The tenth episode of Season 4 of Hell's Kitchen aired on Fox, on June 3, 2008. On that episode, the remaining chefs were given black jackets, a former Hell's Kitchen winner made a cameo, and one chef totally lost it and had the mother of all meltdowns.
Intro[]
While going back to the dorms, Jen tried to convince Christina and Corey that she would be liable and was doing her prep work. But, Christina was not trusting her and declared she was glad to have gotten rid of her, but was not to welcome her back. Also, Christina and Corey talked about how they could not believe Petrozza got rid of Louross, with Corey saying that she thought Louross would be there until the end. Corey stated that she lost a friend, referring to Louross, and gained an enemy by getting Jen back. On the patio, Petrozza and Jen talked with Bobby about Matt, with Petrozza asking what was he still doing there, and comparing him to a hemorrhoid.
Trip to the London West Hollywood[]
The next morning, the phone rang and Corey answered. Then, she told everybody to get outside immediately, with Petrozza and Matt wondering what was going on. The six remaining chefs got into the Hell's Kitchen SUVs, with blindfolds on, not knowing where they were going. Arriving at the secret destination, all the chefs were lined up in front of Ramsay, who asked them to take off their blindfolds. Bobby stated the sun was so bright he could barely see Ramsay, at the point that he thought he was coming down from the sky. The chefs were each standing in front of one table with a dome on. Then, Ramsay revealed they were on the roof of what would be the new London West Hollywood, where one of them would become the executive chef. After that, Ramsay asked the chefs to lift up their domes, and underneath, black jackets were hidden. The final six put their new jackets on, congratulating each other, with Bobby stating it was a dream come true and that it boosted his confidence to win the competition. After that, two men holding briefcases and wearing black suits came in, and Ramsay asked them to open their cases, revealing $250,000 in cash to the contestants. Matt stated it would have been awesome only to touch or smell it. Ramsay added that if it was not inspiring the chefs, something was missing. Then, everybody went downstairs to see the construction works of the restaurant, with all the chefs wondering what the restaurant would look like, while Ramsay explained the setting. Jen was motivated, saying she would get it or die trying.
Individual challenge[]
The contestants came back to Hell's Kitchen inspired. In the dining room, Ramsay asked them if they were ready for their first individual challenge, which everybody answered they were. So, Ramsay introduced the Main Protein Challenge, where each chef would create one dish based on a given protein. The chefs were standing in front of one dome each, and when Matt lifted his, he got veal. After, Christina got sea bass, Bobby got duck, Jen got beef, and Petrozza got chicken. Before Corey lifted her dome, she guessed pork would be her protein, but a live lobster was underneath the dome, concluding she would use lobster. She was not very comfortable working with lobster despite loving to eat it, saying it was not the best ingredient. Ramsay gave the chefs 45 minutes to create something unique.
When the countdown started, everybody got to work, with Jen being very confident, proclaiming herself as a culinary artist and that her food was a reflection of herself, which was vibrant, creative, and bold. Corey said that for the first individual challenge, she would do something that would not only look good but taste good as well. So, she came up with the idea of a lobster soup. Petrozza had the idea of stuffing his chicken, and Christina acknowledged she had to be careful with the sea bass as the fish had to be the star of the dish. All the chefs rallied to complete and plate their dishes in time, which they all did. When the time was up, Jen acknowledged 45 minutes was really fast, and that it was a very close call.
