We last left Hell’s Kitchen with some poorly cooked scallops and burned tuna. So in short, it was like every other week on every season of this show. Chef Ramsay chose Joe to eliminate, which was a bit of a shock to his teammates. “We weren’t ready for that,” Manda says. Kristin is especially perturbed, since she never thought they’d lose Joe before Jackie.
“Kristin, how does it feel to have somebody who just started cooking be on the same level as you?” Jackie asks. (Jackie has been cooking for three months, and is trying to stir up some trouble.) Jackie then tries to grab Kristin’s lighter for their post-elimination smoke, and things get a bit tense. “Don’t disrespect me,” Jackie exclaims. Kristin screams for Jackie to get out of her face, slapping the cigarette out of Jackie’s hands like a child. Jackie’s facial expression turns into a devilish grin, daring Kristin to even try to put her hands on her.
Jackie’s next move is to dump the (very full) ashtray all over Kristin. “Put your hands on me, bitch,” Jackie taunts. (So, I guess that word is now suitable for television.) Luckily the tense fight breaks up before punches are thrown.
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The Most Important Meal Of The Day
The next morning, Kristin stirs her cereal, saying that she won’t dwell on the night before. The chefs enter the kitchen and meet with Chef Ramsay, who notes how breakfast is the most important meal of the day. He asks the chefs what they had for breakfast, and Jackie notes that her breakfast consisted of two cigarettes.
Each team needs to create four dishes — a vegetarian dish, a meat dish, a sweet dish, and a fish dish for a breakfast-related challenge. The teams have thirty minutes to prep their dishes.
Frank is on meat, and decides to do a steak and eggs dish. Kristin has meat on the Red Team, and thinks she’ll incorporate sausage in hers. Jackie gets the vegetarian dish, and seems a little confused. She has some radishes, so maybe she can use them? (Gross.) Ariel will be cooking a secondary vegetarian dish, so the team will be choosing one of them for the competition.
Manda is doing the sweet dish for the Blue Team, but can’t even taste her dish as she only eats gluten free. With only a few minutes left, Jackie tells Chef Ramsay that she’ll be doing an omelet, but after Chef Ramsay seems completely unimpressed, Ariel tells her that she should probably make a vegetarian Eggs Benedict instead.
Jared is working on eggs as well, and ends up breaking them two minutes before the dishes need to be presented. He asks Manda to help, having no clue what to do. “My eggs? I can’t use them,” he says, saying that his dish will end up being a delicious eyesore due to last minute changes.
The Red Team now has to choose between Jackie and Ariel’s vegetarian plates. Ariel is baffled that the other chefs find her dish to look like a dumpster, and is upset when they choose Jackie’s instead.
The Celebrity Judges
Chef David Lefevre and Chef Susan Tracht are here to judge each dish, as they’re known for making exemplary breakfasts. Ashley makes a french toast bread pudding for her sweet dish, which is up against Manda’s stuffed french toast. Ashley’s dish gets three stars from each chef, while Manda’s dish is seen to be a bit raw, getting just one star per chef. The score is currently 9 to 3.
Dannie presents an overcooked crabcake for her fish dish, which gains a total of five points. Chad makes cerviche tacos with quail egg, which sadly doesn’t deliver a “wow” factor. He only gains three stars.
The meat dishes are up next, and it’s Kristin against Frank. Kristin made grits topped with sausage and a sunnyside egg, and Frank makes filet mignon on a toasted croissant. “The eggs were cooked just the way I like them,” Chef Susan says. Kristin scores eight points, and Frank’s dish is equally successful. The Red Team gains an impressive lead.
The final gourmet breakfast is the vegetarian dish, and it’s Jackie against Jared. Jackie brings her vegetarian Eggs Benedict, which Chef Susan can’t identify at first. “It looks pretty,” she says in a non-convincing way. It looks the part, but it’s awfully bland. Jackie gets three points, and her team reacts by immediately apologizing to Ariel. Jared’s dish gets rave reviews, and the Blue Team manages to win the competition.
Chef Ramsay says that the award will be extraordinary, but before that, he lets both teams know that tomorrow they’ll be serving a brunch for fellow chefs and their families. After that, he says that the Blue Team will be celebrating in Palm Springs. The Red Team needs to scrub up both kitchens and prepare fresh oranges for mimosas for tomorrow.
“Ariel is stronger, she’s better, and I don’t know why on earth we went with Jackie,” Ashley laments. Ariel is a bit miffed that the team went with Jackie after she cooked her ass off for pretty much no reason.
The Reward Challenge
Jared leads an airplane toast to the Blue Team as they travel to Palm Springs. Shortly after, they get on ATVs and take a ride in the desert. “We feel like a little biker gang,” Jared says. “The Blue Team is real badass.” Dannie decides to take it slow on hers, which doesn’t sound too adventurous.
As the Red Team cleans the kitchens, Jackie pulls Chef Christina aside to get some advice regarding the competition. Christina tells her she needs to drop her attitude around the other chefs if she wants to succeed, which Jackie seems to take to heart. So, that ashtray maneuver from earlier was probably a mistake.
The VIPs
The Red Team preps bright and early for their brunch service. Soon after, Chef Ramsay tells the chefs who they’ll be expecting tonight — musical artist Flo Rida, and comedian Jeff Dunham with his puppet Walter. (Well, those are two names I never expected to type in the same sentence before.)
