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The tenth episode of Season 21 of Hell's Kitchen aired on January 5, 2023. In that episode, tacos were the main dish, dinner service came down to the wire, and the third team switch occurred in the middle of elimination.

Intro[]

While returning to the dorms, Tara was glad Ramsay believed in her compared to the red team, as she now saw them as the two-faced people she thought they were. Sommer wanted to hold a team meeting, but Tara reluctantly agreed as she could not trust them due to the age difference. Sommer told Tara she did not give up on her as a teammate, but she knew the latter tended to get flustered in services. Tara was offended that no one on the red team had her back in the Elimination Ceremony, but Brett argued that they did not think she could communicate well. Still, Tara did not believe them and left, as Brett thought the former had a poor attitude. Dafne feared it would be hard to work with Tara now that the latter had it in her head that she was alone.

Team challenge[]

The following day, Abe's overactive attitude started to annoy everyone, and all of them mocked his evil laugh around the room. Later that day, both teams came downstairs, where Ramsay explained how many chefs took comfort food and elevated them to fine dining quality. Ramsay had everyone go up to the table he stood behind and showed how a classic burger and pizza could be elevated. Then, Ramsay revealed a simple taco, but when he opened the final dome, Danny Trejo appeared and scared everyone. Still, everyone was happy to see Trejo as Abe saw all his movies, and Dafne welcomed him in Spanish. Trejo said he had four Trejo Tacos in Los Angeles, Miami, and Chicago. When Ramsay asked Trejo how he kept reinventing the taco, the latter explained that he used different combinations to elevate it. For the Creative Taco Challenge, both teams were tasked to create five elevated tacos using five different proteins. Because the blue team was down a person, their fifth would be a team effort.

Both teams had 40 minutes to create their tacos using pork, shrimp, chicken, beef, and fish. Dafne was excited as she was determined to win with homemade flour tortillas. In the blue kitchen, Sakari decided to make Caribbean shrimp tacos and warned the red team that the blue team was coming for them. Alejandro seared off his steak as Abe said tacos were a quick meal for his nine kids. As Abe made flour tortillas, he was confident he could win it for the blue team. Brett made a fennel slaw in the red kitchen for his fish tacos. Twenty-one minutes left, everyone was cooking their dishes as Alex asked someone to turn his tomatillos. In the red kitchen, Cheyenne told Sous Chef Christina her jalapeno sauce for her steak taco and said her girlfriend introduced it to her. Meanwhile, Tara decided to make a Baja-styled taco. In the blue kitchen, Alex felt rushed as he worked on two tacos, but he thought that was what a leader did. Five minutes left, Dafne saw her shells burning, forcing her to start over. Four minutes left, Abe started making the tortilla shells, but with time running out, he knew he did not have enough time to do it. So, Abe used some backup shells and grilled them on the burners. Eventually, everyone had their dishes cooked and plated on time after the blue team helped Abe finish his dish. Still, Abe was upset that he did not finish his flour tortilla shells even though everything else was cooked perfectly.

Danny Trejo joined Ramsay in the judging as the latter called for the chicken round. Sommer was excited to show Trejo her jerk chicken tacos with Caribbean salsa, and the latter liked the guacamole component and the spice. Ramsay found the spice spot on as Alex presented his Nashville hot chicken breakfast taco. Trejo liked it as a breakfast dish, as Alex felt his original dish was killer. Trejo liked both dishes, so he gave Sommer and Alex a point, and the score was tied at one each. Tara walked up her dish on the shrimp round as Dafne wanted to kill the blue team. Tara's beer-battered shrimp tacos with chipotle crema were deemed nice, but Alejandro had high hopes for Sakari. Sakari's roti curry shrimp tacos blended well, and Trejo did not find them overpowering. So, Trejo gave Sakari the point, and the blue team led 2-1. On the fish round, Brett's marinated Mahi Mahi taco with fennel slaw went up against Abe's red snapper taco with mixed slaw. After tasting both, Trejo went with Abe's dish, and the blue team led 3-1. On the steak round, Cheyenne's skirt steak tacos marinated in cayenne paprika were loved by Trejo despite disliking cayenne peppers. Then, Alex presented the blue team's skirt steak tacos with charred avocado tomatillo crema, but Trejo wished it tasted more like guacamole. Cheyenne scored that round, and the blue team led 3-2. The final round was the pork tacos Dafne walked up her dish, hoping her family was proud of her. Dafne's ground pork chorizo tacos were praised for being elevated, while Alejandro went up with his dish. Alejandro wanted to go up against Dafne for a long time, so he presented his Thai street tacos with pork tenderloins. While the presentation was beautiful, Ramsay thought that the dish was too sweet due to the coconut milk. Dafne scored, and the challenge ended in a three-point tie. To break the tie, Ramsay brought up Dafne and Abe's tacos as the best of their teams, and he asked Trejo who had the best overall dish. Trejo preferred Dafne's dish as it reminded him of his mother's cooking and the red team won the challenge. That made Dafne happy as she felt she made her family proud, while Ramsay told Brett he was lucky the red team covered his butt again.

