1. Opening sequence

2. Chefs

3. Contestant progress

4. Episodes

5. Notes

6. References

7. External links

Season 12 of the American competitive reality television series Hell's Kitchen premiered on March 13, 2014 on Fox.

Gordon Ramsay returned as the head chef as well as Andi Van Willigan and James Avery as the red team's and blue team's sous chefs respectively. Jean-Philippe Susilovic also returned as the maître d'. This was the fourth season to feature an all-male final (following seasons 1, 6, and 9).

Executive Chef Scott Commings won this season and received a head chef position at Gordon Ramsay Pub & Grill in Caesars Palace in Las Vegas; the prize was retained from the previous season, after Ja'Nel Witt failed her drug test.^[1] Scott was nominated seven times for elimination, breaking Christina Machamer's record (season 4) of five nominations, and became the Hell's Kitchen winner with the most nominations.

Opening sequence

The intro is stylized as a neo-noir comic book with the chefs each trying to claim hold of "The Knife Case of Destiny."

Chefs

Twenty chefs competed in season 12. Jason Zepaltas previously competed in season 9 but left before the first dinner service after falling ill during prep. He is the second chef to have competed in two seasons, after Robert Hesse (seasons 5 and 6), and Zepaltas was the first chef until the All-Star season to present two signature dishes to Ramsay.

Notes

† Indicates that the contestant died after filming ended

Contestant progress

Episodes

{{Episode table

Team challenge/signature dish: The women competed against the men and had 45 minutes to create their signature dish, judged by Ramsay.^[11] Ramsay gave points to Anton's pork and crabmeat crust surf and turf over Simone's Peach and Crab Apple chutney pork chop, Jason's seared and braised wild salmon over Nicole's halibut filet (Jason previously competed in Season 9, but left during the first episode after he was hospitalized for shortness of breath. He stated that this was caused by dehydration), Chris' Cornish hen over Joy's chilled corn soup, Kashia's New York strip over Mike's herb-fried tortellini with tomato sauce. During the judging, Mike revealed that the tortellini was store-bought, and the sauce was made with canned tomatoes. Ramsay, disgusted, dumped out his dish. When sent back in line, Mike muttered an insult, causing Chef Ramsay to pull him back out and berate him. Melanie's pan-seared scallops scored over Richard's pan-roasted sea bass and Bev's Southeast Asian-style fish tacos scored over Gabriel's stuffed chicken breast. Neither Gaurav's afreen tuna pulao or Sandra's tender cod filet scored a point, Beth's pecan-crusted catfish scored over DeMarco's ricotta gnocchi with roasted tomato creme and sausage and Ralph's New England lobster dish scored over Rochelle's mushroom chicken with asparagus. Lastly, Jessica's rosemary-crusted venison loin with goat cheese polenta scored over Scott's herb-roasted rack of lamb, giving the women a 5–4 win and marking the third consecutive season the women won the signature dish challenge.

Reward/punishment: The women had dinner with Ramsay at his GastroPub while the men prepped the dining room and the kitchens. Mike sat out of the punishment, angering his teammates since he was responsible for their loss.

Service: Chris and Melanie served tableside chicken Caesar salad. In the blue kitchen, DeMarco overcooked lobster, Gabriel served uneven scallops and Gaurav served soupy and peppery risotto, angering Ramsay when he tasted with his fingers. In the red kitchen, Joy, Nicole and Sandra struggled to work together and argued over a lack of communication, causing Ramsay to kick them out. Both teams were kicked out when both Gabriel and Kashia overcooked scallops. Ramsay noted it as the worst opening service in the show's history (Followed by Season 1 Episode 3 and Season 11 Episode 13 with their worst services), as no appetizers were served from either kitchen. For the first time since Season 8, both teams lost on opening night.

Elimination: The women nominated Sandra and Nicole while the men nominated Gaurav and DeMarco. Ramsay eliminated Gaurav for his poor performance on appetizers and nonchalant attitude.

Ramsay's comment: "There's so many things about India that I love. It's a shame Gaurav isn't one of them."

Team challenge: The chefs worked in pairs in a "chef's relay", where they pedaled tricycles to a cooking area and aimed to finish prepping all five areas first. Since the men had one less member, Gabriel went twice. DeMarco and Richard finished before Kashia and Bev cleaning shrimp, Jessica and Beth finished before Anton and Chris breaking down chicken, Jason and Gabriel passed Melanie and Simone cleaning oysters, Mike and Scott finished before Sandra and Nicole filleting trout and Ralph and Gabriel finished before Joy and Rochelle making egg white omelets, giving the men their first challenge win.

