. In the red kitchen, Sabrina needed help carving her chicken, so Suzanne gave her some direction despite it being a thirty-second job. However, it was cut poorly, and Sabrina blamed Suzanne for that, while being lectured to use a carving knife. In the blue kitchen, Ramsay called out the next order, but Andy did not pay attention, much to Kevin’s dismay, and Ramsay got dismayed because Andy was almost cooking two halibut instead of one needed. It soon got worse as Andy’s halibut came out raw, and Kevin was starting to get frustrated.

Fifteen minutes later, the blue team were still waiting on Andy for the halibut, while the red team were sending out entrées. However, a raw pork came back to the hot plate and Suzanne knew that sending out raw pork could make someone very sick. Sabrina took the blame for that, and Ramsay berated her for that. In the blue kitchen, Andy’s halibut was overcooked, which Ramsay compared to a hockey puck, and accused him of screwing the blue team. Despite Kevin trying to help Andy out, the latter refused help. However, the halibut was raw, and Dave complained that Andy was dragging them down. After a raw lamb came back to the red team, Sabrina claimed that it was medium well when she sent it out, which led Ramsay berating her for blaming the customers. After chewing out Sabrina for blaming the customers and Andy’s inability to cook, a fed up Ramsay ordered both kitchens to switch off, much to Ariel’s confusion as she asked herself if he was serious and was not knowing what was going on.

Post-mortem

When both teams were lined up, Ramsay stated that service was not what he wanted after the five previous ones. So, both teams were named joint-losers, and Ramsay asked them to nominate one person each for elimination.

Back in the dorms, the blue team called Andy the obvious choice for elimination as he sunk them on entrées, though Kevin felt that Jim’s non-existent performance should be a reason to put him up as well. However, Jim argued that he got yelled at less than Andy. Meanwhile, Suzanne said that for her, it was either Tennille for arguing with Ramsay, or Sabrina for her poor performance on meat. Sabrina believed that she was stronger than Tennille who walked out of service, but Tennille reminded her that she was ejected from service and made a choice to come back, while arguing that Sabrina sunk them on the meat. Suzanne chose to nominate Sabrina for her poor performance, while Amanda chose Tennille for walking out, leaving Ariel as the tiebreaker. Later on, Andy convinced the blue team to put up Robert instead of him as he was not present that night, which the blue team took into consideration.

Elimination

Ariel announced that Sabrina was the red team’s nominee, and Van asked where Robert was. Ramsay said that Robert was not back yet, and that it would not be fair to nominate him based on a service he did not participate in. But, he also stated that if Robert was not back for the next service, he would be automatically eliminated. So, Van announced that Andy was the blue team’s nominee. Ramsay called Sabrina and Andy down and listen to their pleas. After, Ramsay decided to spare the two of them, and eliminate Jim for not exhibiting passion or emotions, even stating that he could not give someone a heart.

Ramsay’s comment: “At times, I thought Jim was sleepwalking, but then I realized he just has no passion. And that’s why it was time for him to leave Hell’s Kitchen.”

My Opinion

The fifth episode of Season 6 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on FOX, on August 11, 2009. On that episode, a special welcome event happened, one team dominated the other at dinner service, and an already existing rivalry intensified when one of them refused to admit their mistakes.

Intro

Back in the dorms, Tek was frustrated that she messed up the first table of appetizers during the last service, but still believed that she could cook and was not used of being singled out. Meanwhile, Dave knew that he was at a disadvantage as his left thumb was immobilized due to his cast, and even struggled to try and get a chicken pot pie wrapper open. Amanda asked if she could help him, but Dave said that he had to do things himself with only one arm, only to drop the package onto the floor, much to Van and Suzanne’s amusement.

