Episode Report Card Monty Ashley: C- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT A Farewell to Nitwits
By Monty Ashley | Season 5 | Episode 8 | Aired on 03.26.2009
Craig Tomashoff of TV Guide sits down with the red team and the blue team brings out some Cobb salads. Chef Ramsay harasses them about not having water on the table and serving the men before the women. Then the red team moves over to where they'll be getting their photo taken. Ben brings over some wine just as the flashes go off, causing him to drop a glass. Pictures are taken. Andrea is open-mouthed with glee. The blue team does prep. Lacey is on potatoes and Ben is frustrated with her slow pace.
The red team puts on silly clothes and poses on the stairs. Sous chef Scott harasses the blue team about getting done. Ben gets angrier and angrier about serving the other team. Robert asks Lacey if she can get some dirt out of somewhere, and she answers "Yeah. I'll get right on it." Sounds good, right? Helpful and in the spirit of teamwork? Well, what if I told you she was extravagantly rolling her eyes at the time? So it was really more like "Yeah. I'll get right on it." Danny thinks she should either cook or leave. Everyone makes some sort of snotty comment, with Lacey comparing Robert to a jackass and just saying "Hee Haw!" to his request for her to set up a station. Tensions are high!
Suddenly, both teams are finishing prep. LA says that she's found that being too confident doesn't work, and that she wants to be a little nervous. I like that plan. Keeps you on your toes! Carol thinks that the red team is two up on the blue team, not one, because Lacey counts as a negative chef. We see Danny coaching Lacey through the meat station, telling her everything she needs to have ready and what temperature her ovens should be. Lacey tells us that she's on meat, and she seems a little skeptical.
People arrive! "As usual, Hell's Kitchen is fully booked", and my Internet sleuthing suggests that we have a casting agency and Craigslist to thank for that. But we also have a celebrity! Eric McCormack of Will & Grace is here. He will be the uninteresting part of the night's festivities. Just like he was on his own show. Zing! Without Pity! Oh, we also have Robert Patrick, who is listed as being from Terminator 2 (which I recapped last year!), because everybody would like to forget that he was on The X-Files. Incidentally, he's going to be in The Men Who Stare at Goats, which is based on a book I greatly enjoyed. And it will star Ewan McGregor and George Clooney! Anyway, Robert Patrick is scary. I advise the chefs not to screw up his order.