The fourth episode of Season 16 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on Fox on October 14, 2016. In that episode, Ramsay tested the chefs' surf and turf knowledge, and a shocking but satisfying elimination of a chef occurred.
Intro[]
While going back to the dorms, Gia called her teammates bitches and savages and was angry that they accused her of being hard to work with. While Shaina tried to remind Gia that nobody is there to be friends, she suggested that she should bite the bullet as she was nominated that night. That led to Gia proclaiming that she would not let the women see her cry.
Team challenge[]
The next day, the chefs came downstairs to find Ramsay standing in front of a table full of protein, leaving an eager Aziza to wonder what their next challenge was. Then, Ramsay explained that one of the most popular American dishes was the surf & turf and introduced the Protein Identification Challenge. Each team would compete one at a time, split up into four pairs, and race to correctly guess the protein the dish contained, though Shaina was worried as she did not have a good palate. If both proteins were incorrect, the light would turn red, correct answers would show a green light, and one incorrect answer would show a yellow light. However, Ramsay said that they would have to figure out which was the wrong protein. The team that could figure out the proteins of the four dishes the fastest was the winner, and Ramsay allowed both teams time to decide who would pair up and which pair was going up first. Heidi wanted to pair up with Ryan as they were close friends. Shaina suggested that they switch it up for a chance to win but was ignored, much to her agitation. Then, Heidi dismissively told Shaina that she should not be in the competition if her palate were weak. On the men, Johnny suggested pairing up the strong with the weak, and Andrew was confident in his palate as he took classes on it. After picking their pairings, Ramsay dismissed the men back to the dorms, and the women were up first.
Heidi and Ryan were the first pair of women to compete, and they randomly picked shrimp and guinea fowl. While Heidi immediately thought of crab cake, she knew that nothing in Hell’s Kitchen was simple as Ryan thought it was shrimp instead. Shaina told the two to start with the simple proteins first, and while Heidi and Ryan grabbed shrimp and chicken as their first choices, the latter was the incorrect protein. Then, they failed on turkey, Heidi told Shaina to shut up after the latter kept calling out chicken, and their third paired attempt on shrimp and Cornish hen was incorrect. Eventually, Heidi and Ryan got their fourth attempt, shrimp and guinea fowl, correct. Kimberly and Gia were the second pair to compete and randomly chose venison and bay scallop. Kimberly was able to identify the bay scallops as her great palate was one of her gifts. Then, while Kimberly stated that she would not forget the fallout she and Gia had the previous night, she was willing to forgive that day as it may help the women win. While their first two pairings of scallops and buffalo were incorrect, followed by scallops and elk, their third attempt on the scallops and venison pairing was correct. Shaina and Aziza were the third pair to compete and randomly picked squab and octopus. However, they got their first paired attempt, ostrich and squid, incorrect, followed by lobster and beef. Aziza said that her eyeballs were moving fast as she was trying to make sure they got the right proteins. Then, their third attempt, cod and goat, was incorrect, along with swordfish and veal, elk and frog legs. An annoyed Wendy suggested that Shaina and Aziza tasted the dish again. Then, their sixth attempt, halibut and buffalo, was incorrect. On their seventh attempt, they got half right with trout and octopus, though Heather asked where was the turf element. After three failed attempts, Kimberly remarked that she had no idea that Aziza and Shaina’s palates were that terrible. After trying squab and octopus, they finally got the correct answer after eleven attempts. However, Aziza admitted that she had no idea what squab was and wanted to google it later. Wendy and Heather were the final pair and picked buffalo and monkfish, but the two immediately thought it was lobster instead. As a result, their first attempt, lobster and beef, was incorrect, and Kimberly suggested that they try monkfish as it was a poor man’s lobster. On their second attempt, the two were half right with elk and monkfish, but they managed to get the buffalo and monkfish pairing correct on their third attempt. In the end, the women ended the challenge at 13 minutes and 41 seconds. After Wendy complained about Aziza and Shaina eating up a lot of time, she prayed for an act of god to stop the men from winning.
When the men came downstairs, Aaron was confident after seeing the women’s time. Johnny and Paulie were the first pair of men to compete and randomly picked shrimp and guinea fowl. After being told by Andrew that there was no crab cake, Johnny and Paulie used turkey and shrimp as their first attempt, only to get it half right. However, the two took shrimp off and replaced it with halibut, making the second attempt incorrect. Their third attempt, shrimp and Cornish hen, were half right, but they managed to get shrimp and guinea fowl on their fourth attempt. Andrew and Aaron were the second pair to compete and randomly picked venison and bay scallops. After carefully tasting the dish, they managed to get the correct pairing on their first attempt, with Andrew happy that they nailed it. Koop and Devin were the third pair to compete and picked squab and octopus. Koop knew one was octopus due to the red rings outside of it, but Koop had trouble identifying the second protein. Their first attempt was octopus and kangaroo, but it was half correct. It was followed by elk and octopus, ostrich and octopus, and Aziza asked what a squab was if the men could not even figure it out. Koop and Devin’s fourth attempt, lamb and octopus, was half right again. After Koop complained about being winded, he randomly picked squab for their fifth attempt. Fortunately, it was correct. Paulie and Matt were the final pair to compete, and they picked buffalo and monkfish, but their first attempt, swordfish and beef, was incorrect. Then, their second attempt, buffalo and halibut, was deemed half correct, but their third attempt, elk and halibut, was deemed incorrect. Their fourth attempt, buffalo and sea bass, was incorrect. As Wendy was praying for the men to lose, Matt and Paulie’s fifth attempt, buffalo and tilapia, was half right once again. After three more half-correct attempts, the men urged Matt and Paulie to pick something, and Matt grabbed the monkfish. It ended up being the correct pairing after nine attempts, and with a time of 9 minutes and 46 seconds, the men won the challenge.