Reward/punishment: The men had a meal with Ramsay in San Francisco and enjoyed a city tour on Segways. The women picked carrots and made stock. During punishment, Nicole's quiet behavior annoys Kashia, leading to an argument about the former's lack of passion.

Service: Mike and Sandra served tableside oysters, but Mike inadvertently served a couple of red tables. In the blue kitchen, Jason served bland risotto and DeMarco cooked tuna in a cold pan on appetizers, but both recovered. Scott and Gabriel mixed up cooking times on entrees, and after Scott served raw halibut and Gabriel served raw chicken twice, Ramsay threw the men out. In the red kitchen, Simone and Nicole failed to serve an acceptable risotto and were thrown out, and though Kashia did well on meat, Beth served raw lobster and raw and overcooked halibut, causing Ramsay to throw the women out. Ramsay again named both teams losers.

Elimination: The men nominated DeMarco and Gabriel while the women nominated Beth and Simone. However, Ramsay overruled and eliminated Nicole, feeling her negative attitude and lack of passion, cooking ability, fight back and leadership outweighed the mistakes made by the four nominees.

Ramsay's comment: "I'm not looking for a line cook. But if I were, I still wouldn't have hired Nicole. She was useless."

Team challenge: The teams had to dig up potatoes, three chefs a time, until one team reached 100 pounds. While the men's blue team won that part of the challenge, they were then informed it was not all of it, they also had to create potato dishes. Each team then picked five dishes for Ramsay to rate from 1–5. Jessica's sweet potato succotash and Richard's Irish Colcannon both scored 4, Sandra's Pancetta Sofrito and Ralph's potato salad both scored 3, Jason's potato gratin scored 4 while Bev's potato hash scored 2 and Melanie's gnocchi scored 4 while Mike's boulangère scored 1. Lastly, Scott's potato souffle scored 4, but Joy's pierogi scored 5, giving the women an 18–16 victory.

Reward/punishment: The women had a private dinner on a yacht while the men had to clean the livestock. During dinner service prep, DeMarco cut himself and was sent to urgent care and Rochelle fell sick. Simone also fell unwell, but her team believed she was faking it.

Service: Kashia and Ralph served tableside Steak Diane. Guests in attendance for this service include Senen "Sen Dog" Reyes and EC Twins. Anton and Joy did well on appetizers, but both teams struggled on fish; Jessica and Simone were kicked out after serving raw scallops and salmon, Chris served halibut with no crust while Mike struggled to communicate with him, and DeMarco, who returned mid-service, poorly sliced chicken. Ramsay threw the men out when Scott sliced lamb before Chris's halibut was ready, and the women after Bev served raw and overcooked halibut; this was the third service in a row where both teams lost, marking the worst service start in the show's history. For the first time in Hell's Kitchen history, Ramsay had the teams nominate three chefs for elimination.

Elimination: The women nominated Simone, Rochelle, and Sandra while the men nominated Mike, DeMarco, and Chris. Ramsay called Simone, Mike and DeMarco forward, had them remove their jackets and gave them ten seconds to plead their cases. But as Ramsay went to announce his decision, Simone immediately volunteered to leave the competition, marking the third voluntary exit at elimination (after Ji from Season 5 and Joseph from Season 6). Before sending the chefs back, Ramsay gave DeMarco and Mike back their jackets.

Ramsay's comment: "Hell's Kitchen is about making someone's wish come true. Simone wished to leave Hell's Kitchen. That was an easy one. Wish granted."

Team challenge: The chefs made ravioli dishes in pairs; the first team to make ten approved dishes would win. The pairs for the red team are Melanie and Jessica, Kaisha and Sandra, Bev and Rochelle, and Beth and Joy. The pairs for the blue team are Jason and Scott, Ralph and Richard, Chris and Anton, and DeMarco Gabriel and Mike, since the blue has an extra member. The men raced to a 6–0 lead, but the women caught up, mainly thanks to Jessica and Melanie. With the teams at a 9–9 tie, DeMarco, Gabriel, and Mike, whom struggled, finally submitted a dish, but it was rejected, allowing the women to pass with their tenth dish and win their third challenge.

Reward/punishment: The women were rewarded with a day at a Beverly Hills mansion. The men prepped both kitchens in addition to wrapping pennies.

Service: Ramsay announced this service will host steak night. Beth, Rochelle, Gabriel and Scott served tableside salad and chopped ribs. Guests in attendance were Sharon Case, Suzanne Whang and Vanessa Marcil. In the red kitchen, Bev served salty risotto, but Joy and Melanie did well on appetizers and meat. In the blue kitchen, Ralph ignored Mike on the ravioli station, causing Ramsay to scold them both, Mike served risotto with no lobster and after Richard and Ralph served cold crab cakes and watery ravioli, Ramsay forced them to eat it. Anton did well on appetizers, but Chris undercooked fillets. After the women finished service, Ramsay had them help the men, where Jason was scolded for needlessly arguing with Sandra.

