The ninth episode of Season 6 of Hell's Kitchen aired on FOX, on September 8, 2009. On that episode, French cuisine was the main theme, some fingertips got sliced, and a walking wounded made one of the craziest performances ever during service.
Intro
On their way back to the dorms, Tennille thought that Ramsay made a terrible mistake by not sending Suzanne home, but added that her being on the chopping block was a humbling experience. However, Tennille added on that if Suzanne would not get it, there would be no hope of her getting it at all. Suzanne herself realized that she would have to change in order to get into good grace with the red team, but Ariel told her that she had to realize how she was interacting with the team in order to succeed, while adding that nobody was going to put up with her attitude any longer.
Team challenge
The next day, both teams went downstairs and met Ramsay, who explained that one of the most important stages of his career was in France, while adding that every great chef’s dishes were based around the French cuisine background. Then, Ramsay explained that the crepe was a French classic for being delicious, simple, and extraordinary. For the Crepe Challenge, each team would have to create four different crepes based on breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. Ramsay called up Jean-Philippe for a cart. Then, the two of them started communicating in French, but none of the chefs could understand what they were saying, before Ramsay gave a demonstration on how to cook a crepe. After, Ramsay revealed that there were arrays of ingredients in both kitchens for the chefs to use, and gave them twenty minutes to make their crepes.
Both teams discussed who was doing what, and while Suzanne offered her help by giving her teammates some equipment, Sabrina called her a kiss ass, and Ariel believed she was trying to overcompensate for last night. In the blue kitchen, the men struggled to make their crepes, as Kevin said that Ramsay made it look easy, and Van was struggling to spread the batter around. With five minutes left, neither team produced a decent crepe as Sabrina stated that it was taking a lot of practice. Eventually, both teams got their crepes finished and plated, but Dave called it a disaster.
Ramsay revealed that Jean-Philippe would be judging the challenge with him, though he jokingly said that he wanted an authentic French palate but had to go with second best, which was Belgian. On the breakfast round, Ariel and Van went for their respective teams. Van’s bacon and quail eggs crepe was praised for having a tasty filling, but the crepe itself was deemed spongy, while Ariel’s smoked salmon with herbs and honey crepe was praised for having a nice color and for the filling, giving the red team the lead at 1-0. On the lunch round, Andy and Tennille went up, and Tennille’s pepper jack bacon, shrimp and black bean salsa crepe was criticized for being very spicy. On his hand, Andy’s ham and prosciutto cheese with avocado crepe was praised for having a great color and for the flavor combinations. Because of that, Andy won the round, and tied the score at 1. On the dinner round, Suzanne and Kevin went up. Kevin’s seafood crepe with goat cheese got mixed reviews as there was a lot going on but had a great flavor, and while Suzanne’s filet and quail egg crepe was praised for tasting delicious and having a perfect seasoning, she annoyed everybody with her long spiel about how great her crepe was, especially Tennille and Ariel. Despite that, both Kevin and Suzanne scored, and the score was still tied, though Kevin felt that Ramsay was throwing a bonus for the red team. Finally, on the dessert round, Sabrina and Dave presented their dishes. Dave’s cream cheese and mixed berry crepe shocked Ramsay and Jean-Philippe for its poor presentation, with Ramsay comparing the look to diarrhea and refused to taste it. Sabrina’s poached pear with chocolate ganache crepe was declared delicious, and the red team won the challenge 3-2. After the challenge, Ramsay announced that for that some French dishes would be added to the menu during the next service.
Reward
The red team was rewarded with a full French experience, which included mime lessons. During those lessons, Sabrina got satisfaction when fake punching Suzanne. After, they went to one of Los Angeles' finest French restaurants, La Cachette.
Punishment
The blue team was punished by prepping both kitchens for that night’s service, and Kevin expressed his frustrations about losing another challenge. Back in the dorms, Dave stated that he could not make the crepe properly, and apologized to the blue team about costing them the challenge. During the punishment, Sous Chef Scott asked if they hated winning challenges as Kevin complained that there was nothing going great for them at the moment. For lunch, the men got boiled cow tongue, stale baguette, and head cheese, with the smell of the cow tongue alone almost made Dave throw up.
