The twelfth episode of Season 11 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on Fox on May 13, 2013, airing as a double feature alongside the eleventh episode. In that episode, The teams put their menus to the test, a shocking elimination took place, and a simple order to move to the blue team put the red team in shambles.
Intro[]
While going back to the dorms, Michael was sad to see Ray go as he felt the latter was a great competitor, but at the same time, he felt less was more. While Susan hoped Nedra did not hold any hard feelings towards her, the latter said she had no time for her bitches and their problems before collapsing into her bed. In the living room, Mary felt they all could have done better, and Cyndi hoped Nedra would not hold that night against them. Susan hoped they could start tomorrow on a clean slate before going to Nedra and asking if they were still friends. Even though Susan noted that she and Nedra became very close from the start, she did not want to be associated with someone who failed, as Nedra ranted about how everybody picked on her. After Susan left, Nedra disappointingly felt she and her used to be close.
Meanwhile, Jon reminded Zach that with only four blue chefs left, they had to be ferocious animals in the kitchen as Anthony wanted them in black jackets. Zach was ready to bang it out as being nominated two times in a row was a big wake-up call, and he tried to remind himself of who he was. Then, Zach revealed he had an alter ego whenever he got beaten down, and his name was Grant Banks, an animal.
Menu creation[]
The next day, at 4:50 AM, the chefs were sound asleep as Sous Chefs Andi and James came into the dorms and woke them up with air horns and pots. While that startled Nedra and Anthony, the chefs were ordered to head downstairs. However, Cyndi wanted to put some pants on before going down. As the chefs went down, Michael had no idea what Ramsay had in store, and once everybody lined up, Ramsay said he wanted to give them an early start as they had a lot to do that day. Then, Ramsay explained that running one of his kitchens did not just mean executing dishes, it was also about exploring their creative side. On that note, Ramsay announced that both teams would create their own menus for that night’s service. Cyndi took it as a compliment as it meant Ramsay trusted them enough to have their own dishes featured instead of his, as the latter said he wanted four appetizers, four entrées, and two desserts from each team.
As the chefs went back to the dorms to begin planning, Ramsay told Nedra to have her presence on the menu, and she knew she had to come up with something good. Jon had an oyster idea for the men, and Michael had a seasonal chicken dish with sweet potato purée. Zach had no suggestions down as he claimed Grant Banks was not a morning person. That annoyed Jon as many ideas were being thrown around, but Zach was not saying anything. Meanwhile, Susan shot down Nedra’s citrus salad along with her weird sea bass idea. When Nedra suggested a weird scallop dish idea, Susan said she had no idea how that could work. Frustrated that her team was not agreeing to her choices, Nedra told them to kiss her whole hoo-ha. Still, Susan felt that Nedra’s ideas were all over the place until the latter left the group and called them fake. However, Nedra decided to return as she refused to give up until one of her dishes was on the menu before suggesting gumbo. However, Susan felt the dish was overindulgent and did not make sense, especially when Nedra suggested using hen in it. That concerned Cyndi as if they did not have a good menu, they were screwed, but Nedra claimed she could make gumbo sexy. Then, Nedra criticized her team’s decisions on the menu but decided to let them sink and see what Ramsay liked.
Meanwhile, Zach finally suggested a salmon dish for the menu, and Jon sarcastically welcomed the former back. After Zach imputed more ideas, the men were left happy about their menu, although Zach claimed that most of the items were his.
Before service[]
At 9:47 AM, both teams have finalized their menus and began prepping for service and creating sample dishes for Ramsay’s approval. Zach wanted to work on the Brussel sprouts with Michael, declared that he was back, and was ready to show Ramsay the change in the guards before asking Michael more questions. However, Anthony felt Zach was cocky, overconfident, and egotistical. Anthony felt that Zach was no doing what he was supposed to do very well. Then, an annoyed Jon told Zach to get over the fact he had one good idea for their menu as the latter kept telling everybody what to do with his dishes. In the red kitchen, Ja'Nel said it was time to put the pedal to the metal as they did not want to come up short. Despite Cyndi feeling that they were all doing multiple things, she noticed Nedra only doing the gumbo very slowly. However, Nedra argued that while you can teach a monkey how to tie a shoe, you could not teach it to make a shoe, as Susan wanted to kick into high gear.