The first chef to present their dish to Ramsay was Matt. His roasted veal loin was deemed very nice by Ramsay, who also praised the flavor. Matt said he could smell the victory. Christina presented her pan-seared sea bass with tarragon and Beurre Blanc, which was appreciated by Ramsay, who was impressed with the strong start. In the process, she said that challenge was nerve-racking as if she would fuck up, she would be the only one to blame. Because of her strong dish, she gave a high-five to Matt. After that, Petrozza served his prosciutto, duck confit and vegetables stuffed chicken, which impressed Ramsay, who jokingly added he never seen anyone do so much with a breast. Corey revealed her asparagus, pea and lobster soup, but Ramsay did not notice a lot of lobster in it and told he expected she would use the whole lobster. After that, Jen served a sliced rib-eye, and when Ramsay asked her why she would slice it so thinly, she answered she was just trying to do something interesting with it. Then, Ramsay asked if she was happy with it, she said she was, but also showed signs of nervousness as she knew she was known for being cocky and arrogant, but tried to use the challenge as a way to redeem herself. Corey was annoyed by her way of being nervous, and Ramsay asked Jen what was the matter, she answered she was nervous. Ramsay declared her dish was dangerous to execute as the flavor of the meat could go away because of the way it was sliced, but added that she managed to pull it off as the beef was still moist. Finally, Bobby made his own version of a duck soup, which was served with noodles and garlic bread. Ramsay praised the flavor of the soup, but noticed the duck was overcooked. He also added that it would have been perfect if the duck was cooked properly. During deliberation, Ramsay said it was a very close call as they all had great dishes. Then, he asked Christina and Jen to step forward with their dishes, saying it was between both of them. Jen wanted to win so bad because she knew that after all that happened with her, if she would lose, she would be screwed. Ramsay praised both dishes for being clever and highly imaginative. Christina appreciated that compliment from Ramsay, saying they were rare, and Jen congratulated herself saying all the components of her dish were there and that she never saw anybody slice a rib-eye like she did. After some much tense deliberation, Ramsay announced Jen as the winner. She was very emotional about that win and very proud of herself.
Reward[]
Jen was rewarded with a trip to Las Vegas and a meeting with Season 3 winner Rock. When she learned what was her reward, she became even more emotional, with tears coming out of her eyes. She was also allowed to pick one of her teammates to go with her, so she chose Corey, which shocked everybody, even Corey herself. Matt compared that decision as the cobra and the mongoose hanging out together. Christina was upset about losing the challenge but, on the other hand, did not want to go to Las Vegas with Jen because she was a bitch. While getting ready, Corey declared Jen's decision of picking her to go on the reward was just showing how fake she was, as she chose the person who she trash-talked the most about. Arrived there, Corey and Jen went to the Green Valley Ranch Resort & Spa, and when they entered their suite, they were really excited as both of them got their own bedrooms and bathrooms, Corey said the closet was bigger than her apartment, and they had a private swimming pool outside. Both of them seemed to get along with each other. Later that evening, they went to the Terra Verde restaurant, where they were greeted by Rock, now an executive chef at that restaurant. Jen said it was the best reward ever, and all three of them picked a seat at a table. Rock revealed that if they were that far in the competition, it was because they were deserving it, and urged them to continue what they were doing. Then, Jen said that every time Ramsay was yelling at her was because of her personality. After, Rock reminded the two women that Ramsay was not looking for a great cook and that he was looking for a future chef. Corey appreciated being picked by Jen, but also stated that she was there to win and Jen would not stop her. The three of them clinked their glasses and drank them.
Punishment[]
Matt, Christina, Petrozza, and Bobby were punished by taking part of Delivery Day. When the first truck arrived, all four of them ran outside, and Christina planned to be a leader on dedicate that day. She told the three men what was written on the papers, and when Matt dropped a box, she told him to keep moving. Matt was annoyed by her behavior, saying she was not a boss and that she should shut her mouth. When Christina suggested they should keep their old herbs in the kitchen while taking the new ones at the back, Matt gave her attitude saying it was ridiculous. When the Sysco truck arrived, Christina continued dedicating job to her teammates, while Petrozza said he was tired and exhausted as every part of his body were aching. When the ice truck came in, Christina was once again leading and waiting for the men, and Sous Chef Gloria suggested they should carry two bags at once. Matt was complaining that his shoulders were killing him because of the weight of the ice, and when he whined that he should be sent home, Christina told him his attitude sucked. Matt told her to shut up and that everybody was in their own shit anyway. Then, Christina reminded Matt that he could quit at anytime if he was not happy, but Matt told her once again to shut up and that she should go home instead, calling her a whiny little fuck in the process. Petrozza noticed Matt was crazy, and Christina reminded that it was not like he carried the ice all by himself and that they all did. Then, Matt told everybody to go fuck themselves, which made Bobby laugh and acknowledge that he really lost it, and was worried about him. Then, Matt sharpened a knife, and declared he should be in Las Vegas at the moment, before angrily throw a towel on the counter.
