The second episode of Season 5 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on FOX on February 5, 2009. In that episode, the chefs competed in their first team challenge, that night’s service came down to the wire, and one chef made an ultimate decision after getting injured, leading to a highly emotional elimination.
Intro[]
While going back to the dorms, Seth unapologetically told the men they were stuck with him. J was not happy that Seth survived elimination and believed the latter lacked both skills and desire. Meanwhile, Coi apologized to Lacey for arguing with her before service, but she did mention how the latter let them down during prep by leaving the kitchen. Lacey tried to argue that she lacked her teammates' experience, but Coi accused her of giving up on them. LA told Lacey that if she did not have confidence in her abilities, the women would not show confidence in her. LA wanted Lacey gone from the team, and Coi told the latter to either get a grip or leave. While Lacey admitted that she might be the weakest red chef and that it was more challenging than she thought, she did not want to quit.
Team challenge[]
The following day at 5:49 AM, a marching band came into the dorms and played loudly, and the chefs woke up. LA could only hear the band waking her up, and Robert struggled to run without tripping. Sous Chefs Scott and Gloria ordered the chefs to get downstairs, and they were led outside to find Ramsay next to multiple garbage bags. Ramsay called last night’s service way beyond disappointing and said he expected more from them. Then, Ramsay showed the chefs the garbage bags full of food wasted last night, and J was concerned that they would have to sort through the trash like in previous seasons. However, Ramsay revealed there was no time for it as they had just received two crates of fresh scallops. Wanting both teams to learn how to respect their products, Ramsay had them go to their crates and gather all the scallops into their colored buckets.
While collecting the scallops, Ben said he would have rather sorted the trash due to the rancid smell of the crates. Colleen accidentally fell into her team’s crate but managed to get herself out. Once they collected the scallops, both teams brought their buckets back in the red kitchen. Ramsay revealed that they would use them for their next challenge, the Scallop Cleaning Challenge. However, LA was unhappy about that as she had no experience cleaning scallops. Ramsay gave a quick demonstration of properly cleaning them and told the contestants they would have to clean them to his standards. Because the women had an extra person, Ramsay told Andrea to sit out so the teams would be even at seven each.
Both teams had fifteen minutes to clean as many scallops as they could properly, and the team with the most points won. Lacey called it the most disgusting thing she had ever done during the cleaning, and Seth struggled to shuck a scallop. Everyone else struggled as well, which shocked Ramsay as it meant none of them had shucked a scallop before. Robert tried to be careful, so he did not lose a finger. Eventually, time was up.
The women went up first. Carol got the women off to a good start, with all eight of her scallops accepted. However, that made Danny nervous. Paula could only get one out of her ten scallops accepted as some of her portions were gashed. Coi scored six scallops, and Colleen went up; she did not want to be seen as the weak link. Fortunately, Colleen got five out of her six scallops accepted. LA got all eight of her scallops accepted, though she thought she could have done more. Ji got four accepted, and Lacey was the final woman up. When Ramsay revealed that Lacey sliced one of her scallops three times, she had a shocked expression, which Ramsay mimicked. Lacey could only get three of her six scallops accepted, and Carol called her a moron. The women finished with 35 points.
The men were up next. Ben prepped eleven scallops, but only three were accepted. That annoyed Danny as he felt Ben had yet to prove his boasting. Danny got nine out of his ten scallops accepted, and Giovanni scored an impressive thirteen out of fifteen scallops. Robert was impressed by Giovanni's performance and saw the women's look of dread across the room. Robert kept it going with five of his scallops accepted. Charlie and Seth were only able to get two and three accepted, respectively, leaving the score tied at 35. J was the last man up and sent up his six scallops. The first couple of scallops were rejected, and Ji prayed that they were all terrible. While Robert prayed for at least one point from J, the latter admitted that he had never worked with fresh scallops before. Fortunately, the last scallop was accepted, and the men won the challenge 36-35. Winning the challenge pumped Danny up.
