The seventh episode of Season 5 of Hell's Kitchen aired on FOX, on March 19, 2009. In that episode, a blue chef was reassigned to the red team, one chef threatened to quit the competition after losing the challenge, and another did not make it through dinner service.
Intro[]
Back at the dorms, Andrea was still feeling the weight of being “Best of the Worst”, saying she would never wish anybody to be in her shoes. Carol asked Andrea why she did not nominate her, but the latter said she did not want to base her nominations on their argument and that Carol was a little stronger than LA. That comment did not sit well with LA, but Paula agreed with Andrea when the latter said that LA had not shown any passion in the last few services. Still, LA was not happy about the comment and began to dislike the women. Then, Carol believed that the red team was now divided into the pair of Andrea and Paula against the pair of LA and herself, and working together was getting harder. After Carol and LA left to be alone, Giovanni reminded Andrea and Paula that it was still a team effort and they must put aside their differences.
Team switch[]
The following morning, both teams went downstairs to see Ramsay, who had some dishes for them to taste. From his restaurant Mais in London, Ramsay had prepared six different salmon tapas, which were small dishes, but they were fresh and vibrant. The chefs tasted the dishes and were very impressed with them. Andrea said it was phenomenal despite disliking salmon. Once the chefs finished tasting the tapas, Ramsay explained it was becoming a trend in the last couple of years. Ramsay revealed that they would be making five of their own tapas with leftovers for their next challenge, and the team with the most points would be the winners. However, Paula knew it would be a tough challenge as she wondered how much food they had wasted in the last couple of services. In contrast, J claimed he could make a five-course meal out of anything, leftovers or canned food.
Before they began the challenge, Ramsay said he must even the teams up at five each, as the red team was down two chefs. Ramsay told Lacey that her performances have improved since she was on the blue team, while the red team lost the last two services. While Carol feared that Ramsay was putting Lacey back on the red team, he said the latter would stay with the blue team. Instead, Ramsay decided to move Giovanni over to the red team and gave the latter a red jacket. Giovanni was not upset as he was with the girls, and Ramsay told them they now had a strong chef on the red team. Still, Robert was unhappy that Ramsay gave the blue team the weakest woman, Lacey, and the red team the strongest man, Giovanni.
Team challenge[]
Both teams had twenty minutes to make their tapas for the Leftovers Challenge. Giovanni quickly integrated himself into his new team and told a few of his teammates some of his suggestions. Giovanni said he would lead no matter what team he was on and hoped that the red team would finally get together as a team. Lacey struggled with an idea in the blue kitchen, whining she would not get any farther if she could not create an original dish. Ben gave Lacey a few suggestions on what she could do, but Robert stated he was starting to lose patience with the latter. Also, Robert could not understand why Ramsay wanted to amuse himself with Lacey as he calls her a fat bitch. Eventually, both teams finished their dishes and plated them.
The first pair up was Danny against Paula. Paula served her peppered steak and eggs with tomatoes and shallots, which was deemed nice by Ramsay. Danny served a grilled filet mignon with a wild mushroom ragu, which was also praised for tasting nice, and Ramsay gave a point to both of them, leaving the score tied at one each. Lacey's mushroom bruschetta with balsamic vinegar had undercooked leeks in the second round, and Ramsay said they could hold a suspension bridge. LA's asparagus and ginger soup was criticized for looking and tasting as it came from the bottom of a dishwasher. That dismayed LA as she thought it was an easy challenge. Neither scored a point, and the score remained tied at one each. The next pair was Robert against Carol. Carol presented ginger rubbed seared tuna with fried leeks and a ginger soy reduction, but Ramsay said he did not put soy sauce in either tray. It was balsamic, and Andrea was astounded that Carol did not know the difference between the two sauces. Also, Carol's decision to glace the tuna left the dish dry. Robert's peppered pasta with butternut squash and pan-seared lamb loin looked too big for a tapa dish, but the flavours were spot on, and he scored the point. The score was 2-1 for the blue team, and Robert told his mother Ramsay praised her original idea. Andrea and J were up against next. Andrea’s open-faced lobster and asparagus ravioli had a boring presentation, but it had very good flavours. In contrast, J’s lobster with fennel and leek broth was too simple, and Ramsay said he expected more. Andrea scored for the red team, leaving the score a tie at two each. However, J felt he got robbed on that round. The final pair up was Giovanni against Ben. Ben's grilled tuna with fennel prawns sauce was deemed delicious, but Giovanni's surf and turf with beef and lobster claw were also deemed very good. Giovanni called it nerve-wracking for Ramsay to praise both dishes and did not know which way the latter would go. After much thinking, Ramsay gave the point to Giovanni, and the red team won the challenge 3-2. While Giovanni was happy to carry his new team to victory, Andrea was happy to have the former on the red team as the Spice Rack needed more testosterone. Ramsay told Ben not to be too upset as that was the most difficult decision yet, but the latter said he was getting humbled over losing to someone else three times.
