Episode AVSSOHK02: Power Play

The second episode of A Very Special Season of Hell's Kitchen aired on January 9, 2024. In that episode, potato was the main ingredient, the chefs fought for Punishment Passes, and dinner service was rough for both teams.

## Individual challenge

Continuing from the previous episode, the Sous Chefs uncovered the box as Ramsay revealed to the chefs that they would work with potatoes. Eric saw that potatoes can be a great star to a great dish and can be used in so many ways. As Ramsay took a potato out of the box, **Mariah** was excited by the sight of the potatoes. For the **Potato Challenge**, the chefs had 45 minutes to collect, prep, and cook their own potato dish. To demonstrate how to peel and prep a potato perfectly, Ramsay told **Marino** that the potatoes in the box were not enough for everybody to use. That led to a container of potatoes soon coming down, making **Lexi** jump as she had no idea those potatoes were coming.

Ramsay gave the chefs a demonstration on how to prep a potato, and Jayden took note of how easy he made it look. Then, Ramsay revealed that the best chef from each team would receive a Punishment Pass, allowing them to swap places with someone from the winning team and go on the reward while forcing the latter to do the punishment in their place. After hearing that, **Garrett** was determined to get the pass to go on as many rewards as he could.

As the challenge began, the chefs grabbed their potatoes and could use as many potatoes as they could to cook with. **Hayden** noticed his teammates going through all of the potatoes quickly. Meanwhile, Mariah said she did not want to go on the ground and pick up all those potatoes, but picked a few to work with for her dish.. As the men entered the kitchen, **Sous Chef Jason** warned them not to underestimate how long peeling a potato took. **Dylan** said he had never peeled one before and shanked a couple of his first attempts. While Dylan got his third attempt accepted, Hayden ventured into making a potato souffle, and believed so as he wanted to take a risk despite souffles being a scary dish to make.

Twenty-four minutes left, Mariah asked if anyone was serving something similar to her dish, only to be met with silence. As Mariah wanted to represent where she came from, she made pierogies stuffed with rustic potatoes. Meanwhile, **Maya** wanted to see how far she could rise past her strong performance in the Signature Dish Challenge, especially when a Punishment Pass was on the line. With ten minutes left, Nolan wanted to make Yukon boulangère with caramelized onions and rosemary but found his onions undercooked. Eventually, everyone had their dishes cooked and plated on time.

After the cooking, Ramsay had Marino bring out the Punishment Passes in a briefcase, and Lexi called it gold. Ramsay asked both teams to judge their dishes and pick the top three he would taste. As the men went through their dishes, Johnathan hoped they put their differences aside and focus as a team. While Hayden's dish was well received, **Elijah** deemed Nolan's dish undercooked, which he knew Ramsay would not like. As Elijah's dish was tasted, Mariah pushed her pierogies, and Lexi deemed it beautiful. But for **Amelia** and Zoey's dishes, Lexi felt they lacked salt. Then, Lexi wanted her potato hash to be in the top three, but everyone else thought it was underwhelming. Lexi was adamant that her dish was in the top three, but with time running out, **Sous Chef Christina** told the women to wrap it up. Ultimately, Amelia's dish went up over Lexi's, upsetting the latter as she thought she was a front-runner in the competition.

When Ramsay asked Lexi who the first person in the top three for the women was, the latter said Mariah's for a unique flavor profile. Mariah's pierogies stuffed with rustic potatoes looked confident; it was light, and Ramsay said she was in contention for the Punishment Pass. Then, Amelia's orange and maple bacon sweet potato succotash were up next, but she wanted to prove to Ramsay she could cook despite her lack of experience. Despite his concerns about the overpowering maple bacon, Ramsay said the dish lifted the palate, and Amelia's dethroned Mariah's dish. Maya was the final person in the top three to present her dish: herbed gnocchi with wild mushroom gravy. Ramsay loved the gravy that went with her gnocchi but sent Maya back in line for his final decision. Ultimately, Mariah won and received the Punishment Pass, which she called the American Dream.

