Episode Report Card Monty Ashley: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT It's Back!
By Monty Ashley | Season 5 | Episode 1 | Aired on 01.29.2009
Back to the women. Colleen has put Mascarpone cheese in the spaghetti, and is yelled at by Chef Ramsay. If you're curious, I think "mascarpone" gets pronounced three or four different ways here. And then suddenly! The lights go out! But the ovens are still going, and Chef Ramsay can still yell at Danny for his scallops. And Danny starts making excuses and talking back, which is exactly the wrong tactic. But with the lights out, Gordon sends Jean-Philippe around to apologize to all the customers, because they obviously can't cook in the dark.
Carol (remember Carol? She's been a waiter this whole time?) is giving wine out to customers on the theory that they might be happier with some free booze. I think that's a good idea. The customers seem to like it.
In the men's kitchen, Robert is talking up a storm and telling Danny to just keep his mouth shut when Gordon gets on him. Robert's right. And 20 minutes later, when the lights come up, everybody starts over. Gordon catches Colleen reusing a dirty pan, which he feels is not evidence of a good culinary instructor. On the blue side, Ben and Robert are successfully sending food out. Unfortunately, the food gets to Giovanni, who has no idea who has what. Yeah, I've had professional waiters who had no idea who was supposed to get what. Big deal.
The men move on to main course, which is Seth and Jay. They're waiting on Wil's garnish, which is burnt gnocchi. As soon as Ramsay moves on from berating Wil, Robert is right there to pep him back up and pat him on the back. I'm telling you, I think Robert shows the right spirit in the kitchen. Meanwhile, Colleen is cooking what looks like all the spaghetti in the world at once.
Seth's lamb looks awful, and Gordon berates him, calling him "Forrest" and throwing the lamb at him. Seth seems to consider the nickname a badge of honor and starts talking like Forrest Gump. That's all I need.
Gordon spits out Colleen's risotto, claiming that it's the worst risotto he's ever tasted "in my entire cooking career." I just can't imagine going on Hell's Kitchen without spending hours mastering risotto first. It's like going on The Amazing Race without knowing how to drive, or going on Survivor without knowing the phrase "I'm not here to make friends." Anyway, Colleen appears to have put sugar in the risotto thinking it was salt. LA, speaking for all of us, interviews "Are you [bleep] kidding me?"