Elimination: Mike and DeMarco were nominated. Mike pleaded to be sent to the red team, but Ramsay eliminated him for his lack of passion, contribution, and for consistently being a poor performer

Ramsay's comment: "There once was a cook named Mike. He couldn't cook fish or any other dish, so I told him to take a hike."

Reward/punishment: The women spent a day at Laguna Beach. The men prepped honey taffy from scratch. Before prep, DeMarco told the blue team that his father walked out on him when he was 6 months old.

Service: A brunch service was set up as part of the first-ever Hell's Kitchen wedding, with the faster team winning service. The women served the bride's family, the men served the groom's family, and both did the wedding party's table. Rochelle and Scott got fruit salads out quickly, but Beth burst an egg and burnt bread, while Ralph cooked in a cold pan. Beth then served a raw egg, as did DeMarco after the egg was cooked by Ralph. Both teams got to the final ticket, but the women finished first due to Gabriel and Richard's slow performance on scrambled eggs, giving them the win and the men their fifth consecutive service loss.

Elimination: DeMarco and Gabriel were nominated; Ramsay also nominated Richard. Ramsay eliminated DeMarco for his lack of improvement, being nominated five consecutive times (the longest streak of nominations in the show's history, soon to be tied with season 14's Josh Trovato), and saying he ran out of chances.

Ramsay's comment: "DeMarco: demented, demoted, denied."

Service: Ramsay put the team captains to the test when he announced the VIP guests for the chef's table with the red team cooking for Elizabeth Perkins and the blue team cooking for Holly Marie Combs. Sandra forgot a capellini on appetizers and Joy argued with her for not communicating, while Beth served raw and overcooked lobster and was non-communicative, leading Melanie to take over most of her responsibilities (this lead Ramsey to berate Beth for giving up and Melanie to call Beth dead weight). However, Melanie, whose leadership was largely ineffectual, ruined the VIP table's order with raw halibut, and Kashia served perfect wellingtons but was slow to say when they would be ready. Anton's leadership, meanwhile, was fairly overzealous though seemingly more effective. Chris sent overcooked and undercooked scallops, the latter of which Anton served for the chef's table without Ramsey's approval first, but recovered. Jason performed well on meat, but Scott had communication issues despite cooking fish perfectly. Both teams completed service; Ramsay gave the men their first service win and praised Anton's leadership.

Elimination: Beth and Sandra were nominated. Ramsay polled them, and though all except Jessica said Sandra should go home, Ramsay eliminated Beth for her lack of leadership and confidence, being out of her depth, and for sub-par performances.

Ramsay's comment: "Beth thinks the reason she hasn't advanced in the culinary industry is the fact that she's a woman in the south. I think it's because she can't cook."

Reward/punishment: The men were rewarded with a day at a rooftop swimming pool and a session with a yoga instructor. The women made pasta for Italian family night in addition to prepping both kitchens. After the punishment, Kaisha and Melanie got into an argument over the latter pushing to drop the former's pizza, saying that she made the decision solely, but Melanie argued that Kaisha should have been more outspoken about her confidence in her pizza.

Service: Both teams struggled on pizzas during family night. Bev repeatedly undercooked and burned the pizzas and Sandra rolled the bases too thick which completely held up the kitchen, but with Joy's help, Bev managed to successfully get the pizzas out. Rochelle also served scallops with no color, but managed to recover, and after that the women were able to successfully complete service (as well as successfully serve Ramsay's family in the dining room). In the blue kitchen, Chris constantly served burnt and raw pizzas while Scott tried to help but also struggled and made the situation worse by burning even more pizzas. Even with additional help from Gabriel, the men were only able to serve ten pizzas before running out of pizza dough, causing Ramsey to send Scott and Chris into the dining room to apologize to the diners and ask them if they'd like something else. Anton accidentally caused a small fire on the fish station when the bottom of a bottle of oil came out when he picked it up, and Ralph undercooked and poorly cut lamb. However, thanks to Jason, the men finished service. During the post-mortem, Ramsay asked the men and women to collect all the discarded pizzas to show the amount of pizza they had wasted. Despite Ramsey being angry with both teams, Ramsay named the women the winners for having less problems on each station, and asked the men to come up with two nominees for elimination.

Elimination: The men considered nominating Chris and Scott for their problems with the pizza and Ralph for his problem on the meat station as well as trying to claim that he didn't have anything returned to him. Ultimately, Chris and Scott were chosen as the men's nominees; However, Ramsay also nominated Ralph at elimination. After hearing of their pleas (during which Ralph angered Ramsay by trying to claim he had yet to mess up), Ramsay eliminated Chris for consistently wasting pizza dough and mediocre performances.

