Hell's Kitchen season 9

Episode 1

One of the first things that stood out in the first few moments of the episode was the existence of Krupa, who is of Indian origin. I immediately knew that I was going to back her. The opening of the episode was sensational, as all the chefs were taken to a theater, where they got their hair and make-up done, and it appeared as if they would be revealed and introduced to a massive audience who would be excited to see them. As the excitement built up and the curtains were opened, the contestants stared at an empty theater, where Gordon Ramsey berated them about how none of them were superstars, and that they should not have expected to be introduced to a large audience.

After the contestants were asked to get to the kitchen and cook their signature dishes, we got to see the attitude of some of the contestants, and also got to hear some initial remarks about each contestant from Gordon. Will appeared to be cocky, but his signature dish got Gordon's approval. Jennifer appeared to be down to earth, but Gordon stored his harshest words for Jonathon, who used canned pineapples in his dish instead of fresh fruits, and claimed that limited time prevented him from using  fresh pineapples, "You are so full of shit that your eyes are brown", said Gordon to Jonathan. Gordon roasted Krupa's signature dish by saying, "My dear Krupa, this is crapa". Poor Krupa was brought to tears during the interview.

Krupa however redeemed herself during dinner service by being the best chef in either kitchen, where she earned praise for her risotto and beef wellingtons from Chef Ramsey.

The blue team lost the battle that night despite neither red nor blue team completing the service, and the fight between two of the contestants on both the red and clue teams added spice to the proceedings.

Overall, the episode was entertaining to watch, and the spiciness between the contestants makes for good viewing next.

Episode 2

Episode 2 kicked off with the individual challenge, that was aced by my girl, Krupa. The men's' team came out on top despite the best efforts of the ladies, and while there seemed to be discontent amongst them, they got together to prepare and study for the upcoming service while doing the tasks related to their punishments.

The ladies aced the dinner service with hardly any hiccups, except for Carrie who had some difficulty while serving the salads. My girl Krupa helped her out more than ably, with the only blot on the performance of the women's side being Krupa who dropped a rack of lamb to the floor.

The men seemed to be completely unable to get together, with no entrées being served from their side of the kitchen, and all of them being kicked out. The women were asked to cover for the men and complete their side of the service. 

After elimination, during which Brendan got eliminated, Gordon asked the ladies to come up with a volunteer who would join the men's team. The men however declined, asking for a last chance for them to stick together. Gordon accepted.

It remains to be seen if the men can bond together and ensure that they complete a service.

Episode 3

My understanding of what Gordon said to the men's team when they asked for no member of the red team to join them was clearly incorrect. One of the women had to move to the blue side, and Carrie volunteered to go. Clowns entered the dorms early next morning to wake up the contestants. The clowns made irritating noises and sprayed confetti and other messy items all over the contestants, who did not take this well. I was 100% sure that the losing team in the morning challenge would be asked to clear the dorms after the mess that had been made by the clowns.

When the chefs lined up after getting ready for the morning challenge, Gordon asked the red team who would be moving over to the men's side. While Carrie raised her arm and said that she volunteered, Gordon vetoed it and asked Natalie to move to the blue team.

The morning service was for kids and their moms to be fed in the kitchen. Natalie began organizing the blue team, while Carrie and Elise began arguing and bickering during the service, continuing on from the previous morning challenge, where both these contestants were paired together to cook meats together. The blue team emerged victorious in the morning challenge, and all the men acknowledged Natalie's contribution. Contrary to what I had expected, the losing team had to clear the restaurant which was left messy by the kids in attendance. A trend began to emerge in the red team where everyone began to dislike Carrie.

The evening service began with both the team completing their service on appetizers. My girl Krupa kicked ass on the apps station, but the team fell apart during the entrees. Amanda had a rough night, first undercooking the seabass, and then forgetting to cook the cod altogether. Carrie sending undercooked lamb was the final straw that broke the camel's back, and Gordon made the read team go to every table and apologize for entrees not being served, before banishing all of them to the dorms. The blue team not only finished their side of the kitchen, but also completed the orders on the red side. This was the first time that the blue team completed their service, and Natalie deserved a lot of credit for this.

Gordon eliminated Amanda since she did not fight back after a rough start. 

Episode 4

Elise began to show off her true colours as a bully. She went after my girl Krupa, and refused to share accolades with her partner when Gordon commended on her dish in the morning challenge. She also ended up agitating Chef Andi during preparation as Chef Andi pointed out that she has a problem with authority. Andi put her in place by showing her where she was in comparison with her. She is not my favourite at the moment.

Both the red and blue teams had horrible services during dinner. Monterray argued with Chef Scott, and Chino sent out raw meat. The red kitchen did not fare any better, as Elise sent out inconsistent fish. Both teams were kicked out of the kitchens, and Elise was put on the chopping block along with Carrie, Monterray, and Chino. Elise arrogantly asked Gordon to ask her team who they wanted out, and everyone but one, including Natalie on the blue team, said that they wanted to see Elise's back. Eventually it was Chino who was sent home.

Episode 5

The morning challenge began with judges who were chefs from a restaurant named Moto, Ben Roche, and Homaru Canto. I had never heard of them before, but reading about them blew my mind. The morning challenge saw my girl Krupa confuse the meat. She picked up the fillet mignon and thought that it was veal. This mistake saw the red team lose the challenge, and placed her in the crosshairs of Elise immediately.

Krupa's mistakes continued into dinner service, where her spaghetti and risotto were like soup, and she got an earful from Gordon, before being kicked out of the kitchen. Things weren't better in the blue kitchen either, where Monterray and Tommy too got kicked out. Things went from bad to worse in the red kitchen with Elise and Gina joining Krupa in the dorms. With neither team winning, Gina, who was not even nominated for elimination, saw her run come to an end.

The rest of the season

I lost interest in updating this blog after Krupa's elimination. The rest of the season was all about Elise, who stood out like a sore thumb. She was unbearable throughout and I was waiting for her to get eliminated, only to find out that she made it to the final three. It was a massive relief for me to find out that she did not make it to the top 2. Her attitude was horrible, her behaviour to her teammates was deplorable, and it was a wonder that she survived so long with her poor interpersonal skills. As I read reviews of the season later on reddit and other wikis, I found out that she is one of the most hated contestants ever in the history of the show. I did not care for who the winner was going to be, as long it was not going to be her.