Author: Shane

Hell’s Kitchen 5 Episode 2

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.

Lost Season 5 Episode 4

Lost Season 5 Episode 3 continued the saga of the time travelers. Dan is trying to disarm a hydrogen bomb, while Locke has bumped into a young Charles Widmore. At the end of the episode, Charlotte collapsed.

The night before they came up with the lie, Kate and Jack agreed they were together in convincing the others to lie. That was the same night Kate came up with the idea of keeping Aaron as her own because she couldn’t lose anybody else.

At the hotel, Sun gets a delivery containing pictures of Ben and a gun.

After some prodding from Juliet, Dan admits he thought this might happen to Charlotte. It’s like really bad jetlag. He doesn’t know why it isn’t happening to everyone else.

Kate pays a visit to the lawyer. She agrees to give the blood samples only if she can first talk to the client, who probably won’t cooperate but does want to handle the exchange of custody quietly. She’s warned she’s going to lose the boy.

Locke wants to go back to the Orchid. He knows Ben used it to save the island and thinks he can reverse it if he brings them back. He has to make them come back… even if it kills him.

Charlotte awakens, feeling a bit dizzy but saying she’s fine.

Sayid had the equivalent of three doses of horse tranquilizer in his system, but he’s doing fine. He gets a visit from a man with a gun who needs to be subdued before he can tranquilize him again. He’s working for the person at the address in his pocket, which Jack says is Kate’s address.

Jack gets a call from Hurley, who’s in jail and feels happy he’s totally safe because he Ben’s never going to get him now.

Jack wants to see Kate, who reluctantly agrees to tell him she’s downtown. Ben wants to go deal with Hugo, and Sayid likewise is reluctant but cooperative.

The island group is walking and sees a bright light, which Locke wants to avoid. He seems to know when they are, even if nobody else does. As they’re walking, they hear screaming. It’s Claire as she’s giving birth, complete with nurse Kate to drive Sawyer nuts. Then there’s another flash.

When Jack gets to Kate’s car, she wants him to just go. She tells him what’s going on, but she has someone to follow, so he has to hop in.

Miles got a nosebleed. Dan thinks it has to do with duration of exposure, but Miles has never been there before two weeks ago. Is he sure of that?

They have finally managed to find their camp, but everything and everyone is gone, as is the boat. They do have a boat that was left behind, though, even if it doesn’t have a motor. As they’re rowing, shots are fired from behind. Two can play at that game, as Juliet grabs a gun as well. They’re saved by a flash. When Sawyer thanks the lord for this good fortune, they’re now in the same boat in the middle of a monsoon. The bullets were probably better.

Kate and Jack see who wants the kid. It’s Claire’s mother. Jack volunteers to go fix this. He tells her the whole story. Only she doesn’t know who Aaron is. Jack comes running out to warn Kate that she’s not who they’re looking for and that they need to go get Aaron.

Ben’s told by his lawyer that Hugo will be a free man in the morning.

Sawyer doesn’t want to talk about seeing Kate again, but Juliet gets it out of him. Well, she gets something out of him anyway… it is Sawyer. During their chat, it becomes Juliet’s turn to have a nosebleed.

They spot a wreckage from some French speaking people, who it turns out picked Jin up from the water.

Jack tells Kate about how Sayid’s attacker had her address in his pocket. He wants to make sure to get her and Aaron safe. Then Ben arrives… and apologizes for trying to steal Aaron. Sun’s there, too, Aaron in tow and gun in hand.

Jin may not be feeling all that well, but he’s alive. The French woman he’s talking to introduces herself to him. It’s Danielle, and she’s pregnant.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Lost Season 5 Episode 5 This Place Is Death, which airs Wednesday at 9/8c on ABC.

American Idol Season 8 Episode 9

Hollywood week began in American Idol 8 Episode 8, which was such a blur that it probably didn’t influence anybody’s opinion about the 104 contestants who remain.

Tonight is group night.

Rose is an outsider in her group. She accuses them (including bikini girl) of thinking this competition is about being cute. It got her this far.

Tatiana has a nervous breakdown and goes looking for another group. Nancy Wilson and Nate Marshall want no part of it and want her to return to the group that made her cry. For some reason, she turns her back on that group and heads back to her original group even though they were apparently willing to work with her. It’s not long before this group self destructs again. Back at Nancy and Nate’s group, Nancy can’t get along with Kristin. Then Nate joins the drama queen act.

