The third episode of Season 9 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on Fox, on July 25, 2011. On that episode, a woman helped the men win their first service, a chef became the main target of their teammates, and nobody was safe from the losing team.
Intro[]
While going back to the dorms, Monterray declared that he did not come to the competition to be embarrassed. Will agreed with him and claimed that his pride was hurt because they needed help. In the bedroom, Monterray was still pissed about the idea that they would succeed because of another person, but Paul reminded that whoever would come to the team, she would be part of the team, and concluded by saying that he did not have any trouble working with anybody as he was tired of getting his ass kicked.
On the red side, Amanda declared that she was tired of the drama, that the red team would go down if neither Carrie nor Elise would switch teams. Still, Elise did not want to be transferred, and Natalie insisted that both being on the same team was an issue. Then, Jamie and Natalie expressed their willingness to go to the blue team, Gina was worried as both of them were strong. Natalie reminded that everybody was competing against everybody anyway before Carrie also expressed her willingness to be transferred. Natalie acknowledged that would be the best solution despite being upset about not switching herself, and the red team agreed with Carrie being transferred. Carrie admits that it was an opportunity for her to shine as she did not have one yet and that she worked better with men.
Team switch[]
The following day, the chefs were woken up by clowns, scaring them and making Carrie declared she did not like clowns as she found them freaky. Will was angry to be woken up that way and declared it was the wrong way for him. The chefs went to the dining room, and when they were lined up, Sous Chef Scott revealed clowns waked them up because they were cooking like clowns, which amused Tommy who found the metaphor to be stunning. Then, Sous Chef Scott revealed a large delivery of naan bread the chefs had to pick up. When they did, Jonathon revealed he liked naan bread as he was a sandwich guy, and Krupa wondered what would they do with it.
When both teams were lined up in the dining room, Ramsay compared the red team to an army and asked if somebody volunteered to be transferred to the blue team, to which Carrie answered eagerly. However, Natalie was chosen by Ramsay, much to Gina's dismay, as she knew the red team just lost a strong member. Still, Natalie was pleased to be transferred to the blue team as she knew that it was because Ramsay knew she could step up. Then, Ramsay asked Natalie what she would bring to the blue team, which she answered that they needed organization. Will showed a disappointed face while declaring that he did not want a new team member but reluctantly agreed to deal with what Ramsay would throw at him. Finally, Natalie received her blue jacket and lined up with the blue team.
Team challenge[]
After clowns entered the dining room and despite Will telling that he was not doing clowns, the real guests were introduced, mothers and babies. For the Mommy & Me Lunch Service Challenge, each team would cook lunch for mothers and babies, with the first team serving all of their tickets winning the challenge. Jonathon had a teary eye as it reminded him of his wife and four children, and then, both teams went into their kitchens to prep. The menu included pasta and a chicken quesadilla for the children and a Panini sandwich with naan bread for the mothers.
The first ticket was called in the red kitchen. Elise immediately asked for somebody to do the quesadillas and declared that she was over losing challenges. Still, Jamie proved to be a little bit lost as she did not know where she was going with the order. Then, the first ticket was called in the blue kitchen. Will felt a lot of pressure as they sucked as a team and urged his teammates to pick it up, while Natalie motivated her new teammates. After 20 minutes, half of the children were served. In the red kitchen, Elizabeth went to help Jamie with the quesadillas but discovered that she burned them. Elise asked Jamie if she wanted to start over, which the latter answered she would serve them. Elise could not believe that Jamie would serve burned quesadillas, and when the quesadillas were served, Ramsay berated the red team for serving burned quesadillas to babies. Then, he ordered Jamie to stop stalling like a baby as the babies were in the dining room and the red team had to start over because of that mistake. Natalie took vocal leadership in the blue kitchen by asking times to Monterray and Paul. Jonathon felt great about finally starting to communicate because of Natalie before acknowledging that Ramsay knew what he was doing. Because of Natalie's leadership, all the children on the blue side were served, and in the red kitchen, they served their last quesadilla as well.
