Episode 9: Blind Leading the Blind

Following the team switch Jazz welcomed Zara into the Blue Team and made it clear to her that whilst they were friends at this point, they were still competing for the same prize at the end of the day, Zara agreed admitting that she was still shocked that she had made it as far as she did and Jazz assured her that Zara's growth had been tremendous, the rest of the Blue Team joined the two women at this point with Troy and Max warmly welcoming Zara into the Blue Team which Zara appreciated.

In the Red Team the women similarly welcomed Carson into the fold and he made it clear that whilst he was a jokester, he still took his job seriously and was embarrassed by his performance that night, Jamie advised him to put that service behind him and focus on the competition going forward which Carson agreed with, Amy was angry at herself for letting things get that bad on apps but Jamie gave her the same advice, telling her to use that anger to regroup and focus on the competition ahead.

## Team Challenge

The next morning the newly shook up teams went down to the dining room and saw that a mini movie theater had been set up, the screen showed old Hell's Kitchen clips before focusing on some of the most famous (and infamous) moments from the Blind Taste Test at which point Ramsey announced the return of the challenge, with a pair of dunk tanks ready to drop their victims into the tank if a contestant got them wrong, the max score being increased to five for the season, Jazz removed the bandage from her hand pre-emptively knowing that she would have to get a new one soon anyway and noted that her burn was looking a lot better.

The first pairing was Mike and Amy with Jazz and Jamie in the hot seat, to the dismay of their teammates, Mike and Amy performed abysmally on the Blind Taste Test, earning a 0/5 each and dropping Jazz and Jamie into the tank, next up were Tyson and Kayla with Troy and Amy in the hotseat and whilst Amy was sparred with Kayla getting a decent 3/5 score, the same couldn't be said for Troy as Tyson bombed on the test, leading Jazz to wonder if someone as tall as Troy would even fit in the tank the answer ended up being yes as Troy was dropped into the tank.

The next round was contested between Jazz and Jamie with Max and Kayla in the hot seat, Jazz not only got the Blue Team on the board but she showed to have an excellent palette scoring the first perfect score of the evening and Jamie did well too, earning a four out of five and both teammates were saved from the dunk tank, Zara would prove herself to be a great addition to the Blue Team, joining Jazz in getting a perfect score against Harper who scored 2/5, sparring Carlos and Carson from the dunk tank. sadly they wouldn't be so lucky when the roles were reversed, with Carlos and Carson scoring 0/5 each, sending them into the tank, with a final score of 10-9 the Blue Team won the challenge.

## Reward

The Blue Team (after Jazz, Zara, Steve and Troy got cleaned up) were treated to a day at the ice skating rink to themselves and were joined by Ramsey, Jazz and Zara were uneasy on the ice as they had never been ice skating before but got through it and the Blue Team had a good time on the ice, until.......

### Tyson's injury and elimination

When Tyson took to the ice he did well at first until he broke his leg on a nasty fall, Jazz and Zara were quick to act, getting Tyson off the ice so that a medic could get to him easily, knowing that there was no way Tyson's injury would heal in time for him to return to Hell's Kitchen Gordon eliminated him on the spot and urged him to keep fighting when he got better, Tyson thanked him for the opportunity and called Jazz and Zara two of the strongest women he knew before praising the rest of his team.

## Punishment

The Red Team were tasked with disassembling the theater and prepping the kitchens before service, Carson kept the mood light with his jokes which the Red Team appreciated as an ice breaker.

## Before Service

Once the remaining members of the Blue Team returned Gordon informed the Red Team about Tyson's accident and elimination, shocking the Red Team in the process, Jazz said that they were dedicating the next service to Tyson and Carson said that the Red Team were doing the same, something that the woman on the Red Team agreed with, Ramsey also announced that there was no tableside tonight as they couldn't afford the numbers.

## Dinner Service

 **Meat** | Harper
 **Fish** | Amy
 **Garnish** | Kayla
 Dessert

The Blue Team got off to an excellent start on apps and Zara and Jazz were eager to make up for the last service and prove that they belonged on the Blue Team and with Troy and Carlos's help they flew through the apps, the same couldn't be said for the Red Team though as whilst Jamie and Carson did well on apps Amy had her second bad night in a row as she couldn't get it together on fish, only just recovering in time for the final apps to go out, however things took a turn for the worst when it came time for the meat station as Harper had her first bad performance on the line and Amy regressed to how she was at the start, getting them both kicked out and requiring Carson and Jamie to take over their respective stations, the Blue Team had their best service yet with even the inconsistent Mike performing well on meat and as the last orders went out the Blue Team dedicated their performance to Tyson.

## Post-mortem

Gordon praised the Blue Team for their excellent service, taking time to complement Zara for turning in another stellar performance and Mike for seemingly recovering from his earlier struggles, he declared the Blue Team the winners of the service and told the Red Team to come up with two nominees.

## Elimination

Jamie named Amy and Harper as the Red Team's nominees, Gordon asked Amy if she had given up after being up for elimination twice to which Amy denied, saying that she had plenty of fight left in her and Harper said that her bad performance tonight was a fluke and that it would never happen again.

Ultimately both women were sparred as Ramsey didn't feel right eliminating anyone after Tyson's injury took him out of the competition, but warned both teams that there would be no such mercy next time.

Tyson's elimination comment: *"This sucks on so many levels, I've loved my time here in Hell's Kitchen and to go home after I broke my leg is a terrible feeling! Zara and Jazz are two incredibly strong young women with bright futures in this business and I wish those ladies nothing but the best, and to the rest of the Blue Team? Keep kicking ass for me, okay?"*

Ramsey's elimination comment: *"As bad as Amy and Harper were tonight, I couldn't eliminate either of them in good faith after Tyson broke his leg, however they will need to step up a gear or the next time won't be so lucky."*