The sixth episode of Season 18 of Hell's Kitchen aired on FOX, on November 9, 2018. In that episode, potatoes were the main ingredient, one chef left after being haunted by a previous experience, and a station meltdown brought one kitchen down during Steak Night.
Intro[]
While going back to the dorms, Bret was shocked that Kevin was eliminated as the latter was a phenomenal chef, but also knew it was one less person in his way for the grand prize. Then, Trev said with six men left, they had to beat the women and believe the latter's big personalities would cause arguments soon. Meanwhile, T said the female rookies had to stop double-guessing themselves and bring their A++ games for an eventual finale. Later that night, Chris and Kanae met at the hot tub, where the former asked if it was possible to have a good service, but the latter felt there were always acceptable services instead. Then, Chris admitted he was starting to doubt himself as, since his accident, he had to overcome some demons to remain optimistic and feared he was losing himself to the competition.
Team challenge[]
The next day, the chefs woke up and got ready for the next challenge, but Trev complained he has been trapped in the dorms for two weeks as he was the only chef to have yet to win a challenge. After coming downstairs, Ramsay explained that there were many legends in the culinary world and that they all had the fortune to meet a household name. When Ramsay called out for that person, Marino walked out, much to the former's dismay, but the latter said that he was carrying the legend with him, Mr. Potato Head, which Bret commented that he had never seen one since thirty years ago. For the Potato Challenge, both teams would be cooking their own dishes using potato as the main ingredient. To collect their ingredients, they had to gather Mr. Potato Head pieces and place them on their own personalized Mr. Potato Heads. After Marino tossed the bucket contents onto the ground, Jose noticed that there were not going to be many pieces for the number of people they had. However, a container of potatoes and pieces soon came down.
The chefs had 30 seconds to collect their ingredients, with Bret comparing the searching to finding lice in his daughter's hair. After time was up, Bret was confident the men would win, and both teams had 45 minutes to cook their potato dishes. Chris decided to take a big risk by making a lobster version of Sheppard's pie. In contrast, Kanae decided to make a potato crumble, and T decided to make meatloaf as it was a dish she made before, before believing it was her challenge to win. Eventually, both teams had their dishes cooked and plated on time. Because the women had an extra dish, Ramsay asked them to decide on which dish they were sitting out. T pushed for her dish to be judged, and in the end, the blue team decided to sit out Kanae's dish due to a clunky presentation.
Richard Blais was invited as a guest judge, and Scotley was shocked as the latter was from Atlanta as well. Both Ramsay and Blais would judge the dishes on a scale of 1-5, with a grand total of 10 points, and the team with the most points at the end would win. Jose was up first for the men and presented his sweet potato gratin. It was criticized for trying too hard in the concept, with Blais saying that some people looked better in jeans and t-shirts, and he scored 4 points. After, T's red garnet and sweet potato squash were criticized for tasting grainy, the peas not being peeled, and she scored 3 points, making it 4-3 for the men, and Kanae told T that she better pray that the women would not lose. On the second round, Trev's potato fritter with shrimp scored 6 points, while Heather's surf and turf potato pancake also received 6 points, and the red team led 10-9. On the third round, Chris presented his lobster Sheppard's pie, it was heavily praised for making the potato the true hero, having a strong lobster taste, and the best dish he made in the competition. So, Chris received a perfect 10, and an impressed Scotley said with the former being nominated two times before, he really needed that win. After, Ariel 's Yukon and sweet potato pommes Anna was praised for being on point flavors. Ariel received 9 points, and the men led 20-18. On the fourth round, Motto 's private version of Sheppard's pie was criticized for being inedible and rare, and he received 2 points. Then, Mia 's Peruvian potato dish was heavily praised for tasting exceptionally well, she scored a perfect 10, and the score was 28-22 for the women. On the fifth round, Scotley scored 8 points on his dish, but Gizzy scored 3 points on her dish, a dismayed Kanae complained it was getting worse for the blue team, and the score was 31-30 for the women. Bret's traditional gnocchi was praised for the texture and hearty in the final round, and he scored a perfect 10. That left Roe as the final person to have her dish judged, which she called the worse, and she presented her gratin and steak dish. After being on the fence, both Ramsay and Blais gave Roe 9 points, and the score ended at a 40-point tie. To break the tie, Ramsay and Blais decided to pick the best dish overall by looking at Mia, Chris, and Bret's dishes as they each received perfect 10's. In the end, Chris' dish was chosen as the best, the men won the challenge, and he was shocked that it happened. However, Ramsay and Blais were curious about Kanae's purple mashed potatoes with scallops and crispy prosciutto. After tasting it, they revealed Kanae would have scored 8 points had the women picked her dish, but T said she did not want to think about it.
