The third episode of Season 1 of Hell's Kitchen aired on Fox on June 13, 2005. In that episode, the first team switch and the first shocking exit in the history of the show happened.
Intro[]
Following Dewberry 's elimination, most of the remaining contestants already missed him, especially Elsie as he made her laugh every day. Then, Ralph explained that Dewberry walked off the line, and anybody who did that in a restaurant would get fired immediately as cooking as a chef was not a glamorous as everybody believed. At the same time, Jeff finally managed to pass his kidney stone and showed everybody his kidney stone, but nobody was impressed as they found it small. Even Elsie thought it was a joke, and Jessica compared it to a little mustard seed.
Team switch[]
The following day, both teams were lined up in the dining room, but Ramsay noticed that the red team was down two members after Carolann and Dewberry's eliminations. So, to even up the teams, he transferred Michael to the red team, and while the latter was shocked by that news, he knew that he had to embrace his new team to win. Then, Ralph said how much it hurt to lose a strong chef like Michael as it meant the blue team would have to work twice as hard. After Michael received a red jacket and moved into his new teammates, Ramsay not only said the red team would benefit from this but told him that this was a great opportunity for him to become a leader.
Team challenge[]
After the reassignment, Ramsay explained that each restaurant must be ready to host a VIP guest at any time, so they would have to be creative, composed, and make stunning dishes. Then, he announced the next challenge: the Five Course Meal Challenge, where they would be hosting Ramsay himself as the VIP guest. Going outside, both teams left on board a double-decker bus where they each had private meetings on what to cook, but Chris had no faith in Jeff as the latter has not proven his stuff. For the blue team, Andrew suggested a light creamy soup for their hot starter, but Ralph wanted it to be a heartier soup instead, annoying the former as his idea was shot down.
At the grocery store, Sous Chefs Scott and Mary-Ann gave both teams $100 to spend and 10 minutes to shop. As both teams shopped, Jeff annoyed his teammates, especially Elsie, as he was falling behind and shopping by himself instead of being a team member. Chris got annoyed by the fact they had to stop every time for Jeff to catch up. Despite Jeff's slow movement, along with making Elsie's hair stand up, the red team managed to get their food to the cash register in time. Ralph thought about bacon with 30 seconds left for the blue team, so when he got it, he threw it in the shopping cart with less than a second to go. Both teams respected their budget.
When they got back to Hell's Kitchen, both teams had one hour to cook their dishes. Michael was skeptical about Jeff's soup idea and quickly became a strong voice in his new team. In the blue kitchen, Ralph stood out as the leader and told them what to do, much to the annoyance of Andrew as the former put white peaches on the ribeye. Near the end of time, Michael decided to carve out the Hell's Kitchen logo out of mushrooms as a tribute to the restaurant.
For the cold appetizer round, Jessica served a grilled pineapple with potatoes tartare style, but Ramsay felt she had no idea what the dish was exactly, and found it tasteless, much to her disappointment. Then, Elsie's salad was not bad, she scored that round, and the red team led 1-0. For the hot appetizer round, Ralph's roasted corn chowder was deemed very nice, and Jeff's white onion soup garnished with parmesan, and roasted garlic crouton was praised for turning something boring into something delicious. So, both scored that round, the red team led 2-1, and Michael was impressed that Jeff pulled out a win. For the fish entrée round, Wendy served a ginger scallion pan-roasted salmon with bok choy, which Ramsay deemed not bad. Chris's Dover sole with cauliflower couscous and scallions was poorly received as Ramsay said it would be the kind of thing he would serve to a sick rabbit. However, Chris arrogantly asked for a bone. After three rounds, the score was even at 2. For the meat entrée round, Andrew served a grilled ribeye with mushroom sauce and white peaches. After questioning the idea of mixing white peaches with a ribeye, Ramsay tasted it and said it does not work and found it disgusting, but Andrew revealed that it was Ralph's idea, which was confirmed in a flashback. For the red team, Michael served a grilled pork ass with mushroom garnish carved into the Hell's Kitchen logo. When Ramsay saw this, he called him a smartass and jokingly asked him if he got it tattooed on his butt, referring to the large number of tattoos on Michael's body. Despite that, Ramsay found it delicious, and Michael scored for the red team, retaking the lead at 3-2. For the dessert round, Mary Ellen served a trio of crème brulée, which Ramsay found delicious, and Jimmy served a vanilla poached pear with feta cheese on the side, which Ramsay felt had a simple presentation and a dull taste. The challenge ended with a tie at three, so as a tiebreaker, Ramsay evaluated how well the individual dishes complemented each other. Because of the poor combinations of the blue team, especially Andrew's dish, he declared the red team the winners.
