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The thirteenth episode of Season 11 of Hell's Kitchen aired on Fox on May 23, 2013. In that episode, a red chef became a blue chef, international cuisine was the main theme, both teams had their worst dinner service yet, and an elimination of an explosive chef took place.

Team switch[]

During the episode recap, Michael received the coat hanging and portrait burning sequence for the first time since his elimination.

Continuing from the previous episode, an angry Ramsay sent the women back into the red kitchen and gave them two minutes to discuss who was going into the blue team. He yelled that he did not ask them to pull names out of a hat like a game show. Both Cyndi and Susan did not want to go if Zach were in the blue team as Susan was certain he was going home. When Ja'Nel asked Nedra if she still wanted to go, the latter said she did as she did not mind it and hoped to step it up for the blue team she could get to both the black jackets and the grand prize. With their decision finalized, Susan told Ramsay that Nedra was moving into the blue team. Ramsay granted Nedra her wish. However, Anthony felt the red team deliberately sent Nedra over to them if they could not eliminate her properly. After Nedra put on a blue jacket and joined her new teammates, Ramsay urged her to help the blue team as they needed it.

Intro[]

As the chefs were dismissed, Jon welcomed Nedra to the "bluesers." Still, Nedra said she would not lose as she refused to do punishments and hoped the men could get it together before calling her blue jacket a stepping stone to getting a black jacket.

Team challenge[]

The next day, both teams came downstairs to find presents with wrapping paper in the color of different country flags, and Susan said she loved presents. Before Ramsay revealed the purpose of those presents, he explained how fortunate he was to be a chef in this era as it was more international than ever before. After, a series of models dressed in their respective country’s clothing appeared, and they smote Jon. For the International Cuisine Challenge, Ramsay announced that one chef would go against somebody from the other team and spin a wheel to decide what country they were cooking. When Ramsay asked Mary who she wanted to go up against, she said Jon as he was the best chef on the blue team and would be satisfied to beat the crap out of him. After Mary spun the wheel, it landed on India, exciting Jon as he cooked a lot of Indian food before and was confident he could knock it out of the park as their ingredients were revealed to be chickpeas, basmati rice, curry powder, lentils, and masala. Nedra wanted to go up against Ja'Nel. They landed on Thailand, and Nedra was dismayed as she never cooked Thai food before. Their ingredients were kaffir lime, lemongrass, mango, coconut milk, and jasmine rice. Nedra hoped she could produce something good with ingredients she could not pronounce. Susan wanted to go up against Zach, but the latter arrogantly asked why she picked him as he would hit the bricks with her. They landed on Japan, their ingredients were soy sauce, miso, bok choy, daikon radish, and ramen. That excited Susan as she loved Japanese food and was confident she would beat Zach, before saying Konichiwa in response. That left Cyndi and Anthony the only chefs left to compete against, and they landed on Greece. Their ingredients were kalamata olives, yogurt, pine nuts, feta cheese, and grape leaves. Cyndi said she loved Greek food and that she could work with it.

Both teams had 45 minutes to cook their dishes. While Nedra revealed she was doing deep-fried calamari, she was nervous but was confident she could pull something out of her ass. While Nedra believed that the men needed to win something, Zach reminded her that she needed to win something. Susan tried to figure out what to do with her Japanese ingredients in the red kitchen, but her open thought annoyed her team as Cyndi told her to pick something and go with it. Then, Susan struggled to figure out how the rice cooker worked, with Cyndi feeling the former was treating it like R2D2. In the blue kitchen, Zach admitted that he never worked with Japanese food before, but he knew flavors very well and thought Japanese cuisine was the same as Chinese cuisine because his Korean friend told him. Eight minutes left, Susan smelled something burning, and Mary discovered that her rice was burnt, throwing her plans through a loop. Eventually, both teams had their dishes cooked and plated on time.

