The fourth episode of Season 17 of Hell's Kitchen aired on Fox on October 20, 2017. In that episode, one team made a comeback, one chef's poor performance got them alienated by their team, and the first team switch occurred.
Intro[]
While returning to the dorms, a relieved Manda thought she would be going home that night, calling it nerve-wracking, awful, and gut-wrenching. Manda knew she could not mess up any longer as Robyn comforted her on the way up. Later that night, at 12:30 AM, Van met up with Barbie and Elise and charmingly asked how his Nubian princesses were doing, making Barbie giggle. Van admitted that he liked strong black women, deemed Barbie sexy, and claimed that he could charm the fangs of a rattlesnake. Barbie called Van the fun that everybody wanted to be around and called him a hot-blooded person based on his red tint as the two continued to flirt with each other.
Team challenge[]
The next day, both teams came downstairs to find Ramsay standing in front of a mural, and he said that he wanted to give them some inspiration that day. Because there was much competition in Las Vegas, Ramsay explained that the food had to look great, taste great, and have some showmanship as showgirls came through the mural. Then, Ramsay said that the other thing Las Vegas was famous for was gambling and revealed a giant chance monitor underneath a curtain, though Barbie got dismayed as she did not like leaving things to chance. Ramsay would press a button to display a letter for the Chance Challenge, and both teams would have to guess ingredients that started with said letter. The chef who got stumped on a letter would lose that round for their team, and the other team got to pick an ingredient they could keep and what ingredient they want to give to the other team. That spooked Dana as she did not want the women to end up with random ingredients and hoped they were on their feet.
Since the men won the previous dinner service, they had the first pick of ingredients. The first letter was M, and Benjamin called out for Maraschino cherries, which he admitted he did not know where that came from. After Manda called out Mascarpone cheese, Giovanni called out mayo, Michelle called out mushrooms, Jared called out the mustard, and Elise called out mango. Milly got stumped on what to call out, which gave the women the win, and they decided to keep mushrooms while giving the men the Maraschino cherries. That caused an annoyed Van to ask Benjamin what he was supposed to do with that ingredient. The following letter was C, Giovanni called out cantaloupe, Robyn called out cauliflower, Jared called out chard, but Michelle struggled to call out an ingredient even though Manda listed off several C-letter ingredients. So, the men won that round; they chose to keep cauliflower and gave the red team cantaloupe. The third letter was S, with Jared calling out snap peas, Elise calling out the syrup, and Milly again struggled on a letter as he had a mental block. The women won that round, and they chose to keep snap peas, which immediately gave the men the syrup. On letter A, Dana called out asparagus, Milly called out an apple, Robyn called out artichoke, but when Josh called out agnolotti, Ramsay told him that it was tortellini stuffed with braised beef and that automatically gave the women the win on that round. They chose to keep asparagus and gave the men the artichoke. On the letter P, the chef listed off several ingredients, but when Dana struggled, the men won that round, and they kept portabella mushrooms and gave them peanut butter, causing Jennifer to ask what she was going to do with that ingredient. On the R round, the women kept rice while giving the blue team raisins, and for the B round, the men saved bacon while giving the red team blueberries.
Both teams had 40 minutes to create a dish using a pre-selected protein for cooking with their team's chosen ingredients. Benjamin gave the men some ideas of what they could use the Maraschino cherries, but Barbie expressed concern as she was allergic to peanut butter in the red kitchen. Knowing she could not taste her sauce as it contained the peanut butter, along with the situation of pairing it with her halibut, Barbie told Sous Chef Christina she would find somebody to help her. In the blue kitchen, Jared felt that his dish blurred the line between genius and crazy, and in the red kitchen, Robyn had Dana taste her rice. However, Dana complained about getting a dry mouth and said that Robyn always panicked during challenges and did not want to give the latter advice if the dish turned out poorly. Near the end of the challenge, Barbie had Elise taste her sauce, and the latter said it tasted good. Eventually, both teams got their dishes cooked and plated on time.
