Chef’s Ramsay was back and yelling in Hell’s Kitchen season 5 Episode 1. Despite an impressive start, both teams failed to finish their meals before the customers walked out on them. Based on the lousy performance of Giovanni as a waiter, the men lost and nominated Wil and Seth, with the hope that Seth would go home. Ramsay didn’t agree with them, though, and sent Wil packing.
J is especially upset that Seth is still around.
Coi apologizes to Lacey for being a nutcase. Lacey’s not particularly thrilled with this discussion or the apology, which leads Coi and LA to begin swearing and ranting.
Before 6:00 the next morning, they’re awakened by a band (three people) playing loudly.
They won’t be digging through the trash, but they will be digging through the scallop crates. Ben would have preferred the garbage. Colleen falls inside one of the crates. The actual challenge is to clean the scallops up to the chef’s standards. They must remove the scallop from the shell without any gashes and remove the muscle surrounding it. Andrea will be sitting out for the girls. It doesn’t appear anybody has ever done this before.
Carol: 8 out of 8
Paula: 1 out of 10
Coi: 6 are acceptable
Colleen: 5 out of 6
LA: 8 out of 8
Ji: 4 are acceptable
Lacey: 3 out of 6
Total: 35
Ben: 3 out of 11
Danny: 9 out of 10
Giovanni: 13 out of 15
Robert: 5 are acceptable
Charlie: 2 are acceptable
Seth: 3 are acceptable
J: 1 out of 6
Total: 36
The men win the challenge thanks largely to Danny and Giovanni. They’ll spend a day on Catalina island, which they will arrive at via helicopter. The women will be setting up the raw bar.
When they get back, Lacey is crying and thinks they would be better off without her, which is probably true. Ji tries to comfort her.
Because of the helicopter insurance policy, Robert can’t go with the others by helicopter because he weighs over 300 pounds (over 400 for that matter). However, they will allow him to head over by ferry.
Lacey stays in bed crying while the others get started on the seafood. None of the women liked her in the first place, and it’s not getting any better.
Seth is a stalker. He knows more about Chef Ramsay than he probably should.
6 hours into the red team’s punishment, Lacey stolls on in. “Sorry I’m late.”
Robert gets off the ferry. Chef Ramsay tells him they all had a great time and that he needs to turn around because everybody’s going back on the ferry. This is just mean.
Ji has injured her ankle on the floor and may have sprained it. She thinks she’ll be okay and hopes she’ll be able to get through service. Paula and Robert are assigned to the raw bar. The raw bar will hopefully give them enough time to actually get finished cooking.
Carol burned the garlic. Then the risotto sticks to the pans.
Charlie’s risotto doesn’t stick to the pans, but it’s not cooked properly either. Ben agrees to show him how to cook it right.
The guests seem to be impressed by Robert’s charm.
Then Chef Ramsay flips out on Colleen, who is going to be tutored on how to cook in a busy kitchen by Lacey of all people.
Ramsay likes Ben’s and Lacey’s results.
The men have cooked spaghetti lobster… without lobster.
Obvious advice for Colleen: quit already. Don’t put yourself through this. Despite the chef trashing her as a person and her reputation, she says he won’t break her, though. He’s seen enough of her and throws her out to be a waitress.
Chef Ramsay is pleased with Danny’s performance.
Ji’s struggling but trying to forget her injury.
The chef announces that the women have 5 tickets left while the men have 4 tickets left. Whoever gets through them all first will win. The men end up winning by 1 ticket.
Afterward, the women are concerned about Ji’s injury, but they think she did a good job with or without an injury. Ramsay is impressed with her determination and not giving up.
There are three obvious potential nominees: Lacey, Carol, and Colleen. Had Lacey not whined all day long, she probably wouldn’t be on the list.
Colleen is the first nominee because she didn’t listen well. Lacey is the second nominee because of her lack of confidence in herself.
As Ramsay’s about to announce his decision, Ji speaks up and volunteers to leave. He accepts this and tells her she should be proud because she’s done well. Both teams know that Ji is better than both of them combined.
Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Hell’s Kitchen Season 5 Episode 3, which airs Thursday at 9/8c on Fox.
I still couldn’t remember that scene, right when Gordon was about to render his decision then Ji announced her decision. sigh* It was really sad to watch Ji leave because she was such a strong competitor, but what she did was really noble which made me admire her even more! I hope that they would bring her back to the show. I found that she has a web site, http://www.chefji.com with photos and you can email and even vote as to whether to have her back to the show!