For the men, **Joey** announced Garrett as the first person in the top three, making the latter feel like a million bucks. Garrett presented his potato gratin, which Ramsay liked as the cook was proper and the heat was balanced. Then, Hayden went up with his potato souffle. It had a beautiful presentation and a perfect cook, making Ramsay deem it better than Garrett's. After Hayden felt confident he would win a Punishment Pass, **Patrick** went up as the final person in the top three. After crossing everything he had, Patrick presented his Irish Colcannon stuffed with crab, and mascarpone cheese. Ramsay said the Colcannon were nailed perfectly, making Patrick feel really happy. After a tough decision, Ramsay said Hayden's dish had the slight edge, making the latter the winner of Punishment Pass. After claiming it, Hayden said it was his destiny and was really happy.

## Before service

After the challenge ended, Ramsay reminded the chefs that Hell's Kitchen opened that night and dismissed the chefs until the Sous Chefs were ready to review the menu. Back at the dorms, the chefs received their knife sets, and **Fiyorina** knew that these knives would be so special. Patrick reminded the group in the blue bedroom that they get to bring back the jackets and the knives after the competition, but Joey felt that he should get the win. That comment weirded Hayden out as he did not think Joey was funny, and the latter began bad-mouthing the women by declaring that none of them had talent. Eric disagreed with Joey, and Elijah did not want the latter's negative energy to drain his skills.

Later that day, the Sous Chefs brought the chefs down for a five-hour training session on the menu items. Zoey felt terrific to get an opportunity to compete, especially as she worked so hard for this opprotunity. As the Sous Chefs went through the demonstrations, Eruc felt overwhelmed by the speed they were going through and felt unconfident. With twenty minutes left before the doors opened, both teams did last-minute prep as Ramsay quizzed Nolan on how long a carbonara was cooked. Nolan said five minutes and knew the opening night jitters got to him after two poor performances. With everything ready, Ramsay asked Marino to open Hell's Kitchen.

## Dinner service

A seafood ceviche was served in the dining room by Patrick and Joey for the men and Fiyorina and Maya for the women. Also, Ramsay invited Season 17 winner Michelle Tribble and Season 21 winner Alex Belew to eat at the chef's tables. While Mariah was thrilled to cook for Tribble, Eric felt intimidated to cook for Belew. Ramsay called out the first order for the men, and Garrett took command of the ticket. However, Sous Chef Jason caught Joey trying to cook a lobster tail off the heat and asked how that would work. Joey argued he did not want it to separate, but that made **Jacob** nervous as he knew the former would not be perfect despite working in Michelin Star restaurants before.

As the appetizers went up, Ramsay showed men Joey's raw lobster tail, saying it needed another three minutes. Nolan could not believe the big dog screwed up while the women in the red kitchen got McBride's order. Amelia knew how stressful it was to cook for the VIP table, but Lexi and Mariah got the appetizers accepted. While the women celebrated their first successful order, Ramsay sternly told them not to celebrate until they got through service. In the blue kitchen, Jacob saw that Joey's second attempt was raw, and the latter did not respond to Garrett and Dylan for a time. Garrett felt that Joey was staring into space, but the latter sent it to the pass. However, Ramsay saw something wrong and took Joey and Jacob to the back room. The lobster tail came out raw, and Ramsay ordered them to get a grip. Joey knew he was not performing to his standards, while Jacob knew he looked bad, thanks to the former. So, Jacob helped Joey on the third attempt, and it was accepted.

Thirty minutes into service, both teams pushed out appetizers, and Ramsay decided to fire entrées in the red kitchen. **Ava Claire** said the salmon would be ready in six minutes, but Ramsay said he wanted them ready in five. While Ava Claire felt confident as she cooked a lot of fish, she was not certain about cooking the salmon. Then, Ava Claire walked it to the pass despite Jayden not being ready with meat, and the latter was not happy with the poor communication. When Jayden walked up her steak, Ramsay sliced into it and told her it was cooked nicely. As the red diners received their entrées, Ramsay began firing entrées in the blue kitchen. However, Nolan and Eric gave inconsistent answers about timing, and Ramsay could not believe it. Nolan said he had been in stressful situations before but believed he was a strong line cook. However, Nolan served a raw steak, and Eric prayed for Virgil to get himself out of purgatory. In the red kitchen, the women worked on their next order as Zoey and Jayden worked on what to cook for meat. However, Jayden wanted to work without Zoey's micromanagement. When Ava Claire was ready with her salmon, it turned out the chicken had not been fired. Jayden realized that she had misheard Zoey's comments earlier and that the latter did not fire the chicken. With the chicken delayed, Ramsay was forced to serve an incomplete table as Jayden and Zoey worked together. In the blue kitchen, Eric said that Hell's Kitchen was harder than it looked on TV, but he got the refire accepted and felt they would get out of it.