Scoring[]
| Red Team | Blue Team | ||||
| Chef | Score | Total | Chef | Score | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carol | 8 | 8 | Ben | 3 | 3 |
| Paula | 1 | 9 | Danny | 9 | 12 |
| Coi | 6 | 15 | Giovanni | 13 | 25 |
| Colleen | 5 | 20 | Robert | 5 | 30 |
| LA | 8 | 28 | Charlie | 2 | 32 |
| Ji | 4 | 32 | Seth | 3 | 35 |
| Lacey | 3 | 35 | J | 1 | 36 |
| Results | 36-35 | ||||
Reward[]
The men went on a helicopter ride to Catalina Island, which excited them. As the men went upstairs to change, Ben was excited even though he had never seen an island before. Before leaving, Ramsay called Robert over to his office. The helicopter insurance could not allow anyone over 300 pounds, and since Robert weighed 400 pounds, he had to take a ferry to the island. That disappointed Robert as he already had problems with society over his weight and felt singled out. However, Robert was happy about the ferry trip.
During the reward, Robert was on the ferry. At the same time, the rest of the men arrived at Catalina Island and went on a submarine trip. During the trip, Seth was amazed by the fish passing by the submarine, while Ramsay said it was a shame Robert was missing out on the experience. Seth revealed he knew a lot about Ramsay, such as his birthday being the next day, where he was born, the title of his recent cookbook, and that he knew Ramsay had four kids and knew their names. Those comments concerned J as it made Seth look like a stalker and called it weird. When Seth revealed more about Ramsay, such as the car his wife bought him, Giovanni found it odd and said Ramsay should be scared off by the former. By the time Robert made it, the reward was over. That upset Robert as he only got a free ferry ride compared to his teammates.
Punishment[]
The women had to prep a raw bar for the following night’s service. Ramsay asked Lacey if she cared due to her poor performance, but the latter claimed she did. However, Ramsay told Lacey to prove it. Carol did not believe Lacey as she thought the latter did not care about anything in Hell's Kitchen. Discouraged by their loss, Lacey cried in her bed and thought about quitting the competition. Ji tried to comfort Lacey and urged her not to give up, but the latter still felt she was not cut out for the competition. Some of the women thought Lacey would not be joining them downstairs, which made LA believe the former was giving up.
When the woman got ready for punishment, Lacey did not want to go as she claimed she was not feeling well. That infuriated Carol, who chewed Lacey out for her attitude. During the punishment, Sous Chef Gloria had the women shuck more scallops and told them to keep the shells for service. When Sous Chef Gloria asked where Lacey was, Carol retorted that they were stronger without her. Carol said she had no respect for someone who gave up on the team. Three hours into their punishment, Lacey was still absent, which continued to anger her teammates. Andrea accused Lacey of isolating herself from the team due to her attitude and wondered if sleeping in would improve her mood. Six hours into the punishment, Lacey decided to come downstairs and help as she was in Hell's Kitchen to compete. By the time Lacey came downstairs, Paula was disgusted by the former's carefree attitude and abandoning the team. Andrea said everyone was against Lacey now, thanks to the latter's attitude.
Before service[]
The next day, Lacey had a new attitude as she wanted to make a new start with prep. During prep, Ji noticed how lively Lacey was compared to yesterday, but then, she slipped on some oil and sprained her ankle. LA feared the worse as the medic took a look at Ji's ankle. With Ji in pain, she doubted if she could do that night’s service. Despite the pain, Ji decided to continue prepping for service despite LA's concern.
Once both kitchens were ready, Ramsay had both teams lined up. Ramsay reminded them that they had a raw bar for that night’s service, and every customer would be getting a plate as it would give both kitchens a little more time to get the hot appetizers out. Before Ramsay announced who was running the raw bar, Ji informed him about her injury. However, Ji would like to participate in the service and hope for the best, which Ramsay allowed. Afterwards, Ramsay decided that Robert and Paula would be managing the raw bar for their respective teams. Still, Robert was not thrilled about serving customers due to his large size. Once everyone was at their stations, Ramsay had Jean-Philippe open Hell’s Kitchen.
