The fourteenth episode of Season 15 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on Fox, on April 15, 2016. In that episode, the final five competed in their first black jackets challenge, a friendship was ruined because one not upholding their promise, the chefs worked as Ramsay's Sous Chefs, and a shocking double elimination took place.
Intro[]
While heading back to the dorms, Manda was ecstatic to have been in the top five, and Ashley was happy to be one of the few chefs to have worn a black jacket. Later that night, Jared admitted to Ashley that he was still in shock over receiving a black jacket and called her his only support. She told him she was not about to let him go home.
Individual challenge[]
The next day, the chefs rode in the SUVs to their first black jackets challenge and arrived at Animo Venice Charter High School. After being led into the gym blindfolded, Ramsay and the students made their presence known, and he announced that they would be cooking lunch for the students. Then, Ramsay decided to show the final five their high school pictures, with Ariel shocked at the amount of hair Kristin used to have, much to the latter’s embarrassment as she had pageant hair back then, everybody shocked at Jared’s hair in his picture, which he missed, and a very embarrassed Ashley asked where Ramsay got her embarrassing cheerleader photo.
For the 100 Animo Venice Charter Portion Challenge, the final five had 40 minutes to create sample plates of their signature lunches. Ariel decided to make cumin-rubbed steak tostada as she had two younger siblings in high school and thought about how they would enjoy their lunches. Ashley decided to make a mini chicken pot pie. Even though Ramsay called it ambitious, Ashley stated that she loved eating them at her high school but knew it would not be easy to make. Manda decided to make taco Tuesday and decided to stop doubting herself as she felt she was the strongest chef of the final five. Kristin decided to make a buttermilk fried chicken salad. She revealed that she had a rough time at high school as she got kicked out of two schools, and while she called herself a rebel back then, Kristin knew that she was different now. Jared decided to make cumin dusted New York striploin with chipotle croquettes and revealed that he grilled at his school’s parking lot before stating that he was very confident. Eventually, the chefs managed to get their portions cooked and plated on time.
As the high school students walked outside, the chefs began serving their lunches. Manda commented that serving to her kids was easier. Ashley saw that more people were at everybody else’s station than her own, Kristin flirted with a student that was about to turn eighteen, and Jared felt like a superstar as more students were at his station. After tasting the final five’s lunches, the students marked down what their favorite dish was with a grade from A to F. After tallying the votes, Ramsay revealed that the dish that gained the least amount of A’s was Manda’s, which she deemed that it sucked. Then, Kristin’s dish was ranked in 4th place, even though she felt that her fan base was still loyal to her, and Ashley’s dish was ranked in 3rd place. That left Jared and Ariel, and in the end, Jared won the challenge, with him deeming himself the big man on campus.
Reward[]
Jared was rewarded with a trip to San Francisco, which included a visit to the 49ers home stadium, Levi’s Stadium, meeting some of the players, and even walking on the field. Then, Ramsay allowed Jared to choose one other chef to join him, and he picked Kristin, much to her surprise. During the reward, Jared felt over the moon about being at Levi’s Stadium and claimed to have heard fans cheering his name. Then, Jared and Kristin met with Dwight Clark and Guy McIntyre, she called epic to see them in person, and they talked about Ramsay in the kitchen, with the stars reminding them that Ramsay was only trying to push them to their best.
Later that day, Jared and Kristin ate at Bourbon Steak & Pub. While Jared commented that he was glad to be around somebody other than Manda or Dannie, Kristin said she wanted to make an effort to get to know Jared a little better, commenting how he seemed closed off due to his friendship with Ashley. Jared admitted that he wanted to know more about the other women on the black jackets so he could work better with them at services and even told Kristin that he would nominate Ashley if the time came.
Punishment[]
While Ashley thought that Jared would choose her to come on the reward due to their friendship, she was angry when he picked Kristin instead. The remaining chefs were punished by participating in recycling day, which included sorting through the trash from the Animo Venice Charter High School’s trash from last week. During the punishment, Manda admitted that while she did not like football or Jared, she also did not like garbage. Then, Ashley said that Jared was dead to her as she and Manda mockingly compared a skinned fish to him.
Before service[]
Later that night, Jared and Kristin came back from their reward, only for an angry Ashley to declare that he was dead to her and wanted to know why he picked Kristin over her. Jared said that he thought Kristin would have enjoyed the reward more than Ashley, but she accused him of being sneaky and was hurt that he did not choose her as they used to be friends. A dismayed Jared knew that Ashley was the only person he trusted in the competition and realized that he should have picked her for the reward before apologizing to her. However, an annoyed Manda gave Jared the best drama queen award in reality TV.
The next day, the final five began prepping for that night’s service. After Ramsay had the chefs lined up in the blue kitchen, and announced that they would be serving Sous Chef Aaron and Christina as they were given the night off, before adding on that for that night’s service, each chef would perform as his own Sous Chef. After, Ramsay asked Marino to open Hell’s Kitchen.
