The seventeenth episode of Season 11 of Hell's Kitchen aired on Fox on June 20, 2013. In that episode, the final five get a selection of surprises: a surprise visit, a surprise gift and a surprise challenge.
Intro[]
While going back to the dorms, Susan received comfort from the red team after her nomination. Susan thought she was going home that night before expressing relief and fear at the same time. Then, Susan asked Ja'Nel why she disliked her, but the latter argued she was only nitpicking at the tiniest details and told Susan to take it or leave it. However, Susan felt Ja'Nel needed to get her eyes checked if she did not see her as a threat before threatening murder if they deemed her weak again. After all that, Jon felt he was out of the loop, called himself the rooster among the hens, and said it was not the fantasy most thought of. As the women talked about stuff that did not interest Jon, he hoped for a pillow fight to break out before fearing they were going to hold him down one morning and force make-up on him. While Jon tried to sleep, Mary was too loud when she and Susan talked about getting a Brazilian wax.
Family visit[]
The next day, the teams came downstairs wondering when black jackets would be handed out. However, Ramsay revealed one more thing he had to cover before turning their attention to the video screen next to him. Cyndi had no clue what they were watching but wanted to watch with intensity. The videos shown were Cyndi’s mother and sister, making her feel good to hear from them, Jon’s mother and sister, and Ja'Nel’s mother and sister, making her recall their support towards her. Then, Susan got a message from her younger brother, and Mary got a message from her brother. Afterwards, Ramsay announced their next challenge, but Ja'nel said it was not the mood she wanted to go in for a challenge and asked if he was recalling doing that to them. However, the challenge turned out to reunite with their loved ones as Cyndi was in happy disbelief, Jon was in a lot of emotions. Mary was excited to see her mother and brother, although she missed her husband as well as he was in school.
As the chefs received time with their loved ones, Mary received a letter from her husband, making her miss him so much. Jon told his mother how hard but rewarding his experience has been. Then, Jon asked how Hayden was, revealing that the latter was his deceased best friend’s son and wanted to dedicate his performance to him as he went through a lot despite being five years old. Cyndi explained how they were not in black jackets yet, but her sister reassured her that she had it, making her happy about how much they care about her. Meanwhile, Ja'Nel wanted Ramsay and her mother proud and tried not to swear in from her, but struggled a lot. Susan told her mother and brother how she was doing it for herself and was remotivated to win.
Later, Ramsay had the final five and their loved ones line up in front of the hot pass, reminding them that there was still some work to be done and how only four chefs would be given black jackets. Cyndi begged Ramsay not to eliminate one of them with their families in the restaurant as it would be humiliating. However, Ramsay revealed that after watching them with their families, all five had a chance of winning. As such, all of them received black jackets, which excited Jon. Mary asked why Ramsay gave them all ups and downs, and Cyndi cried for the first time since competing, despite revealing that she was a big cry baby back home. Sous Chefs Andi and James gave Jon, Ja'Nel, Cyndi, Susan, and Mary their black jackets. Not only was Ja'Nel happy that none of them were sent home, but their families were there to see that moment. After, the final five said goodbye to their loved ones, and Ramsay told them to change into their new jackets as their next challenge began soon.
Individual challenge[]
As the final five when back to the dorms to change, Jon said he was wearing his with pride after all the punishments and said it was all worth it before proclaiming himself as the winner of Hell’s Kitchen. Once back downstairs, Susan said hers fits perfectly and felt she was more competitive than before. Ramsay revealed that the challenges were individual from now on. Cyndi called it a fantastic accomplishment before saying that her new goal was winning the competition. Before announcing the challenge, Ramsay revealed that the reward would have one person spend the afternoon with their loved ones. Cyndi called it the best reward she heard. Then, Ramsay introduced the Pressure Cooker Challenge. While most of the chefs revealed they never used a pressure cooker before, Mary said that she owned one back home. Ramsay explained that a pressure cooker cooks rapidly, making it a great way to tenderize cheap cuts and add flavor to them, before wondering who could make a 5-star dish out of an inexpensive cut of meat. One by one, the final five opened a pressure cooker to see what they would be cooking, and while Cyndi got pork roast, she knew it would be a difficult challenge. Jon wanted short ribs but got lamb legs instead before saying he could make it work. Susan got pork belly and said she loved eating it despite never cooking it before, while Ja'Nel got goat ribs, concerning her as it did not have a lot of meat. Mary got short ribs, and it made her happy to get it as she secretly wanted it.
The chefs had 45 minutes to cook a dish with their pressure cookers and had a wide selection of ingredients to use. Jon thought of French rustic, while Susan used fennel and leeks as they were her favorite ingredients. Mary thought of a French beef stew for her dish, while Ja'Nel decided to use okra as she never used it a lot, and Cyndi wanted to use squash. Thirty minutes left, Cyndi took notice of Mary’s tongue out as it meant the latter was very focused and saw it fly that day before telling the latter to put it in before she drooled all over her food. Twenty minutes left, Susan kept lifting the cover off, which Mary knew was the one thing you should never do as the pressure dropped every time. Eventually, Susan opened it six times to Mary’s annoyance. Then, Jon complained that the steamer Mary was using was in his face, making it hard to see his cutting board, but the latter told him to switch stations, which he did with Sous Chef Andi’s help. After, Jon discovered his lamb was burning to his dismay and admitted that he underestimated the pressure cooker, which surprised Cyndi as she felt he was crumbling under pressure. Fortunately, Jon was able to save the legs from tasting burnt, but the bottom of the pressure cooker was burnt until Sous Chef Andi provided him with another one. With five minutes left, Mary decided to make fresh pasta as she wanted to win, while Ja'Nel did not know who was judging her dish as she made it spicy. Then, Cyndi felt her pork had not rested properly, while Susan was proud of her work. Eventually, the chefs got their dishes cooked and plated on time.