Before service[]
The next day during prep, Matt was feeling inspired and talked out loud about how he was motivated and feeling good, while telling his teammates to eat his ass. Christina said that he was driving her nuts, but Matt did not care and added that he had to be the best during the next service as he needed to send Christina home. Petrozza tried to calm both of them down, and Bobby was annoyed about their constant bickering saying it should end until the beginning of the service. Then, Jen and Corey came back from their reward, and when Christina whispered to Corey that Matt was crazy, Matt heard her and mimicked Lethal Weapon character Martin Riggs by slapping his own head several times by saying that was crazy. Christina acknowledged he snapped and that something inside him broke, and feared it would not be fixed before service. Then, Matt mimicked whining on the counter, and Jen and Corey went to the dorms and got changed. Christina said to Matt he was scary, and he told she needed to grow up, and both of them told each other they do not want to be anywhere near during service. Christina provoked him by asking if he would hit a girl and asked if they could finish with Matt as she could not work with him any longer. Matt took a knife in his hand to check if it was sharp enough, implying that he would unconsciously like to kill her, and told that everybody were just a bunch of fucking pussies around there. When Corey came in the kitchen, she acknowledged there was some tension between the two of them but did not care if they were having issues, only wishing that it would be fixed before service. Christina and Matt told each other to shut up, and Ramsay entered the kitchen and made all the chefs lined up.
When the chefs were lined up, Ramsay reminded them the work was doubled as they had to feed the entire dining room in one kitchen. Jen and Petrozza was dedicated on the appetizer station, Bobby on fish, Corey on garnish, leaving Christina and Matt, who were having a feud going on, on meat. Christina was ready to kick him off the station if he would be a useless piece of meat standing next to her, and Matt said that Christina needed to grow up as she was a nasty little bitch with a lot of cellulite on her ass. Then, Ramsay asked Jean-Philippe to open Hell's Kitchen.
Dinner service[]
Jen's challenge-winning rib-eye was on the menu that night as a special. When the first order was called, Ramsay reminded the team they had to be twice as fast that service. Meanwhile, a fire erupted in one of Matt's pan and he tried to blow it by getting the pan two inches from his face. Ramsay told he was pouring oil in his face, called him an idiot, and told him to get the pan in the sink instead. Christina knew that Matt would screw her up and that she would have to watch him despite being half his age. Then, Ramsay told Matt he was watching him like a hawk, which Matt understood. After, Jen, determined to have a good service and be vocal, sent her first risotto to the pass, which was accepted by Ramsay. When Petrozza sent his first appetizer, Ramsay noted the bottom of the plate was very dirty, and asked him to show his hands. Ramsay told Petrozza he was such a dirty pig, which Petrozza agreed, and to wipe the bottom of the plate. His second attempt was accepted, with Ramsay saying he was such a dirty pig despite producing amazing food. Jen sent her second risotto while telling that she knew she was a better chef than anybody in there, but it was too salty, and Ramsay asked her to taste it. Therefore, she had to start again.
30 minutes into service, Jen and Petrozza have sent half of their appetizers to the customers despite some setbacks. Then, the team moved on to entrées, but when Ramsay called an order out, Matt was not able to repeat it several times, infuriating Ramsay. He schooled Matt for that, calling him an idiot, and Christina declared that working with Matt was painful as he never knew what he needed or what he was doing. Ramsay asked both of them to communicate with Bobby and Corey, but Matt did not understand that part, and Ramsay told him to communicate with the team a second time. Bobby asked the team to communicate with Corey for the garnish, and Matt asked her if she was ready with her vegetables. Corey answered she was not and that she needed more time. Because of the lack of communication, Corey was lost on garnishes and acknowledged Matt did not have his head in the game. Ramsay asked Corey why she was finding so difficult to reheat her food, which she answered that nobody was communicating and that it was fucking her up, and she became emotional. Ramsay asked her to show some respect and that her face was like a cow's back side. That insult made Jen grin, but Corey was determined to get the job done no matter what, despite not working as a team. Then, she sent her bacon to the pass, and Ramsay called the next ticket. Matt convinced Christina to do it as a team despite their earlier clashes, which she agreed. Matt asked Bobby for a time, and Bobby answered that he was ready, so Matt sent his filet mignon to the pass, as well as Christina with her rib-eye. Entrées were finally leaving the kitchen, with the customers being very satisfied. After that, Christina was caught cooking chicken and beef in the same pan by Ramsay, who asked her what if the customer did not like red meat. She took it out of the pan, saying she did it because there was not enough room on the burners. Moments later, Bobby was also caught doing the same mistake as he was cooking salmon and scallops in the same pan. So, Ramsay asked him if he was allergic to seashells, which Bobby answered he was, but he did not give any excuses.
