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The tenth episode of Season 5 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on FOX on April 9, 2009. In that episode, the final six earned their black jackets, egos were bruised when the reward came, one chef nearly quit during service, and another made a big mistake by talking back to Ramsay.

Intro[]

Back in the dorms, Ben was relieved to have survived elimination as he was ready to take his jacket off. Ben said that Ramsay eliminating Carol from the winning team was a shocker as he and Robert bled their hearts out to Ramsay. At the same time, Robert claimed he would not have thrown Ben under the bus as he answered Ramsay's question honestly. Still, Robert said he was not here to make any friends to get himself further in the competition.

Black jackets receiving[]

The next day, both teams went downstairs to meet Ramsay, who asked Paula and Danny who were their weakest chefs on their respective teams. Paula answered Andrea, and Danny answered Ben. Andrea called it a matter of personal opinion, while Danny's decision flabergasted Ben. Ramsay called Andrea and Ben down, which shocked Danny as it looked like a surprise elimination. During their pleas, Ben said he had a lot more to give for the blue team and refused to believe he peaked. Then, Andrea said she had the talent to back up her leadership qualities and had never given up. After listening to their pleas, Ramsay ordered both of them to take their jackets off. Instead of eliminating either of them, Ramsay gave them black jackets. The rest of the chefs received black jackets as well from Sous Chefs Scott and Gloria. Andrea was relieved as she thought she would have been eliminated for doing nothing, while Ben called it another twist. Ramsay congratulated everyone as Robert was happy to receive his black jacket.

Individual challenge[]

Later on, Ramsay introduced the final six to their first individual challenge, and Robert said he was ready for the individual portion of the competition. Ramsay revealed that the challenge winner would be going with him to San Francisco, one of the top culinary cities in America. Danny said he wanted to win as he wanted the face time with Ramsay and learn how the latter got to where he was now. For the 14 Ingredients Challenge, each chef had the same fourteen ingredients to cook with and must use them to create a new dish in thirty minutes. However, Andrea called it a difficult challenge.

The chefs went to the kitchens to begin cooking. The ingredients included red wine, penne pasta, mushrooms, rosemary, and chicken. Ramsay pushed for inspiration as Paula knew it was time to step up and shine. Andrea decided to make a chicken skewer. With fifteen minutes left, Danny admitted that most challenges had the ideas made up at the last minute. On the other side, Ben wanted to prove Danny wrong and pushed himself to bring the heat. Eventually, time was up, and everyone had their dishes cooked and plated on time.

Andrea was up first and presented her rosemary chicken kebab with rosemary ague and caper tomato sauce. Although Ben called the skewering culinary 101, Andrea knew she was taking a risk for the dish, especially after her poorly made crab dish in the last challenge. While Ramsay noted it tasted better than it looked, there was not a lot of chicken on the plate. Giovanni’s pasta pumaduro with stuffed chicken murlo sauce was praised for the sweet and rich taste contrast, making him hope for a victory. In contrast, Paula's wine-based chicken with pasta was also praised for being delicious, while Robert's chicken cacciatore with deep-fried capers was a little dry but flavorable. Still, Robert knew it was a brain fart on his part. Danny's rosemary roasted chicken with shallots and salad was praised for its execution and being easy to eat. Ben was the final person to be judged, and he felt all of the other dishes were mediocre. His stuffed chicken breast was deemed delicious, and Ramsay noted that Ben was the only chef to cook the drumstick. However, Ben annoyed everyone with his long description again. Ramsay noted that it was a tough choice, but he singled out Danny and Ben as the top two. Ramsay commented how Ben used a dangerous risk on his dish while deeming Danny's sauce delicious. Ben claimed there were fewer people to hold him back, while Danny said he was proud of his dish as he put a lot into it. In the end, Ramsay named Ben the winner of the challenge. Ben was happy to taste success finally and said it was time for him to take the competition by the horns.

