Season 1 Episode 9

The ninth episode of Season 1 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on Fox, on July 25, 2005. On that episode, the final three had to make bread while sleepwalking, and saw their families for the first time since their arrival, not knowing their fates were in their hands.

Please watch the full episode before you read (below) to avoid spoilers about this episode.

Intro

The final three went back to the dorms, where some champagne bottles wer⁴e waiting for them. They celebrated and congratulated each other on still being there. After a few drinks, Jessica went to bed inebriated, and was followed by Ralph and Michael shortly.

Beard making

At 4 AM, the phone rang in the dorms. Michael picked it up, and Ramsay told him to get his two teammates and himself in the blue kitchen immediately. Ralph and Jessica never believed him and tried to convince him to go to bed, but when Sous Chef Scott went looking for them in the dorms, they rushed to put their jackets on and head downstairs. Ramsay asked the chefs to make bread because the baker was not able to provide the restaurant with bread. Jessica was still a little drunk, so she did not know what was going for a few minutes, yawned and laid on the counter to rest. Ralph and Michael organized the bread making process and ran the ovens. After an hour, Jessica was sent to bed by her teammates because she would be more of a hindrance, and two hours later, she came back to the kitchen ready to help, but, Ralph and Michael were almost done. A few minutes later, they all went back to sleep, and were woken up two hours later by Sous Chef Mary-Ann playing a triangle.

Individual Challenge

Before Ramsay explained the challenge, he asked Jessica how was the bread experience, and Michael at what time they finished. Then, he declared for that night’s dinner service, each of them was going to come up with a unique dish and the customers will determine their lives in Hell’s Kitchen depending on that dish.

Ramsay explained the Perfect Soufflé Challenge. After a quick demonstration, each contestant had 10 minutes to create a unique perfect soufflé dessert. Ramsay declared Jessica’s soufflé as the worst he ever tasted, Ralph’s was enjoyed by Ramsay for the taste, but the latter told him to put more egg whites to lift it better. Finally, Michael’s soufflé needed more sugar. After deliberation, Ramsay declared Ralph the winner.

Reward

Because Ralph won, he got to choose first between beef, chicken, and tuna, for an inspirational dish to be served during the next dinner service. He choose beef, Michael chose tuna, and Jessica was left with chicken.

Before service

While working with the Sous Chefs to create their dish, Michael and Ralph had a good idea, but not Jessica, who asked a lot of help from the Sous Chefs. During prep, the final three felt confident going into service. When they were lined up, Ramsay reminded them that the objective was still to serve a fully booked dining room.

Dinner service

All three remaining chefs were responsible for their own individual dishes, but were also managing a station. Michael on appetizers, Ralph on garnish, and Jessica on desserts. Michael managed to get the kitchen to a strong start by sending many starters out. When Jessica made her first chicken dish, she was a little late on everybody else, so Ramsay sent the other dishes, that were waiting on the hot plate, back because she was not ready. After that, Jean-Philippe went to greet the families of the contestants that were in the dining room. When their orders came in the kitchen, Ramsay only mentioned to the contestants that VIPs were in the dining room, without any further information.

An hour into service, the remaining chefs’ dishes received mixed reviews in the dining room. Later, when orders of desserts came in, Jessica was having a hard time keeping up with the orders because she was concerned about her chicken dish as well. When the individual dishes came to the contestants’ families, Ralph’s beef and Michael’s tuna were well received, but when Ralph’s fiancée tasted Jessica’s chicken, she spat it out. Jessica struggled with the desserts, leading Michael to take her chicken dish over to continue sending out the entrées. A few minutes later, Ralph and Michael had a little communication problem, and Jessica failed to deliver a proper time for her desserts, leading Ramsay to lose his patience. He lost his patience again later when she was giving attitude about her bad timing with the desserts. After she slipped and dropped a plate to the floor, she started panicking and asked for help from her two teammates.

Two and a half hours into service, Jessica sent unacceptable soufflés to the pass, and asked Ramsay if he could help her. Ramsay categorically refused, and Jean-Philippe went speaking to Jessica in the kitchen, before being kicked out of the kitchen by Ramsay. After that, Jean-Philippe went to the contestants’ families to try and buy Jessica some time. When it came down to the last ticket, all three chefs became excited and wanted to finish as quickly as possible. When Ralph served the last main course, he joined Jessica with Michael, and completed the desserts. For the first time ever, a fully-booked dining room was served, and Ralph’s filet mignon was the most popular out of the three, followed by Jessica’s chicken, and Michael’s tuna came last.

Post-Mortem

When the chefs were lined up, Ramsay mentioned that the service was completed and, most important, no food came back. After stating that he was a very proud man, he brought the final three back to earth saying that one of them would go home.

As Jessica was clearing her station down, Michael and Ralph met on the patio, with Michael nervous about his fate as Jessica’s chicken was ordered more than his filet. Despite that, Michael wanted Ralph to go home as he was his biggest competition so far. Later that night, the final three met up in the living room and agreed that their time in Hell’s Kitchen had been tough but fun all at once.

Elimination

Because of the great service, Ramsay gave the final three a surprise. Michael was visited by his wife and in-laws, Jessica saw her girlfriend, her mom and her sister, and finally, Ralph said hello to his fiancée, his mom, and his uncle. After a heartwarming reunion, Ramsay revealed that each family completed a comment card, unaware their decision would influence the chefs’ stay in Hell’s Kitchen. Each family member told the dish they enjoyed the most. Michael got the highest score with 5 votes for his tuna, followed by Ralph’s filet mignon at 3 votes, and Jessica’s chicken only got 1 vote. Therefore, Jessica was eliminated, but received praise from Ramsay who told her she did an amazing job and was proud of her. Then, Ramsay told her to go by the front door with her family, as she deserved to. Jessica received a retrospective montage of her run during her exit interview. After Jessica and her family left, Michael and Ralph became the first ever finalists of Hell’s Kitchen.

Ramsay’s comment: “Now we’re down to the final two. This is it! And the fascinating thing about these two guys is they’re both equally as good as one another, and this is where they have to now separate, put everything they’ve learned from Hell’s Kitchen, and show me what they’re made of. That’s what I’m looking for!”

My opinion

My comment: Ralph and Michael was better than Jessica so Jessica have to go.

The family choose Jessica.