Hell’s Kitchen Coverage: No Surprises

It’s down to the final four in a special two-hour finale of “Hell’s Kitchen.” This season also goes out with some huge upsets.

The first hour started the same way every other final four episode started: the chefs were reunited with their families where they spent some quality time. The most heartbreaking one was La Tasha’s where she said it’s rare that her parents are together at the same time since they live in different states.

After that they went onto the day’s challenge. This was yet another “Hell’s Kitchen” staple: taste it, now make it. The chef who came the closest was Jennifer who won because she correctly chose rabbit, couscous and sun dried tomatoes. Her reward was to spend the day with her family to eat at “Mr. Chow” and chocolate tasting. She would also be driving a Ferrari. Sade said that a minivan was more of Jennifer’s style.

The other chefs spent the day putting the beds away since this was moving day. One note that should be said here is that it’s obvious FOX wanted this show to get over with since this episode went by very quickly.

Dinner service marked the 200th dinner service at “Hell’s Kitchen.” That’s an amazing feat for a show like this. Of course, this also meant that all the chefs had to take turns up at the pass for Ramsay to see who will be in the finale.

First up was Sade. Her big, loud mouth was in full force this night. During this Sade was getting on Jennifer’s nerves to the point where she said “you’re going to get a frying pan to the *bleep* head.” She did catch the sabotage where Andi put clams in a mushroom capelinni and Marino putting pork on a ticket when there was no pork on the menu.

Next was La Tasha. She did not notice that the two halibut were actually sea bass. She did fine nonetheless.

When Jennifer was up nobody talked to her. Ramsay even had to step in and make them talk. There should not be this kind of animosity at this point. She did not notice that a beef Wellington was missing duck pate.

Bryant was the last up. The only thing worth noting is that he was way too quick to find a sabotage. He thought a halibut was something else. Ramsay had to calm him down. He did catch the cauliflower puree was swapped for celery root.

At the announcement for the final two the first to go was Jennifer. This is sad in that she looked like a lock for the final two. The final two were then announced to be La Tasha and Bryant.

The second hour was when things got exciting. Firstly, both chefs spent the night creating their menus. We did get an emotional moment when La Tasha was looking at a picture of a dead relative.

The next day both were put on a private jet and spent the day in Palm Springs with Marino as their tour guide. We also learned something about Bryant: he’s afraid of heights.

Anyone who has watched this show long enough knows that these two have to do one last challenge where they cook five dishes and then the winner has to choose their team from eight chefs who were eliminated. Ramsay did it in one of the most amazing ways possible. He had an airport worker tell La Tasha and Bryant that their car did not arrive yet. When she came back to lead them to the car the waiting area walls came down to reveal a plane hanger filled with people. Ramsay’s imagination seems like it has no limits, does it?

The tasting this season was much improved than previous seasons. Instead of which dish was better, each star chef would rate the dish on a scale from 1-10. La Tasha won it 42-39. Here team was Sade, Roe, Fernando and Ashley. Bryant’s was Jennifer, Sterling, Santos and Frank.

At the final dinner service of this season there were only some minor bumps that were quickly fixed. The only major one was Frank being the worst out of all of them. Bryant had no choice but to let him go.

Now onto the winner. Like previous seasons, both chefs stood by a different door and whose door opens won. This year it was La Tasha.

La Tasha winning is not much of a surprise. She was never put up for elimination and only made midscale mistakes. As for the season as a whole, it was one of the better one. Not much unneeded drama, the chefs had some talent and the chefs were likable. No “Hell’s Bitches” this year which is a huge relief. Definitely worth owning once it gets a DVD release.