Episode 7: Lucky Thirteen

## Synopsis

The thirteen chefs work with European-styled fish cuisines, one team continues to fall apart, and one chef begins to crack under the pressure.

After re-capping the previous episode and Candace's elimination, the remaining chefs went up to the dorms. Kiibo and Kirumi discussed their feelings about being leaders on their teams. Kiibo confessed that he felt like he was destined for black jackets since his memory and digital brain had so much culinary knowledge.

## Challenge

The thirteen chefs were greeted by Chef Ramsay with two wheels showing various countries. He explained that the teams would be divided up into pairs. The pairs would spin the wheels and work with ingredients from whichever country they landed on. Byakuya volunteered to sit out in order to balance the teams.

For the red team, Kirumi and Sakura paired up together and received French and Japanese cuisine. Chiaki and Teruteru paired up and were assigned Mexican and Thai cuisine. Finally, Hina and Mikan were paired up with Spanish and Greek cuisine. Meanwhile, for the blue team, Bill and Joe were paired up and were assigned French and Greek cuisine. Kiibo and Barack were paired up and received Japanese and Mexican cuisine. Finally, Donald and Joe were paired up and were assigned Spanish and Thai cuisine.

After 45 minutes, the pairs had their dishes ready. Chef Ramsay announced that this would be a king-of-the-hill style format, where the last pair to hold the throne wins the competition for their team. He began with Kirumi and Sakura's French-Japanese fusion. They had crafted foie gras with daikon and a soy and sesame sauce. Chef Ramsay approved of their portions and plating, as well as the flavors. He allowed them both to sit in the thrones first. Bill and Joe followed with their Crepe Spanakopitas, which were criticized for being sloppily organized and formed. They did not earn a shot at the throne. Chiaki and Teruteru were up next, with a marinated chicken dish with ancho chile pepper and turmeric. Chef Ramsay liked the dish, but found it to be too simple. Kirumi and Sakura continued to keep the throne. Kiibo and Barack were next, bringing up Takoraisu: a fusion of tacos and rice with sake and lettuce. Chef Ramsay said that if he had a nickel for every good taco dish he's had this season, he'd have two nickels. Not a lot, but weird that it's happened twice now. He let Kiibo and Barack take the throne. Since the blue team took the throne, Chef Ramsay wanted to see Donald and Joe's Spanish and Thai fusion. Unfortunately, Donald misunderstood Spanish as Mexican and attempted to create an enchilada-esque spin on Khao phat namliap. Chef Ramsay criticized their efforts, saying that it simply wasn't fusion and not what he asked for. Kiibo and Barack kept the throne. Hina and Mikan were the final pair to go up, with lamb empanadas with katiki and chorizo-filled dates with bacon. Chef Ramsay enjoyed the variety on this dish and its harmonization of the cultures. Eventually he decided that Kiibo and Barack had to say goodbye to their thrones as Hina and Mikan won it for their team, giving the red team their fourth consecutive challenge win.

## Reward/Punishment

For their reward, the red team would get an overnight stay in Las Vegas with access to the gambling center of the world. And to top it off, they'd be playing with house money of 1000 dollars each. The blue team, however, would have the wonderful goodness of delivery day (and night). Ben made the decision to use his punishment pass and chose to replace Byakuya. Byakuya was furious at this move, while Ben laughed in his confessional about how he waited for the perfect moment to use his pass. During the punishment, Byakuya and the blue team complained about the heavy lifting and constant horns. Byakuya also earned the ire of the blue team by refusing to participate until "encouraged" by Angie. Conversely, during the reward, Ben and the red team had an incredible time. Mikan unfortunately spent her 1000 dollars, but Ben made up for it by earning a 10,000 dollar profit. Sakura commented that they lucked out that they had a four leaf clover with them on their trip to Vegas.

## Service

The next evening, the chefs got ready for the upcoming service. In the red kitchen, Teruteru and Chiaki were on apps, Byakuya was on garnish, Sakura and Hina were on meat, Mikan was on fish, and Kirumi was on desserts. In the blue kitchen, Joe and Barack were on apps, Ben was on garnish, Donald was on meat, Bill was on fish, and Kiibo was on desserts.

