The third episode of Season 12 of Hell's Kitchen aired on Fox on March 27, 2014. In that episode, potato was the main ingredient, two chefs got ill before service, another disastrous dinner service had Ramsay order a record-breaking nomination number, and one chef gave up at elimination.
Intro[]
While going back to the dorms, Kashia was very happy to see Nicole go home. She believed Ramsay made the right decision and felt like she had a relief of fresh air. Joy wondered if Simone's nomination would help change her perspective but did not care anyway as she did not like the latter as she did not sit well. However, Simone went to bed as she was only there to prove herself to Ramsay and wanted to show she was not a passive person.
Team challenge[]
The next day, at 5:45 AM, the chefs were woken to the sound of pigs squealing and a farmer yelling very loud, much to Richard’s annoyance. The chefs found boots and overalls to put on, but Jessica called the sound annoying as the Sous Chefs ordered them to grab a pig on their way downstairs. However, Sandra was scared at the thought of prepping one of them despite tasting delicious. Once outside, the chefs saw Ramsay with a farm pen behind him. While Gabriel had a slaughter mindset, Ramsay explained that while proteins were always the star of any dish, it was the side dish that stole the show. Ramsay revealed that for their next challenge, they would work with his favorite side, the potato. While that took Rochelle aback, Ramsay revealed that they would go into the pen and dig for potatoes, although Mike said he was not down for the farm shit at all.
For the first part of the Potato Challenge, three chefs from each team would go into the pen and dig as many potatoes as possible until one team reached 100 pounds. The first three men were Ralph, Jason, and Gabriel, while the first three women were Beth, Joy, and Kashia. As the trios went into the pen, Jason did not care who was in the way and started shoving potatoes into his overalls. At the same time, Kashia moved as fast as she could. Gabriel yelled at Richard to dig at a certain location, while Ralph was focused on digging up potatoes, not giving a shit if there were alligators or snakes in the ground. As the women were halfway finished with 50 pounds, the men had 70 pounds, but as Sandra struggled to dig a hole, an annoyed Joy called her team primadonnas. Then, the women had 90 pounds, while the men had 98, and after a close race, the men filled their bucket first. However, Ramsay told the men they won nothing as potato gathering was not the real challenge, and part two would decide the winner. Gabriel was disappointed as he thought the former would announce another trip.
After changing into their chef jackets, both teams had 45 minutes to create their own potato dishes, but while Ralph went with potato salad, Scott ventured into making a potato souffle. Despite Ramsay questioning if that was wise, Scott believed so as he wanted to take a risk despite souffles being a scary dish to make. In the red kitchen, Joy decided to make perogies with crispy pancetta, and at the 25-minute mark, Simone put her dish in the oven and started moving around the kitchen. Kashia took notice, felt that Simone was wasting time, and even accused her of not caring. Melanie called Simone the weirdest person in the world. Two minutes left, Anton felt his dish was both deep and flavorable and hoped Ramsay would love it.
Eventually, time was up, and both teams had their dishes cooked and plated. Ramsay announced he would only taste five dishes from each team before giving them time to discuss the top five dishes. While Simone felt her dish was amazing, none of the women agreed with her as Sandra deemed the dish horrible. Still, Simone felt she was capable despite being in another world. Mike successfully got his dish up in the top five for the men, but Anton was not happy his dish was not chosen. The men were represented by Ralph, Mike, Richard, Scott, and Jason. In contrast, the women were represented by Sandra, Melanie, Jessica, Bev, and Joy.
