The tenth episode of Season 14 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on Fox on May 5, 2015. In that episode, Hell’s Kitchen hosted a Homecoming dance, an epic argument at the dorms occurred, and the first team switch happened.
Intro[]
While going back to the dorms, Randy was ecstatic about winning the Cook For Your Life Challenge, with Alison congratulating him. Randy called it a highlight of his life before Josh jokingly stated that the challenge was harder than getting shot at. Later, Meghan talked with Josh about how shit was getting real. Josh said that the only way to receive a black jacket was with teamwork while adding that they had to earn their leadership in the competition. However, Meghan disagreed with Josh as she felt leaders could take what they want. Despite Meghan saying that she has been called every name in the book, Josh pointed out that it would be a problem if nobody hated each other.
Team challenge[]
The next day, the chefs woke up feeling exhausted. Meghan complained that she needed sleep, and Michelle asked if anybody wanted coffee. Then, Ramsay called Nick and told him to bring everybody downstairs immediately. As they went downstairs, the chefs heard a massive crowd coming from the dining room, and Milly remarked that they had no idea what was going to happen. When they reached the dining room, they saw cheerleaders and a marching band. Michelle realized that a pep rally was happening, bringing back high school memories for her as she just graduated four years ago. Milly was impressed by how big the pep rally was and remarked that he could feel the energy in the room. After, Ramsay introduced the chefs to the Calabasas High School, praised the students for their energy, and announced that the school’s homecoming dance would be at Hell’s Kitchen the following night. For the Homecoming Planning Challenge, each team would create a tasting menu, and Michelle was excited as she was a part of Homecoming at her high school. Ramsay introduced the Homecoming committee consisting of Abigail, Max, and Georgia, who revealed that their theme would be Mardi Gras, which excited Randy as he used to be stationed in Louisiana, and wanted to make some Cajun food since the beginning. Each team had 35 minutes to create one seafood appetizer, a chicken entrée, and a beef entrée.
The chefs went to their kitchens, Josh reminded the men to work together despite creating separate dishes, and Nick reminded them to make the dishes high school-friendly. T and Alison were paired on the appetizer, the former revealed that they were making a classic shrimp & grits and believed that as long as their dishes had a lot of meat and grease, the high school kids would like it. Meghan decided to step it up and made her own pasta but knew that making fettuccine in 35 minutes was risky. In the blue kitchen, Randy decided to make a blackened chicken pasta and remarked that because he had two teenage daughters, he knew how much teens loved Cajun food before stating how confident he was. Josh deemed Randy's pasta delicious, and in the red kitchen, Michelle revealed that she loved New Orleans and decided to use a lot of bell peppers as she knew how much teenagers loved color before calling her dish Mardi Gras on a plate. With five minutes remaining, Josh and Nick were paired on the beef entrée; the former revealed that they were making a chicken fried steak and believed that the kids would eat it up. However, Nick said that Josh was constantly amped up, and while he felt that the latter was becoming rude, he knew that they were still a team and that he did not want to fight. Eventually, the chefs cooked and plated their dishes in time.
In the first round, Milly and the pair of Alison and T presented their appetizers, and he was confident as a lot of people commented that his food tasted like it was from Bourbon Street. T and Alison’s jalapeno grits with cheddar cheese and lobster were praised by Abigail and Georgia for the sauce and presentation. Still, Max deemed the grits a little watery and salty, which angered T. Milly’s deep-fried stuffed shrimp with crab and lobster meat under mascarpone and parmesan was praised for being crispy and having a nice texture. Still, Max deemed it a little boring, causing Milly to call the latter Ramsay junior. After deliberation, Milly won the round, and the men led 1-0. On the second round, Meghan and Randy presented their chicken entrées. While Josh was confident in Randy being strong in challenges, he knew that Meghan was a tough competitor and needed to knock it out of the park. When Meghan served her fresh chive fettuccine with cream sauce and sausage, she revealed that she made fresh pasta. After Max said that it was the dish that wowed him the most in terms of presentation, Ramsay jokingly asked him how many Michelin Stars he had. The latter sheepishly answered not enough like Ramsay. The dish was praised for not being overly spicy, being colorful, but criticized for a lackluster sauce. Before tasting Randy’s blackened chicken pasta, Ramsay asked him if he made fresh pasta, but he admitted that he did not, instead he using the pasta from the kitchen. The dish was criticized for lacking seasoning and not as light as Meghan’s dish but praised for the sauce. While Georgia chose Randy’s dish as her favorite, Max and Abigail deemed Meghan’s as the best, she won the round, and the score was tied at 1. On the final round, Michelle and the pair of Josh and Nick presented their beef dishes. Alison remarked that the women had lost the past four challenges before hoping that Michelle’s dish would blow the kid’s minds. Josh and Nick’s chicken fried filet mignon with creole seasoning was praised for being different and being nicely cooked but criticized for the sauce making the dish not as crispy as it should be. Michelle’s filet of beef au par with sautéed okra and red and yellow pepper coulee was praised for the great steak and being simple in presentation but criticized for the over-seasoned okra. While Georgia deemed Michelle’s dish the best, Abigail and Max deemed Josh and Nick’s dish the best. The men won the challenge 2-1, and Milly was happy they won their fifth consecutive challenge. While Ramsay and Max deemed it close, it was Michelle’s okra that was the turnoff for her, much to her dismay.
