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The third episode of Season 23 of Hell's Kitchen aired on October 10, 2024. In that episode, seafood was the main ingredient, a team lost two members to injuries, one chef's intensity rubbed his teammates the wrong way, and a record was set at elimination.

Intro[]

After Amber's elimination, the chefs are dismissed. Magali is stressed, but relieved she wasn't sent home, intending to make the most out of her second chance. She spends time with Brittany in the dorm and begins to cry, reflecting on the dinner service and her husband. She shows Brittany her wedding picture and a note from her husband she found in her backpack.

The next morning at 5:26 A.M., Sous Chefs James and Michelle loudly wake up the contestants by yelling and banging on pans. Most of the chefs wake up groggy and unprepared for the early morning task. They go outside and are greeted by Marino, who has brought over a truckload of fresh fish from the docks, and instructs them to move the dozens of crates inside before the ice melts.

While carrying the fish up the stairs, Shant begins to feel a sharp pain in his back after picking it up the wrong way. As they prepare for the challenge, Uri also begins to have back problems and lays down, revealing that he's suffered from back pain and sciatic nerve problems before the show, and carrying the seafood triggered a bad pinch in the nerve of his back.

Team challenge[]

Ramsay, with a seafood spread behind them, reminds the chefs that it is their first time cooking on the east coast, giving them access to some of the finest seafood in the world. The challenge is to create a seafood tower with all hot seafood appetizers in 30 minutes, using one of eight seafood proteins. For protein assignments, Uri and Whit have squid, Kyle and Magali have crab, Shant and Brittany have lobster, Michael and Meghan have mussels, Anthony and Amanda have prawns, Joe and Lulu have clam, Corbin and Ann Marie have scallops, and lastly, Brandon, Egypt, and Hannah have oysters. Ann Marie is forced to change tactics upon realizing her scallop dish is too similar to the one on the dinner menu. Brandon and Egypt are determined to one-up each other on the oyster dish. Kyle decides to change his sauce after tasting it, believing it's not his best work. Magali tries to change it up by grilling her crabs instead of frying them. During the closing seconds, Ann Marie struggles to open the caviar for her dish and is unable to put it on the plate. The men selects Egypt's oysters over Brandon's, believing it looked better.

First up were the oyster dishes. Egypt presents his pho poached oyster topped with green apple slaw, while Hannah did a sweet and sour oyster. Ramsay compliments both dishes and gives both teams a point. Next are the lobster dishes. Shant presents his lobster poached in butter. Ramsay found the lobster cooked well but the filling was too soggy. Brittany presents her prosciutto wrapped lobster. Ramsay felt her lobster was also cooked well, but was salty from too much caviar. Between the two well-cooked lobster dishes with flawed finishing touches, he awards the women the point. Next is the squid dish. Whit presents her chorizo stuffed squid, and Ramsay criticizes for her not seasoning the chorizo. Uri presents his grilled squid on a bed of sauteed bok choy. Ramsay tells Uri he should've marinated the bok choy to make it more tender and awards the women another point, putting them two points in the lead.

Next are the crab dishes. Kyle, with an extensive experience in seafood, presents his tempura soft-shelled crab with a chipotle dashi aioli. Magali presents her grilled soft-selled crab with an Asian twist. Magali's gamble with the grill doesn't pay off, as Ramsay said it looked unappetizing, and gave Kyle and the men a point, closing the gap to one point. For the prawn dish, Anthony's Calibrean prawn over potato puree is complimented by Ramsay for its heat and intense flavors, while Amanda's citrus prawns and basted niyoki is given props for its sweetness. Ramsay awards both chefs a point, bringing the score to 4-3. For the mussels dish, Meghan brings up Thai-inspired mussels with charred eggplant and Michael brings up chili Vermont mussels with heavy herbs. Once again, both chefs and teams are awarded points, bringing the score 5-4. With the clam dish, Lulu brings up mezcal steamed clams, which Ramsay found to be on the salty side. Joe presents his steamed clams with spicy garlic butter cream sauce. Ramsay awards Joe the point, tying the teams at 5-5. The final dish to determine the winner is the scallop dish. Ann Marie presents her roasted red pepper seared scallop with Fresno, while Corbin presents his pan-seared scallop romesco. Ramsay noticed his scallops were cut smaller, which Corbin claimed to do because it was an appetizer. Ramsay gives the win to the women, as he found Corbin's scallops overcooked.

Scoring[]

Red Team Blue Team
Chef Score Total Chef Score Total
Hannah 1 1 Egypt 1 1
Brittany 1 2 Shant 0 1
Whit 1 3 Uri 0 1
Magali 0 3 Kyle 1 2
Amanda 1 4 Anthony 1 3
Meghan 1 5 Michael 1 4
Lulu 0 5 Joe 1 5
Ann Marie 1 6 Corbin 0 5
Results 6-5

Shant's exit[]

After the challenge, Shant finds the pain from the morning delivery continuing to get worse, and has an ice pack wrapped around his shoulder. He feels the pain spreading and even reaching to his neck. He reports to the show's medical staff and requests to be taken to the hospital and urgent care. In tears from the pain and from disappointing his family and Ramsay, he is put into a van and taken to the hospital.

Punishment[]

For losing the challenge, Ramsay punishes the men by making them prepare seafood for the dinner service. Though it's not shown, Brandon refuses to use his punishment pass and chooses to stay behind with his colleagues. During the punishment, Uri's back pain continues to worsen. He steps out and tells James about his problems before going back into the dorms to rest. Uri doesn't want to go home, but isn't sure he'd be able to compete at 100%. While working on the seafood, the men worry about potentially losing Shant and Uri in the same day.