Before service
The red team returned from their reward, and both teams got to work prepping for that night’s service, which included newly added French dishes to the menu. While cutting the potatoes on the mandolin, Andy accidentally sliced his fingertips, and Sous Chef Scott immediately called for a medic. After looking at Andy’s fingers, the medic called for an escort to bring Andy to a clinic for stitches. Dave believed that the blue team may not see Andy for a while, and Van complained that the blue team was already at three injured people, while believing that the blue team was cursed.
When both teams were lined up, Ramsay reminded them about the new menu, while adding that he wanted success. After, Ramsay told Jean-Philippe to open Hell’s Kitchen.
Dinner service
As the blue team got their first ticket, Andy returned to the kitchen, with stitches on his fingers. Unfortunately, Andy did not remember what the menu was and where he was stationed at as Kevin tried to catch him up, and Dave decided to help him. Because of that, Dave’s risottos were accepted and the men were off to a fast start. In the red kitchen, Sabrina sent up her risottos, but they were bland despite her arguing that she did taste them, and Ramsay brought over Dave’s risotto to show her the difference. While Sabrina’s second attempt was accepted, Ramsay asked if her next attempt was going to be shit. In the blue kitchen, the men were waiting on Andy for his crepes, but they had a poor presentation as Ramsay lectured the men to at least have some self-respect. With Andy slowing down the momentum on appetizers, Kevin decided to jump in, and made a respectable crepe. In the red kitchen, the women have served half of their appetizers and were moving onto entrées. Tennille communicated with Suzanne and Ariel on timings, but then, Suzanne announced that she needed six more minutes on her meat, despite the fact that Tennille and Ariel only needed one. Then, Suzanne said that she wanted eight minutes, and soon annoyed Ariel for calling out inconsistent timings. When Ramsay asked why things were slowing down, Suzanne stated that the oven was having problems, while getting a warning not to be a smart ass.
In the blue kitchen, Andy continued to fall behind on the progress, and kept relying on Dave despite the latter working on his lamb. That forced Dave to work two stations at once, much to the shock of Kevin and Van, with the latter remarking that despite having one working arm, Dave could cook. All of Dave’s dishes were accepted, and Ramsay told him that he was ten thousand times better with one hand, as the blue diners received their entrées and appetizers. Then, Ramsay looked to the red kitchen for their entrées, but Suzanne already sliced the lamb despite being one and a half minutes left before Ariel’s garnishes were ready, and Ramsay said that he was getting sick and tired of her shit. Then, Ramsay lectured Suzanne that slicing the lamb early would cause the meat to lose its goodness, while telling her to get a grip. Ariel complained that Suzanne fucked the red team again, as Ramsay reminded Suzanne that they were working on his timings. In the blue kitchen, Andy decided to work on the truffle salads as that was the only thing he could do with injured fingers, but spilled one, much to Kevin’s dismay. Then, Ramsay noticed that Andy put too much dressing on the salad, and Dave believed that Andy was dangling from a cliff holding onto a dandelion. Ramsay accused Andy of giving up, and while Andy argued that he was having problems with his dexterity, Ramsay reminded him that Dave has been cooking with one hand for the last three weeks, and ordered him to get a grip. In the red kitchen, Suzanne finally sent up her lamb, but only had two medium and one normal instead of the one medium and two normal ordered. Suzanne struggled on her remaining lamb as Ramsay was forced to send out an incomplete table, while complaining that he had never seen someone so inconsistent. Sabrina brought up her frog legs, but they were missing the garlic, shallots, and parsley, despite her arguing that she put them. Ramsay told Sabrina that he wanted them done his way, but when she tried to argue, Ramsay called her full of shit, before tossing the legs away as Tennille stated that Suzanne and Sabrina were sinking the red team. Because of that, the red diners did not receive their entrées, and the blue diners were getting impatient as well.