Nancy Silverton and Lesley Barger Suter came into guest judge the challenge. Mary revealed that Silverton’s books were in her previous job. Cyndi knew the two women were experts before knowing that they could not look like amateurs. Each judge would rate the dishes on a 1-5-star rating, 15 as the total, and the chef with the most points won. Susan was up first and wanted to win despite having doubters before presenting her pork belly with fennel, leek slaw, and crispy skin. The dish was criticized for having unrendered fat, which Mary knew would happen, and while Suter praised the flavor of the slaw, she felt the dish was clunky, with Ramsay adding on that the pork was undercooked on top and cooked on the bottom. However, Susan scored nine stars, making Ja'Nel realize they had their work cut out against tough critics. Jon’s French rustic styled lamb leg with rutabaga and fingerling potatoes were praised for the colors, but criticized for still having the toughness to the taste, which a pissed Jon knew would happen. In addition, Silverton felt there was too much butter for her liking, despite Suter liking the flavor. In the end, Jon scored ten stars, which he took despite wanting to blow the judges away initially. Cyndi wanted to win a challenge by herself and presented her pork roast with acorn squash purée and fig compote. While the dish was praised for flavoring, it was criticized for an off-putting color on the pork and an unappealing presentation. Ramsay felt it was carved 5 hours ago. After, Cyndi scored seven stars, to her dismay as it was not even halfway. Ja'Nel’s goat rib with crispy okra and mashed potatoes were praised for tasting better than great, well-seasoned, and she scored 14 stars and wished Mary luck to beat her. Mary was the final person up and presented her beef borganion with fresh pasta. As Mary had faith in her dish, it was praised for having everything compliment each other. Ja'Nel grew worried but was sure her dish was better. After a torturous wait, Mary scored a perfect 15 stars, and she won the challenge.
Scoring[]
| Pressure Cooker | |
| Chef | Score |
|---|---|
| Susan | 9 |
| Jon | 10 |
| Cyndi | 7 |
| Ja'Nel | 14 |
| Mary | 15 |
| Results | Mary |
Reward[]
As promised, Mary was rewarded with more time with her family, including having lunch at Wolfgang Puck’s WP24 in a private meal. As Mary left to change, she felt she was soaring high right now. During the reward, Mary called it the best reward she could have asked her as it has been a year since she saw her brother and toasted to family. As Mary and her family dined, she taught her brother how to hold chopsticks.
Punishment[]
After hearing Mary’s reward, Ja'Nel was horrendously disappointed as she wanted to see her family again. The remaining chefs were punished in helping with Tree People, which included digging up holes, slashing brushes and shoveling mulch. In addition, they were also forced to participate in recycling day. After hearing all that, Ja'Nel deemed it disgusting and felt her stomach would not be strong against smells. As the chefs put on their jumpsuits, Susan saw that Cyndi’s was too big on her, Jon looked like a crazy person, and Ja'Nel was not as faltering as hers.
During the punishment, the chefs met with Jim Hardie, who asked who wanted to work on mulching, which Jon and Ja'Nel volunteered for. Ja'Nel was ready to give back to the Earth, and for Cyndi and Susan, they had to clean out a hillside, making the latter wish she picked mulching instead. Jon felt he and Ja'Nel were working together well on the mulch and moving fast, while Cyndi was getting sore from the work. While Hardie gave Jon and Ja'Nel a passing grade, Susan and Cyndi claimed they saw something big crawl out of the Earth. With the first part of the punishment done, Susan dreaded what the second part would entail as they went back to Hell’s Kitchen. As the four began sorting through garbage, Jon said he was getting used to manual labor by now, while Ja'Nel complained that the trash smelled over 5000 times worse than the worst smell imagined. Then, Ja'Nel freaked out overseeing a maggot, but Jon wanted to get through the punishment and get out of his jumpsuit. However, Ja'Nel claimed she could go through the punishment if it were not for the maggots and wanted to get the torture to be over with. After, Susan found Nedra’s headwrap from the beginning, although Jon knew it was not recyclable.
Later, Mary came back from her reward and was glad she was not out there as she noticed everybody was not happy before saying that dumpster diving was not on her to-do list. Then, Susan felt she was not beautiful anymore because of the trash.
Surprise announcement[]
After the punishment was over, the four chefs went back to the dorms to shower, and Jon told the recycling hippies to eat shit. Later that night, the four chefs were all cleaned up and ready for downtime. Still, Ramsay called the dorms and asked Mary to bring everybody downstairs immediately. Having just gotten out of the shower, Susan had no idea what to expect and felt silly and embarrassed to have her towel on her head. After, Ramsay revealed that the following service would be their most challenging yet because, in addition to working together in one kitchen, another team would cook against them and warned them that they were some of the best chefs he worked with. That shocked Mary as they met many chefs in the competition before, and after confirming that they were up for the challenge, the episode ended in a cliffhanger before Ramsay could reveal the first chef on the mysterious team.
Trivia[]
- This marks the first time since Season 6 where Ramsay gave out black jackets as a gift. This also marks the final time to date where he did so.
- This marks the first time a single male chef received a black jacket.