Episode 7: It's Gone To The Dogs

Following the team switch Jazz was told to stay behind by Ramsey who made it clear that she was close to being eliminated for her mistake and that he and Chef Jason were keeping an eye on her and her attitude going forward, warning the Aussie that another incident like the one that occurred tonight might result in her elimination, Jazz revealed to Ramsey when asked that she was the only member of her family who lived stateside and Ramsey warned her to make sure that the sacrifice wasn't in vain.

Jazz was noticeably pale as she returned to the dorms where the Blue Team were waiting to welcome her into the fold, as she was interacting with her new teammates Jazz suffered a severe anxiety attack and excused herself to the patio to try to deal with it, Troy, Max and Steve followed her out and Steve was able to identify what was going on with the young woman, revealing that his daughter had similar issues.

At this point Christina stepped out onto the patio after hearing about what was happening from the Red Team and after Troy informed the Red Team's Sous Chef of the situation Christina excused the Blue Team so she could talk to Jazz in private, Jazz revealed that she had been dealing with anxiety disorder since her late teens and had put up barriers to avoid looking weak, resulting in her ego and temper issues, Christina told Jazz to get help for her issues regardless of how the competition ended and told her that Ramsey would want a word with her about it the next morning.

Jazz was asked by Gordon if she wanted to withdraw from the competition for her mental health and Jazz refused, wanting to be knocked out by a stronger chef rather than her mental health, Gordon accepted her terms but urged her to talk to someone on the cast if she ever needed it, be it a cast mate, Ramsey himself or one of the Sous Chefs, which Jazz agreed to.

## Team Challenge

Jazz joined her new teammates in the kitchen and they were taken outside where a large playpen full of dogs of various sizes had been set up, Zara was unable to contain her excitement at the site, revealing in a confession cam that she loved dogs and was practically in heaven right now, the task was simple, each dog had a different protein and the chefs had to lead the dog into a playpen where the toys would have side ingredients that the chefs had to use in their dishes.

To the surprise of no one, Zara volunteered to run into the playpen first and Jazz volunteered to go against her, feeling that she needed to make a good first impression on her first challenge as a Blue Team member, Zara got a Tomahawk Steak and Chorizo and Jazz got a ribeye and bacon, Zara ended up going into the pen again however when Harper revealed that she was allergic to dogs, much to the Southerner's delight, in the end the other pairings got: Pork Chop and Apples (Harper), Veal Chop and Polenta (Vince), Salmon and Asparagus (Jamie), Cod and Miso (Troy), Crab and Spring Onions (Amy), Lobster and White Wine (Max), Chicken and Chillis (Kayla), Quail and Rice (Tyson) and Duck and Harissa (Zoey) and Halibut and Potatoes (Carlos), Steve, Carson and Milke would get cook a second steak dish due to the difference in team numbers but their dish was ultimately left off.

The challenge ended up being one of the best ones of the season with the majority of the chefs cooking at a high level, Harper's pork chop with caramelized apples was cooked perfectly and whilst Vince produced his first good dish of the season, it wasn't enough to defeat Harper, Jamie and Troy similarly performed well with their fish dishes and scored a tie and likewise, Amy produced her best dish up to that point with her Asian style crab cakes, only just missing out thanks to Max's lobster dish, Kayla and Tyson were the only outliers as Kayla undercooked her chicken and Tyson's quail risotto just missed the mark whilst Zoey's middle eastern duck just beat Carlos's take on fish and chips.

Ultimately it came down to Jazz and Zara and their dishes both had their problems, Zara had wasted too much time wondering how she was supposed to cook a steak that big that she could only do a chorizo fritata (which Gordon pointed out that whilst it tasted good, it was something that he could've cooked in minutes) and vegetables cooked in chorizo oil to highlight the side whilst Jazz's reverse seared ribeye was perfectly cooked but she had to scramble to fix her split bacon Steak Diane sauce, letting her vegetables burn in the process, eventually Zara's steak won her the day and Jazz chose to use her punishment pass when she learned that the reward was to go to a dog show and spend time with the dogs, knowing that Harper wouldn't be able to enjoy the reward as much as the other chefs due to her allergies which Harper was thankful for.