Scoring[]

Blue Team Red Team
Chef Score Total Chef Score Total
Alex 1 1 Sommer 1 1
Sakari 1 2 Tara 0 1
Abe 1 3 Brett 0 1
Alex 0 3 Cheyenne 1 2
Alejandro 0 3 Dafne 1 3
Results 3*-3
* Best dish named by Trejo broke the tie in the challenge and won it for their team.

Reward[]

The red team was rewarded with playing in Zorb balls and eating gourmet tacos. Also, Ramsay told the red team he had a gift waiting for them at the dorms. As the red team went up, Brett was happy that he was on the red team because even though he did not score any points, the women had his back. The red team found Vitamix blenders waiting for them, which Cheyenne called the best reward yet.

During the reward, Cheyenne compared the experience to a giant hamster ball, and Sommer said they looked like drunk hamsters going down the hill. Tara managed to stay on her feet during her turn, amazing Brett. Sommer called it a true VIP experience at lunch, though Dafne got a little sad that their time was nearly over. As the red team discussed a possible final five for the black jackets, Tara was ready to forget about the past and move forward.

Punishment[]

The blue team was punished by prepping a hundred pounds of corn and making fresh tortillas for a taco special in that night's service. As the blue team went up to the dorms to await their punishment, Abe felt sore that he was close to winning. During the punishment, Alex compared their fourth straight loss to getting broken up as Sous Chef Jason laid out the game plan. Alejandro deemed the husking tedious and got tired of losing as it was affecting his mind. As they made the tortillas, Abe reaped what he sowed for failing to get his tortillas ready for the challenge. Then, Ramsay asked Alejandro for a quick meeting in the pantry. Ramsay told Alejandro that while he could cook well, he had a bad habit of getting in the weeds and dropping his head. Ramsay urged Alejandro to fight back as he saw what he brought in cooking and gravitas, but he could not afford to disappear that night. Hearing that made Alejandro recall how he made a big sacrifice to leave his family to compete and become Ramsay's head chef at Atlantic City. Alejandro promised Ramsay he would bring his voice out and was ready to run through a brick wall.

Before service[]

Later that evening, both teams prepped for that night's service. Once they were ready, Ramsay told Marino, having returned from Italy after a couple of weeks, to open Hell's Kitchen.

Dinner service[]

That night, Cheryl Hines and Rachael Harris ate at the blue kitchen chef's table. As the red team received their first order, Tara knew that she would be gone if she did not perform. Sommer taught Brett how to poach the lobster tail as Tara became vocal on timings. Sommer continued to lead Brett on fish as she told the latter to season the scallops, which Cheyenne took notice of. Cheyenne felt that Brett was performing iffy, especially when there was no room left to hide. Ramsay went up to the fish station to remind Brett of prepping scallops, only for Tara to earn his ire when she loudly asked for timings. Ramsay told Tara not to talk over him, and Dafne felt the latter did not understand how a line worked. Then, Sommer told Brett to take the skewers out of the lobster tails before going up to the pass, and the red team's appetizers were accepted. The blue team worked on their first order in the blue kitchen as Alejandro knew it was time for them to bounce back. When Ramsay asked Alejandro for a time, the latter did not respond until he was prompted a few more times. That caused Abe to tell Alejandro to man up with his voice as Ramsay was looking for a vocal person to run the line. Alejandro used his voice to lead the appetizers and got his risotto accepted.

Thirty minutes into service, both teams pushed through appetizers, and the red team began working on entrées. Cheyenne thought about all the bad things that could happen if she was not careful, and she ended up burning her hand while putting out a fire. Ramsay sent Cheyenne to the medic to treat the burn and told Dafne to take over the meat station. Cheyenne was checked for three burned fingers, and she called it the worst burn she had had. Cheyenne got angry that she had made that mistake and hoped it was not why she went home and the red team lost that night. Dafne was worried about Cheyenne back in the kitchen, but she knew they had to focus on service as she got steaks accepted. In the blue kitchen, the blue team worked on their first order of entrées, and Abe felt they started smoothly. However, Abe was taken aback when Alex announced two salmon for the order, as he had not heard that earlier. Abe said he needed six minutes on the salmon, but Alex did not know what happened as he had announced the order earlier. When Ramsay checked on the blue team, Abe was forced to tell the former the truth. In the red kitchen, Cheyenne returned to the kitchen as Abe managed to get his salmon accepted.

