Episode Report Card Keckler: A+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Day 4
By Keckler | Season 3 | Episode 4 | Aired on 06.24.2007
Reaching really high to pluck some sour grapes, Vinnie insists to the boys that Bonnie cheated. He bases this on the fact that she could initially hear Ramsay, and also because she identified the bok choy using the exact same words as Ramsay. I'm sorry, my man, but from what we saw, Ramsay just said "a slice of bok choy." He never said it was the stem. So shove it with some offal.
As the girls bounce off to eat at Opaque with Ramsay, the boys have to prep both kitchens for that night's dinner service. But first, they are forced to sit down to a tasty meal of tongue, trotters, pickled herring, kidney, creamed herring, liver, and that kind of stuff. Sous Chef Scott bangs down some barf bags and says, "In case your stomach can't handle it." As the boys chew through their offal plates, it's clear that Rock is having a really hard time of it. He's sweating and asking what each individual item is before he eats it. Just eat, Rock -- it's probably better to remain ignorant at this point. There's a point where it looks like Rock throws up in his mouth a little and then chews it some more, which has me groping for my own barf bag.
Opaque is a restaurant where you dine in complete darkness. You seriously can't see your hand in front of your face. I think this is such an awesome concept, but I also don't know if I could do it. The sad thing is, we don't see much of the actual dining experience. All we get is Ramsay and the girls tossing rolls at one another and the girls flirting their Red asses off. After Bonnie tells Ramsay he has the nicest voice "in the dark," Ramsay tells her to behave herself. But then Bonnie says, "I can't get fresh with you, Chef, I can't even see you."
Just before service starts that night, Ramsay tells them that the night's customers will be given comment cards to fill out, and their comments will decide the final eight's fates. Of course, this turns out to be a complete lie. The Blues immediately screw up with Josh's undercooked risotto, but on the other side, things aren't going much better. Julia overcooks her scallops and needs another two minutes and during those entire two minutes, Melissa keeps badgering her with time checks. Finally, Ramsay steps in and yells at Melissa for running ahead with her appetizer and leaving everyone on her team behind. He tells her she's not a team player and then imitates -- IMITATES! -- Melissa looking in a mirror, putting on makeup, and plumping her boobs. He calls her a "fucking bimbo." It was beyond awesome and after that, there was no way this episode wasn't getting an A. In her con-chef-ional, Melissa explains this behavior away by saying that Ramsay puts more pressure on the most experienced chefs and she's okay with that. Yeah, go give your hair another hundred strokes, Melissa; Ramsay's got your game.