The ninth episode of Season 12 of Hell's Kitchen aired on Fox on May 8, 2014. In that episode, Ramsay gave out progress reports, and for the first time ever, two chefs competed in a individual challenge to stay in the competition, leading to an emotional exit.
Intro[]
While going back to the dorms, Jessica felt a deeper route of problems nobody wanted to talk to her about and felt very screwed over that night. Jessica tearfully confronted Kashia over calling her the worst of the women, but the latter unapologetically said she was hard to work with as a teammate. Melanie was surprised by Jessica’s emotions but suggested that the latter look at herself in a mirror and ask if she was a mess. Joy reminded Jessica that while nobody wanted to put people up for elimination, it was all about listening and bouncing back, and it was a recurring issue. However, Jessica left the woman, realizing that she had to wear a bulletproof vest from now on as she did not know where the shots would be coming from. In contrast, Joy felt Jessica was making all about herself when she was homeless as well. However, Joy refused to tell Ramsay that as she wanted him to see her as a chef and past that point, while Kashia was fed up with the excuses.
Team challenge[]
The next day, both teams came downstairs, and when Ramsay asked Jessica how she was feeling, the latter said she was ready to redeem herself and bring the energy. Ramsay revealed the Dome Challenge to test the chef’s ability to adapt and explained that a different dome would light up every five minutes every few minutes. They would have to go and grab one of the six ingredients that was covered. However, while Ramsay said that this was a team challenge, they were all on their own when cooking their own dishes and shine as individuals.
Both teams had 30 minutes to cook their dishes, and the first dome lit up, containing proteins. Jessica went with swordfish as she used that protein multiple times before but unknowingly grabbed tuna. Gabriel was left with no protein as Scott accidentally grabbed two by mistake, and the latter gave him the chicken breast while he kept the duck breast. In the red kitchen, Rochelle had no idea how to kill a live lobster properly. At the 25-minute mark, the second dome was revealed to be starch. While Sandra aggressively grabbed potatoes, Ralph was too slow and grabbed couscous, revealing he did not want to argue with anybody as he was talented. In the red kitchen, both Kashia and Sandra revealed that they had potatoes, but as only one could use that, the latter was forced to grab egg noodles. At the 20-minute mark, the third dome was revealed to be vegetables. As Scott grabbed fennel, he had an idea for a seared duck breast with baby fennel and fingerling potatoes, thinking that those ingredients would work together. In the red kitchen, both Jessica and Sandra revealed that they have endives for their vegetables. As the two argued over who would keep it, an impatient Ramsay waited for somebody to drop it. Eventually, Jessica decided to go with beets instead and swore at Sandra, but the latter did not respond. At the 5-minute mark, the final dome was revealed to contain wild card ingredients. Still, Richard had difficulty figuring out what to do with the chorizo as his lobster and sauce were already finished. Eventually, both teams got their dishes cooked and plated on time.
Michael Cimarusti was invited as a guest judge, making Gabriel starstruck as the former was up there with the big dogs of the culinary world. On the first round, Kashia and Ralph went up with their New York striploin dishes. Ralph presented his Moroccan style New York striploin with couscous, pistachios, and beets, making Kashia nervous as it was an out-of-the-box dish. While Cimarusti felt that the steak was cooked beautifully, he criticized the pistachio for being the dominant flavor of the entire dish. After, Kashia’s pan-seared New York striploin with blanched turnip and potatoes mixed with white cheddar cheese was deemed great, and Cimarusti wondered what would have happened had she cooked for two hours. Kashia scored that round, giving the women the lead at 1-0, and she felt reenergized. Rochelle’s lobster and polenta dish immediately rose red flags on the lobster round when she admitted that it was her first time cooking lobster like that, leaving Richard confident that he had it. However, it was praised for a great presentation and for having strong flavors. In contrast, Richard’s lobster and chorizo cream sauce over pasta was praised for taking an outdated concept into a flavorable dish. However, Rochelle scored that round, and the women led 2-0, but a pissed Richard felt his dish was a winner and hated losing. On the sea bass round, Jason’s Spanish-infused sea bass was praised for a tasty fish. Joy’s sea bass with tangerine and bok choy was criticized for being overly sweet. So, Jason scored that round, and the women led 2-1. On the chicken breast round, Gabriel’s coriander chicken was deemed nice. Still, Melanie’s chicken and glazed parsnips were also praised for a nice balance. As a result, Cimarusti and Ramsay agreed to award both a point and the women led 3-2. On the fifth round, Ramsay asked Anton and Jessica to present their ahi tuna dishes, surprising the latter as she thought it was swordfish. Anton’s seared tuna with pasta and red wine tangerine sauce was criticized for a messy presentation but praised for a harmonious taste. Still, for Jessica, her pepper-crusted tuna and roasted beets were overcooked due to being cooked in the oven but praised for some strong flavors. So, Anton scored that round, it was a 3-point tie, and Melanie called Jessica stupid as swordfish was white, not red. On the final round, Sandra and Scott went up with their duck breast dishes, and as Gabriel noticed that the women always won at the last minute, he felt it was their turn. Scott’s pan-roasted duck breast with baby leeks in chicken stock and fingerling potatoes was deemed a classic combination that seemed easy, but it still worked, while Sandra’s seared duck breast with spicy styled sausage and egg noodles looked overdone, but it tasted very tender. After being sent back in line, Ramsay gave Cimarusti the say on who won, and Richard hoped that the men won as he was tired of losing. However, Cimarusti gave Sandra’s dish the win, and the women won 4-3. While Sandra was ecstatic that her dish was loved, Jessica was happy as her teammates would have chewed her out if they lost.
