The second episode of Season 4 of Hell's Kitchen aired on Fox on April 8, 2008. In that episode, both teams sorted through trash, the first team challenge occurred, and one chef's strategic nominations did not go the way they planned.
Intro[]
Back at the dorms, Matt felt terrible about Dominic's elimination, and Jason thought that he would have been called down. Jason asked Bobby if he was done taking it easy, and the latter said he was. Knowing he dodged a bullet, Bobby said he was coming back as the real Four-Star General. Jason sarcastically said he loved getting yelled at that night but promised it would not happen again as he refused to lose to girls, especially little kids.
Meanwhile, Christina's level of confidence was high, saying her team killed it and that the men should cut some dead weight as they were spoiled for choice.
Team challenge[]
After a night with very little sleep, the contestants were woken up the following morning by the Sous Chefs. They held megaphones and told them to get outside immediately. Jason called it unpleasant. Arriving outside, Ramsay declared that any restaurant would have hit bankruptcy with all the amount of food wasted on the previous night. Ramsay called over a dump truck and ordered them to take every wasted food and put it in the cylinders to give the chefs a better understanding of what they trashed last night.
While they were going through garbage, Jason said it sucked, and Jen almost puked because she was disgusted by the smell. However, an unsympathetic Ramsay reminded Jen that it was only food. Rosann called it a shame to see all the wasted food, while Ramsay told Sharon not to let her make-up smudged. After a few minutes, Ramsay told them to get back in line up the stairs and declared they should be ashamed as they put thousands of dollars in the trash during the last service. Ramsay warned them to start giving a damn and told them to clean up and change.
Once everyone cleaned up and changed, they went down to the red kitchen where Ramsay was waiting. Wanting to teach them how to maximize produce, Ramsay revealed the 6-Ounce Halibut Challenge. Ramsay explained that halibut was one of the most sought-after items and gave them a demonstration on how to prep one. The team with the most acceptable halibut portions won the challenge, and Ramsay had the Sous Chefs bring both teams their halibut.
Each team had 20 minutes to prepare as many 6 ounces portions of halibut as possible. For the men, Petrozza took control of the filet, and Louross told him to make love to the fish. Louross planned on being the loud boy for the men, and they cut their first filet before the women. Ben gave some tips to Jason, but the latter ignored him. The men finished with more than eight minutes left. In contrast, the women moved slow, but Christina told Sharon to take her time as they had plenty of it. Still, Sharon felt nervous as she did not want to cut herself. Jen was annoyed by Sharon's lack of skills, saying they had to tell her what to do. Meanwhile, the men relaxed as Ben thought they were redeemed from the previous night. Eventually, time was up, and the women finished up.
During the judging, Jen brought the women's batch to Ramsay. They eventually managed to get forty-one of their pieces accepted after some were rejected for having gashes. For the men, Craig brought his team's batch to Ramsay, and Bobby declared he counted 50 pieces in total. When two pieces of halibut were butchered, Bobby immediately thought it was Jason who did it. Another looked chewed up, and Ramsay accused the men of rushing through their work due to ending early. Petrozza thought they had an edge by numbers, but now it was quality that was dooming them. Despite that, the men managed to get 41 of their pieces accepted as well, and the challenge ended in a tie. To break the tie, Ramsay asked each team to name one member from each team to come forward and select a 6-ounce filet, with the closest one to 6 winning the challenge. Ben and Corey were eventually chosen by their respective teams. Ben was confident as he fileted most of the halibut, while Corey was nervous. After both of them picked their filets, they were put on a balance. Ben's halibut weighed 5.9 oz, making Bobby believe that Corey would not pick a 6-ounce piece. When Corey brought up her filet, she believed she had it as she portioned off the filets. However, the filet weighed 4.8 oz, and the men won the challenge. Corey apologized to her teammates and felt embarrassed for costing them the loss. A mad Jen said it was not hard to pick a 6-ounce filet and questioned her team's judgement by choosing Corey.
Scoring[]
| Red Team | Blue Team |
| 41 | 41 |
| Results | 41*-41 |
- *The Blue Team won the challenge as Ben's halibut weighed more than Corey's.
Reward[]
The men spent the day on a 100-foot superyacht and were transported in Rolls-Royce and Bentleys. While getting ready, Louross entertained his teammates by walking around the dorms with woman's boots and boxers. Everybody laughed, and Ben even called Louross crazy.
During the reward, Ben said he had never ridden in a Rolls-Royce before and called it cool. Arriving at the port, Ramsay greeted the men and entered the boat, though Bobby said the closest he got to ride a ship was the Love Boat on TV. As they ate their seafood lunch, Petrozza called it phenomenal as they toasted to their victory. Moments later, Jean-Philippe brought them some caviar wearing a navy blue suit. After that, they enjoyed a champagne glass with Ramsay at the tip of the yacht, with the latter telling them to attack in the following service. Ben said it was nice speaking to Ramsay outside the kitchen. The team finished by yelling "Whose yacht?" and responding, "Blue's yacht!", referring to Jen's antics before they left.