Team challenge

The next morning, the chefs went downstairs and saw Ramsay with someone next to him. Ramsay introduced them to La Tasha James, the wife of Staff Sergeant Otis James of the United States Marine Corps, who returned home after a thirteen-month tour in Iraq the previous night. Then, Ramsay revealed that Hell’s Kitchen would be hosting a welcome home surprise party for James during the next service, which Van said felt like an honor. For the Welcome Home Planning Challenge, each team would be making one appetizer and two entrées that Ramsay and La Tasha would be judging. Then, Ramsay called Robert and Suzanne over to his office so they could understand La Tasha’s plans on the menu and James’ likes. La Tasha explained that some of James’ likes were seafood, shrimp, baked potatoes, and soul food, which excited Robert. Then, Suzanne asked La Tasha what their favorite dish was, and she said that they loved grilled lobster with big portions. After, Robert and Suzanne reunited with their teams, with Suzanne saying that she had some dish ideas she knew how to work with for the challenge. Ramsay told Robert and Suzanne to make sure they use their knowledge to lead their teams, and gave both of them 45 minutes to create their dishes.

Immediately, Robert told the blue team all of James’ likes, which gave them multiple ideas for their dishes. Kevin praised Robert’s leadership as it gave the blue team a clear cut direction, without dictating them. In the red kitchen, Suzanne told her team the dishes she wanted to make for the menu, and her picky direction frustrated her teammates, even rejecting Tennille’s proposal on a jambalaya sauce. However, Suzanne argued that she wanted to come up with the ideas and have the red team execute them. Both teams got their dishes cooked and plated in time. After, Ariel expressed her concern that the red team’s items were not good enough, but was willing to trust Suzanne’s judgement as she was the one who listened La Tasha.

For the first round, Kevin and Ariel presented the appetizers. The red team’s Caesar salad with baked prawns was well received, while the blue team’s spicy seafood style boulya base was also praised. After deliberating, La Tasha chose the red team’s salad, giving them the lead at 1-0, although Kevin claimed that women would choose a salad nine times out of ten. On the next round, Andy and Amanda went up and presented the first entrées, with Amanda revealing the red team’s bacon wrapped filet with grilled shrimp, but Andy felt that the presentation looked bad as the bacon was falling off the filet. Despite that, La Tasha enjoyed the taste. Andy revealed the blue team’s four-cheese macaroni with stewed collier’s and a buttermilk catfish, and while Suzanne arrogantly believed that the macaroni was played out, La Tasha liked it enough to give the blue team that round, tying the score at 1. For the final round, Robert and Suzanne presented the second entrées, with Suzanne presenting the red team’s boiled lobster tail with seafood demarie pasta and a light white wine seafood sauce, which La Tasha said that it tasted good. After that, Robert presented the blue team’s Cajun rubbed bone-in New York Strip with twice baked potato and a grilled lobster tail, which La Tasha noticed that it would be something big for her husband as that was one of his big favorites. The dish tasted delicious, and La Tasha gave the point to the blue team, winning them the challenge 2-1, and Robert proudly stated that big daddy was back. However, Tennille was upset that the red team lost, and stated that she would break something if she did not have to pay for it afterwards.

Reward

The men got to fly in real fighter jets, which excited Jim as that was one of his childhood dreams, and Andy added on that it was a once in a lifetime experience for them. At the airfield, the men suited up in fighter pilot gear, and Van said that they had the need for speed. While flying, the men did some formations and had a free for all mock dogfight. When they got back to the dorms, Dave said that the game plan was to kick ass and keep the good momentum going.

Punishment

The women were punished by decorating the dining room ahead of the Welcome Home party. Back in the dorms, the red team was disappointed in Suzanne as she did not properly give them any important words, such as soul food that could have helped them. However, Suzanne did not fully understand what went wrong as she listened to La Tasha and believed that it was the red team’s fault for not executing her own dishes. That led to Tek asking why they did not listen to Tennille as she wanted to make soul food, and Amanda revealed that Tennille was upstairs extremely pissed about losing as she really wanted to do soul food, something Sabrina took note of. Later, Tennille and Suzanne had an argument over the latter’s inability to listen to the former, and Tennille called Suzanne crazy for not understanding why the red team lost.

During the punishment, Ramsay introduced the red team to his wife Tana, who was the person who would give them instruction on how to decorate the dining room. While Sabrina was surprised about how a mean person like Ramsay could snag a hot wife, they soon learned that Tana’s instructions were very similar to how Ramsay would do at dinner service, something Ariel took notice of and complained that the decorating would take a while. Later that night, Amanda and Sabrina decided to have a little bit of fun by inhaling helium for voice changing, much to Ariel’s amusement, and Tek decided to join in by repeating one of Ramsay’s rants in a helium voice. Suzanne warned them to be careful with the helium as she gave up when she was five years old. When the men returned, Sabrina, in helium voice, called them dorks, saying they did not have anything like Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer.

