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The fourteenth episode of Season 9 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on FOX on September 12, 2011. In that episode, salmon was the main ingredient, all but two chefs got kicked out of dinner service, and one of the most controversial eliminations in the show's history occurred.

Intro[]

Back at the dorms, Jennifer was happy that nobody went home that night but was embarrassed over saying her goodbyes before then. Both Paul and Will playfully teased Jennifer over her crush on the former. While Paul called it cute, he felt a future relationship with Jennifer would never work as she was from Boston, and he wanted to be with a Jets fan.

Individual challenge[]

The next day, the final five came downstairs. Ramsay explained that a heroic chef could turn a simple ingredient into a stunning expensive dish. After, Ramsay hoped for a white Alaskan salmon to drop from the sky in front of him. It did, causing Will to almost poop himself, and Jennifer amazed at the trick Ramsay did. Ramsay explained that one white Alaskan salmon cost $450. Out of one of the thirty portions it could provide him, he made a stunning dish that would cost around $40 per portion, bringing in $750 total. However, the math confused Elise. For the Alaskan Salmon Profit Challenge, each chef would cook a portion of the fish and turn it into a profitable dish.

Each chef had 30 minutes to cook their salmon dish and had a full array of ingredients to use. Elise wanted to keep shining for Ramsay’s sake. While Elise and the men were already prepping their dishes, Jennifer was stuck in planning the dish as she had no idea what to do. Eventually, Jennifer decided to poach her salmon with the skin off, which Will felt was not good. Paul chose to keep his dish simple by adding a little truffle oil on his pan as he wanted the fish to speak for itself. Eventually, everybody got their dishes cooked and plated on time.

For the judging, Justin Wyborn, Donato Poto, and Chris Denton were invited as guest judges, blowing Will away as the trio was at the top of their game. The three judges would name a price of each dish they would taste, rounding up to an average between the three, and the chef with the most expensive dish would win. Will was up first, was confident in dominating that challenge, and presented his pan-roasted wild Alaskan salmon in a tomato and garlic stew. While Poto felt that the skin could have been crispier, he found the temperature solid, while Wyborn deemed the fish salty. After, Will finished with an average of $28.67. For Elise, she was nervous following Will but was confident in her dish. However, her salmon with macaroni and cheese was criticized for an unappealing presentation. Ramsay even questioned Elise’s decision to slice the salmon into thirds as he compared it to dog chew. After, Denton asked about the pasta component as it overshadowed the salmon, and Elise finished with an average of $24.33. Tommy was up next. His pan-roasted Alaskan salmon with light pomegranate Berblanc sauce was praised for the seasoning but criticized for a dry fish. He finished with a $25.33, which Tommy deemed a big kick in the balls. After, Paul presented his white salmon and Romanesco dish. Denton praised the presentation, the cook of the salmon being just right, and Poto had a few more bites of the dish. After, Paul scored a $29.67 average, and he confidently called it a home run. The final person up was Jennifer, and she presented her poached salmon with oyster broth. Although the judges were concerned about the approach, Tommy called it a ballsy move. The judges admitted how better the dish tasted than it looked. While Jennifer scored an average of $28.33, it was not enough to beat Paul, and the latter won the challenge.

Scoring[]

Salmon Profit
Chef Amount
Will $28.67
Elise $24.33
Tommy $25.33
Paul $29.67
Jennifer $28.33
Results Paul

Reward[]

Paul was rewarded with a helicopter tour of Los Angeles with Ramsay and lunch at the Water Grill. In addition, Ramsay allowed Paul to pick somebody to join them. While Jennifer wanted him to pick her, Paul knew that he would not pick Elise as he would have an urge to push her out of a helicopter. Instead, Paul picked Tommy, surprising the latter, although he told the former not to kiss him.

During the reward, Paul called it his first time in a helicopter, and while he enjoyed it, Tommy freaked out as he was afraid of heights. After landing on top of a roof, the trio enjoyed a glass of champagne. At lunch, Paul and Tommy met with Executive Chef Amanda, with her looks smiting the former. Paul unsuccessfully flirted with her as Tommy joked how he was berated during dinner services.

