(S04E14) "My goal tonight is to make Chef Ramsay second guess the fact that he got rid of me." - Jen
Oh Jen, just when we had started to forget you, you come back with the nasty attitude and the chip on your shoulder. Like Mary Tyler Moore, you can turn the world on with your smile.
This is part one of the finale, where final contestants Petrozza and Christina design their restaurants and have to complete a service with some of the eliminated contestants. The returning players are Jen, Louross, Bobby, Corey, Matt, and Ben. Not sure why these contestants are the ones who return, other than they're the most controversial. They're not all the most recent rejects, because Roseann would be in the mix if that was the case and not Ben.
I have mixed feelings about these contestants coming back, which I'll explain after the jump.
I really like it when Hell's Kitchen gets down to the nitty gritty of two contestants. Finally, the backstabbing and soap opera stuff is gone and we can focus on the two last chefs and their plans for their own restaurants, and there's just a sense that there's more breathing room without all of the other players getting in the way. Aside from some comments by Christina about Petrozza having to push his fireplace wall into her space a little bit and her hatred of the stripes that the designer put on her walls (even though she said she liked the stripes and picked them herself), this episode didn't have any of the nastiness of the other episodes. But that will change next week when the service begins and we have to deal with Jen's attitude, conflicting personalities, and whatever Matt might do. I kinda wish they didn't bring back any of the other contestants and just have the final two go up against each other, somehow, some way.
Still not sure why Whoopi Goldberg showed up for 12 seconds and then vanished forever (she didn't even have a hand in who won the challenge). Unless she comes back for the finale next week, it was like trying to find Alfred Hitchcock's cameo in one of his movies. I also don't get Petrozza's near-orgasmic "Oh my Gahd...Oh my Gahd...Oh my Gahd..." when Whoopi appeared.
Petrozza wins the challenge, by the way, chosen by the five executive chefs from his other restaurants. It comes down to the final chef (of course it does), but in the end Petrozza's filet mignon with onions and risotto is chosen over Christina's New York strip steak with succotash and potatoes.
So the finale next week will have the players helping Petrozza and Christina win, but before that, a few observations.
- I think Ramsay's "I'm wondering if I have the right finalists" trick is manipulative. Not just to Petrozza and Christina but to the audience as well. They pushed it in the coming attractions last week, and for a split second I agreed with Christina when she said she thought they were going to bring back another contestant to compete again.
- The 10 minute season recap at the start is so rapid-fire that I doubt anyone who missed an episode or two would know what the heck happened. And it just proves that the BS stuff like the hot tub and shopping trips are a really boring part of the show. Though it was fantastic to relive Petrozza's "Hen in a Pumpkin" signature dish from the first episode. Good to see his signature dish changed so drastically in this ep.
- What's up with the big spectacle in Times Square? You could see hundreds of New Yorkers watching Ramsay, Petrozza, and Christina film the scene in the middle of Times Square, then a giant congrats to the two contestants was flashed on the big screen (though it's hard to say if that was superimposed later). How did this bit of information about who these contestants were - at least maybe some pics - get out weeks ago? Or did it and I just haven't heard about it?
- All of the flowers that Petrozza wants in his restaurant? That really worries me.
The TV Squad Podcast: The Prisoner, '80s TV, soap news and more
Let's talk about spoilers ...
The Prisoner -- An early look
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-01-2008 @ 11:55PM
Fullman said...
The NYC shot... I'm almost certain that was superimposed... in HD the edges looked a bit *too* sharp over the slightly out-of-focus everything else.
As for Christina's stripe debacle... the sample she looked at had *much* smaller stripes, stripes that would certainly be tolerable. But I can agree with her shock, when we saw the final result, the stripes were HUGE. On the other hand... maybe she thought the stripes were color swatches and not actually stripes?
Oh, and Petrozza's "Oh my Gahd"s were awesome. Totally the wrong reaction to something like that, LOL!
Now, we have a week to imagine what that b**** Jen will do. Notice how in the preview they darkened her uniform's colors? Damn, was hoping to find a hint of who's team she ended up on.
Reply
7-02-2008 @ 12:29AM
Vincent J. Murphy said...
I would love it if Petrozza took Matt, then Christina would refuse to take Jen. I so want Jen to get taken down a few dozen pegs.
7-02-2008 @ 1:25AM
tanside said...
In regards to Jen's black colored uniform in the preview, is it possible that her and possibly even Matt end up doing something totally different like both being floaters going between both teams? or something of that nature? I suppose it could have been old footage to throw us off the mark. Either way, go Petrozza!!
7-03-2008 @ 12:18AM
william hunt said...
Does anyone know how long the entire season is of Hell's Kitchen?? It make me crazy when they do the episode of bringing in the loved ones and the contestants act like they havent seen their family or other half for 3 months when I'm sure its only a week or two
7-03-2008 @ 11:00AM
Netra said...
So even though she looked at the sample and SAW stripes and also said she liked them. You can understand her shock???? Are you serious? She picked the stripes they looked exactly like the sample..I dont get it.
7-02-2008 @ 12:49AM
Barb said...
I could tell by the preview pretty clearly from the colors Matt and Jen were wearing who got picked by Petrozza. I don't want to put it here so as not to spoil it for anyone. But if anyone has it recorded you can spot it when they show each of them working in the kitchen.
