(Personas) Episode 4 - 15 Chefs Compete

The fourth episode of the Hell's Kitchen: Personas was published on October 14, 2020. In that episode, one chef bounces back in the challenge, one team achieves a first in Hell's Kitchen, and one chef's ego gets the best of them.

## Intro

While going back to the dorms, Eddie admits being bummed about Sonny leaving as he was one of the better members of the team, and complains about Lukas staying around, mocking Chef Ramsay's words. Meanwhile, Lilly, Tia, Nella and Karie gather, wondering if they should be losing so they can get rid of some dead weight, referring to Scarlet and Ali. Josiah and Louis talk to Chas about his porphyria, and Chas remarks how it's not affecting his performances, and that he'll never be up on that chopping block again.

## Team Challenge

The next day, Sous Chefs Christina and Jay came into the dorms, gave the chefs coloured jerseys, and told them to head downstairs. As the chefs rode off in the SUVs to their location, Karie wonders what Chef Ramsay had in store for them. Arriving at a football field, Ramsay explains how football was considered an American Classic, despite Louis being scared shitless over playing the game, and reveals the American Classics Challenge. Each team would grab footballs for ingredients to use for macaroni and cheese, pizza, burger, and spaghetti, and while both teams would be working in pairs, Louis from the blue team would have to collect the ingredients by himself. Then, Ramsay gives both teams 30 seconds to decide which pair would be cooking which dish, and Halle refuses to lose that challenge. After, Ramsay launches the footballs in the air for the chefs to collect in five minutes, and while Robin deems himself a strong athlete, he complains that the balls were coming in too fast and very heavy. Despite Eddie boasting that he was a great wide receiver, he accidentally hits Nella in the face, and Lilly admits how nervous she was as comfort food was not really her strongest skill. However, Louis is confident on the spaghetti, and wants to make sure he collects the football that had the right ingredients on it. After five minutes, the chefs have their ingredients picked, and Ramsay brought them back to Hell’s Kitchen to cook their dishes.

After 40 minutes of cooking, Ramsay reveals that he would be judging only one dish from each pair, and asks the chefs to decide what dishes would be dropped. Josiah, Halle, Robin, Tia, Lilly, Ali and Nella all drop their dishes. For the pizza round, Lukas and Scarlet present their dishes. Scarlet's is criticised for not being cooked properly, disgusting Tia, who dropped in her favour, while Lukas' is praised for its creativity and perfect seasoning, therefore winning the round for him and Josiah, with Chas calling it a "comeback meal". The Blue Team is leading 2-0. For the burger round, Eddie's burger is criticised for being well-done instead of the mid-rare Ramsay requested, while Karie's is praised for being well-seasoned and unique, winning it for her and Lilly, tying the score at 2. Lilly is thankful that her choice to drop didn't fail. For the mac and cheese round, Chantelle and Chas present their dishes. Chas' is praised for being delicious, while Chantelle's is criticised for its unusual execution. Chantelle tries to argue how her dish would work, but Ramsay gives the point to Chas. Finally, for the spaghetti round, Christa’s is praised for perfect seasoning, while Louis’ is criticised for being mushy, which Louis says he already realised, so Christa wins the round for her and Nella. The score is tied at 4, so Ramsay brings it down to the best dish overall, the title which he gives to Lukas. Lukas comments how being praised by Chef Ramsay was a privilege like no other.

## Reward

The Blue Team are rewarded with a go-kart activity at K1 speed, much to Chas’ disappointment, as he can’t participate. After changing into their suits, Lukas reveals that he had never ridden in a go-kart before, but was determined to come out on top. During the race, Louis takes the lead quickly, saying that it was one of his favourite pastimes. Then, Robin crashes into the walls a few times, before revealing not having a license, and Halle moving quite slowly because of all the adrenaline.

Lukas, Louis and Eddie have the fastest times, so move onto the second round. Eddie targets Lukas, and Lukas retaliates in the feud, allowing Louis to race ahead. Chas notes that Eddie’s bullying nature was even shining through here, and that it was pissing him off. Eddie ends up third, Lukas second and Louis ending up winning.