Each dish was judged on a 1-5 scale, and the team with the most points was the winner. On the first round, Jessica and Richard went up with their dishes. Jessica presented her orange and maple bacon sweet potato succotash. Ramsay deemed the dish fragrant and delicious before giving Jessica 4 points. Still, on the other end, Richard's Irish Colcannon stuffed with crab, and mascarpone cheese was praised for smooth potatoes and a fully folded crab. So, Richard scored 4 points, and both teams were tied at four each, leaving Ramsay excited for more of the challenge. On the second round, Sandra's pancetta sofrito was criticized for looking like a mess but praised for tasting delicious. For Ralph, Ramsay felt his potato salad was too garlicky, but it had a beautiful presentation. Both Sandra and Ralph scored three points each, keeping the score tied at seven. In the third round, Bev’s potato hash confused Ramsay as he did not know if it was either an egg dish or a potato dish, and she scored 2 points, while Jason’s potato gratin scored 4 points, giving the men the lead at 11-9. Melanie presented her herbed gnocchi with wild mushroom gravy on the fourth round, and Ramsay awarded her 4 points. After, Mike presented his Yukon boulangère with caramelized onions and rosemary, but Ramsay felt the dish was macerated in the herb and asked the men if they even tasted Mike's dish before putting it in the top five. The men said they did not, Mike scored only one point, and the women led 13-12, leaving Chris to conclude that Mike cannot cook and was poison for the men as he felt his dish was much better. While Scott looked for a perfect five on the final round, he was hoping for something positive from Ramsay before presenting his potato souffle with béchamel and fresh herbs. Ramsay commended Scott for having the balls to make a souffle, praised the delicious seasoning, and gave him four points. After, a nervous Joy was hoping for Ramsay to like her pierogies stuffed with rustic potatoes. Ramsay liked the balance of the seasoning and tasting the true hero of the dish, the potato. In the end, Joy scored a perfect five, giving the women the victory 18-16. Joy felt very big after her rough start, and that Ramsay got to see why she deserved to stay.
Scoring[]
| Red Team | Blue Team | ||||
| Chef | Score | Total | Chef | Score | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jessica | 4/5 | 4 | Richard | 4/5 | 4 |
| Sandra | 3/5 | 7 | Ralph | 3/5 | 7 |
| Bev | 2/5 | 9 | Jason | 4/5 | 11 |
| Melanie | 4/5 | 13 | Mike | 1/5 | 12 |
| Joy | 5/5 | 18 | Scott | 4/5 | 16 |
| Results | 18-16 | ||||
Reward[]
The women were rewarded with a day onboard an 80-foot sailboat in the Southern California coastline, and Melanie did a victory dance in the confessionals. As the women left to change, Kashia was excited as she never saw the ocean before. During the reward, Jean-Philippe welcomed the women aboard as Joy claimed the only boats she has been on were a kayak and a canoe. When Jean-Philippe asked Simone if she would like to hoist the Hell's Kitchen flag, she declined, leading Joy to call her a Debbie Downer as she hoisted the flag. As the women sailed the ocean, Jessica called their win monumental. At the same time, Beth was shocked at the sea life swimming next to them and called the experience incredible.
Punishment[]
The men were punished by cleaning the livestock out in pen, and during the punishment, Anton knew Mike screwed them big time as the latter’s dish was horrible. As the men tried to grab the livestock for cleaning, Mike complained about smelling like ass due to getting in the dirt, while Jason playfully told a baby lamb he would eat it.
Before service[]
The next day, both teams began prepping for that night's service, but Rochelle looked to be under the weather due to her hoarse coughing, and she felt sicker and sicker. Leaving the kitchen for a while to throw up in the bathroom, Sandra wondered if Rochelle had bronchitis. Suddenly, Simone complained to Joy that she was feeling faint and that she could not think straight. However, Kashia did not think Simone was sick as she was trying to act and was faking it before deeming it pathetic. As Simone left with the medic to eat something, Joy felt there was nothing wrong with the former and wanted her gone. Then, Sous Chef Andi checked on Simone, who claimed she had chills and dizziness, but Sandra knew that Rochelle was sick while Simone was giving up. DeMarco accidentally sliced his finger in the blue kitchen while slicing potatoes on the mandolin, and Anton informed the men to their shock. Sous Chef James told DeMarco he was taking him to urgent care. At the same time, Mike claimed he would have wrapped his fingers together even if the slice was at his knuckles before believing that some people cannot handle it.
