‘Hell’s Kitchen’: Please, please, don’t let it be Corey!

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Let me get this detail out of the way first: Note to Gordon Ramsay -- more individual challenges! That for me was the highlight of last night’s show. Am I wrong? Yes, I love all the bickering, backstabbing and fumbling of dishes. But it’s sometimes hard to tell whether these folks are really goofballs in a chef’s jacket or are really being tripped up by teammates. It was great seeing what the individuals are capable of doing. More individual challenges! More individual challenges!

OK, with that out of the way ...

It looks like our comic relief is gone with Matt’s elimination.

I’m going to miss pausing the show to marvel at his eyebrows -- two straight black lines pointing upward in anger like they were drawn on by a cartoonist. Here’s what I’d really like to know, though: Was Matt whisked away in a padded truck? Or a limo? Petrozza certainly called that one. ‘Matt is like ‘Full Metal Jacket’ -- he’s losing it!’

It was a night of such spot-on -- to borrow a Chef Ramsay-ism -- camera asides. Others included:

Matt’s surprise at Jen’s decision to take Corey along on the trip for two to Las Vegas that Jen won in an individual cooking challenge: ‘That’s like the cobra and the mongoose hanging out.’

Corey on Jen’s decision to take her to Vegas: ‘It just shows how fake Jen is. Why pick someone you talked so much crap about?’ (Seconds later, Corey is shown being fake herself, squealing and grabbing onto Jen in excitement at the trip. OK. I admit it. Corey just bugs me.)

By the by, I feel l’m justified to comment on Matt’s eyebrows since he said this about Christina: ‘She’s a nasty little bitch with a lot of cellulite on her [bleep].’

Bobby on his competitors, when they can’t seem to keep the orders from the dining room straight as Ramsay calls them out: ‘I don’t know what’s going on with those other chefs. I heard every word.’ (Of course, seconds later, Bobby is shown mucking up Ramsay’s order himself.)

And then, this little ditty from chef, after the elimination: There once was a boy named Matt, who’s cooking performance fell flat. He was far from neat, miserble on meat. So I kicked him out and that’s that.’

The competition is indeed about to get fierce. Christina seems like she’s been put on alert -- Ramsay pointed out what little professional experience she has. She needs to up her game. Petrozza seems at risk too. Otherwise, looks like it’s coming down to Jen, Bobby and, so help me, Corey.

What do you think? Do any of these folks really have what it takes to run a kitchen?

--Rene Lynch