Scoring[]
Protein Identification | ||||
Team | Duration | Team | Duration | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Red Team | 13:41 | Blue Team | 9:46 | |
Results | 9:46-13:41 |
Reward[]
The men were rewarded with a trip to San Diego and got to experience surfing at the Wave House. That excited Andrew as he never did that before and compared it to winning the lottery. During the reward, Johnny was ready to surf but wiped out a lot, followed by the others. However, Devin was the only one who could surf for more than ten seconds before wiping out himself.
Punishment[]
The women were punished by making sausages from scratch. Back at the dorms, Shaina was frustrated that nobody listened to her suggestion to break up Heidi and Ryan, and she was trying to help before yelling at Ryan that she should have listened to her. However, Ryan argued she did not know that palates would be a big factor, felt it was more about speed and was pissed the women were angry at her after giving them a strong head start.
During the punishment, Heather complained that while the men were enjoying a four-star lunch, she was stuck hacking down a pig, grinding them down, and making sausages out of them. However, Kimberly was not too annoyed as she liked sausages due to her Italian background, and despite the hard work, she knew that it would produce a good product. For lunch, Sous Chef Andi presented the women with a family-style patter of unidentified meat, only for Ryan to find out that hers was a big tarantula that she had a fear of. Kimberly found out she got steamed testicles and deemed it not bad.
Before service[]
Later that night, Andrew asked Johnny what his new game plan was, and he said that he wanted to make the women cry as they did with Jessica as it got her eliminated. Now deciding to target Kimberly, Johnny called her voice annoying and could not wait to see her cry as he enjoyed making people cry. However, Kimberly managed to deflect Johnny’s bullying, deemed the men pathetic, and called them sheep while she was a wolf that fought back. Then, Kimberly berated Johnny for ripping on people instead of acting like a gentleman so he could feel better about himself, but when Andrew asked Kimberly if she thought she would be in the competition longer than Johnny, she declared it her mission.
The next day, both teams began prepping for that night’s service. While the men wanted to keep their winning streak alive, the women were determined to regain some momentum. After prep, Ramsay had both teams line up and revealed that a special VIP twelve top table would be serviced that night, with both teams cooking for each half. After asking the chefs not to overthink and cook with confidence, Ramsay asked Marino to open Hell’s Kitchen.
Dinner service[]
In addition to the twelve top of a birthing class, Pooch Hall was in attendance that night, and a special mussels and sausage appetizer was served tableside by Wendy and Devin. Heather admitted how hard it was to be away from her son on their first ticket but wanted to make their lives better. However, while Heather needed five more minutes on risottos, Ramsay pointed out that Aziza was almost finished with her scallops and discovered that there was more liquid fat in the pan than he had in his own fryers. That forced the women to start over, Ramsay reminded Aziza that he did not want fried scallops, and she promised not to send any. In the blue kitchen, the men received their first ticket, and Andrew declared nothing would stop the men after their challenge won. However, while Koop believed that he would kill it on fish, his lobster tails were ice cold, and Paulie called it ridiculous as it was their first ticket. Despite that, Koop was able to get the refire accepted on time, and Johnny believed they had it. In the red kitchen, Aziza got her refire accepted, and she deemed her deep-fried attempt as a mistake that would never happen again. With both teams pushing out appetizers, they were now moving onto entrées, but Ramsay warned the women that the women customers were pregnant. Kimberly admitted that she remembered how much she wanted food fast when she was pregnant. Still, not only did Gia not call out for times on garnish, she had no idea where her stuff was, much to Heidi’s frustration, who ordered her to get her head in the game. When Shaina told Ramsay that they were still waiting on Gia’s garnishes, he was pissed as the entrées were already on the pass, and Heather called it a sin to wait for garnish. Then, Gia dumped burnt garnishes into the trash, but she revealed that she accidentally put currants instead of capers inside the potatoes and yelled that she needed a minute to absorb her surroundings.