Before service

The next day, both teams started prep, with Tennille stating that the red team had to win a dinner service, and hoped that service was the one. The menu that night featured the blue team’s dishes from the challenge, and Sous Chef Heather asked the red team to talk with the men for the recipes. However, the blue team planned on making sure the red team would not win with their own menu, and Jim was ready to bury the girls. So, the men gave the red team some unhelpful advice on their dishes, much to Suzanne’s frustration and she correctly deduced that the blue team was sabotaging them, with Tennille calling it bullshit. Despite the fact that the blue team’s sabotage left the red team uncertain over their performance, they were still determined to do well.

When both teams were lined up, Ramsay asked them to have strong teamwork that night. After, he told Jean-Philippe and Tana to open Hell’s Kitchen.

The guests arrived at Hell’s Kitchen and started placing their order. Then, Tana announced that Sergeant James and his family has just arrived, and asked everybody to stay silent for a bit. James and his family were given a standing ovation, and he was happy to see his friends that he has not seen for almost two years, which Andy called super emotional, and Sabrina got a little teary-eyed. Then, Ramsay welcomed James to Hell’s Kitchen, and revealed that he brought his mom over, revealing that she was the one who organized the event. With James and his family sitting down, service began properly.

Dinner service

Ramsay told the men that because they won the challenge, they had the honour of serving James’ table, with Van determined to make sure he would have a great night. The men immediately got appetizers out to the dining room, and Andy felt that they were working well together in a Zen-like fashion. In the red kitchen, Sabrina brought up her stuffed mushrooms, but forgot another serving, leading Ramsay to send the table out despite that. Sabrina brought up her second serving, but the mushrooms were stone cold and Ramsay berated her for making him look stupid. Ariel felt that was not good as she was tired of losing services, but Sabrina managed to get a warm stuffed mushroom accepted. In the blue kitchen, the men have served all of their appetizers and began working on entrées. Sous Chef Scott warned Jim to keep track of the steak orders as they were more popular than expected, and as more orders came in, Jim started to feel overwhelmed. Kevin decided to help him out, but when Jim did not answer Ramsay’s question for a time, he got accused of switching off. Then, Ramsay asked Jim what was going out next, but Jim struggled to answer as he forgot. When Ramsay shifted his focus to Van’s smoking pan, Kevin reminded Jim of their next order as he wanted to be the hero of that night. Fortunately, James’ table got their entrées served. In the red kitchen, Sabrina and Amanda got all their appetizers finished, and Tek began working on their entrées. Tennille tried to give Tek some guidance, but Tek shooed her away. However, Tek’s steaks were still blue, and while she complained that there were not enough hot spots on the grill to cook them, Ariel reminded her that the grill was supposed to be used for marking and Tek had to cook them off in the oven afterwards. Tek brought up her steaks, but they were burnt and Ramsay angrily yelled that about half of the dining room has already received their entrées. A pissed off Suzanne said that Tek could not produce what she claimed, and an angry Ramsay yelled that service was very serious, while forcing the women to start over. Suzanne tried to help Tek on the grill, but Tek got annoyed as it was making her struggle on focusing.

In the blue kitchen, the men continued to push out entrées at a steady pace, though Andy got a little concerned about Dave due to his broken wrist. Despite offering Dave some help, Dave said that he was doing fine and helped serving another entrée to the dining room. However, the women had not sent an entrée to their diners yet, and an impatient Ramsay asked Tek if they could get a burger out, at least. However, Tek revealed that she just put a burger on the grill, much to Ramsay’s dismay, and Amanda called Tek a mess. Then, Ramsay pulled Tek to the pantry room and warned her to bounce back as Sabrina begged Tek to do something. In the blue kitchen, Ramsay noticed that Jim was poking the steaks with his tongs, and lectured him on using his fingers to feel the steaks, while reminding him that he was not performing appendicitis. Kevin was helping Jim out a lot on the meat station, but Jim felt that he was being overshadowed because of it. Despite that, the men managed to serve all of their entrées, and Kevin began working on the desserts.