In the blue kitchen, Andy continued to struggle as he could not get his crepes cooked properly, and Kevin called it a disaster. Kevin decided to help out again, but when Ramsay noticed that Andy was not doing anything, Andy stated that he was helping Kevin. However, Ramsay retorted that Andy was only watching Kevin, and ejected him from service, though Andy felt that Ramsay did not have to be a douchenozzle to run a kitchen. Then, Ramsay warned the remaining blue chefs that if somebody else would act like a fucking idiot, they would be ejected as well. When Ramsay returned to the red kitchen, he saw that Suzanne’s mid rare lamb was medium well, and had the red team touch the lamb chops. Then, he berated both Suzanne and Sabrina for being inconsistent, before ejecting them from service, with Tennille fearful that they might get shut down. However, Ramsay relocated Ariel on both the fish and garnish stations, while relocating Tennille on the meat station. With some help from Sous Chef Heather, Ariel and Tennille got their entrées out at a good pace, while in the blue kitchen, Dave, Kevin, and Van also found a great pace for their entrées, with Kevin stating that they did not need Andy. Eventually, both teams served their last entrées and completed service.
Post-mortem
When both teams were lined up, Ramsay was disappointed that neither team gave the next level performance that he requested, and that three chefs were ejected, which never happened before in the show’s history. So, Ramsay declared both teams losers as neither team were at full strength at the end, and asked them to work together and nominate two people for elimination overall.
Back in the dorms, Andy said that while the blue team carried him a lot due to his injured fingers, he refused to go up for elimination. Suzanne argued that she was trying her best, but Tennille argued that she did not get the fact that she sunk the red team due to her poor performance. Sabrina brought up how she did not season enough, with Ariel noting that the three ejected people had more bad services than the rest of them. Dave knew that Andy was the obvious nominee, but asked Ariel which red chef got yelled at the most. Ariel answered that Suzanne did, which led Kevin to state that Suzanne was the obvious nominee. Because of that, both teams agreed that Andy and Suzanne would be the nominees, and Sabrina was relieved that she dodged another bullet. But, Suzanne was confused and asked why she was seen as the bad guy and why she should go up for elimination. While Suzanne claimed that she was a team player, Tennille and Ariel knew that it was a lie, though Suzanne felt that it was not fair. Dave realized that Suzanne had to go home that night as everyone hated her, and Kevin thought about nominating Sabrina instead of Andy to make sure Suzanne would go home. However, Sabrina refused to be nominated, which left both teams questioning on what to do.
Elimination
Ariel announced that Suzanne was the first nominee, and Andy was the second. Ramsay agreed with that decision and called them down. During their pleas, Ramsay accused Suzanne of being in a downward trend, but she answered that she could cook at any station, despite Ariel and Tennille arguing that the red team would be better without her, which Ramsay took with interest. Then, Andy stated that he was getting better during the previous few services, and that his dexterity was the problem due to using his left hand for most of the work. But, Ramsay reminded Andy that Dave and Kevin have sustained serious injuries, and neither of them let that drag their performances. In the end, Ramsay eliminated Andy for his inconsistent performances, but before he left, Ramsay told him that he had a big heart, while urging him to stop panicking.
Team switch
After Andy left, Ramsay surprised everybody and called Sabrina down, and despite wanting the old Sabrina and Suzanne back, he feared that it might be too late. Then, Ramsay asked Suzanne to take off her jacket, but instead of eliminating her, he relocated her to the blue team, much to the men’s dismay and the red team’s relief. After, Ramsay warned Sabrina and Suzanne to come back quickly before sending them back in line. When the chefs were dismissed, Tennille called it bullshit that Suzanne was still around, but was also glad that she was finally out of her way. Kevin did not want Suzanne on the blue team, but knew that she would go home no matter what team she was on.
Ramsay's comment: "Andy has had good and bad moments in Hell's Kitchen. Unfortunately, most of them were bad."