I was pretty happy with that (and I liked that Dave acknowledged that Suzanne wasn’t a loser). Kevin was a douche- I don’t know if he’s really like that or just got desperate. I liked that Dave took a risk with the venison for the first finale challenge and still won. And Robert is just a jerk- I still can’t figure out why he got to come back and Julia (the only one I know of that it was hinted she might be back, I think season 2?) is no where to be seen.
Dave cooked venisonfor the challenge.
Munch - It was like a 2-part ep. In the Quickfire (the first challenge) all three chefs had to cook an ethnic dish - Indian, Chinese or Mexican. They chose a domed dish, and whatever was under it was the nationality they had to cook. Ariel went first and got CHinese. She was happy, she’s eaten a lot of chinese food. Dave chose second and got Indian, to his bewilderment (“Um…what kinds of protein can I use? Isn’t beef worshipped there?”) And Kevin got Mexican, which pleased him.
There were shelves for each nation with regional spices and foods. Dave just threw together what he thought would taste good. Kevin made a pork tenderloin and forgot to add the mole he’d made. Ariel’s dish was tasty but th esauce wasn’t quite right. Poor Ariel stumbled in front of the judges, not being able to remember what she cooked and revealing that she’d eaten a lot of chinese take-out, which seemed to be the limit of her experience with Chinese food. All three judges agreed that Dave’s dish was best, especially since he’d never made Indian food before. Dave’s prize was a set of cookware like they’ve been using in the kitchen and to be cooked for by each of the chefs who judged the regional cuisines.
Then they did dinner service and Kevin, Ariel and Dave had to run the pass. Kevin was upset because he thought Ariel was trying to sabotage him with her lamb, when what she was doing was trying to explain that they could cut out the bone because it was ruining the chop. He kept sending her back to try again. When it was her turn to run the ass, he basically sabotaged her. Dave did miss two of the quality-control dished that were done incorrectly. Ramsey kicked off Ariel, leaving Dave and Kevin as the final two.
Then Dave and Kevin had to cook a signature dish, the judges being from BC. Kevin did lobster, Dave did venison. In usual Hell’s Kitchen fashion, the judging split down the middle until the last vote, which went to Dave. Next day was dinner service, with Dave and Kevin picking their teammates from the group of eliminated chefs (Teneille wasn’t there). Robert did his best to sabotage Dave, and Amanda wasn’t deliberately trying to sabotage Kevin, but did a good job of it anyway. In the end, Dave won the job.
StG
I know this is totally petty and completely besides the point - but I cannot freakin’ stand Dave’s voice. he sounds like a damn duck and I would hate to work for him. I would not have nominated him on the basis of his annoying and hideous voice.
Sorry - I am a jerk - I know. But man, his voice is worse than Fran Drescher’s laugh and I never thought that was possible.
Yeah, why wasn’t Tennille brought back? If you look back over the chefs in the order of latest to first eliminated, the ones they brought back were the most recently ousted – which I think is the usual pattern.
EXCEPT that they skipped over Andy and Tennille. I wonder what’s the story behind that?
Will this show ever learn not to give away the frickin’ endings?! I knew Dave would win because the previews at the beginning of the show showed him crying and saying “I was so shocked!” I knew that was the reaction interview after the win. Dammit!
I also knew beforehand that Kevin would be in the final two because they showed his big bald head when Ramsey was bringing down the divider curtain for the final cook-off in a previous preview. Hell’s Kitchen’s editors suck!!:mad:
How do they do this?! If I at least knew that the judges secretly pre-tasted it and then were assigned to give their on-camera judging in a particular order so as to draw out the suspense - and I highly suspect that coming up with a near-tie would be super easy when competing at this level - then I’d be happy. But the other explanations are that they’re doing super-creative editing tricks to make it look like the judging was done in that tie-breaking fashion, or… that the judging is rigged. And yeah, I know my expectations for a reality show should be low, but that still bothers me.