Five hours later, at 3:34 PM, the chefs only had 30 minutes left to complete their dishes for Ramsay’s approval. As they tried to push out their remaining dishes, Susan called it chaos in the kitchen and that it sucked to have five chefs in the kitchen, but only four of them were working. While Nedra hoped Ramsay would like her gumbo as he worked hard on it all day, Susan hoped it to be the best gumbo Ramsay has ever eaten if it took a lot of prep time. As Jon and Zach bickered about scallops, the latter claimed that chef Banks was running the kitchen. Eventually, both teams had their dishes cooked and plated on time. Anthony wanted this to be an opportunity to show Ramsay that the men were not perpetual losers. When Ramsay asked them what theme he wanted to speak to the customers, Jon answered Vegas. However, Jon sheepishly admitted in the confessional that they did not have that mindset before but decided to run with it. Immediately, Ramsay praised the men’s dishes for looking appetizing. Then, he praised the calamari for being straightforward and the cold and hot appetizer being delicious. After the rest of the dishes were praised, Zach admitted he did not see it coming but decided to take it, and Jon was shocked that they were getting immense praise. Ramsay deemed their dishes a great start.
Susan was sweating more than ever for the women, and Ja'Nel said that if Ramsay did not like their dishes, they were screwed. When Ramsay asked them the first problem they could see, Cyndi felt the gumbo angering Nedra. However, Ramsay said that out of their four appetizers, two of them were salads with cheese on top before praising the gumbo. He told Ja'Nel that her grilled peach salad had inconsistent cooks on them, making the latter wanting to be in the garbage can where her dish would end up. Then, Ramsay criticized the duck breast for not being cooked properly. As he continued to criticize their dishes, Ja'Nel and Susan got dismayed. Ramsay reminded them that their dishes were supposed to knock out the men’s before commenting that they had a lot of work to do. However, with only 20 minutes left until service began, Susan asked how they could get all that fixed on time. Ja'Nel felt they were under a heat lamp trying to get everything revamped before service began. When the women got their revamped dishes ready, Susan prayed for Ramsay to give them the thumbs up as they had no more time to fix things up. Fortunately, Ramsay liked them, much to Ja'Nel’s relief.
After, Ramsay had both teams lined up and reminded them that since it was their showcase that night, there was no excuse for them to deliver an amazing dinner service. After, Ramsay asked Jean-Philippe to open Hell’s Kitchen.
Dinner service[]
For the women, their menu featured a grilled New York striploin, roasted duck breast, and branzino. In contrast, the men’s menu featured pan-seared halibut, grilled pork chop, and an oven-roasted filet. Ian Ziering, Nikki Soohoo, OK Go's Tim Norwood and Lisa Raye McCoy were seen in the dining room that night. As the women began cooking their first order, Cyndi knew they had to have a great service that night after Ramsay tore up their menu earlier. However, Nedra was slow cooking the scallops, much to Ramsay’s irritation. In the blue kitchen, Anthony believed that it was the men’s service. While their first order of appetizers was sent out with no problems, Jon was shocked at how easy that was and asked what was going on before wondering if they finally figured it out. In the red kitchen, the women were still waiting on Nedra for the scallops to complete their first order, but she was able to get them up. Ramsay told Nedra to give Cyndi something to do as the latter had nothing on their next order. Still, Nedra did not give anything for Cyndi to do, making Susan asking why this was happening. Eventually, Susan openly told Nedra to talk to Cyndi, which Ramsay appreciated. Still, Nedra argued that she was only focused on her dishes and did not care what her teammates were doing. Despite that, Nedra got the second appetizers out. The women served a string of appetizers alongside the men.
