This is all Aaron's fault.Figure that the reward roster is set well before the season starts, and occasionally before the casting starts. You might also figure that as the series ages, more of the rewards are going to have sponsors and built-in promotions. Factor in the number of other events that have to happen in-season, and you're pretty much fixed in on a minimum episode count. You can't drop an entire week without offending the network, at least one sponsor, and so on down the line.
Now last season, we didn't have Donald Syndrome just yet: there was some flexibility available. A lot of the rewards were small, personal, and didn't have any brand names attached. It was possible to lose a contestant to unforseeable circumstances and not annoy anyone except FOX. And they deserve it.
But this year -- this year, some of the rewards have names attached. And the thing about annoying FOX is that you can safely do it once. So when unforseeable circumstances showed up for the second season in a row, the higher-ups very likely declared 'We have a summer schedule to plan and they're not going to let us get away with Ultimate Celebrity Fighting until November. Stretch it out to the original order or we're going to treat you like bad risotto.'
And thus, the first NEK. Hell's Kitchen gives out a second chance and Gordon Hath Sold Out, but it becomes more forgivable when you realize there was a gun to his head at the time.
Now what does this actually mean for the show? First, we're stuck with Melissa for at least one more week, and she was out on merit, (censored) it.
Second: the nominations are more unsure than ever. Gordon can override, Gordon can twist, and Gordon can decide to not send anyone home at all. Be careful who you put up, because anything can happen -- and 'anything' now includes 'nothing'.
Third: we've got at least one event coming up that couldn't be canceled or rescheduled.
And fourth: the Unfrozen Cavewoman Chef lines can keep on coming. Flintchef, meet the flintchef, she's a bossy stone-age be-yotchery...
*sigh* Gordon lost his innocence last night. Good thing he didn't have much of it left.
'NEK' term copyright to Mysticwolf. All rights reserved.