In the red kitchen, Rochelle returned to the women's excitement. Still, when Ramsay asked where Simone was, the women told him she was with the medic. However, Joy felt Simone was falsifying her condition. Despite that, a concerned Ramsay checked on Simone in the hallway as the latter felt very cold and claimed she was dehydrated. When Ramsay asked Simone if she could put effort into supporting her team win service, she said she hoped so but hoped her team realized she was not feeling well instead of wasting time. However, Simone's reappearance gave her a half-hearted applause from Sandra and Beth. Sandra feared what would happen as Simone was giving her crazy eyes. When Ramsay assigned Simone to fish alongside Jessica, it made the latter nervous, especially when the former had no idea how to cook fish on their station properly. Regardless, Ramsay asked Jean-Philippe to open Hell’s Kitchen.
Dinner service[]
Senen "Sen Dog" Reyes and EC Twins Alistair & Marc Blackman were seen in the dining room that night. A steak Diane special was served tableside by Kashia and Ralph. After the women received their first order, Joy wanted to please Ramsay as she was determined to complete a service. In the blue kitchen, Anton was working on his first order as well. After the two brought up their first orders, Ramsay brought Anton and Joy to the front and showed them their perfect risottos before telling them to keep the bar up or god help them. Anton felt he rose to the occasion and did what most others did not, and both teams were pushing out a stream of appetizers. On their next order, Anton sent up his risottos, but Mike told Chris to drop the scallops even though the latter said it was not on order. In a confused state, Chris called Mike an idiot and told him to listen before claiming he could not fix stupidity. Simone sent up two lobster tails in the red kitchen, but Ramsay informed her that one was raw. Simone did not pay attention until Joy told her to. That led Melanie to comment if she was being yelled at by Ramsay, she would speak up and call back to him or get out. When Ramsay asked Simone why she entered the competition, she felt it would be a great opportunity, while Joy asked where the latter's push and drive were before wanting Simone to go home. Meanwhile, DeMarco came back from urgent care. Still, while the men celebrated his return, Ramsay chewed them out for looking like idiots. After, DeMarco joined Scott on meat.
Ramsay barged into Jessica and Simone's work one hour into service to see scallops overcooked and raw in the same pans. When Ramsay asked Simone for something, she did not respond, and when he asked Jessica if she wanted to leave, the latter did not. After, Jessica blamed Simone for making her look bad, and in the blue kitchen, the men began working on entrées. Chris warned Mike one of their pans was roaring hot and pushed the latter away from his work. Then, Mike walked up an uncrusted halibut that Chris forgot to put on, and an annoyed Richard told the former to help Chris out. In the red kitchen, the women moved onto entrées, but Rochelle's bronchitis affected her performance as she forgot how many salmon were on order, and Bev struggled to help her. When Jessica announced two minutes on her salmon, Ramsay noticed empty pans on garnish and asked Rochelle and Bev why they were standing around like idiots. Then, Bev sent up garnish enough for one salmon entrée, and as Ramsay complained it was not how they were supposed to work, he asked if one of them could cook. In the blue kitchen, the men had the EC Twins ticket, but as Mike walked his halibut, DeMarco realized he forgot to leave the bone on his chicken and had to do a refire. Scott was forced to tell Ramsay the bad news, leaving the latter angrily confused over their situation and refused to send out an incomplete table before ordering a refire. After, Scott felt DeMarco could not get it together as it took too long for a simple chicken.