Punishment[]

The remaining chefs were punished by cleaning up the bar area for that night’s service, including polishing the glassware, restocking the bottles and ice buckets, and prepping the salmon as Paul’s challenge-winning dish would be featured that night. During the punishment, Paul and Tommy left past the bar, Jennifer started blushing. Still, Elise was pissed about doing the punishment. Later, Elise refused to scale the fish as she did not want to ruin an expensive protein but did not want to smell like fish, so Jennifer decided to help Will out. However, Will was pissed that Elise stood next to them, not helping, with Jennifer knowing how the former felt towards Elise. After some more time passes, Will and Jennifer joked that the smell of fish would attract Paul even further, but Elise was disgusted as she was there to win.

Before service[]

Later, Paul and Tommy came back from their reward. When Paul talked about Executive Chef Amanda’s looks, Jennifer was a little jealous. Then, Tommy made a joke about Elise picking out bones, much to the latter’s annoyance. Later that night, the final five’s prep was finished, and Ramsay asked James to open Hell’s Kitchen.

Dinner Service[]

Tito Jackson was seen in the dining room that night, and on their first order, Jennifer knew that if she were not vocal on appetizers, she could be going home. After, Ramsay told Jennifer to have Tommy help her. Still, Jennifer did not respond to Elise’s time question, much to Ramsay’s frustration, and Will knew it was the time to man up at the final five. Tommy begged to help Jennifer out despite her quiet performance but was forced to rush out the capellini as she abruptly announced she was ready for the first table, frustrating him as it could mess up the team. After Tommy sent up raw capellini, they were forced to start over, and he felt like a fool thanks to Jennifer’s poor teamwork. At the same time, Ramsay was frustrated by the lack of coordination. As Tommy and Jennifer continued to work in silence, Ramsay criticized their lack of fight back and urged somebody to get Jennifer to talk. Will managed to get Jennifer to speak finally, and the refire was finally accepted. On their next order, Ramsay told Jennifer that because of her silent performance, they were backed up on their second table. Once again, Jennifer did not respond to Elise’s time question until Ramsay prompted her. After, an argument over timings occurred between Elise and Jennifer. The men ordered them to stop, with Tommy yelling that they would all get fired in real life. After, Jennifer sent up a risotto in a burnt pan. A pissed Will called a day one mistake, and Ramsay criticized the lack of harmony between Jennifer and Elise. Eventually, the refire was accepted.

Forty-five minutes into service, the slow start forced Ramsay to start firing entrées along with the remaining appetizers. Elise wanted to prove to Ramsay she could cook salmon after the previous challenge. However, her salmon was burnt on the bottom and overcooked, with Paul confirming that he did not serve that earlier that day. Ramsay was forced to send out an incomplete table. Then, Elise’s refire had soggy skin, with Paul explaining that she had to cook skin side first and that it was cooking 101. However, Elise rudely commented that Paul should have said so twenty minutes ago. Despite Paul trying to help Elise out, the latter was forced to restart after the skin broke. Paul was dismayed as there was a table with half of the people starving, while Ramsay berated Elise for taking a $30 dish into a $0 dish, and they were dragging for 14 minutes. Eventually, Elise finally figured out the message Ramsay and Paul were trying to say.

One hour into dinner service, the mistakes were causing diners to get anxious, and Ramsay sarcastically told Elise to relax as their next ticket was all meat. Paul refused to go down like everybody else and got his entrées accepted for the six top along with Will’s garnishes. Then, Tommy wanted an extra minute for his capellini. Still, Jennifer sent it to the pass, the pasta was raw again, and Will was bewildered as Tommy told her moments ago and asked the two if they wanted to change stations. However, Jennifer claimed that she had it under control. A frustrated Tommy decided to help Elise out on fish, even though the latter did not want his help. The two proceeded to argue, and when Ramsay asked Elise about the salmon refires, she explained that she had to restart due to the skin sticking to the pan. That led Ramsay to ask if Elise was blaming the pans now before warning her to have it perfect or else. Tommy noticed that Elise’s flattop was not hot enough for the fish, but she pushed him aside, with Paul calling her out for not allowing help. Then, Elise sent up raw salmon. That was the final straw for Ramsay, who proceeded to kick the entire black jacket team out of the kitchen.

