Episode 1: Open The Gates Of Hell

## Intro

Twenty new contestants were transported to Hell's Kitchen by bus, eager to impress Chef Ramsey on the first day, Kylie was noticeably shy and introverted compared to the other women in the cast while Freya was openly joking around with some of the chefs (though Ritchie admitted that he had no idea what her accent was in a confession cm), Leo commented in another confession cam that he was thrilled to be around so many lovely ladies as he considered himself a ladies man whilst Andreas was very focused and intent to show her serious he was taking this.

The bus came to a sudden stop before they could reach Hell's Kitchen and after a few minutes of waiting Dani peaked out the window to get a look outside, seeing that a large outdoor kitchen had been set up by Chef Ramsey! The chefs departed from the bus and Ramsey told them that he wanted to make sure that his next head chef was ready for anything and that the Signature Dish Challenge was starting now.

## Signature Dish Challenge

The chefs got to work on cooking their signature dishes as soon as they could, all under the supervision of Sous Chef Christina and Sous Chef Jason, Freya immediately caught Christina's attention for preparing a Reindeer Meat Tartare and assured the Hell's Kitchen Chef that she had made it before, in the Blue Kitchen Andreas caught Jason's attention for a very different reason, he was attempting to deconstruct a beef wellington! The German immigrant explained that he knew Beef Wellingtons were one of the hardest things to cook in Hell's Kitchen but figured that he'd establish himself early on by showing that he was able to present the dish in a different way, Kylie was even more shy around Christina whilst Rebecca claimed that her kitchen hacks were going to set her apart and win her Hell's Kitchen.

Once time was up Gordon explained that the dishes would be judged on a scale of 1 to 5, five being an absolutely perfect dish and one being an absolute disaster, the first pairing was Kylie and Leo and they both got their teams off to a bad start for different reasons, Kylie's painful shyness only made her Pan Seared Scallops with a Seared Fruit Salad worse when Ramsey realized that there wasn't anything that wasn't burnt on the plate earning her the first one of the evening whilst Leo introduced himself as a ladies man before making some lewd comments about the women, making the Red Team members groan and irritating the other men, Ramsey warned him to treat the women with respect or else and Leo quickly apologized though Andreas did state that they were going to have words if Leo's dish wasn't good, luckily for Leo his "Ultimate Date Night Dish" was good enough to earn him a 4/5.

Next up was Canadian Norwegian Chef Freya taking on Ritchie and unlike Ritchie Ramsey quickly identified Freya's thick accent as Norwegian with Freya explaining that she was first generation, after joking around a bit Freya introduced her tartare to Ramsey stating that she wanted to bring something from her home country to the table, the gamble paid off as Freya scored the first perfect score of the night whilst Ritchie's Cheeseburger Tacos (which Freya suspected may have been created whilst high on weed) were declared disgusting, earning the Blue Team the first one of the evening, the next pairing was Andreas and Erika and Ramsey outright asked Andreas if he was mad for deconstructing one of signature dishes, even so Ramsey awarded Andreas the second perfect score of the evening though the Red Team were able to keep pace thanks to Erika's Chicken Bellentine scored a strong 4/5.

Next up were CJ and Rebecca and Rebecca's Seared Ribeye with a hacked ragu, mushroom ketchup and Triple Cooked Truffle Fries sounded good on paper until Rebecca revealed that the ragu was made with precooked ingredients, Ramsey still tried the dish but found that it would've been a strong four if she had left the sauce off as it didn't have a place on the plate knowing it down to a three, it was still better than CJ's offering though as his seared salmon dish was cooked to fuck and earned a one, next up were Dani and Josh and Dani's ego rubbed everyone the wrong way from the word go, made worse when her Rack of Lamb dish was found to be overcooked and scored a 2/5, with only the garnishes saving it from a one, Josh's pan seared duck breast turned the Blue Team's momentum back around earning a 4/5.

A montage followed next where Taylor's Halibut dish got the women back on track with a 4/5 against Eddie's miso glazed lamb which scored a three for sloppy presentation and Henry's pork belly dish scored a strong four against Jayne's monkfish which scored a 4/5 as well, Jenna was up next against Jason and despite her Italian heritage she claimed that she didn't really have a specialty and could cook anything, her bone in veal chop borderlaise was praised for the cooking on the meat but raw Brussel Sprouts knocked a 4/5 down to a 3/5 whilst Jason's halibut earned the Blue Team a strong four.

Next up was Japanese American contestant Yuri going up against Matt and Yuri's Bison Tataki earned her the third perfect score of the night whilst Matt's New York Strip Dish was also deemed perfect earning him a five, the last pairing was Mark and Rachel and Rachel's scallops dish earned her a four for a beautiful sear on the fish whilst Mark's Salmon Dish set him on the wrong path immediately as Ramsey found a parchment paper in the salmon awarding him a automatic one and the Red Team the signature dish challenge.

## Reward

The Red Team got to arrive in Hell's Kitchen in style as they were driven the rest of the way in a stretch limo big enough for them all to fit in and to rub salt in the wound the Blue Team would prepare a quick meal for them when they got back, the Red Team found Dani's ego even more irritating on the way back with Freya wondering if Ramsey would miss Dani if she "accidentally" fell out of a moving vehicle in a confession cam, however she quickly made it clear that she was joking and the Red Team were able to agree on one thing: Leo was either a jackass not long for the competition or he would shape up his attitude soon.

## Punishment

The Blue Team's trip to Hell's Kitchen was a lot less luxurious as they had to go on a rickety old school bus and then prepare a meal for the women when they returned, Mark was apologizing profusely for the parchment paper saying that it was the first time that happened to which Leo joked that that was what he usually said to women getting a laugh out of everyone but Andreas who was very unhappy with how things had turned out, Matt at least managed to bring his spirits up which Andreas appreciated.

Once both teams returned and the meal was done the teams retired to the dorms for the night, Freya commented to Yuri that she had applied for the previous season but got rejected without knowing why and Yuri responded that she was here now and that was what mattered, Freya agreed, admitting that she didn't know how she would've stacked up against the previous season's Black Jackets.

The men were focused on studdying the menu for the most part with Andreas being especially studious, Leo made some light hearted attempts at flirting with some of the women but backed off when he realized they weren't interested which Andreas noted, thinking that maybe he wasn't as bad as he seemed at first.

The next morning both teams were called down to the dining room where Ramsey was dressed in a fast food worker's getup and announced that this year's punishment pass challenge would be themed around Loaded Fries and the time starts now.