Reply
7-02-2008 @ 2:24AM
Chris said...
Jen is disgusting in just about every way, slovenly in her appearance, attitude and ethics. Absolutely, positively disgusting.
Reply
7-03-2008 @ 11:05PM
Sebastian Cabet said...
Totally agree with Vincent, but apparently that ain't gonna happen.
I've been wondering what the hell Ramsey was thinking to let this Patrozza clown make it to the finals.
What a LOOOZER!
The guy is on the verge of crying in week 1 when he's ready to pack it up --can't take the pressure. HELLLOOOO. And you're going to seriously consider putting this guy in the kitchen in LA? Give me a freakin.
And what a SLOBBB.
NO WAY Ramsey is seriously considering this guy.
I'll even go so far as to say that if Petrozza wins, I will stop watching the show the rest of this season!!
But the bigger question--why does EVERYONE SMOKE??
Reply
7-02-2008 @ 9:19AM
djbuhhda said...
matt and jen were wearing black because that was the color of their jacket when they left the show. just a thought tho.
Reply
7-02-2008 @ 10:04AM
Riley Freeman said...
Bobby should be in the Final he was in the bottom 2 once. Still a bad decision. Christina is a terrible designer with her stripes and Petrozza has no clue what to do with design and outfits. I think this will be the worst ending to Hell's Kitchen where the winner wasnt really the best.
Do over I say
Reply
7-02-2008 @ 12:04PM
Laura said...
For the last few weeks I've been reading the review here and deleting the show from my dvr unwatched. I'm just interested enough to want to know who wins. However, I couldn't care less to actually watch what happens. All of the bad, bad, bad contestants turned me off.
The reviews have satisfied my interest without having to subject myself to the inanities of the players.
Reply
7-02-2008 @ 12:07PM
Robobagins said...
Maybe Petrozza is just a big Whoopi fan. Also the voting on the challenge totally sucked. I'm not saying Christina should have won, but the way it was going down, Petrozza should have won when the third chef voted, of course GR was laying heavily into him to stretch it out.
Reply
7-02-2008 @ 2:02PM
Ray said...
Of course the challenge voting was staged - they had to drag it out and put in some suspense. If they really wanted, they could have had secret ballots and then read them out instead of each judge hearing what each other had voted. This always introduces bias in the way the next person votes. This whole series is a sham and needs to be watched with a grain salt - err, maybe a dash of salt.
7-02-2008 @ 12:22PM
puffin said...
Just a bit of Triva I suppose. The first 2 executive chefs that were judges in the challenge were the two Sous-Chefs from the first Hells Kitchen in the UK. They had more a part in that show then the sous-chefs in current version have.
Reply
7-02-2008 @ 2:47PM
Jessica Perkins said...
I can't believe Jen is back! She looks like a troll and her outfit totally punctuated my observation. Her slurred words, barely open eyes, and her overall horrendous use of the English language makes me dislike her even more. Gees, couldn't they find a different "bad guy" to bring in to the mix of chefs? She is a saboteur. She doesn't even create havoc in an enjoyable way. She is straight up mean and that isn't fun to watch.
I am not sure who I want to win though I am leaning toward Petrozza because the guy loves flowers. He also seemed drunk with glee while designing his side of Hell's Kitchen. Or maybe he was just drunk?! Hmmmmm
Reply
7-02-2008 @ 4:56PM
GL said...
@Riley Freeman: do you have some inside dope on what a great designer Bobby is?
@Laura: I don't skip the epsidoes, but sometimes I find that having turned the channel during a commercial, I forget to turn HK back on. I never feel like I missed anything.
Reply
7-03-2008 @ 12:21AM
william hunt said...
Is it just me or does it make anyone else irratated when they do the episode of family members being brought in and the contestants act as though they have not seen them in months?? Does anyone know how long a whole season of taping is???
Reply
7-03-2008 @ 2:38PM
Jim Kosmicki said...
I am guessing that it's like most of the contest shows. Top Chef, for example, is between 4 and 6 weeks, but it's intensive -- the contestants are totally isolated from anything but each other. They aren't allowed newspapers, TV, internet, etc. Almost every interview with contestants from shows like this indicate that they are in a cocoon where they don't really get a sense of the outside world or normal time-flow -- it's simply on to the next task.
Hell's Kitchen is a bit different in that the prizes often involve going into the outside world, but always in a very guided, controlled fashion. They don't get to phone their family or cruise the internet for an hour or so. When you are that isolated, finally seeing your family would be pretty awesome. What always annoys me about them being surprised is that they have to have watched the show before -- they knew it was coming at that point. But again, if you're just focused on surviving and making it to the next task, you might not be thinking critically or even rationally about what you "know" about the show.
What my family has always wondered is if the diners pay for their meal. If I sat there for three hours and never got my meal, I'd be upset. But if I understood that it was part of a competition show, and the food was free, that would alleviate a lot of the annoyance factor. it would also make many of the angry diner encounters more staged for effect -- a common complaint about this show, after all.
Reply
7-03-2008 @ 2:37PM
ORKMommy said...
"The 10 minute season recap at the start is so rapid-fire that I doubt anyone who missed an episode or two would know what the heck happened."
They wouldn't know much more by reading these recaps all season either!
Reply