TVSquad

(S04E15)

Even if this was the first episode of Hell's Kitchen that a viewer had seen this season, they would have understood what the players were like and what the game was about just by watching this season finale. Jen was bitchy and unreasonable, Matt was bat-shit crazy, Louross was hyperactive, Ramsay swore a lot, food got sent back, some food went out raw. It was like a wrap-up of the season while still being a new episode.

But who won in the end, Petrozza or Christina? The answer after the jump.

(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.

(S04E12) "If it was men I could have worked that to my advantage, but it was bitchy, pregnant women." - Corey

Tonight I came up with a million dollar idea for a new reality show. It's a combination of Hell's Kitchen and The Mole. Maybe Hell's Mole. Or Mole in the Kitchen. You have 12 contestants trying to get the gig as Gordon Ramsay's new chef at one of his restaurants, but one of them has been paid by FOX/Ramsay to actually screw up the service. Burn the food, put some hot sauce in something that another player is cooking when they're not looking, blow a challenge on purpose. It could be exciting, though Mole would probably have to be change to Mole'.

I thought of this tonight after the sneaky thing that Jen did in the elimination voting...

(S04E11) "I've never cooked spaghetti in my life, but I've heard about it." - sexy cooking school student

I'm not sure if Gordon Ramsay and FOX planned it this way, but I think they invented a new reality show tonight: The Real Housewives of Hell's Kitchen. One of the challenges has a bunch of scantily-clad women teamed up with one of the contestants to make a meal within 45 minutes. The kitchen was all about boobs and boiling lobsters.

And I think that last sentence will give you a clue as to who went home tonight.

Some of our readers have pointed out in the comments section of the Hell's Kitchen episode reviews that Chef Gordon Ramsay shouldn't pick any of the contestants to be the winner, because they aren't talented enough. I think some of them clearly aren't executive chef level yet, though I think some of them could be away from the weird pressures of reality TV. The winner of the show gets $250,000 and the executive chef job at the new London West Hollywood. Unlike other seasons, this winner will actually work as the head of one of Ramsay's own restaurants, so there is a lot riding on this.

But what if he didn't pick a winner?

(S04E10) "I have a migraine...I have a migraine...I have a migraine." - Matt, who had a migraine

I worked with a couple of people like Matt in my restaurant days. Fine when things were perfect, but deep down inside there was something wrong with them, and it came out in scary, whiny, immature ways. Tonight we saw the side of Matt that was only hinted at in previous weeks. But will his cooking skills save him in the end?

It's the day after the big (and often controversial) Evel Dick Donato first place win on Big Brother 8, as well as his daughter Daniele's second place win. Together, they won $550,000. Not chump change for sure, but I'd like to see this show increase its grand prize to a million like other reality shows of its ilk.

Julie Chen interviewed both Dick and his loving Evel Spawn on The Early Show -- the CBS website has an extended version of that interview available online as well as the initial interview itself.

But the kicker is a set of video interviews with all of the houseguests posted by the CBS affiliate in Los Angeles. Those took place in the yard before the wrap party and include such treasures as Amber telling us she taught America it's okay to cry. Yeah, right. [A tip of the hat to commenter OrkMommy for the link to the CBS backyard interviews!]

(S08E33) After 33 episodes of psychologically draining television, Big Brother finally announced a winner tonight, and the results may come as a shock to some people.

Well, they came as a shock to me anyways.

I'm pretty sure most of the reading audience was astute enough to realize this is how things would turn out. Hell, there's probably even a little piece of me that knew this is the way things would turn out, but I didn't want to accept it - couldn't fathom this was even within the realm of possibility.

(S08E32) We're one episode away from discovering who will win this season of Big Brother, but first, we've got to make it through the obligatory "highlight show".

I'm not typically a big fan of recap shows, but this one was a little bit easier to endure because at least half of the sequences shown involved Dick belittling a house guest in one way or another.

While I wasn't a big fan of Dick's underhanded tactics, I have to admit that it made for some interesting, albeit uncomfortable television. Had Dick been eliminated early in the competition, this season would have ranked among one of the worst and judging from the comments in the posts this season, quite a few of you agree.

(S08E30) We're one week out from the finale of Big Brother 8 and if you'd have told me 29 episodes ago that Zach would be in the final four I would have told you that you were an idiot.

Well here we are at episode 30 and it looks like I'm the idiot, but can you blame me?

With the exception of maybe Carol, who did so little I actually had to go back to an old post to look up her name, Zach was always that guy taking up space as the cameras panned around the house.

He never did much and he never said much. He just kind of sat there with that crazy clown grin sipping on a cup of water or munching on a bowl of food. Essentially, his gameplan was to have no gameplan.

(S08E29) Well, I never thought I'd see it happen, but Jameka went and made herself a deal with the devil.

The strangest part about the whole sequence was that the Devil asked Jameka to swear on the bible that she'd keep her promise.

It was the absolute last thing I expected her to do, but I'm guessing when $500K is on the line it's okay to forget your convictions for a moment...

(S08E28) Well that was a whirlwind of an episode!

My head is still spinning from all of the events that unfolded tonight, and I had the luxury of watching it from the comfort of my couch.

I can only imagine the stress and anxiety the actual people playing Big Brother must have experienced while condensing a full weeks worth of events into 60 minutes with commercial breaks.

Ultimately, I think the increased pace of tonight's show proved to be detrimental to a contestant like Eric who used the downtime to carefully manipulate and maneuver his way through the game.

Fans of Big Brother 8 have noted many changes this year with Allison Grodner at the production helm instead of Arnold Shapiro. Starting with a rather odd Alice in Wonderland theme which hasn't quite all come together in the long run to iffy casting (okay, Amber) issues, it's been a most unusual season for long-time viewers.

From extremely crude treatment of others by one houseguest to another who really came across as not being stable enough to be on the show, it's been one brouhaha after another. The latest question from the fans is -- where is the footage of the sequester house?

(S08E27) We were in the presence of royalty tonight ladies and gentlemen.

The baddest, most dominant person to ever play the game of Big Brother, made an appearance on tonight's episode and the house guests (with the exception of Eric who made some crude comments about her weight) were in absolute awe - and rightfully so.

Janelle Pierzina is an absolute legend in Big Brother lore. A quick Wikipedia search revealed that Janelle has won 17 competitions during her two stints on the show.

(S08E26) Well, it took 62 days in the Big Brother house and a wealth of ridiculous expressions (as seen above), but Zach finally won himself an HoH.

As a result Eric, Jessica, Dick, and Daniele are absolutely trembling in their collective boots since they have no clue what the loose canon is going to do with his newfound position of power.

Dick was probably the house guest doing the most trembling because two hours before the Head of Household competition he gave Zach a verbal abusing for the ages.