Punishment[]
The women were punished by prepping the halibut, making all the fish stock, and maximizing every portion for the following dinner service. During the punishment, the men walked past the women prepping the fish stock, and they began smashing their cleavers to spray juice on them. Matt did not like that as he wore expensive cologne. Jen started to yell, "Whose house?" and her teammates answered, "Our house!". Jason told them to keep their house as he was going to the ocean.
Later, Jen continued to be sore about their defeat as she blamed Corey for costing them the win. Christina reminded Jen that it was a team failure, but the latter was still mad. Upset that Jen was blaming her for the loss, Corey said the former made her look stupid in front of everyone. In contrast, Jen thought that Corey had a small brain, and thanks to the latter, she was covered in fish guts.
Before service[]
The following day, both teams began to prep. However, Sharon showed her lack of knowledge due to mixing up recipes, and Corey had to tell her everything she needed to do. Christina said that the women had a problem with Sharon as her lack of experience put them at a disadvantage. In the blue kitchen, Jason was confident they would win because of the team's high spirit. Also, he thought the women had no clue without a man to lead them. In the red kitchen, Corey was annoyed by Christina's way of knowing everything and speaking aloud. After that, Jason declared that a room full of girls was useless unless they had a Tupperware party.
Ramsay asked Petrozza what the five appetizers were when the teams were lined up, but the latter struggled to answer correctly. Ramsay kicked Petrozza out of the kitchen, told him to read the menu and not come back until he knew it by heart. After Petrozza left the kitchen, Ramsay was appalled at how difficult it was for someone not to know the menu by now. Then, Ramsay reminded the chefs that the opening service was horrific, miserable and said he never saw Jean-Philippe take a lot of complaints. Therefore, Ramsay assigned Craig and Rosann to be assistant maître d'.
Back at the dorms, Petrozza struggled to study the menu, saying it was nineteen years since he was going through a menu other than his. When Petrozza came back downstairs, Ramsay got him in the pantry room. After ejecting Jason from that room, Ramsay asked Petrozza to recite the menu, from the desserts up. Once again, Petrozza struggled to deliver a correct answer after missaying black cherry sorbet. Ramsay started to lose his patience and asked Petrozza to go back to the dorms and start again. Arriving on the patio, Petrozza lit up a cigarette, and contemplated his fate in the competition, saying he was done. Moments later, Bobby went to the dorms to comfort Petrozza and talk him back into the game. Petrozza suddenly became emotional, and Bobby handed him his apron so he could wipe his eyes. Bobby felt the need to help Petrozza because of his genuine heart. When he came back to the kitchen, Petrozza successfully recited the menu to Ramsay. When Petrozza finished, both of them gave each other a high-five. Ramsay told Petrozza to get to his station and asked Jean-Philippe to open the restaurant.
Dinner service[]
Craig and Rosann were slow to bring their first tickets to Ramsay in the dining room, and Jean-Philippe feared the latter would explode. When Craig finally handed Ramsay his first ticket, Ramsay mocked him by calling him Chef Craig. When Ramsay called the first ticket out, the men were slow to answer, and Ramsay asked them to be louder. Louross quickly became vocal and led his team, who felt motivated. For the women, Rosann was schooled by Ramsay that it had been thirty-seven minutes and she did not give one ticket yet, and he told her to move. The men failed to impress Ramsay with their burnt quail eggs in the blue kitchen, and Ramsay asked Bobby to start again. Then, Bobby got into an argument with Jason, as both of them were confused as if Bobby told Jason to fire the scallops or not. Ben and Petrozza tried to calm them down, but Jason thought Bobby blamed him for his mistake. After a few more moments of waiting, Rosann finally brought her first ticket to Ramsay.
Forty-five minutes into service, the women began firing appetizers while Ramsay accepted Bobby's second attempt at his first appetizer. That led the men to send out appetizers to the customers, who were satisfied with them. On the other side, the red diners were not served. Christina enjoyed the food in the red kitchen and made Shayna taste it. That annoyed Corey as she thought Christina was all talk and no show. However, it did not stop Corey from sending a good risotto to the pass, impressing Ramsay and herself. Ramsay said it was very different that night compared to the opening night. In the blue kitchen, the men sent all their appetizers and moved on to entrées. However, Ramsay saw that Jason's halibut was raw from the hot plate. He made Jason, Matt and Sous Chef Scott touch it, which angered Ben as he hated not sending out food. Still, Ramsay told Jason he was trying to help him as everyone else was ready. Petrozza delivered his first beef entrée, but it was undercooked, infuriating Ramsay. He made almost all of the team touch it. When Ramsay asked Petrozza what was requested, the latter answered that it was requested medium. However, Ramsay was angry that Petrozza sent it despite knowing it was rare.
