Episode Report Card Daniel: B- | 10 USERS: A- YOU GRADE IT Burger Time
By Daniel | Season 11 | Episode 18 | Aired on 07.11.2013
After a break, the narrator tells us the women are enduring a "long and tedious" punishment, and maybe if you can describe something as "long and tedious" that should be a clue not to spend a lot of show time on it?
Eventually, the women get to prepping the kitchen, which is when Jon and Cyndi return. Everyone gets ready for dinner service -- the first one for the team of five -- and the restaurant is opened.
Then there is this weird setup thing where Antonio Sabato Jr. and his buddy show up late and are seated in the lounge because there’s no room in the dining room. Jean-Philippe asks Ramsay if they can be seated at the chef’s table, and apparently Antonio Sabato Jr. is turning everyone’s head with his stunning good looks and whatever. "Hopefully he is impressed with our skills," says Susan. Sounds like she’s planning to make her patented, "I’ll let him know I’m a woman and later when he’s horny and looking to have sex he’ll remember that Susan is a woman" move. Cyndi winds up taking the table, thoroughly unmoved by Sabato’s looks, but that’s because she plays for a different team.
Things are going really well, but Ja’Nel’s a little worried because she’s getting slammed with risotto and starts to get behind, and then serves up a terrible mushy risotto. "Get a grip now!" Ramsay yells at the chefs. Antonio Sabato Jr. is enjoying the show. But things are slowed now and the diners are getting hungry, including Challen Cates, who is in Big Time Rush, which is not anything I’m familiar with, but thank god the chyron identified her as an actress because I had no idea if "Challen" was a man or woman’s name. There is also an actress from Glee here, and I can say with confidence that I have heard of Glee.
And then, whoop-de-do, Ja’Nel gets it under control and the appetizers start running out of the kitchen again. At least until Mary serves up sliders, one of which doesn’t have a patty (which Ramsay pronounces "pat-tay," which cracked me up beyond reason). "I’m being a freaking idiot right now," she tells us. Then her next batch includes one that looks like a hockey puck, so Ramsay is not pleased. "Do you think that’s going to be served at Caesar’s Palace?" Well, not that exact one.
The team gets things back under control and they start sending out entrees, where Mary burns fish and Susan burns garnish. And then Susan starts firing the entrees for a table that hasn’t received its appetizers yet, and she argues with Ramsay -- who calls her "dumbo" -- about whether they did, and Ramsay is apoplectic. "She’s screwed," says Sabato’s friend, and Ramsay tells Susan she can run the kitchen then. "We’re fucked," says Jon, since Susan can’t even get the times right at her own station.