By Arthur Perkins



So this episode was every bit what was promised on the previews for it. By the way, some jerks at American Idol don't understand the words :"live television" and ran over 2 minutes. My VCR taped until 10pm and lost the preview for next week. I don’t care if they are the top-rated show. They need discipline like any live show.
 
Episode 8 starts with a review of Episode 7 with Lacey being the center of negative attention. Giovanni takes a shot at Carol, who is turn rightfully calls Andrea not a team player (Carol has her revenge plotted; as BRAVO says, watch what happens).
 
The challenge begins with Ramsay telling the cheftestants that they are about to eat some beef and scallops. He is quite disappointed that not a single one can tell that he has pulled one of his famous tricks and it is really tuna and sea bass that they are eating. However, he expected poor performance because it allows him to test their Tasting skills as he usually does, Blindfolded and with headphones so no visual or oral cues can help the cheftestants. He tells the Red team that with one more team member they must have one member sit out. LA volunteers because "I don't do well at this and I smoke (which of course would invalidate almost everyone)". She is later sorry she did. So this Taste Test starts with Blue vs. Red team members paired up judging the same 4 items. Here are the results:
 
Ben vs. Andrea - Filet Mignon (B-beef sirloin, A-liver), Fried Egg White (both right), Beets (both right), Romaine Lettuce (B-right, C-celery) 

Blue 3, Red 2
 
Robert vs. Giovanni -  turnip(R-broccoli or cauliflower, G-asparagus), pea tendrils (G says what are these, R says does it look like I eat pea tendrils, I agree with them both, what a ridiculous item? which is rare with Ramsay) (R-watercress, G-spinach) lobster (R-egg yolks. G-mussels), black truffles (Blue thinks they will win because it's Robert's favorite ingredient) (R-"shit", G- don't know)

Blue 0 Red 0
 
Lacey vs. Carol - mushroom (L-daikon, C-right), calves liver (L-foie gras, liver), sweet potato (L-right, C-right), broccolini (both are wrong)  

Blue 2, Red 2
 
Paula vs. Danny get to identify the most ingredients for a mystery dish (minestrone soup)
Danny- chicken stock, carrot, celery, salt (wrong), chicken (wrong), Madeira win (wrong)
Paula- potato (wrong) , water (wrong), sausage (wrong), beans, bacon, celery

Blue 3, Red 3
 
The final score is Blue 7, Red 8 so the Red team wins. They get to participate in a TV Guide photo shoot for the cover. The Blue team gets to  serve food and drink to them plus (this is the killer) prep both kitchens for service that night. Craig Tomashoff from TV Guide comes to lunch to talk to the Red team about the protocol and tips for media interactions. The announcers says "as the Red team wraps its first shot, the Blue team is wrapping Wellingtons." The Men are focusing on Lacey (what a surprise) and wishing she were gone.  Robert is on Hot Apps and Paula is on Apps for the Red team.
 
Ramsay sets it up for maximum grief. He assigns Lacey to the critical and difficult Meat Station. To my experience, most meat station people are eliminated. There will be celebrities present tonight, actors Eric McCormack and Robert Patrick. Ramsay asks Ben to help Robert on some Fish dishes, but Robert objects to Ben trying to take over and Ramsay backs up Robert. Paula's risotto is inedible and Ramsay spits it out. She soon does another one and he rates it as perfect. Ramsay notes that Robert's portion as too large and tells him "this is for the customers, not for you." Carol is running behind and keeps her oven at 400 degrees. Ramsay orders her to go up to 500 to clear the logjam.
 
Lacey is confused on many things  and wilted under the pressure. She got good advice and help from the others on the meat station. She leaves as a result of Ramsay ordering her to "get out", but he talks her into returning with "Wake up and get a grip." She gets back into the problem by not communicating. She puts up a lamb with bones sticking out of the Meat. This time he says "Get Out. This is not good enough. You're not good enough. Take off your jacket and say goodbye to those in the kitchen nicely." Lacey says "there weren't many positive things about my time here. My mom told me to not make enemies, but I didn't succeed."
 
Carol has problems with simultaneous Dorys and Wellington. Andrea asks for assistance on where Carol is, but Carol is not communicating with her as a retaliation for past sins. Andrea has a rubber dory which sat for too long. Carol is ask for two medium Wellingtons immediately. Andrea prays for them to be overcooked; Carol cuts them and finds it to be rare. Ramsay says to Carol "where's the chicken?" 3 times to make sure everyone gets the point.
 
The blue team now has only 3 chefs, but they work together as a well-oiled machine. They finish first and have clearly won, so they congratulate themselves.  Ramsay says the Blue team demonstrated the most teamwork ever in all of Hell's Kitchen seasons.
 
Red team has 3 individuals who are on the bubble, LA, Carol and Andrea. You can make a case for each one of them but since LA is more stable and more bland than the other two, I predict that she will get the axe. The Red team cannot make a decision when Ramsay asks them to nominate 2. Paula nominates LA and Carol. However, Ramsay tells them they have failed as a team again. He decides that all 3 should be publicly on display before him. Andrea is asked who she would pick and she says LA because Carol has more talent. Carol says Andrea and that she and Andrea have vastly different styles in approaching things. LA says "not me". Ramsay pulls a verbal trick by saying "the person leaving Hell's Kitchen is Carol and Andrea, get back in line. LA, take off your jacket." He then says that he is looking for a leader, who has yet to emerge on the Red team.
 
Remember that there were two eliminations tonight. That either puts Hell's Kitchen 5 one ahead of schedule or it means that there will be a two-episode Finale (which has happened before). I have predicted (although not in this column) that Paula and Danny will be the final 2. The faceoff of them in the TasteTest in this episode buttresses that, because Ramsay selects the order of opponents very carefully.

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