Scoring[]
| Red Team | Blue Team | ||||
| Dish | Score | Total | Dish | Score | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appetizer | 0 | 0 | Appetizer | 1 | 1 |
| Chicken Entrée | 1 | 1 | Chicken Entrée | 0 | 1 |
| Beef Entrée | 0 | 1 | Beef Entrée | 1 | 2 |
| Results | 2-1 | ||||
Reward[]
The men were rewarded with a trip to a local pirate dinner retreat. During the reward, Milly was glad to receive a private show, with the restaurant being all for themselves, and called the pirates awesome. Randy was fully invested in it, and Josh noticed that he was smiling a lot.
Punishment[]
The women were punished by decorating the dining room for the next service, based on the committee’s directions, and string 200 bead necklaces together. During the punishment, Alison complained that while it was one thing to lose the challenge, listening to high schoolers dictate where things needed to be and wanted to stab them in the eyeball.
Later, Michelle told the committee how she used to be a part of her own committee back in high school, but T found that annoying, and when Michelle asked T if she heard a recent order, T rudely said that she did and told her to shut up. Then, T confronted Michelle and told her not to say her name for the rest of the day. When Michelle asked T to help Meghan with the necklaces, which angered the latter, it caused an argument, and Michelle told T to calm down or hit her with a plate.
Before service[]
The next day, both teams began their prep. Meghan instructed Alison on making the pasta properly. Still, Alison deemed her aggravating and that she had enough of Meghan’s poor people skills. In the blue kitchen, Josh was determined to see a girl go home but was annoyed by Nick’s poor response for a good. Then, Nick revealed that while he and Josh had a bromance from the beginning, they were no longer on the same page because there were fewer chefs now.
When both teams were lined up, Ramsay asked the men how their pirate reward was, with Josh answering that he had a blast. Then, Ramsay praised the women for decorating the dining room. When he asked T how the committee was, she answered that they were a special kind of people, though Ramsay knew that she wanted to wring their necks. After, Ramsay reminded them about the Homecoming service and told them it would be a great time to communicate and having perfect timings. He asked Marino to open Hell’s Kitchen.
Dinner service[]
In addition to the challenge-winning dishes, the menu also featured a gourmet pork slider appetizer and a black seared snapper entrée. When Ramsay called the first ticket in the red kitchen, T told Meghan that she was about to drop her lobster tails. Still, despite being confident in her skills, T's butter started to overflow and cause a fire on her flattop, much to her embarrassment. Ramsay put the fire out, lectured T to watch her station, and said he would not let a fire evacuation happen on his watch. Josh wanted to be on his best and shine in the blue kitchen, but Nick felt that he was getting flustered. When Josh sent his risotto to the pass, Ramsay and Sous Chef James knew that the white wine taste was too strong and lectured him that he would not let any teenagers getting drunk. Ramsay accused Josh of being drunk as he failed to identify the taste several times. In the red kitchen, the women sent their first appetizers. Still, Michelle was slow on putting the sliders together, causing Ramsay to ask why she was not communicating. Alison decided to help as she did not want the meat to sink them, but Michelle did not appreciate it because she was making basic mistakes. Despite that, Michelle’s sliders were approved, and the women were sending out appetizers.
