The second episode of Season 19 of Hell's Kitchen aired in the UK on October 22, 2020 and in the US on January 14, 2021. In that episode, shrimp was the main ingredient, Ramsay cut the fat early by sending somebody home in the challenge, one team imploded on opening night, and one chef made a terrible plea at elimination.
Individual challenge[]
Continuing from the previous episode, the chefs see the helicopter hovering above them as Eliott saw the crate onboard, feeling that something would go down. Then, they kicked the crate off the helicopter, and after smashing upon impact, shrimp and ice spilled out of the remains of the crate. That made Kenneth feel he was in heaven as Ramsay explained that Las Vegas was the shrimp capital in the world as 60,000 pounds were sold daily. For the Creative Shrimp Challenge, Ramsay introduced it as an individual challenge where each of them must create a stunning shrimp dish using six different types of shrimp on hand. These included tiger shrimp, white shrimp, Mexican shrimp, and blue prawn. The winning dish would be featured on opening night, with Peter saying that having a dish he made be in association with Ramsay would be phenomenal, making him want it more. Also, Ramsay revealed that the winner of the challenge would receive the Punishment Pass and had Marino bring it to him, only to find out that the latter encased it in ice. After Ramsay told off Marino for freezing the Pass instead of preserving it, the latter handed it to him for everyone to see. Ramsay explained that the Punishment Pass allowed the user to skip out on any punishment they wanted and join the winning team on their reward, but warned them that it was a one-use advantage, and Declan wanted to win because the Pass had a lot of power to it. Then, Ramsay said that while he gave one out in the past, he added a new power to it. Besides letting the user skip a punishment, they got to pick one person from the winning team to do the punishment instead, which Kori called evil.
The chefs had thirty minutes to cook their shrimp dishes, and Eliott said he was a big-time seafood fan due to being a salt fisher in New Jersey, making him feel confident. In the red kitchen, Syann asked Sous Chef Christina if they had grits, and the latter told her to look in the back for the dry ingredients. Syann wanted to make shrimp and grits to adhere to her Southern roots, but she could not find grits. So, Syann decided to grab polenta instead, and with twenty minutes left, Declan was confident due to being from the island of Ireland, proclaiming that his dish was banging. In the red kitchen, Nikki told Sous Chef Christina about her shrimp dish that used sushi rice, Asian beans, and soy. Nikki knew that her dish had a high risk of failing, but she would instead go big or go home. In the blue kitchen, Kenneth wanted to redeem himself after his poor performance in the Signature Dish Challenge and said he was here to show Ramsay he could cook thanks to his great grandmother. Nikki was feeling frantic with three minutes left as her components were not coming together as she had hoped. Eventually, everybody had their dishes cooked and plated on time.
With everybody lined up on the line, Ramsay revealed that he would not be tasting all the dishes, but instead, he would have the Sous Chefs taste their respective team's dishes and round out the strong ones. After Ramsay left for his office, the Sous Chefs began tasting the dishes, but Cody could not tell what Sous Chef Jason's opinion was due to the latter's lack of comments. Despite that, Cody was happy with how his dish turned out, while Eliott told Sous Chef Jason that he used salt, pepper, and rice vinegar for seasoning when asked. For the women, Jordan presented her tiger shrimp dish to Sous Chef Christina, while Sous Chef Jason was stunned that Adam only used one shrimp for his linguine dish. Kori felt that Sous Chef Christina had a great poker face and wanted something from her.
Elimination[]
After the Sous Chefs finished tasting the dishes, Ramsay came back and said he wanted to spend time with the chefs who had the potential to become his Head Chef at Hell's Kitchen in Lake Tahoe. Ramsay announced that he was trimming the fat early and asked the Sous Chefs to name the worst two dishes from their respective teams. As Ramsay refused to carry dead weight around, he announced that the chef who produced the worst overall dish would be eliminated, making Syann shake in fear. Sous Chef Jason called up Eliott and Kenneth as the worst male chefs of the challenge, much to their dismay, while Sous Chef Christina called up Nikki and Jordan as the worst female chefs of the challenge, causing the latter to feel she was blindsided by a truck.