Scoring[]
| Red Team | Blue Team | ||||
| Chef | Score | Total | Chef | Score | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paula | 1 | 1 | Danny | 1 | 1 |
| LA | 0 | 1 | Lacey | 0 | 1 |
| Carol | 0 | 1 | Robert | 1 | 2 |
| Andrea | 1 | 2 | J | 0 | 2 |
| Giovanni | 1 | 3 | Ben | 0 | 2 |
| Results | 3-2 | ||||
Reward[]
The red team went to Hollywood Parks to see a horse race with Ramsay. As the red team went up to change, Carol congratulated Giovanni for clinching their victory and welcomed him to the team. Still, Giovanni told the four women that they must put their animosity aside so that they could win services. While Andrea thought they were strong now that they had Giovanni on the red team, the latter retorted that they were only strong together. Carol agreed with Giovanni's comments.
During the reward, the red team and Ramsay placed their bets, and they had fun when the latter put money on "Stress-Free". Carol asked Ramsay if he ever had a stress-free day, and the latter said he did when he went back to the UK. LA said that hanging out with Ramsay outside of the restaurant was similar to hanging out with her dad. After placing their bets, the group went up to the stands to see the race. Andrea's horse, "Victory's Lady", beat out Ramsay's horse, making her happy.
Punishment[]
The blue team was punished by prepping both kitchens for that night’s service and polishing the tapa plates. Danny was not thrilled about prepping both kitchens as he considered it the worst punishment to get, especially when there was a service that night. During the punishment, Ben said they had a lot to prep on, and J said there was a lot of pressure to get everything ready. As J prepped the rice for the risotto, Lacey stood around and did not do anything. She complained about the amount of work they had to complete and called it awful.
Later, the tapa plates arrived, and J felt they were busy all day. As the blue team received the plates, Lacey had no idea where to put them, despite Robert telling her to take them outside for polishing. Lacey felt that nobody was treating her like an equal, while Ben annoyingly felt he was babysitting the former. He told Lacey to get it together as it was Hell's Kitchen, not the afterschool daycare program. Then, Ben and Danny began riffing on Lacey's attitude.
When the blue team went back to prepping the kitchens, J noticed that Lacey forgot to take the paper off the tray before putting it in the oven. Lacey and Robert got into an argument when the latter pointed it out, but Robert said he wanted to mentally Jedi choke the former as he had enough. However, Lacey got annoyed with Robert yelling at her, but J and Danny reminded her the latter was trying to help her. Afterwards, Robert wanted Lacey to go home, while the latter told him to say it to her face instead of mumbling it. Then, Lacey threatened to quit if she got into another argument with anyone, but Danny said that was the last thing they wanted. An unmoved J told Lacey to go if she wanted, and he would do her work if she left. At the same time, Ben tried his best not to lose his temper as Lacey stormed out of the kitchen. Lacey had enough of being the donkey of the blue team and said the grand prize was not worth her deteriorating health. As the blue team continued to prep, Robert said that Lacey sucked and said she needed to go to a psychiatric ward for therapy. Despite being a fraction away from losing it, Ben decided to go to Lacey as the blue team needed the extra hands. Ben asked Lacey if she could brush the anger aside and help them, saying they needed her. However, Lacey compared Ben's plea to how it was a few days ago and knew the latter only wanted her around to have equal numbers. However, Lacey went back to the kitchen with Ben.