Dinner service[]
As both teams got their first ticket, Robert and Paula got their raw bar ready. Jean-Philippe noticed that Robert was sweating, and the latter reminded him that he was 400 pounds. In the red kitchen, Carol and Andrea worked on appetizers, but the former told Ramsay that she burned the garlic on the first risotto. That caused Andrea to deem Carol flustered, and the latter's second attempt was stuck to the pan. Ramsay could not believe it and asked Carol if she was stupid. Carol said she was not but thought the risotto was good enough to serve. As Carol and Andrea tried to refocus, the latter thought she had to take the reigns no matter what station she was on. Ramsay went to the blue kitchen to check on Charlie’s risotto, but it was undercooked with no mascarpone cream cheese or ham. Charlie claimed he never made a risotto until now, forcing Ramsay to tell Ben to help the former out. Ben tried to help Charlie out because that was what he did. Meanwhile, Robert was sending up the raw appetizers to his tables and decided to pour on the charm for the customers. At one table, he explained to the customers what his tattoo was. One table told Jean-Philippe that Robert was doing great, pleasing the former.
Forty-five minutes into dinner service, the red kitchen was getting appetizers out. However, Ramsay noticed that Colleen had already cooked scallops in the pan and warned her that they would turn out overcooked. Ramsay had Lacey come over to show Colleen how to cook them while snarkily telling Colleen that Lacey would not charge $300 for it. Carol said that despite Colleen running a cooking school, her lack of experience showed. Meanwhile, Lacey felt honored to help Colleen out. After that, Ramsay told Ji that her ankle pain was the same as his head. Ben sent up his risotto in the blue kitchen, and Ramsay said it was delicious. Ben was happy to send something that tasted delicious after several setbacks. Lacey sent over scallops that were cooked nicely in the red kitchen, and Ramsay showed Colleen the difference. Ramsay snarkily asked Colleen if Lacey charged her for the lesson, but the latter said she did not.
One hour and a half into service, the men were getting their appetizers out. Seth and Charlie brought their lobster spaghetti, but Ramsay noticed that they had forgotten the lobster. Charlie admitted they were stupid for that mistake, and Ramsay ordered both of them to wake up. At the same time, Seth felt he got hit by a train. In the red kitchen, the women were getting entrées ready, but Ramsay noticed that Colleen had forgotten the John Dory for the order. Not only that, Colleen's salmon was both black on the bottom and raw in the middle. Ramsay accused Colleen of not being a culinary instructor, and she was robbing people, but Colleen argued that she was a teacher. After two more of Colleen's salmon turned out black, Ramsay lost his patience and demoted her to the raw bar while ordering Lacey to get on the fish station and brought Paula back into the kitchen to help Coi on the meat station. As Colleen went to the raw bar, she refused to let Ramsay break her. Back in the blue kitchen, the men were ready to send out their entrées, and Danny's lamb was praised for being spot on. Danny felt he was on cloud 9 for that compliment.
Two and a half hours into service, the men got out entrées because of Danny's performance on the meat station. In the red kitchen, Paula checked on Ji to see if she was okay, but the latter told her that she wanted to focus on service. That made LA very impressed with Ji's determination. Giovanni sent up his salmon to the pass in the blue kitchen, but it turned out to be raw. Ramsay chewed Giovanni out for it, especially since Danny had been busting his butt off cooking perfect meat that night. None of the men wanted to eat the salmon, and Ramsay yelled at Giovanni's face for the mistake. Still, Giovanni argued that Ramsay did not need to yell inches from his face. Despite that, both teams continued to push out food and were near the end of service. Ramsay gathered both teams and told them that the men had four tables left while the women had five tables left. Ramsay announced that the first team to finish their tickets would win. With a boost of determination, both teams pushed their entrées out. Seth said the men were turning up the heat after hearing the women's ticket count. Lacey was determined to send a man home that night, while Giovanni was determined to send a woman home. As both teams sent out entrées, Ben said the men were hungrier than the women. Eventually, both teams had only one ticket left each, but Carol stalled the women when she was not ready on her items. Hearing that dismayed Andrea as she called it pathetic. That left the men to send their final table of entrées out and were declared the winners. Ben called it a sweet victory as they kicked the women's butts to Tuesday. Back in the red kitchen, Ramsay told the women that the men finished first.