With appetizers in a good rhythm, Ramsay told both teams he was firing entrées and started with a table where both their menus were featured. However, Zach revealed he already had his pork chop and filet ready to go in a minute. Ramsay pulled Zach aside, lecturing that he would not do that to the women as they were not ready, leading the latter to note he should keep his mouth shut but found humor when the two talked about shit. In the red kitchen, Cyndi announced that she needed five minutes on the branzino. Still, Ramsay asked Cyndi why she did not drop it earlier, and she admitted that she had no hot pans. As Cyndi knew she was dragging her team down on fish, she sent up her branzino to the pass, only for Ramsay to find out it was raw, much to her frustration as she knew it was raw in her gut. Zach sent up a perfect pork chop in the blue kitchen, with Ramsay urging him to keep it consistent from now on, but Zach felt he heard things as he was not used to getting a compliment from the latter. Then, Ramsay showed the women Zach’s perfect pork and reminded them that they had not plated yet. Mary was embarrassed as seeing Zach’s dish getting praise was a hard pill to swallow. Refusing to keep it any longer, Ramsay decided to send the men’s part of the table out first, but Cyndi got her refire accepted not long after.
One hour into service, Ramsay asked Zach where the filet was. While Zach sent it up and boasted he was back, Sous Chef James asked where the sauce was, annoying Anthony as Zach did not tell him the dish needed sauce. However, Zach accused Anthony of not knowing what he was doing as he felt the latter was not paying attention. Then, Ramsay found the sauce to be cold, dismaying Jon as they had a strong start earlier. When Ramsay asked Zach why he did not have sauce on his mind when he cooked the filet, the latter argued that he expected it to be sent up alongside the dish. However, Ramsay retorted that he should have cooked it himself. While Zach continued to blame Anthony for wrecking his dish up for a cold sauce, Michael decided to jump in and helped by giving Anthony a pan. Fortunately, their order was sent up. In the red kitchen, Susan was slowing down on garnish before sending up her mushrooms. However, Ramsay was confused as it was supposed to be sautéed mushrooms, but there was a lot of liquid in the pan. After he drained it, Mary decided to help Susan out as she could do that and searing off her beef. However, Susan felt she was not learning anything new from Mary, said she was not an idiot, and got her refire accepted as she thought the women were finally communicating. In the blue kitchen, Ramsay was waiting on Zach for the two filets. When Zach said he needed two minutes, Anthony was dismayed as the former was supposed to be ready. Ramsay accused him of falling asleep after starting brilliantly. Despite that, Zach got the filets accepted. In the red kitchen, the women completely gelled and sent out entrées at a steady pace. After Mary sent up her New York striploin, Ramsay said it was cooked beautifully. That made Mary feel nice for the compliment and because none of their dishes were sent back.
Two hours into dinner service, Ramsay told Michael that the women were ready for their part of the table with two different menus. While Michael believed his halibut would be crispy and cooked to perfection, they were raw, and Zach asked Michael if he was doing a new age of sushi-style. While Michael got flustered by that mistake, he promised to get the refire ready, but that time, it came out overcooked, dry, stringy, and mushy. Even worse, Ramsay told Michael that he did not even do the refire properly as he put a fresh piece in a separate pan and reheated a piece that he did not send out, accusing him of not having the balls to do a fresh refire. As Zach said it sucked to be Michael now, Ramsay called Jean-Philippe and had him escort Michael to the bar for a five-minute time out, surprising Zach as he would do that to his eight-year-old. During his time out, Michael said he could not remember the last time he had one and felt everybody in the dining room staring at him as it sucked. In the blue kitchen, Zach sent up raw pork. Still, Ramsay got more annoyed when Zach was slowly putting it in the oven. The women were on their final ticket in the red kitchen just as Michael finished his time out. As Susan wanted the last order to be finished, the women completed it with no problems. The men finished not long after.