I agree the editing sucks but even not seeing those obvious clues (because I’m just not very observant) it seemed obvious that the final two would be Kevin & Dave and Dave would win by the time Kevin gave Ariel such a hard time over the lamb (personally, I think that should have shoved him out of the final two- that was picking just to pick). Although it was good to see that Ariel/lamb incident because I predicted that would be Kevin’s main issue- he can cook, maybe even better than Dave but he doesn’t inspire people to do their best for him. Dave did much better, tailoring his menu to what he knew his team could succeed at, being firm but supportive and Robert notwithstanding, making most of his team work well for him. I think picking Suzanne and Ariel the way he did- Ariel first to underline his respect for her, and Suzanne when she expected to be last put two people on his team that wanted to do their best for him. Then he didn’t mess it up by putting them in over their heads.
So, I guess I was the only one a little disappointed that Dave won over Kevin?
I kept remembering all the times Dave would stumble over his words and forget ingredients during this entire season.
Dave has a lot of heart and gives his all. He just doesn’t seem quite there yet, like he needs another two years experience, preferrably while sober.
Kevin came across as more professional and accomplished. I think GR made a mistake this time, but it was a close competition.
The thing with the lamb didn’t hurt Kevin because Ramsey had the same issue with how she was cutting it.
I think the whole schtick of bring back a bunch of failed contestants with chips on thier shoulders is BS. I know it makes for good TV, but I would rather see them have an actual kitchen staff who do not have an interest in sabotaging the chef and let them rise or fall running a real kitchen. If I was the owner of the prize resturant I would want this too since I have to have this person in my kitchen for a year, BS job or not.
I have to admit, I might have been disappointed with the result if Kevin hadn’t gone into “schemer” mode the last few shows. It’s interesting TV, sure, but it doesn’t get my sympathy.
I suppose Kevin did get the schemer edot, but having watched every season of the show, he didn’t seem that bad to me. I am also pretty sure the other two of the final three were also appraising their competition and schemeing to some extent.
I am not sure Kevin was throwing Ariel under the bus either. She was all over the place calling out orders. I know I wouldn’t have been able to keep them straight. He wasn’t sending up wrong food or cooking it wrong, he was just slow, waiting for her to settle down and call the orders in a way that was clear.
I disagree. He was sandbagging her. Even Dave thought so, and Kevin didn’t even bother to deny it when asked.
I can’t imagine a world in which Gordon Ramsay would tolerate drug or alcohol abuse in the kitchen, having survived an abusive alcoholic father and his brother’s heroin addiction.
To me, Kevin came across as conniving, manipulative and skeevy. There’s no shortage of any of that in the culinary world, but GR prizes determination, dedication and passion. David showed huge amounts of all of that. Dave could have very easily dropped out two months ago, but he persevered.
I liked the little bits at the end with the outtakes from the season. I don’t think they’ve ever done that before.
Also where did the ‘design your restaurant’ go? I guess it wasn’t good tv.
Yeah, the outtake of JP getting soaked was great! 
I’m happy for Dave that he won, though I could have accepted Kevin as well. Both of these guys were far and away the best chefs during the season.
Robert, W.T.F.?!?! What I thought before was simply a whiny, crybaby asshole has now become a sabotaging, evil asshole! I hope Gordon or Dave sees this replay on TV and then punches him in the face. He blamed everyone else during the season and never took any responsibility for his failures. Hell, even Van had a better attitude than him, and showed it in the final dinner service.
Yeah, what’s up with Tenille not being part of the finals? If they wanted drama, they should have put her back. I guess it was a choice between her or Suzanne and the producers thought Suzanne was going to lose it. Tenille matured near the end though, and I believe she would have helped whoever chose her.
Great season of HK, but I hope the next season doesn’t start in like 4 months. This season was rushed into air for some reason.
What did Robert do? I must have missed it.
I thought Kevin had been a colossal douche for the last few eps. I’m glad Dave won! He really needs to lose the watchcap, though. It makes me think his hair is always dirty under there.
Where was Tenille? Maybe she got pissed off and said screw ya…
I lost all the respect I had for Robert in this episode. He did the super immature move of “If you’re going to treat me in a way I don’t like, then I’m going to start sabotaging your game.”
Tennille had said she wasn’t going to come back to help them. I don’t remember when, but it was only once that she said this, but still I wasn’t surprised not to see her.
It would have been amusing to see Tennille in the final 3, just to see how she would have reacted to Kevin trying to sabotage her when she was working the pass. She would have called him on it loudly and immediately.