By: Arthur Perkins
 
Hell's Kitchen by nature of who the cheftestants are is always filled with cliches and aphorisms. This episode may have set a new record for them. The baloney is flying all over the 2 kitchens and in the sleeping quarters. Matt, who continues to be ignored and marginalized as a result of his incompetence, starts it off by stating the Bobby is sloppy and the Blue Team is dysfunctional. Both of those may be right but that does not excuse Matt's low performance.
 
Gordon Ramsay takes the teams to the regional farmer's market, where he tells them to think of food that teenaged girls might like. They have $150 and 25 minutes to shop and then 45 minutes to prepare dishes. Shayna states that she has a teenage daughter and knows what they like to eat. Someone states that "the WOMEN are concerned about what they like, but the MEN are concerned about what they don't like." Matt makes a plea to visit the little grocery store tucked away, but his credibility with the men is so low that nobody listens to him and they do not go there. Ben is in charge of the MEN while Corey is in charge of the Women for this task. Ben shows Matt how to prep veggies because Matt was overdoing it and was too slow. Matt claims to be outspoken, but I thinks he's just so incompetent that he has no credibility. Ramsay finally reveals what everyone has suspected, that this is the CHALLENGE and the judges will be Melissa, the guest of honor at a Sweet 16 party, with help from her mother Lori. There will be a 3 course test and team winning the majority of the courses wins the challenge.
 
Appetizers  WOMEN present Shrimp Scampi                       MEN present Chicken Wings (a la Bobby)
 
Entrée1  WOMEN present Caribbean Halibut w/Mango Salsa  MEN present Sweet Potato Mash?
 
Entree2   WOMEN present  Grilled Steak                            MEN present Filet Mignon
 
The Chicken Wings won, then the Halibut. The deciding course is Steak vs. Filet Mignon. Melissa appears to favor steak, but asks her Mom for advice. We don't know what she told her, but a reasonable guess would be that filet mignon is much classier. Melissa picks Filet Mignon and the MEN win for the first time in 4 weeks.
 
The MEN get to act like teenagers and ride go-karts and have sweets at Simon/LA. Bobby was the champion of go-karting. The WOMEN get to put special decorations on the regular Hell's Kitchen dining room under the directions of party planner Francisco, whose favorite word is sparklicious. However, trouble brews when Lori gets involved to ask for a redo of certain aspects that do not meet her exacting standards. The event is the next day so there is some down time. Corey successfully lures Louross to the hot tub. He appears to be genuinely interested in her, but she states out of his earshot that she is just using him.
 
The next day the prep begins. Rosann's (I think) mango salsa required some detailed prepping. Ben and Shayna agree that it is out of proportion to the value of the dish. Several other women agree with that. Melissa is introduced as Queen for the Day by the Party Planner and glides serenely down the stairway from the area with Ramsay's office is located. However, those in the know are clear that the real Queen for a Day is Francisco(who probably was some starving actor hired to play this part over the top). Corey does perfect apps for Melissa's table. Christina has trouble following the risotto recipe. She leaves out some ingredient, then she not have enough cheese. Ramsay gives her a severe reprimand. At 45 minutes into the service, all apps are out. Bobby is lauded for his performance. Rosann is cooking a steak medium well for Melissa while the MEN are behind on finishing the halibut dish for Lori. Both Melissa and Lori return their food. Melissa's steak is rare. Lori's fish is overcooked. Rosann had trouble on the redo, even with major guidance from MaryAnn Salcedo (she is apparently back as SousChef for the Red Kitchen but why?). Ramsay himself then takes over to assure that it is done perfectly. Bobby pushes Matt out of the way and cooks the halibut very nicely, clearly to the satisfaction of Lori who appears to be a difficult woman to please. While all this is happening, Shayna is SLOW, SLOW, SLOW.  At 2 hours, all entrees are completed and desserts have started. Ramsay asks Melissa to go outside for a special surprise, which turns out to be her favorite band PINK performing. Melissa and Lori are both shown swaying to the beat of PINK.
 
Ramsay assembles the Red Team and the Blue Team. He tells them all diners have filled out comment cards. The feedback is that 98% of those served by the blue team would return to Hell's Kitchen. The men congratulate themselves until he continues "and 99% of those served by the red team would return. No team wins as both performed with excellence (it's those dumbed down menus plus getting rid of the laggards). He asks each team to nominate one individual for potential elimination. The blue team has no trouble nominating Matt. The red team has to choose between Shayna and Rosann. Their official choice is Rosann as presented by Christina. However, Ramsay asks Christina who she personally would eliminate and she says Shayna. Ramsay asks Matt, Shayna and Rosann to step forward. Matt makes a plea to be transferred to the women's team, as he has no friends and no support on the men's team. Shayna and Rosann both talk about how they sacrificed, leaving small children behind to be able to do Hell's Kitchen and they want to continue. Ramsay tells Shayna she is gone. The reason is that she is too slow in the kitchen. He also give Matt his wish, transferring him to the Red team. It doesn't look like the women are welcoming to Matt. They didn't ask for him and don't want him, so it's going to be difficult for him to stay in the game.           
 
Here is the current composition of the teams:
Red - Jen, Corey, Christina, Rosann, Matt
Blue - Bobby, Louross, Ben, Petrozza
 
That's a pretty solid blue team, while the red team has 2 weak links(Rosann and Matt) likely to be eliminated over the next 2 weeks.
 
I have examined the remaining schedule which says 9 WEEKS LEFT. Guess what that means? With 9 contestants, we are off by one week. So the rumors that "someone is coming back" are very likely to be true. You heard it here and why that is so. I am guessing that Julia from HK3, probably finished with the culinary school Ramsay financed for her, is the most likely chef to return. There is insufficient talent in the prior HK4 eliminees for any of them to be brought back.

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