By Montykins
Oh boy! A two-hour episode! And not two one-hour episodes crudely stuck together to make up for the fact that there wasn't an episode last week. Nope. Definitely a two-hour episode. Possibly with a dramatic cliffhanger in the middle for some reason. Let's do this!
Gordon Ramsay's Bleep-O-Fucking-Meter: 14 in the first half, 40 in the second
Contestants' Bleep-O-Fucking-Meter: 20 and 40
Total score: 114, which is surely a new record. We'll need another two-parter to beat that!
Say, do you think it's weird that Hell's Kitchen had a "French challenge" the same week that Top Chef did? And a few weeks earlier, both shows had a craps-themed challenge the same week? That's clearly coincidence (because doing it on purpose would be a lot of work), but it's a weird one.
It's been a couple of weeks, so Tennille starts things off by shouting at us in an interview. Great. We're back to that. Then (after a shot of the moon that is not a full moon for once), the blue team sits down with Suzanne to explain how Things are Going To Be. Kevin tells her that they don't like her and that she'd better shut up and do what she's told. Well, this is going to be a lovely experience for all concerned! Especially me! Oh, and Van piles on, warning Suzanne that they're a team and they never, ever throw people under the bus. Like that time Van threw Robert under the bus. Don't do anything like that. Although Kevin makes it clear that they'll have no problem throwing Suzanne under this hypothetical bus, which has to be having trouble getting traction at this point, what with all the people underneath it.
Dining room. Challenge time. Sous Chef Scott glowers at the chefs and introduces ... a giant television, which is lowered from the ceiling. Chef Ramsay is on the television, claiming to have flown overnight to Whistler, British Columbia. That's where the prize is, remember? A restaurant at the site of the 2010 Winter Olympics? Chef Ramsay talks about fresh, local ingredients (as he does) and explains that he's had fifteen ingredients from Whistler shipped down to Hell's Kitchen, and the teams will be making three entrees each, using each ingredient exactly once. Okay, break!
The chefs have two and a half hours, which is supposedly the time it will take Gordon and his special guests to get back there. The red team appears to be having communication problems as Ariel and Tennille are ignoring Sabrina. At one point, Ariel and Tennille agree that a rack of lamb will go well with cranberries, but Sabrina doesn't think it's lamb. She explains this to us in an interview that it's actually venison, because it's purple. Well, that's interesting. I learned something! The blue team is more direct about the way they shut out Suzanne, which at least saves time. There's a brief disagreement about skin on salmon, but nothing that takes up much screen time. Finally, the chefs plate their dishes exactly as Chef Ramsay enters the dining room. He's brought Sasha Cohen (Olympic silver medal in figure skating) and Jonny Mosely (Gold in moguls). Sabrina acts excited in an interview. It's time for the tasting.