The fifth episode of Season 22 of Hell's Kitchen aired on October 26, 2023. In that episode, the chefs were tested with guessing surf and turf dishes, one chef received a special reward, and another became more distant with their teammates, leading to a shocking elimination.
Intro[]
While returning to the dorms, Johnathan felt hurt to see Jason survive over Mattias, as he felt the latter was too arrogant. Jason tried to brush off Ramsay's criticisms about the smeared butter, but Raneisha was mad that the former was not owning up to his mistake. Raneisha confronted Jason for lying to Ramsay and for being too egotistical. As Jason argued back, Johnathan felt embarrassed as Raneisha looked to her team for support. However, the women left as Donya told Raneisha that Jason was the men's problem. Also, Jason left so he could go to bed.
Team challenge[]
The following morning, both teams came downstairs, where Ramsay explained that one thing he loved about America was the unique culinary delights to find. With a big map behind him, Ramsay called out some regional examples such as Boston chowder, New Orleans gumbo, Kansas City beef and pork ribs, and Seattle oysters. However, Ramsay said one American classic could be found across the country, and it was surf and turf. The map pulled away to reveal tables full of proteins, and Dahmere realized their next challenge was the Protein Identification Challenge. Still, Dahmere was confident the men had it, as the women would not run to get the proteins.
Ramsay explained that one team at a time would compete to gather the right proteins for a dish they would taste. A red light would signify that both proteins were wrong, while a green light meant they got it right. However, a blue light meant one protein was incorrect, and Ramsay would not reveal the wrong answer. The team with the fastest time was the winner. Because the women won service the previous night, they went first as Ramsay dismissed the men back to the dorms. Before they went up, Dahmere cockily told Ramsay the men would see him and the women in the morning.
Carmen and Atoye began tasting the first dish: an oyster and venison meal. The fish threw off Carmen as nothing seemed simple, so she and Atoye grabbed venison and crab. It was half right, and they grabbed ostrich to replace venison. However, they got a red light, and their third attempt, crawfish and venison, was half right. For their fourth attempt, Carmen realized that she was overthinking it and grabbed oysters to pair with the venison. That time, it was right, and Leigh and Melissa began deciphering their crab and ostrich dish. Leigh realized that the fish they got was crab, and she got the fish protein while Melissa grabbed beef. However, it was half right, and they swapped the crab for the langoustine per Raneisha's suggestion. Their second attempt got a red light, making Leigh ask why she did not follow her gut. Leigh and Melissa got their third attempt accepted, and Sandra and Donya started on the third dish: which contained halibut and veal. Their first attempt, shrimp and pork, got a red light, and their second attempt, langoustine and veal, got a blue light. As Donya and Sandra struggled with a choice, they made their third attempt veal and swordfish. It was half right, and so was the branzino and veal, lobster and veal, and snapper and veal. Eventually, they got the right pairing, leaving Sammi and Raneisha to taste the final dish: monkfish and rabbit. Melissa prayed that the two had it together, but their first attempt, scallops and chicken, was wrong. They also got turkey and swordfish wrong, along with seabass and squab. However, they got their fourth attempt accepted, ending the women's turn with a time of thirteen minutes and fourteen seconds. Afterwards, Melissa prayed that the men were worse in the challenge.
When the men came downstairs, Ramsay lied that the women ended the challenge in five minutes and three seconds, but he showed them the actual time they must beat. Still, Jason was not worried about the time as he knew the men would win. Ryan and Jason went up first and chose mussels and lamb as their first pairing. It was wrong, but their second attempt, venison and clams, got a blue light. They kept the venison, but after getting crab wrong, Ryan and Jason got their fourth attempt accepted after grabbing oysters. The next pair up was Devon and Dahmere, and the latter said he was determined to win due to his competitive nature. Their first attempt, langoustine and elk, was wrong, but they got the second attempt correct. For the third pair, Brad and Jermaine scarfed down the dish as the former accidentally took a bite of the green bean. Chicken and beef was immediately wrong as it was a surf and turf dish, and their second attempt, flounder and pork, was also wrong. As Dahmere got frustrated by Brad and Jermaine's performance, the duo got their third attempt accepted. For the final pair, Jason and Johnathan went up, but the sea bass and pork pairing was wrong. The sea bass and rabbit got a blue light, and as Jason and Johnathan struggled on a fish, Dahmere screamed at them to bring one up. Fortunately, Jason and Johnathan's third attempt was correct, and the men won the challenge with a time of six minutes and thirty-nine seconds. Devon said the men's ability to work as a team was second to none after winning three challenges in a row, while Ramsay told the women that they set the bar too low.