Dana Bowen was invited as a guest judge. Anthony said she knew her food inside and out and called it intimidating. Mary and Jon went up with their Indian dishes, with the former presenting her pan-seared lamb loin encrusted with masala on top of grilled eggplant purée, although she wished she had her basmati rice. However, the dish was praised for being wonderful and not overpowering, making Mary wonder if rice was overrated. Then, Jon’s tandoori chicken with honey riata was praised for being tender and making Bowen saying it immediately screams Indian. So, Jon scored that round, Mary whined that she wanted a tie, and the blue team led 1-0. On the Thai round, Nedra’s deep-fried calamari with Thai curry was immediately questioned by Ramsay as calamari was not common in Thailand. While the dish was praised for having properly cooked food, Bowen could not taste any distinct flavors. By comparison, Ja'Nel’s steamed halibut with lemongrass coconut broth was deemed gorgeous and an excellent reinterpretation of a Thai dish, and having a vibrant flavor to the taste. That left an annoyed Nedra to only say really in the confessional. So, Ja'Nel scored that round, and it was a one-point tie. Cyndi’s stuffed chicken roulade with orzo salad was deemed delicious and seasoned beautiful on the Greek round. At the same time, Anthony’s seared lamb loin with yogurt and mint sauce was nicely cooked, but Bowen felt the plums were mudding the taste. So, Cyndi scored that round, the red team led 2-1, and she was confident they had it in the bag. Susan and Zach went up with their Japanese dishes on the final round, and the former presented her crusted ahi tuna with white miso Daichi and sautéed bok choy. It was praised for being fantastic and harmonizing the palate, and while Susan felt there was no way Zach could beat her now, Jon said it was up to the latter to tie. After, Zach presented his Japanese noodle pan seared chicken with fresh napa cabbage and bok choy. Still, Nedra got annoyed when Zach pronounced it as bok chewy and called him a douche when he fully admitted he never made Japanese food before. Ramsay said he has never seen much chicken in Japanese menus before. While Zach was confident tasted good, it was criticized for dry chicken and feeling more Chinese. As such, Susan won that round, and the red team won the challenge 3-1. While Susan was happy to have won it for her team, Jon was frustrated that the blue team could not win even with a new teammate.

Scoring[]

Red Team Blue Team
Chef Score Total Chef Score Total
Mary 0 0 Jon 1 1
Ja'Nel 1 1 Nedra 0 1
Cyndi 1 2 Anthony 0 1
Susan 1 3 Zach 0 1
Results 3-1

Reward[]

The red team was rewarded with a $2,000 shopping spree at Kitson, lunch at Mr. Chow’s, and a surprise waiting for them at the dorms. Once back at the dorms, the red team found brand new cookware for them. Susan felt she was a kid at Disneyland during the reward, and they spent a lot of cash on new clothes. During lunch, the red team toasted to their best day, Susan wanted their winning streak to continue, and Cyndi was happy she did not go into the blue team.

Punishment[]

After hearing about the reward, Nedra complained that she could have used $2,000 to buy a new bra despite there being a recession. The blue team was punished by taking in wine deliveries, cleaning the stemware, cut limes and lemons, and prep both kitchens for that night’s service. After, Ramsay welcomed Nedra to the blue team, but she argued that the men were why they lost the challenge and refused to lift a wine box.

During the punishment, Jon was not happy to see Nedra not pulling her weight in either the challenge or the punishment. He asked why he was doing all the heavy lifting as he was the only one who scored a point. Later, Nedra felt there was no communication in the challenge and called the men dysfunctional. Still, an annoyed Zach compared Nedra to Charlie Brown’s teacher before making an impression of the said teacher as she complained.