During the red team's service, apps were held back by Mikan overcooking mussels, which made her become very flustered. Hina came to bail her out and keep service going. Besides that, there were no mistakes during the appetizer section. During entrees, however, Sakura brought up an undercooked filet, Mikan brought up an undercooked and overcooked salmon, and Byakuya brought up burnt garnish for all three entrees. Chef Ramsay gathered the team into the storeroom and yelled at them to get a grip. After another burnt garnish entree from Byakuya and an overcooked salmon from Mikan, Chef Ramsay said he was done, and kicked the two out. He ordered Hina to take over fish and Kirumi to take over garnish. Unfortunately, Sakura then burnt a wellington, causing Chef Ramsay to kick the rest of the team out.

In the blue kitchen, appetizers were held back by Joe burning a risotto, with Chef Ramsay yelling at him to wake up. Besides this, there were no mistakes during this section. During the entrees, things began to unravel, as Donald brought up undercooked steak and Bill brought up filet mignon instead of Beef Wellington. Chef Ramsay yelled that even though Joe's the oldest one here, he can at least hear the orders Chef was saying, unlike Bill. After that, they would send the ticket, but Ben would deliver undercooked garnish, with Chef Ramsay saying that's not a mistake he would expect Ben to make. After that, Donald would bring up a Wellington that was deemed cooked to fuck, and Bill brought up a raw halibut. Chef Ramsay lost his patience, and kicked the blue team out as well.

## Post-Mortem

With all thirteen chefs in the dorms, Chef Ramsay marched up personally to tell the chefs that that was the worst performance he'd ever seen. After seeing them at their best, the chefs let him down and the customers down personally. He ordered both teams to come up with two nominees for elimination, ending by saying that they should be ashamed of themselves.

During deliberation, the red team quickly agreed that Mikan and Byakuya were the two nominees. However, they noticed that Byakuya was ignoring them, and Mikan hadn't said a word since returning to the dorms. Chiaki confessed that she was worried something was wrong with Mikan for shutting down. The blue team, however, agreed on Bill going up, but struggled with the second nominee. Kiibo, Donald, and Ben argued that Joe should go up due to his previous mistakes and general sluggish nature. Barack, Bill, and Joe, however, said that Donald should go up since he wasn't a team player and made as many mistakes as Joe.

## Elimination

Both teams lined up at the elimination ceremony, with Chef Ramsay repeating his disappointment in the chefs for letting him down. Hina announced the first nominee from the red team to be Byakuya since he seems to have checked out. She then said the second nominee was Mikan for shutting down on the line. Joe was chosen to announce the nominees for the blue team, beginning with Bill due to his incompetence on the fish station. He then stated that the second nominee was Donald due to him not being a team player and making mistakes consistently.

Chef Ramsay called all four of them down and asked Bill why he should stay in Hell's Kitchen. Bill stated that he was a leader and willing to accept help. Donald stated that his capabilities on the line made up for the attitude the team claimed he has. Byakuya stated that he was easily better than the "commoners" that stood next to him. Chef Ramsay criticized his ego, stating that he shows no respect to those around him. Finally, he asked Mikan why she should stay, causing her to snap and say her nomination was bullshit and that she could easily outcook anyone on the red team due to her passion and motivation to win. Chef Ramsay sent Bill and Mikan back in line, much to the red team's fear. He looked at Donald and Byakuya and pointed out that he saw them both as arrogant and incompetent, contemplating sending them both home to make the teams lighter. In the end, Chef Ramsay ordered Donald back in line and eliminated Byakuya for his lack of fight. He ordered the remaining twelve chefs to never perform like that again, and dismissed them. After being dismissed, Mikan screamed in her confessionals that she had what it takes and that everyone would regret bullying her and belittling her. Donald shrugged in his confessional, stating that Chef Ramsay knew he was worth it to keep around. Ben's confessional had him wanting to take control of the team, as they clearly needed a strong leader.

Byakuya - I no longer care that I have been eliminated. I know I'm much better than a servant to the common folk. I cook because I can afford to and I have the time and money to do so. I see no reason to waste my time with this competition anymore.

Elim Quote - "Byakuya showed me that he cooks to look good. I showed him the door."