Hell’s Kitchen 5 Episode 14 was essentially a filler episode, with the only useful information we learned being who the teams are for tonight’s finale. Danny chose Ben, Giovanni, and Carol. Paula chose Andrea, LA, and Lacey. Tonight, either Danny Veltri or Paula Dasilva will be crowned the Hell’s Kitchen season 5 winner.

Danny didn’t get Lacey. He is very pleased. Paula, not so much. Saddling someone with Lacey is a hell of a handicap.

Carol is not happy being on Danny’s team. Yeah, he’s not happy to have you either. He just took you because he didn’t want Lacey. Carol would rather see Paula win.

Giovanni would rather be at home. He couldn’t care less. He’s still bitter that he wasn’t good enough to win.

Next we get a Lacey montage. Someone tell the producers she’s really not that interesting. She hates her team, knowing they hate her back.

Ben realizes it’s not about him. Well, he’s trying to realize it anyway. He plans to support Danny, who he feels is the underdog.

Lacey’s creme brulee is curdled. She’ll have to start that over.

Andrea refuses to let Paula down. Oh, I’m sure it’ll happen sooner or later.

Ramsay thinks Paula’s pasta is delicious. He is worried about her halibut being dry. That’s a danger zone. Andrea will have to cook that properly. The banana creme brulee is not creme brulee. She can’t serve that.

Danny’s duck needs to be cooked more in his duck salad. Ramsay likes the filet. The dessert is undercooked.

Paula’s restaurant, Sunergy, receives a good review from Chef Ramsay. He does not seem quite as impressed with Danny’s restaurant, Velvet Hammer, not to be confused with an adult video. What’s up with the fish on the wall?

Lacey realizes she could screw everything up. Ya think?

Danny’s staff is having good communication, which is something Danny made sure would happen. By comparison, Paula’s team is pretty silent.

Andrea overcooked a scallop, and Lacey put it on the plate and turned it over, apparently hoping to hide it from… someone.

Carol’s backed up on appetizers. Danny thinks Carol sucks.

Paula is waiting for Andrea to cook the halibut. She’s never done that before. It’s obviously overcooked, but she asks if it’s too dark anyway. Her next try needs a little longer.

Danny sends out his first entrees, while Andrea continues to struggle.

Giovanni’s monkfish sauce is way too salty. He still doesn’t care and just wants to go back home. Not doing himself any favors if he bombs on national TV.

Lacey’s all confused. She says that Paula’s menu is too complicated. Everybody is screaming at her from all directions, but she’s not getting anywhere. The entire team will try to bail her out.

Paula’s starting to find her way, two hours into the service.

Danny finishes getting out his food first, but Paula manages to finish off her service strong as well.

LA says that it’s a toss up. She thought Paula had it, but Danny rocked.

Chef Ramsay has made his decision, which he calls the most difficult one he’s had to make in Hell’s Kitchen.

Danny and Paula step up to their doors. Danny’s door opens, and he is the Hell’s Kitchen season 5 winner. At age 23, he proved to be the prodigy he said he was. Paula gave him a run for his money, performing consistently throughout the season. Ramsay says that Danny grew more than any other chef he’s ever seen, and he now has the talent and maturity to be a great head chef.

Hell’s Kitchen Season 6 has already been announced, and it’s coming in July.

Andrea was finally sent packing in Hell’s Kitchen Season 5 Episode 13, bringing us down to the final two.

Ramsay tells them they’ve got a lot of work to do, but they’d rather celebrate and get drunk. It’s approaching 2:00 in the morning, and they’re still awake and drinking. At 6:30, the alarm goes off. Wrong day to have a bad day.

Now it’s time to get to work. They need to design their own restaurants and menus.

Danny wants to hang up some big fish on his restaurant, Velvet Hammer. Neither the mounted fish nor the name seem to suit an upscale place. As for Paula, she plans to call hers Sunergy.

Their signature dishes sound like they’ll work out better than their restaurant planning, though.

