The fifth episode of Season 3 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on Fox on July 2, 2007. In that episode, a wedding service was held, one chef’s poor leadership caused their team to alienate them, and for the first time, Ramsay decided not to eliminate anybody.
Intro[]
On their way back upstairs, Rock asked Josh if he made the wrong decision by not nominating Vinnie initially, to which an angry Josh agreed 100%. Josh did not feel he should go home and knew Rock wanted him gone twice, but he also knew it was Ramsay's decision at the end. Rock tried to explain to Josh that his problem was that he was rushing through things, but the latter saw it differently, much to Rock’s annoyance as he felt the only way for Josh to win was if he and Brad fell flat. Then, Rock reminded the men that not only had they yet to win a challenge, they were cut in half, but Brad felt they could succeed without the excess weight.
Meanwhile, Bonnie confronted the women for ignoring her after she was nominated and felt she was the elephant in the room before feeling she should have gone home that night. Melissa reminded Bonnie that they were in a competition and felt the latter was a failure to happen. That caused Bonnie to believe that she may not have what it takes to be there.
Team Challenge[]
The following day, Sous Chef Scott called the two teams and ordered them to go outside and get in the SUVs. Going outside brought a bit of joy to Josh as he had not won a challenge since the beginning. Arriving at the Bristol Farms grocery store, Ramsay revealed that for the first time, Hell’s Kitchen would be catering a wedding reception, with Bonnie feeling the pressure as they had to get it right. For the Wedding Planning Challenge, both teams had to create an appetizer, a fish entrée, and a meat entrée and had a $100 budget to shop for their ingredients.
With a time limit of thirty minutes, both teams raced to get their ingredients. While the men decided not to choose duck for their protein due to time restrictions, Melissa suggested to the women that they use duck as their main dish instead of lamb. Even though Jen was concerned about the cooking time, the women went with Melissa's decision as the latter felt she was put in the leadership position. As both teams tried to manage their budget, Rock said he knew how to make a budget work as he grew up in the ghetto. By the end of the time limit, both teams made it to checkout, but the men were over budget, which forced them to remove some of their items. Brad felt that hurt them because some of those ingredients were needed.
Once back in Hell’s Kitchen, the teams had one hour to cook their dishes. Melissa told the women to ask her for direction as that was what Ramsay wanted, but Julia snarkily said that helped them before. In the blue kitchen, Rock told Josh and Brad to use every ingredient they bought. In the red kitchen, Julia decided to sear the duck breast, but Melissa butted in and told her to do something else while also insulting Bonnie by telling Julia not to listen to her. In the blue kitchen, the three men communicated well and dealt with their own dishes. In the red kitchen, Julia took the duck breast out of the oven to rest, but Melissa placed it back in the oven so it would stay warm. That caused more bickering, and an open-eared Rock hoped that the argument between Hell’s Bitches would be their downfall. With only two minutes left, the men tried to use what little they had for their dishes, and Brad told Josh to turn his overcooked lentils into a purée. However, Rock was not happy about the waste they made. In the red kitchen, Melissa and Julia found out that the duck breast was overcooked, but the former refused to take responsibility for it, leading to an argument. Eventually, both teams had their dishes cooked and plated on time.
After cooking, Ramsay asked if everyone used their time wisely, but the women stated they did not, much to Ramsay’s shock. Bonnie explained that there was too much arguing going on, and Julia blamed Melissa for her dictatorship role. Melissa argued that she was not trying to do everything at once, but Ramsay reminded her that he never put her in charge as the challenge was supposed to be a team effort. Then, Ramsay revealed that he would not be judging the dishes, but instead, he invited the bride and groom, Carlota and Cyrus, to do the judging. That horrified Melissa, who told Ramsay that the women should not serve their food to the couple, but Ramsay told her he would not let her attitude spoil the couple’s wedding.
Each chef would present their dishes to the couple, and they would decide which one would be the best to serve for their reception. The team with the most points won. The first round of appetizers was presented by Brad for the men and Melissa for the women. The men made a crab salad dish with thyme and grapefruit aioli, while the women made a puff pastry with brie cheese and strawberry. While the couple liked both dishes, they went with the men as they felt the women’s dish was more of a dessert, giving them a 1-0 lead. The next round featured the fish entrées presented by Josh for the men and Julia for the women. The men made an herbed convene sea bass with a vegetable broth, while the women made a sea bass with collard greens and bacon. The couple found the men's sea bass to be foul, and they gave the win to the women as it tasted delicious. So, the women scored that round, and it was a one-point tie, with Rock feeling the pressure. In the final round, Rock was ready to present the men’s meat entrée, but Melissa tried to stop Jen from presenting their dish. However, Ramsay told Melissa that he was getting pissed off by her attitude and ordered the women to send up their meat dish. When Jen revealed the women's dish, it turned out to be an overcooked duck breast with no sides, and Bonnie felt humiliated to serve a terrible duck to the couple. Ramsay was extremely embarrassed when he saw the duck breast and made it publicly clear to Jen, who felt embarrassed as she was not responsible for cooking it. Rock presented the men’s pan-seared dry-aged ribeye with a wild mushroom cream sauce. Since the duck breast was too rubbery to cut through, the women’s dish was disqualified, and the men won the challenge 2-1. That excited Josh since not only had the men finally won a challenge, but they were getting ready to see the women get reamed out.
