Back in the kitchen immediately after Julia’s elimination, and everyone seems genuinely broken up about it. Rock and Jen are even inspired to reconcile, like when people get back together after enduring tragedy. Rock is actually crying in the yard with his head in his hands, though I have a feeling that has less to do with Julia than him acting a complete fool during dinner service.
In the dining room before the challenge the next day, Ramsay is downright cheerful! Soon we found out why—his mom, or “mum,” has paid a visit, and has brought his favorite dish, macaroni and cheese. Ramsay, naturally, has to introduce his “gourmet” version, which includes lobster and grated Parmesan; maybe I was just hungry, but mom’s still looked better. Either way, the chefs are given the challenge to turn an American comfort food classic into fine dining fare, which is seriously exactly like a ‘Top Chef’ challenge from a few weeks ago. No one did very well on that challenge, which thankfully isn’t the case this time around. Rock does “three studies on spaghetti and meatballs,” which is about as delicious as it is pretentious, Jen stuffs some chicken with goat cheese and calls it fried chicken, and Bonnie freaks out over frank & beans but comes up with something involving bruschetta. All in all, yum.
And who better to judge yum that the contestant’s moms, who we all knew based on their teary faces in last week’s preview would be the “special judges.” Also, hilariously, two of the moms are named Carol. They do blind tastings, not knowing whose dish is whose, and unanimously choose Jen’s as the winner. Ramsay’s mom doesn’t get to taste, maybe because they feared she’d be poisoned as retaliation for all the verbal abuse?
It’s worth noting that Jen completely freaked out when her mom showed up, and seemed practically hysterical over the idea of getting to have lunch with her mom as a reward. All of the contestants get some time with their moms, and Rock’s mom says the genuinely-touching “Just keep living your dream, boy.” For someone who constantly claims he’s doing this for his family, Rock sure has engaged in a lot of behavior that would’ve gotten me spanked back in the day; nice to know that the family he’s working for is at least worth it.
Jen and her mom schmooze with Ramsay and his mom while Bonnie and Rock clean the dorms, in a kind of hilarious ‘Odd Couple’ setup. Bonnie complains “I don’t have any energy!” and Rock response, not even that unkindly, “Maybe if you stopped talking you’d have more energy.” If someone gave them a sitcom, I would watch it probably every day.
For dinner service each of the contestants must take a turn running the entire kitchen, and Ramsay prepares each of them by giving them an opportunity to chew him out for some fake fault. Oddly enough, Bonnie brings it the most, eliciting a hilarious hangdog look in Ramsay that must have felt to Bonnie like looking in a mirror. Jen and Rock both do fine, but now we know who has the serious pent-up anger.
Ramsay instructs the assistant chefs—whose names no one has ever bothered to teach me—to intentionally make mistakes, in order to test who will catch them. Bonnie and Rock both succeed but Jen fails, which is compounded later when, cooking on the line, she overcooks the risotto. In a dinner service more flawless than any that has come before, Jen’s mistakes definitely stand out. As much as it was a relief to actually see a dinner get completed around here, what’s the fun if Ramsay doesn’t dump a bowl of spaghetti over someone’s head? Josh isn’t even around to be the brunt of the hilarious nicknames.
Ramsay is left completely in charge of elimination tonight, and everyone has to explain to him exactly why they deserve to stay; learning a lot, blah blah blah, team player, blah blah blah, born to lead, yawn. It’s not like anyone will dare say anything interesting at this point. Ramsay fakes us out briefly by suggesting that Rock “has to go… to the finale!” and it turns out to be Jen who hits the highway. At least she can finally go be with her mom, where she clearly has wanted to be this whole time.
Next week: it’s Bonnie vs. Rock for the win! All the old contestants (even Aaron?!?! I hope so!) come back to help out, and it all ends in some big to-do that apparently takes place over a pool. I’ve never made it through an entire ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ season before, so I’m expecting all the Vegas glitz they can give me! I’m not sure who I’m rooting for for the win, though after a year-long stint as a nanny, I guess Bonnie has to be my hometown girl. If winning will make Rock’s wonderful mom happy, though, then I’ll be happy too.