Ramsay tells them they’re going to Atlantic City, but they can’t afford to leave the restaurants unattended while they’re there. Their family will oversee the restaurants while they’re away. That should relieve them and works out better than having some disastrous former contestants do it for them. They’ve got 5 minutes to get their vision across. I think it’s pretty fair to say it really doesn’t matter how their mock restaurants end up looking with that in mind.

Paula has said she wants a lot of candles. One of her ideas has been rejected by the fire marshall.

Meanwhile, Danny’s girlfriend is making her opinions known.

When they arrive, Ramsay has made a way to let them video conference with their loved ones.

Danny’s dad and girlfriend report that there are a lot of compromises being requested. They have some fish also.

Paula and Danny are about to find out why they had to leave town. They are greeted by 500 staff members of the resort. They also meet Larry Mullin, the Chief Operating Officer of the Brigada.

Their next challenge is to cook the dishes Larry has requested. They have 45 minutes to cook all three dishes.

Danny is preparing his Caribbean jerk lobster tail, a crispy duck salad, and pan-seared filet of beef. Paula is preparing warm wild mushroom salad, shellfish medley, and roasted black sea bass.

The chefs who already work there will be judging. Paula is told the flavor of her salad is nice, but it’s a little bit too dressed. Danny’s dish has a nice balance, but the chef doesn’t taste lobster in it at all. He chooses Paula’s dish.

Paula’s seafood medley is cooked well. Danny’s salad is yummy. They’re both really good, but Danny is the winner.

It comes down to the entrees. Larry Mullin will judge this. Paula’s sea bass is good. Danny’s beef is done very well. Danny wins the challenge.

With that done, they return to check on the progress of their restaurants. Paula’s mostly just happy there is no pink, purple, or pastel. Danny got fish on his wall anyway. He insists that they put the booth along the wall.

The next day is when they will be running their restaurants. They’ll need some help. So who gets stuck with Lacey?

As the winner of the final challenge, Danny gets to pick first. He chooses Ben. Paula picks her buddy Andrea. Danny gets Giovanni. Paula picks LA. Carol’s not happy. Danny gets Carol because he doesn’t have a choice. Speaking of not having a choice, Paula gets Lacey.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Hell’s Kitchen Season 5 Episode 15, where we will find out who the Hell’s Kitchen 5 winner is, which airs Thursday at 9/8c on Fox.

Somehow, Andrea survived in Hell’s Kitchen 5 Episode 12, and Ben was sent home.

The final three are allowed to spend ten minutes with their family.

They will be serving lunch to 100 very special distinguished customers. They have 90 minutes to cook 100 small tasty portions.

Andrea’s flustered, as usual.

Their customers are chefs from across the area, including executive chefs with the highest honors. If they were expecting a bunch of kids to judge their food, they were wrong. This is going to be a tougher group than usual.

The guests will sample each of the dishes and vote for their favorite and least favorite.

Over 76% thought one dish was the worst. Danny loses the challenge, perhaps his poorest moment in the series thus far. Over 76% also chose one dish as their favorite. Paula wins the challenge. She will be given the full Hollywood pampered treatment for her reward.

As for the losers, they will clean and set the dining room ahead of the service. Then they get to do the laundry.

Following her makeover, Paula gets to do a live TV talk show.

Meanwhile, the others get a part two as well. They get to clean some more, while watching Paula’s debut.

Paula’s risotto is very nice. Andrea’s first appetizer is nicely cooked as well.

Paula is the first one to get the chance to run the kitchen. She’s stumbling and nervous initially.

Her first test is the carrot puree. Gloria has substituted the squash puree for it. Paula doesn’t notice. Ramsay has her taste it again. She notices it tastes like squash.

Scott brings up the next sabotage. He made spinach soup instead of watercress soup. This time she catches it.

Now it’s Danny’s turn. He believes he should nail this because he does it every night at home, but he’s fumbling initially as well.