Chef Ramsay would score each dish on a 1-5 rating, and the team with the most points at the end would win. The women were up first for the judging, and after Barbie presented her pan-seared halibut with an African peanut sauce, she told Ramsay about her allergy and how Elise tasted the sauce. Ramsay praised the fish for being nailed, the peanut butter aspect incorporated well, and Barbie scored 4 points. After, Barbie admitted that had she been able to taste her dish, she would have scored a perfect five but was still proud of her performance. Then, Manda's rib cap and cantaloupe-infused rice were criticized for tasting bland, causing her to score two. After, Dana's peanut butter-lined ribeye with blueberry demiglace was praised for the protein being nailed, and she scored a perfect 5. Robyn was the fourth person from the red team up, and she presented her seared black cod marinated in peanut butter and blueberry gastrique and knew that she was not performing very well in challenges before hoping to bounce back. However, Ramsay compared the presentation to somebody that has been shot at, criticized the cod for tasting bland and having rubbery skin, and gave Robyn only one point. That dismayed Dana as it was the second time Robyn only scored a single point in a challenge, fearing that things were not looking good. Elise's wagyu strip steak was praised for using the melon to wrap the asparagus, and she scored a perfect five before arrogantly boasting that she slammed dunked again. Then, Michelle's filet with pepper-crusted cantaloupe was praised for the salty-sweetness combination, and she scored a perfect five as well. Jennifer was the final person from the women to compete, and she presented her peanut butter fried monkfish with saffron risotto. Ramsay praised the fish for glistening, gave Jennifer four points, and the women ended the challenge with 26 points.
The men were next to compete, Milly was the first to compete, and he felt they could get at least 30 points at the end. His brown butter and bacon fat monkfish with grilled Maraschino cherries were criticized for an unintriguing presentation but praised on an excellent flavor profile. Milly scored 4 points. Then, Van's filet with syrup and cherry sauce was commended for a nailed steak but criticized for having too much cherries, making it too sweet, and he scored 3 points, while Benjamin's wagyu strip steak with a maple bacon glaze was praised for looking beautiful, the glaze lightening up the earthiness of the steak, and he scored a perfect 5. Jared was the fourth person up, but despite being proud of his dish, his black cod with roasted cauliflower was criticized for having the cauliflower tasting better than the cod, and he scored one point, much to Van's annoyance as he knew the former was better than that. Nick presented his ribeye and golden raisin Toppan, as he said that his husband inspired it, and Ramsay commented that he could see why as he gave Nick a perfect 5. Josh was up next and felt confident that his dish would help them win the challenge. While his bacon-wrapped halibut basted with thyme was praised for looking like it came off from a book, it was criticized for an overcooked fish, and Josh scored only 3 points. Giovanni was the last person from the men up and presented his grilled rib cap with sautéed bacon. While it was praised for being cooked beautifully and being a good dish overall, Giovanni only scored 4 points, and the women won the challenge 26-25. Michelle said that the women needed the confidence boost.
Scoring[]
| Red Team | Blue Team | ||||
| Chef | Score | Total | Chef | Score | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barbie | 4/5 | 4 | Milly | 4/5 | 4 |
| Manda | 2/5 | 6 | Van | 3/5 | 7 |
| Dana | 5/5 | 11 | Benjamin | 5/5 | 12 |
| Robyn | 1/5 | 12 | Jared | 1/5 | 13 |
| Elise | 5/5 | 17 | Nick | 5/5 | 18 |
| Michelle | 5/5 | 22 | Josh | 3/5 | 21 |
| Jennifer | 4/5 | 26 | Giovanni | 4/5 | 25 |
| Results | 26-25 | ||||
Reward[]
The women were rewarded with a private jet trip to Santa Barbara and had an overnight stay at the Belmond El Encanto resort. After hearing that, Dana called it a big win after having four straight losses and called it redemption. While packing up, an excited Elise said that the red team needed that win and felt that they were one accord now, while Robyn was happy to be out of Hell's Kitchen. During the reward, Michelle was excited to be sitting in a million-dollar plane, and at the resort, an amazed Jennifer called it a five-star place to be at. The women stayed at John F. Kennedy's favorite suite, which stunned Barbie that they were staying at a presidential suite and called it a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Later, the women went to the pool, and as Robyn was missing her girlfriend back home, she got a little hot overseeing her teammates in bikinis before calling it heaven for her.