Thirty minutes into the challenge, all the children were served, and both teams moved on to the Panini sandwiches for the mothers. In the red kitchen, Carrie wanted to help Elise. Still, Elise aggressively told Carrie she was running around frazzled, which she disagreed with. Elise tried to dictate Carrie by telling her to slice the sandwiches and to be organized. Carrie was annoyed by Elise's constant talking and wanted to kick her away. When Krupa suggested cutting the sandwiches, Elise told her that Carrie was not listening. Still, Carrie responded that she was trying to get things done. Elise was annoyed by Carrie as well because she thought she was running around the kitchen like a chicken with the head cut off. When Jamie discovered that things were missing on the quesadilla, Elise said that Carrie did it. Carrie admitted to that and pushed Elise away by taking her job over. After Elise asked for ham, Jennifer aggressively responded that she was making it. In the blue kitchen, because of their good communication, they had the lead over the red team and served most of their Panini sandwiches to the mothers. Ramsay warned the red team about their training, the blue team rallied to serve their remaining tickets, with Will being worried as they were close but confident at the same time. Then, a sandwich was rejected for not having chicken in it, and they were asked to start the table again. Will was disappointed as it was not rocket science. He rallied his teammates to create evenly layered chicken, and both teams rallied to serve their last ticket first. Eventually, the blue team served their last ticket one second before the red team, and they won the challenge, much to Carrie's dismay as she wanted to go to the blue team. During the celebration, Will congratulated his teammates for finally communicating. The men welcomed Natalie as she was called a rock star by Will. In the red kitchen, Elise already wanted to point fingers at their weakest link, which Carrie already knew she would be considered as one of them, Elise angrily ordered her to get off her space. Jamie targeted Carrie for being a weak link as she was running around and did not own her station.
Reward[]
When both teams were lined up, Jonathon jokingly told that he would have put a dress on Tommy if he knew earlier that it was easy to bring a beautiful woman to get everybody talking, making everybody laugh. The blue team was rewarded with a day and lunch at Medieval Times and sword fighting themselves.
Arrived at Medieval Times, the chefs were very excited to witness a live performance of knights fighting while eating a big ass turkey leg, some of them mimicked some movements, and Monterray was enjoying himself, even calling himself a kitchen warrior with his sword and shield. After lunch, they were invited to fight themselves, so they put on knight costumes. They were given a few lessons on manipulating a sword, and Jonathon said that it could not get any better.
Punishment[]
Before announcing the punishment, Ramsay asked the red team if they were crumbling because Natalie was gone, which they answered not. Elise immediately threw Carrie under the bus for running around the kitchen, not knowing what to do, before Carrie responded that she was trying to get things done. However, Jamie quickly intervened by revealing that the real problem was both of them constantly arguing, which everybody else agreed with.
The red team was punished by cleaning the dining room, prepping both kitchens for the Family Night dinner service, and setting up a playground for the children. Amanda was dismayed that she had to deal with a team that could not put their differences aside. Elise complained about the mess left by the children during the punishment as her three-year-old son was not even that messy. Carrie began vacuuming, but something was stuck inside the vacuum. She failed to notice before Jamie told her. Jamie called her worse than useless, and Krupa felt bad for Carrie as she knew that everybody would pick at everything she would do because she became the easy target.
Later, the women went outside to set up the playground, much to Elise's dismay. Carrie tried to organize the construction, much to Elise's annoyance. Then, Jennifer believed that they had to put more people for the bigger projects and could not believe that Carrie, Elizabeth, and Krupa would arrange the basketball net as it was only three pieces.
Before service[]
When the blue team came back from their reward, they acted like fools in front of the red team, which was still building the playground, much to Krupa's annoyance. Paul jokingly asked if they could play with what they were building when they would be done. After, the blue team went inside while telling the red team to enjoy building stuff and that they themselves would get drunk.
Later, both teams gathered to talk about their plan during the next service. The men asked Natalie why the red team had such strong performances during the two previous services on the patio. She answered that everything was organized on point as they were making lists for every station. Jonathon wanted to listen to Natalie's everything because he acknowledged how strong her two first performances were with the red team. Elise, Jennifer, and Jamie trash-talked about Carrie in the dorms, but the latter was listening to them while hiding. When Elise said that she did not do the béchamel sauce from scratch, Carrie revealed herself and admitted that point but added that she went over to help Jamie after she did. However, Jamie thought that Carrie was giving her attitude, which led to a little argument between them over Carrie's attitude. When it was over, Jamie believed that Carrie was the one creating all the problems on the red team and that if she did not get it together, they would be screwed.