He gets his test right off the bat. JP has sabotaged the first ticket. Danny didn’t notice.

He’s feeling insecure at the pass because he knows Ramsay is scrutinizing everything.

Danny’s next challenge was unplanned. Andrea gave him well done scallops, which he sends back.

Then Gloria gives him his next test. Rock hard potatoes. He doesn’t notice again.

After a rough start, Danny has recovered and is becoming more confident.

Now it’s Andrea’s turn. She’s aggressive, which is working.

Her first test is the wrong fish. It’s halibut, not dory. She doesn’t notice.

She bounces back a dish to Gloria because it has too much salt. Then she bounces the sauce back to Scott and tells him it needs to be seasoned. He responds that she doesn’t know what she’s talking about. She keeps sending him back more and more dishes. He hates her guts.

After the service is over, Ramsay is smiling. That’s new.

They will go back upstairs and come to a decision who should not be in the final two. Andrea votes for Danny because of his performance that night. He will vote for her since he’s been stronger than her throughout the competition. Paula votes for Andrea also because of her performance throughout the competition, and she agrees that Andrea was too aggressive at the service.

Paula has made the finals.

Andrea has used up her ninth life, and Danny joins Paula in the final two. A worthy finale.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Hell’s Kitchen Season 5 Episode 14, which airs Thursday at 9/8c on Fox.

Andrea won immunity in Hell’s Kitchen 5 Episode 11, but after her horrible performance, Ramsay decided if he couldn’t get rid of her, he wouldn’t fire anybody. Robert, however, had to go home due to medical problems.

Chef Ramsay has made some food for them to eat. The majority of them like the fish stew, so they’ve got half an hour to make it. Danny uses the red snapper, while the others use halibut. Andrea goes for bay scallops, while the others use sea scallops. Paula uses water as a base, while the others use fish stock. Danny and Paula use white wine, Andrea uses sambuca, and Ben covers his choice with a cloth so nobody else sees it. Andrea’s not confident and peeks at what the others are doing.

Danny’s the only one to get the fish right. Ben had it in his hand but changed his mind. Ben was the only one to get the liquor right. Andrea was the only one to get the scallops wrong. Ben had too much saffron in his dish. Nobody wants yellow lips. It’s between Danny and Paula. Because he used fish stock instead of water, Danny wins.

The others will hand polish the crystal and cutlery. They will also prep for dinner service that night. For his reward, Danny hops in the limo that takes him to a biplane.

Andrea’s complaining nonstop. The good news is she shouldn’t survive much longer anyway.

Before service, Ramsay has given them a gift: Gordon Ramsay Cookware by Royal Doulton.

The slate’s been wiped clean. Danny liked his slate.

Ben’s messing up the orders early, but his risotto’s nice.

Everything seems to be going smoothly, but Ben jumps ahead and Ramsay wants him to listen closer.

Andrea’s meat is cooked perfectly. Time to speed up the appetizer production. This time, Ben’s bland risotto has been rejected.

Paula doesn’t hear the order and falls behind by not cooking enough. He tells her she’s the slowest so far.

Back to Ben. He’s struggling with the salad.

Next it’s Danny’s turn. He’s falling behind on the garnish station.

Andrea’s continuing strong on the meat. This is different.

Ben forgot to drop the pasta. Danny is amused with Ben burying himself.

Andrea has started going south. She messes up her wellingtons and is afraid to tell Ramsay. They’re good enough to serve.

In between Ramsay’s yelling, it’s time for a happy moment. One of the customers proposes to his girlfriend.

Back to the grind. Andrea doesn’t know where two of her wellingtons have gone. That botches what had been a great service with just three tables left.

The four of them will have to come up with a consensus who needs to leave. Ben picks Andrea based on her overall performance. Andrea picks Ben based on tonight’s performance. Danny picks Andrea based on how she crashed and burned at the end of the night’s service. She says she has experience but doesn’t feel the need to list her credentials. Paula picks Ben because he’s not as great as he thinks he is. It’s obvious they won’t reach a consensus.

