For those late to this party, I can suggest reading Part 1. I will not demand; I will only suggest. Everyone got their snacks? It’s time for our second hour!
1) It’s the next day, and Tactful Van’s still a bit upset from last night, but there are presents! And the presents [...]

Welcome to the first hour of tonight’s two-hour action-packed episode of Hell’s Kitchen, to which I will give a two-post treatment. Last week, our show was pre-empted by two hours of some big guy picking another big girl to be his wife. It’s kind of like the unspoken last call at the frat [...]

Hey, someone’s reading! Before we get started, I’d like to thank reader TheDuke for alerting me to an editing mistake in last week’s show. Apparently, when Chef Ramsay was yelling at Amanda for her raw fish, a shot of the altercation showed previously-eliminated contestant Tek in the background. This has shattered, shattered, [...]

“Thunderbirds”
Ah, sweet mystery of <i>Top Chef</i>…the past 5 seasons have shown us the dishes that constitute a death sentence on the show: Dessert (except for Radhika’s bread pudding in Season 5), “burnt, brown, rubbery” eggs, plus green and or/pasta salad and of course, never do a second dish if you don’t have to, and if [...]

1) It’s a new day, and today we get the palette test as the reward challenge. This part of the season is when all the contestants talk about how they can taste everything perfectly, and then mess up something simple like peanut butter. Each round pits one Red chef and one Blue chef [...]

“Bachelor/Ette Party”
I keep seeing beer extract powder being used by contestants: something new I’ll have to scope. At least I’m learning about new ingredients. Last season I discovered za’taar spice thanks to the Le Bernardin challenge. I am glad to see that Glad is now awarding $125,000 as the grand prize and there is an [...]

1) It’s the next morning, and there’s no sign of Robert in the dorms. The chefs head downstairs, and Chef Ramsay is there with a Hell’s Kitchen branded craps table. A twelve-sided die is given to each team, with letters printed on it. Each chef will roll the die, and choose an [...]

Brian Boitano has a friend who a woman. So Brian decides to plan a house party where calls a bunch of friends and invites random women in the supermarket to come to his house and meet his friend. Does this sound like the plot of a pilot episode of a sitcom? It [...]

“Sin City Vice” left a bad taste in my mouth – or should I say it left me ablaze with apathy? With the glitz and hoopla of showgirls dancing through yet another Top Chef kitchen spiced with the allure of chances to win a lucky gold chip worth $15,000.00 the episode fell flatter than [...]

1) As the teams trudge back to the dorms, Amanda is called back by Chef Ramsay and given a quick pep talk. She’s told to “bounce back,” and quickly. She promises to do so. Upstairs, the guys gloat. They’re enjoying watching the red team implode. Tennille yells in a confessional [...]