Did Hell Freeze Over?!?

Hell's Kitchen Meets the Final Two

ARTicle by chairo

As we began our journey in Hell’s Kitchen this year it became apparent very early that Chef Ramsay had his favorites already picked out. It makes me wonder if we couldn’t have just jumped to the final two and foregone all the swearing and bickering and backstabbing.

BUT WAIT … everything may not be as you expected

Tonight we began where we left off last week. Along with me, the 3 finalists were celebrating the demise of their nemesis Jen. I find it so distasteful (pun intended) that she lasted as long as she did. One of Ramsay’s starting favorites? Hard to say but he did give her chance after chance after chance to get everyone to hate her … and they did.

A new day dawns full of promise and surprises. As Christina, Corey and Petrozza enter the kitchen hardly knowing what to expect for their final competition, they are pleasantly surprised to discover Chef Ramsay was going to prepare them breakfast. However the surprises don’t stop there … they will be eating the meal prepared by Ramsay with their very own loved ones. Christina shares her meal with mom and dad, Petrozza with girlfriend and his dad, and Corey with her mom and boyfriend.

Petrozza and Corey are very caught up in reconnecting with their loved ones and barely notice what they are eating. On the other hand, Christina is trying to figure out where the competition will figure into this event. She pays close attention to the dish Ramsay has prepared. On one ingredient her mom disagrees with her. Mom thinks there is cream in the dish and Christina does not.

No big surprise but Christina nailed it. When their families left, Ramsay told them they had 45 minutes to recreate the dish he had prepared for their breakfast. He gave them one serving to sample. Corey and Petrozza immediately chose Buffalo and Christina chose venison … Petrozza changed to venison very quickly.

When they were finished Ramsay complimented them on how the food looked. After having each describe what they had used in recreating his dish, he told Corey she nailed the raspberry stuff she put in but failed by choosing the wrong meat so she was out of the competition. Once again we are down to Petrozza and Christina and once again Christina comes out victorious. She missed the cream but Petrozza missed the puree completely.

The punishment .… bar duty. Cleaning up and CHIPPING ice, for the evening.

The reward … a special dinner across town with Ramsay and a sightseeing tour.

Christina exited HK looking awesome in one of the outfits she bought last week. The only negative she felt was that her parents couldn’t join them … UNTIL she walked out and saw her parents standing with Ramsay beside the bus.

Though Corey and Petrozza didn’t relish the idea of doing the chores they were assigned there was so little complaining compared to when Jen lost. Corey actually threw in a little humor, saying while chipping the ice she sometimes pretended it was Jen she was chipping away at.

Just before the doors opened for the evening Ramsay once again congratulated all of them. He also informed them each would be taking a turn at the hot plate tonight. What he didn’t tell them was that his two sous chefs would be sabotaging some of the dishes they prepared.

He also called each one up for a little last minute training on the hot plate. Petrozza was given assertiveness training, Corey was told she was being too nice and Christina was told she was acting like a cheerleader. He wished them all luck and opened Hell’s Kitchen.

Petrozza was the first one on the pass. He did not give a very good performance. Chef Scott served risotto without the peas and Petrozza never noticed. Ramsay had to finally point it out to him. During his time at the hot plate Christina served raw salmon and burned the scallops. Ramsay jumped all over her and asked if she wanted to go home. She was literally falling apart. Everything she touched went bad. Needless to say Petrozza was upset because he felt it made him look bad.

Corey got her chance to run the kitchen next. She also neglected to find the wrong sauce was served with the Wellington until AFTER she had already poured it over the meat. She also failed to see there was a missing entrée on a service for six. Ramsay sent her back to her station and called Christina up next.

Christina did very well on the hot plate. She found the wrong seasoning in the potatoes immediately. Of the three finalists she was the best at running the kitchen and sort of redeemed herself for the mistakes at her station.

The service was completed and completed well. Ramsay congratulated them again. He told them however, he had no idea who the finalists would be. (I am thinking here, he knows exactly who the finalists will be and his next set of instructions were for show only) He told them they had not made the choice easy for him and he was not going to make it easy for them. They were all to go back to their room and each select one person for elimination.

An aside here. I think for most of the people watching this season, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that Corey would make it to the final two and probably win the whole thing. Petrozza had his good and bad moments but come through in the crunch so it became obvious, at least to me a number of weeks ago that he would also be in the final two. Then something happened. Christina began winning challenges. Ramsay actually appeared to really like her. Did this culinary student actually have a chance at upsetting the applecart and winning out over either of the more experienced chefs?

Most would say no. She was just eye candy and someone who pleasantly rounded out the final days of the show but not someone with any actual hope of winning or even going to the final two. The nominations seemed to prove this out.

Corey nominated Christina because she was like a deer caught in headlights when she was reprimanded. Christina nominated Corey because even though she was a strong team member she didn’t have leadership skills. Petrozza nominated Christina because she couldn’t get the food out.

Another note here. Earlier Christina and Corey, who began this game gunning for each other admitted they liked each other and enjoyed working together.

Ramsay told them this was his most difficult decision. He liked and was proud of all of them. This is his least favorite part of the show…but someone has to go home.

Hang on to your chopping blocks cooking fans, the final two are about to be announced.

The first finalist is …. no surprise here … Petrozza.

Knowing what was coming next (after all she got two nominations) you could see the disappointment on Christina’s face. Both she and I knew her time on the show had come to an end.

The second finalist is ……………………… way long pause ……………………. Christina!

WHAT … did I hear correctly? Pause, rewind, forward … second finalist is Christina … wow .. that was the biggest surprise of the season … for me, Corey, Petrozza and Christina. So I ask you, in all seriousness …. did Hell freeze over?

Lots of sloppy encouragement to Corey … yada yada yada …. And the final two get a peek at what is in store for them next week … redecorating Hell’s Kitchen and choosing between evicted chef’s to be on their team … by the way … Christina whispered to Corey she wanted her on her team.

Can it get any better than this? The student and the experienced chef battle it out to gain the position as executive Chef of Ramsay’s new restaurant …. Now this is a battle you won’t want to miss.

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