The four were called down to the front with their dishes, and Ramsay explained that he would taste each of their dishes. Nikki was the first chef up and presented her jasmine sushi rice with a chargrilled tiger shrimp, but Ramsay saw that she failed to clean it properly and had everybody remind Nikki that it was the first rule of cooking shrimp. Kenneth himself said he would not want to eat anything like that, comparing it to leaving a baby wear a poop-covered diaper all day. Afterwards, Ramsay told Nikki that he would not even put her dish on a café menu, much less his own menu, and then, Eliott presented his sautéed white shrimp with a spring vegetable succotash. Ramsay felt that the succotash was a greasy clump of vegetables with sautéed shrimp and deemed it worse than Nikki's, saving the latter from elimination. Nikki knew she cracked hard in that competition, but she knew she could cook and wanted to bounce back from this.
Jordan was up next and presented her tiger shrimp with garlic Berblanc, but Ramsay called the presentation bleak that contained undercooked shrimp. Jordan was embarrassed that she made a rookie mistake like that, but fortunately for her, Eliott's dish was still worse than hers, and she survived elimination. Because it was now clear the men would lose a member, Kenneth was nervous as he walked his dish up to Ramsay, praying to the shrimp gods. Kenneth revealed his shrimp penne pasta with sautéed peppers and bacon, but Ramsay saw an unknown clump on the plate and asked what it was. Kenneth thought it looked like a potato accidentally dropped into his plate, but an incredulous Ramsay showed the men the clump and asked if any of them cooked potato for their dishes. They said they did not have potatoes in their dishes, and Ramsay had Kenneth taste the clump, revealing it was a block of parmesan cheese. Kenneth claimed that he grated the cheese, though a flashback showed he accidentally cut a chunk off onto the plate without noticing it, and Marc tried his best not to laugh as they could not fix stupid. After Kenneth spat out his taste, he claimed to know the difference between potato and cheese but argued it looked like a potato. In the end, Ramsay deemed the dish a mess.
As Eliott and Kenneth awaited their fate, Ramsay deemed both their dishes an appalling mess before eliminating Kenneth for having the worst dish overall and warning Eliott to wake up. During his exit interview, Kenneth said he had a lot to prove in the competition, but he called it a learning experience and hoped his great grandmother was looking down on him with a smile for making it as far as he did. Ramsay gave no comment on Kenneth's elimination, and he did not receive the coat hanging and portrait burning sequence.
Punishment Pass[]
After Kenneth left, Ramsay said he was desperate for a palate cleanser and asked the Sous Chefs for the top three dishes from their teams. Sous Chef Christina said her top three belonged to Amber, Lauren, and Syann, and Sous Chef Jason said his top three belonged to Josh, Declan, and Cody, which surprised the latter as he thought Sous Chef Jason hated him. Amber presented her citrus butter-poached tiger shrimp with celery root purée. Ramsay thought it had beautifully cooked shrimp and stunning flavor, adding that it showed great flair, which made Amber happy to have Ramsay say that to her early on. Cody presented his spot prawn tartare and blue prawn dish, feeling that it was banging. Ramsay felt that the dish looked like it was cooked in 60 minutes rather than 30 and deemed it better than Amber's dish. Up next was Lauren's chimichurri grilled prawn with a chorizo cream sauce, and Ramsay loved the colors as they screamed Las Vegas. After tasting the dish, Ramsay deemed it better than Cody's dish. Declan presented his pan-seared blue prawn shrimp with a coconut and pineapple salsa. Ramsay liked that the purée was silky, but while it was a good dish, he still felt that Lauren's was better, which made Lauren happy that she took out two men in a row.
