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The eleventh episode of Season 5 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on FOX on April 16, 2009. In that episode, the final five went on a trip to Atlantic City to visit the prize hotel, one chef was forced to withdraw because of their health, and another chef proved they did not deserve immunity during that night’s service.

Intro[]

Continuing from the previous episode, Ramsay announced he was shutting down Hell’s Kitchen, much to the shock and disappointment of the final five. Robert was displeased at Ramsay for snatching away his dream. However, Ramsay revealed that they would be leaving for Atlantic City to visit the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa for a few days. Everyone was shocked and relieved by the news, and Robert almost fainted from the news. Ramsay said the final five would leave for the hotel tomorrow as he hoped they would see what was at stake. Even though Ben called it crazy, he was ready for anything that was thrown at him. Ramsay urged the chefs to keep their eyes open on their trip because once they returned to Hell's Kitchen, they would be in the final push of the competition.

As the final five went up to pack their bags, Danny admitted to not knowing what Atlantic City looked like as the only big hype of his hometown was Daytona. At the same time, Andrea felt she had renewed energy.

Trip to Borgata[]

The following morning, the final five left Hell’s Kitchen and drove down to the airport, where a private jet was waiting for them. Robert said he was living the dreams of many blue-collared workers in his community during the flight. Later that night, they arrived in Atlantic City, and the jet turned to show them the hotel. They made their way to the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, where they met Michael Facenda, the Director of Marketing. The greeters smote Robert while Andrea looked for the half-naked men among the group.

The following day, the chefs were given a tour of the hotel by Facenda. After hearing the number of tourists that come into the Borgata, Danny called it astounding. After looking at some of the restaurants in the hotel, Robert called it a fine dining food court in a mall. At the same time, Danny was happy to hear that food was not an afterthought for the hotel. Then, Facenda reminded them of the grand prize one of them would win, even showing the construction site of what their restaurant would be. That sparked inspiration in all of them, and some began to envision their restaurants on the spot. For the rest of the day, the chefs relaxed at the hotel.

Later that evening, the chefs went to the SeaBlue restaurant for dinner. They met VP Food and Beverage Nicholas Kurban and Executive Chef Ron Ross and spoke with them. Ben called the chance to talk with Ross exciting, and Andrea asked about human resources. A few minutes into dinner, Robert excused himself from the table and left, which Andrea noticed. The other chefs did not know that Robert was not feeling well and was having chest pain. The local paramedic came to check on Robert, and she recommended he leave for the hospital. The other chefs expressed concern for his well-being. Later that night, Robert called Ben and informed him he was at the hospital, saying he had chest pains and the medic was not sure if it was a heart attack. Robert said he would be staying at the hospital overnight, and Ben relayed the news to the other chefs. That disheartened Paula as she wanted Robert to continue the competition as the four chefs wished the latter well.

At 11:35 pm, the remaining four chefs returned to Hell’s Kitchen but were still concerned about Robert's status. Ben said that no prize was worth croaking for, and he and Danny feared the worst. Still, Danny wanted Robert to come back and fight.

Robert's exit[]

A couple of days later, the four chefs met with Ramsay, who noticed how refreshed they were from their trip. However, Ramsay was aware of what happened at the Borgata and revealed Robert was back at Hell’s Kitchen, much to their relief. Ramsay was pleased to see Robert again and asked the latter how he was doing. Unfortunately, Robert revealed he was diagnosed with pericarditis, a condition that would eventually lead to heart disease, and based on the doctor’s orders, he would not be able to come back to the competition. Everybody was heartbroken by the news, and Ramsay called it a shame Robert could not continue. Andrea was sad to hear the news because she knew Robert had put his heart and soul into the competition. Robert said goodbye to the other chefs, hugging each of them. Ben was sad to lose a friend like Robert, but he wished the latter well. Before leaving, Ramsay told Robert he had been a fantastic competitor and had the potential to win the competition. After that, Robert gave Ramsay his jacket and left as the remaining chefs gave him a standing ovation. Robert received a retrospective montage of his run during his exit interview.

Ramsay did not comment on Robert's departure.