Ninety minutes into service, entrées moving smoothly, and both teams had three tickets left. Ramsay announced that the first time to finish won. As both teams returned to their stations, Dafne felt the red team had it as they got their first ticket out. As Abe worked on the chef's table, he said the blue team must win. Abe got it accepted, as Sommer knew the red team must be fast and perfect. The red team served their second ticket as Alex felt the blue team could finish strong. The blue team got their second table out, as both teams were down to one order each. Brett walked his halibut to the pass, but it was undercooked. In the blue kitchen, the blue team pushed their final order as Sakari felt they were close. With Brett working on his refire in the red kitchen, the blue team pushed their final order as Alejandro walked Sakari's steak to the pass. However, the steak was raw, and Sakari was forced to refire the steak. Alejandro got frustrated as Brett finished the halibut refire and won it for the red team. As the red team celebrated, Cheyenne showed Ramsay her burn, and he gave her advice on how to treat it. Meanwhile, the blue team finished their order, and a disappointed Alex knew they had let victory slip away. Sakari knew it was his fault as he did not let that steak rest, and he rushed it to win.

Post-mortem[]

Afterwards, Ramsay gathered the blue team and reminded them that they almost had victory in their grasp. However, they lost, and Ramsay told them to nominate two people for elimination based on everything they witnessed in the competition.

During deliberation, the blue team sat in disappointment about losing when they were close to the finish line. Alex told Sakari that he should have told them the steak was not ready, and Abe knew it was why they lost. Still, Sakari felt he did not deserve to go home on that mistake and believed he was one of the best chefs in the competition. Alejandro nominated Sakari and Abe for elimination, the latter due to the salmon mishap. Abe argued that it was not his fault he forgot the salmon and did not believe he was a weak chef. Abe felt that Alejandro did not have leadership skills and nominated the latter alongside Sakari. Still, Alejandro knew Ramsay saw how people could bounce back and how they could lead. Abe reminded Alejandro that he was messing up in challenges, but the latter retorted that he made up those mistakes. Alejandro knew he could lead a kitchen over Abe as Alex struggled with his nominations.

Team Switch[]

When the blue team came downstairs, Ramsay reminded the chefs that it was a strong service and that he told them to finish first. Alex announced Sakari as the blue team's first nominee for elimination, with Abe as their second. During their pleas, Abe said he learned from his mistakes and pushed more, while Sakari felt he had discipline and drive. After listening to their pleas, Ramsay commented how hard each decision was as the competition moved forward. Then, Ramsay called Brett up from the red team and told the latter to give him his jacket. Ramsay saw that Brett struggled that night and that the women on the red team bailed him out. Still, Ramsay told Brett he was going back to the blue team.

Elimination[]

After Brett went to the blue team, Ramsay eliminated Abe for his struggles on fish that night and his inconsistent performances. Still, Ramsay told Abe that his nine kids would be proud of what he had done as his determination was second to none. During his exit interview, Abe knew his family would be proud of him despite his uphill battle and thanked Ramsay for his kind words.

After Abe left, Ramsay warned the chefs that mistakes would be magnified as one of them would be his next head chef at Hell's Kitchen in Caesars Palace, Atlantic City. While being dismissed, Sakari knew there were no more passes for him and said it was time for him to step it up. Then, Sommer was shocked that Ramsay called Brett's name as she thought the latter was going home, knowing it was time to buckle up. Lastly, Brett was grateful that Ramsay did not give up on him, but he knew it was his last chance to make an impression.

Ramsay's comment: "Abe’s performance tonight was more like a C-. With only the best chefs left in the competition, his grades just don’t make the cut."

Trivia[]

  • Title Reference: The title refers to the Creative Taco Challenge. It is also a take on the phrase, “Everyone is talking about it”
  • With this episode, Season 21 ties with Seasons 7 and 15 for the most team switches in a single season, with three.
  • This marks the first time a chef changed teams three times.
  • This marks the first time Ramsay did a team switch right before eliminating someone.
Hell's Kitchen Season 21 Episodes
Let the Battle BeginJust Wingin' ItClawing Your Way to the TopSlipping Down to HellBreakfast 911Til Chef Do Us PartWok This WayGame On!Putting the Carne in CarnivalEveryone's Taco'ing About It21st Annual Blind Taste TestWhat in Hell's Kitchen?The Fab Five Take FlightLights, Camera, Sabotage!A Finale for the Ages, Part 1A Finale for the Ages, Part 2
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