The sixteenth episode of Season 12 of Hell's Kitchen aired on Fox on June 26, 2014. In that episode, the winner of the Black Jackets Challenge was revealed, dinner service was rough on both ends, and one chef did not make through the entire night.
Individual challenge[]
Continuing from the previous episode, Ramsay was not happy when Joy announced that her seared duck breast with oven-roasted figs and mushrooms with Swiss chard was made from ingredients she never used before. Rochelle felt it might be her chance of getting a black jacket. However, Paul said the dish looked amazing, and it ate well with the right balance, Rock said the flavors were amazing, and Dana said it was the first dish she tasted that she liked. In the end, Joy scored 19 points, and she won the challenge.
Scoring[]
| Black Jacket | |
| Chef | Score |
|---|---|
| Jason | 8/20 |
| Kaisha | 11/20 |
| Rochelle | 13/20 |
| Scott | 11/20 |
| Melanie | 5/20 |
| Gabriel | 0/20 |
| Joy | 19/20 |
| Results | Joy |
Reward[]
As promised, Joy won a spot on the Hell’s Kitchen calendar, the first black jacket of that season, and was immuned for that night’s service. Once in her black jacket, Joy said she felt sexy in it and was happy to be the first person to receive one. In addition, Joy received lunch with the three judges. As the chefs returned to the dorms, Scott and Kashia congratulated Joy for winning.
During the reward, Dana told Joy not to take Ramsay’s criticisms too personally as he had a lot of constructive criticisms and she never made the same mistake twice. Joy felt it was awesome to get that insight from people before her and told the former contestants that Kashia was her biggest competition as the latter picked up on everything very fast despite having no culinary training and how they had a strong friendship. While eating their entrées, Paul had a sick look on his face, making everybody fear he was choking, but he was able to spit it out in the bathroom. Eventually, the lunch was over, and Joy said it was a good experience as the former contestants left.
Punishment[]
The rest of the chefs were punished by making lunch for Joy and the judges. Kashia admitted that she wanted to win back at the dorms and how hard it was to miss home, which Scott took notice of. They talked about missing their family as Scott hoped talking through it would help Kashia miss her daughter. Joy reassured Kashia that her daughter would be proud of her, but at the same time, she felt that the latter’s big step was not easy.
During the punishment, Scott wished it was him instead of Joy next to the former contestants as he had a lot of questions to ask, as the Sous Chefs pushed them for the shrimp salad. While working on the entrées, Kashia decided to serve the steak dishes herself as she wanted to get close to Rock and had a chance to shake his hand, even though she was disappointed by the fact he was married. After seeing Paul choke on his food, Jason felt the former deserved it.
Before service[]
Immediately after the former contestants left, both teams began prepping for that night’s service. When Joy asked Kashia to slice some apples, the latter jokingly told her not to come on her high horse. However, Scott knew that with Joy and Kashia acting like sisters, there was no way the two would dominate the other, and he had to be perfect that night. In the blue kitchen, Melanie hoped that night would be a repeat of the previous one, pumped up the blue team with good vibes, and knew there were no excuses because they had an extra person.
After prep, Ramsay had both teams lined up and directed their attention to a ten-top table in the dining room with five plates from both kitchens, revealing that it was for the Oxfam America organization, and actress Minnie Driver was in attendance that night. Rochelle knew they had to honor that table with a great service. Ramsay reminded them that it was the final team-based dinner service because the chefs who were not eliminated will earn a black jacket. Melanie knew if she came in with fire, she would earn her black jacket, and Ramsay asked Jean-Philippe to open Hell’s Kitchen.
Dinner service[]
In addition to Minnie Driver, Raymond Offenheiser was seen in the ten-top. The red team got their first order, and Kashia knew that with three people in the red kitchen, they had to help each other out before declaring she would get a black jacket. In the blue kitchen, the blue team received their first order. Still, Gabriel was confused about the order of scallops, leading Jason to call him dumb and not being able to produce what he talked. Then, Gabriel walked up scallops Rochelle knew were not on order, and tried to push herself on the appetizers before Ramsay called them to the front and asked Gabriel why he walked them. Jason said there were no excuses for making mistakes at the late stage of the competition, and Ramsay criticized Gabriel for confusing himself. Joy did not feel she was safe in the red kitchen despite Ramsay’s promise and that the latter could take her black jacket away, but the risotto was accepted. In the blue kitchen, Gabriel rebounded and got his scallops accepted.