Reward[]

As promised, Ben went to San Francisco with Ramsay, and the latter told the former he was allowed to bring one other person. Ben immediately said Robert, exciting the latter as he had never gone to San Fransisco before. However, Danny got mad as he knew Ben chose Robert out of spite for choosing him as the weakest of the blue team earlier that morning.

When everyone went back to the patio to relax, Robert felt a little guilty as he knew Danny had the second-best dish in the group and thought the latter deserved the reward more than himself. As everyone congratulated Ben, Robert saw how angry Danny was based on his face. Ben claimed that he picked Robert for evolving more than the rest of the chefs, but Giovanni saw how angry Danny looked. Danny retorted that he was disappointed and left the patio, causing Paula to comment how the men took losing poorly. Still, Ben had no guilt in picking Robert as he was not impressed with Danny's dish from a visual standpoint.

During the reward, Ben said this was the second time he flew in a private jet, while Ramsay commented how he thought Danny would have come for the reward. Robert felt a lot of gratitude for Ben for picking him on the reward as the latter said something switched inside him after getting a black jacket. As the jet took off, Ben had a feeling that the truck was at the front of the restaurant soon. However, Ramsay corrected Ben as it was more of a convoy for the four other chefs.

When the three men arrived at San Fransisco, they took a private trolley through the streets, which Ben called amazing. Robert called the experience great, and Ben predicted that Giovanni would complain about carrying boxes. Eventually, the trio made it to One Market, and they sat at the chef's table. Ben knew they were in store for something special because of that, and Robert felt he was up there with the rich people. Ramsay told Ben and Robert to take this moment and run with it for the following service, and they toasted for the day.

Punishment[]

The four remaining chefs had to participate in Delivery Day and prep for the following service. During the punishment, Giovanni commented how weary his body was due to age and was seen carrying boxes of bottled water in a strange way. He accidentally dropped one of the boxes and had wine bottles come out of the bottom of another box. Paula deemed it one of the most aggravating punishments yet. On the following order, Giovanni got agitated and refused to run for the truck, but Danny called him an asshole in response. Giovanni stayed behind and snacked in the pantry room, but Sous Chef Scott found him and pulled him outside. Paula got annoyed by Giovanni's attitude and warned the latter to run once she got angry.

While picking up their last delivery, Paula noticed that they were two lobsters short of the thirty-six that were ordered, and Giovanni rushed to stop the truck as Danny was signing off on everything. The two men ran at the truck as Andrea found out they had the correct amount. Andrea ran off to tell Giovanni about it, but the latter said he was done after that. Once they returned to the kitchen, Giovanni complained that he was too old to run around, but that irritated Paula as she knew how to check on produce.

Before service[]

Later that night, Ben and Robert came back from their reward, and Ben once again annoyed everyone with his explanation of the reward. Giovanni said nobody wanted to hear that and told Ben to shut up.

The following morning, the final six came down to the red kitchen at 6 am to begin prep for that night’s service. Paula felt they were the strongest chefs out of the sixteen that entered the competition and thought it would be an easy night. Ben was ready to see Paula perform. In addition to the regular menu, Ramsay also added Ben's stuffed chicken dish as a special. Robert knew Ramsay would expect more out of them as the final six and wanted to step up for that night. With service almost about to begin, Ramsay had the six chefs lined up and declared he wanted that night’s service to be their best to prove they deserved to be the final six. To do that, Ramsay urged them to be phenomenal teammates. After, Ramsay told Jean-Philippe to open Hell’s Kitchen.