One hour and a half into service, Tek finally managed to get her steaks properly cooked, but Ramsay was still waiting for the lobster tail. Amanda revealed that she cooked it to try and help Tek out, but it came out raw, much to Tennille’s dismay. Then, a furious Ramsay yelled that he could not even look behind him due to embarrassment as the men had gotten all of their entrées out, while the women were still on their first ticket. Ramsay went to the blue kitchen and told Kevin to stay on desserts, while bringing the rest of them to the red kitchen to help out, much to Tennille’s dismay as it was pouring more salt on an open wound. Robert was happy to help out and said that those bitches were crying, Jim said that all the scrapped meat in the red kitchen looked like a grenade went off in a cow’s ass, and Dave noted that the red team’s teamwork was in shambles. Because of the men’s help, the women finally managed to send their entrées out to their diners as Kevin sent out the men’s desserts. After, Ramsay sent the men back to their kitchen, and berated the women for their pathetic performance before asking them to clear down. A frustrated Ariel felt that the women should have done better, and refused to work with incompetent people any longer. Later that night, Ramsay went to James’ table and said it was a pleasure serving him that night.

Post-mortem

When both teams were lined up, Ramsay congratulated the men for saving the night, while declaring the women clear losers as they did not send one table of entrées out before the blue team finished up, despite the fact that the men had injured members, referring to Dave and Kevin. After ranting how the women produced blue steaks, had no teamwork or communication, Ramsay warned them that they were slipping fast. Then, Ramsay told the women to name two people for elimination based on the overall performance so far.

As the men celebrated their third service victory in a row, with Andy noting that the blue team was whipping it out, the women were discussing nominations, with Suzanne yelling that they have to get rid of the weaker members. While Tek argued that she could still cook despite not being used to the grill, Suzanne stated that Tek said that for every station so far, with Ariel and Tennille reminding Tek that the grill was supposed to be used for marking only, and that she did not listen to them. Then, Tennille revealed that her nominations were Tek and Amanda, as the latter produced a raw lobster tail, and Ariel agreed with Tennille as Amanda had shut down a lot during services. However, Sabrina brought up Tennille’s name based on the fact that she has been nominated twice before, but that angered Tennille as she helped out a lot that night and refused to be up on the chopping block.

Elimination

Tennille announced that Tek was the red team’s first nominee, and that herself was the second. She said that it was bullshit that she was nominated, and argued that Amanda should be up instead. Ramsay called Tek and Tennille forward, and decided to call Amanda down as well. Tennille argued that she was getting stronger and that the red team only nominated her out of fear, and Ramsay decided to send her back in line. After that, Tek argued that she did not want to leave a loser and that she was passionate, and Amanda said that she was not ready to go home despite Ramsay believing that she might be spent. In the end, Ramsay eliminated Tek as her horrific performance on the meat station was the reason why the red team fell apart. After Tek left, Ramsay sent Amanda back in line, warned the chefs that Hell’s Kitchen would get harder, and reminded them of the Head Chef position at the Araxi Bar and Restaurant, before dismissing them. After being dismissed, Tennille says that does not trust anyone on her team. Kevin enjoys the women losing several services.

Ramsay’s comment: “I kept on waiting for Tek to emerge, she couldn’t even handle her station. Tek had a total meltdown.”

My Opinion

The fourth episode of Season 6 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on FOX, on August 4, 2009. On that episode, some chefs worked with their worst enemy during the challenge, a meltdown occurred by one of them during the punishment, and a loud-mouth was put back to their place after losing the service.

Intro

While being dismissed, Lovely declared she was still in the competition because Ramsay loved her ass, and that he wanted her to realize that she could do it. After that, in the dorms, Van commented that she would still fight at least another day. On her side, Suzanne was upset that nobody was eliminated as she thought Tennille was still having the potential to drag the team down. Then, Tennille declared she was still having integrity by still being in the competition, and Suzanne told her that she never took it to a personal level, while Tennille declared she did, and that she could kiss her ass. After, Tennille revealed that when Suzanne said to her that she would be pissed if she would sink the ship was inappropriate, while adding that she did not know what a leader was, and finishing by punching the wall when she left the conversation.

