Episode 1: Welcome to Hell

The opening Episode of Season 28, published on December 21st, 2023

## Intro

The twenty new contestants are welcomed into Hell's Kitchen, Jazz is eager to get started, having moved from her native Australia to become a chef, Jamie feels her age as she realizes how big the age difference between her and the other Red Team members is, Zara dodges questions about her cooking background out of nervousness and Chloe declares that she's there to chase her dream, Ramsey greets them all with the Sous Chefs and instructs them to cook their signature dishes.

## Signature Dish Challenge

During the cooking process Christina catches Chloe leaving her station in a terrible state as she cooks her signature dish, causing a mess on the counter and on the floor beneath her and after she talks back to Christina the young chef is harshly reprimanded before being forced to clean up her station alone (though Zara does get her some cleaning supplies), the signature dish challenge starts off with Australian born chef Jazz taking on former army servicemen Steve, Jazz's take on Surf and Turf proves to be a massive hit with Ramsey, earning her the first perfect score of the evening, despite being nervous about following Jazz's dish Steve's New York Strip dish does well, earning a 4/5, following that pairing is Leah and Vince who both have problems with their dishes, Leah's prawn tagliatelle dish not only featured boxed pasta but under cooked prawns that still had the poop sack in them resulting in Ramsey threatening her with immediate elimination before awarding her a 1/5, Vince's dish proves to be marginally better as he sores a 2/5 for under cooking his risotto and overcooking the pigeon breast.

Next up were Kimmie and Kenny, Kimmie managed to get the women back on the right track by earning a 4/5 on her Mushroom Scallops whilst Kenny's unconventional Lobster dish earned him the second perfect score of the night, next up was the short and petite Zara going up against the much taller Troy, something Ramsey immediately noticed and did a double take when Troy confirmed that he was 6ft 8, this round was a tale of two different Scallop dishes as Troy's Scallops and Grits earned a strong 4/5 whilst Zara's Scallop Crudo dish saw a 4/5 be bumped down to a 3/5 for being plated like it was out of the 1970s, the next pairing saw Jamie take on Tyler and the older chef explaining that she had entered the competition to put her teen aged niece (a massive Hell's Kitchen fan) through college and her stuffed chicken dish was good enough to overcome it's outdated plating and earn the third perfect score of the night, Tyler couldn't compare however as his store brought salad and under cooked quail earned him a one.

In a montage, Zoey continued the Red Team's streak with a solid 4/5 for her steak dish which easily beat Tyson's under cooked chicken and Carlos's upscale patatas bravas tied Kayla's wild boar and chorizo burger, earning 4/5 each, Mike's Short Rib Po Boy sandwich earned praise and another 4/5 whilst Harper's brave move of preparing a desert version of a Spaghetti Carbonara earned another 4/5 for nailing the concept, Amy's Halibut En Crute broke the Red Team's streak of good dishes as the fish was under cooked and the sauce saved it from a 1/5 earning her a two, Carson's Squid Adobo earned him a 3/5 for good flavor but bad plating.

Ultimately it came down to one of the Red Team's youngest chefs Chloe taking on the oldest chef in the competition Max, despite Chloe talking passionately about learning how to cook at her family's steakhouse it wasn't enough to save her ill conceived dish as the ribeye stew had terrible presentation and meat that was so obviously overcooked that Ramsey refused to taste earning her a one, there was a glimmer of hope for the Red Team when Max unveiled his Mushroom and Scallop porridge but when that got a perfect score it merely tied the score, requiring a tie breaker.

With the scores tied Ramsey called the two best dishes up with Jazz joining Max in presenting their dishes again. whilst Jazz's Australian Wagyu Ribeye and Lobster Tail were cooked perfectly it was ultimately Max's creativity that just beat out her dish winning the first challenge for the men.

## Reward

The men were treated to a trip to one of Gordon's restaurants in LA, with Vince describing it as one of the best days of professional career, he made some lewd jokes about two of the more attractive Red Team members (Jazz and Zara) but the Blue Team brushed him off as being drunk and continued to enjoy their day.

## Punishment

The red team were tasked with setting up the dorms and cleaning up the dining room under the supervision of Christina, Chloe was rude to Christina again, telling the sous chef to fuck off when Christina made a joke about her signature dish but quickly backed off when Christina confronted her, still this incident combined with the poor signature dish set her off on a bad start with the rest of the Red Team and when Jamie tried to talk to Chloe about her attitude after the punishment was done she brushed the older chef off, instead seeking solace with Leah.

After the Blue Team returned both teams settled in for the night to read up on the menu, Jazz confided in Jamie that she had left her family behind in Australia to chase her dreams and Jamie encouraged her to keep chasing them, Vince meanwhile made several sexist remarks about the women while chatting with the rest of the Blue Team angering his fellow chefs and prompting Steve to storm out, Zara and Amy chatted in another part of the dorms, with Zara admitting to feeling intimidated when compared to the likes of Jazz and Jamie and Amy assuring her that it was just the first day.

The following morning the chefs were called down to the dining room where a mini diner had been set up, Chef Ramsey tasked the cooks with preparing their creative spin on a burger, with the best dishes earning their makers the punishment pass for their respective teams, ending the first episode.