In the blue kitchen, Josh’s refire was accepted. Still, Milly sent a raw capellini, with Ramsay saying that he could even snap it, before ordering them to get a grip. That annoyed Nick as, despite Josh trying to become the leader, he was preaching stuff without following through. Josh’s refire was accepted in time, and the men’s appetizers were sent out. Eventually, both teams started communicating properly, and all the appetizers were sent out. When the teams moved onto entrées, Milly told Ramsay that the oven was at 500 degrees. Still, upon closer inspection, Ramsay found out that it was not on at all, which shocked Josh as that was supposed to be easy. Despite Milly claiming that it was on, Ramsay lectured him to watch the heat, and he decided to calm down and focus. In the red kitchen, Meghan took over Michelle’s meat station without the latter’s knowledge, who was relocated on garnish, much to her frustration as she was getting pushed around a lot. Despite Michelle trying to tell Meghan that she was assigned to meat by Ramsay, the latter rudely told her to stay on garnish, frustrating her as she knew Meghan could be a bitch sometimes. In the blue kitchen, Milly sent raw snappers, Ramsay ordered the men to feel them, and Josh knew that the flattop incident earlier caused it. However, the refire was accepted, and Milly knew that despite losing two minutes, he got it perfectly. In the red kitchen, T asked Meghan for an opinion on the snapper as, despite deeming it a simple menu, she never worked with snapper before. Then, Sous Chef Andi rejected T’s snapper for looking too dark, Meghan knew that cooking fish took finesse, and Ramsay reminded T about timing. Randy forgot to add the lobster to the gravy for the chicken fried steak in the blue kitchen. When Randy was surprised to find it out, and an annoyed Ramsay called that response stupid, with Nick accusing him of dragging the team down. In the red kitchen, T’s refire was accepted, and Alison kept calling out five pasta. Still, Michelle was annoyed as the latter was not properly communicating. The rest of the team was annoyed that Alison kept using the word all day.
Two hours into service, Nick was determined to serve the last ticket perfectly but was concerned with Randy as he felt that the latter’s eyes were glazed over. Despite causing a fire, Randy's pasta accepted, and the men finished their service, with the women finishing moments later. Alison said that while the service was not perfect, she was glad they finished strong, with Nick saying the same thing about the men’s service.
Post-mortem[]
When both teams were lined up, Ramsay admitted that while it was not a perfect service, both teams completed it. However, the women were declared winners for having the edge all night, and Ramsay asked the men to nominate two people for elimination.
During deliberation, Nick knew that the men would get their shit together when their weakest chefs would be gone and announced that his nominees were based on who made the most mistakes before considering Randy and Josh. However, Josh did not like that announcement, but Milly agreed with Nick. However, Josh considered Nick and Randy, and despite feeling that Nick did a great job, Josh retorted that Nick was on garnish, which he considered the easiest station. Despite that, Nick stood by his decision and even hinted that he was a better chef than Josh, but the latter called it crazy and refused to go down to a lightweight like Nick. Then, Josh campaigned for his chance to stay, called Nick a Suzy homemaker, and that he was coasting by, but the latter angrily called Josh a dick and that he did know how to respect people.
Team switch[]
Nick announced Randy as the men’s first nominee and Josh as the second. During their pleas, Randy believed that he improved the most and that he could cook better dishes. At the same time, Josh said that this was all he had, before declaring that he was not a Suzy homemaker like Nick, and explained that he believed the latter was not tested enough like himself. However, Ramsay reminded Josh that there was no leader in the blue kitchen. After much deliberation, Ramsay sent Randy back in line and told Josh to take off his jacket, who was transferred to the red team. Then, Meghan was transferred to the blue team, which Nick appreciated.
After both of them joined their respective new teammates, Ramsay told Meghan to whip the blue team into shape with her leadership. While being dismissed, Josh believed that he switched teams because he was leadership material. Michelle declared that the red team did not need Meghan, and she, Alison, and T declared that they would become the new leaders of the red team.
Ramsay's comment: "This was the first time I've seen Josh and Randy perform that poorly. So, I decided to give them a second chance. Hopefully, having new teammates would ensure that it never happens again."
Trivia[]
- This marks the second time where a team won five challenges in a row, following Episode 1113 - 8 Chefs Compete. It is also the first time the blue team did so.