5 Scenarios You Can Always Expect on Hell’s Kitchen
As much as I love television series with intricate plots, thought-provoking writing, and nuanced acting, when summer rolls around I find myself drawn to programming that’s, well, less mentally stimulating. That’s right — my summer TV viewing drifts toward reality shows.
Since its debut in 2005, I’ve loved Hell’s Kitchen. The show’s tenth season airs on Fox at 8:00 Monday and Tuesday nights. Renowned chef Gordon Ramsay serves as host and judge, as well as a strange combination of mentor and drill sergeant. Ramsay puts challenges to his competitors each week with his controversial, abrasive style as the aspiring chefs fight for a sweet gig as head chef at a new 5-Star restaurant.
The contestants on Hell’s Kitchen display true passion and come from all walks of life. In the first few seasons the aspiring chefs seemed as earnest as they were talented and eager, but in latter seasons, the producers wised up to what reality viewers really want: soap-opera-style drama! This season viewers would be hard-pressed to find many contestants capable of running a restaurant kitchen. The
would-be head chefs spend too much time smoking, drinking, partying, and fighting to appear serious as a head chef.
As entertaining as it is, Hell’s Kitchen comes across as pretty coarse viewing, especially when looking at its companion show, the far more refined and inspiring MasterChef, which also features Ramsay and airs immediately following Hell’s Kitchen. The censor on Hell’s Kitchen earns his keep, as profanity flies generously from both Ramsay and the contestants.
Like so many other summer television shows, Hell’s Kitchen is also pretty predictable. Viewers know exactly what to expect, which adds to the series’ entertainment value. Here’s a list counting down five scenarios that viewers can always expect to see without fail during Hell’s Kitchen.
5. One Team Dominates Challenges
Viewers can count on lopsided challenge wins by one team during a season of Hell’s Kitchen. Watching one team triumph in nearly every challenge, enjoying lavish rewards while the losers endure disgusting, humilating punishments has turned into a Hell’s Kitchen tradition. Dominance by one team appears to be even more prominent in the early stages of the season, but it happens all season long nonetheless.
This season, the red team — comprised solely of women — has won nearly every challenge Chef Ramsay can cook up, much to the consternation of the men on the blue team. Whether the challenges involve individual efforts or teamwork, the red team has managed to come out on top most of the time, often overcoming poor decision-making. The blue team is so unused to victory that they meet their rare wins with an attitude that resembles relief. It takes a combination of talent, teamwork, and luck to win the challenges, and the red team looks to have the formula down pat.
4. Teams Make A Mockery Of Unity
The teams on Hell’s Kitchen lack the key needed for success: unity. The infighting and name calling never cease, even on the most successful teams. One team or another can pull themselves together to win a challenge or finish a dinner service and then tear each other apart in the dorms.
As successful as they are in challenges — and often at dinner services — the red team epitomizes disunity. One minute Barbie and Tiffany go at each others’ throats, and the next Kimmie and Robyn shout each other down.
In fact, much of the conflict within the red team centered around Robyn until Chef Ramsay moved her to the decimated blue team. By contrast, the blue team usually gets over their conflict much more quickly.
3. (Self-Professed) Expert Chefs Commit Rookie Mistakes
For the contestants on Hell’s Kitchen to think of themselves as seasoned professionals, they sure do make plenty of rookie mistakes. Perhaps it’s the pressure of working with Gordon Ramsay, or the stress of having one’s fate judged on national television, but you can set your watch by the fact that at least one aspiring head chef will make some kind of boneheaded error that should be beyond the training and skill set of a professional cook.
Anyone could expect that some of the more demanding dishes would throw a chef off his or her game — Beef Wellington alone ought to make even the coolest cook break out in a cold sweat. But it’s some of the simplest dishes that confound these contestants: things like cooking a proper steak or making a risotto that is suitable for fine dining. Scallops have become a particular Achilles’ heel for this season’s contestants, and I’ve seen a depressing number of poorly cooked ones go in the trash bins all season long.
Many of the chefs make the same mistakes over and over again, which brings up the question: why does Chef Ramsay put up with it? If I were him, I’d have scrapped nearly all this season’s contestants and replaced them with new ones!
