(Archived) (Lifedollars) Episode 2106 - 13 Chefs Compete

The sixth episode of the old version of Season XXI of Hell’s Kitchen was published on TBD. On that episode, Mexican cuisine was the main theme, one chef had to be medically evacuated, a woman joined the blue team, and one team made a comeback at dinner service.

## Intro

While returning to the dorms, Craig was overjoyed that the fat (Ben) had finally been trimmed, and that at this point, only the best chefs remain and they were ready to defeat the girls for the first time in a while. Later, Declan was seen tearing up, and when Lexi asked what was going on, he responded saying that he was really grateful, yet terrified since that service was his worst yet, and his teammates might consider him a weak link. Lexi then said that he should use his nomination as motivation to gain his confidence and that she had faith in him that he could bounce back. Declan then thanked her and gave her a hug.

## Team challenge

The next day, Ramsay called the chefs into the dining room before making an announcement. He then said that meat is a staple of cuisine in several countries, but he said that one country in particular knows meat exceptionally, well, and that he was referring to Mexico. Sabrina said that she loved everything about Mexico, including the food, the culture, and the people. For the Mexican Cuisine challenge, each team would have to cook six proteins. This concerned Deep as he was not familiar with Mexican food and that it would be a challenge for him, despite the fact that he loved challenges. Each chef would stand behind a dome containing a protein, and the chef from the other team would stand with them. Since the red team had an extra member, there would be one pair. Dasara and Layton worked together as a pair.

Then it was revealed that there would be three piñatas, one of them containing vegetables, one containing starches, and one containing wild-card items. Each piñata would be broken, and the chefs would grab two ingredient cards from each pinata, and those would be the ingredients they would have to cook with. Gal was excited as he really felt like punching something, and this would finally his opportunity.

The chefs had 40 minutes to make their dishes, and it was revealed that they were not obligated to use all their ingredients, and Lexi was concerned as she didn't think peanut butter would go well on halibut, and considered scrapping the idea. With twenty minutes remaining, Deep decided he shouldn't use lime, as he didn't feel as though it would go well on beef. Eventually, everyone got their dishes plated on time.

Kori Sutton, the winner from Season 19 was invited as a guest judge, as she knew a lot about Mexican cuisine. First, it was the battle of the pork. Liz's pork dish was deemed delicious, although its presentation wasn't spectacular, so she scored 7 points. Roy's pork was slightly overcooked, so it scored 5 points. In the lamb round, Sabrina's dish was deemed a mess, and only scored 4 points, while Matt's lamb was deemed tasty, yet not pretty, and it scored 6 points. Then, Nonny's beef dish was delicious, and scored 8 points, while Deep's was deemed a disaster, and scored 3 points. Kelly's chicken dish was praised for its creativity, and she scored 7 points, while Declan's chicken dish was praised for its complexity, and scored 8 points. Then, Lexi's dish was not well recieved, and only scored 4 points, while Craig's dish was deemed incredible, and scored 9 points. In the final round, Gal's dish was undercooked, and it was not good, scoring 3 points. Finally, the pair of Dasara and Layton was deemed delicious, and scored 9 points, making the score 39-34, which meant the women won.

## Punishment

During the punishment, Deep began to feel faint and started having painful cramps. Craig noticed and asked what was wrong, and Deep replied saying that he just didn't feel right, and that he needed a medic. Upon hearing this, Craig called for a medic and Deep was taken to the hospital quickly.

## Deep's Exit & Team Switch

The next day, both teams began prepping for Mexican Night, and Craig said that the blue team was ready for redemption.

Once the prep was finished, Ramsay had both teams lined up and gave them an update on Deep’s condition. Unfortunately, Deep was still not feeling well and has been pulled out of the competition. The men were crestfallen by the news, especially Matt, as he felt that the blue team was like disintegrating a slug with salt poured on it. Because the men were down two members, Ramsay told the women that one of them would have to volunteer themselves into the blue team. After hearing this, Declan said he didn't care who was going to join the blue team as long as they're sexy and a good chef. In the end, Nonny volunteered herself into the blue team. When asked about her decision, she said that she felt like she wanted to adapt to new surroundings and prove that she can be a leader on both teams because that's what a good chef does.

After, Ramsay asked Marino to open Hell's Kitchen for Mexican Night.

## Dinner service

### Service

The red team received their first order, and Kelly was ready to bounce back on appetizers after the last time, but when she walked up her carbonara, it was overcooked, and Ramsay berated her, stating that she did not want a repeat of two services ago. She was determined to bounce back, but she didn't tell Sabrina when to drop her scallops, and Ramsay told Kelly to start communicating properly. Then, Sabrina dropped her scallops, but they were not portioned properly, and Ramsay started to get mad. Sabrina said that Kelly didn't tell her when to drop them. Despite this, Sabrina and Kelly got their first appetizers accepted. In the blue kitchen, Craig walked his pasta, but it was deemed raw and crunchy, and Ramsay said that neither teams had a good start thus far. Then, Craig refired the pasta, and Gal tasted it, and determined that it needed 30 more seconds, and he got it accepted. In the red kitchen, Kelly sent up her pasta, and it was way overcooked, and Ramsay asked Kelly if she wanted to go home, and Kelly firmly answered saying no, and started to refire the pasta.