An hour into service, less than half of the customers received their entrées, and they were getting impatient. One order of rib-eye came back for being undercooked. Ramsay was discouraged and schooled Christina and Matt for that mistake. Jen told that Christina was fucking up her rib-eye dish and that she did not have anybody else to blame but herself. When she was refiring it, Ramsay asked Christina for a time, which she said four minutes. Then, he asked her who told her it would take four minutes, and she answered Jen. When Ramsay asked Jen if that was true, she answered it was not, leading Christina to call Jen a liar and full of fucking crap. Then, a chicken order was sent to the pass, but Corey was not ready yet with her garnishes. When a fire erupted, she tried to take it out by putting the pan on the floor, but she burned her hand in the process. Christina noticed it and did not know if she was hurt or not. When Corey told Ramsay about her injury, he told her to go see a medic, but she categorically refused to. Bobby was surprised at how Corey was taking her injury and said she took it like a pussy. Ramsay asked Corey several more times to go see a medic, but she continued refusing over and over, prompting Jen herself to say that she must be cuckoo in the head to talk back to Ramsay like that. Finally, Corey got out in the back store to see a medic, crying and saying that everything was like in slow motion. Meanwhile, in the dining room, customers started to get impatient, so Jean-Philippe asked the staff to serve more water to them. After that, Ramsay caught Matt eating a bit of one of his Wellingtons, and he schooled him for that, saying he was more eating than the customers. Christina said Matt was a complete mess, and pushed him to the side. He continued eating, and Corey got back in the kitchen, bouncing back from her injury, while bringing some pans in the meantime. She got back on her station, acknowledging she needed to keep pushing forward.
After that, Ramsay called the next ticket and asked Christina to repeat the order, which she was not able to do properly. He schooled her for that mistake and told her he would not repeat the order for the fifth time. Then, he asked Matt to repeat the order, which he declared he did not know. So, Ramsay repeated the order, and asked Bobby where was the order John Dory, which he answered he only heard one. When Ramsay revealed one John Dory was waiting on the hot plate, Bobby acknowledged he was ready and sent the other John Dory, saying he was cool as a cucumber despite the others being all stressed out. With that, some entrées finally made it to the dining room, but Matt sent raw Wellingtons and overcooked filets mignons. Ramsay asked everybody to come and touch them, but when Matt could not answer one of his questions, Ramsay became even more furious, and Corey said Matt was like a 5-year-old in a 35-year-old body because he did not know when to stop. Matt went to the hot plate to check the ticket, giving the excuse of a migraine he was having at the same time, which discouraged Ramsay once again. When Matt got back on his station, he told he was busy getting yelled at again, but Ramsay heard him, called him a fucking idiot, and asked him what did he just say. Matt repeated what he said, but Ramsay reminded him he sent overcooked meat, which Matt blamed his teammates for, saying he was a great team player who did not have team players around. Corey noticed Matt was going down in flames when he grabbed a hot pan with his bare hand, and Petrozza said he was fried. When Matt wished to be sent home and a vacation, Bobby said that something bad was going on inside of his brain. When Ramsay called the next ticket, Christina asked Matt for a time, but he gave the excuse that he was working through a migraine. Corey said that his excuse was bullshit as he should go through it instead of being a crybaby. She asked him for a time, and he answered three minutes after hesitating. Then, Ramsay called the team a bunch of fucking losers, and asked Matt what was going, which he could not answer properly. Once again, he blamed that mistake on his migraine, and ripped a bag containing a headache pill, which he took in the kitchen, in front of everybody. Ramsay told Sous Chef Scott to take a look at that situation, and Bobby laughed at Matt, who said it was not funny. After, Ramsay called Matt forward to tell him that he was having a migraine ever since the first time he saw him. Matt was arguing with Ramsay, telling him he did not feel anything in his hands, so Ramsay took him by the hand, pulled him in the back store, and kicked him out of the kitchen, ordering him to go in the dorms to lay down. On his way, Matt told he wanted to work through it, but Ramsay yelled him to get out. Ramsay returned to the kitchen mocking his excuse, and Jen said that Matt was not taking any responsibility for his mistakes, adding that her brain was about to explode but she was not giving up. Meanwhile, in the dorms, Matt laid on his bed and put a pillow on his head. In the kitchen, when Ramsay called the next order, Christina noticed some burnt rice still sitting on the appetizer station, and Ramsay took the boiling pot, revealed the rice, and when he asked who put it on, Jen revealed herself, acknowledging the mistake, leading Ramsay to kick her out of the kitchen as well. After, he said to Christina that she was standing next to it for an hour without noticing it, so he kicked her out, as well as everybody else, shutting down the service.