Katrina wants to go to bed, where she starts crying, while the rest of team diva wants to stay awake. The divas go to wake up Katrina after a couple hours, but she doesn’t want to wake up. They don’t get how she could give up on such a huge opportunity. As if she wanted to do more than show off her body on TV. Her group says that she quit, but as they’re sitting there at the table, the completely unprepared Katrina arrives. Rose predicts the group will be a trainwreck.

Simon tells the groups that the most important thing is that they’re out if they forget the words. Harsh.

India Morrison, Justin Williams, Kris Allen, and Matt Giraud are first. Their unique take on the song stands out and gets them through to the next round.

Alex Wagner-Trugman, Ryan Pinkston, Anne Marie Boskovich, and Emily Wynne-Hughes (the Action Squad) has worked hard on perfecting their choreography but not quite so much on the singing. Alex and Anne Marie make it through. Ryan says he was manipulated and insulted by an evil-eyed Paula.

Danny Gokey and his buddy Jamar Rogers (who are sure getting a lot of screen time), along with Taylor Vaifanua and apparently some fourth wheel sing Somebody to Love a capella. They do an excellent job and all get through.

Team diva (Lauren Barnes, Katrina Darrell, Rose Flack, and Jasmine Murray) is apparently more confident than they were earlier. Simon guarantees they did not work together last night. Jasmine is the only one who makes it. Katrina takes one last opportunity to pose.

David Osmond has been cut, as has Austin Sisneros.

Muna Hiluf and Tatiana del Toro are up next. Everybody’s going through, including the two people in their group who aren’t shown. Tatiana takes the opportunity to make herself the center of attention with some more crying.

Nathaniel Marshall, Nancy Wilson, and Kristen McNamara are trying to make it work. Simon doesn’t think they like each other and calls their backup performances sabotage. Nate and Kristin go through, but Nancy is at the end of the line.

About 75 people have made it through to the final day of Hollywood.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of American Idol Season 8 episode 10, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on Fox.

DTV Switch Delayed

Remember how the DTV transition delay was defeated? Well, that was last week. The House today approved a bill that will delay the digital switch from February 17 to June 12. Apparently three years wasn’t enough for some people to get the message. Can’t wait until June when it gets delayed another few months.

American Idol Season 8 Episode 8

The audition phase concluded in American Idol 8 Episode 7. Despite cramming both New York and Puerto Rico into the episode, there still wasn’t much worth talking about.

Now it’s time for Hell week in Hollywood at the Kodak Theater. In total, 147 singers have proceeded to Hollywood.

Lil Rounds gets another good reception from the judges. Dennis Brigham doesn’t impress Simon any more than he did last time.

This year, whoever’s out will go home right away, without being given any second chances. From the first group, Asia, Alexander, and Lil will be going forward.

Nathaniel Marshall, whoever that is, is up for group two. The judges like his voice but not the song choice. Could have done without the outburst. Anoop Desai, Jasmine Murray, and Rose Flack are in this group as well. Anoop and Jasmine sail through, but Rose has been having a rough couple days of rehearsal. The whole group is through to the next round.

Stephen Fowler is first in the next group, and the judges are impressed. Jorge Nunez does a Jon Secada song justice. Then it’s Von Smith’s turn. Simon calls his performance indulgent nonsense. All three of them will be staying in Hollywood.

Norman Gentle (why is he being given more screen time?) is back and wasting more time. Simon calls him a ridiculous joke. Nonetheless, Norman Gentle (aka Nick Mitchell) is staying around, along with Frankie Jordan and Scott Macintyre (two much better singers who we don’t even hear).

Female rocker Jackie Tohn will be going ahead in the first group of day two.

Best friends Danny Gokey and Jamar Rogers are back in the next group. Randy’s a fan of Jamar, and Paula tells Danny he’s ready to record records.

Bikini girl Katrina Darrell made it through on the strength of her assets. Now she’s back but slightly more appropriately dressed. Kara’s unimpressed again, but she makes it through on the strength of Simon’s and Randy’s drooling.

Randy says roughneck Michael Sarver is even better than the first time. Jesus Valenzuela, however, gets cut.

