'Hell's Kitchen': Livestock need not apply

With the field winnowed down to six contestants, Chef Ramsay gave a moving motivational speech to the men and women competing for a shot at running their own restaurant. It was time to dig deep, step up and prove themselves, he told them. (Translation: The infuriated chef shrieked, "We're under pressure ... this is where it separates the $%^& chef from a donkey!!!!")

Guess the contestants didn't get the memo, because it was much of the same as the two teams were tasked with crafting, and then executing, a menu of their own making. Bonnie continued her air-headed ways. (Chef had to point out that she was trying to cook on a stove -- sans any actual flames.) Jen showed zero leadership but plenty of scowly expressions. Brad did a lot more talking than cooking and got sent home for it. Josh proved to be the come-back kid of the night, single-handedly saving what could have been a disasterous service. Rock showed that he continues to lack true leadership -- by refusing to come to Josh's aid when he couldn't get his lamb dishes moving out of the kitchen. (Yes, this is a competition, but the customers of Hell's Kitchen shouldn't suffer because of it. A real chef would have put his diners' interests first, Rock.)

And then there was Julia, our waffle house cook.

"What's Ahi tuna?" she asked at one point, when the women's team was putting its menu together. ("I'm worried about Julia," Jen would later say. "Overall, she's a waffle house person, and we need it to be fine dining, you know?") That may be true, but the woman can cook. When she finally screwed up the courage to speak her mind and landed a steak dish on the night's menu, it was a hit, and its execution earned her a rave from Chef Ramsay.

Come on, Julia. Man up. Walk away from the donkeys!

The B-word files: In the unofficial contest for who can run away with the B-word, advantage goes to the women:

Bonnie: "Why are you shaking your head?"

Jen: "Because I can."

Bonnie: "Oh, Jen, don't turn into a bitch now, please."

Jen: "Don't call me a bitch."

Bonnie: "Don't act like one."

Bonnie and Jen in unison: "Stop pulling my pigtail!!" (OK, we made that last one up.)

-- Rene Lynch