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by Frederic Germay
In the beginning of this season, Melissa was one of the stronger cooks. She delivered one of the few good signature dishes, she was worried about be judged by her 'good' looks, and she was named as the best cook on the girl's team. I had originally predicted at the end of that episode that she would end up in the top three with Rock and Julia. After this episode, I am so very surprised that she wasn't kicked off.
This "Hell's Kitchen" episode had a very special twist -- a wedding reception would be held in the restaurant. Obviously the couple knew that there was a probability of disaster, which makes me wonder why they wanted to risk the 'perfect wedding' just for some minutes in the spotlight. Anyways, the challenge this week was to use merely 100 dollars and 30 minutes to purchase all the materials needed for their own special dish for the wedding. Then they had to cook it and prepare it for Chef Ramsay. As complicated as that was, it wouldn't be "Hell's Kitchen" if matters weren't made worse.
It seemed as though the boys' team had laid aside their squabbles and backstabbing, and decided to finally work as a team. However, the girls decided (or were forced) to stray away from that particular brand of democracy. Melissa took it upon herself to be the dictator of the kitchen, and she ruled every duck with an iron fist. Unfortunately, she wasn't very good at it. I still can't believe that Melissa told Julia to talk to her, but NOT Bonnie, and she said that right in front of Bonnie! What the frak just got into Melissa?
Then came the trademark twist -- Ramsay was not going to be judging them, but the couple to be wed were going to sample the dishes. Then came the trademark shocker -- Melissa told Ramsay that they should not serve the dish. Understandably, Ramsay was not amused and told them to go on with the proceedings. The boys won one dish, and the girls won another dish. The score was tied and the final dish was up to Rock and Jen secure a winning position for their team.
Rock was ready to bring his dish up, but Jen wasn't. Melissa kept telling Jen not to bring up the dish, while Ramsay kept yelling at her to get the dish up to the table. I can't believe, no matter how bad the dish was, that Melissa would directly countermand a direct order from Ramsay. He was going to find how bad it was anyways, so why did she even bother to put it in the dish anyways?
Obviously the boys won that competition, and for the first time in few weeks, they were treated with a reward. All the boys went to a spa (I'm a little doubtful that that was the right reward to give a team of men) and Brad seemed to really enjoy that reward a lot! Meanwhile, the girls were delegated with the god-awful task of …..decorating! Ooooh, that really compares to last week's punishment! The moment I saw that wedding planner start to dreamily recite the decoration requirements with his little headset, I couldn't help but laugh. I was on the floor by the time I saw Jean-Phillipe's forced smile, and I knew that we would soon experience the battle of the frailties.
All throughout the decorating, the girls had to endure a seemingly endless stream of criticism from Melissa, and even I (who was watching) thought it was near unbearable. I suppose the girl's punishment does compare to last week's punishment! However, Melissa plunged to new depths when she single-handedly took on the entire girls team. All Julia requested was that they at least treat each other with little respect, and then Melissa told her to grow a pair. That was so uncalled for… Not to mention the fact that earlier she was worried about her looks -- this week she had some sort of thing under her lower lip that resembled a goatee. That, in combination with her evil attitude and hairstyle, gave her the resemblance of the devil or some kind of demon. I know that’s rather cold, but I have no compassion for her at the moment, now if only some radishes fell on her head in the formation of horns…
Then came the dinner service, and Melissa not only sabotaged Rock, (I love how the announcer pointed out that Melissa and Rock might never get married) but she also tried to steal food from the boy's team, and kept screwing up orders. Bonnie was actually okay, Julia was solid (like usual), and Jen finally took charge and lead the kitchen in a surprisingly good way. I think I may have forgiven Jen for her garbage spaghetti, but she really needs to lighten up. Jen keeps acting like she's under a boatload of stress, and I keep searching but I can't seem to find out what keeps plaguing her. Maybe its her team's incessant bickering, which she thankfully doesn't participate in. Whatever the case, I think she needs to lighten up!
In the end, all the tables were served, and the boy's team secured yet another win. Jen was named as the best of the worst, and she ended up nominating Melissa and Bonnie. Both were incredibly well deserving candidates, so I wasn't sorry to see either of them go. However, would it really be "Hell's Kitchen" if everything went as expected? Chef Ramsay gave Melissa a second chance and put her on the boy's team, because of the fact that she used to be a strong cook. Bonnie went back to the girl's team, and now both teams, yet again, have a weak link.
Nobody ended up going home tonight, and that was a "Hell's Kitchen" first, along with many other elements of this episode. This was probably the best episode this season, and probably the best in HK history. I give this eppie a 9/10. I can't wait till next week!
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