Ben and Andrea step forward. Again. Andrea has by some miracle survived again, but Ben has run out of chances.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Hell’s Kitchen Season 5 Episode 13, which airs Thursday at 9/8c on Fox.

Giovanni was sent home in Hell’s Kitchen 5 Episode 10, although I’m still not sure why. After that was done, Ramsay pretended to shut down Hell’s Kitchen. Yeah, we really believed that.

They’re all going to Atlantic City. Yeah, he really left us with a cliffhanger that lame. They are all taken to the Borgata via private jet. This is the resort that will become home to the winner’s own restaurant. They’re having a great day seeing the space for the winner’s restaurant and getting spa treatment and a dip in the pool.

Then they get a fancy dinner. About 10 minutes through dinner, Robert gets up and seeks medical attention. His blood pressure is 160/100. He’s instructed to go to the hospital. The ambulance drives him off, although the other contestants have no idea anything’s even wrong. He calls Ben to let him know. They’re not sure what’s wrong. It may have been a heart attack.

The remaining chefs all return to Hell’s Kitchen, minus Robert. After a couple days without any word on Robert’s progress, Ramsay calls them for a meeting. Robert is back, but he’s not feeling well. He has periocarditus, which is a swelling around the sack that leads to heart disease. He will not be returning to the competition. This is the type of scene I’d expect from The Biggest Loser, rather than a cooking competition, although it’s not entirely surprising to see a chef this overweight. That said, hopefully Robert uses this as a wake up call to drop the weight.

The show must go on. The challenge is for the chefs to prepare what would be their signature dish at their restaurant. They can use any ingredients they want from the kitchen.

Danny: pan-seared sea scallop with citrus basil champagne sauce, not the most creative dish in terms of presentation but delivers in taste
Andrea: green tea crusted tuna, delicious and goes very well together
Paula: smoke salmon seviche, delicious with perfect seasoning
Ben: pan-roasted tiger prawns, pretty dish but definitely not safe

Andrea is the winner, which means she’s in the final three. Oh, now that’s just ridiculous.

That night, the final four will have to work together on a service, which hopefully will be better than the final six service was.

Danny is told his food is very nice.

Andrea’s scallops are raw. Yet she’s safe tonight. She doesn’t like to cook on high because the kitchen’s too hot. Her next attempt is rubber scallops.

Ben’s struggling to keep up. When he delivers his dish, it’s cold.

Paula’s food is ready, but she’s waiting for Andrea’s fish to be finished. Ramsay basically tells her to go ahead and let Andrea fall on her face.

Ben continues to fall apart. He doesn’t know what he’s doing. He’s slowly but surely accepting that he can’t please Ramsay.

Andrea’s raw salmon has been returned.

Ben has finally woke up. As for Andrea, she’s still asleep, so Danny has to give her a hand on the fish. Yet she’s still delivering raw fish. Perhaps if Paula helps her, too.

As a team, they’ll need to pick two people to nominate. Can they pick Andrea? They all want to pick the other two and not themselves. So Andrea’s the tie breaker.

Ben is the first nominee due to his performance. Paula is the second nominee due to lack of communication.

Paula can get back in line. Andrea can now step forward. She couldn’t handle her station, and she sunk Ben in the process. Nonetheless, she’s still safe. Because someone already went home and Ben’s performance was not as bad as Andrea’s, Ben will get one last chance.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Hell’s Kitchen Season 5 Episode 12, which airs Thursday at 9/8c on Fox.

After much complaining about how much she hated Andrea, Carol was finally sent home in Hell’s Kitchen 5 Episode 9.

Paula says that Andrea is the weakest chef on the red team. Danny says that Ben is the weakest on the blue team.

They are both called forward and asked to take off their jackets. They both get new jackets, as does everyone else. Was the drama really necessary? Did anyone actually believe they were being sent home?

Each contestant is given 14 ingredients and must create a dish using all of them.