The following day, both teams began prepping for the Family Night dinner service. In the blue kitchen, Monterray felt that prep went very smoothly as everybody was synchronized and communicating. In the red kitchen, everybody was completely silent, even when Elise asked if anybody needed confit garlic. Krupa revealed that they stopped talking to avoid the drama and the fighting. Chino and Gina were dedicated to be assistant maître d's alongside James, and Ramsay asked the three of them to open Hell's Kitchen.
Dinner service[]
In addition to the traditional menu, a children's menu was added, which included burgers, spaghetti, and chicken tenders. Also, a Margherita pizza would be delivered to every table to welcome the guests. Chino delivered his first ticket to the kitchen. Still, Ramsay did not understand what was written because of his lousy handwriting and berated him for forgetting to ask for sides. Ramsay ripped the ticket, asked Chino to start over, and the latter acknowledged that he was not doing a proper job as Ramsay was busting his balls. Then, Gina delivered her first ticket, it was accepted and called in the red kitchen, and Elise, who was determined to bring her A-game, delivered a perfect pizza, which Ramsay praised. However, Chino was pushed by Ramsay to deliver his first ticket. Paul was dismayed about Chino's slowness, and Ramsay accepted his second attempt at his first ticket. After the ticket was called, Jonathon gave two minutes on his first pizza. Krupa was ready to send her first risotto in the red kitchen while being determined to beat the blue team during dinner service. Her first risotto was deemed delicious, she was proud and determined to kick ass, but a minor fire erupted on the fish station. Amanda revealed that she dropped some sauce. Elise acknowledged that Amanda was frazzled while being tired of babysitting people, and the latter took a lot of time to turn the fire off.
Forty-five minutes into service, the red team was serving appetizers at a good pace. In the blue kitchen, the chicken tenders were burned, much to Will and Paul's dismay. Still, Tommy decided to serve them anyway despite Will convincing him not to. Ramsay berated Tommy for that mistake, compared the tender to baby flip-flops, and ordered the blue team to start over. In the red kitchen, Krupa and Jamie's leadership helped the red team serve their appetizers. Still, when they moved on to entrées, Jennifer was not paying a lot of attention because she did not want to work with Carrie. Both of them were convinced that Wellingtons and burgers were called. They communicated with Elizabeth. The latter organized her station with Jamie, but when they sent their entrées, they discovered that lamb and New York strip was ordered instead of Wellingtons and burgers. Jennifer was embarrassed at herself and mortified to have let Carrie do some part of the job. Ramsay ordered the red team to start again, and in the blue kitchen, they moved on to entrées as well. When the following ticket was called, Will vocally led Tommy. After messing up the appetizers, he was not trusting him anymore and aggressively told him not to send his unacceptable food to the pass. Will added that he would work on fish and garnish if he had to as he was tired of losing, declared that he would be upset if his teammates would mess up the next order. When Tommy apologized, Will told him to focus and cook. Tommy acknowledged that Will was great at calling out and being vocal. Despite wanting to tell Will he wanted to be left alone, his help was extremely needed. Still, when Tommy sent ketchup along with his chicken tenders, Sous Chef Scott threatened to throw the unneeded food at him if he would continue to bring it. Because of Will's leadership, entrées were being served at a good pace. In the red kitchen, everybody was ready with their own food, but nobody sent it. So, Ramsay had to remind everybody to send things if they were ready, but when they did, Amanda's bass was still raw, and Elise ordered her to put it back in the oven. After Amanda did, Elise continued to push her aggressively, and when Ramsay asked Amanda for a time on the bass, Elise answered three minutes while adding that she did not cook it. Amanda was annoyed by Elise yelling at her, told that she should be left alone and cook the food. Ramsay stopped the argument between both of them by reminding Amanda that nothing was happening. Everybody was waiting for Natalie to deliver her meat in the blue kitchen as she had four orders on the ticket. She was nervous, and Paul acknowledged that she should have come with fire in her eyes, and her Wellingtons were still raw, much to Paul's dismay. Ramsay asked Amanda what was going in the red kitchen, to which she answered two bass and a lamb, forgetting the cod. Amanda admitted that she forgot the cod, much to Jennifer's and Ramsay's dismay, and Elise wondered if Amanda was there and not lost. Amanda admitted that she forgot the cod for the second time, Ramsay called Family Night Disaster Night, and Elise warned Amanda that she would be nominated if she would not get it together. Jennifer acknowledged that Amanda was getting flustered and shutting down by the second. Ramsay urged her to fight back, and Amanda apologized to her teammates for letting them down.
