By: Arthur Perkins

Ben, 29, an electrician and former chef from Charlotte, NC

Bobby, 37, an executive chef from Niagara Falls, NY

Christina, 25, a culinary student from St. Louis, MO

Corey, 25, a private chef from Brooklyn, NY

Craig, 30, a sous chef from Coram, NY

Dominic, 43, a stay-at-home dad from Catawba, SC

Jason, 29, a sous chef from Las Vegas, NV

Jen, 24, a line cook from Chicago, IL

Louross, 24, a hotel cook from Las Vegas, NV

Matt, 35, a sous chef from Pinehill, NJ

Petrozza, 47, a catering director from Charlotte, NC

Rosann, 33, a receptionist and former cook from Staten Island, NY

Sharon, 31, a room-service chef from Las Vegas, NV

Shayna, 28, a catering-company owner from Buffalo, NY

Vanessa, 31, a line cook from Bozeman, MT

So, Philippe gives his Gordon impression when the contestants arrive and he does an excellent job. A few of the contestants give it a try. Then "Helmutt" steps forward and his impression of Gordon is dead-on. Some of the contestants
are catching on when Gordon rips off his mask and reveals that he is the real Gordon. He then orders them to go prepare their signature dish for him. The results are desultory. Many he won't even sample beyond looking at after he barfed on one. Only two are deemed "good" and they belong to Dominic, whose was second best, and Vanessa, whose was best. On other cooking shows of this type you get some type of reward to winning this type of competition. Here on HK4 Vanessa's reward was to get her managerial skills severely tested in the first episode as a division into men's and women's teams was made and she was named team captain. It proved to be a Pyrrhic victory. Dominic did not get any leadership position and you can follow his progress later in the episode.

I should say what the ultimate prize for this competition is. Gordon has a new London Los Angeles restaurant opening soon. It needs an Executive Chef, although not in the usual sense of that term. Gordon intends it to be the dumbed-down version where the position occupant is not out there by themselves quite as much as that position normally entails. The hook is a $250,000 annual salary. The concept of HK4 is "it's a dream world for some, a nightmare for others." Hell's Kitchen 4 is a 15 week job interview. Support on-site is provided by Sous-Chefs Nancy for the Men and Gloria for the Women. The HK4 menu has 15 new dishes on it with a new recipe for each one. You can expect behavior from Chef Ramsay that either reinforces good behavior or more likelyridicules bad behavior in an effort to snuff it out. He knows every histrionic way of doing this.

The MEN made a critical decision after choosing Bobby to be their team captain. Rather than learning the menu, they go to sleep so they are well rested for a tough day. The WOMEN burn the midnight oil after choosing Vanessa. They know much of the 15-item new menu. As they say on another TV network, "Watch what happens."

Ramsay selects Petrozza and Shayna to do tableside pre-apps. It is very impressive and provided most of the actual food guests received on the first night of service. The kitchen started taking orders at 6pm. Petrozza was shown several different times doing an excellent job. Shayna was shown only once. I have no idea why. Ramsay does the obvious by giving a simple "What's on the menu quiz?" to one of the men and then another and then another. None had any answer. The later rejoinder "Well you don't have to know what's on the menu to cook it well" is a total copout because you really do. The first woman asked gave the correct answer for the 5 entrees.

Appetizers were supposed to be cooked and there was no sign of the apps cook, Jason. A shot showed him practically off-premises sneaking a smoke. His counterpart Jen was doing poorly on risotto. Bobby was clearly identified as
having a laid-back, hands-off approach. Jason was told by Ramsay he must get his scallops and risotto apps out. Sharon was doing a poor job on apps and she was replaced by floater Jen on apps. Ramsay felt that Vanessa was as bad as Bobby in non-leadership and so he appointed Roseann to take her place. Jason's scallops were rubber. Bobby refused to get involved in solving the problems of the apps stations. Jen mastered risotto and was turning it out. Louross stepped up and was appointed Team Captain by Ramsay, then he made an effort to turn things around. Corey's chicken was rubber, which Ramsay vividly demonstrated by smashing it against the wall.

Customers were reported to be leaving after a 3 hour wait once 9pm rolled around. I am sure that this was orchestrated in advance. Ramsay's best customers will have a special understanding with him on how this and they might have a free meal waiting at another fine dining establishment. He wants to have the maximum pressure on his contestants. It certainly worked. He was able to tell them that last night was one of the worst disasters in the history of Hell's Kitchen 4.

The judging was all by Ramsay. the MEN's team was judged to have lost and they had to nominate their two worst performers. Members of the team conferred with Captain Louross and nominated Bobby (for failing to deliver any leadership) and Dominic for poor apps performance. Gordon decided, as I knew he would that Dominic, who hadn't cooked in 10 years, was a lost cause, but bobby might have some culinary skills under the bluff and bluster. He was willing to find out. Dominic was eliminated. However, Jason, who had to have been 3rd on the MEN's list, was warned by Ramsay that he was in trouble.

The preview for next week looks like Jason might be fired in the middle of cooking next week and that the WOMEN squabble at some point among themselves.