Two hours into dinner service, Jessica and Simone sent up their refires. Still, the salmon came out raw, and Ramsay sarcastically congratulated the two for being the worst two cooks to grace the fish station. However, Simone laughed at that comment, and a fed-up Ramsay kicked her and Jessica out of the kitchen before reassigning Melanie and Bev to fish. As Jessica and Simone walked back to the dorms, the former felt she should not have given Simone any responsibility as the latter was clueless about the station and accused her of not working in a service before. Despite Mike telling Scott that the halibut was not ready in the blue kitchen, the latter sliced his lamb and walked it to the pass, angering Chris as Scott never told him. When Ramsay asked for the halibut, Chris revealed it could take two and a half more minutes, leaving Ramsay furious over the lack of communication. As a result, Ramsay kicked the men out of the kitchen, and Gabriel called it embarrassing to fail a service three times. Despite Sandra serving a perfect Wellington in the red kitchen, Bev walked up both an undercooked and overcooked halibut. That was the final straw for Ramsay as he kicked the women out of the kitchen, and a frustrated Sandra yelled that it sucked. After, Ramsay told Jean-Philippe to shut down the restaurant.
Post-mortem[]
Later that night, Sous Chef Andi told both teams to come downstairs, only for Ramsay to stop them at the stairwell and call that night the most embarrassing service he had ever seen. After wanting to cut the dead weight sooner than later, Ramsay named both teams' joint losers and tasked them with nominating three each.
During deliberation, Sandra knew that the ones who fought would stay before naming Simone as her nomination, to which the rest of the women agree. When Joy asked about Bev, Melanie and Jessica considered her as the latter deemed her dead weight. Then, Rochelle was considered as Melanie felt the former was not at 100%, and when Sandra's name was brought up, at least six of them agreed on that. Sandra did not understand why she was considered a nominee considering they had Bev the idiot, Rochelle the sick, and Simone the one who was sick in the head while she was on point that night. However, Joy told Sandra that it was based on her attitude, but the latter got pissed and walked out, with Bev accusing her of not listening.
Meanwhile, both Jason and Ralph considered DeMarco as the latter deemed him a dumb fuck, while Gabriel felt Chris did poorly that night. However, Chris argued he was not the dead weight and owned up to his mistakes, but claimed he could have done better if Mike was not around as he deemed the latter poisonous. Chris even begged the men to keep himself and DeMarco over Mike. Then, Chris told Mike all he did that night was season the fish, but while the latter reminded him he wanted to lead all night, Jason reminded Mike he stood around doing nothing. Then, Mike suggested they nominate Gabriel for doing the same amount of work as himself that night, but the latter argued against that logic and accused him of standing around, and Jason yelled at Mike to go back to the grocery store. That led to a screaming match between Jason and Mike, but DeMarco, Scott, and Anton went between the two before things got physical.
Elimination[]
Sandra announced Simone as the women's first nominee for elimination, Rochelle as their second, and herself as their third. In contrast, Jason announced Mike as the men’s first nominee for elimination, DeMarco as their second, and Chris as their third. After hearing the nominations, Ramsay decided to call DeMarco, Mike, and Simone down to the front, ordered them to hand over their jackets, and gave them ten seconds to plead their case. Simone said she came to compete and wanted a chance to grow and learn from Ramsay, DeMarco just wanted to cook and lead despite not having a lot of confidence, and Mike wanted to get a chance to run fish, and that Chris led it to the ground. Before Ramsay could announce who was going home, Simone spoke up and said she wanted to leave. While that announcement shocked everybody, Ramsay granted Simone's request and allowed her to leave. During her exit interview, Simone claimed she was an energetic person but was deemed a quiet person.
After Simone left, Ramsay tossed Mike and DeMarco their jackets and dismissed the chefs. Sandra was offended the women put her up and focused on herself, while Chris wanted to see at least Mike go home along with Simone and deemed it the latter’s last straw. Then, Mike told everybody to kiss his 350-pound ass if they would throw him under the bus and said it was game on.
Ramsay's comment: "Hell's Kitchen is about making someone's wish come true. Simone wished to leave Hell's Kitchen. That was an easy one. Wish granted."
Trivia[]
- This marks the first time a chef withdrew after being nominated for elimination.
- With this episode, a new record for most nominees named in a single night has been marked with six in total.
- This marks the first time both teams were named joint losers in three consecutive services. This record is later tied with Season 15.
- With Simone's departure, Jason has made it one place higher than he did back in Season 9. This makes him the first returning chef to improve his ranking on his second run.