Punishment[]
The men were punished by taking in deliveries of potatoes and sorting through garbage. After hearing that, Milly admitted the men had yet to taste defeat and called it a heartbreaking defeat as they lost by one point. During the punishment, Giovanni said that it sucked that they were going to get smelly, Jared felt that the former and Josh were having the hardest time going through the trash, and Van called it the worst punishment he had to do in his entire run thus far. While Josh said that he did not want to spend eight hours sorting through trash, Giovanni said they must make sure it never happened again. Later, the men received their lunch from Sous Chef Jocky, and it turned out to be smelly fish sandwiches, which Benjamin wondered how much of the level of suckness it was. Josh found bones in his sandwich, and Milly called it the worst fish his mouth has ever tasted.
Before service[]
The next day, the men begin prepping for service, but when Milly asked Josh what his job was, the latter revealed that he was a personal chef for celebrities and that he owned his own catering company. However, when Josh revealed that he only worked three hours a day, it shocked the rest of the men. Van got angry as he worked 16 hours a day, and Jared said that he wanted to slit his own wrists because of Josh on a good day. Then, Van said that he could not respect Josh's job as he gave a lot for his job. After the women came back from their reward, and after hearing their reward, Jared said that he flew in a private jet twice in Season 15, and called it old news. After, the women began prepping their kitchen, and later, Ramsay asked Marino to open Hell's Kitchen.
Dinner service[]
Shannon Tweed and Paige Vanzant dined in the red and blue chef's tables, respectively, and a twelve-top table featuring a 30th birthday party took place in the dining room, with both teams cook for six of the guests each. Ramsay called Michelle and Josh to the front and told the two to get the appetizers for twelve-top ready in eight minutes. Josh believed that he had risottos as it was in his blood, and Michelle was stoked about it before declaring that she was going to rock her station. However, while Michelle got her appetizers to the red pass, Josh was still working on his risottos. Despite that, both teams got the twelve top's orders out simultaneously, and in the blue kitchen, the men received their next order. However, Josh was having heat problems at his station, and his frantic performance had an annoyed Jared compare him to a kid who drank coffee for the first time. Then, Josh and Milly argued about getting the rice cooking faster, and when the appetizers were sent up, Ramsay discovered that Josh made six portions of risotto when only two were needed and ordered him to get a grip. Despite Josh's problems, the men were pushing out appetizers, and in the red kitchen, Michelle and Elise walked with their appetizers. However, Ramsay found that Michelle's risotto was reeking of garlic and had raw rice. Jennifer got annoyed as Michelle was a strong cook. Despite that, Michelle got the refire accepted, and while Ramsay asked her why the last one was poor, she promised that it would never happen again.
Forty-five minutes into service, Josh stumbled on calling out times as he was looking at his stopwatch, and Milly commented that there was no reason to do so before calling it stupid. When Josh continued to look at his stopwatch, Ramsay lectured him to count in his head before ordering Josh to hand it over. Ramsay tossed it into the pizza oven, with Milly jokingly saying they had a new special that night. Then, Josh once again sent up over portioned risottos, that time being five, and Ramsay gave him the extra portions for him to eat at the chef's table with Vanzant. As Josh ate the risottos with Vanzant, Van said it was not a punishment and told Josh to get back to his station. After, Josh's frazzled performance led to an argument between him and Van, who called the former a little bitch, but Nick defused it. In the red kitchen, Jennifer told Ramsay that they were waiting on Barbie for the duck garnishes, and Elise felt that the former was getting flustered on a station where they reheat vegetables. Then, Barbie sent up ice-cold mashed potatoes, she accidentally grabbed Ramsay's cloth, and he called her a doughnut in response, much to Michelle's humor. Fortunately, Barbie was able to reheat the mashed potatoes properly, and the red diners were enjoying their entrées. In the blue kitchen, the men worked on entrées as well, but Giovanni sent up burnt pork, and Milly called that a rookie mistake. Then, Giovanni sent up raw pork, Ramsay ordered him to put it back into the pan, and he refused to let that happen again, leading to his third attempt being accepted. Now moving back to the twelve-top table again, Ramsay called up Jennifer and Benjamin and told them to get their entrées ready in eight minutes. Van told Jared to get it together as Jennifer got the women's entrées down to the pass, while the men got their entrées down as well. However, Jared's duck was raw, and Ramsay berated him and Benjamin for pouring the hot sauce over it in a failed attempt to cook it more. Nick recalled that sending up raw food was a big mistake he made back in Season 14 before declaring that he did not want to see the men's winning streak end. While Ramsay was forced to send out the women's entrées to the twelve-top, Jennifer gave Jared an extra duck breast that allowed the men to send their half not long after.