Individual challenge[]

After Robert's exit, Ramsay said that although Robert's departure was sad, he told the final four it was back to business now. Each chef would create a new signature dish for their next challenge that would be their highlight at the Borgata. Ben was confident that his dish would be a step up from the Borgata. Additionally, Ramsay said the winner of that challenge would receive immunity at the next elimination. Hearing that made Paula realize how vital the challenge was as it was a guaranteed spot in the final three.

As the Borgata Signature Dish Challenge began, the chefs had 45 minutes to cook their dish and had access to any ingredients they wanted to use. Ben said that out of the four chefs left, he, Danny, and Paula were three that did not mess around. Thirty minutes left, Andrea felt refocused and wanted to make a dish to wow Ramsay. Danny said that in every challenge he performed in, he nearly won and wanted to push over that hump that day. Three minutes left, Paula said she had a clear idea and wanted to show the Borgata she could cook. Each chef managed to complete their dishes and plate them in time.

Danny was up first. While his pan-seared scallops with citrus basil champagne sauce and ginger did not look creative, it was praised for its flavor and perfectly cooked scallops. When Andrea went up, she wanted to prove to the others she was ready to bury them. Andrea's green tea-crusted tuna with black sesame rice cake, while dismissed by Ben as a plain sushi dish, was praised for its build-up and managed to have all of her parts work well together. Paula's smoked salmon ceviche was deemed delicious and had great seasoning. Also, Ramsay felt it was seared instead of overcooked as Paula feared, much to her relief. After tasting three stand-out dishes, Ramsay said he had a hard choice before calling Ben down. Ben thought his dish was the best of the group and presented his pan-roasted tiger prawns with mango scented turnips and basil crushed Yukon gold potatoes. According to Ramsay, they were stated to look prettier than Ben, but the dish was criticized for only using the prawn tails instead of the whole prawn. Although Ben argued that he wanted to give a minimal dish, Ramsay was not impressed by that choice. Afterwards, Ramsay ruled out Ben, and out of the remaining three chefs, he announced that Andrea was the winner.

Reward[]

As promised, Andrea won immunity for the following dinner service. That made Andrea happy she was in the final three and felt she had come into her own. Ramsay warned the three other chefs that they were at risk and told them to ensure the following service was their best. As the final four went upstairs, Danny was mad about how Andrea won as she was the next to go. Ben and Danny vented how Andrea won despite the fact her dish was not cooked. They realized that they, along with Paula, would have to do their best in the following night’s service to survive.

Before service[]

The following day, the four remaining chefs got to work on prepping for that night’s service. With only three minutes left until the doors opened, Ramsay had all of them lined up and expressed excitement for that night as he had the best four at the moment while reminding Andrea to prove why she deserved her immunity. After reminding them how the Borgata trip motivated them, Ramsay told Jean-Philippe to open Hell’s Kitchen.

Dinner service[]

With Hell's Kitchen opened for the first time after a few days, Ramsay told the final four to prove why they were the best. Immediately, the four chefs were vocal with each other, and Andrea and Danny sent over their appetizers successfully. Danny said he was fighting to the bitter end and warned everyone he was coming. However, Jean-Philippe came back with a plate of raw scallops, and Ramsay noticed that Andrea did not turn her flat tops on full. When Andrea claimed she did not like to have the flat top on full, Ramsay accused her of slowing the kitchen down and ordered her to speed up. Ramsay warned Andrea not to let her immunity go to her head, and her subsequent attempt came out overcooked. Andrea was lost for words at that moment.

Thirty minutes into service, despite Andrea's problems, the four chefs were moving on to entrées. However, Ben could not remember what was recently called out and needed Paula's help. Then, Ben proved to be unresponsive and sent up cold carrot purée. After a quick taste, Ramsay called Ben a dreamer, and the latter admitted that he would have done the same in his restaurant. While Ben managed to heat it up quickly, Ramsay lectured him on his attitude and threatened him with elimination if he sent up any more cold food. Paula asked Andrea for a time to send her Wellingtons, but Andrea revealed she needed four minutes on her salmon. Ramsay told Paula to send her Wellingtons despite Andrea's slow performance, even though the latter did not want to do so. When Ramsay brought up the low temperature of the hot plate again, Andrea claimed she was moving as fast as she could. Paula sent up beautifully cooked Wellingtons to the pass.