After the couple left, Ramsay let loose. He told the women, once again referring to them as Hell’s Bitches, that he had never been more embarrassed inside Hell’s Kitchen in his entire life, and they should all be ashamed for their joke of a performance. Before dismissing the women, Ramsay warned them that they would work their asses off during their punishment and ordered them to get out of his sight.
Scoring[]
| Blue Team | Red Team | ||||
| Dish | Score | Total | Dish | Score | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appetizer | 1 | 1 | Appetizer | 0 | 0 |
| Fish Entrée | 0 | 1 | Fish Entrée | 1 | 1 |
| Meat Entrée | 1 | 2 | Meat Entrée | 0 | 1 |
| Results | 2-1 | ||||
Reward[]
The men were rewarded with a day at the Exhale Spa for a day of pampering. After hearing that, Rock was happy the men got a day of pampering after seeing the women get the first three rewards. Ramsay asked Brad when he last had a massage, but the latter said not until now. Sous Chef Scott gave them robes to wear, and Rock felt good to beat the women for once as Josh called it a double positive for the men. They were uniting while the women were fracturing.
During the reward, Rock got to try acupuncture for the first time and went in and out of conscience. Brad got some stretches in and was in bliss after letting go, while Josh said he could get used to winning. As the men toasted to successful dinner service, Josh wanted to see Hell's Bitches go down the following day, and Brad and Rock thought they would be at each other's throats during the decorating.
Punishment[]
Back at the dorms, Bonnie was pissed at the embarrassment they faced over Melissa's actions, and Julia knew the latter made the wrong decision to put the duck breast back in the oven. Bonnie wanted to mutiny over Melissa and vented her problems just as the latter came in. Julia asked Melissa what she thought of that challenge as she talked too much, and Bonnie told the latter not to take the reins as she did earlier. However, Melissa deflected Bonnie's criticisms, which made Julia feel the former was disrespecting them. However, Melissa rudely told Julia to grow some balls next time, making Bonnie coming close to strangling her. Melissa challenged the women to prove they could be a better leader than herself.
The women were forced to decorate the dining room for the next night’s service, based on the instructions of Francisco the Party Planner. Jean-Philippe introduced the women to Fransico, who immediately gave them the vision he wanted for the decorations and setting. During the punishment, Jen felt they would decorate until the early hours, but while Melissa tried to make a plan, Julia felt they did not need one as long as they worked. Melissa kept micromanaging the women, annoying them as Julia wished she shut up. Later, the women worked on the centrepieces, but Melissa's continual micromanaging annoyed the women, even though she thought she would help them get her better. However, Bonnie got annoyed by Melissa's attitude, wanted to strangle her with chiffon, and asked what happened to her as she was not the same person that started. Melissa argued that she was only trying to help, but Julia said she was doing more talking than helping, and Bonnie finally snapped at Melissa.
Before service[]
The following day, both teams began to prep for service with that night’s menu featuring the winning dishes from both teams. Melissa asked Rock for the potato dish recipe, but her overcomplicated questions frustrated him. Melissa felt that Rock was telling her two different things, but the latter said he would let loose a darker side if she was on the blue team. Meanwhile, the wedding ceremony took place, and Carlota and Cyrus got married. With only an hour until service began, Ramsay found out that Melissa cooked Rock's potatoes incorrectly, and they were all black. Rock brought his pan for reference and complained that Melissa was killing him. While Melissa tried to argue that Rock told her a different way, he called her crazy as he showed her the same way he did them. Ramsay retorted that Melissa's potatoes came out black because of oxidization and said he had no time for her excuses as they had little time before the wedding reception. Melissa's second batch of potatoes turned out black as well, and as the wedding guests were arriving, Ramsay chewed her out because she was not listening to him. Unfortunately for Melissa, she ran out of time as Jean-Philippe introduced the newly married couple. Ramsay placed Jen in charge of the potatoes, and she got to work redoing them, deciding to stand on her own.