David Osmond and Erika Wesley sound good in the couple seconds we see of them. Punk rocker Emily Hughes has decided to sing a song she hasn’t rehearsed. The judges hate it. David, Emily, and some guy named Alex are through to the next round. Erika’s been cut but asks for a second choice. The judges are confused and arguing but refuse to budge on their decision that they’re not apparently sure how they arrived at.

104 contestants, most of whom we probably haven’t seen, will be proceeding to the next phase, group day.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of American Idol Season 8 episode 9, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on Fox.

The Biggest Loser Couples 2 Episode 5

As the teammates returned to the ranch, Dan and Dave were sent home in The Biggest Loser Couples 2 Episode 4.

Because it was too difficult to get it done last week, it’s time for the at home contestants to weigh in now. The winner of the weigh-in will get immunity for their team for the week. Other than that, it doesn’t seem to matter whether they lost anything while at home.

Shanon: 255 pounds (-15, 5.56%, crying, I’m still waiting for NBC to make up their minds whether there is one n or two in her name)

Laura: 265 pounds (-7, 2.57%, crying)

Cathy: 273 pounds (-8, 2.85%, happy)

Aubrey: 234 pounds (-2, 0.85%, full of excuses Jillian doesn’t want to hear)

Carla: 348 pounds (-20, 5.43%, happy)

Sione: 324 pounds (-25, 7.16%, less excited than the excessively loud Filipe)

The blue team wins immunity.

Sione seems like he hasn’t left. He’s come back stronger and faster than he was when he left and is putting the others to shame.

Aubrey says she was in the gym at least 4-5 hours a day but didn’t do good on food. Jillian tells her that her most important lesson is to ask for help.

Carla and Joelle are failing to work like a team still, but at least Carla’s less loud about it.

They’re tied to their partners and must unwrap enough rope to make it across the finish line, which they will do by jumping up and over a pipe. The winning team will be able to choose $5,000 or a 2 pound advantage. Joelle wants the cash, but everybody else probably is going for the weight. Ron and Mike have a strategy of going as fast as they can without injuring themselves, which may be a taller task than they may have anticipated. All the other teams seem to be doing a decent job. Yellow and green are the first to make a break for it. Green’s not even close and has to return. The other teams make a dash for it and are on yellow’s heels, but Mandi and Aubrey win the challenge with just enough slack. This was a fairly silly challenge. No doubt somebody else did a lot better.

Joelle’s back to her old ways, and having Carla back hasn’t helped her any. Carla, however, is really trying to get it done.

Shanon screams and cries throughout the workout but just keeps going anyway. Bob has Sione hop on her back so that she can carry him across the gym.

At the weigh-in, the yellow team opts for the 2 pound advantage.

Filipe: 308 pounds (-3)
Sione: 316 pounds (-8)
Blue Total: 624 pounds, (-11, 1.73%, immune)

Mandi: 221 pounds (-6)
Aubrey: 224 pounds (-10)
Yellow Total: 445 pounds (-16, -2, 3.90%)

Carla: 339 pounds (-9)
Joelle: 278 pounds (no change)
Silver Total: 617 pounds (-9, 1.44%)

The house hates Joelle. Again/still.

Blaine: 303 pounds (-9)
Dane: 334 pounds (-11)
Black Total: 637 pounds (-20, 3.04%)

Laura: 252 pounds (-13)
Tara: 240 pounds (-12)
Green Total: 492 pounds (-25, 4.84%)

Mike: 330 pounds (-9)
Ron: 366 pounds (-4)
Brown Total: 696 pounds (-13, 1.83%)

Helen: 216 pounds (-9)
Shanon: 246 pounds (-9)
Pink Total: 462 pounds (-18, 3.75%)

Kristin: 301 pounds (-11)
Cathy: 268 pounds (-5)
Purple Total: 569 pounds (-16, 2.74%)

Because Filipe & Sione have immunity, Mike & Ron have fallen below the yellow line alongside Carla & Joelle. That puts two Bob teams below the yellow line, but with Carla & Joelle as the lowest losers this week, it gives Bob’s team the control they need to boot Joelle this time. Joelle again hesitates when asked the simple yes or no question of whether she wants to be there. Apparently, Carla thinks she’ll do herself some favors by shouting.

