The tenth episode of Season 19 of Hell's Kitchen aired in the UK on November 25, 2020 and in the US on March 11, 2021. In that episode, burgers were the main dish, the chefs were allowed to assign their own stations, and one chef made a risky move at elimination to get rid of a problematic teammate.
Intro[]
Before dismissing the chefs back to the dorms, Ramsay warned Marc to quickly get off his island and work with his team. However, Marc felt that his skills and fierce attitude make the blue team uncomfortable, and he could not wait to see how it all unfolded as they were now in the thick of it. While Declan wanted to talk that night out, Marc refused to, leading Cody to snap that he sure was not. Despite Amber’s best attempts to calm the mood down, Marc confronted Cody and said he would continue to fight no matter how many times he was nominated, but the latter argued that he was lying to Ramsay. As the two continued to argue, the red team heard it from the hallway, leading Mary Lou to wonder if they should open the doors. Declan and Amber tried to defuse the argument, but Marc told Cody that not only was he still here, but he was also going to go the distance as he was motivated after that night. As Marc and Cody continued to argue, the red team listened on in awkwardness, with Nikki hoping they would not turn out like that.
Team challenge[]
The next day, both teams came downstairs as Ramsay commented that the number of chefs was getting smaller. Then, Ramsay said how nice it was to see everyone develop into talented chefs and invited over Seth Grabel, one of his most promising young chefs, as Declan deemed him hot if he worked for Ramsay. Grabel revealed he could create magic with a burger and said that he brought over one of his specialties. However, when Ramsay lifted the dome, it was empty, and Grabel started to fill the dome with cards that read out the ingredients. Then, Grabel closed the dome on the tray and lifted it to reveal a full burger to the chef’s amazement, leading Declan to wish he could do that in services. Ramsay admitted that Grabel was not his protégée but was a card performer instead, having the latter perform tricks for the chefs. Afterwards, Ramsay said that just like how Grabel could take a deck of cards and turn it into a fantastic trick, any chef could take basic ingredients and transform them into a magical dish before introducing the Five Protein Burger Challenge. That made Mary Lou excited as she loved a good juicy burger, and right behind the chefs, the Sous Chefs rolled out a board for each team. Ramsay explained that both teams would be responsible for five different burgers meaning that, in addition to cooking their own individual burger, they each had a hand in a team burger. To collect their ingredients, they must grab cards containing the ingredients in a classic 52 pickup. While most of the chefs would be collecting the cards, one person from each team was responsible for putting them on the board for each burger, and Ramsay asked them to select a referee. The red team named Jordan as their referee as Kori believed the former could think fast on her feet, while the blue team named Amber as their referee, making her proud to have that responsibility.
Both teams had ninety seconds to pick up their cards as Ramsay unleashed a storm of cards onto the ground. Cody grabbed ingredients he knew would work with his burger and told Amber what ingredients should go where for their burgers. On the other side, Kori tried to find the ingredients she wanted as fast as she could, while Jordan felt that ninety seconds went by too quickly. Eventually, time ran out, and both teams had their ingredients on the board, with Cody feeling happy about the blue team’s choices.
For the second part of the challenge, both teams had 35 minutes to cook both their individual burgers and their team burger. The blue team had Amber cooking beef, Cody cooking turkey, Declan cooking chicken, and Marc cooking salmon, with their team burger being lamb with Amber and Cody working together on it. Amber felt that she and Cody worked well together as the two proceeded with no issues on the lamb burger. Fifteen minutes left, the red team had Nikki cooking turkey, Mary Lou cooking lamb, Kori cooking beef, and Jordan cooking chicken, with their team burger being salmon. Jordan decided to deep fry an avocado for her burger as she decided to bring out the Texas inside herself and said that it took skill to make sure deep-fried items did not taste greasy. In the blue kitchen, Marc noted that New Mexican chefs loved spicy foods, so he decided to chargrill jalapenos as he believed salmon paired well with spicy flavors. Eventually, both teams had their burgers cooked and plated on time.