2. Mistake-Prone Chefs Exhibit Laughable Arrogance
It takes a certain measure of cockiness to make it as a chef, but rarely before has primetime seen such a display of needless arrogance as that on Hell’s Kitchen, especially this season. To hear the chefs tell the tale, their skills surpass that of any cook that has come before. The Bible says, “pride goes before destruction,” and — wouldn’t you know it — often one competitor or another utters some ridiculously cocky pronouncement right before Chef Ramsay cleans his clock.
This season’s worst offender hands down has been Royce. All season long, he has promised “Rolls Royce service” — a groan-worthy pun, but par for the course for this guy — but he has failed to deliver more often than not. He displays his arrogance in the most laughable ways.
Mercifully, Chef Ramsay let Royce go last week.
1. At Least One Competitor Flies Under the Radar
Year in and year out, we watch so many of the contestants on Hell’s Kitchen make fools of themselves with idiotic mistakes, while others shine
as excellent chefs. Curiously, there’s one competitor — sometimes more than one, but usually only one — who flies under the radar until the final stages of the season.
This cook will often fail to distinguish himself or herself and simply fade into the background; in fact, we viewers sometimes forget that he or she even existed. Often, this under-the-radar behavior actually stems from unusual teamwork skills, or he or she may be a diamond emerging from the rough at just the right time.
Justin and Christina both have what it takes to be this season’s under-the-radar competitor. Justin hasn’t distinguished himself much as an exceptional cook (which may sound like an insult, but keep reading), but he hasn’t borne the brunt of Chef Ramsay’s ire either. Rather, he proves himself as a capable chef and team player week in and week out, and he demonstrates staying power. Christina has emerged as both a leader and a voice of reason on the red team. Both of these two should turn into forces to be reckoned with as the contestants are picked off one by one.
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Some wags may argue that Hell’s Kitchen represents everything that’s wrong with summer television, and I reply, “so what?” Predictable? I suppose. Trashy? Sure. Mind-numbing? You bet! Hell’s Kitchen epitomizes summer viewing in that it’s unashamed, unadulterated fun, with no thinking involved. That’s why I keep coming back to it this time every year.
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I would add one more: at least one chef lasts far longer than they should, simply because that individual creates conflict. And conflict makes for good programming.
Exhibit A: Robyn
Exhibit B: Barbie.
I initially believed that morbidly-obese, over-40 contestant Clemenza would be, if not the very first to go, eliminated in the first 2 or 3 episodes. I now believe we’ll see him become one of the Final Two.
Go figure.
Hell’s Kitchen is a train wreck and who doesn’t love watching a good train wreck once in awhile?
You forgot the BIGGEST and most COMMON error of them all…
“IT’S RAW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Having a prime-time show about something as mundane and boring as cooking is a sign of our cultural decline.
A cooking show on a public access channel that teaches people how to cook is good. A show about wannabe “chefs” as high drama is utterly stupid crap.
Yep…I remember when cooking shows used to teach you how to use equipment, select ingredients, and make various dishes and meals. These days, it’s all kitchen soap opera – no pun intended; after all, we never see them clean up the messes they make!
Somebody is always cleaning up the pans, dishes, and workspace behind the scenes. I always wondered why cooking shows never addressed the whole issue of getting all of that fancy equipment clean without having to spend more time doing that than it took to cook and eat the food.
I watched this show the first two or three seasons. I finally decided that watching a Grade A A-hole be a Grade A A-hole every week was a waste of my time. I have no doubt that good old Gordon “Commando” Ramsey is a top chef. He’s also a mean SOB that has no business being in charge of other people. There are plenty of other top chefs on food channel like Robert Irvine and Bobby Flay that get their job done and maintain very high standards without yelling at and insulting everyone within ear-shot. I watch those other shows.
Masterchef Australia is hands down best of the lot, production content alone on this show is fantastic. The crowning feature is they give ingredients, quantities, cooking times and temperatures while maintaining pace of the show. There is enough information for viewer to cook these incredible dishes themselves which i have done with several.
It is constructive show providing value to someone watching to get cooking tips and be able to complete some of the wonderful dishes that are focus of the competition. It also provides incredibly scenic backdrops of Australia, Italy and other locations for filming.
There is nothing fun about it. IMO, it turns off people to cooking as a profession. Who wants to be yelled at like a slave over food for God’s sake?
Humiliating people isnt how you run a good kitchen…nor produce an environment where anybody would want to work, much less enjoy cooking.
