All back together again, it was time for the last dinner service. Hell's Kitchen devotees will recall that this is the one where each chefling gets a chance at running the pass and, in order to prepare for that trial by fire, Ramsay also hosts a short acting seminar (or ''weird therapy,'' as Petrozza called it), encouraging the kids to holler at him for a change. Much like last season, I didn't buy any of their performances. Ramsay thought Christina, for example, came off like a cheerleader (which she found insulting), and Corey needed a little shattered china to get into character. ''Nice girls don't make good chefs,'' Ramsay told her, and I wondered if we'd met the same Corey, who has proven herself to be a lot of things over the course of the season, ''nice'' not being one of them. Too late to dwell — it was time to open Hell's Kitchen.
With the turn taking at the pass also comes the annual sous-chef sabotage, with Scott and Gloria pitching in to get dinner out and also occasionally screw up on purpose. While Petrozza was on the hot plate, though, there was way more to worry about than Scott's risotto with missing peas (which he didn't catch) — Christina was crashing and burning at the fish station. ''Do you wanna go home?'' bellowed Ramsay. No...but desire alone couldn't save her from turning into what she called a ''hot-ass mess.'' Most interesting thing here was Corey's actually compassionate encouragement of her frenemy during this moment of need. What's the opposite of showmance? Fake-tred?
Next up: Corey, whose biggest problem at the pass was an inability to read the ticket — or see that it was one entree short. She further failed by not tasting the sauce before pouring it over a Wellington, leading to a new holler from Ramsay: ''You've sauced it! Game over!'' When Christina's turn came, though, Corey made up for it by cooking perfect meat, while her blond counterpart set about barking orders. My favorite exchange of the night:
Christina: ''Move your ass!''
Chef Scott: ''She better watch it, or I'm really gonna smack the s--- out of her.''
Arguably, Christina did the best job up at the pass — though, as usual, the third chefling in the challenge has the upper hand of knowing to look out for sabotage, and Christina had no problem catching basil in the mint mashed potatoes. Overall, though, service was completed with little drama and was deemed very good. Chef told the contestants they hadn't made it easy on him, so they must all go up and nominate someone to head home. ''We knew this was gonna suck,'' said Petrozza once they got upstairs. Corey, wisely, just reminded everyone not to take anything that got said personally. Still, our goateed father figure was struggling, and claimed it was the hardest decision he'd ever made in his life. Even your cynical ol' Aunt Whittlz found this moment a bit moving. Maybe I'm a sucker for goatees.
NEXT: Two out of three ain't bad