Votes
Shanon & Helen: Carla & Joelle
Mandi & Aubrey: Joelle (and Carla, too)
Filipe & Sione: Carla & Joelle
Laura & Tara: Carla & Joelle

Joelle has finally come to the end of her rope. She and Carla still haven’t spoken since leaving the ranch. Such a pitiful team. At the request of the producers, however, they agree to meet. Carla has more screaming to do, but Joelle doesn’t want to listen. Nothing’s changed. Team silver’s dead, and they’re moving forward as individuals. Joelle has lost a total of 57 pounds from her starting weight of 309; Carla has lost 87 pounds from her starting weight of 379.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Biggest Loser 7 Episode 6, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on NBC.

Kyle XY Season 3 Episode 4

In order to save Amanda from the thing Latnok put in her brain, Kyle figured out he needed to kiss her in Kyle XY Season 3 Episode 3. To get it right, though, he had to practice on Jessi. For some strange reason, Amanda got upset by this. Mark and Lori suffered similar chaos, as he was forced to stop seeing her.

Kyle is wallowing in his tub. Josh suggests some alone time with a magazine. Lori suggests music. Jessi plans to simply wipe Kyle’s memory of Amanda, until Nicole interrupts. When he walks out of the room, his phone rings. The caller ID says Foss.

Kyle, Jessi, Declan, and Josh head to The Rack, surprised to see Amanda’s working (Kyle thought he memorized her schedule). Not feeling welcome, Jessi walks out. Declan tells Kyle not to bother talking to Amanda because he’s finished and it’s over.

Lori’s moping, stuck, and carless, so she decides to go to the apartment with Jessi because it’s better than being at home, even if there is nothing to do there.

Declan drags Kyle and Josh to a bar that doesn’t check ID’s. Kyle arrives to find girls staring at him, which prompts him to want to call Amanda. Declan has a different idea… getting wasted. After he gets his buzz on, Kyle goes 6 minutes and 14 seconds without thinking about Amanda. Then they teach him that you can’t say “I love you” to another guy without having another word after it.

Jessi tells Lori the obvious: she’s romantically interested in Kyle. She thinks Kyle feels the same way, or he will eventually.

After bouncing some coins into a glass on the same table, Kyle offers to go double or nothing, betting that he can bounce a dime off a table, off the bar, a neon sign, a lightbulb, and the beer tap into the glass. He wins. Then he begins messing with the lights and moving things with his mind, admitting he was born in a pod. Foss calls him, but he’s more interested in telling a room full of strangers the truth, so he hangs up. Once he shows his lack of belly button, Josh and Declan drag him out of there, but not in time to prevent their car from being towed.

Lori manages to convince Jessi to go ahead and meet Cassidy at The Rack, instead of waiting around for months, years, or forever for Kyle to get over Amanda. Then Mark arrives. Apparently Cassidy is allowing him to see Lori now.

When they go to pick up their car from the impound lot, they’re asked for the registration, which is locked in the car.

Nicole tells Stephen he’s wrong for giving Lori such a hard time about seeing Mark, a nice young man who happens to work for an organization that may or may not be evil.

Josh climbs the fence and rips his shirt. Kyle takes a different approach and rips the fence down. Not feeling well, Kyle throws up so he feels better, or in his words alters the polarity of his liver to restore his body to homeostasis. Then Declan steals the car, but it’s Josh’s car. They shred the back tire during their getaway. Somehow this leads Declan to begin yelling at Kyle. It turns out he’s taking his ankle out on others. It’s been fractured for years and never healed right, so basketball’s history.

After some screaming, Mark stops Lori from bailing and kisses her.

As they’re stranded on the side of the road with a flat tire and no spare, the guy from the impound lot shows up to threaten them with a chain, which Kyle takes from him and uses to tie him up.

Cassidy is having a chat with Jessi and tells her to act on her special bond with Kyle. Well, things had been going fine anyway, but she’s suspicious now that he knows a name she’s never mentioned.

Josh and Declan want Kyle to tell Amanda the truth, but he can’t. He’s afraid he’ll lose her, not that he hasn’t already. They convince him he’s got nothing left to lose. As he goes to talk with her, though, Foss shows up. Adam died, which changes everything.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of Kyle XY Season 3 Episode 5 Life Support, which airs Monday at 9/8c on ABC Family.