Dinner service[]

As the final six received their first order, Giovanni knew they must complete the entire service out of one kitchen and that only the best would survive. However, Giovanni was caught opening and closing the convection oven a lot and was warned by Ramsay that it might lead to consequences later that night. Robert brought up his scallops, but they were overcooked and rubbery as they were smaller than normal. Robert compared the scallops to the size of quarters, and Ramsay refused to get any more rubbery scallops. Andrea was caught getting her garnishes ready before entrées were ready, and she was called out for cooking potatoes in a cold pan. Andrea knew Ramsay kept yelling at her to speed up, but she also knew that speeding up too much would cause a frantic performance. As such, Andrea nearly threw out the potatoes until Ramsay stopped her. Despite those problems, appetizers were leaving the kitchen at a great pace because of Paula's performance at that station. Paula called it a good feeling not to send out poor food because that would make her an easy target for elimination.

Thirty minutes into service, all of the diners enjoyed Paula's appetizers. Giovanni sent up Ben's chicken special, but it had a raw drumstick on the plate. Giovanni said he needed one minute on the refire and admitted he had no idea how to make the dish. Still, Ben knew that as long as Giovanni cooked his dish correctly, everyone in the dining room would enjoy it. Ramsay called out the next order, but when Andrea did not respond, Ramsay confronted her as he was not in the best of moods. Ramsay asked Andrea to repeat what he said, but she could not remember what was called out. Robert knew that garnish must be thirty seconds ahead of the other stations and if Andrea did not know what the tickets were, they were doomed. Ramsay called Andrea out for not knowing what she was doing, which was recurring, and asked everyone else to recite the order. However, everyone stumbled on repeating the order, making Ramsay frustrated that he called out the order again. Andrea still could not recite the order back, which caused Ramsay to eject her out into the dining room. Andrea was about to walk out through the front door, but Jean-Philippe stopped her from leaving and urged her to fight back. Andrea called Hell's Kitchen the most challenging thing she had done and claimed there was no communication from anyone. Still, Andrea wanted to stay as she went through too much to quit now. Jean-Philippe told Andrea to go back to the kitchen and bounce back. Andrea came back to the hot plate, and after correctly reciting the order back, Ramsay allowed her back into the kitchen but told her to wake up. After, Robert was caught cooking bacon and John Dory in the same pan, which caused Ramsay to chew him out as it could lead to someone having an allergic reaction. Robert nonchalantly agreed with Ramsay, but that made the latter angrier. Robert admitted to making a big mistake, but he knew he had it as he was a bull.

Giovanni's next attempt at Ben's dish had a chewed-up drumstick on the plate, and Ramsay informed Ben that his special was being ruined because of Giovanni, who was called "dickface" by Ramsay. However, Giovanni argued he was not "dickface", which enraged Ramsay to the point that he screamed in Giovanni's face and threatened to eliminate him if he sent up more poor chicken. Ben and Robert were shocked by Ramsay's screaming, but Giovanni said he was angrier at himself than at Ramsay. Then, Ramsay sent Ben over to the meat station to help Giovanni out on his own special. However, Ben cut the chicken into pieces because it was not fully cooked, even though Ramsay warned him that it would turn out dry. Ben got annoyed that Ramsay was finding every service to reem him out as the latter forced him to look at the juices flowing out of the chicken. After tasting the dish, Ramsay said it was delicious, but it was for the customer. That caused Paula to note how Ramsay went after Ben more than any other chef so far, while Ramsay threatened to eject Ben if he cut another piece of chicken. However, Ben said he would do that anymore as he would let the chicken rest.

Two hours into service, the black jacket chefs have only served five tables of entrées. Andrea brought up her garnishes, but Giovanni did not have his meat ready, causing Ramsay to ask where their teamwork had gone. Andrea felt there was no communication from Giovanni, and when the latter did speak, his stuttering communication did not help matters for Robert and Andrea. Robert was forced to start over because of the stuttering and then start again when Giovanni called out four minutes. That caused Ramsay to pull all three of them aside as he called Giovanni out for not caring, Robert for being behind, and Andrea for having no clue that night. Ramsay ordered the trio to work together, and Robert went to help Giovanni out on the Wellingtons. However, Robert accidentally burned his hand on an uncovered hot pan in the fridge and left to see a medic. That angered Robert as Giovanni did not tell anyone he had a hot pan in the fridge. When it turned out Robert sustained a second-degree burn, Ramsay chewed Giovanni out for his careless mistake. Still, Giovanni felt horrible as he burned Robert by accident. Giovanni tried to apologize when Robert came back, but the latter ignored him. That led Ramsay to complain that there was no teamwork or spirit as a disappointed Danny thought they should have had it down like clockwork. Danny said that once Giovanni failed, everyone else failed. Andrea had a pan caught on fire as Paula called their first night a failure. Seeing that everything was spiralling out of control, Ramsay had enough and left the kitchen, which ended service.