Scoring[]
Protein Identification | ||||
Team | Duration | Team | Duration | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Red Team | 13:14 | Blue Team | 6:39 | |
Results | 6:39-13:14 |
Reward[]
The men were rewarded with an axe-throwing experience, with Ramsay joining them. Johnathan got excited by the idea as it was a dream come true. During the reward, Ramsay wanted to find out who was the best axe thrower amongst the men, and Johnathan called it a good feeling to have Ramsay with them. As the men threw their axes, Ramsay promised a prize for the winner. Dahmere proved to be the best axe thrower, and Jermaine could see the former's athleticism shining. As the men ate lunch, a few cracked jokes about the women's punishment as Jason recalled how angry Melissa looked when they left. Devon agreed with that and wondered if one of the women would collapse the red kitchen that night.
Punishment[]
The women were punished by taking in deliveries of Alaskan salmon and prepping them for the following service. Donya knew that some of them fell short in the challenge, and it would be a rough road to travel. During the punishment, Sous Chef Christina instructed the women how to handle the fish as the men walked through the red kitchen. Melissa was not in the mood as she had the fastest time in the challenge but lost, thanks to her teammates. Later, Sous Chef Christina was impressed with Leigh's salmon prep, shocking the latter as she had less experience than her teammates. In contrast, Sammi was slowly fileting the fish, and she got upset that she was lagging behind her teammates. Raneisha tried reassuring Sammi as it was a new experience for some of them.
Before service[]
Later that day, both teams prepped for service, but Melissa did not respond to Donya's question due to her poor attitude. Feeling disheartened that she would have to go into service after losing the challenge, thanks to her teammates, Melissa continued to show her poor attitude. Donya did not like that as she did not think Melissa was not worth keeping around if the latter would jump ship. In contrast, Melissa did not care as it was not a team effort anymore. Still, Donya did not like that Melissa kept pouting and got frustrated with the latter's attitude.
As both teams lined up, Ramsay asked the men who had the best axe-throwing skills in the group. The men said Dahmere did, and Ramsay awarded the former with a Vitamix blender. Dahmere was excited to have something new in his cooking collection and could not wait to try it. Moving onto business, Ramsay said that night would be a busy one and asked the chefs to continue to taste the success they had. Afterwards, Ramsay asked Marino to open Hell's Kitchen.
Dinner service[]
Matt Stonie, Anjelah Johnson, and Brad Gilbert were in attendance that night. Also, Ramsay opened the chef tables for Dolph Lundgren and Paula Abdul. The men got their first order after Brad swore no one was going home, while the women got their first order not long after. Before Raneisha dropped the scallops, Ramsay told her to communicate with Carmen about the appetizers as he did not want overcooked scallops. Carmen acknowledged the ups and downs she had with Raneisha and Sandra, but she wanted them to get off to a strong start. The dishes were sent up, but Carmen's risotto lacked seasoning, and everyone said it needed salt after tasting it. Also, Ramsay gave Raneisha a greasy overcooked scallop to feel and showed the women raw lobster tails. Having no idea what happened, Ramsay asked the women if they could get a grip and raise their standards. The women said they would, but Leigh was unhappy that they dropped the ball at the start of the night. In the blue kitchen, Jason said he would crush the hot appetizers as he knew the men would win and sent up his risottos. While Devon walked up his lobster tails, Ramsay asked where the scallops were. They were not ready, and Ramsay pulled the men to the front for a lecture. Despite Jason serving a delicious risotto, Ramsay asked why neither Brad nor Devon had dropped the scallops earlier. Brad admitted it was a communication breakdown, but Jason was unhappy as his risotto was perfect. As the men worked on the refire, Johnathan told his teammates to refocus themselves.
In the red kitchen, Sandra thought her scallops were sexy and had Raneisha walk them to the pass. However, they were overcooked, and Ramsay showed them to the women. As the women started over for the third time, Melissa said it should not be hard to get out of the gates. However, Melissa was done working with the women as she did not want to stress out on people that over-complicated stuff. With red diners waiting impatiently, the men worked on their refire as Devon and Brad worked on the scallops. Despite Ramsay's impatience, the order was sent out.
