Hell’s Kitchen is back, and so is Gordon Ramsay. It’s great to see him in action again, we’ve seen him in Kitchen Nightmares, but that doesn’t even compare to 17 contestants competing for the head chef job in one of Gordon Ramsay’s restaurants in London, England. As usual there are some interesting characters this year, there’s the familiar personal chef, a school lunch lady and even a guy with tattoos and a Mohawk! This season looks like it will be great. I know that you may be thinking that this formula is getting a little stale, (as mentioned before, I feel the same way about Survivor) but it’s a little different for me with Hell’s Kitchen. I’m always amazed at what some of these contestants do – not to mention the fact that there are probably thousands of chefs out there that can out cook these guys in their sleep! Which begs the question, why wouldn’t Ramsay want the very best head chef for his restaurant?
Once the season was underway, I was curious to see who these contestants were, Jason seems like he’ll be hilarious to watch, Fran looks like she won’t take Ramsay’s crap, Scott seems like he’s got a good chance of making it far, and Mikey takes unique to the next level. Did you see that Tattoo? I wouldn’t be surprised if he got the tattoo first and that was a big reason he’s on the show now. Who knows for sure though?
The highlight of this episode for me was when Ramsay kept putting down one of the contestants because she was so plain. But when he tasted her signature dish, he loved it. He even gave her a hug, which was followed up by two kisses. Then he started making out with her!!! What was going on? That’s not the Ramsay we know and love! Come to find out, the contestant was a plant – she’s really Ramsay’s wife! What a trick. He definitely pulled a fast one!
Dinner service was actually pretty horrible, about half of each team was sent back up to the dorm because they were not performing well at all. Eventually, dinner service was completed and Ramsay chose the men and the best of the worst. For their reward, the men got to take a helicopter tour of LA and enjoy dinner with Chef Ramsay. At one point in the dinner Ramsay was picking Salvatore for being such a ladies’ man. I thought that was great! Salvatore probably is a man-whore, but I don’t care it makes for good TV. We’ll see if he can cook up to Chef Ramsay’s standards pretty quickly I think. Back in Hell’s Kitchen, the women nominated Jaime and Stacey for elimination, Stacey was sent home. Based on her performance, I think that was the best choice.
Has Gordon Ramsay Lost It? Is He Going Soft?
Lost – The Series Finale
Well, the day finally arrived – the finale we’ve all been waiting for. It was bittersweet though; I couldn’t wait to see what happened, but I didn’t want it to end. That being said, I think the finally was fantastic – it tied all of the stories together and gave us the answers we were waiting for. Although, some of those answers were given to us in the usual Lost way – we need to put the pieces together and take from it what we can.
Desmond and Hurley were working together to get all of the major players in the right place at the right time. They were able to get Sayid and Shannon together, Charlie and Claire, and eventually Jack and Kate. It was cool to see them put that together, plus we got to see some of our old friends again! Throughout the finale, when people got together and kinda re-lived similar moments that were crucial on the island, they saw flashes of what they experienced and instantly knew each other. At the beginning of the episode when Desmond brought Kate to the church for the first time, I was dying to hear that Camaro start up. I was waiting to hear the rumble, but it never really happened. What a let-down!
Meanwhile, back on the island, things started happening quickly. Smoke Monster John finally caught up with Desmond and made a deal in which Desmond pledged to do whatever Smoke Monster John wanted. On the way to the heart of the island, both Jack and Smoke Monster John met up. Kate took the opportunity to shoot at John, but the bullets did nothing! I thought it was funny when Smoke Monster John said, “So it’s you. You’re the obvious choice”. That’s what I’ve been thinking for a while; it was cool to see it acknowledged on-screen. When they made it to the heart of the island, Jack, Desmond and Smoke Monster John separated from the group. Desmond eventually made his way down and removed a stone from the center of the light. Before he went to move the rock, I yelled out, “take a look around first – see what’s down there!” Needless to say, he didn’t! When the rock was moved, all hell broke loose on the island. A huge storm began and Smoke Monster John started to make his way off the island. Jack caught up to him before Smoke Monster John could reach his boat and the showdown we all knew was coming began. It was back and forth for a while, just when it seemed that the Smoke Monster would win, Kate showed up and shot him. While the stone was removed from the light, the Smoke Monster became mortal. Finally, he was defeated! It was over…sort of. In order to put things back as they were, Jack needed to put the stone back in the center of the light. Knowing he would die, he anointed Hurley to be the next protector of the island. Not to tell you I told you so, but I had a feeling it would end up being him. I only thought that based on his relief when Jack first stepped up to take the job. As all this played out, Sawyer, Claire, Richard, Frank, Kate, and Miles were able to capitalize on the moment and got off the island using the Ajira plane.
That’s not it though (of course not!) In the flash sideways we learn that Jack is really dead and that everyone who gathered in the church at the end of the episode was dead as well. Apparently, the flash sideways was a special place that they made so that they could find each other. The flashes that everyone had experienced in the flash sideways were really like enlightenments. They got to see the important moments of their lives, including their deaths. After realizing this, they became aware that they were dead. Jack realized it when he was in the church and got the chance to talk with his father. Christian told Jack that some of the people in the church died before him, and some after him. For all we know, this meeting could be taking place hundreds of years after Jack died on the island. Who knows how long Hurley was protecting the island?
When the episode ended, I felt like that was a fitting end. I was still confused though, especially about the flash sideways. After talking with my friends, I came to the conclusion that the flash sideways was almost like a purgatory. Only when the right moment presented itself would our friends understand where they were.