Scoring[]
| Blue Team | Red Team | ||||
| Chef | Score | Total | Chef | Score | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jessica | 0 | 0 | Elsie | 1 | 1 |
| Ralph | 1 | 1 | Jeff | 1 | 2 |
| Wendy | 1 | 2 | Chris | 0 | 2 |
| Andrew | 0 | 2 | Michael | 1 | 3 |
| Mary Ellen | 1 | 3 | Jimmy | 0 | 3 |
| Results | 3-3 | ||||
Reward[]
The red team enjoyed a night out with Ramsay at the bar, with drinks and a darts game. During the reward, Jimmy was excited to go out and drink, while Michael called Ramsay cool in his personal life. Jeff was lightly teased by his teammates during the darts games after getting a dart stuck on the wall.
Punishment[]
The blue team was punished by cleaning the dorms, with Ramsay specifically telling Andrew not to forget the toilets. During the punishment, Jessica thought Ramsay would like her dish and felt that he hated her, while Andrew said he wanted to go to the bar instead of cleaning. Later, Ralph admitted that he rather be drinking martinis instead of cleaning but knew that if he had to own a restaurant, they would have to clean the toilets.
Before service[]
Later that night, the red team came back from their reward but were met by cold responses by the blue team. Andrew took his frustrations out by angrily beating the rug on the patio railing, complaining about how they kept losing challenges. After seeing that, Jimmy felt that both teams were neck in neck, but Chris felt it was more and would be surprised if the red team did not win the following service.
The next day, both teams began prepping for service, and Ralph felt there was some great synergy in the blue kitchen as everybody was helping each other out. Jeff left a hot sheet on the counter in the red kitchen, and Elsie picked it up, burning her hand in the process. That angered Chris, who told Jeff to put a towel over it, and after Elsie said not to leave something hot out that they did not know, Chris felt that everybody was losing their patience with Jeff. During a short break, the red team, minus Jeff, gathered to discuss the latter as Michael expressed concern about how well they would work with someone they all shared animosity towards. Moments later, Elsie went to get Jeff to join them. Jeff and Chris got in a heated argument about his behavior, dismaying Elsie as they could not afford to fall apart.
Moments before opening, Jeff was still struggling to get organized when very few of his stuff was ready, so Chris and Michael had to help him out. The blue team was more organized in the blue kitchen as Ralph wanted to leave service 3-0.
Dinner service[]
Before the first tickets arrived, Ramsay revealed to both teams that two internationally acclaimed food critics were in the dining room, scaring Jimmy as it meant they had to perform to a T. Those two critics were Melissa Clark and Kate Krader, eating with a friend and sampling one dish from each team. As the blue team began, Ramsay told them to treat each ticket like it was for the critic. In the red kitchen, Jeff brought two lobster spaghetti dishes, one that had no lobster in it, and the other had too many. So Michael had to reach over and help him redoing the spaghetti. Jeff blamed the fact he never been on a line before, which led to tempers flaring between him and Sous Chef Mary-Ann when she caught him mumbling it, and eventually, Chris. Ramsay immediately had to calm the situation down, and Chris told Jeff not to talk to Ramsay like that. In the blue kitchen, Wendy put cold water to cook spaghetti, as she thought cold water was boiling faster than hot water, dismaying Ramsay.
Thirty minutes into service, Jeff sent his lobster spaghetti, and Michael sent his crab risotto to the critics. It received mixed reviews as, while Clark enjoyed Jeff's lobster spaghetti, Krader did not like Michael's crab risotto. When Wendy and Andrew from the blue team sent their appetizers out, both were poorly received as Wendy's lobster spaghetti was too chewy for Clark, and Krader deemed Andrew's crab risotto a mess. When Andrew's crab risotto made it to customers, one of them became ill and started to throw up. When it came back to the kitchen, Andrew acknowledged that it was too salty, even before Ramsay asked him to taste it. Then, he started to talk back to Ramsay, even thinking it was not his fault customer became ill, who left in anger over it. That lead Ramsay to school Andrew on his behavior. In the red kitchen, Jeff said that he needed five minutes on the lamb, and Ramsay lost his temper by telling him he asked for four minutes, saying that he would not follow Jeff's requests as nobody would be served. Then, Ramsay accused Jeff of doing what he wanted and ordered him to move. In the blue kitchen, Ralph showed great teamwork when he helped Jessica, who was struggling with the garnish station. Later, he was praised by Ramsay and by Jessica herself because of that.