Laurent Tourondel came in to help Ramsay judged the burgers, with Kori calling him the guru of burgers. The chicken burger round was up first as Declan and Jordan walked up their dishes. Jordan presented her chicken burger with bacon, mushroom, fried avocado, and mixed greens, and Tourondel found it interesting that she fried the avocado. Ramsay loved the crunch of the dish after tasting it, but he and Tourondel agreed that it was a touch too salty and too peppery. Declan’s chargrilled Moroccan-styled chicken burger with black olives and goat cheese was criticized for a mushy texture and Tourondel not being a fan of the goat cheese mixed with the burger. So, Jordan scored that round, the red team led 1-0, and Kori said that Jordan could fry anything. For the salmon burger round, Nikki presented the red team’s sun-dried tomato pesto salmon burger. While Tourondel wished for less sun-dried tomatoes, he was happy with the burger overall. Marc’s salmon burger with grilled jalapenos was deemed too hot, with Ramsay saying he needed a fire extinguisher to cool down. With that, the red team scored that round, making it 2-0 for them, and Cody said that anybody would know how hot a whole jalapeno pepper was. With the red team in the lead, Ramsay said that if they won the turkey burger round, they win the challenge, but Cody knew that the cook of his burger was perfect. Cody’s turkey burger with burrata brulée and salsa Verde was praised for having the right idea, even though Tourondel suggested that adding cilantro could have balanced the dish out even further. Then, Nikki presented her pancetta and turkey blended burger with pepper jack beer cheese. While Tourondel liked the dish, he gave the point to Cody, making it 2-1 for the red team, and the latter felt confident in the final two burgers. On the beef burger round, Kori’s bourbon beef burger topped with smoked egg was praised being a chef's burger, while Amber, after introducing herself in French to Mary Lou’s annoyance, presented her beef burger with bacon fat and red chilli flakes. The dish was praised for being spot on, and Amber scored that round, making it a 2-point tie. Mary Lou walked up her lamb burger dish for the final round while Cody presented the blue team’s burger mixed with mustard seed and balsamic with a manchego topping. Tourondel found it fresh and getting the acidity of the mixture, while Mary Lou presented her lamb burger with poblano peppers, poblano caramel, and feta cheese, and Tourondel praised it for the peppers being cooked inside the patty while Ramsay liked how the feta lifted the burger. Afterwards, Mary Lou winked at Tourondel, claiming it was involuntary based on the praise she received. Then, Ramsay sent the two back in line, but in the end, Tourondel gave Mary Lou the win, giving the red team the win 3-2.
Scoring[]
| Red Team | Blue Team | ||||
| Chef | Score | Total | Chef | Score | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jordan | 1 | 1 | Declan | 0 | 0 |
| Nikki | 1 | 2 | Marc | 0 | 0 |
| Nikki | 0 | 2 | Cody | 1 | 1 |
| Kori | 0 | 2 | Amber | 1 | 2 |
| Mary Lou | 1 | 3 | Cody | 0 | 2 |
| Results | 3-2 | ||||
Reward[]
The red team was rewarded with a trip to Dig This, which included crushing cars in a construction site. As the red team went up to change, Mary Lou felt validated to give the red team the win and felt more confident, while Jordan said that women could make burgers. During the reward, Mary Lou saw that a dummy wore a blue jacket, and Nikki jokingly compared it to Josh. As the red team smashed cars with the backhoes, Mary Lou called it a metaphor for who she was. Then, Jordan called it a childhood dream to smash cars, while Nikki felt a surge of emotions flow through her and called it a great way to let off some steam.
Punishment[]
The blue team was punished by prepping 500 pounds of potatoes for a pomme purée, which upset Declan even though Ireland was considered the land of potatoes. During the punishment, Declan voiced his frustrations by sarcastically calling himself the potato fairy, while Amber asked Marc if he was in the military before. However, Marc did not respond as he refused to talk with his team because he refused to entertain amateur hour.
Later, Sous Chef Jason presented the blue team their lunches, an all-burger milkshake blended from the remains of the challenge dishes. Marc called it disgusting, while Amber gagged at the thought of drinking hers and looking at her teammates drink theirs. Declan drank his without thinking too hard about the taste, and afterwards, all but Amber drank their shakes. Amber refused to drink her shake even though Declan told her to, and Cody said she had to be a strong woman. Amber begrudgingly drank her shake, and she called it the most horrible thing she has done. After that, the blue team went back to the potatoes as Declan wanted it over.
