Episode Report Card Monty Ashley: A- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Calm Down, and Let's Cook Some Carrots
By Monty Ashley | Season 6 | Episode 1 | Aired on 07.21.2009
When the women get back to the dorms, they get recipe books, which they are determined to learn before the dinner service the next night. Meanwhile, the men are whooping it up, which means that Louie does a cannonball into the hot tub. Van is providing actual whooping. The women go to bed and the men continue to drink champagne. This might be a good time to mention that I'm recapping "what happens on the show," not "what actually happened". Sure, some of the men might not actually have stayed up drinking all night, and some of the women might not have studied. But I can only report on what I'm shown, you know?
The next morning, everyone files into the kitchen. Scott gives everyone some kind of special knives. Van has trouble with the prep because he's hung over and we get some shots of befuddled men and prepared women. And then prep's over!
Chef Ramsay gives both teams a short pep talk, and we're ready to go! Except we're not! Because Ramsay is not at all happy with the state of Lovely's chocolate fondants, which are not supposed to be cooked already. See, the idea is that they're supposed to be prepared now, but not cooked until the order comes in at the end of the night. Doom! Disaster! Panic! Although I don't think there's much of a chance that either team will actually make it to desserts in the first place, so it's probably moot. Suzanne takes charge of fixing the problem, and also calls her teammates "a bunch of circus clowns". Man, I'd watch that show. You hear me, editors? If someone starts airing "America's Next Top Circus Clown", I call dibs.
Enough foolish around. Open Hell's Kitchen!
The dining room looks different, and there are new items on the menu. Finally!
The first tickets come in, and I think Chef Ramsay has trouble with the phrase "zucchini blossom flower". No, he's just noticing that no one's actually listening. And no one shouting "Yes, chef!" which is really the basic thing he's looking for. Tek brings up the first appetizers, but the scallops are raw. Ariel is shocked that anyone could overcook a scallop. I take it she's never watched the show, then. Lovely announces that her pasta is a minute away and doesn't respond to Chef Ramsay telling her it's already overcooked. Lovely vows to watch Tek like a hawk.
On the blue team, Jim doesn't have enough scallops and gets ordered to count to six. He just does it without complaining. In the dining room, customers are complaining about how long it's taking to get their (free, televised) food.