Ramsay's comment: "I'd like to think every chef has a talent. Chris needs to keep looking for his."

Reward/punishment: The women were rewarded with a shopping spree and a meal with Hell's Kitchen Season 10 winner Christina Wilson in Las Vegas. The men prepped the dining room under the sorority's party committee's direction.

Service: Gabriel and Richard put in strong performances on appetizers and garnish and got the blue kitchen off to a good start on appetizers. However Jason served raw fried chicken twice, forcing Anton and Gabriel to help him, and Scott, despite cooking meat perfectly, didn't communicate to Richard and Gabriel on garnish when he was going to walk up to the pass, which put both of them behind. Despite this, both Scott and Jason managed to recover and successfully serve entrées. The red kitchen got off to a bad start due to Bev struggling to make crab cakes and being inconsistent on how long they would take, but Bev still managed to successfully serve them. However, on entrées, Kashia served raw fried chicken while Jessica did very little to help her, forcing Ramsay to pull them into the pantry and tell them to get a grip. After that, Kaisha again served raw chicken that Jessica though was cooked, but managed to recover and successfully serve properly cooked chicken. However, Bev forgot what she was supposed to be cooking for garnish and then proceeded to serve cold mac & cheese, causing Rochelle to take over for her on garnish. Both teams finished service; Ramsay called out both teams' lack of teamwork but named the men winners.

Elimination: Bev and Jessica were nominated. Ramsay eliminated Bev for letting Rochelle take over her station and for consistently mediocre performances.

Ramsay's comment: "Bev may be a great food truck chef. Unfortunately for her, Hell's Kitchen doesn't have wheels."

Reward/punishment: The women were rewarded with lunch at the beach and a private volleyball lesson with Olympian Kerri Walsh Jennings. The men had to do the waitstaff's chores.

Cook for your life – part 1: Instead of a service, Ramsay called each chef into his office one by one, evaluating their progress and asking them who they felt was the weakest chef in their team. Jessica and Richard received the most votes and were challenged with having 30 minutes apiece to cook three dishes, consisting of risotto, scallops, and halibut, judged by Ramsay. The loser was eliminated, resulting in the first elimination challenge in Hell's Kitchen.

The episode ended in a cliffhanger, as Ramsay was about to announce his decision.

Reward/punishment: The next morning, Ramsay brought the chefs to his GastroPub to give them inspiration before he announced that next service would have a special menu based on it. Later, Ralph began to feel sick, caused by bad sleep, but returned before service.

Service: The men did well on appetizers under Jason's leadership, with the only problem being Anton not communicating with the other stations and cooking sliders too fast. However, The men had a complete meltdown on entrées; Anton forgot to cook a New York strip for a table and then miscommunicated to Ramsey how long the next table would be while screaming at Ralph and Jason when they tried to correct him. Scott served watery salad and soggy fries and his attempts to lead the kitchen proved largely ineffectual. Ralph had trouble keeping up on the fish station due to Anton and Gabriel's lack of communication and undercooked fish and chips. Gabriel struggled cooking the chicken and gave Ramsay and the rest of the kitchen inconsistent timings on when it would be ready, leading some tables to walk out. The women had a decent service, with the only problems being Joy initially not knowing she had to cook the buns for the sliders and Kaisha serving cold garnish and then forgetting the garnish for the chicken. The women finished service and all but Sandra, on desserts, were ordered to help the men. However the women struggled to work together with the men who once again had trouble communicating. After Ralph served a soggy fish, Ramsay kicked the men out and had the women finish their service. The women were named the winners and Ramsay tasked the men with coming with two nominees for elimination

Elimination: Scott and Gabriel were chosen as the men's nominees; However, Gabriel attempted to nominate Ralph when asked by Ramsay who the nominees were. This led Ramsay to express frustration over the men's lack of team work, and although he accepted Gabriel and Scott as the nominees he also nominated Ralph (sarcastically stating "why not"). After each of them plead their case, Ramsay eliminated Ralph for his problems with the fish and chips and refusing to take responsibility for his mistakes (he attempted to blame his problems that night on the lack of communication in the kitchen), saying he was not ready to be a head chef.

Ramsay's comment: "Ralph has a lot of heart. But when it comes to cooking, he comes up a little short."

Reward/punishment: The men went skydiving in a vertical wind tunnel and were received their own Vitamix blender. The women, in addition to prepping both kitchens, made peanut butter by cracking a lot of peanuts. During the punishment, Rochelle opened up about her desire to start a family, causing her teammates to question her dedication.

