HELL'S KITCHEN
Season 11, Finale Recap
Ladies and gents, your Hell's Kitchen Season 11 winner, Ja'Nel!
I don't really want to type a whole lot or get into specifics. While it's not a shocker at all that Ja'Nel won, Mary really did put forth a valiant effort. No one took her seriously from the beginning, including myself and Chef Ramsay. In fact she was the butt-end of numerous jokes on this site throughout the duration of the season. But she really impressed me and managed her team and menu well. Mary, if you ever read this - you did really good.
We also witnessed the first ever kitchen ejection in Hell's Kitchen history when Mary kicked Dan out for being a prick. Man, what's the deal with that guy?
As for Ja'Nel, obviously a very talented person but her ego really bothers me and makes her really unappealing at times, such as when she refused to listen to her team during menu prepping. Look, yeah, she won, but she's had this extremely cocky attitude all season long that's really rubbed me the wrong way. It's not confidence or even over-confidence, it's just really annoying and I wonder if that'll affect her during her career. I mean beef cheeks? Really?
The second half of the finale reminded me of what Hell's Kitchen used to be. It was fun, it was intense, it was well cut and a general pleasure to watch. The first few episodes of this season were similar fun and I actually did have high hopes early on. But then the To Be Continueds starting coming in all different directions and as the total number of competing chefs began to dwindle, the show's quality just tanked and tanked. It's really too bad because this show is really a shell of its former self.
But this finale I will say was entertaining and I'm glad I watched it. Big congrats to Ja'Nel and Mary! It's been an interesting season.