Before service[]
Later that day, the red team came back from their reward, but their noise celebration irritated Amber. Later that evening, the red team explained to Sous Chef Christina how the reward went as both teams prepped for that night’s service. Afterwards, Ramsay had both teams lined up, was determined to have a perfect service that night, and firmly believed that every one of them knew their strengths and weaknesses by now. So, Ramsay gave both teams the responsibility of assigning themselves to the station they wanted to be on for that night.
While the red team quickly agreed with where everyone wanted to be at, the blue team had some struggles as Amber wanted to be on fish even though Declan knew she was stronger on meat in comparison. However, because Declan did not want to cause Amber to get upset, he reluctantly allowed her to be on fish. Afterwards, both teams went to their stations, and Ramsay asked Marino to open Hell’s Kitchen.
Dinner service[]
Seth Grabel and a twelve-top bachelor party table were in the dining room, and Ramsay invited two former winners to dine at the chef’s tables. Season 12 winner Scott dined in the blue kitchen, while Season 17 winner Michelle dined in the red kitchen. Ramsay called out the bachelor party table first and had both teams cook each half of the table’s orders. Mary Lou wanted to get the order out in seven minutes, but Ramsay sternly warned Marc to give him his best as he did not want any shit from him. Cody offered to cook the risotto for Marc as the latter focused on the carbonara, but the former could not find the capers as the latter was disorganized. Cody decided to lead Marc on the appetizer station by holding his hand and walking him like an infant child. Then, Declan discovered that Marc’s flat top was off the entire time, causing the latter to accuse Cody of turning it off when he cooked the risotto. However, Cody knew that Marc was clutching at straws now and was shut out by the latter when he tried to offer input on the risotto. Then, Marc walked up a raw risotto and curdled carbonara, and after Ramsay showed the blue team the poor dishes, Cody reminded Marc to listen to him. In the red kitchen, Mary Lou wanted to win as she wanted to prove to Ramsay she was not just a purple-colored hair woman and wanted respect. Fortunately, Mary Lou’s appetizers were accepted, and she called herself a Rockstar. Because the blue team was not ready with the refire, Ramsay was forced to send up the red team’s half to the twelve top.
Ramsay demanded Marc’s refire thirty minutes into dinner service, but while he sent it up, Ramsay spat it out as it tasted disgusting. The blue team was forced to taste it as Ramsay pulled Marc into the back pantry and reminded him that nothing has come out on point despite wanting to be on appetizers. Ramsay warned Marc to get a grip quickly, and while the latter knew the former was on his tale, he refused to go down and managed to get his third attempt on the risotto correct. With that, Ramsay sent the blue team’s half to the twelve top, and a wave of appetizers was being sent out from both kitchens. Now moving onto entrées, Ramsay pulled Nikki and Declan to the front so they could start working on the twelve tops entrées. Both agreed with eight minutes, but Ramsay warned Declan not to make the same mistakes appetizers made. Although Declan was confident about his skills on meat, he knew Amber was a better cook on that station but knew it would be an excellent opportunity to lead. In the red kitchen, Nikki said the challenge would be getting the entrées for the twelve top in sync and feared how bad it would be to mess up. Fortunately, Nikki’s meats were accepted, with Ramsay calling the temperature extraordinary. Simultaneously, in the blue kitchen, Declan walked with the meat even though Cody said he needed two minutes on the garnish. Unfortunately, Declan’s lamb was raw and off by two minutes, with Amber accusing him of being in over his head. As with the appetizers, the red side of the twelve top received their order first, and a pissed Ramsay order the blue team to help each other for support. Declan said that it was not his day, but he managed to get his refire accepted and sent to the other half of the twelve top. In the red kitchen, the women noted how Nikki was killing it that night, and Ramsay pulled her into the back pantry. Ramsay told Nikki that regardless of her resume, age, and lack of experience, her cooking that night has been exceptional, and the progress she has made in the last few weeks have been extraordinary. That amazed Nikki as she never expected a chef like Ramsay to give her a one-on-one like that, but she planned to hold onto it forever.
