Episode Report Card Angel Cohn: B | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Whistler While You Work
By Angel Cohn | Season 6 | Episode 13 | Aired on 10.13.2009
Dave takes over the kitchen and he goes insane. He starts screaming at everyone, including Heather and chef Scott. Scott basically tells him to chill the hell out. And that helps a bit. But then He misses that they've swapped spinach and asparagus. Gordon pulls him aside and reminds him that he needs to taste things. Then not a minute later (at least in TV edited time), there's another sabotaged tuna dish that's wrong. Again, Gordon's not happy, but tells Dave to calm down. He might use a bit of profanity to get his point across, but it actually seems like he's being nice here. Then Dave finally notices that the next tuna is cold and that salt is missing in certain items, and he gets some good comments from Gordon.
Ariel's up, she seems loud enough, but she doesn't notice parsnip puree isn't mashed potatoes. And she tasted it. And she still didn't notice it. Distracted or stressed can be fixed, lack of palate can't. She does notice that Scott swapped the garnish on some fish, but then she yells out a ton of orders at once and Kevin is confused. Ariel blames Kevin, but Gordon has to step in and get things going properly. She manages to get through it, but not as smoothly as either of the guys.
Gordon says they all had their ups and downs, so it is hard for him to make a choice. He tells them he wants each of them to tell him who deserves to go home. He dispatches them so they have time to think about it. Dave feels lost about this. Ariel asks Kevin if he messed up the scallops on purpose. He doesn't cop to it, but Dave thinks maybe Kevin didn't try his hardest. I'd actually believe that Kevin was capable of sabotaging Ariel, but I just don't think he really cares enough. He seems pretty confident that he can beat both of them with one hand tied behind his back... oh wait, that's what Dave is doing. Still Kevin seems to think Ariel's incompetent enough on her own.
Back in Hell's Kitchen, Gordon says he can see any of them running his restaurant. Yeah, I don't buy it. Kevin doesn't think Ariel's up to the task since she's been in the bottom a couple of times. Ariel thinks that Kevin didn't have her back so he should go home. Dave makes a constipated face and then says that he felt lost during the service when Ariel was running the pass, so she should be eliminated. Gordon says this pointless exercise didn't help him at all. Gee, there's a shocker. He asks why they should be in the final. Kevin says he can accomplish anything he puts his mind to. Ariel says she's grown a lot and feels like she can be a good leader. Dave thinks that he's led himself throughout the competition and that the kitchen won't run him. Two fancy banner screens fall down with the HK logo on them. The first person advancing is Dave, and his face is larger than life. Kevin is next, which means that Ariel's gone. No big surprise. Gordon tells her that she's got ambition that he appreciates. He lets her keep her jacket as a reminder of everything that she's accomplished. Well, that's thoughtful, I guess.