Forty-five minutes into dinner service, both teams pushing out appetizers, Ramsay decided to go for the ten-top and had Joy and Rochelle coordinate timings. Joy said she did not need help on appetizers, but Kashia knew they had to move with speed and coordination with the blue kitchen, while Gabriel knew it was a big deal for Ramsay. When both teams walked up their appetizers to the pass, Ramsay saw that Gabriel’s scallops were overcooked and rubbery and was not happy he made that mistake on the ten-top. Rochelle urged Gabriel to pick it up as Ramsay was forced to serve the order incomplete. To Gabriel’s relief, the refire was accepted. Now moving onto entrées, Scott put three halibut in the oven when there were two on order, but when he argued that the extra one was for the following order, Ramsay called him an idiot as the ticket was not fired yet. Kashia told Scott to put his passion into his cooking, only for her to serve the chicken not sliced on an angle, making it like a clump because of that, and Ramsay lectured her about it. Despite that, the red team served their first entrée, and in the blue kitchen, Melanie walked up pink chicken. Ramsay warned Melanie that she was disappearing, told her not to walk pink chicken if she knew about it earlier, and ordered a complete redo. Melanie could not believe she made a rookie mistake and got her refire accepted. Now moving onto the ten-top’s entrées, Ramsay warned Gabriel not to screw him like he did on the appetizers and told Melanie to wake up. Gabriel felt his blood pressure up because Ramsay was on his ass like a hawk, only to cook the salmon and the halibut in the same pan. Ramsay reminded Gabriel that they were two different fishes with two different cooking styles, and they needed to be, which Melanie called a big no-no. Then, Ramsay told Gabriel that they never cook two fishes in one pan in the past, and if the latter was lucky enough to own a restaurant, he could teach others that bad practice. In the red kitchen, Scott said he needed three minutes on the salmon. Still, Ramsay said that the other proteins were on the pass. He refused to have a repeat from the appetizers, leading Kashia to ask Scott what he was thinking. Gabriel walked up his salmon in the blue kitchen, but it was dry, and he had no other extras ready to fire, much to Ramsay’s annoyance. With both kitchens stalled on the salmon, Ramsay was forced to send out an incomplete order again. Sadly, one of the waiting customers was Driver. When Scott walked up the salmon, it was burnt, and Ramsay warned him that he was pissing him off.
One hour and a half into dinner service, Gabriel’s refire came out with soggy skin, and a pissed Jason said it was a simple thing to do. Then, Ramsay took Scott and Gabriel to the back-pantry room, scolded them for being out of control, and asked if they were ready to go home. They said they were not, and once back in their kitchens, Scott refused to let Ramsay down again as Jean-Philippe pushed him for the third attempt. With Joy’s help, Scott got the third attempt accepted and to Driver, much to his relief. Gabriel was working on the third attempt in the blue kitchen as Jason offered his assistance because the former was struggling. Gabriel felt he would bounce back like he did before and got his third attempt accepted. With the ten-top’s entrées served, both teams focused on completing the rest of their orders. Still, Kashia asked Joy for an opinion on her resting chicken. Joy told Kashia to cook the chicken for thirty more seconds, but when the latter told Ramsay that, she said it in Southern slang. Ramsay had no idea what she meant until Sous Chef Andi translated it for Kashia as she refused to walk up raw chicken. Then, Ramsay chewed Scott out for looking at the salmon’s temperature in the air, while Kashia’s chicken was cooked perfectly, reaffirming her right to earn a black jacket.
Automatic elimination[]
Two hours into dinner service, the blue diners were not served their entrées. When Gabriel ignored Jason’s suggestion of adding stock to the salmon, the latter got infuriated. Then, Gabriel walked up raw salmon, and having reached his limit of his mistakes, Ramsay yelled that his time in the competition was effectively over. Just when Gabriel was about to walk back to the dorms and pack up, Ramsay ordered him out the front door instead, which Rochelle called a lousy way to leave. Jason knew how serious it was in that stage of the competition. Jean-Philippe followed Gabriel outside for his jacket, and during his exit interview, he knew he had too many bad services during his stay and was disappointed about losing his blue jacket when he was close to a black jacket.