Scoring[]
| Red Team | Blue Team | ||||
| Chef | Score | Total | Chef | Score | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jose | 4/10 | 4 | T | 3/10 | 3 |
| Trev | 6/10 | 10 | Heather | 6/10 | 9 |
| Chris | 10/10 | 20 | Ariel | 9/10 | 18 |
| Motto | 2/10 | 22 | Mia | 10/10 | 28 |
| Scotley | 8/10 | 30 | Gizzy | 3/10 | 31 |
| Bret | 10/10 | 40 | Roe | 9/10 | 40 |
| Results | 40*-40 | ||||
- * Best dish named by Blais breaked the tie in the challenge and won it for their team.
Reward[]
The men were rewarded with a trip to Animal Tracks to meet some animals and ate lunch at Daniel Humm's Nomad Food truck. That excited Trev, as he had yet to go on a reward until now. When the men were heading back to the dorms, they gave Chris immense praise for winning the challenge for them, and he said that he needed that win after his dark feeling the previous night.
During the reward, Motto said that it was a beautiful day to have some bro time, and Bret started to jokingly flirt with a baboon, while Chris said that he loved animals and originally wanted to be a zoologist when he was younger. During lunch, Trev said that it was nice to be outside as he was cooped up in the restaurant for too long and decided to enjoy the time he had.
Punishment[]
The women were punished by prepping 100 pounds of potatoes for Steak Night, and Kanae was upset at T for sitting her dish out for judging. Then, Kanae commented that they could no longer judge dishes based on presentations and reminded T that she could have won it for them with a possible 8, as the latter and Gizzy scored 3 points each before hoping that both of them had their fingertips shaved off. However, Roe reminded the women that while winning rewards were fun, services were more important. During the punishment, Heather noticed that there were a bunch of Mr. Potato Heads watching them prep the potatoes, and Roe jokingly felt that there was a form of genocide happening.
Chris' exit[]
When the men came back from their reward, Chris started to feel the dark emotions come back from last night again and feared that it would progress further should he stay in the competition. While prepping for service, Chris asked Sous Chef Christina for a talk in the pantry room, and while there, he told her that his head was not in the game and that he was considering leaving the competition that day. While Sous Chef Christina was shocked by that news, Chris explained that he was in a dark spot after his accident and was returning to that place. Understanding his condition, Sous Chef Christina sympathizes with Chris' ordeal and that he should remain mentally healthy, before leaving to talk with Ramsay about his situation.
After learning this, Ramsay took Chris back to the pantry room, the latter admitted that he was starting to hear words in his head and that he could not properly describe what was going on. After hearing that, Ramsay told Chris that his mental health should be his top priority and that he should seek professional help as soon as possible, allowing Chris to leave the competition. Before leaving, Chris told Ramsay that he really wanted to receive inspiration from the latter's inspiration, and during his exit interview, Chris admitted that while he could have lied, and how hard it was to walk out on an opportunity thousands would kill for, he knew that it was the right choice he had to make. Chris was last seen packing his suitcase and walking out of the dorms.
Before service[]
Before service began, Ramsay had both teams lined up, but Bret noticed that Chris was missing. Ramsay revealed that Chris was dealing with some personal issues and departed from the competition, shocking and upsetting everybody. However, Ramsay reassured them that Chris was receiving the proper help and that they had to move forward. When returning to their stations, Trev admitted how hard Chris' departure hit him, and Bret wanted to win that night's service for Chris. After, Ramsay asked Marino to open Hell's Kitchen for Steak Night.
Dinner service[]
Kelsea Ballerini and Cornelius Smith Jr. ate in the red and blue chef's tables respectively that night, while Titus Welliver was seen in the dining room. After receiving their first order, Ariel noticed Mia's gorilla face when focusing on her cooking, and the latter got her risotto accepted. In the red kitchen, Ramsay reminded Jose to cook his risotto on the fire, and the latter knew that Ramsay was only trying to make him a better chef before calling it an honor. It paid off as Jose's risotto was accepted, and the remainder of the appetizers were sent out from both kitchens before eventually moving onto entrées.