Post-mortem[]
After service, Ramsay named the women the winners but told them they now had to fight for their spot as the competition was on. As they headed back to the dorms, Susan was glad they won because she would have been nominated if they lost. For the men, Ramsay named them the losing team and asked them to nominate one person for elimination.
During deliberation, Jon was pissed as it was their menu and their time to shine before saying there was no excuse. Then, Jon and Zach asked Michael what happened to him. While Michael admitted to having a bad service, he argued he had better services before recalling Zach’s meat drag and Anthony crapping the bed on the cold sauce. While Anthony argued that it was the first station he was on where something went wrong, Jon reminded him that he was not talking to them, to which Anthony agreed.
Meanwhile, the women’s celebration was cut short as Ramsay called the dorms and told Mary to bring the entire team down to his office. That made Nedra nervous as she did not know what to expect. There, Ramsay told the women that he wanted them to have a meeting and decide who was joining the blue team after elimination as he wants that person to be both a fighter and a leader who could whip the men into shape. Susan could not wait to volunteer as she wanted to show Ramsay she could turn a losing team into a winning one and told her teammates her intentions. Much to Susan’s annoyance, her teammates agreed with her too much to the point everybody wanted to go. Ja'Nel wanted to draw names from a hat and leave it to fate. After Mary shook a jar up, Cyndi’s name came out, and not only did the latter say blue was her favorite color, but she could not wait to see the men’s face when they find out she was joining them.
Back at the dorms, Michael considered Zach based on the latter’s decline, and Anthony dismayingly said it was a tie as Zach and Jon voted for Michael, while he and Michael voted for Zach. However, Zach called Anthony a piece of crap as he helped him more that night. Still, Anthony argued there were only four people left in the men, and it was hard to cut people now as they walked downstairs with no agreement on who was going home.
Elimination[]
When the men lined up, Anthony admitted to Ramsay that they were split on their votes, frustrating the latter as he gave them a serious order before asking Jon who was the weakest blue chef based on everything he saw. Jon said Michael for royally screwing them that night, but the latter argued Zach was weaker due to his inconsistency. Anthony also said Zach, but the latter said Michael, leaving it a 2-2 tie between Michael and Zach, and Ramsay decided to call the two men down. During his plea, Ramsay told Zach that while he was not the worst performer that night, he asked if he was better than Michael. Zach claimed he was, but when Ramsay asked if he could step it up another level when there would be three men left, he said he could as three of the dishes on the menu were his own. However, Anthony retorted that they all placed ideas on the menu. Still, Zach argued that the bases were all his, even though Jon and Ramsay called bull shit on that claim. Then, Ramsay reminded Michael that they could not afford to make mistakes now and asked what happened. Trying not to make excuses, Michael claimed he got confused on timings, but Ramsay felt that was an excuse and asked why he was better than Zach. Michael claimed that he had a more refined dining experience and made more sacrifices, even not bringing his son out of the hospital to the shock of the women. After, Michael added that if being nominated as his wake-up call, he would take it as he was not ready to go home. In the end, Michael was eliminated for his poor performance on fish. During his exit interview, Michael said that despite one bad service, the men saw him enough as a threat to send him home and respected Ramsay’s decision.
Team switch[]
After Michael left, while Ramsay told the three men that the odds were stacked against them, he revealed the meeting with the red team earlier and asked them to volunteer somebody to join them. However, when Ramsay asked Ja'Nel who was going into the blue team, she revealed that they all wanted to go and had to draw a name from a pot. That frustrated Ramsay as they were not playing roulette for a restaurant. Before anything else could be done, the episode ended as a cliffhanger.
Ramsay gave no comment on Michael’s elimination, and he did not receive the coat hanging and portrait burning sequence.