Before service[]

Later, the blue team began prepping both kitchens. Still, Nedra was nervous as she had twiddle dee and twiddle dumbass, referring to Anthony and Zach, prepping her station, and called them stupid as hell. As the red team came back from their reward, Ja'Nel wanted to get refocused and kick the blue team’s butts again, but Mary noticed her flat-top was not on. Nedra felt her station was not set up properly in the blue kitchen and tried to get organized with Sous Chef James’ help. However, Jon felt Nedra was dragging before service even began. Ramsay saw Nedra all over the place before asking why she was the only one not ready. However, Nedra accused her team of not prepping her station correctly but refused to let it get to her head. After prep, Ramsay had both teams lined up, said the competition was opening, and there was no place to hide now that each team had four chefs. Then, Ramsay asked Jean-Philippe to open Hell’s Kitchen.

Dinner service[]

Kelly Hu was seen in the dining room that night, and the red team received their order first. Susan asked for somebody to taste her risotto for a second opinion. Mary told her to add more salt before explaining she was hovering appetizers due to Susan being inconsistent before. However, Susan only made risotto for four people instead of the two needed. Ramsay lectured Susan not to waste food by now and told her to get her head out of her ass. That led Susan to feel she would get yelled at no matter what she did, but she refused to let it get to her. Nedra was looking for her ingredients in the blue kitchen, and while Zach told her where they were, she moved slow the point Zach felt she was painting a picture like Picasso. Then, Nedra sent up a risotto with too much salt, frustrating Jon as Anthony knew that mistake would slow down entrées. Anthony felt Nedra was not adding anything to the blue team. Knowing they needed a leader, Anthony asked Zach to help Nedra out cold appetizers. Then, Nedra got the refire accepted, to her relief.

Forty-five minutes into service, Susan announced she was ready in one minute. Still, Ja'Nel revealed she did not drop her scallops yet, telling her to tell her when to drop them. However, Susan felt that Ja'Nel would be left in the dust if she was dragging behind, and then, the latter sent up raw scallops, dismaying her as it was her worst nightmare. That angered Ramsay as Susan was not paying attention to numbers, Ja'Nel was bastardizing scallops and accused the red team of choking despite pulling down the menu items. Then, Susan accused Ja'Nel of drowning while dragging them down, while Mary wanted to slap her as she was better than that. Hoping that her refire was her perfect dish, Ja'Nel got them accepted. In the blue kitchen, Nedra pushed Zach away from the appetizers. Ramsay asked Nedra why Zach cannot do the cold starters, the latter explained that she did not need help, but that still confused Ramsay. While Nedra wanted to cook, Ramsay explained that if he was in the blue team, she would be kicked off appetizers and reassigned to garnish, while somebody with a pair of balls would jump onto appetizers before showing everybody Nedra’s disorganized and messy station. Nedra yelled that she would get it together. While Zach tried to help Nedra get reorganized, she retorted that she did not need any help even after Jon warned her he would take over appetizers if she was not in control. Despite all that, the blue team was able to send out their next order, and in the red kitchen, the red team was moving onto entrées.

One hour into service, the blue team was still on appetizers. Ramsay ordered Jon to redo the scallops as his initial attempt looked boiled. When Zach tried to give Jon some input, the latter said he did not need help as he knew what he was doing, only for Jon to send up improperly seared scallops that were mushy. That frustrated Anthony as they could not get hot appetizers out at this stage of the competition before calling it embarrassing. Then, Ramsay had enough and kicked the blue team out of the kitchen, calling them all idiots. As the blue team went back to the dorms, Zach was furious, and in the red kitchen, they were working on Hu’s entrée order. However, Ja'Nel felt she was under a huge magnifying glass due to her scallop mishap and hoped to keep working with her head down. Unfortunately, Ja'Nel’s halibut was raw, and after reminding herself that it was meant for the VIP, she hoped it was a bad dream before asking somebody to get her out of the hell hole. That was the final straw for Ramsay, who proceeded to kick the red team out of the kitchen. While Cyndi said “fuck me” while heading out, Ramsay retorted, “fuck me? How about fuck you” in response as she asked how they were making these stupid mistakes. Ramsay told Jean-Philippe that he was shutting down with both teams kicked out but apologized to him for the worst service ever.