An hour into dinner service, the blue team was pushing out appetizers, but Kelly was still working on the refire for her pasta, and when she tasted it, she determined that she needed 60 more seconds on the pasta, and when it was walked to the pass, it was overcooked again, and Ramsay berated Kelly for this. Then, Dasara refired the pasta, and it was accepted, and a wave of appetizers was leaving the red kitchen. Then, the red team moved onto entrees. Lexi checked her NY Strip, and determined it was good, but it ended up being raw, and Ramsay said that she could potentially kill someone. Then, Ramsay brought the red team into the back pantry, and said that their performance thus far has been an embarrassment, and that they better get their shit together. Then as the red team went back into the kitchen, Layton accused Lexi and Kelly of "falling apart." Lexi told Ramsay that the NY Strip would take three minutes to refire, but after three minutes, the strip was still not there, and Ramsay asked if it was a fucking joke. After Ramsay brought Lexi into the back pantry again, she told him that she had to get a grip on the meat station, and when Lexi came back, her refire on the strip was accepted, and that was their first order of entrees that night. In the blue kitchen, Declan was reminded to use his voice and to ask for help as he was the lone person on meat that night. Declan nearly dropped his wellingtons in front of the convection oven, but saved it with his bare hands, and Craig jokingly said that it was a nice catch. Nearly dropping the wellingtons aside, he got them accepted, and Declan was happy about this, as he said he was bouncing back that night. In the red kitchen, Sabrina walked her salmon up to the pass, and it was accepted, but it was missing the garnish, and when Layton tasted her garnish, she said she needed thirty more seconds, but after forty-five seconds, it was still not there, and when Ramsay asked where the garnish was, and when Layton quickly looked at her watch, she realized that she had been cooking it for too long, and sent it up to the pass, but it was accepted, and Layton deemed it a lucky mistake. Then, Lexi walked her lamb up to the pass, and it was raw, and Ramsay reminded Lexi of how he told her to bounce back. Liz then put the lamb back in the oven, but when it was walked to the pass, it was still undercooked, and Ramsay said that meat was seriously dragging down service that night. Then, Liz returned the lamb to the oven, and it was accepted after it was walked to the pass. In the blue kitchen, Gal returned to the kitchen asking if the blue team needed help, and he was told to go to the fish station, and when Gal walked his halibut to the pass, it still needed Declan's lamb, and despite Ramsay accusing Declan of being too slow, his lamb was accepted, and Ramsay told him that his cooking was on point that night.

In the red kitchen, Lexi sent up her chicken, but it was stringy and raw, and Ramsay was very angry about this, before telling them that he was really starting to lose his patience. Then, Sabrina and Liz sent up their entrees, but he discovered that Sabrina's salmon was raw, and he asked what happened to the red team as they were not the same red team as the last two services. After that, he kicked the red team out of the kitchen, but not before smashing the salmon and tossing it to Dasara. Liz was very dismayed by this. Back in the blue kitchen, they finished their last ticket, and Ramsay congratulated the blue team for their good performance.

## Post-mortem

Back at the dorms, Sabrina said that the main problems that night were hot apps and meat, and Lexi disagreed saying that Sabrina on fish got the red team kicked out of the kitchen, but Sabrina said that that was the one mistake she made that night, but Kelly recalled the incident with the scallops, but Dasara retorted saying that Kelly's lack of communication was the reason Sabrina struggled with the scallops. Layton explained that nearly every piece of meat that Lexi sent up was either raw or overcooked, but Sabrina said that this was her first bad service and Kelly's second bad service, but Kelly said that her performance from her last bad service wasn't nearly as bad as Lexi's performance tonight. Nonny then said that Kelly was very inconsistent and she is unable to execute properly. Kelly stated that she thinks that due to her age, the red team is out to get her, and when she said that she was still young and only doing it for 3 years, Dasara said that it didn't matter how much experience you have, and that it's about how well you can execute your dish. After that, Layton agreed to send up Lexi and Kelly, and everyone else agreed, but Kelly said to nominate Sabrina and Lexi.

## Elimination

Before asking for the nominees, Ramsay said that even though the red team won the challenge, they are not winners in his eyes as they had one of the worst services ever. Layton announced Lexi as the first nominee, with Kelly as the second. However, Ramsay also called Sabrina down for her performance on the fish station. During their pleas, Lexi said that this was her first bad service thus far, and that she was only getting better and better with every service, and despite her having a minor hiccup, she was confident that she could bounce back. Kelly then said that her hiccup wasn't minor, and that she completely shut down during service and that she wasn't passionate enough. Lexi said that she was very passionate and determined to win. Kelly said that she was extremely passionate and confident, and that she was more passionate than all the members of the red team, and more passionate than all the members of the red team. Ramsay asked Kelly what happened that night, and Kelly said that she lost her focus, but she hasn't lost all of her focus, and that if she stayed another night, she'd show him that she would be a very strong asset to the red team and that she has what it takes to win Hell's Kitchen. Upon asking Sabrina, she said that she had a difficult night, but if she was kept one more night, she would be able to show her true ability. Ultimately, Lexi was eliminated for her poor performance on meat, but was praised for her intensity before leaving. During her exit interview, she believed that the wrong person went home tonight, but that's Ramsay's decision. She also said that she's leaving Hell's Kitchen with the same energy and the same passion as she had entering, and that she had nothing to be ashamed of.

After Lexi left, Ramsay said that the theme of the night was bouncing back, and that that's what Lexi failed to do that night, which was why she left Hell's Kitchen. While being dismissed, Dasara felt that Kelly was bringing down the morale of the team, and that she should be the next person leaving Hell's Kitchen. Then, Declan stated that the blue team had a great dinner service, and that the red team had their opportunity to shine, and now it's time for the blue team to shine.

Ramsay's comment: "During her stay in Hell's Kitchen, Lexi cracked a lot of jokes. But tonight, she cracked under pressure and her performance was a joke."

Ramsay gave no comment on Deep's elimination, and he did not receive the coat hanging and burning picture sequence.