I hope tonight’s episode of Hell’s Kitchen is good. I need something calm and relaxing after dental work. Do I think it will be? Come on, this is Hell’s Kitchen with incompetent chefs and egos out the door. With the shake-up of the teams, ego must adjust. Can Anton and Scott adjust to working together on the “Red Team?” How will Sandra and Rochelle adjust to being “Blue?”

New Chances?

In the dorm, Anton is complaining about starting over while Joy isn’t happy with Anton on her team. Scott thinks Anton will have problems. Meanwhile the Blue Team welcomes Rochelle and Sandra but quickly reminds them that they’re on the Blue Team now. War is starting already? Come on, go to bed!

The Unusual Challenge?

The chefs see Epicerie de Minuit, a small grocery store without electricity, on arrival. They will have 60 seconds to get five ingredients. While some get proteins they like (Rochelle), others gets something they can’t deal with (Kaisha).

Each chef has 30 minutes to complete their dish. Gabriel is limited with only four ingredients but says his will be great. Okay, Gabriel, but you already have one strike. Kaisha is having trouble with the squid. Rochelle may have the easiest road because she got New York strip. She can’t possibly mess that up.

Dishes are up and Ramsay is judging the dishes. It’s the “King of the Hill” challenge and the person in the hot seat at the end of the game wins for the team. Gabriel is missing his chicken leg and he has strike two. Wait, Ramsay says he has three. Scott is up and gets the chair first but quickly is followed by Sandra and Anton. Rochelle’s steak proves the winner, I thought, and she gets the seat and stays there until Melanie steps to the plate. Unfortunately, Mel’s dish doesn’t beat her, so the Blue Team wins a trip to Softiel Spa. The Red Team meanwhile will be doing deliveries.

While Jason hates the reward, Melanie can’t stand the heat. Poor dear! Everything is too heavy for her to carry. You lose, you do your punishment.

The Dinner Competition

As the chefs relax, they’re called downstairs for a meeting with Ramsay. The restaurant is closed to the public but will host a charity event for UNICEF big fund raisers. There will be 24 guests at two tables of 12 each with hostess, Angie Harmon. These people will get a five course meal (Ramsay hopes). As JP welcomes the guests, the chefs make their plans.

Anton starts the Red Team off literally with fire. The risotto station goes up in flames. Rochelle is in charge on the Blue side but Gabriel questions her on seasoning. Red gets their risotto out quickly and all love it. Rochelle isn’t far behind and all the diners are happy.

Next up is Melanie with tuna and the Red Team seems ahead. Kaisha is next with duck. Where are the Blue Team’s dishes? Oh, that’s right. Gabriel can’t count, and didn’t prepare enough tuna, but Rochelle rescues him. Nice to have a “superwoman” on the Blue Team now.

Just when things look calm, Kaisha has a meltdown over her tortellini dish. She’s blaming the others for not backing her up but she failed in Communication 101. She shatters the silence with angry words. She’s brewing trouble on the Red side and it won’t be pretty. Meanwhile, the Blue Team have their own tortellini problems and this time they couldn’t count plates. Blue Team is behind and it gets worse with Sandra’s lamb dish. Scott has his own problems with lamb. He doesn’t know how much sauce to add. Never fear, Ramsay shows him! As the sweets go out, trouble is brewing for both kitchens.

Elimination Time

As the guests thank Ramsay, both kitchens have a black cloud over their heads. Kaisha hates her teammates and the women are missing from the quiet Blue side. Ramsay is upset because the teams should have shown off for the guests. He’s having a hard time finding a losing team because they just weren’t good enough. Well, what do you expect from egos? Both teams must choose two people to go up.

We can all see that Sandra will go up for the Blue Team. The Red Team meanwhile are suffering from a Kaisha rant (so what else is new) over their lack of help. As she places the blame on everyone else, the team decide she’s on the block with Scott. The Blue Team can’t decide between Richard and Gabriel and leave it to Rochelle.

Kaisha is the Red Team’s first nominee followed by Scott who is described as being in “la la land.” Good one team! The Blue Team nominate Sandra (lamb) and Gabriel. All are called forward. Sandra admits to messing up but she fights back. Kaisha is called on having her worse service ever. Scott tells Ramsay he tries to make everything perfect. Ramsay is tired of waiting. Gabriel says he tries, but Ramsay says he disappears.

The Decision

Ramsay sends Scott and Gabriel back in line quickly. Can it be the guys are finally finding their footing? That leaves Kashia and Sandra with Kashia returning to the group. Sandra is out, and she apologizes to Ramsay and thanks him for everything. Ramsay tells them that all have shined but never together. Scott and Gabriel are determined to show Ramsay they will win. Kashia calls it a wake-up call but she’s ready to take all of them down.

Next week: Melanie seems to develop a crush on Anton, but will it last? Apparently not because Melanie messes up her scallops and blames Anton. Rochelle seems disorganized and breaks down.

Hell’s Kitchen airs Thursdays at 8pm on FOX.

(image courtesy of Fox)

Linda Martindale

Contributing Writer, BuddyTV