Service: The blue kitchen got off to a good start under Jason and Scott on appetizers (with Jason having took over making the latter's risotto due to not trusting him) but had problems due Anton cooking only nine scallops when they needed ten and then pushing Scott away when he tried to help. On entrées, Anton overcooked halibut and blamed Scott for it due to the latter confusing him, causing Ramsey to march the entire blue team into the store room and tell them to sort out their differences. However, on the next ticket, despite Richard providing perfect wellingtons, Gabriel ruined the ticket due to providing cold mushrooms, causing them to have start over. In addition, Anton continued to have trouble on the fish station, all the while blaming Scott, leading him to send overcooked salmon to the pass and Ramsey to take over for him on the refire. In the red kitchen, Rochelle did well on appetizers but was hampered due to Sandra struggling to provide the lobster tail for the risotto (due to it falling apart) and Kaisha forgetting to turn her gas on when cooking cappellini. On entrées, Sandra failed to properly communicate with Joy on garnish and Melanie on meat, and despite acknowledging from Melanie not to walk with her salmon yet (due to the latter's meat not being ready), Sandra still brought it up when asked how long by Ramsey. When Sandra finally managed to coordinate properly with rest of the kitchen, the salmon was overcooked, leading Ramsey to have to refire the table. Despite the problems, both teams managed to complete service, but Ramsey was frustrated due to both team's lack of coordination and named both teams losers. He then tasked them with coming up with two nominees for elimination, specifically stating to choose the people that were making it difficult to coordinate properly.

Team change: The men nominated Anton and Scott. The women agreed on Sandra as their first nominee and considered Kashia as their second, but Joy pushed for Rochelle to go up due to the latter's confession during the punishment. Ramsay had all four remove their jackets but moved Anton and Scott to the women's team and Sandra and Rochelle to the men's team, hoping to "correct" things.

Reward/punishment: The blue team spent a day at LeSpa in Beverly Hills while the red team had to take in deliveries from a truck.

Service: 24 UNICEF charity members were guests for service including ambassador Angie Harmon, who served as the host for this special event. Each chef was in charge of a course, cooking twelve portions. Anton got the risottos out fine, only having problems with having the pans too hot at the start and then having trouble communicating with Joy, who was doing the lobster tails. Rochelle also got the risottos out in good time, with the only problem being her briefly confusing Gabriel due to taking over his seasoning of the risottos. Melanie had no trouble with her tuna tataki, but Gabriel forgot to cook two tuna. Luckily, Rochelle noticed and she was able to successfully cook the additional tuna and get the course out on time. Kashia struggled leading the tortellini course due to failing to notice that the tortellini was undercooked and then blaming Melanie and Anton for it, which completely held up the kitchen. Richard also struggled on his tortellini course due to being short tortellini as a result of overcooking them, causing blue diners to receive reduced portions which was only made worse when Gabriel put out thirteen plates instead of twelve. Despite that, both teams managed to still get the course out. Scott led strongly on the rack of lamb, only struggling to put sauce on the plates due to using a ladle instead of a spoon. Sandra struggled on her lamb course due to not noticing that the lamb was undercooked and then overcooked it when she attempted to quickly flash it in the oven, despite warnings from Jason and Ramsey. This forced the blue team to serve only one lamb chop per guest. Lastly, Joy and Jason both led well and got the beignet courses out with no problems. Despite both teams completing service with no ejections, Ramsay named both teams losers and asked both teams to nominate 2 chefs from each team.

Elimination: The red team nominated Kashia and Scott while the blue team nominated Sandra and Gabriel. Much to her Team's relief, Ramsay eliminated Sandra for her issues on lamb, her lack of coordination with her team and not improving her attitude after her move to the blue team.

Ramsay's comment: "It may have been charity night in Hell's Kitchen, but when it comes to Sandra, I wasn't in a charitable mood."

Service: During this service, each diner would have the choice of which menu they would choose from, with the blue menu ultimately being the more popular of the two. Although Jason was worried about Rochelle on appetizers due to her earlier crisis, she managed to consistently get appetizers out at a good pace. However, Richard struggled to cook the carbcakes, serving it undercooked, and almost cooked the refire in a dirty pan until Ramsey stopped him, but managed to recover and successfully serve the carbcake. Gabriel, however, served undercooked steaks twice while Richard was slow on garnish and under portioned sides, causing Ramsey to have to send Rochelle over to help him. On the red team, Anton cooked more portions of risotto than needed and Melanie had trouble cooking Anton's scallop dish, due to the latter telling her to sear the scallops then bake it in the oven in sauce which led them to become soggy, forcing her to throw away several orders of scallops. Melanie than had scallops returned for being undercooked and then learned she was out of scallops. Luckily, Anton was able to get extra scallops from the blue kitchen, due to them not having done a scallops course, which allowed Melanie to successfully cook the scallop dish. Despite the team's worries about the fried chicken dish, Joy got every order out perfectly, while Kashia delivered every order of her signature dish perfectly. Ramsay named the red team winners for a strong finish.