Ninety minutes into dinner service, Ramsay called out Scott’s order, and while Amber knew that things in the blue team have been bad, she wanted to remain focused as they could not afford any more mistakes. However, Declan told Amber that his Wellington would be out in eight minutes, forcing her to fire a new piece of fish as Ramsay called it painful, while Declan felt she should not be here if she could not get it together. When the entrées for Scott’s table were sent up, Ramsay saw that the halibut Amber cooked was raw. After seeing that, Ramsay berated the blue team for failing to get the gears moving since the start and failing to get a simple two-top order correct. After having the blue team feel the cold halibut, Ramsay smashed it with his fist and angrily reminded them that they picked their station placements that night. With that, Ramsay kicked the blue team out of the kitchen and ordered them to nominate two people for elimination. As the blue team went back to the dorms, Declan reminded Amber that she should have been on meat that night and felt she was out for herself. In the red kitchen, the red team worked on Michelle’s order, with Kori feeling confident with the team’s communication skills. The red team got Michelle’s order accepted, and they finished their perfect service with no problems as Sous Chef Jason cooked and served Scott’s order.
Post-mortem[]
Back at the dorms, Declan asked Amber why she wanted to be on fish, and the latter said she wanted to redeem herself on that station in the same way the former needed to bounce back on meat. However, Declan noted that it was not the night to do that when they have only four chefs left, but Amber felt she did not deserve to go up for elimination as she worked her ass off that day. Declan argued that he only had one lamb sent back, but Cody reminded him that he walked up the meat when he needed more time on garnish. Then, Marc nominated Declan and Amber as he felt he was better than the two and argued that meat and fish had major problems that night, while Cody thought he kept the boat afloat for most of that night, something Amber questioned. Cody told Marc that he was his nominee for elimination, but the latter called him full of shit and once again accused him of turning off his oven. Cody denied that, but Marc said that he never had his flat-top off since he has been here. However, Amber reminded Marc that he was all over the place on timings and that he deserved to go home, but the latter snapped after Declan accused him of bringing the entire team down that night, leaving the dorms in anger.
Elimination[]
When the blue team came downstairs, Ramsay deemed their night a fucking shitshow before asking Cody for the nominees. Cody announced Marc as the blue team’s first nominee, but then he revealed himself as the second. A stunned Ramsay asked why, but Cody explained that he wanted to be the voice of the blue team and was prepared to fight for his place. Ramsay allowed Cody as a nominee, and during their pleas, the latter said he was very team-oriented and was trying to keep them alive since the beginning, feeling he had what it took to run Hell’s Kitchen at Lake Tahoe. Then, Marc felt he bounced backed and accused the blue team of protecting themselves by playing politics, but when Ramsay asked Declan if the former’s complaints of being sabotaged were true, Declan said it was not as he felt the blue team helped Marc get set up that night. After listening to their pleas, Ramsay started to realize what was going on, and said the only things he saw that night was bland risottos and overcooked carbonara before eliminating Marc for declining performances and for his constant attempts to blame the blue team for his mistakes. During his exit interview, Marc said he came in to be authentic, accused the people in Hell’s Kitchen of not standing his energy, and still believed that the blue team was out to get him since the start.
After Marc left, Ramsay told the blue team that they should not need to worry about an excuse anymore with their weak link eliminated. While being dismissed, Cody knew he had to refocus on things and hoped Ramsay saw the potential inside him, but at the same time, he was relieved to see Marc finally out. Then, Amber knew that the blue team failed that night and thought she had to prove to Ramsay she was a leader, while Kori was shocked that there were only seven of them left and there was nowhere left to hide.
Ramsay’s comment: "Marc is a big talker and a decent cook. But I’m looking for someone who can lead a brigade. Marc couldn’t even win over his own team."
Trivia[]
- Title reference: The title refers to the 1998 film, There's Something About Mary. It also refers to Marc's ongoing conflicts with the blue team.
- This episode marks the only time so far Ramsay has pulled someone into the pantry room for a positive reason.