The men worked on Belew's order one hour and fifteen minutes into service as Garrett compared Nolan and Eric's performance to a twenty-car pile-up. Then, Nolan and Eric argued over the cook of a chicken breast as Ramsay and Marino waited impatiently for the order. When the entrées went up to the pass, Ramsay discovered raw halibut and raw chicken. Fed up with the fragmented opening night performance, Ramsay kicked the men out of the kitchen and apologized to Belew as Sous Chef Jason cooked the refire. As the men returned to the dorms, Garrett was embarrassed about their performance and wondered why Belew did not knock them out. After the men entered the dorms, Eric was mad at Nolan for the raw chicken as Sous Chef Jason came in to deem it the worst service he had seen. Sous Chef Jason told the men to nominate two people for elimination as Garrett felt embarrassed. In the red kitchen, Jayden continued to work on the chicken as Ramsay told her to rely on her partner. However, Jayden served raw chicken, infuriating Ramsay as he waited seven minutes for that. Ramsay scolded the women for not caring about what they were doing, but an absent-minded **Kara** randomly asked for a time on the chicken. Then, Kara giggled over her mistake, but Ramsay was unimpressed and kicked the women out of the kitchen, ordering them to nominate two people for elimination. Kara argued it was a nervous reaction, but Ramsay stood by his word. As the women returned to the dorms, Amelia was deflated as she cooked with passion and felt no one showed it.

## Post-mortem

After returning to the dorms, the women began discussing who to nominate. Fiyorina suggested nominating the person who served raw chicken, and Jayden explained the confusion between her and Zoey. Despite acknowledging that they messed up, Zoey argued that everyone messed up. Jayden was named the first nominee, but the former pointed out how Ava Claire kept shouting off random numbers. Ava Claire argued that she did not serve raw food and felt that Jayden blamed her for her failures. Afterwards, Fiyorina said they got kicked out for raw meat and giggling before asking what they would do.

Joey blamed Nolan and Eric on the blue side for getting them kicked out, but Dylan said the former was no better than the two on meat. Garrett and Dylan brought up the raw lobster tails Joey served, while the latter badgered the former for not looking at him in the eyes. Jason denied serving anything wrong that night, which bothered Dylan as Nolan and Eric took responsibility and said they had integrity. Dylan went off on Joey for not owning up to his mistakes, but the latter brushed them off.

## Elimination

After the chefs lined up, Ramsay reminded them that Michelle Tribble and Alex Belew dined at the chef tables, but he said he would not have invited them had he known both teams performed poorly that night. Garrett announced Nolan as the men's first nominee and Eric as the second, while Mariah announced Zoey as the women's first nominee and Jayden as the second. During their pleas, Nolan said he wanted to keep learning and prove to Ramsay he could cook, while Brad wanted to show his passion for cooking and achieve the title of winner. Then, Zoey said she was a team player and was willing to go down with the women, while Sandra believed she had more to show than raw chicken. Ramsay told Jayden that he believed her as her cooking was consistent until the raw chicken. Ramsay eliminated Nolan for his poor performance on meat and refused to wait for him after his poor start. During his exit interview, Nolan admitted he did his best and wished to show he was more than just a private chef.

After Nolan left, Ramsay told Zoey and Jayden to get a grip and Eric to fight back from mistakes. After sending the three back in line, Ramsy told both teams to bounce back after their poor performance, as that what he was looking for. While being dismissed, Jayden called it a reality check, but she knew she must bounce back from that night. Then, Zoey was relieved to stay another day and promised to work on her communication skills to show why she was still there. Lastly, Eric promised to show that the winner of Hell's Kitchen was already inside him.

Ramsay's comment: "When Nolan stepped foot into Hell's Kitchen, he expected to make some slam dunks, but early in the competition, you can't do that. Goodbye, Nolan."

## Trivia

* **Title Reference**: The title refers to the power you get when you play a Punishment Pass, in which the chefs could earn for winning the Potato Challenge.
* This is the fourth time following Season 8, Season 12, and Season 22 where the opening night dinner service ended in a joint loss for both teams.