Team change: Ramsay then asked the red team for one volunteer to go to the blue team after the elimination aside from Anton or Scott, which was Melanie.

Elimination: Despite Gabriel and Richard attempting to convince Jason to nominate Rochelle due to her earlier crisis, the blue team ultimately decided on Richard and Gabriel as the nominees. Ramsay eliminated Richard for failing to live up to his experience, lacking Gabriel's determination and being kicked off his station by Rochelle.

Ramsay's comment: "Richard had more experience than anyone here. But it's not experience I'm looking for, it's talent."

Reward/punishment: The red team were rewarded with a private ice skating lesson with Olympian Rachael Flatt, while the blue team had to take in deliveries of ice and make ice cream for service. Concerned over Gabriel's lack of fightback, Ramsay gave him a pep talk in the storeroom before service.

Service: Ryan Pickett and Dante Basco were in attendance for this service. The blue team had a strong service thanks to Melanie on appetizers and Gabriel on garnish, with the only problems being Jason briefly falling behind on cooking lobster tails and Rochelle serving undercooked chicken then struggling to remember tickets, but both rebounded as Gabriel quickly reorganized the team. In the red kitchen, Scott got the kitchen off to a good start on appetizers, but Kashia forgot to cook one scallop, and when Scott tried to help he cooked a whole order rather than just one scallop. Anton then caused disarray when he jumped in as well, however, Kaisha managed to quickly retake control of her station and serve an acceptable scallop. However, Kashia was caught braising a salmon in sauce rather than searing it and gave attitude to Ramsay when scolded her for it. On entrées, Anton undercooked chicken, but when Scott sliced it and served it, Ramsey scolded the latter for not noticing that it was raw. Anton then became disorganized on the meat station and fell behind on orders, telling Ramsey he was ten minutes away on a wellington when Kaisha's properly cooked salmon was already at the pass. Anton then overcooked the wellingtons, blaming the oven for his problems, and argued with Chef Andi, causing Ramsay to send him to the storeroom and tell him to bounce back. Both teams finished service, but while Ramsay praised the blue team, particularly Gabriel, for their excellent service, he berated the red team and told them to nominate two people for elimination.

Elimination: Anton and Scott were nominated. Ramsay eliminated Anton for his arrogance, disintegrating performances and constantly blaming others for his mistakes.

Ramsay's comment: "Anton let the little success he had in Hell's Kitchen inflate his ego. It was time to let the air out of that balloon."

Reward/punishment: The red team were given $1000 for a shopping spree at Grove SS and had lunch at the Hatfield restaurant in Los Angeles. The blue team cleaned the dorms and bathrooms.

Challenge – Part I: At a press conference, Ramsay revealed the season's first individual challenge, in which each chef would be competing to earn a black jacket, immunity from elimination in the next dinner service and their dish a place on the December page of the calendar. Each chef was given 45 minutes to create a dish of their choice. Ramsay then revealed three guest judges alongside him to judge the dishes, season 3 winner Rock Harper, season 9 winner Paul Niedermann, which Jason meets for the first time since he withdrawn due to illness, and season 10 second runner-up Dana Cohen; each judge rated the dish from 1–5.

Jason's stuffed halibut with capellini, goat cheese, crab and shrimp scored 8, Kashia's rack of lamb covered with honey pistachio and demi-glace scored 11, Rochelle's seared New York Strip steak with cilantro-lime chimichurri sauce scored 13, Scott's pan-seared sea scallops and poached crab with tarragon butter scored 11, Melanie's marinated rack of lamb with red wine rosemary garlic and creamy basil-infused mashed potatoes scored 5 because she added raw flour to the potatoes, and Gabriel's roasted rack of lamb did not even score a single point because he forgot to plate most of it, and the part that he did plate was severely overcooked. Last up was Joy, with a seared duck breast with oven-roasted figs, mushrooms, and Swiss chard.

Before marks were given and clarification on whether Joy or Rochelle won immunity, the episode ended in a cliffhanger.

Reward/punishment: Joy earned a black jacket and therefore immunity from elimination after service, a December spot on the HK calendar, and was also treated to lunch with Rock, Paul, and Dana in the Hell's Kitchen dining room. The others prepared the food and serve it to them.