Post-mortem[]

Cyndi asked Ja'Nel what happened to her back at the dorms as she ran the kitchen well in the past before falling hard that night. Still, Ja'Nel had no explanation as she was ashamed of her performance. Then, Ramsay called the dorms and told both teams to come downstairs, only to stop them at the stairwell. After calling that night’s performance an embarrassment and deeming it the worst service they ever had, Ramsay openly asked if he sent the wrong chefs home as he expected the best eight that night. Both teams were named joint losers and were asked to nominate one each with everything that has happened.

During deliberation, Cyndi deemed Ja'Nel’s night a bad one, and Susan felt that sending the former up would be the easy choice as Ja'Nel got them kicked out. However, Ja'Nel asked if one bad performance automatically deemed her the weakest chef, refused to believe that without a fight, and reminded them that Ramsay asked them to nominate the weakest chef overall. While Susan felt they were all equally strong, Ja'Nel disagreed and considered the former for nomination, even asking Susan if she felt she was a better cook than herself. Susan said she was and reminded Ja'Nel about her multiple mistakes that night. Still, Ja'Nel asked Mary and Cyndi which one they would want to have, herself or Susan.

Meanwhile, Nedra asked Zach who he felt the weakest chef was, and while the latter said her, Nedra argued she was not weak. However, Jon reminded Nedra how she screwed them on appetizers, and Zach reminded her about her disorganized station during prep. Nedra refused to listen to them as she felt Zach and Anthony sabotaged her. However, Zach bluntly said they were not the red team and were not scared by Nedra’s attitude. When Nedra refused to go up for elimination, Zach said she was, leading her to leave the group in anger.

Elimination[]

Susan announced herself as the red team’s nominee but felt there was no reason for her to be nominated as she believed she did not make any mistakes. While Zach told Ramsay that the blue team had a consensus, Nedra argued that they did not, even after Jon told Ramsay how disorganized she was on appetizers. When Nedra once again accused Anthony and Zach of sabotaging her station, the latter argued that they did not as he did not touch her station until during service. Still, when Nedra claimed Zach was a liar, the latter said he was not and sarcastically stated that it was all their fault except for hers. When a frustrated Ramsay asked the blue team who was the weakest chef, Nedra said Zach, but the latter and Jon said her, leading to her to go off on another rant. Having heard enough, Ramsay called Susan and Nedra down to the front and gave them 30 seconds to plead their case. Susan felt she came over leaps and bounds and wanted to be the best chef in Hell’s Kitchen, while Nedra felt her decision to jump into the blue team should be reason enough for her to stay. However, Nedra was eliminated for her poor performance on appetizers and refusal to accept her mistakes, even though Ramsay praised her fight back. During her exit interview, Nedra received a retrospective montage of her time in the competition.

After Nedra left, Ramsay told the remaining chefs that instead of focusing on a black jacket, they should instead focus on performing a perfect service. While being dismissed, Zach was happy to see Nedra gone, while Susan felt she was thrown under the bus and refused to believe she was the weakest chef on the red team.

Ramsay's comment: "Nedra wore a red jacket and a blue jacket. But after tonight's performance, I knew that she wouldn't be wearing a black jacket."

Trivia[]

  • With this episode, the blue team set the record for most team challenge losses in a row with five. It also means that Jon, Anthony, and Zach each share the record for most consecutive punishments in a single season.
  • This marks the highest record of number of joint-losses in a season, with six, tied with Season 10.
Hell's Kitchen Season 11 Episodes
20 Chefs Compete Part 120 Chefs Compete Part 219 Chefs Compete17 Chefs Compete16 Chefs Compete Part 116 Chefs Compete Part 215 Chefs Compete14 Chefs Compete13 Chefs Compete12 Chefs Compete10 Chefs Compete9 Chefs Compete8 Chefs Compete7 Chefs Compete Part 17 Chefs Compete Part 26 Chefs Compete5 Chefs Compete Part 15 Chefs Compete Part 25 Chefs Compete Part 34 Chefs Compete2 Chefs CompeteWinner Chosen
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