Scoring[]
| Blue Team | Red Team | ||||
| Chef | Score | Total | Chef | Score | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ralph | 0 | 0 | Kashia | 1 | 1 |
| Richard | 0 | 0 | Rochelle | 1 | 2 |
| Jason | 1 | 1 | Joy | 0 | 2 |
| Gabriel | 1 | 2 | Melanie | 1 | 3 |
| Anton | 1 | 3 | Jessica | 0 | 3 |
| Scott | 0 | 3 | Sandra | 1 | 4 |
| Results | 4-3 | ||||
Reward[]
The women were rewarded with a trip to the Terranea resort with lunch by the cliffside and a private beach volleyball lesson with three-time Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings. As the women changed for their reward, a pumped Kashia felt the women were kicking ass. During the reward, Sandra called it yet another fabulous win for the women as the men were not as good as them. Later that day, the women met with Jennings. Sandra was revealed to be a fan of hers, and they practiced volleyball together. However, Kashia admitted to the game being hard before getting the hang of it, and Jennings showed them her gold medal as a symbol of looking towards the prize no matter the difficulty. Kashia said she would take that moment for the rest of her life.
Punishment[]
The men were punished by doing the waiting staff's chores. During the punishment, Jean-Philippe gave them a list of what they were, including ironing the linens and polishing the wait staff’s shoes. When Jason asked if spit shine was acceptable, Jean-Philippe snarkily asked if had enough spit to do all the shoes before calling him an idiot. Ralph was dismayed by the amount of what was to be done, and Richard complained about the heat the steamer gave off before telling off Gabriel for a snarky comment. Anton felt that Richard’s age was starting to show as the latter was moving slowly during the punishment, while the latter said that he was too old to be doing chores compared to the country club he ran. Later, Gabriel complained that it was the men’s sixth challenge defeat and compared it to a tunnel getting farther away. Afterwards, the women came back from their reward.
Progress reports[]
After the punishment, the men rested on the patio, while the women rested from their reward as Jessica felt sleepy. However, Ramsay called the dorms and asked Jessica to bring everybody downstairs into the dining room. Once there, Ramsay decided that he wanted to do some individual evaluation reports with everybody at the halfway point, making Gabriel nervous. Then, the chefs were sent back to the dorms to await Ramsay’s call, and Joy felt more awake as she was nervous when the teacher gave out report cards. However, Jessica was excited about the evaluation and was ready to soak it in like a sponge before the phone rang as Ramsay asked her to send Sandra up to his office. Sandra felt she would poop bricks as Ramsay was like a dog who sniffed out fear and worried about it being a firing situation. Once there, Ramsay asked Sandra how she felt she was doing in the competition. Sandra admitted that she could do better as she let simple mistakes get the better of her. While Ramsay reminded Sandra that her duck dish that day was amazing, he sometimes struggles with her down moments to the point of giving up and not caring. However, Sandra said she cared, and Ramsay told her to fight back more.
Gabriel was the second chef to be called down, and Ramsay said he saw two sides of him: an inconsistent chef and a chef showing the potential to bloom as an individual. Gabriel felt the nerves got to him, and Ramsay suggested that he cooked with his eyes, which Gabriel appreciated. For Joy, Ramsay told her that many cooks were arrogant because they did not have the level of talent she had and urged her to believe in herself. As Jessica kept answering the phone for the chefs, Scott felt she was crazy and acting like a nutbar. Meanwhile, Ramsay told Kashia that he was watching for someone who could learn the most, and while she might be a late bloomer, she had to start believing in herself. Jason was told to stop being reserved and emerge as a leader, while Ramsay was surprised how Rochelle proved him wrong by staying longer than expected thanks to her natural abilities. Rochelle almost cried from that comment as she wanted to hear that, and for Scott, Ramsay asked him if he was the strongest chef for the men. Scott believed he was, but Ramsay told him to show it as there was not much time left.
