By Arthur Perkins

This was a strange episode, with a random event having huge implications for what happened at the end. It began as usual with the summary of episode 10. One of the things that occurred was Robert getting his hand burned as a result of Giovanni's negligence. It ended with Ramsay threatening to "shut Hell's Kitchen down." I was convinced that this meant nothing because he shuts Hell's Kitchen down near the end of every episode. However, I was wrong, as just after the conclusion of Episode 10 the chefs are told that the reason for it is that they are going to visit the Borgata to get inspired and work harder to be the chef chosen to be employed there.
 
The chefs are ready to go the next morning. Borgata has sent its corporate jet for them. On landing there is a billboard sign acknowledging their group. On arrival at the Borgata they are greeted and given gifts by the Borgata Babes (as one of the men put it). The Borgata has numerous restaurants, including ones with the names of Wolfgang Puck and Bobby Flay on them, and there is a huge empty space set aside to be filled with the restaurant that the winner could work at. Some of the chefs have fantasies that they will have a big role in its design. Maybe they will if they win HK5, but I doubt it. That tour was hosted by the VP of Food and Beverage for the Borgata and the Executive Chef, who then have dinner with the chefs. Robert excuses himself without explanation. He has serious chest pains and is offered an ambulance trip to the hospital. He goes and it turns out that he has pericarditis. Pericarditis is an inflammation of the pericardium, the fibrous sac surrounding the heart. It is no laughing matter. Robert calls Ben to fill him in on what is going on. The chefs leave Robert behind the next morning to return to Los Angeles and Hell's Kitchen. The voiceover says that a few days later those chefs are summoned by Ramsay, having apparently been given classes or a vacation in the interim, and Robert comes in to greet them and announce that he has to quit. Ramsay lauds him and tells him he could have won (which is highly unlikely in view of his performance vs. others). Hell's Kitchen 5 will continue with 4 chefs. There was an opportunity to inject Chef Ji, but it didn't happen. At this point I said to myself that nobody else would be going home because they don't want the eliminations to get ahead of schedule.
 
I am going to speculate a little, based on the lack of integrity that FOX producers for this show have demonstrated in past challenges. I think the extra time was used to plan four and shoot four alternate scenarios different from the "Robert returns to continue" scenario that did not happen. Each one had a different winner. The one with Andrea was chosen when after the end of the regular service competition it proved that she was the one who would have been eliminated. That way, the chef count would not go below 4 at the end of this episode. Do you think FOX could have stooped so low as to do something like this? Obviously, I do or I would not have suggested it.
 
They compete on a challenge to create a signature dish:
Paula- smoked salmon ceviche w/ seasoning
Danny- pan-seared sea scallop with citrus basil champagne sauce and ginger
Ben- pan-seared tiger prawns with empty shells, mango scented turnips and basil-crushed Yukon potatoes (Note that Ben continues to love his potatoes and rightfully so)
Andrea- raw tuna on rice cakes and tea leaves
Ben is knocked out for flavor and having shrimp shells on the place. Andrea is named the winner and will get immunity for the dinner service results, meaning she cannot be eliminated. What if Andrea totally screws up (as both Ben and Danny rate her the weakest chef and so do I)? That should not matter.
 
So it's another service and Ramsay is looking for much improved performance over what happened the first time the Black team performed. The setup has Andrea on fish (Danny says this is the easiest station), Ben on Garnish, Paula on Meat and presumably Danny on Appetizers/Desserts. Andrea start in with raw scallops sent back by a diner. She continues to had major problems all night long as she keeps her stove level to low and she cannot keep up. Next is rubber scallops and a medium salmon cold. She has timing issues all night long. Ramsay even asks Danny to help her on 2 Dory and a salmon (which is raw). Ben has his share of problems, not knowing what the current list of items is and a hot carrot puree that is stone cold and lettuce put into a sautee pot. He is sent out of the kitchen by Ramsay for "a dirty pig" but he returns and rebounds.  When he returns to Garnish, Ramsay asks Paula and Danny are both pretty solid, including Paula's turn on the Meat Station. As he shuts it down, Ramsay tells Andrea that "she is the luckiest chef ever" and that she's UNPRINTABLE EXPLETIVE, but you can guess since it's coming from Ramsay's mouth.
 
Dinner service ends and Ramsay tells Andrea she would be fired if she did not have immunity and that her bad performance had caused Ben to under-perform. Coordinated timing is important, but I didn't see it that way. I think Andrea had a minor (but not major) impact on Ben's performance but there is no question that Ben was much more on the ball than Andrea. Anyway, the group is sent out to decide which two get nominated for elimination. Ben should volunteer based on his consistently weaker performance, but he is no fool (see Donald Trump on Celebrity Apprentice 2) and does not. That essentially leaves the decision up to Andrea. She nominates Ben and Paula (who she says has had weak communications). I don't agree with Paula's nomination but either she or Danny had to be picked and with the worst performer exempt this caused lots of problems.
 
Ramsay did not accept Paula's nomination. He sent her back into the lineup. He did direct Andrea to come forward for a verbal attack, but then he reiterated that as a man of his word he had to let her off despite her poor performance. Ben was also given a verbal whipping but told that he would get one last chance. I don't think Ben deserved that, but it hardly matters since there is a high probability that he and Andrea will be the next 2 out, leaving Danny and Paula as the Final 2. So the departure of Robert is the only one for this episode of Hell's Kitchen.
 
Now I want to share a little secret with you that I have been saving for the right moment, which is now. The original list of chefs had a range of current positions. If you took only the chefs with the highest titles, then you get:
 
Danny, Executive chef
Giovanni, Executive chef
Paula, Executive sous chef
Ben, Executive sous chef
 
Gordon Ramsay knew when he selected them that these would be among the top finishers in this competition. Indeed, I expect they will be #1 (Paula or Danny), #2 (Danny or Paula) and #3 (Ben). As you can infer, I think line cook Andrea is in over her head and Ben is not far behind. Experience matters!

(Photo courtesy of FOX)

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