The fifth episode of Season 18 of Hell's Kitchen aired on FOX, on November 2, 2018. On that episode, the battle of the sexes was back on, halibut was the main ingredient, and a jaw-dropping elimination of an overwhelming fan favorite took place.
Intro[]
While going back to the dorms, Bret called the major team switch unexpected and was at a loss for words over the battle of the sexes being back on. However, Chris said that he was happy to have the three male veterans on the red team, wanted to be more direct with discussions, which Trev agreed with. Later that night, Mia asked Jose if he had any kids, and the latter revealed that he had an eleven-year-old daughter and a four-year-old son, with Kevin pointing out how their priorities change when kids come into their lives. Then, Jose revealed that he never focused on life before his kids came, while Kevin said that no matter what, kids should always be their main priority.
Team challenge[]
The next day, the new teams came downstairs, and Ramsay introduced them to Grammy-nominated composer Stephan Moccio. Then, Ramsay explained that people at the top of their professions had great versatility, Moccio showed off the different genres he could play on the piano, and an impressed Trev deemed the former a major player. After Moccio left, Ramsay explained that both musicians and chefs had to work in various styles and introduced the Seven-Way Cooking Challenge. Each team would cook with the same protein, but in seven different cooking methods such as steamed, wood-burning oven-baked, grilled, poached, hot smoked, pan-seared, and shallowed fried, using fish as the main star. Marino brought out a cart full of fish, but they were all sardines, much to Ramsay's annoyance, and Trev was not happy that he had to cook with the sea's dirty little cousin. When Ramsay asked Marino what happened to his order, the latter said he did not know what happened, only for a giant halibut to drop onto the cart, spooking everybody. Kanae said that she almost farted out of fear, while T commented that it was the snake dropping from Season 14 all over again.
Both teams had 45 minutes to cook their dishes, but Sous Chef Jocky warned the women that they only had one piece of halibut to cook with. Chris decided to do a papillote dish as it was a style of steamed cooking, while Scotley asked Sous Chef Christina if they had any yellow food coloring for his fish. However, that question caused Trev to mockingly offer that he try and find finger painting in the back, while Sous Chef Christina told Scotley to use turmeric instead, before reminding him that it was not an Easter egg coloring challenge. Fifteen minutes left, Gizzy and T discovered that the former's halibut was overcooked on the surface but raw on the inside, and a frazzled Gizzy decided to break her fish apart into three pieces before putting it in the oven to cook the inside properly. Eventually, both teams got their dishes cooked and plated on time.
David Lefevre was invited as a guest judge, and Roe was impressed that Ramsay had some cool friends. The grilled round was up first, Bret and Gizzy went up, and the former presented his soy and sriracha marinated grilled halibut with grilled baby bok choy. The dish was criticized as the soy sauce drained the moisture out of the fish, making it dry, despite it being praised for having good flavors. Then, Gizzy presented grilled halibut medallions with a blistered tomato vinaigrette, and after T prayed that the former fixed her dish, it was praised for having a nice flavor, along with a good cook. So, Gizzy won that round, the women led 1-0, and she was happy her fluke worked out. Mia presented her steamed halibut with a tableside broth on the steamed round, much to Chris' annoyance as he deemed her an overachiever, and it was praised for being a strongly executed dish, with Lefevre saying that he wanted to bring the rest back home with him. Then, Chris' halibut en papillote with steamed vegetables was praised for being cooked very well but criticized for lacking any seasoning. So, Mia won that round, the women led 2-0, and she rubbed it in Chris' face for screwing her in the previous dinner service. On the poached round, Kevin's poached halibut with coconut curry broth was praised for having a nice and flavorable texture. In contrast, Roe's IPA and butter-poached halibut was praised for tasting flavorable as well. However, Kevin's dish was deemed the better of the two dishes cooked, he scored that round, and the blue team led 2-1. On the hot smoked round, Scotley's smoked halibut with applewood chips was criticized for the lack of smokiness, while Kanae's smoked halibut with baba ganache was praised for a great texture and being very moist. So, Kanae won that round, the women led 3-1, and she told Scotley not to underestimate the women. On the shallowed fried round, Ariel's shallowed fried halibut with tomato sauce was praised for working together, while Jose's shallowed fried halibut with back braised red cabbage was also praised for being flavorable. In the end, Lefevre awarded the two of them a point, the score was 4-2 for the women, and Jose felt honored to hear Ramsay say that he put his heart into his own dish. On the pan-seared round, Motto's halibut was praised for a beautiful presentation and having a beautiful cook, all while Chris gets aroused by the dish. After, Heather's pan-seared halibut with butter baste, and parsnip fennel purée was praised for the purée aspect and for the citrus taste. In the end, Motto scored that round as Heather's halibut was not seasoned enough. The score was 4-3 for the women, and Kevin believed that there was still hope for the men. On the final round, Trev and T were up for the wood-burning oven baked round, but the former said that he did not want anything to do with the latter, and felt confident that his dish was the better of the two. T's halibut with ginger sake broth was praised for a super tasty fish, and before tasting Trev's SMP halibut, the latter said that he liked to babysit his food while cooking, although Kevin said that he would never leave his kids with Trev. The dish itself was praised for the combination of tomato and arugula, and after the two were sent back in line, T said that she could taste the victory for the women, while Trev felt that he had the best dish. In the end, Lefevre gave T the win, the women won the challenge 5-3, and Heather was happy that she finally got to leave Hell's Kitchen.
