The fourth episode of Season 21 of Hell's Kitchen aired on October 20, 2022. In that episode, the battle of the sexes began once more, sliders were the main dish, one team had a big comeback, and a questionable elimination took place.
Intro[]
Continuing from the previous episode, Ramsay dismissed the chefs after announcing the team switch the following morning. While returning to the dorms, Billy could not wait for tomorrow to happen as the men would come together. Then, Brett lifted Billy off the floor while hugging him. When the men met in the kitchen for a meeting, Alejandro wanted them to step it up and work together so they could win. Alex felt that the entire team was on a high, and Alejandro jokingly asked the forty-year-olds how it would feel about going on rewards finally.
Meanwhile, Dafne expressed concern with the women because the former female blue chefs suffered a losing streak before the team switch. Mindy admitted that none of the forty-year-old women had been on the line in a while due to working as managers, and Tara knew they must prove to the twenty-year-old women they compete at a higher level. Still, Sommer was doubtful as they had not seen them cook.
Team challenge[]
The following day, Sous Chef Christina called the dorms and told Tara to have everyone outside in beach wear. As the chefs changed and went outside, Tara wondered what they would do. Outside, they found Ramsay standing next to a giant inflatable waterslide, making Billy reveal to have a seasons pass to his local water park. Ramsay said that this would be part one of their next challenge, the Creative Sliders Challenge. Ramsay explained that the pool contained hundreds of ingredient balls the chefs could use for four different proteins: salmon, lamb, beef, and chicken. One at a time, a chef would slide down, grab an ingredient, and place it onto the board next to the protein they wanted to pair it with. The team who filled in all twenty spots the fastest would win a five-minute head start advantage for part two. As the chefs lined up to the ladder, Tara was confident the women would finish first due to their skinny figures.
As part one began, the women slid down, and Nicole did not want to let them down. Nicole grabbed red onions for the beef sliders, but the rest of the women were still in the pool looking for ingredients. Ileana grabbed squash for the salmon sliders while Sommer tried not to panic as she put blue cheese on the lamb slider board. That bemused the men and Ramsay, but Sommer defended her choice as champagne was made by accident. Dafne got mango and put it on the chicken, while Alyssa put provolone cheese on the beef slider board despite having a cheese already on it. The last ingredient grabbed was Persian cucumbers, and Dafne was forced to put the ball on the lamb sliders. After the women finished their round, Billy asked what they were thinking due to the mismatched ingredients chosen.
When the men took their turn, Vlad revealed their strategy of taking ingredients that would work with their proteins. Vlad grabbed English cucumbers for the salmon sliders, while Alex grabbed eggs for the beef sliders. As the men continually slid down into the pool, Tara found it funny. After the men finished their selections, Alex believed they put their ingredients in smart places and did not think they could lose. Ramsay announced that the women won the advantage as they were the fastest to collect their ingredients by three seconds. As the chefs went back to change into their jackets, Alex was not worried, as five minutes meant nothing if the women could not figure out their ingredients. On the other side, Alyssa told the men to suck it.
Once everyone was changed, Ramsay had the women start the challenge. Two chefs from each team cooked the same proteins and used the same ingredients chosen during part one. Nicole and Sommer made beef sliders, but the former was nervous as she was miserable on meat the previous night and wanted to prove herself. Alyssa and Mindy cooked the chicken sliders, Ileana and Dafne made the salmon sliders, and Tara and Cheyenne made the lamb sliders. Tara decided to make a slider version of a stuffed lamb meatball she had made back home and prayed it worked. After five minutes, the men went in to cook their sliders. Billy and Vlad worked on the lamb sliders, Alejandro and Alex made chicken sliders, and Abe and Sakari cooked the salmon sliders. Because the men were short a person, Brett cooked the beef sliders alone. Brett felt the men buzzing, but he knew his biggest concern was Billy. Twelve minutes left, Billy had a plan with pesto and grilling his brioche buns. However, his sliders caught on fire. Three minutes left, everyone began fixing their sliders, and by the end of the time limit, everyone had their dishes cooked and plated on time.
Before judging the sliders, Ramsay announced that he would only taste one protein slider per team and gave the chefs thirty seconds to pick their representatives. Sommer was confident that her beef sliders had the right elements, but Nicole thought her sliders were better. Dafne wanted to use her salmon sliders instead of Ileana’s as she poached them, while Tara was confident that her tzatziki was on point. On the blue side, Vlad did not want to use Billy’s lamb sliders as they might be dry, but the latter thought his presentation was better. Still, the rest of the men voted for Vlad’s dish, upsetting Billy. After thirty seconds, the women’s representatives were Alyssa, Dafne, Tara, and Nicole, while the men’s representatives were Alejandro, Abe, Vlad, and Brett by default. However, Cheyenne was confused as to why Sommer would not use her dish over Nicole’s, as the only thing they knew was that the latter was bad at challenges.
