After the families left, I had a sudden realization: Trev has a little sister. How awful is that? He’s corrupting a sweet, young girl with his anti-women, Mr. Macho ways. That’s sad.
Reward Challenge: This week, we jumped straight into a rewards challenge after Chef Ramsey informed the contestants that 2 of them would be going home. And with that, it was time for the chefs to try out cooking…fusion food (Jillian: I don’t even know what fusion is! I only cook American). Hidden on the tables were the different countries that the chefs would be cooking from and Chef Ramsey over-enthusiastically shouted their names. INDIA! GREECE! SPAIN! THAILAND! CHINA! ITALY! FRANCE! MEXICO! Basically, every country in the world BUT The United States. And you know what? Most people totally would’ve been fine with that. All you have to do is start with a basic staple from each country. Italy: pizza. Done. Thailand: Pad Thai. Simple. But not for our Fab. Four. By the way, when Chef Ramsey asks if they are excited, and they sound like school kids giving up reccess for math, why doesn’t that bother him? The things that set him off…
So each chef had to choose two flags. Nona was first and chose Greece and Italy. Trev laughed in triumph and declared it too easy for his spectacular cooking skills that we’ve all grown to admire. Jillian chose Thailand and Spain. Russell, who had been hoping for France, got France (and he waved the flag like he won the French Revolution) and India, to which Chef Ramsey laughed. Trev was then left with China and Mexico, and the sound team on Hell’s Kitchen played triumphant mariachi band music.
Jillian was LOST in this challenge. She basically smelled stuff and if it smelled good, she threw it into her dish. Nona was trying to be politically correct by making sure there was an equal amount of ingredients from each dish. Russell was overconfident. Trev was…not. And then it was time for juding! The guest judges today were Philip Dubose (Exec. Chef, Asia De Cuba), Helene An (Exec. Chef, Crustacean) and Lee Hefter (Exec. Chef, Spago). Trev’s dish (that he dubbed “a wedding EXPLOSION!”) was bland. Nona’s “every-ingredient-under-the-sun” dish was like two different courses, but not bad. “Mr. Fancy Pants” (a la Trev), over cooked the duck. And Jillian….had the best dish! IT’S THE SEASON OF SURPRISES! Even the narrator sounded surprised.
Reward: Jillian and Chef Ramsey had lunch at Spago (Guest judge Lee Hefter’s restaurant). Chef Ramsey called Russell “cocky” and was excited that Jillian won. Could she win this? Can any of them win this? Oh, and Jillian’s family was invited to lunch.
Punishment: Since the production team on Hell’s Kitchen decided that they don’t feel like moving 8 beds and remaining furniture out of the dorms, it was left to Trev, Russell and Nona to do it. I had to agree with Russell when he said that all Trev wants to do it sit around and bitch. Welcome to what the viewers have to deal with Russell! But the best definition of Trev, once again from Russell was “He’s like a zit on your ass you know you want to pop, but you can’t reach it.” This is why I love this show: it’s so damn classy.
Dinner Service: Nona and Jillian were teamed up and ready to head to the finals together. Trev and Russell continued to hate each other with all of their being. Chef Ramsey then announced that each chef would get a chance to run the kitchen. Jillian sang a song that was similar to The Hangover’s 4 Best Friends song. Russell started off running the kitchen. It was loud. But this is one of the best parts of the show: Chef Ramsey’s minions try to screw up the chefs! Chef Scott used pecans instead of walnuts in the salad to test Russell. And he passed! Good job Russ. He spent the rest of his service yelling at Trev.
Nona was up next. She kept up the same pace as Russell. But that’s where the similarities ended. She didn’t pass Sneaky Scott’s taste test. Instead of mashed potatoes, it was celery root mashed. Nona and I were both disappointed.
Trev was third. Oh jeez. No one respects this guy. When he’d yell out a question, he got no answer from anyone. So Trev just kept yelling and no one responded, stopping all of the food flow from the kitchen. However, he did pass the Sneaky Chef Scott taste test, which made Trev confident.
Jillian was last. She commanded respect by being confident and demanding answers. She looked and sounded like a red-haired Chef Ramsey. She also failed the taste test. This lead Jillian to be hyper-sensitive to serving good food to the customers. And she was not taking any sucky food from Trev. And when things didn’t change, Chef Ramsey got involved. He was thrilled that he had someone to roll his eyes to when Trev does something stupid.
Elimination:
After a “bloody good discussion,” Chef Ramsey decided that Trev was out. This was before nominations were even spoken. And the heavens opened up, doves flew freely in the sky and hope was restored. I’m just scared that he’s going to show up at another restaurant soon…
Final Two: Russell & Nona.
I was shocked that he didn’t pick Jillian over Nona. But, I’m just thankful Trev is gone. And Baby Spice (remember her?). Chef Ramsey let her keep her jacket, which was nice. I’m looking forward to the finals!!! Not my finals, but the Hell’s Kitchen finals!
Original Author: Allie Miller