But alas…
Good Cooking shows…
Good Eats – Alton Brown
Cook’s Country – America’s Test Kitchen – from Cook’s Illustrated (a great periodical too)
Steve Raichlen’s stuff is pretty good targeted stuff for cooking on outdoor grills, ovens, hot plates, smokers, etc.
Those are the 3 top cooking shows. You can actually learn basics and the why and science behind certain processes and ingredient choices to become a better cook in a general sense.
I enjoy some other Food Shows like Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and Bizarre Foods, but those arent cooking shows.
Gordon Ramsey makes me cringe.
I’m in complete agreement. First, let me say, I’m the worst cook imaginable. I can make a decent grilled cheese sandwich, and rustle up some pasta, and I can run a good grill, but that’s it. However, I love to watch expert cooks at work.
I really loved Hell’s Kitchen, but just seeing the preview for this season’s run was enough to turn me off for good. All that kept flashing my head was “Bad Girls Club” (Only with ugly women). It’s like they are purposefully picking contestants they know will contribute to the drama, and I can only endure so much forced drama. Hell’s Kitchen has surpassed my drama quotient.
In defense of the chefs, however, I think that the boot camp style environment they work in, the seemingly 18 hour days, probably take their toll on them, which is what Gordon, and the audience want.
I know do other things during Hell’s Kitchen and sit down to enjoy Master Chef, which is a far superior show in my opinion.
Peter Allis, famed golfer and golf announcer, was skied on the David Feherty show, bout what has changed, and why should change, in golf. He talked about the Ryder Cup and the excessive displays of “triumphalism” in a game that had prized gentlemanly sportsmanship and courtesy. Quaint concepts. In the discussion he mentioned Gordon Ramsey when talking about the sad coursening of our culture, where everywhere foul language and bad manners are required, as if they were virtues. I sometimes think Fox network is the new PT Brnum, getting rich accurately estimating the low depths of human character, and working to take them lower.
Peter Allis, famed golfer and golf announcer, was asked on the David Feherty show, about what has changed, and what should change, in golf. He talked about the Ryder Cup and the excessive displays of “triumphalism” in a game that had prized gentlemanly sportsmanship and courtesy. Quaint concepts. In the discussion he mentioned Gordon Ramsey when talking about the sad coursening of our culture, where everywhere foul language and bad manners are required, as if they were virtues. I sometimes think Fox network is the new PT Barnum, getting rich accurately estimating the low depths of human character, and working to take it lower. Kind of a general media version of Hustler Magazine.
Why is this drivel on PJM? ARen’t there enough bread and circuses elsewhere?
The petty predictability of this show is exactly why I quit watching. It looks like it’ll match up just fine against Honey Boo Boo.
http://dailycaller.com/2012/07/23/here-comes-honey-boo-boo-trailer-signifies-end-of-civilization-video/
For all its faults it has great production values. I do not understand all the cigarette smoking in the dorms. Are chefs supposed to be chimneys…and what foes it do to their palette and their nose, two essential parts of a chef’s repertory?
I agree that the Australia version is probably better with the recipes explained better — a crawl across the bottom would do. They could as well do some things in real time instead of foreshortened time.
This year’s group is not attractive. Timmie and Clemenza should have eloped to another country early on.
I use characteristics such as predictable, trashy, and mind-numbing to quickly eliminate shows from my viewing schedule. I’d learn more by watching a foreign language channel without English subtitles.
“I do not understand all the cigarette smoking in the dorms.”
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We have a professional chef’s college downtown and anytime I’ve walked by, if the student chefs are on break, it looks like the entire school is down there in their chef’s costumes smoking up a storm.
It might be, it is one of those thing common to that profession, maybe because of tension of cooking on deadlines and short time-tables
Let state right off the bat, I have only watched a couple of the shows and, further, I am not a big fan of “reality” shows in general. In my opinion, there is “real” about them at all.
The few segments of Hell’s Kitchen I have watched however left me completely turned off. And, the biggest reason? GORDON RAMSEY!
I could understand if he were to occasionally loose his temper, but it seemed to me that his primary function was not host or issue challenges or to judge. Rather, it seemed that his main function is bully, harrass, humilate, and to curse out the contestants. And, the contestants know that if defend themselves against this tyrant that they will immediately be off!
This show is disgusting.