Thursday , March 28 2024
Three folks are left in Hell's Kitchen, who will go home with the grand prize?

Handicapping Hell’s Kitchen

What is it about Gordon Ramsay that I so enjoy watching?  This has, almost without a doubt, been the worst season yet on Hell's Kitchen, but with Gordon being there I still enjoy it.  He is, unquestionably, pompous, and something of a blowhard, but still great fun to watch.

Actually, that little description brings to mind another reality TV host, but one who is far, far less amusing (at least intentionally) – Donald Trump.  Stop and think about it.  Pompous?  Check.  Blowhard?  Check.  Why then should Ramsay be fun to watch and Trump less so?  Is it that Trump takes these things to extremes more than Ramsay?  Is it that Ramsay has some other hugely redeeming quality?  Could it be the hair? 

I'll be honest, I just don't know.  If pressured to make a guess I'd say that Trump is far more extreme than Ramsay and that said extremeness is what makes him less fun.  Additionally, Ramsay seems to revel in the silliness and scenery chewing, whereas Trump appears to remain steadfastly unaware of the humor inherent in everything he does.

Wow, look at that, I answered the question.  Now, I'm going to answer an even more difficult one – who will win this year's Hell's Kitchen?  It's close, but I'm going to say that Christina edges out Petrozza for the victory with Corey getting eliminated this coming week.  Yup, that seems about right.

Christina seems to have the requisite knowledge and ability to cook.  Petrozza has the experience and maybe an ability to cook.  Corey insists that she will try and use her body to do anything and everything in her power to win.  She therefore deserves to be unceremoniously booted from the show.  We'll not discuss her anymore this week.

There are definitely negatives for Petrozza and Christina too, but there just not as negative as She Who Will Remain Nameless's negatives.  Petrozza is a slob and Christina is young.  I think the competition, in the end, is going to boil down to which of those qualities Ramsay likes least.

The man strikes me as terribly tidy, but also someone who values hard work and dedication to improvement over an extended period of time. People lacking which of those two criteria would cause him greater distress? 

I'm betting tidiness.  I could be wrong, but I think that Ramsay would rather mold Christina than teach Petrozza to clean up after himself.  It is true that Ramsay complemented Petrozza last night and suggested that if Petrozza kept cooking so well cleanliness wouldn't matter, but I think that was just Ramsay blowing smoke.

Either way, Christina or Petrozza, I have to believe that the producers need to go out and get better contestants for next season, no one this year seemed truly fantastic. 

Wait, that's not true. Gordon Ramsay was present, and I enjoy watching him blow his top, no matter how often he does it.

About Josh Lasser

Josh has deftly segued from a life of being pre-med to film school to television production to writing about the media in general. And by 'deftly' he means with agonizing second thoughts and the formation of an ulcer.

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