On the blue side, Andy wished good night to Kevin and went to his room, while Van trash-talked about Andy, saying that he was hanging by a thread, that he could not hand the pressure, and that he almost lost the service for the blue team. In his bed, he talked with Kevin about it, saying that they should get those fools out of there.

Team challenge

The next morning, the chefs went down in the dining room and met Ramsay, who noticed that they were not comfortable working with each other. So, he announced that for the next challenge, Suzanne and Tennille would be partners, much to the latter’s dismay as she never disliked somebody that she only known for a few days that much in her life. Ramsay also put Andy and Van together, much to the latter’s dismay as he compared Andy to a knucklehead, and said he would rather be paired up with anybody else from his team. Robert and Jim were paired up as well, so were Ariel and Sabrina, Kevin and Dave, and Tek and Lovely. Because Amanda was not paired with anybody, she would sit out, much to her dismay as she felt stronger than Lovely. After that, everybody went to the blue kitchen, with Van considering his partner Andy as the weakest link, and then, Ramsay introduced the Sausage Strings Challenge, when the Sous Chefs brought a rack holding sausage strings to the kitchen. Then, Ramsay asked if anybody never made sausage, and almost every women raised their hands, while none of the men did. He also asked Tennille how thick he liked her sausage, which she answered she did not like sausages, making everybody laugh. After that, he asked Van what was the secret to a perfect sausage, which he answered that it was to hold it steady and pump it slow and easy, which made everybody laugh once again. After revealing the perfect sausage was 6 inches, Ramsay explained the challenge by making a demo with Sous Chef Heather. Each team would have to create 6 prefect chains of sausage, and the one who would complete that task first would be the winners. After Ramsay reminded the chefs that size mattered, the challenge began.

Every chef took some meat from the bowls, and set their machines. Suzanne was communicating with Tennille, and while looking at the women, Dave noticed they were rushing, and that despite his broken wrist, he would suck it up and get it done. Tennille brought her team’s first string of sausage, which was accepted, giving the red team a one-point-lead. Ramsay noticed that Suzanne and Tennille could work well together, and Suzanne acknowledged that both of them were having an animosity towards the other, but was still determined to pull the challenge off and trust each other. Dave and Kevin brought up their first sausage string, and it was approved, tying the score at 1. Ariel and Sabrina brought up their first string straight after, which was approved as well, giving the lead to the red team once again. Lovely and Tek brought up theirs, and the red team’s lead extended at 3-1, with Kevin astounded that he and Dave were the only ones from the blue team to score so far, and the red team was flying through them. Kevin told the men to get something up, but Andy and Van were struggling with communication as Andy complained that Van was acting like a Pitbull. Fortunately, their first attempt was accepted, closing the gap at 3-2. By that point, the only pair that did not presented a sausage string yet were Jim and Robert, as they were struggling due to their meat busting from the casing. Robert claimed that he was doing most of the work and did not need Jim, who he called a half-ass slacker. As Ramsay urged Robert and Jim to crank it up, Ariel and Sabrina brought up their second string, and the red team’s lead was extended at 4-2. But, Kevin and Dave brought up their second string, and the score became 4-3, but straight after, Van and Andy presented their second string, which was approved as well, tying the score at 4. Van yelled that failure was not an option for the blue team, and Kevin knew that it was coming to the wire and that the blue team had to win. Suzanne and Tenille brought up their second string, and the score became 5-4 for the red team, with Jim and Robert continuing to struggle. Ariel and Sabrina brought up their third string, but a few sausages on it were too thin, and the string was rejected, which Van knew could be their chance to catch up. However, Lovely and Tek’s second string was accepted, and the red team won the challenge 6-4. After the challenge, Ramsay singled out Robert and Jim for their insufficient teamwork as they produced no sausage strings whatsoever, infuriating Dave.