After Gabriel’s exit, Melanie struggled to recite the refired order. Ramsay accused Melanie of switching off, even asking her if she wanted to join Gabriel. Melanie knew she had to bounce back, and she did, with both teams pushing out their final orders. After service, Ramsay thanked Driver and Oxfam for dining at Hell’s Kitchen. The two traded lighthearted jabs about her being a stern critic. While clearing down, Melanie could not understand her off day, and Ramsay asked her what was wrong. Melanie called the night embarrassing to him as she knew she was better than that and apologized to Ramsay as she did not want to disappoint him again.
Post-mortem[]
When both teams were lined up, Ramsay confirmed to the chefs that Gabriel was gone and deemed that night a meltdown despite asking for both teams to send out their dishes simultaneously. Both teams were named joint losers as they each had a hand on screwing up the Oxfam table, and they were asked to nominate one each. While being dismissed, Scott knew he screwed up as he should not have sent up poor salmons, and wanted to know what he could do to improve. When Sous Chef Andi came by, Scott asked her for some advice on taking the lashings. She told him to take it forward and move on, especially since Ramsay gets so upset when food is not going out of the kitchen. Scott appreciated it as it was good to learn from other’s experiences and knew he had to own up to his mistakes so he would not make them again.
During deliberation, Rochelle asked who was being nominated. Jason nominated her for elimination as he could not believe she made it far despite never working on the line and did not feel she was a strong cook. However, Rochelle felt that Jason came off as a jerk before nominating him based on that, which Melanie agreed with. That surprised Jason as he was never mentioned for elimination before, but Melanie said it was different. However, Jason argued that he deserved to stay more than Rochelle and Melanie, especially since the latter was in a panic mess that night and would be pissed as hell if he went home and Melanie stayed. Joy wondered who she could lead and who could lead her for the red team, while Scott argued that he was trying to improve himself. Joy did not argue against that, and Kashia knew she came in raw, but the former struggled to nominate somebody as the latter was her friend, but at the same time, Scott can cook.
Elimination[]
Jason announced himself as the blue team’s nominee, but while he expressed confusion over why, Rochelle explained that it was based on a lack of passion. Then, Joy announced Scott as the red team’s nominee. However, Ramsay said there was somebody else he needed to hear from and called Melanie down. Although Ramsay was disappointed in Melanie for struggling in both the challenge and the service, he decided to give her the second black jacket, followed by Kashia and Rochelle. After, Ramsay called the two nominees down, and during their pleas, Scott said he worked hard, and despite his mistakes, he pushed forward and wanted to do whatever he could. Then, Jason said he did consistently well in the competition and was passionate about cooking. When Ramsay asked the two what was different from the other, Jason said he was good with meat, while Scott said he was more creative. After a tough decision, Ramsay told Scott to take his jacket off, only to give him a black jacket, and gave Jason his black jacket, apologizing for the long wait.
After returning to the line, Ramsay welcomed them to the elite club and told them to enjoy the hard work. While being dismissed, Jason knew his hard work and perseverance paid off. Kashia knew her passion and drive got her far, and Scott said it was everybody’s game before knowing he would win.
Ramsay's comment: "With Gabriel causing such a disaster in the kitchen tonight, it was hard to tell who else I should send home. So, I gave everybody the thrill of getting a black jacket. But somebody will definitely be going home after the next dinner service."
Gabriel did not receive the coat hanging and portrait burning sequence.
Trivia[]
- This marks the first time Ramsay eliminated a chef in the middle of dinner service since Episode 710 - 7 Chefs Compete. It is also the first time he sent someone out through the front doors, something he warned Sebastian Royo back in Episode 1102 - 20 Chefs Compete Part 2.
- This marks the only time to date a black jacket chef has participated in a team phased dinner service.
- This marks the highest record of number of joint-losses in a season, with six, tied with Season 10 and Season 11.
- This marks the first time the returning chef was awarded a black jacket, after failing to do so in the first run.