Service: Before service, Ramsay revealed that every chef surviving elimination after service would be rewarded with a black jacket. Dinner service featured a special VIP table for members of Oxfam, an anti-poverty charity, including ambassador and actress Minnie Driver, and founder Raymond Offenheiser. Both teams had to serve them at the same time, but Gabriel served scallops too early and miscounted them before overcooking them, though he recovered quickly. Scott argued with Ramsay on fish, Kashia served perfectly cooked but poorly cut chicken, Melanie undercooked chicken. Gabriel was caught cooking halibut and salmon in the same pan before serving dry salmon.

Automatic elimination: After Scott and Gabriel both burnt salmon, Ramsay pulled them into the storage room. When they returned, they completed the VIP table. However, after serving raw salmon, Ramsay eliminated Gabriel, making him the sixth contestant in Hell's Kitchen history to be eliminated during service, and the first since Nilka in season 7. Instead of sending Gabriel upstairs like the rest, Ramsay sends him through the front entrance, shocking the blue team and the customers. Outside, Jean-Phillipe consoled him before taking his jacket and shaking his hand goodbye. Gabriel was not given the coat hook or flaming picture scene. The teams were named joint-losers. Ramsay had both teams nominate one chef for elimination.

Elimination: Jason and Scott were nominated but Ramsay also nominated Melanie. However, he instead gave her the second black jacket followed by Kashia, Rochelle, Jason and Scott.

Ramsay's comment: "With Gabriel causing such a disaster in the kitchen tonight, it was hard to tell who else I should send home. So, I gave everybody the thrill of getting a black jacket. But somebody will definitely be going home after the next dinner service."

Reward/punishment: Scott and Jason were treated to a trip to the Saddle Peak Lodge in Malibu while the others were forced to sort garbage from the tailgate party and in Hell's Kitchen. Jason got drunk during the reward, and in addition to arriving late to prep, was very sluggish in helping out.

Service: Appetizers ran okay, but Scott had to restart the risotto on the final table after overcooking it and didn't respond to Ramsey when asked what happened, who accused him of trying to hide his mistakes. Additionally, Kashia mistakenly cooked one lobster tail instead of two and accused Scott and Joy of not communicating properly to her, despite the fact that they had told her to cook two lobster tail. Kaisha also refused Melanie's help to run her food to the pass, and then lied to Ramsey that Melanie had declined to help her when he asked why they weren't working together. This caused Ramsey to march both of them into the storeroom where he told them to sort out their differences. On entrées, Rochelle had trouble slicing chicken, forcing Ramsay to help her, while Kashia failed to communicate with the rest of the kitchen and then proceeded to serve raw salmon. She then lashed out at Jason and Rochelle when they asked her for times on the refire, and maintained a volatile attitude towards the rest of her team, causing Ramsey to send Scott to help her. However, Scott sent raw halibut, causing Ramsey to send the table without the halibut. Kaisha and Scott then failed to cook the halibut in time and Scott argued with Ramsey after he accused him of not caring. The team finished service, but Ramsay was far from pleased and had the chefs nominate one chef for elimination.

Elimination: Kashia was nominated; Ramsay also nominated Scott since he found his arguing "unacceptable".^[28] Ramsay eliminated Kashia for her volatile attitude during service and poor performance on fish, but praised her for her effort.

Ramsay's comment: "Kashia is a great line cook with an incredible attitude. Unfortunately for her, she's just not ready to run her own brigade yet."

Reward/punishment: Scott was rewarded with a photo-shoot for Better Homes and Gardens magazine, where his dish was featured. He chose Jason to join him in flying fighter planes. While the others are busy cutting pumpkins, Rochelle cut her thumb and was sent to the hospital but returned in time for dinner service.

Service: Comic book legend Stan Lee was a guest at the chef's table. The Red Hat Society along with Bree Williamson and Keran Giovanni were also guests for this service. Scott had a strong performance on appetizers despite being forced to clean burning rice on the stove, while Melanie failed twice to cook an acceptable capellini for the chef's table, but recovered. Rochelle, on meat, lead entrees and constantly called out times, but Joy, despite acknowledging Rochelle's times, served fish too early, angering Ramsay.

Joy's exit: This happened again at the next table with Jason on garnish and Joy argued with Ramsay before leaving the kitchen saying "I'm done" and angrily throwing off her jacket despite pleas from her teammates not to leave. Ramsay followed Joy and called her out on her selfish behavior, but Joy argued back once more saying she was done with Ramsay snapping "I know you're done, it shows in your cooking" and she went upstairs to the dorm. The remaining chefs persevered and finished service, while Joy packed her bags in the dorm; Chef Andi attempted to motivate Joy, and while Joy regretted her decision to walk out, she withdrew from the competition, making her the 3rd chef to walk out of the competition following Season 1's Jeff's, and Season 7's Andrew's withdrawal from the competition, believing it was too late. Joy received a burning picture scene, but it is unknown whether her jacket was hung even though she threw it off.