Reward[]

The women are awarded with a kayaking trip along the Mystic River. The ladies appreciate the fresh air and spending time with each other, deciding to race along the river in the process.

Before service[]

The ladies return to the kitchen refreshed after the kayaking. Uri returns after his rest, but still feels intense pain while continuing prep. Ramsay assembles the chefs to announce that Shant had to go to the hospital and will not be continuing in the competition.

Uri's exit[]

After Ramsay announced Shant's departure, he mentions the competition will continue for everyone else. Uri speaks up and tells him about his condition. He's having a hard time even standing in a kitchen due to the nerve pain shooting down his leg. Believing that continuing the competition will hurt himself further and he'll be a liability for the men, he declares himself unfit to continue.

Meghan sympathizes with him as she had to go out for a few weeks with an injury back when she played softball. Uri thanks Ramsay for the opportunity and says his goodbyes to the other chefs as Ramsay wishes him the best. Though he doesn't want to go home, Uri knows he can't give 100% and considers still competing on Hell's Kitchen to be an honor. Ramsay understands the men are in a rough spot after losing two teammates so quickly, but encourages them to step up as he orders Marino to open Hell's Kitchen.

Dinner service[]

Both kitchens feature NFL players and their families at the VIP tables, with the red kitchen having Cincinatti Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson and the blue kitchen having New England Patriots linebacker Matthew Judon. Ramsay has a Calibrean prawn appetizer for the menu, with Magali and Anthony serving them tableside. Brittany and Whit are assigned appetizers on the women. Brittany is initially overwhelmed and burns the flatbread, but corrects her mistake on the next attempt.

In the blue kitchen, Egypt and Corbin are assigned to the fish station. Egypt notices that Corbin is being too quiet and waiting for him to lead on everything, encouraging him to be louder. Kyle worries that Egypt may be too abrasive in his approach. Ramsay rejects the first batch of appetizers as Egypt's lobster is undercooked while Corbin's scallops are overcooked. They refire both dishes successfully.

Both teams keep the appetizers at a steady pace, with the women reaching the entrees first. The fish by Meghan and Ann Marie slow down after learning that Hannah doesn't have the garnish ready, and Ramsay encourages them to improve communication. In the blue kitchen, they begin on the first entrees. On meat station, Brandon tries to warn Egypt about his salmon overcooking, but he ignores him. Egypt then attempts to bring salmon to the pass as Brandon isn't ready with his steak. Ramsay checks it and finds the salmon overcooked and the strip undercooked. They bounce back after their second attempt.

In the red kitchen, Hannah improves her pacing on the garnishes and they are able to send more entrees out. The men move onto the VIP table. With a lot of meat on the order, Ramsay encourages a chef to help Brandon. Corbin stands next to Brandon waiting and tossing a towel between his hands, annoying the latter and Ramsay, who encourages him to speak up more. Despite asking for 10 minutes on lamb, Brandon's lamb is undercooked, enraging Ramsay, who forces them to apologize to Judon. Brandon's second lamb is cooked properly and delivered to Judon, who enjoys it. In the red kitchen, Lulu leads the girls into keeping the pace up. Both red and blue kitchens find their groove and have a consistent service to the end.

Post-mortem[]

After service, Ramsay compliments them on completing their service, but did note both teams did have negative aspects throughout the night, citing communication as a major issue. Ramsay declares the women the winners and sends the men to nominate two individuals for elimination. Michael's upset that they have to lose three people in one day, achieving a record in the show's history.

The men discuss who should be sent up. The nominations come down to Egypt for his aggressive attitude and the salmon incident, Corbin for his inactivity, and Brandon for his undercooked meat, as the fish and meat stations were the catalysts for the night's failures.

Elimination[]

Ramsay asks Kyle for the men's nominations. The first nominee is Egypt and the second nominee is Corbin. Ramsay calls both of them down to make their cases. Corbin claims Egypt shut him out when he tried to communicate with him, claiming it was like trying to talk to a brick wall. Egypt discusses how Corbin just quietly asked what he needed the whole night and how having a loud voice doesn't mean he has an ego. Corbin claims he's hardworking and resilient, while Egypt thinks the fish station failure doesn't define him.

Ramsay decides to eliminate Corbin, claiming he was too disconnected from his teammates. During his exit interview, Corbin thought he would be around much longer and felt he was eliminated because Egypt's mistakes reflected onto him. Ramsay tells the men to get themselves together after their dwindling numbers. Egypt feels like an outsider in his team, while Brandon agrees with Corbin that Egypt has too much of an ego. Brittany observes that the men are hot mess from the amount of teammates they've lost and is unsure of how long they'll last.

Ramsay's comment: "Corbin may be tall in stature, but tonight he was short on talent."

Trivia[]

  • Title Reference: The title refers to the Seafood Tower Challenge.
  • When the episode was filming, Matthew Judon was a linebacker for the New England Patriots. However, in between the filming and when the episode aired, Judon was traded to the Atlanta Falcons.
  • This is the first episode to feature three exits.
    • It is also marks the first time two contestants withdrew in one episode.

References[]

Hell's Kitchen Season 23 Episodes
Hell Heads EastThe Flame GameShucking HellIn A PickleHomesick In HellHell On WheelsHarmony in HellGet A Clue!Lonely in the KitchenA Sticky SituationA Soap Opera In HellBlack Jacket TimeFive Comedians Walk Into Hell...Hell At The PassOne Hell of A RideHell's Finish Line
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