Immediately after service, Ji limped to the back hall to see the medic again as her foot was swollen. While Ji felt like a burden by that, the rest of the women said she did great, and they would not send her home that night. Paula says she wants to see Ji hammer it out until the latter said she was ready to go home.
Post-mortem[]
When the teams were lined up, Ji was seen in a wheelchair to keep the weight off her ankle. Still, Ramsay praised Ji for her courageous efforts that night and the fact she did not give up despite the pain. Ramsay thought that some people in the room would have given up if they were in her position. Then, Ramsay turned to Colleen and told her that people who cannot cook should teach. Colleen disagreed with that argument, but Ramsay said she proved it that night. However, Colleen stated that she knew how to cook fish, but Ramsay made her nervous that night. However, Colleen's arguments annoyed her teammates as LA thought the former was talking out of her butt. Ramsay said that Colleen was giving him a headache every time he looked at her. Ramsay told the women to decide on two people for elimination.
While Ji was with the medical staff, the rest of them went up to the dorms to discuss matters. Colleen knew she was a definite nominee, while Lacey did not want to be nominated. Despite Coi acknowledging that Lacey helped Colleen early that night, Carol still felt that Lacey was not fit to run a kitchen. Lacey found that comment unfair, but Carol argued that the former crying in bed and not helping with the punishment was unjust. Still, Lacey asserted that she became a team player that night and thought Carol should be nominated for her mistakes in service. While Carol disliked Lacey personally, Andrea knew the former did not do as well as she thought. Regardless, Andrea knew one of them was going home.
Elimination[]
Andrea wheeled Ji up to the line for elimination. LA revealed that Colleen was the women's first nominee and Lacey was the second. During their pleas, Lacey admitted she had no confidence earlier, but she had it now and wanted to show the women she had it. Then, Colleen said she was fully committed to the competition and wanted to prove to Ramsay she could win. When Ramsay asked Colleen if she was better than Lacey, the latter said she was. However, Lacey reminded Colleen that she had to take over fish to get entrées out, and despite not knowing too much, she felt she could do better. Still, Colleen promised to make the women a stronger team and asked Ramsay for a second chance.
Before Ramsay could announce his decision, Ji raised her hand. She announced that despite wanting to be in Hell’s Kitchen, she felt her injury would hinder the women and volunteered to leave. Andrea tried to interject that even an injured Ji was better than both Colleen and Lacey, but Ji was absolute in her decision as she wanted the women to win. Ramsay decided to honor Ji's request and told Colleen and Lacey to get back in line. Ramsay came up to Ji, and while he praised her for her talent, he admitted that it would not be fair to let her continue while she was in a great amount of pain. Still, Ramsay allowed Ji to keep her jacket to symbolize her courage and pride. As Andrea wheeled Ji out, the men gave Ji a standing ovation, and Charlie held the door for her while Ji told the red team to do well. During her exit interview, a tearful Ji knew she could have gone all the way, but it sucked to leave due to her injury and lamented that it was not meant to be.
After Ji left, Ramsay told the chefs to pick up on her courage and use it. While being dismissed, Carol was angry to see Ji go and be stuck with Colleen and Lacey again. She said it was unfair and knew Colleen and Lacey would never fit in Ji's shoes. At the same time, Lacey was happy for the second chance and thought to keep her mouth shut to succeed. Lastly, Ben called it a successful evening for the men as even if the women merged Colleen and Lacey into a single cook, it would still have half the skills Ji had. Ji received the burning picture sequence at the end of the episode.
Ramsay's comment: "Ji showed great courage. Unfortunately, her injury got in the way of her dream. She had a chance to win this, but sadly we will never, ever know."
Trivia[]
- This marks the first time Ramsay has allowed a chef to keep their jacket after leaving, and earliest he allowed a chef to do so.
- This marks the first time a chef withdrew from the competition during elimination.