Andrea’s dish is a lot better than it looks. Giovanni’s is nice with rich contrast. Paula’s is delicious. Robert’s is slightly too dry but has lovely flavor. Danny’s is very nice. Ben talks and talks and talks as usual, but when that’s finally over, his dish is delicious. He’s the only one that used the drum. It’s between Ben’s stuffed chicken and Danny’s rosemary chicken bruschetta. Ben wins the challenge. He will be heading to San Francisco with Chef Ramsay, and he invites Robert with him.

For those who stay behind, they have to deal with delivery day. When they hear the delivery trucks, they have to stop what they’re doing and unload the trucks.

Danny’s not happy with Ben’s choice, and Robert feels guilty because he thinks Danny should have gone. Ramsay thought he was going to pick Danny as well.

With the first truck, Giovanni’s breaking plates and other assorted boxes. By the time another truck arrives, Giovanni hates the punishment, and instead of running to the trucks, he’s hiding and chowing down on some snacks. When the fourth delivery truck arrives, Danny signs the invoice without confirming that they’ve got everything. They don’t. After Giovanni runs out to stop the guy, they realize… oh wait, they’re not really short lobsters. That creates more anger from Gio.

For their first service as the black team, Ramsay wants to see them working as a team.

Robert’s first scallops are rubber.

Andrea’s using the extra time to get ahead. Too ahead.

Paula’s caesar salad is very nice.

Giovanni’s chicken drums, part of Ben’s winning dish, are bloody.

Andrea has no idea what she’s doing. Luckily for her, nobody else knows either.

An hour and a half into dinner service, only half the appetizers and not a single entree have left the kitchen. Andrea, however, has left the kitchen. She’s being given a choice to either come back or leave the show. When she returns, she’s finally awake, sorta.

Robert puts bacon in a dory. There’s not supposed to be bacon in there.

Giovanni’s chicken has been returned again. Ramsay flips out on him, and he gives it right back. So then Ramsay loses it. It’s not personal. Sounds like it to me.

Ben will cook his own chicken special, while Giovanni handles the rest of the meat.

Two hours in, only 5 tables have received their entrees.

Andrea is growing increasingly frustrated due to the lack of communication from Giovanni. Robert’s also frustrated with Giovanni because he can’t get his part of the dish ready if Giovanni keeps delaying his. Eventually, Robert ends up getting burned by a hot pan. Giovanni put a hot pan in the fridge without telling anybody, resulting in second degree burns.

Ultimately, they’re pretty much just all hoping they don’t burn the kitchen down.

Paula’s the only one who gets a compliment, although Danny is the other one who’s not insulted. She will choose two idiots to nominate.

Giovanni is nominated largely based on that night’s performance. Andrea is also nominated due to her communication.

Giovanni, who has not appeared to struggle until tonight (on the contrary, he’s done fairly well), has been sent home, while Andrea lives another day. On the back of that performance, though, Chef Ramsay is pretending to shut down Hell’s Kitchen.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Hell’s Kitchen Season 5 Episode 11, which airs Thursday at 9/8c on Fox.

Two people went home in Hell’s Kitchen 5 Episode 8. First, Lacey finally reached the end of her rope and was thrown out of the kitchen during the service. Then, LA was eliminated.

Andrea doesn’t like Carol. And vice versa. Wow. Shocker. Paula and Giovanni consider this a problem for the team and say they’re going to be nominated if they can’t get over themselves.

Chef Ramsay asks the contestants a bunch of questions about chicken. So of course they’re cooking crab. He shows them a king crab. That thing’s huge. Robert views it as just an appetizer, though. They will have 45 minutes to all cook a crab dish. Then they must come to a consensus whose dish will be put forth for their team. The issue here is that they’ll need to get past their own egos first.

Andrea’s dish has been selected for the women. The dish is two king crab legs with asparagus and macadamia nut. Doesn’t look the most glamorous. He doesn’t like the shell being left on the plate. Carol is thoroughly pleased. It’s bland and disgusting as well, so they’re not winning.