Reward

The red team was rewarded with an Oktoberfest style party. When they got to the bus, they saw a German band waiting for them, and toasted their victory with beers. They made their way to Old World Village where Jean-Philippe greeted them and told them that this was where the best sausages in California were.

Punishment

The blue team was punished by cleaning up the dorms, which included the bathrooms, carpet, and kitchen. Back in the dorms, Van and Kevin were frustrated with their loss, with Kevin finding it ridiculous that two Executive Chefs, referring to Robert and Jim, could not make one sausage string. Robert, who overheard that, warned Kevin to watch his fucking mouth, which led to an argument between the two of them, during which Robert angrily threw his jacket away. In the confessional, Robert said that he has been told all his life how worthless he was, and it really pissed him off to hear that from Kevin, though Van told the two of them to keep it together. During the punishment, Van complained how most of the chefs were slobs for leaving all their dirty dishes and food everywhere, and the terrible smell in the bathroom, all while calling it hell. Later, Sous Chef Scott gave the team instructions on what to do next, and then, Robert told Kevin that he blamed Jim for costing them the challenge because he let the sausages burst, leading Kevin to acknowledge how much Robert was competitive, while Jim was slow and mellow. Robert, who has not won any challenges since being back, stated that he wanted to win a challenge and not be a loser, but Sous Chef Scott asked why he was saying that now and not earlier during the challenge. That enraged Robert who yelled that he almost died on Season 5 and that he always gave it a 110%, all while breaking a broom in the process.

Before service

The next day, both teams began prep for that night’s service, and the red team still in good spirits after their challenge win the previous day, with Sabrina noting that they finally felt together. In the blue kitchen, morale was low, with Jim pointing out Dave’s sprained wrist, Kevin’s sprained ankles, and Robert’s morbid obesity. Dave complained about how much pain he was in, but still wanted to push through it while waiting for the doctors to find out what was going on with his wrist.

After that, Sous Chef Scott told Dave that the doctor was on the phone with the results, and Dave headed back to the dorms to take the call. Unfortunately, Dave learned that he had a fractured wrist and would have to wear a cast for two weeks, meaning he would not have any use of his left thumb and that it would be very difficult for him to continue in the competition. After the call, Dave was crushed that his dream of coming here would likely to be over, and had no idea what to do. So, he went to Ramsay’s office and told him about the news. Ramsay knew that it would be a great shame for him to leave now, but pointed out that the injury was only on Dave’s weakest hand, and asked if he would stay. After thinking it over, Dave decided to stay and push through it, a decision Ramsay agreed with. Before leaving to get his cast on, Dave went to the blue kitchen and told his teammates what was going on. Van noted that the blue team could not afford to lose anybody else and said that they were crippled.

When both teams were lined up, Ramsay said that for that night’s service, each team would have a greeter and serve an amuse-bouche special. He dedicated Ariel for the red team, and Jim for the blue team. After, Ramsay told Jean-Philippe to open Hell’s Kitchen.

Dinner service

Multiple celebrities, such as Drew Lachey, John O’Hurley, Tom Green, Melinda Clarke, Chris “Kid” Reid, and Kristy Swanson, were in attendance that night. Both teams got their first tickets, and Ariel and Jim started working on the amuse-bouche. However, Jim was distracted and slow moving until Ramsay ordered him to speed up. Meanwhile, Ariel served all of her amuse-bouche and the red team started cooking their food. Jim was slow when describing the amuse-bouche, much to the annoyance of Ramsay, Van, and Robert, and because of that, the blue team could not serve any food until he was finished. In the red kitchen, Suzanne was giving Tenille instructions on the risotto, but Tenille was annoyed by that and managed to get her risotto accepted. Tek brought up her capellini, and Ramsay sent the first order of appetizers out to the dining room. However, O’Hurley’s table sent back a capellini dish for being too salty, and Ramsay ordered Tek to get another one ready. However, Tek got frazzled by everybody asking her for a time, forcing Tenille to help and get the redo sent out. In the blue kitchen, Robert sent up his appetizers, and they got approved.