Forty-five minutes into service, Gia’s mistake had the twelve top being forced to wait impatiently. In the blue kitchen, the men delivered their entrées to the pass, with Paulie believing that they had it. However, Koop’s salmon was raw, Ramsay angrily reminded him that sushi was not on the menu and smashed it with his fist. Then, Ramsay reminded the men that there were pregnant women in the dining room, and with their slow pace, one of them could give birth in the dining room. Koop knew that he had to buckle down as he lost his job to compete, and in the red kitchen, Gia sent up her garnishes. However, Gia sent up improperly portioned green beans, and an annoyed Kimberly accused her of sinking like the Titanic on a cold winter’s day. Ramsay was angrier that Gia was not even listening, before adding on that the beans were saturated in butter and overcooked. Then, Gia threw her arms up in the air, and when Ramsay asked her what that was, she argued that she was listening. Due to the logjam on the twelve top orders, neither team has served any entrées to the dining room, with Ramsay accusing Gia of giving up, the mood of the red kitchen has been deflated and urging her to speed up. Ryan decided to help Gia out on garnish as best as possible, as the latter complained how much Ramsay was picking on her. Thanks to Ryan’s help, the women were finally able to serve their half of the twelve top, while in the blue kitchen, Ramsay was impatiently waiting for the men’s half. Aaron decided to let his New York striploins rest so Ramsay would have nothing to say, and it paid off as the men were finally able to serve their half, and Ramsay praised Aaron for his steaks. With the twelve-top completed, both teams were pushing out entrées at a steady pace.
One hour and a half into service, the men were on their final ticket, and Andrew was determined to see a complete service. But when Aaron did not call out four minutes until Andrew told him to, Ramsay asked if Aaron has found his voice. It continued as Aaron did not communicate on his Wellingtons, and Johnny compared him to a scared little bunny rabbit before telling him to get himself together. Then, Aaron announced that his Wellingtons were cold, leading to an upset Ramsay showing it to the rest of the men before revealing that Koop’s sea bass was overcooked. That was the final straw for Ramsay, who kicked the men out of the kitchen. Andrew was upset that he lost despite working hard, and in the back hallway, Ramsay commented that he has never seen a level of disarray before reminding them that every ticket that night was a battle. Then, Ramsay named the men the losers and asked them to nominate two people for elimination. In the red kitchen, the women were able to push out their final ticket, and Gia was happy that they did because if the women lost, her teammates would have found something to blame her for.
Post-mortem[]
Back at the dorms, Johnny asked Koop what happened on fish, and he admitted that he messed up his own timings before knowing he would be an obvious nominee. Despite that, Koop knew that he had to keep his cool and was confident he could win over Ramsay. For the second nominee, Johnny considered Aaron to join Koop, but Andrew disagreed with that idea, with even Matt pointing out that Aaron did great that night. However, Johnny pointed out that they had to yell at Aaron to get his attention, Paulie reminded Andrew about the raw Wellingtons that got them kicked out. Johnny told Aaron that while he could cook meat, he could not communicate with anybody. Then, Aaron spoke up that he bounced back after being nominated before and believed that he did not deserve to be up again. Then, Paulie asked Andrew who his nominee was, and the latter said Devin as he felt he was slipping through the cracks, which Aaron agreed with. However, Devin argued that he could hear Aaron get yelled at from the dining room due to miscommunication. By the end, the men were at a standstill over who to nominate as nobody wanted to see their teammates go home.
Elimination[]
Johnny announced Koop as the men’s first nominee and Aaron as the second. During their pleas, Koop said that he wanted to be a chef, admitted to his mistakes, and promised that he would not mess up again. Then, Ramsay asked Koop if he was better than Aaron, and while he thought he was, Ramsay reminded him that the latter had better temperatures. However, Koop argued that somebody else felt the temperatures for Aaron, and the latter admitted that he asked Andrew to double-check his meat as he did not want it to be sent back. Then, Aaron believed that he improved since he was up for elimination and that all he needed was to build his confidence. However, when Ramsay asked him how long that would take, Aaron did not have a clear answer, leading Ramsay to tell him that while he could cook, his confidence might be his undoing. After hearing the pleas, Ramsay decided to eliminate Gia from the winning team for her poor performance on garnish, failing to improve her poor attitude, and feeling that she has given up. During her exit interview, Gia angrily argued that she should not have been eliminated and believed that the person who was nominated should have gone home instead.
After Gia left, Ramsay told Koop to get his act together quickly, told Aaron to get his head out of the sand and start communicating, and told the women that he just did them a favor. While being dismissed, Kimberly was glad that Gia was gone, compared her to a cancer spot on a face, and felt that the women would start shining again. Then, Aaron was ecstatic to have survived elimination but knew that he had to become more vocal, and Koop knew that it was the time to fight back and improve.
Ramsay's comment: "I gave Gia a second chance which proved to be two chances too many. See you, Gia."
Trivia[]
- Title Reference: The title refers to how the Protein Identification Challenge featured surf and turf-inspired dishes. It also refers to the men's surfing reward and the women's argument after losing the challenge.
- This marks the first time since Season 5 where Ramsay eliminated a red chef from the winning team. It also marks the third season in a row Ramsay eliminated a chef in that way, officially breaking the original record of two seasons in a row.