Ben wants his dish, and Danny wants his dish. That leaves Robert as the tiebreaker. Ben’s dish is selected. It’s unclear what the heck it is because he keeps talking until everybody falls asleep. Nice presentation. Despite the extraordinary lengths he’s gone to get his king crab and asparagus on to the plate, it doesn’t have the wow factor.

Take those two dishes back. Paula and Danny, it’s your turn.

Paula’s dish has basil coconut broth and peppers and chilis. Delicious.

Danny’s dish is madeira glazed. That’s delicious as well.

Why didn’t these two dishes come up first? Even though both dishes were good, someone’s gotta win, and that someone is Danny and the blue team.

For their punishment, the red team will have to spring clean the dorm. Then they’ll cook and clean all of the crab ahead of the next night’s service.

Blue team will be spending the day on the beach in Santa Monica via Hummer limo. Before they leave, Robert will be putting his dirty underpants out to be pressed and cleaned. Ramsay’s got a surprise for them when they arrive. They’ll be riding on Segways. All of them except Robert. Yeah, there’s a weight limit on the Segway, too.

Andrea and Carol hate each other. Oh, just get into a cat fight already. I’m growing tired of both of you.

Each team will be responsible for their own menu.

The red team’s worried about Carol’s potatoes getting done in time.

Robert and Ben are clashing, and they haven’t even barely gotten started with the evening.

Each customer will choose between the red and blue menus.

Red team quickly sends out their first appetizer. It’s quickly returned. Too bland. Giovanni is the one on appetizers. This is the first I’ve seen him getting some heat.

Ben hasn’t made the same mistake. He’s overseasoned it. Too salty. He’ll try again, if he can get his soup to stop overflowing.

The whiny chick who first complained about her underseasoned red team food is going back in the kitchen to throw down with someone. Ramsay tells her not to whistle at him like a dog because she looks more like a dog than he does.

Carol’s potatoes are crunchy. She doesn’t know why they didn’t cook. What she does know is that it must be Andrea’s fault, so the chef has to explain to her that she needed to cook them before the service and not to try to sabotage anyone.

Red kitchen’s at a standstill waiting for Carol’s dish.

Ben’s dish has been blanched instead of cooked in butter. Ramsay considers the dish unrecognizable.

Carol’s potatoes are hopeless. They’ve been thrown out. They’ll need to find an alternative.

Robert’s getting backed up and forgetting things.

Carol hopes to find redemption on the meat station. Nope. The steak’s still moving, not medium.

Ben cut the meat for Robert, and Ramsay calls it sabotage.

Ramsay’s eventually had enough, so he will decide this based on the entrees. The blue team’s entrees were rated at 39% above average. The red team’s were rated at 54% above average, so they are the winners. Danny will have to choose between Ben or Robert. Carol is shocked that she’s still there.

Robert says he’s a diamond in the rough. Ben still thinks he’s the best chef ever. Danny has decided. Ben has been nominated because he has met his full potential. Doesn’t really matter, though. Ramsay wants them both to step forward.

The person going home is the person sabotaging the team who has given up. Carol. Surprising but well deserved.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Hell’s Kitchen Season 5 Episode 10, which airs Thursday at 9/8c on Fox.

We’re not even done yet with Hell’s Kitchen 5, but already Fox is preparing for Hell’s Kitchen 6. Season 6 has been announced as part of Fox’s summer lineup. The show will premiere Tuesday July 21 at 8/7c. Hopefully CBS will keep Big Brother 11 at 9PM.

J was thrown out in the middle of the service in Hell’s Kitchen 5 Episode 7, so Chef Ramsay didn’t have to dismiss anyone else at the end of the show.

The chefs will be cooking tartar. Nobody’s made it before. Nobody has apparently tasted food before either. Tuna has been substituted for beef, and seabass has been substituted for scallops. None of them notice. The next challenge is the taste test.