Syann was the fifth person up and presented her shrimp and polenta dish. Ramsay liked the grill marks on the shrimp and the dish's Southern charm and told Syann that her dish beat Lauren's. While that pissed Lauren, Syann did a little happy dance before noting the only person left was Josh. Josh presented his miso-sautéed tiger prawns with an asparagus fennel salad and corn segments before proclaiming that he was one of the strongest chefs due to being an Executive Chef. While Ramsay liked the balance of the citrus, he deemed it a tough choice between Josh and Syann. In the end, Ramsay named Syann the winner, disappointing Josh as he was close to the Punishment Pass. Syann received the Punishment Pass from Ramsay and warned the others not to underestimate her because the South always wins.
Before service[]
Later that day, both teams went downstairs, where Sous Chef Christina handed out their Henkel knife kits, which Eliott, who was a knife nut, loved. Then, the Sous Chefs showed them how to make the dishes for that season, and a super pumped Kori felt that the women were focused. However, Nikki felt that the Sous Chefs were blazing through the menu and that everybody must cook all of them in the next hour, while Eliott knew he came off two poor challenge performances and felt overwhelmed.
After a day of training, both teams have finished prepping their respective kitchens, and Declan felt the men had it. In the red kitchen, Mary Lou asked who was on fish, with Nikki saying that she was, and the former said the best case scenario was dominating the men, while the worst case was she mess up everything, go back home, everybody calls her a loser, and she cries. Once the prep was finished, Ramsay asked Marino to open Hell's Kitchen.
Dinner service[]
Antonio Fargas and Erik Kilpatrick were seen in the dining room, and Ramsay opened the chef tables for two VIP families. Wayne Brady and his family ate in the blue kitchen, while Lisa Vanderpump and her family ate in the red kitchen. The men received their first order as Ramsay remind Josh that he was in control of appetizers, and the latter started coordinating with Declan. In the red kitchen, the women received Vanderpump's order, with the latter putting more stress on them as she complained about being hungry. Kori and Amber sent up their appetizers, but Nikki sent up a raw lobster tail, frustrating Ramsay. Kori was frustrated as Nikki's raw lobster tail wasted her perfect risotto, and the latter took responsibility for her mistake as Ramsay forced her to apologize to Vanderpump. When Nikki started to tear up over her mistake, Kori told her not to cry in front of the customers and that she should do that in the walk-in where nobody could see her. In the blue kitchen, Declan and Josh had their appetizers accepted, and the former said they had to keep their momentum going as Adam served the polenta and shrimp tableside.
Fifty minutes into dinner service, Nikki had her refire accepted and Vanderpump's table received their order. Nikki got confused by Ramsay's call-out on the next ticket due to his accent and speed and sent up only one order of scallops when two were ordered. Nikki admitted that she misheard Ramsay's call out and started to tear up when she realized that she could not keep it together. Frustrated by that, Ramsay took the women into the back pantry and asked a crying Nikki if she was done, but she said she could bounce back. After Ramsay ordered her to get a grip, Nikki refused to throw away the competition on the first dinner service and knew she had to recover. Fortunately, Nikki's second order of scallops was accepted, and a wave of appetizers was leaving the red kitchen. In the blue kitchen, the men finished up on appetizers and moved onto entrées starting with the chef table. Drew said that he knew how to cook meat due to being a father and was confident that he and Peter would nail it. Drew and Peter walked their meat up, but Ramsay saw that the duck Peter cooked was overcooked, and it was too firm to the touch, reminding the latter that they serve duck pink. In the red kitchen, the women were on entrées, and Mary Lou said that if she could not cook a steak, she could be kicked out of Texas, planning to go in guns a-blazing. However, Mary Lou's steak was boiled, and the women were forced to refire the order.