David Myers came to guest judge the sliders, and a stunned Mindy called him hot. Ramsay and Myers would judge each slider from a scale of 1-3, with six points at most, and the team with the most points won. Alejandro brought up his chicken sliders and felt like he had knocked them out of the park. Alejandro’s fried prosciutto and marmalade chicken sliders were praised for combining the two elements, but Ramsay wanted the slider a little thicker. So, Alejandro scored four points. Alyssa presented her ground chicken burgers with poblano and mango chutney, believing she made the mango work. Myers loved the chicken patty and the mango component, and Alyssa scored a perfect six. The women led 6-4, and Alyssa was proud of what she could do. On the salmon round, Abe’s salmon sliders with fried capers and citrus caviar whip were good enough for five points, while Dafne’s poached salmon slider with black garlic and pickled fennel was praised for the fennel component. However, Ramsay found the salmon dense, and Dafne scored four points, making it 10-9 for the women. During the lamb round, Vlad’s lamb sliders with spinach were criticized for having wet spinach and having no flavor in the patty. Vlad scored two points, making Billy mad as he should have gone up instead. Tara’s prosciutto and blue cheese stuffed lamb sliders were overpowered by the blue cheese component and Ramsay said that was why blue cheese and lamb did not go together. Tara scored two points, the women led 12-11, and a disappointed Tara said she did not want that on her first day on the red team. The final round was the beef sliders, and Brett walked up his double smash burgers with fried quail eggs in black truffle butter. The dish was deemed decadent, and Brett scored five points, much to his pleasure. Nicole walked up her sliders, knowing she needed a four to tie or a five to win. Still, Sommer did not want to have a repeat with the Whole Lobster Prep Challenge and hoped she made the right decision. Nicole’s meat and potato burgers with white cheddar and bacon were deemed clever, but Myers and Ramsay felt it was too basic. So, Nicole scored two points, and the men won 16-14. Out of curiosity, Ramsay asked Sommer to bring up her beef sliders with bacon on top of the buns and pickled onions. It was praised for having the crunch factor, but that led Sommer to ask why she did not stick up for herself like she normally did.
Scoring[]
Blue Team | Red Team | ||||
Chef | Score | Total | Chef | Score | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alejandro | 4/6 | 4 | Alyssa | 6/6 | 6 |
Abe | 5/6 | 9 | Dafne | 4/6 | 10 |
Vlad | 2/6 | 11 | Tara | 2/6 | 12 |
Brett | 5/6 | 16 | Nicole | 2/6 | 14 |
Results | 16-14 |
Reward[]
The men were rewarded with a trip to Palm Springs, much to Vlad’s excitement. During the reward, the men went to The Monkey Tree to celebrate as they all jumped into the pool with their clothes on. As the men ate dinner, Vlad wished that they could have shared it with their loved ones as he began to miss his wife. Sakari was revealed to be the only one not married, though Alex jokingly commented that the former had nine children out of wedlock. Still, Alex was happy to bond with the men.
Punishment[]
The women were punished by prepping potatoes for fries needed for the following service. As the women returned to the dorms, Sommer felt terrible for second-guessing herself and began to have a meltdown. Sommer said she did not want to let the team down after her mistake on the lobster as the rest of the women tried to calm her down. During the punishment, the women took in orders of potatoes, but Dafne knew they would not be done until two in the morning. Alyssa decided to take a break as she was the only one who scored a perfect six, but that annoyed Dafne as she felt the former was on a high horse.
Before service[]
Later that evening, women went through roleplay over what could happen at service, but Nicole had problems reciting the order back. Alyssa started to get annoyed by Nicole’s lack of memory, and Sommer accused the latter of having no clue about anything. The following morning, Nicole told the women that her safe word was Sandwich and asked them to say it whenever she got flustered. Nicole said it was the same word she used for her dog to calm her down, but Mindy got confused as she thought the former was talking about sex. Cheyenne explained that Nicole had a rescue dog named Sandwich, which was the same word as the latter’s safe word.
At 1:34 PM, Mindy revealed that she originally planned on getting botox before competing due to losing 150 pounds and had her face sagging as a result. Mindy revealed that someone made a Pinterest board called Fat Mindy to shame her and did not want her daughter to go through that. Mindy’s story touched Tara, which meant she was finding confidence on the line. Then, Mindy hoped one day to have Ramsay single her out as an emerging leader.
The men returned from their reward and changed into their jackets as both teams went downstairs to prep. Ileana was not confident about working with Nicole on garnish as the latter could not follow tickets. Once everyone was ready, Ramsay asked Matthew to open Hell’s Kitchen.
Dinner service[]
A beef slider and French fries appetizer was added to the menu that night. Also, Sebastian Bach ate at the blue kitchen’s chefs table, while Corbin Bleu ate at the red kitchen’s chefs table. The women got their first order, but Dafne told Nicole not to stand around and do something. Mindy knew she must prove to the women she deserved to compete and got a lesson from Ramsay on flipping scallops and sending them off the pan. Ramsay liked the color of the scallops, and Dafne sent out the sliders to complete the order.