While going back to the dorms, Paul was furious as they were the final five, and that they were getting kicked out. Back in the kitchen, Ramsay put Sous Chef Scott on fish and asked Sous Chef Andi to bring back Paul and Will, before asking how the other three could be poor that night. Sous Chef Andi did so, and Paul called it the greatest pick me up of it all before he and Will stationed themselves back to the line. At the patio, Tommy was pissed that he was not called up like the other two men and questioned why he was kicked out. Jennifer accepted the blame for not communicating. Back in the kitchen, Paul, Will, and the Sous Chefs were pushing out dishes at a good pace, ending that night on a nice note.

Post-mortem[]

When the final five were lined up, Ramsay said that compared to their best service the previous night, they were not the same five like he had before asking them to nominate two people for elimination. Just before heading back to the dorms, Tommy asked Ramsay why he was kicked out as he wanted to cook that night. Still, Ramsay told Tommy to go away unless he wanted his head in the oven, although the latter challenged the latter to do it.

During deliberation, Paul called the appetizer station horrific as Will reminded Jennifer about the burnt pan incident. With no further explanation, Jennifer and Elise were the nominees. Still, to keep herself for one more day, Elise pulled Will aside and asked him to call Jennifer as the weakest chef of the five, even promising to have his back. Elise did the same thing to Paul, but Jennifer knew what was going on and believed she was better than the former in many ways before hoping that Paul and Will were smarter than that.

Elimination[]

Paul announced Jennifer as the first nominee for elimination and Elise as the second. During their pleas, Ramsay called that night’s service Jennifer’s worst yet. Still, Jennifer knew that she could cook and was organized before arguing that her weakness was trying to communicate to her teammates. However, Ramsay asked Jennifer how she could lead a team if she could not talk to her teammates standing next to her. Then, Ramsay reminded Elise how she ruined one of the most expensive salmons in the world, but she argued that she was a leader, which led to an argument between her and Jennifer about mistakes until Ramsay ended it as he commented he had a chef who could not shut up and a chef who could not talk. After, Ramsay asked Paul who was the weakest chef of the two nominees. When he struggled, Will interjected and called Elise the stronger cook between the two women, angering Jennifer. Then, Paul said Jennifer was the weakest chef of the two, angering her further, while Tommy called Elise the weakest. After a long and weary elimination, Ramsay eliminated Jennifer for her downward spiral and lack of communication skills but praised her for her heart and palate. But, when Ramsay brought up Jennifer’s lack of fight, she argued that she wanted to fight against the people behind her. Jennifer berated Paul and Will for defending Elise, but when the latter called Jennifer out for not showing the strength in the challenge, the men shut her up as Jennifer flipped off Elise on her way out. At the same time, Paul felt that Jennifer might not like him anymore. Jennifer received a retrospective montage during her exit interview.

After Jennifer left, Ramsay admitted how hard it would be to forget a night like that but urged the final four to help that by bouncing back. While being dismissed, Paul had no idea if Elise was playing him but hoped it would bite her in the ass eventually. Elise felt she had a moment of brilliance. Then, Will thought that he did the honorable thing in admitting Elise could cook.

Ramsay's comment: "Jennifer finally found her voice in Hell's Kitchen. Unfortunately, it was when she was being eliminated."

Trivia[]

  • This episode marks the new record of female contestants eliminated consecutively, with five.
Hell's Kitchen Season 9 Episodes
18 Chefs Compete16 Chefs Compete15 Chefs Compete14 Chefs Compete13 Chefs Compete12 Chefs Compete11 Chefs Compete10 Chefs Compete9 Chefs Compete8 Chefs Compete7 Chefs Compete6 Chefs Compete5 Chefs Compete5 Chefs Compete Again4 Chefs Compete2 Chefs Compete
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