Before service[]
Five minutes before service, a positive Giovanni led the red team through the rest of prep. Andrea said that Giovanni's presence balanced the hormones and thought it was well needed. Once everyone was ready, Ramsay told Jean-Philippe to open Hell’s Kitchen.
Dinner service[]
After everyone received orders, Carol sent up her risotto. However, it had overcooked rice, and Ramsay compared it to mush. It got worse when Ramsay saw that all of the red team’s rice was overcooked and went into the blue kitchen to demand who cooked the rice during their punishment. J took the blame, and it was soon revealed that the blue kitchen’s rice was also overcooked. Lacey said the risotto was nasty and called it a poor start to the evening. At the same time, J said he did not need that as Ramsay was on him for the last couple of days. With all the rice overcooked, Ramsay told Jean-Philippe that he had to take the risotto off the menu for that night while yelling at J for screwing both teams up. Even though Robert liked J, he said the latter sucked.
A half-hour into service, both teams pushed out appetizers despite J’s mistake. However, Carol’s pasta dish was sent back for being raw, and she blamed Andrea for that mistake. After finding out Carol did taste the pasta and sent it up despite being raw, Ramsay kicked both Carol and Andrea out of the kitchen into the dining room to eat their mistake. Ramsay told the two they would not come back until they finished their dish and an appalled Andrea called the pasta undercooked. In the blue kitchen, J’s salmon dish was sent up raw, and Ramsay told the former that everything he touched so far was screwed. When J struggled with timings, Robert was annoyed by the former's problems as J was not recovering. J’s next attempt was burnt, and the third attempt came without sauce. Ramsay took J to the pantry room to give him a wake-up call, warning him he could not go further with him. In the red kitchen, LA was unresponsive when Ramsay asked for the missing John Dory, and Paula thought the former was asleep that night. Ramsay accused LA of daydreaming and called her a silly cow. That angered LA, as nobody would do that without getting punched in the real world. Still, LA became more responsive as a result.
Automatic elimination[]
J sent up his scallops to the pass in the blue kitchen, but they were overcooked and rubbery. That was the final straw for Ramsay, and he asked the entire team to touch them before eliminating J on the spot and asking him to leave immediately. J left his jacket in the pantry room, packed his stuff in the dorms, and left the restaurant by the loading area for a cab ride. During his exit interview, J said he did not belong in Hell's Kitchen and was disappointed to go. However, J said he would make a new dream and get a new restaurant opened up without Ramsay's backing.
Two hours into service, Ramsay told the blue team that they must pick up the pace after J's elimination. So, Ramsay reassigned Robert to the fish station. Robert compared the change up to getting hit by a semi-truck and told Lacey what was going on. The blue team quickly got together on where they were, but Ramsay warned Ben that he was not rising up. In the red kitchen, Giovanni took the leadership role and called out orders and times, saying he wanted to be a leader. LA was grateful for Giovanni's leadership as it made them a real kitchen, and Ramsay was happy that they finally sounded like a team. Ben was slow on meat in the blue kitchen and sent up cold Wellingtons to the pass. Ben admitted to having problems with the Wellingtons, and Ramsay ordered him to cook them in the convection oven instead of the normal oven. Then, Ramsay sternly warned Ben he could be leaving right after J's departure. Paula's Wellingtons were perfectly cooked in the red kitchen, and Ramsay called it the best one they have served so far. Paula felt great to receive a compliment like that, while Carol called the former the mark to beat. Ben was still slow on the meat station in the blue kitchen, and Ramsay told him he personally wanted him gone. That upset Ben, and Ramsay caught the former putting raw Wellingtons on a dirty tray. Danny compared Ben's poor performance to J's as Ramsay pulled the latter into the pantry for an explanation. Ben said he could not find a clean tray for the Wellingtons, but Ramsay called him a dirty pig. Ramsay ordered Ben to clean the tray and warned him to pick it up, or he would be out like J. Once Ben returned to the kitchen, he admitted how hard it was to push forward despite the yelling.
