Fran & Nilka Take Off Their Jackets & Leave Hell's Kitchen

That is Chef Gordon Ramsay giving an encouraging hug to the cook he had just kicked out of Hell's Kitchen, Nilka Hendricks.

Nilka was in way over her head in the weeds in her last dinner service in Hell's Kitchen. Nilka was on the seafood station and could not seem to cook anything right.

It was one raw scallop too many that had Chef Ramsay ordering her out, and I think Ben to take her place.

But, Nilka would not go easily. She left, then came back, begging to get to keep cooking, with Ramsay demanding she take her jacket off and leave. Ramsay told the other cooks to get Nilka out of there.

Eventually Nilka left, tearfully. After she was gone everything went swimmingly in Hell's Kitchen. I felt sorry for Nilka. She was likable and funny.

Ramsay liked Nilka too. In a Hell's Kitchen first, he was there to give Nilka words of encouragement as she left to get in a taxi.

Gordon Ramsay is one of my favorite TV personalities. I always liked really strict teachers who knew what they were teaching and kept the other kids in line and learning. And when you knew that teacher outside the classroom you found out they were nice, pleasant people.

Over and over again we see Ramsay being very intense, violent at times. Basically a very stern taskmaster running a cooking boot camp.

And then over and over again we see the nice guy side of Gordon Ramsay, like his goodbye to Nilka.

The hour previous Fran did not get a fond personal farewell from Gordon Ramsay. Fran was a real puzzle. This woman actually is employed as a cook somewhere? I think maybe she was cast due to her interesting face and hangdog demeanor, not her cooking skills. But, she really was not all that great comic fodder.

The episode that saw Nilka leave also saw Holli suddenly seem to be the chef to beat. Holli sure does seem to be the best looking chef to ever cook on Hell's Kitchen. Her attraction to the strange caviar guy was a bit odd, though.

Next week's previews make it appear that some fresh incoming is arriving to compete with the Final 6. And next week's dinner service appears to be a total Hell's Kitchen meltdown.