One hour into service, T said that they were ready with their first table, but Sous Chef Jocky refused to allow Kanae to send up broken branzino, forcing the latter to do a quick refire for the firefighters six top. That dismayed Kanae as she made branzino a lot at her restaurant, and when she sent up her refire, it was raw, and a pissed Ramsay called it a joke as Marino apologized to the firefighters. Despite that, Kanae managed to get the third attempt accepted, and the firefighters received their order. In the red kitchen, Trev asked Motto what the next table was, but the latter struggled to remember as he was too focused on his garnish. However, Ramsay gave him a quick reminder, but Motto struggled to recite the order until he called it out properly and knew that he had to find his voice. In the blue kitchen, T called it an honor to be on meat during Steak Night, felt that she and Heather would be a power couple that night and that she knew what she was doing as she ran meat by herself before. However, their steak was very rare, and Heather knew that Ramsay expected more from her and T as they were former runner-ups. However, their refire was now overcooked, and T angrily said that Heather had one job: checking the meat before being sent to the pass, leading to an argument between the two before their third attempt was rare. After, T blamed Heather for not checking the meat for her and shut the latter out, though an annoyed Ariel told them to stop arguing. In the red kitchen, Ramsay reminded Scotley to flip the fish gently and saw that his branzinos were all mashed up. While Scotley blamed Trev for improperly scoring them, the latter was pissed by that comment and reminded Scotley that they were supposed to be a team by not blaming each other for their own mistakes. Despite that, Trev and Scotley's entrées were accepted and sent to the chef's table.
One and a half hours into service, a bitter T ordered Heather to walk the steaks up, but the latter commented that a please would have been nice, and the refire was finally accepted. On their next ticket, Heather asked T for a time, but she did not respond to her, leading Heather to comment that T could not lead if she was acting like a bitch and not communicating. Roe felt that meat has completely given up and asked how somebody could stop communicating with their station partner. When T sent up the steak, it was raw, and drove Ramsay to his knees and nearly broke tears, dismaying Kanae as T and Heather were supposed to be All-Stars. While Sous Chef Jocky worked on the refire, a pissed Ramsay criticized the women for their lack of cohesiveness and teamwork, which Ariel deemed embarrassing. Then, Ramsay kicked the women out of the kitchen and asked them to nominate two people for elimination. While going back to the dorms, Ariel said that she was at a loss for words before commenting that meat and fish sunk their service and that they left a bunch of people hungry like a bunch of assholes. In the red kitchen, the men were close to finishing their service, and Ramsay told Trev that his cooking on the steaks have been on point all night, which made the latter feel good about that. Eventually, the men finished service, and Trev was happy that the men killed it that night.
Post-mortem[]
Back at the dorms, Ariel accused meat and fish of being the reason they lost service, with Roe recalling how Kanae had a rough start on the branzino. However, Kanae argued that she only had one fish sent back, disregarded the burnt one as she never sent it up, and argued that meat had an even worse night than hers as every steak that was sent up was rejected. Despite that, T argued that meat did not break down that much and blamed Heather for being the weak link, but the latter argued that she was not the issue that night. However, that led to another argument between T and Heather over who had more control on meat. Heather refused to be intimidated by T and reminded her that the latter's steak that got them kicked out was her own.
Elimination[]
Mia announced T as the women's first nominee for elimination, with Heather as the second. After the two walked down, Ramsay called that situation bizarre as both were runners-up in their previous seasons, before calling it shocking. During their pleas, Heather said she was better than T due to keeping communication with her teammates no matter her mood, explained that she was shut out by the latter despite offering help, and compared T's attitude to her son when he did not get anything from the toy store. However, T argued that she did not shut down and made an executive decision not to let Heather touch her meat. In the end, T was eliminated for her poor performance on meat and refusing to communicate with Heather, her station partner. Before leaving, Ramsay told T that while she was a bloody good chef, there were eleven chefs that were performing better than her. During her exit interview, T felt that Ramsay was trying to push her harder, called her elimination unfair.
After T left, Ramsay told the women to get rid of their personal crap and start focusing on their jobs. While being dismissed, Heather said that despite being on the bottom rung of the totem pole, she was ready to fight for her life no matter who was in her way, while Roe felt that with the dead weight gone, referring to T, Ramsay would start to see the blue team at their best. Then, Bret expressed shock that T was sent home, that he would have bet his own life that she would make it to the black jackets, and that with Kevin and T gone, it proved that nobody was safe.
Ramsay's Comment: "As a former runner-up, I expected T to come back full of swagger and skill. Sadly, she came back with double the swagger, but only a fraction of the skill."
Ramsay gave no comment on Chris' exit, and he did not receive the coat hanging and burning picture sequence. However, his hung jacket and burnt picture can be seen next to T's.
Trivia[]
- Title Reference: The title refers to the Potato Challenge. It is also a reference to the game of the similar title and a Wiggles popular song of a same name.