Three hours into dinner service, and despite Ben's meat problems, the blue team pushed out their last entrées. In contrast, the red team was clearing down as they finished their tickets earlier. Despite the blue team finishing, Robert knew that their morale was very low due to their struggles at the beginning. Meanwhile, Carol called out Andrea for the raw pasta incident, but the latter felt the former pushed all her mistakes onto her. However, Carol argued that Andrea has yet to fess up to her mistakes and if she was leading the kitchen, she would want respect. Andrea said she had everything under control, but that made Carol nearly lose it. Paula defused the argument, telling Carol to get over it.
Post-mortem[]
A stressed-out Ramsay had both teams lined up and said that seven was not his lucky number. He announced that the blue team was the clear loser and ordered all of them to think of one person each for elimination.
Ben apologized to his team for his terrible performance during deliberation, knowing there was no good part of his night and thought Ramsay could eliminate him. Danny knew Ben sucked in every dinner service despite running his mouth and would not be sad to see the latter go home. Lacey struggled to nominate someone as everyone else did not have problems. Still, Robert reminded her that her threat to quit during punishment was unacceptable. Robert said he was getting stressed over Lacey's attitude and reminded her that she left them at punishment, similar to how she did with the red team in an earlier punishment. Robert said Lacey did not care about anyone other than herself and only cared when it was convenient for her own goals. In response, Lacey called Robert an asshole and wanted to nominate him for elimination. Robert told Lacey he would become a crack whore if she won the competition.
Elimination[]
When the blue team came downstairs, Ramsay called that night painful and asked them who they wanted to see go home and why. Robert wanted Lacey gone as her earlier threat to quit angered him, as it showed she did not care. After Robert made his rant, Ramsay asked the former if it felt good to get it off his chest. Robert said it did. In response, Lacey said she wanted Robert gone as she did not get along with him. Danny said he wanted Lacey gone as he had enough of her attitude, and Ben agreed with Danny as he felt Lacey was not a team player and was becoming a hindrance. After hearing their decisions, Ramsay called Lacey and Ben down to the front.
During their pleas, Ramsay asked Ben why he did not nominate himself for elimination. Ben said he thought he had offered a lot to the blue team since the beginning and had very good food knowledge. Ramsay told Ben he only asked him for his honesty and asked the latter who was the worst-performing chef that night. Ben said he was the worst, which Ramsay agreed with. Then, Lacey said she had come a long way since entering the competition, and she came to learn and grow as a person. After listening to their pleas, Ramsay complained that he had a chef who could not get along with their team and a chef who could not cook meat. Ultimately, Ramsay called Ben's name and told him that despite wanting his jacket, he gave the latter and Lacey one more chance to improve. Both were sent back in line as Ramsay told Lacey to start working together with the blue team. Then, Ramsay asked the blue team if they were capable of working together, and they said they could.
While being dismissed, Lacey was happy to stay and said she did not care about anyone anymore. Then, Robert called Lacey a cockroach but knew her luck would eventually run out. Lastly, Carol accused Andrea of looking out for herself. At the same time, Ben wondered if Ramsay rode his ass because he saw something inside him. At the end of the episode, J received the coat hanging and burning picture sequence.
Ramsay's comment: "I kept Ben and Lacey because J put the kitchen in such a hole that they never stood a chance. They're very lucky that I sent J packing."
Trivia[]
- This marks the first time a blue chef was eliminated in the middle of service.