Thirty minutes into service, the women's third attempt went to the pass, and Sandra prayed it was right. Fortunately, the order went out, and Sandra was relieved. As both teams pushed out appetizers, Ramsay began firing entrées in the blue kitchen. But Ramsay caught Brad not answering back and had the latter call the order out. Brad incorrectly called out a six-top table with four items on it and felt his voice getting weak as he kept calling out times. In the red kitchen, the women worked on Abdul's entrée order, and Leigh wanted to get it right for the former as she watched her every night when she grew up. However, Leigh was unhappy when Raneisha and Sandra served the halibut without her knowledge, as she did not think the steaks were okay. Still, Atoye walked them up, and they were undercooked. As Leigh flash-fried them, she blamed the fish station for rushing her. Fortunately, the refired order was accepted, and Abdul's table got her order. The men's first entrée ticket went out in the blue kitchen as Ramsay told Brad his halibut was beautiful. As the blue diners enjoyed their entrées, the men got to work on their following order. To ensure that the Wellingtons did not get overcooked, Jermaine wrapped them in tin foil. Jason got concerned by that but hoped Jermaine knew what he was doing. Sammi took the lead on timings and tickets in the red kitchen, hoping the men and Ramsay heard her. Sandra liked how Sammi took control of the orders, but she did not like how Melissa was a non-presence all night, as the latter did not correctly answer Leigh's question about an order. Sammi corrected Melissa, and Sous Chef Christina got on the latter's case when Melissa tried to double-fry the fries. Still, Melissa did not care about doing well in services as she already shined in the challenges and felt Ramsay saw that. However, Carmen knew Ramsay and Sous Chef Christina were looking for a leader, and Melissa did not deserve to stay if the latter did not communicate.
One and a half hours into service, Jermaine tried to serve his Wellingtons, but Johnathan stepped in and checked which one was perfect. As the men bickered, Jermaine served overcooked Wellingtons with broken pastry. Also, Ramsay told the men that the halibut Brad served was undercooked and had the latter go outside to look at the HK sign as a reminder of where he was. Ramsay scolded Jermaine for foil wrapping the Wellingtons as it was the worst thing they could have done to it, and he never taught them that. After Brad returned to the kitchen, Johnathan was determined to get the refired ticket done and get themselves ahead of the game. Devon was ready to bounce back as the refire was accepted, and both teams served their remaining tickets with no more mistakes. But in the red kitchen, Sandra burned a salmon, and Raneisha showed it to Ramsay while in the pan. Ramsay did not understand the madness of the situation, and Leigh could not understand why the fish station was ending service on a sour note. Still, the refire was accepted, and the service concluded.
Post-mortem[]
When both teams lined up, Ramsay called it a bizarre evening as, despite completing service, he knew everyone could do better. Still, Ramsay named the men the winning team while scolding the women for having a disaster of a night from start to finish. They were asked to nominate two people for elimination.
During deliberation, Carmen was disappointed that they took five steps backward as Sammi pinned the loss on the fish station. Sandra claimed she would not have served that burnt salmon and felt she did not deserve to go home as she killed it on fish. Still, Sammi reminded them they had to refire scallops three times, but Raneisha argued that she only messed up on one order. Raneisha refused to go home as she knew what was at stake, while Leigh wanted to focus on who got the most flustered when Ramsay yelled at them. Donya brought up Melissa's name as she did not think Sammi should have run garnish alone and did not think the latter was confident. Melissa argued that she brought positivity but did not want to bring her team down on a station she was not confident on. Still, Donya felt that Melissa was a Debby downer, and the women began voting on who to nominate. It ended in a three-way tie between Sandra, Raneisha, and Melissa, leaving the women deadlocked.
Elimination[]
Before asking for the nominees, Ramsay told the women that when a kitchen folded like they did that night, it told him there were still issues in the team. Ramsay asked if the women should shut down or talk more if they made a mistake, and they all answered the latter. Atoye announced Sandra as the women's first nominee for elimination and Melissa as their second. During their pleas, Ramsay asked Sandra why her teammates gave up on her. Sandra did not understand it, but she felt she had improved since starting and had much more inside her. Then, Melissa said she had made a name for herself and pushed herself for her team despite being an outsider. Ramsay asked Melissa if she was honest about her claim, and she said she was. After a tough decision, Ramsay eliminated Melissa for isolating herself from her teammates and becoming a non-presence that night. During her exit interview, Melissa believed that the women let her down as she was consistent since the start and that they nominated her out of fear of her abilities.
After Melissa left, Ramsay wondered who would emerge as a front-runner before dismissing the chefs for the evening. Sandra did not think her two nominations were valid and said the drama was getting to her. Then, Donya felt that Melissa's elimination was the right call as it showed that anyone who stayed in the background would be left behind. Lastly, Johnathan called it insane to see the women fall apart and did not believe that the men would act like that.
Ramsay's comment: "Melissa's drive completely disappeared, so I made her disappear from this competition."
Goofs[]
- When Ramsay hung Melissa's jacket, Tad's photo is seen next to her's intact despite being burned in Episode 2202 - Tad Overwhelming.
Trivia[]
- Title Reference: The title is a paraphrased quote Dahmere screamed at Jason and Johnathan during the Protein Identification Challenge; but he actually said, "Just bring the damn fish!"
- The episode was pre-empted in several Fox affiliates in Florida and New York due to simulcast coverage of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers-Buffalo Bills game.