In the red kitchen, the women began working on entrées, but Lovely sent unseasoned garnishes to the pass, and Ramsay pointed out that all she has done so far was turn and stir. Deciding to help out, Sabrina went over to check on Lovely, and because of that, Lovely was able to send up a better serving of garnishes. In the blue kitchen, the men have begun to work on entrées as well, with Kevin telling Andy to send up his lamb now. While Kevin’s halibut was cooked perfectly, Andy’s lamb chops were cold, much to Robert’s frustration. Andy’s second attempt was raw, and Ramsay called him a first class cunt, while sarcastically stating that was how the Araxi restaurant did their lamb. That forced Ramsay to send the halibut out to the dining room, and Robert screamed at Andy to get his lamb out, but his third attempt was unacceptable. As Robert continued to scream at Andy, Ramsay pulled Robert aside and lectured him that all the diners could hear him scream and told him to tone it down. In the red kitchen, Ramsay asked Lovely what the next entrée was, but she could not answer him, and a distraught Ramsay called her oblivious. In the blue kitchen, Andy sent over his lamb to the hot plate, and that time, it was accepted. In the red kitchen, Suzanne’s lamb chops had more bone than meat, and she got lectured on the size, which caused the red team to lose some valuable time. In the blue kitchen, communication was fractured without Dave, and Ramsay berated them for looking like headless idiots. Just then, a now casted Dave returned from the hospital, and Ramsay put him on desserts. While Kevin was concerned about how Dave would continue on with only one usable hand, Dave managed to get his desserts out with speed, something Ramsay took notice of.

Two hours into dinner service, and both kitchens have served forty-five entrées to their diners. Later, when there were only three tickets left for both teams, Ramsay told them that the first team to finish would be the winner. Both teams pushed out their first two tables, and were on their last ticket neck-and-neck. Andy sent up the chicken for the last table, but it came out raw and Sous Chef Scott warned Andy to get the refire ready by the time the rest of the table was ready. In the red kitchen, Ramsay sent back Ariel’s tagliatelle for being cooked to fuck, and ordered the team to hurry up. In the blue kitchen, Andy’s refired chicken was accepted, meaning the only thing that was missing from both teams were the sides. Both teams pushed their garnish stations, but in the end, Van’s sides were accepted first, and the blue team won the service, with Ramsay congratulating the men, and Van thanking his teammates for their help. In the red kitchen, Ramsay told Lovely that the red team lost due to the slow sides, but Suzanne questioned the reason why they lost and wanted to ask Ramsay about it.

Post-mortem

When both teams were lined up, Ramsay noticed that while both teams were close, the red team lost due to the slow sides. Then, Suzanne asked Ramsay for a play-by-play, but Ramsay lectured her that the red team lost despite the fact that they had fourteen arms, compared to the blue team’s eleven, referring to Dave’s unworking hand. He also told her to take their loss with respect, much to Suzanne’s embarrassment. After, Ramsay named Sabrina “Best of the Worst” for helping out on every station, and told her to think of two nominees for elimination.

Back in the dorms, Sabrina was happy about being “Best of the Worst”, while Tennille jokingly said that she was worried about being nominated. Suzanne feared that she might be going home for questioning Ramsay as the blue team mocked her for that decision. Lovely came up to Sabrina and pleaded her case, while adding on that Tek screwed them from the start. Sabrina agreed with Lovely as Tek was getting weaker and making more excuses, but listened to Tek’s plea regardless.

Elimination

Sabrina named Tek as her first nominee, and Lovely as her second. Ramsay called the two of them down, and during their pleas, Lovely was called more laid back than an ironing board, but argued that she was moving quicker than what Ramsay saw, while Tek said that she was very passionate. While Ramsay noticed that both of them sunk their team, he called up Suzanne and asked her who she would send home, referring to her earlier questioning during the post-mortem. Suzanne said that she would send Lovely home, and Ramsay agreed with that decision, eliminating Lovely for being nominated three times in a row, her slow performances, and her constant excuses, much the shock of the red team as they expected Tek to go home. After Lovely’s exit, Ramsay warned Tek that she was on a tightrope without any safety net underneath, and told everybody that the next dinner service would be their most important one yet, before dismissing them.

Ramsay’s comment: “If people were named for their cooking, her name wouldn’t be Lovely. It would be Useless.”

My Opinion