Jeff's exit[]
Two hours into dinner service, the red team has only served two entrées. Ramsay asked Jeff who was working on his station, which he answered with Michael, who he claimed jumped in front of him and pushed him aside. Then, Ramsay schooled Jeff about struggling in the kitchen, and the customers that were not fed, before accusing him of getting worse in the kitchen. After, Jeff started to walk out, saying he was done, but Chris tried to talk him back into the game. After declaring to Ramsay he was not a quitter, Ramsay, annoyed by his arrogance, tells him he's not a cook either. Then, Jeff called him an asshole under his breath, Mary-Ann heard him and yelled at him to say what he just said louder. After calling Ramsay an asshole to his face, Jeff took his jacket off and walked out of Hell's Kitchen for good, upsetting Chris as that was not a cool move. His exit interview never aired. After the announcement of his departure by Ramsay, the red team became furious, Jimmy stating that Jeff lost his respect as he would not leave if somebody yelled at him. Also, Elsie stated that she would have voted him for the second time had the red team lost once again.
In the blue kitchen, Wendy moved to the meat station but was lost on time, giving ten minutes to Ramsay for her lamb to be cooked, only to be corrected by Ralph, who gave five minutes, much to Ramsay's relief. Since Wendy did not eat meat, she needed Ralph's help on how to cook it. Wendy's lamb arrived at the critics' table, but it received mixed reviews as Krader found it overcooked, while Clark liked her medium-rare cook. After Jeff's departure, Michael took over the meat station in the red kitchen, and the red team rallied to get more tickets served. Michael's lamb received great reviews from the critics as they found it better than the blue kitchen.
Three hours into dinner service, and while the critics received their entrées, a total of 15 have been served from the red team, while the blue team served 8. When Wendy struggled to get her sauce heated, Ramsay said she was making pathetic answers and gave her one last chance. Eventually, the customers left in frustration, making it not only the worst service so far but the worst service in Ramsay's career, leaving him no choice but to shut down the restaurant.
Post-mortem[]
When both teams were lined up, Ramsay announced that both teams took a big step backwards, and he was completely shattered by the difficult three hours. Ramsay referred to the critic's comment cards to declare the winner. None of the risottos were appreciated from either kitchen, but the cooking of the red team's lobster spaghetti and the lamb was way more accurate than the blue teams'. Therefore, the red team was declared winners, and for the blue team, Ralph was named "Best of the Worst" due to his strong performance before being asked to nominate two of his teammates for elimination.
Back in the dorms, Jessica broke down into tears over the fear of being nominated, despite Andrew and Mary Ellen trying to comfort her. Meanwhile, Ralph thought over that night's service and noted that Andrew, Wendy, and Jessica had miserable performances, making his decision tough on which of the three he would choose.
Elimination[]
Ralph named Wendy as his first nominee and Andrew as his second. During their pleas, Wendy knew her performance was terrible but wanted another chance, and while Andrew mentioned his and Ramsay's disagreements, Ramsay reminded him about the salty risotto and ordered Andrew to start over. After, Andrew said he was a team player and was trying his best. Wendy was eliminated because of her terrible performances in all three services, and Ramsay stated that it was painful to work with her, although he warned Andrew to be glad he was safe. During her exit interview, Wendy knew it was a horrible night and that nothing went right, felt that she let everybody down, and was disappointed that she could not go further in the competition.
After Wendy left, Ramsay reminded the contestants that it was a pathetic performance and told them to think of why they were here seriously. While being dismissed, Andrew said he did not want to cut lettuce and celery just to get the boot as he wanted his own restaurant. At the same time, Jessica called it sad that Wendy was no longer here as she was a great teammate. Then, Chris called it a great day for the red team as, with Jeff gone, the distractions were gone.
Ramsay's comment: "The third night of Hell's Kitchen was shocking, really bad. I'm hoping we step up a gear, raise our game, and we start coming together as a proper restaurant. Jeff, well, I had to laugh at the end when he called me an asshole, I've been called far worse than that! Wendy, well, you know, it's about time I put you out of your misery!"
Trivia[]
- This is the first episode to feature:
- Ramsay reassigning somebody to the other team.
- A tie occurred in a team challenge, and Ramsay breaking the tie.
- Someone quitting the competition and leaving in the middle of dinner service.
- The red team winning a service.
- A blue chef getting eliminated.
- At the end of the episode, a short title card said that Jeff withdrew due to a sprained ankle.
| Hell's Kitchen Season 1 Episodes |
|---|
| Day 1 • Day 2 • Day 3 • Day 4 • Day 5 • Day 6 • Day 7 • Day 8 • Day 9 • Day 10 |