Dinner service[]
Since the men won the challenge, they had the honor of cooking for the bride and groom's table. The couple’s order came in, but Josh's lack of communication got Ramsay frustrated as he could not serve anyone else until the couple got their dishes in first. Sous Chef Scott informed Josh that his risotto was not ready, so Ramsay had Brad help Josh move quicker. Knowing that they had to get it right on the first try, Brad immediately got to work, even though it caused a hold on the women’s first order. Despite that, Bonnie delivered her first order of scallops even though Ramsay told her not to. However, Bonnie was pissed at the men for causing the women to start slow. In the blue kitchen, Ramsay reminded Brad to work on appetizers instead of meat like he ordered before ordering Josh for the risotto.
Thirty minutes into service, Carlota and Cyrus received the men's appetizers and liked them. Back in the blue kitchen, Ramsay sarcastically told Josh that he belonged on the front cover of GQ as Captain Dick. However, Josh felt he should be put in charge of Red Valley Ranch. In the red kitchen, the women managed to put their differences aside served their appetizers. Ramsay noted Julia's performance as she was tasting a lot more since they began. That made Julia feel good to receive a compliment like that from Ramsay and thought she was getting the hang of high dining. Francisco told Jean-Philippe that the parents have not been served yet, and was sent over to Ramsay since Jean-Philippe did not want to deal with him. Sure enough, Ramsay pushed Francisco away from the hot plate.
One hour into dinner service and all of the appetizers had made it to the tables. Rock was especially proud that the men were finally coming together and wanted to hug somebody. Entrées began, and the women got their first order. However, Melissa stalled them with her ribeye garnish, and even though she said she needed four minutes, she still sent it up, much to her teammate’s confusion. Ramsay asked Melissa what she was trying to do, and told her that she shut off completely. Melissa argued against that, but Ramsay ordered her to wake up. Then, Ramsay told Jen to take the lead on entrées and succeeded. The women were getting entrées out, and Ramsay praised Jen's leadership. Josh sent up the fish sauce in the blue kitchen, but it was stone cold, forcing him to heat it again quickly.
One and a half hours into service, entrées were stalled up, but the diners were distracted by the speeches for the newlyweds. In the red kitchen, Ramsay asked for the sabayon, but Melissa realized that she accidentally put it in the dishwater, and it spilled into it. Melissa went over to the blue kitchen to get some more, but Brad said he needed them for the men. Ramsay caught Melissa, and after pulling her back into the red kitchen, he ordered her to make some more and accused her of trying to sabotage the men. However, Melissa argued that she was only trying to make Ramsay happy and would never undermine someone. Despite these problems, the women recovered, and the entire dining room was served for the first time that season. Near the end of the reception, Ramsay gave Carlota and Cyrus a honeymoon gift at the Green Valley Ranch Resort and Spa.
Post-mortem[]
Ramsay noted that even though both teams started slow, they did eventually get a good pacing. However, Ramsay named the men the winners for finishing three minutes ahead of the women. Ramsay singled out Jen as the “Best of the Worst” for the women due to her strong performance and asked her to come up with two nominees for elimination.
Back at the dorms, the men celebrated their victory, while Jen did not know what to do for nominations. Melissa felt she was being treated unfairly, but Jen reminded her that she was rude to everyone. Melissa thought she did not deserve to leave as she helped the women get through the first three dinner services, while Julia told Jen that if she were nominated, it would hurt them. While Jen knew that Melissa was her nominee, she struggled between Julia and Bonnie, telling the latter that they were the same. However, Bonnie felt that she knew more than Julia and feared that she would be sent home if she were up against Melissa.
Team switch[]
Jen announced that Melissa was her first nominee and Bonnie was her second. During their pleas, Melissa claimed she had tried to carry the women and did not want to be a dictator, while Bonnie stated that she had only started to realize her potential because the chef inside her was emerging. After much consideration, Ramsay called up Melissa's name and told her to take off her jacket. But then, Ramsay shocked everyone by announcing that Melissa was now on the blue team, much to their dismay. Ramsay told Melissa that a new environment might fix her downward spiral but warned her that she was on her last chance. Then, Ramsay told Bonnie to get back in line and dismissed everyone.
While being dismissed, Melissa felt it was a fresh start being on the blue team as that meant she did not have to carry anybody and was ready to kick the red team's ass. However, Rock did not know what Melissa would add to the blue team because he knew she would lose regardless, while Bonnie felt that it was their time to shine without Melissa. When Ramsay was about to hang up Melissa's red jacket at the end of the episode, he stopped midway and retracted.
Ramsay's comment: "I've never seen anyone go from being a strong chef to being such a terrible chef so quickly. And that's why tonight I'm giving Melissa one more chance. Her only hope now is that she fits in better with the boys than she did with the girls."
Trivia[]
- This episode marks the first time a Special Event was held at Hell's Kitchen.
- This episode marks the first time nobody was eliminated and the first time Ramsay reassigned a chef without evening up the number.