In the blue kitchen, Natalie was still behind on the Wellingtons. Ramsay urged her to wake up, she acknowledged that she had to step up, and she gave one minute on her Wellingtons. When she sent her Wellingtons, they were accepted, and customers on the blue side were satisfied. No entrées have been served in the red kitchen, and Elise was yelling at Carrie for not doing anything at the moment. Carrie was annoyed by that as she knew she could cook, and when Elise asked for a time, she answered one minute. Then, Ramsay rallied the team to send their food, but when Carrie sent her lamb to the pass, it was raw, and Ramsay schooled her for thinking that it looked good, which made Elise believe that she did not have all her marbles. Because of that, Ramsay asked Gina to bring her teammates to every table and apologize while calling them useless. Elise was humiliated for apologizing for something she felt was not her fault in the dining room. When the red team came back in the kitchen, Ramsay told them that it was the first and last helpful thing they have done, and they were kicked out, while Ramsay told them to hold their heads in shame. Back in the dorms, Amanda was worried that Ramsay would call her out. Elise knew that it was an excellent chance to get rid of Carrie, and when the latter wanted to speak to her, she rudely rejected her talk request by saying that she could say everything she had to say on the chopping block. Then, Elise asked Carrie if she was on medication, told her that she was living in another world, that she was nothing but a distraction, that she messed up all night long. After hearing all of this, Carrie lost her cool, get up from her chair very quickly, and confronted Elise for disrespectfully talking to her. In the kitchen, the blue team rallied to complete their tickets, the red team's tickets, and Paul was ecstatic about dominating while motivating his teammates. Natalie knew that she would make a difference on the blue team. After Ramsay told them to walk out of the kitchen with their heads held high, she was feeling good about her team, could not help but smile, and Will called it redemption.
Post-mortem[]
Elise immediately blamed the meat station in the dorms, and Jennifer called it unfair that she had to take the fall for Carrie and agreed that the latter needed to be eliminated. After, Carrie told Elise that she would blame her anyway as she did not want her to be there and admitted that she got frazzled despite Elise rubbing salt in the wound even further by saying that she messed up the entire night. The argument between them ended when Elise called Carrie crazy, and the latter knew that she deserved to be there and that she would fight.
Elimination[]
When Ramsay asked the red team what happened to them after their great performance during the second service, Elise immediately threw Carrie under the bus. Jennifer recalled the miscommunication and admitted that she wished to be alone. Jamie revealed the attitudes within the red team. Then, Ramsay asked who had problems with their attitude, which Krupa answered Elise and Carrie and that some of them, like herself, were pissed. Still, Elise targeted Krupa by saying that all she did was standing there, and Krupa confirmed Elise's ego. After, Ramsay understood why no entrées were served and called Jennifer, Carrie, and Amanda down.
During their pleas, Carrie said she had a lot of passion and that she was not done. When Ramsay asked her why her team wanted her to be eliminated, Carrie answered that Elise targeted her since the first day. Still, Amanda intervened by saying that not only Elise did. After Amanda acknowledged her crap performance, she knew that she could do better as she already had, but Ramsay reminded her that she threw the towel in. Lastly, Jennifer felt more comfortable after the previous day and knew that she was a hard worker. When Ramsay asked her why she could not handle the meat station, she blamed Carrie for not being able to take control of one thing out of seven. However, Carrie was annoyed to be thrown under the bus by everybody, and Amanda reminded her that it was not throwing her under the bus if it was true. After deliberation, Amanda was eliminated for failing to fight back and giving up. During her exit interview, Amanda revealed how embarrassed she was as her dream was to win.
After Amanda left, Ramsay reminded everybody to fight back after screwing up and not give up. While being dismissed, Elise was furious about the fact that Carrie was still there, even stating that she should have gone with Amanda. After, Carrie knew that she was not going anywhere and that she would fight to stay. Will was determined to keep the winning streak going for the blue team while keeping the red team five feet under like prisoners.
Ramsay's comment: "Amanda lost the will to cook on the line tonight. I lost the will to keep her here."
Trivia[]
- This marks the second time a team won the first three challenges, following Season 3, and the first, and only time to date, the blue team had done so.
- This episode marks the third time that Chef Ramsay handpicked his own nominees after Episode 306 - 7 Chefs Compete, Part 2.
- This episode marks the first time where an entire team, rather than 1-3 contestants, were forced to apologize to customers.