Scoring[]
| Red Team | Blue Team | ||||
| Chef | Score | Total | Chef | Score | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bret | 0 | 0 | Gizzy | 1 | 1 |
| Chris | 0 | 0 | Mia | 1 | 1 |
| Kevin | 1 | 1 | Roe | 0 | 2 |
| Scotley | 0 | 1 | Kanae | 1 | 3 |
| Jose | 1 | 2 | Ariel | 1 | 4 |
| Motto | 1 | 3 | Heather | 0 | 4 |
| Trev | 0 | 3 | T | 1 | 5 |
| Results | 5-3 | ||||
Reward[]
The women were rewarded with a VR experience at VR Territory which included zombie shooting and leaps of faiths, and that excited Ariel as she was a super nerd towards VR and zombies. While the women were walking by the men during their punishment, Mia called the smell disgusting. During the reward, the women played multiple VR games. Roe said that it was very disorienting from the VR reality to the actual reality, just as Kanae accidentally hit against the coffee table holding their snacks. Then, Heather won her zombie round and declared herself as the zombie apocalypse queen, while Mia almost had a panic attack over her leap of faith.
Punishment[]
The men were punished by participating in composting day, which involved mixing all the waste accumulated in the 18 seasons of the show and mixing it with manure that would be arriving soon. When Ramsay noticed that Kevin looked upset, the latter said that he was tired of losing and that he did not come back for a second chance just to shovel manure. During the punishment, Trev said that their situation stunk and complained that they were going to smell like B.O. and manure that day.
Later, Bret asked Motto if their situation reminded him about life on the farm, and the latter said that it did as he was a country boy growing up and that his grandfather would not let him slack off on the punishment, before saying that it was because of him working hard that allowed him to get far in his career. Meanwhile, Kevin and Trev talked about a ski resort the former owned with his company, leading to the latter asking why Kevin would come back again if he was already successful. Kevin said that it was for revenge as he felt he deserved to win Season 6 over Dave, and after complaining about having to do four punishments in a row, it started to rain irritating him even more.
Before service[]
Later that day, the women came back from their reward, only to find gifts waiting for them at the dorms. After opening them, they were excited to receive brand new Vitamix blenders, and Mia called it the best present she ever received. Later that night, Ramsay asked Marino to open Hell's Kitchen.
Dinner service[]
Stephanie Beatriz, Carly Hughes, and Sarah Shahi were in attendance that night, and a mussel in saffron broth appetizer was served tableside by Chris and Heather. When a small fire erupted during the demonstration, Ramsay asked Marino if he needed a fire blanket, even giving him a fire extinguisher. Before receiving their first order, T admitted how excited she was having the female rookies on the blue team as they were strong in challenges and welcomed them while trying not to sound creepy. Meanwhile, Ariel wanted to manipulate the girls into her lead, but T struggled on the scallops and only had one order ready while dragging on another. However, due to some miscommunication, Ariel sent up the pan of scallops that T deemed not good to send up, and sure enough, Ramsay rejected them for looking milky. That pissed T off, she told Ariel never to touch any of her stuff ever again, and she got the refire accepted. That allowed the women to push ahead on appetizers, even though Heather accidentally dropped a mussel onto the ground. On the red side, Chris was seen standing around doing nothing as nobody ordered from tableside, and Ramsay pulled him back into the red kitchen, lecturing to the men that they needed to communicate. When Chris asked if he could help, none of the men were willing to let him help until Kevin reluctantly allowed him to help on fish. However, not only was Chris inconsistent on timings, his scallops were raw, with an annoyed Trev saying that Chris should know better than that, and a fed-up Kevin told Chris to be at the pass and tell them what was being fired.
