This week, the red team gets some red-emption while one of the blue team’s chefs attempts to show off his muscles.
The red team wins and, according to Alyssa, "it’s about damn time." This means the blue team has to nominate three cooks to be up for elimination. Given the struggles on the meat station, everyone agrees Vlad and Billy should be nominated. Vlad doesn’t argue with the decision, but he does say he would’ve been "more comfortable" without Billy on the station. Billy retorts by urging him to own up to his mistakes, and he’s not wrong.
As for the third nominee, it’s between Abe and Alejandro. Alejandro makes sense. He cost the team the daily challenge. The blue team’s reason for considering Abe is his hot-headed behavior in the kitchen, which, while intense, isn’t nearly as disruptive as Billy’s. In the end, they put up Alejandro. When Ramsay asks why the chefs should stay in the competition, Billy and Vlad take different approaches.
Nobody ends up going home, with Ramsay saying their dinner service was, despite its flaws, strong enough to give them a pass. If we’re being honest, though, it’s likely that the producers know Vlad and Alejandro are genuine contenders and Billy is too entertaining to go home this soon. Regardless, the decision will probably annoy both the red and blue teams. The red team is desperate to see the blue team’s ranks shrink, while the blue team is desperate to endure a service without having to worry about Billy. Again, ‘twas ever thus. Randall Colburn is a writer, editor, and podcaster based in Chicago.