It kinda makes sense too – In the flash sideways Hurley considered himself the luckiest man in the world, while on the island (and alive) he thought of himself as cursed. In the flash sideways Sawyer was a cop, instead of a con man – and Jack had a great relationship with his son; something he desperately wanted from his own father. It was great to see everyone remember their lives together. It was getting hard for me to watch them interact with one another and not know how much they meant to each other.
Now that the show is over, I’m going through withdrawal. I need something to actively engage my mind and keep me guessing. I’m afraid that no show will do it as well as Lost has. I’m really grateful to my friend who first lent me his DVDs so that my wife and I could start watching the show. We wanted to catch up and watch the finale with the rest of the world – and we did. It was an awesome experience and I’m glad we could do it together.
Lost – The Candidate
This episode focused on Jack. At the beginning of the episode he told John that his surgery was successful and that he’s a candidate to walk again. Jack wants to ‘fix’ John – there’s the old Jack we remember! During that conversation, Jack tells John that his dural sac ruptured, I think that the dural sac may be the same one that he described to Kate when they first met on the island. Jack’s father was there though….hmmm. Jack digs deeper into John’s life and gets to meet John’s father, Anthony Cooper. Apparently, John got his flying license and took his father for a plane ride. During their flight something went wrong and there was an accident. John doesn’t want to be fixed because he considers it his punishment for causing the accident. As John is leaving the hospital, he has a brief conversation with Jack where Jack tells him “What happened, happened”
On the island, Smoke Monster John leads his people to the plane only to find that it is wired to explode. Jack reaffirms his desire not to leave the island, “I’m not meant to go.” Smoke Monster John thinks Widmore is trying to kill them, so he decides that the sub is the best way off the island.
When they get to the sub, things started heating up! Jack pushed Smoke Monster John into the water and everyone except Claire made it into the sub. Unfortunately, Smoke Monster John put C4 in Jack’s backpack – which made it onto the sub! “We did exactly what he wanted.” Jack said. Smoke Monster John had this whole thing planned! The moment s prior to Sawyer pulling out the wires were tense. They couldn’t agree on what to do – they all knew they were in trouble though. Sayid sacrificed himself in an attempt to save everyone. I guess there was still some good in him after all. His conversation with Desmond must have made him realize the error of his ways. Now when he meets Nadia, he can be proud to tell her what he did to be with her. Jin stayed true to his promise to Sun, “I won’t leave you.” They both drown in the sub together while holding hands. It was a very sad moment and I’m sure there weren’t many dry eyes out there.
What an episode, huh? It’s still weird to hear Jack say that he’s not meant to leave the island. He’s like a different guy – he told Smoke Monster John at one point that “they aren’t my people.” He’s definitely letting go more than he has in the past. I guess maybe that’s a good thing. There were a lot of similarities between Jack and Jacob throughout this episode, which was titled The Candidate. I’m just not sold on him being THE candidate. It’s almost too easy to predict. I’m probably wrong, but it just seems too obvious. Yeah, Jack’s starting to believe more and is dead-set on staying on the island, but I’m not so sure.
Survivor – Week 13
After the shocking Tribal Council where Danielle was voted out, Jerri and Parvati are confused and mad at Russell for turning on Danielle. Parvati is still focused on getting Rupert and Colby eliminated before any other Villains. Uh oh! Tree mail this week was a Sprint phone that had brief messages from the survivors’ loved ones. Seeing those videos really energized the survivors. At the Reward Challenge, each survivor had to work with their family member to fill a bucket of water. It was a fun challenge to watch – I’d actually like to try it myself. Although I’d hate to be the one trying to catch the water; Colby got WAY too mad at his brother during the challenge. Colby, don’t take it out on him; he’s there to help you! The reward was an amazing experience at a natural phenomenon called the blowholes. Jerri, Parvati, and Sandra got to spend time together with their loved ones.
Russell was not pleased at all at Jerri for passing him over twice when she had the chance to take someone with her to the reward. “She’s in trouble now, she screwed up.” Back at the camp, he made a pact with Rupert and Colby to take them to the final 3. Jeez, how many times has Russell said that? “This is it, the final 3….we’re gonna be the final 3…..we can take this to the final 3.” He’s like a broken record. Rupert knows this, but agreed to the alliance – it’s the best choice he had. Together they decided to vote Parvati out – Russell’s starting to see her as a threat for the million dollars. When Parvati won the Immunity Challenge, that plan was scrapped. Poor Rupert got voted out at Tribal Council.
What was Rupert thinking? Don’t piss people off! Why o why would he saw tree limbs and break branches right next to where the rest of the survivors are sleeping? That’s the best way to make enemies. Rupert, NO! Keep your mind in the game, don’t slip now! I guess his fate was sealed being outnumbered by the Villains, but I think he could have played a little smarter. Sandra approached him and floated the idea of getting rid of Russell – that would have been the best time to do it. Russell wouldn’t have seen it coming and a few of the girls may have voted for him as well. Unfortunately, if they would have voted him out, then the men would be outnumbered and the alliance to Russell was Colby and Rupert’s best choice. Russell ended up screwing over Rupert, so maybe they should have done it after all.
After the show we got to see a preview of next week’s show…wait…what? The season finale is THIS SUNDAY!?!! Are you serious? I can’t believe it! The season’s coming to an end. What will I do on Thursday nights now? I guess it’s back to the ol’ Xbox, GAME ON!