Episode Report Card Daniel: A | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT I'm Kind of A Big Deal
By Daniel | Season 9 | Episode 15/16 | Aired on 09.19.2011
Paul gets things rolling by warning Carrie and Elise that he'll put his foot up their asses (I hope to god he said "asses," but does "ass" normally get bleeped?) if they fight. Elise says she won't, but she tells us she intends to draw blood, both metaphorically by winning, and literally by kicking Carrie's ass after dinner service if she has to.
Paul's putting Elise on apps because he wants a great start. She feels she'll be better on meat, but he says he'll put her on apps because then once she's done there she'll be able to help on meat. Meanwhile, Will draws a picture of quail that somehow looks like a penis and vagina, to a degree that it's pixelated on screen. Jennifer takes that to mean he's very horny and needs to get out of Hell's Kitchen.
The next day the teams get to work, with Paul in Blue and Will in Red. There are shots of Krupa being less than competent and Paul being his usual barky self. Ramsay samples the dishes made by each chef. He seems to love everything Will has made, but he calls Paul's tomato carpaccio a mess. "I've seen plates that have come back with more tomatoes on in Hell's Kitchen and that's going out," he gripes. Ramsay also says his grilled swordfish entrée urgently needs work. A frustrated Paul says he told his team exactly what to do but he didn't taste the dishes before Ramsay did, and it fucked him. "You have some serious work to do there," says Ramsay, and Paul stomps off in a snit.
Back from commercial break, Paul starts crying as he tells us that he promised his mom before she died that he would win, and he just wants to make her proud. He heads back into the kitchen and gathers his team to tell them that whatever's inside them that got them to Hell's Kitchen in the first place, he needs it tonight and he shares the dead-mom-promise guilt with them. Will schlubbily just walks around and high-fives everybody on his team.
The doors open. We're told that there are VIP guests, over shots of, um, Paul's brother and Keith Treyball. Who? Oh yeah, president of BLT Steak. As the cooking begins, Elise proves herself to be a solid right-hand for Paul, surprising even herself, as she tells us she wants to help Paul win. But she's a little shaky on the first app, serving up stock with the shrimp (not supposed to have any stock with it). Then her pan catches fire.
Over in Will's kitchen, Natalie's already getting her appetizers out, and Will jumps the gun somewhat on getting the entrees out. Ramsay has to slow him down so he's not ramming the food down people's throats, which is an appealing visual but not so much as a dining experience. In Paul's kitchen, Elizabeth, who as usual looks on the verge of a nervous breakdown, serves up undercooked scallops.