By Buzz Byrne
The only real problem with HELL’S KITCHEN is the over-hype. Since this is FOX, there are certain things a viewer must put up with. (Hey, RESCUE ME starts its new season June 13. It was mentioned once or twice.) But, the spin has got to stop. Tonight’s episode was billed as “The most shocking HELL’S KITCHEN ever!!” Spoiler alert! … It wasn’t that shocking. Next week, however, it looks like someone is going to the hospital. I’m guessing it’s a nut allergy poisoning or Aaron passes out again, keels over and crushes another contestant. But, see that? I’m already buying into the hype and the actual show will never live up to the overdone expectations.
Right now, it is men against women — blue team and red team respectively. Blue won last week, so this week “Hell’s Bitches,” as Chef Ramsay calls them, had to rally. And they did, winning the challenge and getting an afternoon fishing and lunching with the swearing chef himself. Aaron started crying before the challenge began. He’s a 48-year-old man. He was excused from the fish-skinning challenge, told to take a 15-minute time-out and to pull himself together. Four and a half hours later, he was back to help his team. When it came to the dinner service, he had a special assignment to debone the Dover sole fillets tableside for the customers. The first one he did took 15 minutes, and he didn’t get all the bones out. When he was given the assignment, he passed out on his feet. The man is meant to be a star.
As for the actual competition, on the blue team, Josh and Rock were sniping at each other, trying to gain the alpha dog
status. On the red team, Melissa and Joanna were doing the same. This early in the game, rarely does a leader emerge that can sustain authority and fend off attacks. Clearly, these four will claw at each other and a new force will assert itself. Julia is an easy one to pull for; she is humble and her background is as a short-order cook for a waffle house. Brad is underexamined on the blue team, so he might shine as the season continues. Tonight, the red team killed the blue, and as the least awful of his team, Rock got nominating duties. I guess this was the “MOST SHOCKING” part of the show, as Rock went strategically with his choices, which were not necessarily performance-driven. It has happened before, and it will happen again, and it is always a dumb move. The blue team is weaker; they will continue to lose challenges and Rock will not always be in charge of nominations.
None of that matters as long as Aaron is around to drip on the entrees and go fetal at every turn. Thanks to Rock, we get at least one more week of Aaron, and in the next episode he might kill someone. Giddyup! I love this show.