Hell's Kitchen

Last week on Hell's Kitchen 4, Gordon Ramsay opted to send home Shayna for her slower-poke pace rather than Rosann (who had trouble on the meat station) or Matt (who couldn't get no respect).

While this was a little bit unexpected since Shayna – other than being slow – had seemed pretty competent and level-headed, it does make a kind of sense, both for Ramsay and in the reality show world.

For one thing, Ramsay has never hesitated to throw off the person he really wants off (or at least knows is never going to win), whether or not it's the most obvious failure of that particular episode. And, while this is sometimes frustrating when the viewers were expecting something else, not meeting expectations is necessary for a reality show to actually build suspense.

That said, a show can't constantly undermine expectations. Viewers get notoriously cranky when a contestant they feel is undeserving of a continued shot in the competition keeps scraping by.

So which will it be this week on Hell's Kitchen 4? Another unexpected elimination, or a return to obvious justice to appease the viewers?

If it's obvious justice – and if the chefs continue to cook at the same level they have been – then I think that Rosann and Matt could continue to be most vulnerable. Matt will be joining the women's team, which could get interesting.

Corey and Ben have been getting a kind of up and down edit, with both positive and negative attributes being highlighted, but often those types of stories are made to play out over the whole season.

Louross is still an unknown to me. The other chefs felt he was weak, but we actually haven't seen a lot of his struggles. Petrozza is also a bit of a puzzle; his initial edit seemed negative but he has been solid in recent weeks.

As mentioned in the past, Christina, Jen and Bobby seem to have Ramsay's respect, but they have also each struggled at times, too, so as always, no one is truly safe on Hell's Kitchen.

- Leslie Seaton, BuddyTV Staff Columnist

(Image courtesy of Fox)