## Punishment

The Red Team are punished by taking in a delivery of 500 pounds of onions. Chantelle moans to herself about Chef Ramsay not seeing the potential of the dish. Nella suspects Chantelle had grown a bit of an ego having been in the spotlight a few times. While cutting the onions, Tia expresses dissatisfaction of being pushed into dropping her dish, and her opinion of Scarlet being the real weakest link on the Red Team.

## Before Service

The Blue Team return from their reward, and begin prep in their kitchen. Halle expresses happiness that the Blue Team is coming together, and Josiah states his determination to finally complete dinner service. In the Red Kitchen, Tia says that they’d not be cheering had Scarlet let her present her dish. Scarlet gets defensive and says that Tia should’ve pointed out the poor cooking on it, but Tia retorts and claims Scarlet’s ego stopped her from seeing it. Tia and Scarlet get into a shouting match, and Lilly takes Tia into the backroom, and calmly tells her to focus on herself and what she needs to do. Lilly notes that Tia’s starting to lose her composure, and despite wanting to do so herself, claims it is the worst outcome possible for the service.

After prep is complete, Ramsay lines up the teams, and tells them that this far down the line, he expects solid services from both teams, and that he will not tolerate an incomplete service. He then tells Marino to open Hell’s Kitchen.

## Dinner Service

Stations:

A dish of shrimp and grits will be served tableside by Karie for the Red Team, and Robin for the Blue Team. In the Red Kitchen, Lilly is determined to keep Tia focused and get the food out. They send up their risotto, which is accepted by Ramsay. Ramsay then asks where the scallops are, and Christa responds coming right now. However, Scarlet says one minute, frustrating Christa as she was trying to run the station. Ramsay asks if it’s right now or if it’s one minute. Scarlet this time answers right now, and brings them up. Ramsay thanks them, but Christa still tells off Scarlet for confusing her. Lilly instructs them to keep focused, and Tia says that it seems she’s not the only one with problems with Scarlet. Meanwhile, in the Blue Kitchen, Lukas is seen cooking 3 orders of scallops. Halle asks if he’d like help, given that Chas has good control over the apps station, but Lukas tells her to wait and see. He states in a confessional that his last few services have been a disaster, and that he needs to prove himself if he’s ever gonna have a chance in this competition. He sends up his order of scallops, and Ramsay compliments the sear, much to the delight of Josiah, who is thankful Lukas is coming into his own. In the Red Kitchen, Scarlet cooks 3 orders of scallops, and Christa claims that it’s actually only 2 orders. Scarlet sticks her ground and sends up the 3 orders, but Ramsay asks why there’s a third order, leading Christa to complain about her in the confessionals. In the Blue Kitchen, Halle and Chas have to cook for a 12-top. Chas claims that Halle leads the team in a way that hasn’t been seen before, not even from himself, while Halle claims that Chas works incredibly fast for someone with a medical condition. Lukas sends up his orders of scallops, and Halle and Chas send up their components. Ramsay compliments the teamwork between Halle, Chas and Lukas, and Louis joyfully states that his job on the meat station began earlier than it had any right to.