Post-mortem[]

Ramsay was highly disappointed in the six chefs, as they turned his dream service into a nightmare. Ramsay asked if that was their best, but the six said it was not. Then, Ramsay chewed out Andrea for being a disaster, Robert for his mediocre performance, and Giovanni for being mentally gone from the competition. Ramsay named Paula “Best of the Worst” for her solid performance on appetizers and told her to nominate two people for elimination.

During deliberation, Giovanni apologized to Robert for his burn as he never meant to hurt someone in the kitchen. However, Robert chewed Giovanni out for leaving a hot pan in the fridge uncovered. The chefs all agreed service was terrible, and Paula was annoyed that they could not bang anything out despite having six professional chefs. Paula deemed Giovanni's performance close to Lacey's, thought he and Andrea were close to how bad they were and thought Robert was teetering tottering that night. Paula knew she had to pick two of those three for that night.

Elimination[]

Paula announced that Giovanni was her first nominee, and Andrea was her second. During their pleas, Andrea said she had given everything she had and claimed that she bounced back from her performances. However, Ramsay asked what kitchen she was in that night based on her poor performance on garnish. Then, Giovanni admitted he had a horrible performance that night and let his emotions get the best of him when he talked back to Ramsay. After listening to their pleas, Ramsay said it was not good enough and reminded the two nominees that they were not the only ones who had a bad night. Although Ramsay was disappointed in Robert's poor performance, he eliminated Giovanni for his poor performance that night and for arguing back at him. Giovanni received a retrospective montage of his run during his exit interview.

After Giovanni left, Andrea was about to walk back in line with the rest of the chefs, but Ramsay stopped her as he was not done. Ramsay accused the chefs of taking the competition for granted before sending Andrea back in line. Ramsay said that while he thought he got rid of the weaker chefs, that night proved there were still some weaknesses in the dynamic team. While being dismissed, Andrea felt good she was still around but felt that Ramsay would yell at her no matter what she did. Ben felt that with Giovanni gone, he was closer to the prize and knew Ramsay eliminated the latter for the sizzle plate and talkback incidents.

At 2:14 am, everyone was in bed sleeping, but a phone call from Ramsay woke up everybody. Ramsay ordered everyone back downstairs, with their jackets on, immediately. Paula wondered what was going to happen after that call. Once downstairs, Ramsay stated he was very disappointed in their poor performance and asked how could the final six perform so poorly that night. Afterwards, Ramsay announced that after that night, he was shutting down Hell’s Kitchen, ending the episode in a cliffhanger.

Ramsay did not comment on Giovanni's elimination, and he did not receive the coat hanging and burning picture sequence.

Trivia[]

  • This marks the first time Ramsay did not issue a comment on a 6th placed chef.
  • This is the second time Ramsay walked out of his own kitchen after Episode 206 - 6 Chefs. It's also the first and only time to date the kitchen shutdown as a result of that.
Hell's Kitchen Season 5 Episodes
16 Chefs Compete15 Chefs Compete14 Chefs Compete13 Chefs Compete12 Chefs Compete11 Chefs Compete10 Chefs Compete9 Chefs Compete7 Chefs Compete6 Chefs Compete5 Chefs Compete4 Chefs Compete3 Chefs Compete2 Chefs CompeteWinner Announced
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