LA volunteers very quickly to sit out for the red team. Nobody else even has a chance to consider it.

Filet mignon
Ben guesses sirloin beef.
Andrea guesses liver.

Fried egg white
Ben gets a point.
Andrea gets a point.

Beets
Ben gets a point.
Andrea gets a point.

Romaine lettuce
Andrea guesses celery.
Ben gets a point.
Blue leads 3-2.

Turnip
Robert guesses cream of cauliflower and/or broccoli.
Giovanni guesses asparagus.

Pea tendrils
Giovanni guesses spinach.
Robert guesses watercress.

Lobster
Giovanni guesses poached egg yolk (huh?).
Robert guesses mushroom (huh? again).

Black truffle
Robert guesses s***.
Giovanni doesn’t have a clue either.
Blue team leads 3-2 after both people don’t know anything.

Mushroom
Lacey guesses dicon.
Carol gets a point.

Calf’s liver
Carol is correct that it’s gross and is liver.
Lacey guesses foie gras, duck/goose liver, not calf’s liver.

Broccolini
Both are incorrect.

Sweet potato
Lacey gets a point.
Carol gets a point.
Red team takes the lead 6-4. Andrea has to be nice to Carol. Today.

For the final round, each player will have to identify 10 ingredients in minestrone soup, and as they list ingredients, they score a point, which has the potential to make the first three rounds pointless. Danny scores 3 to bring his team to 7. Paula scores 2 to give her team the win.

Red team will be doing a photo shoot with TV Guide. Blue team will be waiting on them during that shoot while prepping both kitchens for that night’s service.

Tonight is celebrity night. I recognize this guy from Will & Grace. There’s apparently someone there from Terminator 2 (a movie from 1991?) as well.

Paula’s first appetizer is spat out. Her risotto is inedibly salty.

Robert’s falling behind, so Ben is told to help him out. He interprets helping as taking over.

Paula’s next attempt at risotto is perfect.

Danny’s told that his dishes are nicely cooked.

Carol’s falling behind on meat. Chef Ramsay wants her to crank up the temperature on her oven, but she doesn’t want to burn everything else, so he’ll have to wait.

Lacey’s lost. Now it’s Danny’s turn to watch her. She tells them she’s no good at meat. Hopefully she just doesn’t burn the place down. Ramsay is willing to give her another chance (again). When she returns, Ben goes over there to try to calm her down, burning himself in the process.

Robert is handling the appetizers on his own, although his pants have split open.

Carol continues to struggle on the meat. Andrea tries to communicate her, but she’s not answering. They produce rubber food and blame each other.

Ramsay is screaming at Lacey every 30 seconds. After getting tired of hearing his voice, she just brings him whatever she’s got and sees what happens. What happens is he has to throw her off the show. She can only look back on the positive things, of which there weren’t many.

That leaves blue team two men down. They seem to be doing okay regardless. Better, in fact, than Carol’s doing over in the red kitchen.

Blue team comes together to finish serving all their tables, but Ramsay’s tired of Carol, Andrea, and LA, so red kitchen is done. Because he’s never seen more team work than he did from the blue team, they win the service.

Carol nominates herself and Andrea. Andrea nominates Carol and LA. Paula nominates Carol and LA, which LA says is personal. Giovanni picks Carol and LA (so is that personal, too?). LA nominates Carol and Andrea.

Failing as a team again, red team has been unable to come to a consensus, but LA and Carol have been nominated. Since Andrea’s name also came up, she will step forward as well.

Andrea would give herself a 6 out of 10 for the night. Her first nominee is LA, despite the fact that she hates Carol. Carol would send Andrea home. Yeah, it’s not personal.

Carol and Andrea are safe. LA will be leaving Hell’s Kitchen.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Hell’s Kitchen Season 5 Episode 9, which airs Thursday at 9/8c on Fox.

In Hell’s Kitchen 5 Episode 6, the previously largely invisible Coi (aside from her occasional flipping out at Lacey) was eliminated.