In the Red Kitchen, they’ve moved on to entrees, which gets Chantelle pumped up as it was her time to shine. Chantelle asked Ali to look after the pork dishes on that ticket, but her concern over Chantelle’s overconfidence led her to lose track of it. Luckily, Tia notices and Chantelle rescues the pork. They send it up and Ramsay compliments the perfect temperature. This pleases Chantelle, but she expresses concern over Ali’s struggles with multitasking, claiming it may drag them down. The Blue Team also moved on to entrees, and Lukas asks Eddie for a time on the garnish. Eddie doesn’t respond, so Halle calls out to Eddie, and he responds 2 minutes. This frustrates Lukas, who says that if you can’t put your conflict with one person aside for dinner service, you shouldn’t be here. Louis notes the conflict between them, and offers to communicate with Eddie on Lukas’ behalf. Lukas begrudgingly accepts, and sends up his fish. Ramsay compliments the sear, and calls for service. In the Red Kitchen, Ali reports that she burnt a steak, frustrating Christa, and Ramsay lays into her for it. Ali apologises and ensures that she doesn’t repeat the same mistake. Chantelle claims taht her concerns have been justified by this moment, but when Ali sends up her next steak, it is accepted. However, Scarlet’s fish, which Christa brought up, is overcooked, and Ramsay demands that she get a grip. Ali gets frustrated that her comeback was spoiled, and Christa gets pissed at Scarlet for screwing her over. In the Blue Kitchen, Lukas is swamped with fish orders, and Halle offers help, which Lukas accepts, telling her which pans to look after. Halle comes over, and says that despite accepting help, it really seemed like he didn’t need it, as he had a pretty good handle on the station already. Halle tells Lukas this, but Lukas just says “help is help, needed or not”. They send up their fish, and Ramsay thanks them and compliments them for their teamwork. Chas expresses delight in Lukas’ growth over the past day, and excitement that they may finish service on time.

In the Red Kitchen, Scarlet in seen cooking fish, and Christa tells her it’s overcooked again. Scarlet ignores her, and Christa gets frustrated and pushes her out of the way. Lilly notes this, and thinks it’s unprofessional of Christa, even if Scarlet is tanking the service, but asks what they expected from a commis. Ramsay also notices the arguments and calls both of them forward, telling them to keep their mouths shut and cook. He then points out that the Blue Team is down to their last two tickets, while they still have five to go. The race is on, and the Blue Kitchen is running at full speed. Chas jumps over to garnish to assist Eddie and Halle remains on fish with Lukas, and they send up their final tables, finishing the service on a triumphant high, and Ramsay congratulating them. The Red Team is bitterly disappointed, with Tia throwing her cloth on the ground in frustration.

## Post-Mortem

Ramsay lines the teams up and congratulates the Blue Team for their first service win. He then expresses his disappointment with the Red Team and demands that they come to an agreement on two nominees. On the way back, the Blue Team is seen cheering. Chas claims that it felt so good to finally kick the Red Team’s asses, and says that he’ll be ready next time. They’re seen having a group hug.

The Red Team gathers round, and Tia immediately nominates Scarlet for her terrible performance on fish. Scarlet objects to that decision, but everyone else demands that she keep her mouth shut. Chantelle takes charge and points out both Ali and Christa as the other two poor performers, Ali for struggling on meat with her, and Christa for not taking reins on the fish station to combat Scarlet’s incompetence. Lilly then points out that Ali was being really cooperative with Chantelle, and taking advice from her, and that Christa’s performance wasn’t entirely her fault. Lilly claims that Ali’s growth over the past few services is very promising, and she wants to see more out of her. Chantelle considers the idea of Christa going up on the block in order to guarantee Scarlet’s exit.

## Elimination

Chantelle announces Scarlet as the first nominee, and Ali as the second, much to Christa’s relief. Ramsay accepts both of the nominees and calls them forward. During their pleas, Scarlet claims that she has more to give, while Ali notes how she’s constantly improving. When Ramsay asks Ali if she might be out of her depth, Ali passionately refutes this by claiming that she’s just as strong as them, but just has a few weaknesses to iron out. Ramsay then accepts Ali’s plea and sends her back in line, before eliminating Scarlet for her delusions of grandeur and failure to show any competency. During her exit interview, Scarlet claims that Ali should be out here instead of her, and that Chef Ramsay hasn’t seen the last of her.

Following Scarlet’s elimination, Ramsay congratulates the Blue Team for their performance that evening. He then tells Ali that he admires her tenacity, but is watching her like a hawk from now on, before dismissing the teams. While being dismissed, Tia expresses satisfaction that Scarlet is now gone, and hopes that she will be able to help Ali through, Halle cheers that the Blue Team is finally coming together, Chantelle says that while they lost that evening, she wasn’t concerned, as she was still on top.

Ramsay’s comment: *“In Scarlet’s mind, she was the winner of Hell’s Kitchen. In reality, she only stayed because of her peers’ performances, and not her own.”*