Dinner service[]
Randy Couture and Neil Jackson were in attendance that night. Jared was confident as fish was his thing on the first order, but his scallops were raw, much to Manda’s annoyance. Despite that, Jared’s refire was accepted. Ariel was called in as the first Sous Chef of that night, and they began working on the chef table’s order. Immediately, Ariel was vocal and gave out orders to the chefs while admitting that she loved being the Sous Chef. However, Jared was slow on the lobster tail, and it got worse when it was revealed to be cold as well, with Ramsay warning him to get his shit together. Fortunately, Jared’s refire was accepted, and Ariel kept communicating with Kristin on risottos, noting the irony that she originally did not want to talk to the latter at the beginning of the competition.
Ashley was the second person to act as Sous Chef, but she was nervous as she was scared about being Ramsay’s Sous Chef. Then, Ashley confused Jared by calling out a ticket order that was not ready yet. Ramsay lectured Ashley about sending out the wrong information, and Jared commented that she was better than that. Then, Jared sent up burnt snapper, which forced Ramsay to send out an incomplete table for Couture, and his second attempt was raw, leading Ramsay to order him to wake up. That annoyed Kristin as she called Jared’s performance painful to watch and even threatened to kick him off the station. Despite that, the refire was accepted and was sent to Couture’s table.
Jared was the third Sous Chef up next, and he hoped to pull it back as working at the pass was his job back home. However, Manda did not respond to Ramsay’s order for a New York striploin until being urged by Ashley, and the steaks were blue. Despite Manda arguing that she said she was not ready, Ariel told her that she did not speak loud enough. Despite that, Manda’s refire was accepted.
Manda was the fourth Sous Chef up next, and she knew she had to prove to her she was not a mess up. Immediately, Manda got vocal but was slow on plating, and Kristin believed that she was exhibiting fake confidence. Despite that, the rest of Manda’s time as a Sous Chef went without any other problems.
Kristin was the final person to perform as Ramsay’s Sous Chef, and she wanted to prove to everybody that she knew what she was doing. However, while Jared was ready on his arctic char, Manda did not respond for her New York striploin, sent it up raw. An annoyed Ashley commented that they were competing for BLT Steak, not BLT Chicken or BLT Fish. Then, Manda’s second attempt was raw again, and a pissed Ramsay brought the final five into the pantry room, leaving Aaron and Christina to wonder if they should jump in. After reminding the chefs of the color of jackets they were wearing, Ramsay had them feel the raw steak and ordered them to get a grip. Kristin told Manda to sear her steaks off more, told everybody to focus, and knew that they had to turn service around. Manda’s third attempt was accepted, but on their final ticket, Jared’s char was raw. A dismayed Ramsay called it painful, and an annoyed Ashley said she was done with Jared. Then, an irritated Ramsay ordered the final five to apologize to Aaron and Christina for their painful service while he cooked the final ticket himself, and a dismayed Kristin said that they should have looked better than they did that night.
Post-mortem[]
When the final five were lined up, Ramsay deemed it the worst black jacket service in the history of Hell’s Kitchen and asked them to nominate one chef that did not belong in the final four.
During deliberation, Ashley called that night embarrassing as they were black jacket chefs, and Manda was infuriated by their poor performance. Then, Ashley suggested they figure out which station went down the most, she and Kristin deem the meat station as the worst of that night and implying the nominee to be Manda. However, Manda argued that most of her steaks went out perfectly. Still, an annoyed Kristin asked what service that happened in, and Ariel was baffled by Manda’s statement. Then, Manda announced that her nominee would be Jared, but he argued that the minor errors he made that night were not enough for a nomination, only for Manda to remind him about his raw fishes that night. While Jared claimed that the next service would be a more successful one with him than Manda, Ashley believed he mentally checked out. Then, Jared argued that he was still upset over the argument last night, but Kristin declared that she could not trust him if he said that, declared that he and Manda fucked up that night, and Ariel suggested that both of them should go home.
Elimination[]
Kristin announced Jared as their nominee. During his plea, Ramsay asked Jared how much the competition meant to him. He said he cared a lot about the competition and claimed that he flourished from his earlier successes before refusing to give up. After, Ramsay announced that there was somebody else that he wanted to hear from before calling up Manda to the front. During her plea, Ramsay reminded Manda that she did not have a great performance that night, and she admitted that her performance made her angry. In the end, Manda was eliminated for her poor performance on meat, but before leaving, Ramsay praised her determination. Manda received a retrospective montage during her exit interview.
After Manda left, Ramsay told Jared that while he cared a lot about the competition, he was not as strong as the three women behind him and was therefore eliminated next. Before leaving, Ramsay praised Jared for his great mind and told him that his time would come. Jared received a retrospective montage during his exit interview.
After Jared left, Ramsay told the final three that the competition was wide open and that their later performances would determine who would be the winner. While being dismissed, Kristin knew that she would be the one standing in the end, Ashley said that she was dreaming of it since she was seventeen, and Ariel knew that she had what it took to win.
Ramsay's comment: "I can't deny Manda's passion nor Jared's commitment, but it was painfully obvious that they just couldn't measure up to my final three."
Manda and Jared received the coat hanging and burning picture sequence at the same time.
Trivia[]
- This marks the second time in the series where Ramsay eliminated two chefs at one night. The first time he did that was in Episode 1110 - 12 Chefs Compete.