Ninety minutes into dinner service, Drew told Peter to refire the duck again because it was nearing overcook, but he forgot to put the lamb in when Ramsay asked about it. Ramsay got annoyed by that, and Marc said that cooking was not rocket science. Drew told Cody that his lamb would be ready in three minutes, but the latter hoped it was a realistic three minutes, much to the former's irritation. When Drew asked the garnish station for a time, Eliott did not respond to his questions as Ramsay asked what he was doing as he was standing around doing nothing. Declan tried to keep his head down over the men's mess and compared Eliott's performance to E.T. being lost. When Drew walked up the refire, the lamb came out raw, and an upset Ramsay showed it to them. Fed up with the mistakes of Peter and Drew, along with Eliott's lack of help amongst his team, Ramsay kicked the three men out of the kitchen. While going back to the dorms, Drew was angry that he could not complete the first service and punched the bathroom stall, hurting his hand as a result. In the blue kitchen, Marc and Adam took over meat and got the refired meat accepted, much to Declan's relief, but the men needed the fries to complete the order. Cody walked up the fries, but they were soft, and an upset Ramsay kicked the rest of the men out of the kitchen as he and Sous Chef Jason finished the order themselves. As the men walked back to the dorms, Cody said that this was the first time he never completed service and called it an epic failure in his career. As Brady's table finally received their order, Ramsay looked to the women for the refired order. While Amber offered to cook the refired steak, Mary Lou wanted to redeem herself or take the blame. Despite having her heart pounding in her chest, Mary Lou's steak was cooked perfectly, and the women completed their final order of the night. Kori admitted that while their service was rough, they finished strong.
Post-mortem[]
When both teams were lined up, Ramsay said that while both kitchens were disappointing, the women were named the winners for bouncing back and completing service. Then, Ramsay reminded the men that they imploded thanks to Peter messing up the duck, Drew serving a raw lamb, and Eliott for standing around and doing nothing. The men were asked to nominate two people for elimination.
During deliberation, Eliott said that they went down as a team but knew that he lacked the communication skills that night. However, when Eliott blamed it on a lack of direction, Cody got frustrated as they all had a sense of direction, which meant it was not the former's time to compete. While Josh knew that Eliott was lost in space that night, the latter did not commit any mistakes and reminded Drew about the raw lamb. Drew said he had no excuse for his raw lamb but promised that it would not happen again and reminded Peter of his problems on the duck. Marc agreed with Drew as he saw Peter's performance, but the latter refused to go up for elimination.
Elimination[]
When the men came downstairs, Ramsay admitted that while opening nights were never easy, he said that night did not go as planned. Marc announced Drew as the men's first nominee and Eliott as their second. During their pleas, Eliott admitted to losing his sense of focus and direction that night but was confident that it did not reflect on who he was as a person. When Ramsay asked Eliott how he could lose focus when he did nothing, the latter claimed he forgot where things went, irritating the former. Then, Ramsay asked Drew what happened to the meat station's teamwork, and the latter said it went out the winder but said that despite having a poor service, he had more to prove. Ramsay asked Drew if he was better than Eliott, and he said he was due to performing better than the latter. But, when Ramsay asked Eliott the same question, the latter said he had better skills in different places, irritating everybody in the room. A frustrated Ramsay asked Eliott again, and after a moment of hesitation, the latter said he was not better than Drew. With that, Ramsay told Eliott he made his job easy and eliminated the latter for his string of poor performances, not helping in service, and admitting to being a weak chef. During his exit interview, Eliott said he knew the competition would be an ass-kicker but did not realize how hard it would be before proclaiming that people would see him again.
After Eliott left, Ramsay said he was not expecting a perfect service that night, but warned the men not communicating was what pissed him out. While being dismissed, Drew called it an eye-opener to being nominated and said he had a lot more to show than what his teammates saw so far, while Cody was feeling confident now that the weak chefs from the men were gone. Then, Kori said the women have yet to lose a chef and refused to lose their momentum.
Ramsay's comment: "Eliminating a chef this early is usually quite hard. But tonight, I didn't have to eliminate a chef, I had to eliminate Eliott."
Trivia[]
- Title Reference: The title refers to the Creative Shrimp Challenge. It is also a pun on the phrase "simply spectacular".
- This is the first time a challenge aside from the elimination Cook for Your Life and Black Jackets challenges was used to eliminate a chef.