Carol is surprised she wasn’t put on the block. She should have been.

Today’s challenge is tapas style cooking. First, they’ll need to even the teams. The chef fakes out Lacey, who has performed well since leaving the women (who have not performed well since she left). They’re relieved, as is she. Giovanni, however, will be moving over to the ladies. Good luck.

The teams will have 20 minutes to create their dishes. Lacey doesn’t think she’ll go very much further if she can’t even come up with a dish, which she can’t.

Paula: pepper steak and eggs
Danny: filet mignon with mushroom ragu
Both get a point.

Lacey: mushroom bruschetta (Ben’s suggestion) on top of uncooked sauteed leeks
LA: asparagus and ginger soup - looks and tastes like it came out of the bottom of a dishwasher
Neither get a point.

Carol: ginger seared tuna with fried leeks glazed with a ginger soy reduction (bad news… there wasn’t actually any soy sauce in the kitchen, so what she actually used was balsamic)
Robert: pasta with butternut squash - good flavor, albeit too large
Point for Robert.

Andrea: lobster and asparagus ravioli - boring looking but delivers in taste
J: lobster with fennel and leek broth - too simple
Point for Andrea to tie at 2.

Giovanni: surf and turf style tapa
Ben: grilled tuna and asparagus
Both are called extraordinary, but thanks to their new chef Giovanni, red team has won.

Punishment for the blue team is a double prep with service that night. Red team, meanwhile, will go to Hollywood Park horse racing.

Giovanni wants his new team to stop bickering. If they don’t, they’ll lose again.

Lacey’s not overly interested in the punishment. Time to slack off and whine. She and Robert hate each other (still), so she says she’s leaving if anybody fights with her. Ben has to babysit her. J is okay if she just leaves. She says she quits and walks out. Robert wants her to go be a chef in a psycho ward so she can get some free therapy. Ben goes to talk to her. Again. Telling her they need her. Again. She’s not buying what he’s selling, but she agrees to go back inside.

With a positive attitude following his challenge win, Giovanni hopes he will rub off on the rest of his team. Not likely.

Chef Ramsay tastes the women’s rice, which is overcooked and mushy. J cooked it during their punishment. That means the blue team’s rice is messed up, too.

Half an hour later, appetizers are leaving the kitchen. Then they’re being brought back since they’re undercooked. Andrea and Carol hate each other again. Before going back to service, they’re forced to eat the uncooked pasta.

J’s messing up again, with cold/burned fish.

LA’s sleeping or something, so Ramsay calls her a cow.

Ramsay has finally had enough of J. He’ll be leaving the kitchen now. Not just that, he’s off the show. That was… sudden.

Giovanni seems to actually be making progress on pulling the red team together, even if they still hate each other’s guts.

Ben is struggling to cook the wellingtons, so Ramsay tells him he’s next. He’s watching him because he wants him out. Paula, however, is told that hers are perfectly cooked.

After the service, Carol and Andrea return to bickering. Carol’s about to lose her cool. Funny, I thought she already lost it.

Blue team has lost, which doesn’t surprise anyone. Ben acknowledges he performed poorly. That said, he doesn’t understand why Lacey would consider nominating him. Speaking of Lacey, Robert is tired of dealing with her emotional issues.

Robert nominates Lacey because she doesn’t care. Lacey nominates Robert because he nominated her. Danny nominates Lacey due to her attitude and threats to quit. Ben nominates Lacey for the reasons already mentioned. Regardless of the nominations, Ramsay wants Lacey to step forward along with Ben.

Ben admits that he was the worst performing chef on the blue team tonight. He’ll tell the truth no matter what. Ben gets one more chance. Lacey can also get back in line. Since J was already booted, nobody else is going home. Lacey agrees to work with her team, even though she hates them like she hated the red team.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Hell’s Kitchen Season 5 Episode 8, which airs Thursday at 9/8c on Fox.