An hour and a half into dinner service, the final four sent out almost half of their entrées to the dining room because of Paula's strong performance. However, Ben forgot another order, which caused an annoyed Ramsay to remind him what was next. Then, Ramsay noticed that Ben's station was in disarray and told him he was so full of shit he did not even know he was shit. Danny knew Ben was better than that, while Ramsay chewed out the latter for giving excuses. Ramsay kicked Ben out of the kitchen, but the latter decided to pull himself together and fight back. Ramsay reluctantly allowed Ben back in but ordered him to wake up.

Meanwhile, Jean-Philippe sent back a raw salmon to the kitchen, which displeased Andrea as she did not like her food being sent back. Despite Andrea getting overwhelmed by fish orders, Ramsay was more upset that she was not communicating properly. Even Danny said that fish was the easiest station and felt Andrea could not lead. Then, Andrea struggled to tell Ben to fire garnishes, leading Ramsay to warn her not to mess around with her immunity. Ben managed to fight back after his slow start, feeling that he got his second wind. However, Andrea struggled and had to refire two John Dory orders when they broke. That caused Ramsay to order Danny to help her out. Danny was irritated for helping Andrea out since she was immune, and she sent up two raw John Dories to the pass. That caused Ramsay to accuse Andrea of trying to sabotage everybody else due to being safe. Andrea argued she was not, but she also burned her tuna, much to her dismay. Danny felt that Andrea got lucky with her immunity, while the latter knew her performance was terrible. Despite Andrea's problems, the team was able to send out their last ticket, but Danny knew that service was rough.

Post-mortem[]

The four chefs were lined up, and Ramsay called that night’s service embarrassing. He criticized them for having no teamwork or fight and ordered them to think of two people for elimination.

During deliberation, Ben told Andrea that if she were not immune, she would be up for elimination due to her poor performance, to which Danny agreed. However, it was a tough choice on who would be up there as Ben knew he had a poor night, but Danny and Paula were solid on their stations. Also, Danny and Paula were unwilling to put themselves for nomination. Ben struggled to nominate a second person for elimination.

Elimination[]

Andrea announced that Ben was the first nominee as he was the weakest chef of the four, but the latter felt the former had a worse performance that night. Then, Andrea announced that Paula was the second nominee. Ramsay was shocked about Paula's nomination, and when he asked why, Andrea claimed it was her lack of communication. Ramsay called Ben and Paula down. During Ben's plea, he said he never gave up and tried to better himself every time he competed. Before Paula could get through her plea, Ramsay sent her back in line and called Andrea down. Ramsay singled Andrea out as the worst performer for failing to control her station, along with being the reason Ben had a bad night. Despite that, Ramsay told Andrea she was immuned as he was a man of his word and sent her back in line. After Ben asked Ramsay not to give up on him, the latter said he, in good conscience, could not eliminate him. Even though Ben's performance was poor, it was not as bad as Andrea's, and she would have been eliminated had it not been for her immunity. So, Ramsay sent Ben back and line and gave him one more chance.

Once everyone was together, Ramsay told the final four that they performed mediocre that night and the following day was their comeback. While being dismissed, Ben knew Andrea was on borrowed time and that Ramsay would be looking at her the next service. Then, a frustrated Andrea called her performance embarrassing as she knew she gave everything in the competition. Lastly, Danny felt that he had it. At the end of the episode, Robert received the burning picture sequence.

Trivia[]

  • This marks the latest a chef was forced to withdraw from the competition for any reason, which was held until Season 18 occurred. This also marks the only time to date a black jacket chef had to leave for medical reasons.
  • This marks the second time a chef won immunity since Episode 208 - 4 Chefs.
  • This marks the second time the losing chefs did not receive a punishment since Episode 109 - Day 9.
  • With this episode, Season 5 holds the following distinctions:
    • The most uncommon exits in a season with five departures (including Robert's medical exit, the season also featured Ji's voluntary withdrawal, J and Lacey's automatic eliminations, and Carol's elimination from the winning team).
    • The first season to feature two withdrawals and the only time both were medical-based (even though it was voluntary in Ji's case).
  • With Paula's nomination, Danny becomes the only remaining chef yet to be nominated.
Hell's Kitchen Season 5 Episodes
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