Thirty minutes into dinner service, the men began working on their first appetizers, though Brett knew everything must go through him that night and tried to keep everyone in line. However, Brett’s sliders were raw, and he knew it was a big mistake. Ramsay ordered a refire on the ticket, and Brett feared he blew his chance at the Executive Chef position. Still, Brett’s refire was accepted, and the men’s appetizers were being sent out. As everyone in the dining room enjoyed their appetizers, Ramsay began firing entrées in the red kitchen. Sommer tried to lead Alyssa to help her with meat, but the latter did not think the former was helping her at all. When the meat entrées were walked up, the lamb came out raw. A fuming Ramsay took the women into the pantry for a meeting, angering Tara as it was déjà vu for her. Ramsay said he struggled to cut into the raw lamb and did not know where to go, as Sommer and Alyssa clearly gave up. Ramsay told the women to organize themselves, but Cheyenne could see the meat station go up in flames. In the blue kitchen, the men began working on entrées, though Alex prayed he did not fall victim to the meat station as with the others. While Alex had his lamb resting, Vlad did not respond to Ramsay about his halibut dish. Ramsay found that rude and scolded Vlad for not talking with him, and Brett knew the former was looking for someone who could take charge. Then, Brett answered a meat station question he was not supposed to answer, and Ramsay scolded him for trying to micromanage Alex. Alex said the lamb needed four more minutes to rest, and Sakari knew Brett should not get on Ramsay’s nerves like that. Despite that, Alex and Vlad got their entrées accepted, and dishes were flying out of the blue kitchen. Ramsay praised Abe’s New York Striploin for being A-grade, which made the latter happy as he was a D-grade kid. Thanks to Alex and Abe, the men only had two tickets left to work on.
One and a half hours into dinner service, the women got their following order, while Sommer wanted the new red team to win. However, Dafne burned three salmon and said she needed four minutes for the refire. It turned out that Dafne wasted the salmon on that mistake, and Ramsay was upset as he could not easily get more salmon to help her. Finding no momentum in the red kitchen, Ramsay called the men over and told them to take over the red kitchen. Billy found the women burning down and asked what they were doing. As Vlad asked for a salmon from the blue kitchen, Tara was embarrassed by needing help from the men and blamed Dafne, Sommer, and Alyssa for getting them into this mess. As the men started cooking, Ramsay asked the women if they would stand or help them. Abe saw the death glare from the women, but he did not care as Ramsay ordered them to help. Thanks to the men’s assistance, the women got their final entrées out.
Post-mortem[]
After service ended, Ramsay gathered the women up and asked what had happened. Dafne said they went down, but Ramsay said they did not get up. As women were the clear losers of that night, Ramsay tasked them to nominate three people for elimination.
During deliberation, Cheyenne called it a tough decision as having a third nominee would hurt someone’s feelings. Cheyenne knew someone from fish would be nominated, and Mindy immediately said she hustled that night. Still, Sommer knew Ramsay wanted the weakest chef overall and felt Dafne had stronger services that night. Dafne argued that she did fine initially, and Sommer knew it was her first time struggling at a service. Then, Cheyenne believed Ramsay would like to see the meat station nominated, meaning Sommer and Alyssa. Ileana agreed with Cheyenne, but Sommer felt she had no communication from Alyssa. Alyssa retorted that she did not deserve to go up and pointed the spotlight at Nicole because she did not want to worry about the latter in the future. Nicole said she did not get yelled at all that night, but Alyssa felt the former did nothing that night. Dafne did not think Nicole was helping them, but the latter could not understand why she was being targeted as she did not screw up that night. Cheyenne was not enthusiastic about nominating Nicole, fearing Ramsay would not like that decision.
Elimination[]
Ileana announced Alyssa as the women’s first nominee, Nicole as their second, and Mindy as their third. During their pleas, Nicole tried to say she was prepared that night, but Ramsay reminded her that she was supposed to argue about why she should stay. Nicole said she did not give up and started prepping garnishes, but Ileana said that the former did nothing to help her other than drop some fries. Ramsay agreed and felt Nicole was hiding that night. Then, Mindy admitted to losing her voice, but she knew she could hustle and prove to Ramsay she was not the weakest chef. However, Ramsay asked Mindy when she would start making herself proud. Lastly, Ramsay asked Alyssa how she got lost that night. Alyssa admitted that she should have taken control of meat. After a difficult decision, Ramsay eliminated Nicole for not doing much that night and not showing the same passion she had the previous night. During her exit interview, Nicole was disappointed that the women abandoned her and told Sandwich she was coming home.
After Nicole left, Ramsay dismissed the chefs for the evening, telling them to get some sleep as they would need it. Alyssa was ready to show Ramsay she could bounce back, and Mindy believed it would be her final time to plead her case before the finale. Lastly, Abe felt the men had momentum and would crush the women.
Ramsay's comment: "With her team struggling, Nicole decided to hide instead of help. That's all I needed to see."
Trivia[]
- Title Reference: The title refers to the giant slip and slide the chefs had to do in order to gain ingredients for the Creative Sliders Challenge.
- This marks the fifth time Ramsay asked a team to nominate three people for elimination instead of the usual two. It also marks the second consecutive season he did so as, in Season 20, he asked for three nominees in two separate times.