Reality Check: Ramsay makes another executive decision on 'Hell's Kitchen' - A reality TV blog by The Baltimore Sun's Sarah Kelber

Guest blogger John-John Williams IV reports:

Gordon Ramsay sure knows how to stir the pot.

Ramsay, the chef with a temper only Naomi Campbell could love, chose not to eliminate any contestants this episode. This move was pretty problematic given the fact that the two “ego-bruised” contestants – Louross and Christina – put up for elimination got to return to their teammates after nearly getting the boot. (It’s the equivalent of putting a witness in the same jail cell with a defendant after damning testimony. The two aren’t going to start painting each other’s fingernails…)

Louross got sent to the slaughter after struggling on the meat station during dinner service. (He couldn’t cook a steak to save his life!) Christina couldn’t handle desserts. (Her soufflés were horrendous!)

The two cooks had their stay in Hell extended by the premature departure of Vanessa, who burned her hand in the last episode. Vanessa struggled with her injury at the beginning of this week’s episode. She later told Ramsay that she wanted to remove herself from the competition. (Dumb, dumb, dumb!)

Anywho, this week was all about gourmet pizzas.

The contestants were charged with dreaming up a pizza worthy of commanding big bucks. (Before the challenge, Ramsay displayed one of his $200 pizzas: a white truffle, caramelized onion masterpiece served in his London restaurant.)

Ramsay challenged each team to create a pizza using gourmet ingredients.

The women chose Jen’s pizza – herb crust, sliced prosciutto, sun-dried tomatoes, fried basil and balsamic vinegar -- to represent their team.

The men chose Ben’s pizza: chanterelle mushrooms, duck confit, caramelized onions and a cream sauce.

Ramsay chose the women’s team. Ben didn’t do his pizza any favors when Ramsay tasted grit on the mushrooms. (Ben, how hard is it to clean a mushroom?)

The women were rewarded with a trip to Square One restaurant in Santa Barbara.

The guys had to prep for the night’s dinner service. Louross actually started to cry during the prepping, which got on Ben's last nerve. In fact, Ben called Louross a whiny-ass, punk “rhymes with witch.” (It was essentially a precursor to the elimination round. Ben was totally gunning for Louross.)

During the dinner competition, Roxann screwed up on the vegetable station. Her mashed potatoes were so bad that Ramsay spit out her food. (Matt can totally relate to that.)

Roxann’s failure wasn’t enough to put her up on the chopping block. The women decided to sacrifice Christina instead. (Ramsay asked the women if they nominated Christina because they were intimidated by her. I’m pretty sure he thought that Roxann should have been sent home.)

Next week promises to be filled with an extra helping of drama. The contestants will have to serve dinner at a sweet 16 party. More important, a new chef will be introduced to Hell’s Kitchen.

It appears to be a woman. Maybe it’s a contestant from a past season. Could it be Julia, the loveable Waffle House cook, from last season? (Ramsay said he wanted her to return to the show after she got culinary training.) What about Melissa, the divisive terror, from last year?

What do you think?