Ninety minutes into service, Benjamin sent up his Wellingtons, but they were raw, and a furious Ramsay brought the men into the pantry room. After angrily reminding them that they were not rookies anymore, Ramsay kicked the men out of service, and a very disappointed Jared called that night a mess. Back in the kitchen, Ramsay asked Elise and Robyn to help him, and Sous Chef Jocky complete the men's remaining two orders and plate their desserts, with Robyn happily agreeing as she wanted the twelve-top to receive their desserts. After Elise called that night redemption, the women and Marino served the desserts to the twelve top and sang happy birthday to the guest of honor.
Post-mortem[]
Back at the dorms, Josh said that the raw pork and Wellingtons were the main reasons they got kicked out of service, hinting at Giovanni and Benjamin, but the latter argued that everything got them kicked out that night. However, Josh reminded Giovanni that he purposefully served burnt pork, but the latter called him twisted and asserted that he was staying before reminding Josh of his risotto incident. Despite Josh arguing that none of his risottos were sent back, Giovanni reminded him that he served too many portions than needed. When Josh continued to argue against that, Nick called him delusional as he slowed down service that night. Milly agreed with Giovanni as Josh did make too many risottos that night, but when Josh asked if making too many portions was worse than not knowing how to cook meat, Jared said it was. However, Josh believed that raw meat was worse and believed that Benjamin, Giovanni, and Jared deserved to be nominated that night. However, Jared called Josh a mess in the kitchen as he knew how to focus on his station, but when the latter continued to argue that the best chefs of the men sent up raw meat and that they deserved to be nominated, Milly argued that they taught Josh everything to know, mocked his position as a personal chef, and yelled that he could not burn, before saying that it was the same talk he pulled back in Season 14. After, Jared suggested that they put down two names and move on, but in the end, it was a three-way tie between Josh, Giovanni, and Benjamin.
Team switch[]
Milly announced Josh as the men's first nominee for elimination and Giovanni as the second. During their pleas, Giovanni said that he never made the same mistake twice, and while he admitted that he could have done better as he had the most experience of the men, he refused to quit. Then, Josh said he had a lot of passion for competing and wanted to give Ramsay everything. However, Benjamin told Ramsay that after seeing Josh throughout the day, the men felt that the latter was the weakest link, but Josh disagreed with that notion. When Ramsay asked the men if they agreed with Benjamin's claim, they all did, much to his shock. In the end, Ramsay called Josh down and told him to give him his jacket as the men have given up on him. However, instead of eliminating him, Ramsay decided to relocate him to the red team, much to their dismay, with Elise vocally yelling out a no in response. Then, Ramsay told Robyn to get up from her chair and placed her onto the blue team.
After moving into their new teams, Ramsay warned Josh and Robyn that he has not seen them perform at their best and was willing to give them one more chance to perform at the same strength they were in their previous seasons. While being dismissed, Josh felt that the red team was ruthless but wanted to show Ramsay that he deserved his second chance, while Robyn knew that she was there to make herself better. Then, Milly remarked that the blue team planned to get rid of Josh no matter what the outcome was.
Trivia[]
- Title Reference: The title refers to the Chance Challenge. It is also a pun on the phrase "Just let her cook".
- This marks the first time that two chefs participated in a team switch for more than one season. Aside from this season, Josh swapped teams in Season 14, while Robyn swapped teams in Season 10.