Ashley can’t believe that Flo Rida is actually in the kitchen, acting a bit bashful. Of course, the Red Kitchen service starts a bit rough. Jackie is bad will communicating times with her teammates, and cooks up an awful looking chicken.
“A table in the kitchen, I think we lost a bet!” Jeff Dunham’s weird, creepy puppet states as the two of them get seated.
Jared and Frank decide to work together on the Blue Team, even giving each other an awkward fist bump. Unfortunately, they’re also serving up raw chicken. Chef Ramsay pulls them together. “I swear to god…” Chef Ramsay claims. Dunham’s puppet Walter notes that Chef Ramsay is firing some f-bombs.
Jackie finally re-fires her chicken, which thankfully passes the Chef Ramsay test. Flo Rida gets served his meal, and things seem good — so thankfully, we’re not getting a repeat of Stacey Dash.
The Quail Egg Issue
As Ariel prepares salads, she realizes at the last minute that she forgot to add the quail eggs. Chad offers to help, and Chef Ramsay calls Chad out on being too slow on it. Ariel doesn’t pipe up and say it’s her fault, which makes Chad feel a little upset.
Jared notes that while he’s had a few bumps in the road, the worst is behind him. Of course he says this immediately before serving up raw chicken once again. “I can’t accept this any longer,” Chef Ramsay yells, kicking Jared out of the kitchen.
Jared’s elimination doesn’t phase Dannie, who immediately responds by telling Frank he needs to get his butt in gear to keep cooking chicken. Back at the loft, Jared angrily prances around and says that Frank should have been kicked out as well — after all, it was a mistake they both made.
Jeff Dunham puts his puppet aside after his meal was served, and is very impressed. “That’s amazing,” he says mid-chew.
Another One Bites The Dust
Chad and Ariel have a bit of a spat, with Chad angry that Ariel is too involved with his station. “Chad, I’m trying to help you,” Ariel says, noting that she’s working extremely hard for someone with a broken foot. After Chad’s performance fails, he’s the second chef to be sent back to the loft. “You too?” Frank sadly asks from the chair he’s slumped down in. “Ariel sold me up a river,” Chad laments.
Dannie would rather get food out than sit around talking about food, noting that they’re cooking for chefs. Everything should be spot on. The Blue Team has some issue with the French Toast. As it burns, Chef Ramsay asks who is in charge. While Frank is technically in charge, Manda was in charge of “watching it.” Obviously she failed miserably. She’s the third chef to be sent back to the loft. “One mistake. Are you joking me?” Manda vents to Jared. Jared, not being a Manda fan, turns it into an argument and the two angrily curse each other out.
It’s more than an hour and a half into service, and both kitchens are down members. The chefs in the dining room seem upset that their dishes aren’t coming out. Chef Ramsay tries to improve the problem by combining kitchens, which helps the chefs complete their final dishes. The guests leave the kitchen satisfied, despite the long wait.
“I don’t even want to discuss a winning team,” Chef Ramsay says in a frustrated tone. He doesn’t want a nomination. He wants an explanation.
The Red Team meets up with Chad and discuss the night. Chad and Kristin have a brief disagreement about the sogginess of French Toast, and Chad decides to switch the topic to quail eggs. He calls Ariel out and says that she should take some of the blame. “All of my chickens went out,” Jackie says after her name was mentioned. The team obviously doesn’t think Jackie was as phenomenal as she thinks.
“I’m so pissed off that I got kicked out over French Toast,” Manda says as the Blue Team deliberates. Frank gets worked up, because as you’ll remember, he doesn’t like working with women. Then Jared gets involved when the word “chicken” is mentioned. “Frank, this isn’t the f*cking Marines!” Jared says after Frank has a tantrum. (Frank has scared me since week one, but I have a feeling he probably won’t be going anywhere tonight.)
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Facing Chef Ramsay Once Again
Chef Ramsay asks Kristin what happened, and Kristin puts the entire blame on Jackie. But, part of the reason Jackie failed was due to Chad. “I didn’t execute properly, but Ariel definitely didn’t help the situation,” Chad fires back.
The Blue Team blames chicken, which was on Jared’s shoulders. “I was in the weeds and I needed support,” Jared says. “Jared isn’t man enough to say he needs help with something,” Frank yells. In Manda’s mind, Frank should be the person going home. Frank claims that this nomination was definitely due to personal reasons. Frank goes so far to interrupt Chef Ramsay by saying “I’m talking!” when discussing how communication is important, which is hilarious for a number of reasons. Dannie also thinks Frank should be eliminated, while Ashley, Ariel, and Jackie think Chad should be the one going home.
Who Goes Home?
The person leaving Hell’s Kitchen is… Chad. “I gave you one more chance and you didn’t stand up and take it,” Chef Ramsay says. Kind of a bummer, as Chad was a decent fellow. “I had no idea Hell’s Kitchen would be this difficult,” Chad says as he leaves the kitchen.
Chef Ramsay says that today was a joke, and the chefs better step up next week. “I realized big time today that I can’t rely on my teammates for anything,” a frustrated Jared notes.
Hell’s Kitchen airs on Wednesdays at 9pm on FOX.
(Image courtesy of FOX)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