Elimination: Ramsay didn't say much about Joy after her departure, although he did state her decision to leave proved to him that she isn't ready to be a head chef, and that he expects everyone else to have a better attitude at this stage of the competition. He also added that to be a great head chef, one needs to have composure, discipline, and maturity, and that Joy lacked all of those things in her decision to leave. Ramsay then told the remaining chefs that despite the ups and downs, they all fought back, and that no one else would be leaving. However, he announced that after the next service, two contestants would be eliminated, with the other two advancing as finalists.

Ramsay's comment: "Joy's quitting was one of the most shocking things I've ever experienced in Hell's Kitchen. But her lack of maturity tonight proved that she is not ready to be a head chef because leaders never quit."

Challenge: This led to the popular 40 minute "Taste it, now make it" challenge. Ramsay allowed the chefs to use a sample plate as a reference since most of them had eaten very little of the dish. For the protein, Jason, Melanie, and Rochelle chose sole, while Scott used escolar. For the garnish, Jason, Rochelle, and Scott chose butternut squash, while Melanie chose pumpkin. For the puree, Jason and Scott chose watercress, Melanie chose arugula and Rochelle chose parsley. Ramsay revealed the protein was sole, eliminating Scott, and the garnish was butternut squash, eliminating Melanie. Jason then beat out Rochelle as he correctly used watercress for his puree, redeeming himself from his bad performance in the blind taste test.

Reward/punishment: Jason went to two Los Angeles the Fig & Olive with Sous Chef Andi and Ink with his girlfriend and mother. He also won a set of stainless steel cookware. The others had to move furniture not being used out of the dorms and prep the kitchen for dinner service. Rochelle sat out due to her cut thumb and Melanie intentionally sat out as well, hoping Scott would tire himself out and sabotage his chances of getting to the final.

Service: Each chef took a turn running the pass, while also having to spot acts of sabotage Ramsay and sous chef James set up. Rochelle was nervous in leadership as she read out tickets too fast and kept giggling, but after a pep talk by Ramsay, she recovered, rejecting poorly presented salads by Scott and catching shrimp in a risotto instead of lobster. Melanie also spoke very quickly and had a hard time maintaining attention, and was also urged to take control. She improved, but failed to realize that Jean-Philippe had given her a ticket featuring a "chef's special", despite none being on the menu. Scott held everyone to a high standard and was quick to point out even tiny flaws, which annoyed the other chefs, but he led very effectively and caught a duck breast and a raw chicken breast instead of two chicken breasts. Jason was laid-back at first, but then generally led well, catching a salmon instead of halibut.

Elimination: Ramsay firstly eliminated Rochelle, but praised her for her energy, saying she would have a bright future ahead of her. He then named Scott and Jason to advance to the final, eliminating Melanie.^[31] Ramsay complimented Melanie on her performance, allowing her to keep her jacket. Neither Melanie or Rochelle received a coat hook or flaming picture scene.

Challenge: Ramsay invited Scott and Jason to a Los Angeles night club, where they competed in their final challenge. Both prepared two appetizers and three entrees in one hour to be judged by five well-renowned chefs from 1–10. Scott won 43–42.

Reward: Scott was given the first pick in drafting a team using the ten chefs eliminated from the competition prior to the final.^[33] Scott picked Chris, Ralph, Rochelle, Kashia, and Jessica, while Jason picked Anton, Melanie, Gabriel and Bev, and was left with Sandra.

Dinner service: The finalists' families along with Sean Kanan and Shanola Hampton were guests for the final service in addition to guests sitting at the chef's tables which includes singer Natasha Bedingfield in Scott's kitchen and actor Mark Boone Junior in Jason's kitchen. In the red kitchen, despite strong performances from Anton, Melanie, Gabriel and Bev, Sandra failed to provide times on garnish and old crab cakes for the chef's table, argued with Jason, and worked slowly. Gabriel overcooked fillets, but recovered. In the blue kitchen, Jessica struggled on garnish and Scott kicked her out after she served poor french fries, marking the second time a finalist threw a chef out of the kitchen, but Kashia, Ralph, Chris, and Rochelle put in strong performances. Ramsay praised Jason and Scott and announced the results were very close.

Ramsay's comment: "Scott won tonight because he has all the qualities I'm looking for in a head chef. He is passionate, determined and a true leader. He's an artist plating food and has a phenomenal palate. There's no doubt in my mind that he's got a great career ahead of him."

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Notes

References

External links

• {{official website|http://www.fox.com/hellskitchen}}

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