On the patio, the chefs that were finished with the individual evaluation reports relaxed as Scott said it was worth every shitty moment that has happened, while Jason felt great. Meanwhile, Ramsay asked Richard if he was a garnish chef or a head chef, but the latter thought he grew stronger every day and wanted to show Ramsay was a head chef. After, Melanie was told that she still had some inconsistent moments and how she should express herself more. Ramsay felt that Ralph was better than what he has seen previously, leaving the latter admitting that he had no idea why he has not ripped it out. Meanwhile, Ramsay called Jessica down to his office, and he asked her why she was on a downward spiral. Jessica believed it was because she gets lost in her panics, but Ramsay urged her to remain strong. Anton was the final person to be called up, and when Ramsay asked him what he had that was not showing, he felt that it was to make himself famous by running Ramsay’s restaurant. At the end of each interview, Ramsay asked each chef who they felt the weakest chef on their team. Once Jessica’s interview was done, she felt rejuvenated and ready to go.
Cook For Your Life Challenge[]
Later that evening, Ramsay called both teams back downstairs and revealed the one observation he noticed in the evaluations: some of them had no support from their own teams. For the first time, Ramsay announced that the lowest-ranked chef from both teams would participate in a Cook For Your Life Challenge to compete for a chance to stay in the competition, and the loser would be automatically eliminated. That took everybody by surprise, as Gabriel did not know they had an elimination challenge that night. Richard was deemed the weakest for the men, but he argued against that. Jessica was deemed the weakest for the women, although she was ready to prove the jerks on her team wrong. Then, Ramsay told Richard and Jessica that they had 30 minutes to cook three dishes from the Hell’s Kitchen menu, including lobster risotto, scallops, and halibut.
As the challenge began, their teammates encouraged them. A fired-up Jessica was confident as she worked with all three of the dishes before. In the blue kitchen, Richard was not scared as he was going to stay, and the fools who put him up would see him at the end. Fifteen minutes left, Joy dismayingly saw Jessica adding pepper to the risotto and told her to get it together as you do not put something black in a dish that was to be white. In the blue kitchen, the men continued to give Richard support as he knew that despite his age, he had more stamina than the younger chefs as he was on his feet all day. Jessica asked the women if she should add wine to her risotto in the red kitchen, but the men told her not to ask her teammates as it was against the rules. Ten minutes left, Richard said that he knew how to cook a risotto despite never working on appetizers yet. Still, Scott feared that he dropped the risotto too soon. In the red kitchen, Sandra was in agony as she wanted to help Jessica, and they were all dismayed when the latter dropped the halibut, breaking it apart. Thinking quickly, Jessica put another toast on top and put it back in the oven. As time ran out, Richard and Jessica began platting, but Anton was concerned about the former’s plating skills as his previous dishes looked terrible. Eventually, both got their dishes cooked and plated on time.
Before the judging began, a freaked-out Jessica wanted to win bad and refused to go home, while Richard knew his pride and ego were on the line as he did not want to be eliminated. Jessica was up first and presented her dishes to Ramsay before knowing that she had to remain confident for Ramsay. For the scallops, they were cooked beautifully despite having overcooked onions. Still, for the risotto, it was piled too high as Jessica plated it too high, which Anton took notice of. The risotto itself was too dense as it was 30-seconds overcooked, and she left a toothpick on the lobster tail, which Richard was shocked over. Jessica explained the double crust on the halibut for the halibut, but it was praised for being seasoned beautifully. After, a relieved Jessica felt she was going to win as Richard presented his dishes. The scallops were praised for a nice sear and cook, while the risotto was criticized with an overpowering cheese taste and being a minute overcooked, leaving Jessica to believe that Richard’s time was done. However, the halibut was praised for a perfect crust and a delicious sauce but criticized for too much spice.
After the judging, Ramsay admitted it was a tough decision as both Richard and Jessica made mistakes on their dishes, but he was impressed with how well they executed them in a short amount of time. Jessica felt she should stay as she had a lot of passion, while Richard hoped that the scallops and halibut were enough to ensure his safety. Before Ramsay could announce the eliminated person, the episode ended as a cliffhanger.
Trivia[]
- This episode marks the debut of the Cook For Your Life Challenge. It is also the first time an elimination challenge was used in the show.
- Excluding multi-parters, this marks the first time Ramsay did not open Hell's Kitchen for dinner service.