'Hell's Kitchen': 'Don't you dare come up to my pass again!'

Really, Benjamin?

You have been sorely lacking in leadership. Dinner service after dinner service, chef Gordon Ramsay has begged you to step up, but you haven't been able to lead your colleagues. Which makes your actions this week so curious, and so dumb. (And so much fun to watch.) So there we were in the midst of dinner service and Ramsay needed to leave the kitchen for a few moments. He put sous chef Scott Leibfried in charge. And so you decided that that would be a good moment to start acting like a leader, and you tried to edge Scott out and started calling out dishes. In other words, you proved that you cannot lead a bunch of people who are in dire need of leadership, but you decided that it would be a good idea to disregard what Ramsay said and take on his second-in-command.

Well, I'm really glad you did. That was perhaps the best tail-whipping of the season so far. Clearly, Scott has learned from the best. I cannot possibly quote Scott in full, because of all the expletives, but I did get this much: "Don't ever come up to my pass again!" But that doesn't begin to do justice to the intensity of it all. Maybe Scott needs his own show.

In the first hour, we saw the teams dissolve and individual play begin. Ed got tossed, Autumn was cat-like in her ability to live to see another day, Benjamin won a challenge with a picturesque dish that earned him a much-needed makeover from his Scooby-Do mullet.

There was also a clever profit-margin challenge: Spend $10 on a meal that people would pay double or triple that to enjoy. Blue-Jay thought he had it all locked up. But Holli stole the victory. Her reward was a day of pampering at the Penninsula Beverly Hills and a $1,000 shopping spree at Surfas, and she got to take a friend. She chose Jay. And so we got confirmation that these two do indeed have a little somethin' somethin' going on! (That and Jay's personal mission statement: Win "Hell's Kitchen" and sleep with Holli.)

Later that evening, the two were getting busy in the jacuzzi when Autumn showed up and jumped on in. Is she really that tone deaf? Or maybe she can't pick up on anything because she's always talking.

The communication between this crew was still so awful that Ramsay had to force them to speak up by making them switch stations every few minutes -- they had to talk to each other to hand off the food prep. It was a brilliant effort, but some still flopped. In the end, Jason went home. He was good, but too slow. "It was wonderful," he said of his experience on "Hell's Kitchen," "but I'd never do it again."

From next week's previews, it looks like Holli and Jay are going to be asked to choose between the professional and the personal. Or is that just crafty editing?

And do you plan to stay tuned after next week's episode for the premiere of "MasterChef" at 9 p.m.? I have watched the first episode, and I won't spoil anything except to say this: Buckle up. It's a roller coaster ride.

— Rene Lynch
Twitter / renelynch

Photo credit: Fox

Comments

[Mike S]

Chef Scott rocks! And I fear Jay will get his wish, because he's so arrogant and Holli is so clueless. (But not as clueless as Autumn!)

[Sally Wally]

I think it was just crafty editing and that Chef Ramsey really asks Holli and Jay to make a collective decision on who to KEEP to betin the top 3 with instead of deciding who to send home; my guess is that Holli and Jay did equally outstanding services and so Ramsey asks them to make the decision of who to keep versus go home - leaving them in a tough situation because they'll have to choose between Ben (who is more skilld but seems to be declining instead of progressing) and Autumn (who has less experience but is growing every week).

[Tee]

Great review.

Yep, Scott dished up a good one!
Git 'em Scott. lol

Holli and Jay appear to be the strongest. As far as their showmance goes...geez, she can do better than Jay. Still, she said she has a 4 yo son who lives with his dad, so I kind of questioned her priorities at that point - and her judgment.

I didn't get what Jay was referring to with his dish. It wasn't very appealing to look at and surely would have left me hungry for real food. In fact, as far as appearance goes...it seriously reminded me of a dish you would see in a Dr. Seuss story - like in Whoville. Just freakin' weird.

[ned]

I think Rene Lynch needs a lesson in what is appropriate behavior. There was absolutely no need for that kind of childish verbal abuse. No other industry tolerates it. To cheerlead for psychotic outbursts like that is just despicable. Scott, as you'll remember, violently threatened a contestant in season 5. He is a pscychopath who should be incarcerated in a maximum security facility, not be the subject of fawning hero worship.