Post-mortem[]
Matt came back in the kitchen later than everybody else, and when the chefs were lined up, Ramsay said he did not expect a service pathetic like that from the final six. He concluded by asking them to nominate two people for elimination by coming to a group consensus. While being dismissed, Matt raised his hand for a private conversation with Ramsay, and said to him that he was still having a migraine and asked him if he should give up or stay in the competition. Ramsay answered that he could not make that decision for him but that he would like to see some manliness from him. He finished by saying that if he was in his shoes, he would fight for his place big time. After that, Matt went back to the dorms and joined his teammates to discuss the nominees. While going back, he said that he was deserving to still be in the competition, and that if Ramsay would not want him to be there anymore, he would have been gone by that moment.
Arrived on the patio, Matt learned that his teammates already nominated him unanimously, but he retorted that anybody who would want to nominate him would be a waste of time as he would fight for it, and concluded that they could all fuck themselves and kiss his ass. Those insults discouraged Corey, but Matt was convinced that all his teammates would go home before him, and he left the conversation, while Corey flipped the birds in his back and acknowledged he was out of his mind. Bobby laughed out loud at the situation, saying Matt was a loose cannon and deserved to be kicked off the universe. Despite thinking all his teammates would go before him, Matt was already in his bedroom packing his bags. For their second nominee, Corey suggested Jen for her poor communication, which Christina agreed with, but Jen did not agree saying that everybody had poor communication that night. She also added that Christina had a worst performance than her, and that if she would go home that night, it would be bullshit. Then, she asked Bobby who should go up, which he answered that the meat station went down hard, therefore nominating Christina and Matt. Then, Corey announced she would like to put herself up because of her poor performance, saying she was not having a problem going up for elimination. After that, she asked Petrozza who he would be nominating, but he said it was a tough decision as he did not want to take somebody's dream away from them.
Elimination[]
Petrozza announced Matt was the first nominee because of his poor performance during service and his poor attitude during the previous few days. After, Corey announced Christina was the second nominee because she and Matt sunk the meat station, but added that she should be nominated instead. Ramsay agreed with her, and called her down along with the two original nominees. Ramsay said Corey she seemed to get weaker as they go on, but she insisted she should be up but not be eliminated as she fucked up royally. She also added that despite her injury, she did not give up like Matt did. Matt insisted that despite his migraine, he was not the worst cook that night and named Christina in that position when he was asked to. When Ramsay told Christina she had been only cooking for three years, she cleared up that she had only been cooking professionally for three years and had cook for a long time. When Ramsay said she should get more experience, she got emotional and revealed she thought it was more about heart than experience, and said she never gave up for one second. After that, Ramsay said the person who would go home was going for all the right reasons. Therefore, he eliminated Matt, but told him to not stop and wished his migraine would clear up. During his exit interview, Matt received a retrospective montage of his run.
After Matt left, Petrozza revealed he was happy to see him go and hoped he would be in a different state while locking the door behind. Then, Ramsay urged the final five to go back to the dorms and think about uniting as a team, before dismissing them. While being dismissed, Bobby said everybody was a strong competitor and that being in the finals would be brutal. Christina acknowledged she was getting stronger as the competition was going on.
Ramsay's comment: "There once was a boy named Matt, whose kitchen performance fell flat. He was far from neat, miserable on meat. So I kicked him out, and that's that."
Trivia[]
- This marks the first time six chefs received black jackets. This would continue for four more seasons until Season 9.
- Gordon's comment on Matt's elimination is very similar to Zach's from Season 11 and Mike's from Season 12.