Episode Report Card Daniel: C+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Communication Breakdown
By Daniel | Season 9 | Episode 5 | Aired on 08.01.2011
The score is tied, but because Red Team screwed up the veal and left Carrie's better dish on the sidelines, Ramsay awards the victory to Blue. Their reward is a trip to one of the finest spas in Beverly Hills. "Dude, I love fuckin' massages!" Jonathon tells us, and I'm hoping this one is a little more upscale than the rub-n-tug he's probably used to.
Team Blue heads out while Team Red feels sorry for itself in advance for having to scrub the hot tub, the fountain, and prep BOTH kitchens for tonight's service. Elise starts running her mouth about how Krupa's dish was the tie-breaker, conveniently forgetting that Krupa earned just as many points towards a victory as Elise did.
So over at the spa, much sport is made over what a rockin' rocker Tommy is, and how he's too punk for hot stones on his asses, and he doesn't care about spas and "rich people" but it wouldn't be a tough sell to get him used to it. I've gotta say, Tommy's rebelliousness level is much lower than his tattoo volume (and placement) would have you believe. The team enjoys a nice, relaxing mineral bath...
...While Red Team is at work cleaning the fountain and the hot tub. Most of the shots we see show Elise standing around looking disappointed in everyone. Meanwhile, Krupa feels awful about what she did, but she's not about to take any shit from Elise about it.
Back at the spa, there are now foot baths and scalp massages and manicures going on, and Jonathon makes sure everyone knows he is turning down the waxing because he is a manly man who uses a razor. Uh -- aren't manly men supposed to leave the body hair on and not use a razor either? Will goes in for the waxing, and so does Tommy, and they have nicely sculpted eyebrows (two each!) to show for it. The entire spa experience is refreshingly free of happy-endings jokes and professions of manliness, apart from Jonathon's manhood-assertion.
Blue Team strolls back into Hell's Kitchen, loudly extolling the virtues of spending the day at the spa instead of toiling in a kitchen, and you'd think they'd be a little more careful, given the availability Red Team has to the boiling pots and sharp knives.
< p>Sadly, no blood is shed. Jennifer says morale is low, so they have to win tonight to prove they belong here. Maybe they should take baby steps, and prove they can tell the difference between veal and filet mignon?Hell's Kitchen opens! Special tableside service tonight of halibut sashimi, provided by Jennifer for Red and Natalie for Blue. Paul seems to be leading things in the kitchen, and Krupa's looking to prove herself after the veal debacle, but the first risotto she serves up to Ramsay is like soup. "Soupy risotto? What the fuck is wrong with me?" Krupa asks us. An increasingly long list, it appears. Ramsay offers the opinion that even someone who can't tell the difference between veal and filet mignon should be able to tell the difference between risotto and soup. The man's not wrong. Fortunately, the next one's cooked perfectly.