## Reward

The Red Team (plus Jazz) were awarded with a day at a local dog show and getting to spend time with the dogs, much to Zara's delight, whilst on the reward Jazz told the Red Team about her anxiety attack the previous night and Zara's first thought was to make sure that she was okay after hearing how bad it was, something that Jazz deeply appreciated.

## Punishment

The Blue Team were tasked with getting the dogs cleaned up and returned to the animal shelter that they were on loan from and then prepping both kitchens, Troy and Max advised Harper to avoid interacting with Vince as much as she could, warning her about the incident between Vince and Amy, whilst she was surprised at hearing that, she took the advice to heart, reasoning that it was better to get the punishment over and done with and return to her team.

## Before Service

The Red Team returned from the award and Harper was informed of what happened to Jazz the previous night, whilst Harper was sympathetic, she still viewed Jazz as her competition and was glad that the Aussie wanted to remain in the competition rather than get knocked out by her mental health since that meant Harper could knock her out of the competition later.

## Dinner Service

 **Appetizers** | Jamie and Zara
 **Meat** | Harper
 **Fish** | Amy
 **Garnish** | Kayla
 Dessert

A tableside Steak Diane would be served by Zoey from the Red Team and Carson from the Blue, Jazz was on desert for her first night in the Blue Team but planned to operate as a floater, helping out her teammates if they needed it.

Both teams got to a steady start on appetizers with Zara and Jamie sending out the apps at a steady pace with Amy's help and whilst Carlos, Troy and Mike had their issues on fish (mostly caused by Mike) and appetizers, they got through them with little issue, though Mike did get kicked out for serving raw scallops.

Things fell apart for the Blue Team when it came to entres as Vince and Tyson found themselves in the weeds, made worse by the face that Jazz discovered that Vince had butchered the supply of wellingtons when she went to check on them, Gordon initially moved Jazz to the meat station but when Vince's sexist attitude showed itself Vince and Tyson were kicked out leaving Jazz to man the station solo, Jazz proceeded to turn in the best performance she had all season and managed to take the Blue Team through to a completed service, the Red Team meanwhile completed service with little issue though one of Zoey's steaks turned out raw and was returned to the kitchen.

## Post-mortem

The Blue Team lost the service but Jazz was named the best of the worst, with Ramsey telling her to come up with two nominees.

During deliberation Jazz made it clear to the men that she was going to judge this on what she had seen that night, when informed of Vince's sexist remarks not being an isolated case Jazz made her choice to put him up for elimination causing Vince to make even worse remarks, prompting Jazz to launch into a furious tirade at the older chef, during which he accused Jazz of sleeping with her boss to get her current job which only angered Jazz further, by the end of the tirade Jazz informed Vince that he was going up for elimination whether he liked it or not and that if he dared to make light of the comments during elimination Jazz would reveal everything that he had told her.

## Elimination

Jazz informed Ramsey that she was nominating Vince and Mike for elimination for their struggles on meat and fish, alongside Vince's sexist attitude, during his plea Vince made the mistake of making light of his comments and Jazz made good on her word, with the rest of the Blue Team backing up her words and that it wasn't an isolated case, something that Amy confirmed, Vince tried to pass off his remarks as jokes but a disgusted Ramsey had had enough, sending Mike back in line without hearing his plea and eliminating Vince on the spot.

Vince's elimination statement: *“I swear man, she would not have gotten away with that crap all those years ago when I was her age! But here I am, on my way out of Hell’s Kitchen because Ramsey trusted a nut case’s opinion over mine! I’ll go back to my restaurant and it will outshine the winner’s restaurant in every way, just you wait.”*

Ramsey's comment: “Vince thought he could show the world that he was an old dog who could learn new tricks, but in reality? He was an old dog who needed to be put down.”

### Trivia

Jazz revealed on her social media pages that after the season finished, Zara flew out to LA and adopted two of the dogs used in the challenge, namely the Alsatian and the Golden Labrador, Zara herself confirmed this in the comments by posting a pic of her posing with the doggos, with the caption "can confirm, best decision ever".