Forty minutes into dinner service, the women moved onto entrées, and Mia sliced a Wellington, only to find out it was raw. Her next few attempts were raw as well as Kanae accused her of butchering their supply, and Ramsay was shocked to find five raw Wellingtons cut in half. Then, Ramsay reminded Mia that she should only be cutting the ends off to find out if they were cooked or not. When Ariel suggested that Mia put the Wellingtons back together before cooking them longer, the latter admitted to her mistake but promised that she would not make the same mistake again. However, Heather stated that while Mia was strong at cooking her own dishes, she got frazzled come dinner service. In the red team, the men began to work on entrées, and Ramsay reminded Scotley to multi-task. However, when Bret tried to communicate with Scotley, the latter was silent and unresponsive, much to Trev's annoyance as Scotley was supposed to be driving the train. That led to Scotley sending up the garnishes right after Trev sent up the Wellingtons, leading an annoyed Ramsay to accuse Scotley of being too casual and not being a sharp enough chef. However, Scotley argued that he was trying to get around a new team dynamic but knew that he was better than that. In the blue kitchen, Gizzy admitted to being nervous about her lamb order, leading T to take the lead, and ordered Roe to give Gizzy an extra minute. When Ramsay learned about this, he lectured Gizzy to concentrate on her own work as T said that the latter had to cook with confidence. While the lamb came out perfectly, Ramsay reminded Gizzy that she should be cooking with confidence, though Kanae found it weird to trust the latter and Mia on their stations when they themselves do not trust their own skills. Then, Ramsay reminded T to let Mia and Gizzy run their stations and that they would be eliminated if they sank the blue kitchen.
One hour and a half into service, Kevin thought he was firing only one salmon, but when Ramsay called out for two salmon, he blamed Scotley for not driving the ship. To get the salmon ready in six minutes, Kevin decided to take a risk and add very hot butter into the pan so Ramsay did not lose his mind. However, Ramsay sent the salmon not long after, with a dismayed Motto calling it hell. When Kevin asked if it was raw, Ramsay accused him of taking it as a joke before showing the men how overcooked and rubbery the salmon was. Then, Ramsay told the men to go into the pantry room and sort out their problems while he cooks that order himself. There, Scotley argued that he could not keep track of orders while cooking garnish, but Kevin got pissed by that comment, even though Chris promised to watch the pass for Scotley. Returning to the kitchen, Trev refused to believe that it was over for the red team, but then, Bret sent up Wellington sauce that was ice cold. That was the final straw for Ramsay, who proceeded to kick the men out of the kitchen, and ordered them to nominate two people for elimination. While going back to the dorms, Bret took the blame for the cold sauce, and in the blue kitchen, the women were finishing off their final ticket. While clearing down, Ramsay pulled Gizzy aside, asked why she was holding back when she could cook perfectly and urged her to find her voice. Gizzy knew that she lacked confidence in herself, and Sous Chef Christina reassured her that Ramsay's only hard on her because he believes in her.
Post-mortem[]
Back at the dorms, Bret believed that fish was the main problem for the red team, but Kevin argued that while he had two salmon sent back, he did not know where he was due to Scotley's nonexistent communication. However, Scotley argued that there was no way he could do two things at once, even though Kevin said that he did it once before and believed that the former should go home that night. Then, Bret and Trev considered Kevin and Scotley for elimination for being the weakest that night, but Kevin felt that he did not deserve to be nominated for two poor salmons. Then, Chris and Motto considered Scotley and Bret for elimination as the cold sauce from the latter was the problem that got the men kicked out, but a baffled Bret asked if a cold sauce would have gotten them kicked out had there been no other mistakes. While the men agreed with that argument, Motto said that he was only giving his honest opinion before accusing Bret of not walking the walk.
Elimination[]
Trev announced Scotley as the men's first nominee for elimination, with Kevin as the second. During their pleas, Kevin said that he had both the fight and confidence to succeed and only needed to kick off the rust from his system. In contrast, Scotley said that he had the desire to win as well, and while he admitted that he should have communicated more, he did not go down hard as Kevin did. However, Kevin disagreed with that notion and argued that Scotley caused most of his problems for not communicating properly. After a tough decision, Ramsay eliminated Kevin for being nominated two times in a row and not showing the same desire he once had back in Season 6. Before leaving, Ramsay reminded Kevin that he was already successful outside the competition and wish him well. During his exit interview, Kevin said that even though he wanted redemption after eight long years, he already had success, admitted that he did not have the same fire like last time, and could not wait to see his kids again.
After Kevin left, Ramsay warned the remaining chefs not to underestimate the feeling of passion because if they gave up, he would give up on them. While being dismissed, Scotley admitted that while there was a target on his back, he wanted to do everything perfectly so he would not be nominated ever again, while Trev felt that he had to fill in Kevin's shoes now. Then, T said that Kevin's elimination was a wake-up call for everybody.
Ramsay's Comment: "Kevin was a standout in his first time in Hell's Kitchen. Unfortunately, this time around, he seemed more determined to head back to the ski slopes than to the Las Vegas Strip."
Trivia[]
- Title Reference: The title refers to the Seven Way Halibut Challenge.