Craig lifted a high chair to transport it from one end of the room to the other in the dining room. However, he hit a female customer behind the head with the chair. Jean-Philippe became furious and asked Craig to apologize to her, which he did very timidly. In the red kitchen, Ramsay saw that Sharon had cooked meat against raw meat and had to be gentle with her food. Christina became angry at Sharon because if the latter were screwing up on meat, she would screw up on fish. When Christina tried to communicate to Sharon about timings, Ramsay told the two that they were messing up the kitchen and said they looked like Barbie twins. Also, Ramsay told Sharon that he was scared by her tongue out of her mouth as it made her look like the female version of Hanibal Lector. He told her to stick it back in her mouth and concentrate. Petrozza struggled to cut his Wellingtons in the blue kitchen, which led Ramsay to do it for him. When he did, Ramsay told Petrozza that it was beautifully cooked. Petrozza enjoyed that compliment as he did not cook on the line for nearly twenty years. So, entrées came out of the blue kitchen.
Two hours into service, Rosann gave Ramsay a ticket she wrote an hour ago. Rosann claimed that she had a line of tickets and did not want to overwhelm him with more. However, a furious Ramsay became confused about Rosann's explanation and that the affected table waited two hours for their meal. He told her that she had ruined everything she touched so far. In the blue kitchen, when Petrozza failed to keep up with the correct beef orders, a furious Ramsay told him to communicate with Jason so they could have the entire ticket together. Bobby told the two to communicate, and Ben gave a pep talk to his team, acknowledging many communication problems going on. In the red kitchen, Sharon failed to keep up with the orders as she forgot a beef. When Ramsay asked Sharon if she talked to Christina, the latter said she did not as she assumed Christina would be ready. That led Ramsay to call Sharon a showgirl instead of a cook. In the blue kitchen, a minor fire erupted on Matt's station. Ramsay told him not to set the place on fire as nobody could win the competition if there were nobody in it. Matt told Ramsay he would not let that happen again. Moments later, Jean-Philippe sent a raw halibut back in the blue kitchen, and fed up Ramsay gathered both teams to the middle. He accused Sharon of stopping, Christina of giving up, and Matt of setting the place on fire. Then, Ramsay turned to Jason and scolded him for serving raw fish. Jason denied it was his, but that was the final straw for Ramsay, and he shut down the restaurant.
Post-mortem[]
When the teams were lined up, Ramsay deemed that night a pathetic meltdown. Using the comment cards to decide the verdict, Ramsay named the women the losers because the men sent out half of their entrées. Even though Ramsay said that it was not brilliant, it was better than the women. Ramsay also named Corey "Best of the Worst" for finally waking up and giving a good appetizer performance. He asked her to nominate two of her teammates for elimination.
During deliberation, Corey declared she enjoyed that title despite the burden it carried. Jen told Rosann that aside from Sharon, she did not know who Corey would nominate. She called Sharon Barbie again as the latter could not handle a service. Rosann was nervous that she could be up for elimination, but she tried to be positive. Christina ruled out Vanessa and Shayna when discussing who could be nominated by Corey. However, Vanessa had no idea what Corey's strategy was. Meanwhile, Corey spoke with Ben and Bobby, shocked that no one on her team went up to plead their case. When Ben asked her if she would take out the best, Corey answered that she was the best.
Elimination[]
Corey named Christina as her first nominee, which she claimed was for strategic reasons, and Jen as her second, which she claimed was for personal reasons. During their pleas, Christina said she was intelligent but started to tear up because if Corey thought she was condescending, she should have said something. That made the men laugh, especially Jason. Then, Jen gave a very long speech about her potential, annoying everyone in the room. Eventually, Ramsay had to stop Jen, telling her to breathe. Before Ramsay announced his decision, he declared that the prize was very important and he would not let somebody who he does not believe in run it. After saying there was someone in that room he did not believe in, he revealed that person to be Sharon. So, Ramsay eliminated Sharon for two consecutive poor performances. During her exit interview, Sharon felt Ramsay did not like her from the start but believed he had the wrong image of her and would not give up on her dream.
After Sharon left, Ramsay told Corey that even though he appreciated the strategy, he had a conscience and that in good conscience, he could not keep Sharon. He reminded everyone that tomorrow was a new day and suggested that everyone continue moving forward. While being dismissed, Jen was happy to compete still and was glad Corey nominated her as it woke her up. Then, Christina felt betrayed by Corey and was gunning for the latter. When the men left, Bobby called elimination dangerous as anything could happen, but he thought they had the advantage over the women.
Ramsay's comment: "Sharon clearly showed great attention to details. Unfortunately, it wasn't for her cooking; it was for her make-up."
Goof[]
- According to Ramsay and the narrator, this is the first time a tie occurred. This is not true as a tie occurred before in Episode 103 - Day 3.
Trivia[]
- This marks the first time Ramsay bypassed the initial nominees and eliminated somebody that was not nominated without giving them a chance to plead their case.
- This marks the first time a blue team won the first team challenge of the season.