Season 2 Episode 9

The ninth episode of Season 2 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on Fox, on August 7, 2006. On that episode, the final three are taking control of the kitchen one by one, and a shocking elimination happened, where one of them is being very rude to Ramsay.

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

Intro

Back in the dorms, Virginia started crying because she was still feeling ashamed about her poor performance, and questioning her place in the competition. Heather told her she was surprised by her move, but Virginia told her she really meant what she said in front of Ramsay. On his side, Keith was feeling secured against Virginia as he felt he could easily beat her in the kitchen. When Virginia asked them if she was better than Sara, both Heather and Keith yawned in her face, as it was not important. Virginia left the patio table, and took a moment to herself in the bathroom, where she motivated herself so she could finally convince herself she deserves to be there. The next morning, Virginia, being determined to not fail on another service, asked many questions to Heather, but Heather refused to answer her, thinking she would not help her win the competition.

Individual challenge

When the final three entered the kitchen, Ramsay was cooking for them. He presented them his signature dish, told them to smell it, and then taste it. This made him introduced the very first Taste It, Now Make It Challenge, where each chef had 20 minutes to recreate the dish. During the challenge, Keith used the Chilean sea bass, while the two women used the wild stripped sea bass. For the purée, Heather and Keith used mashed potatoes, but Virginia used Tuscan white beans. For the sauce, Keith tried to hide couscous, which was what he thought was right, but Virginia convinced him to give her some of it. He agreed reluctantly. For the sides, Keith and Heather used cilantro, while Virginia used grapefruit.

In the end, Ramsay congratulated all three of them for having very good individual dishes. After deliberation, he declared Virginia the winner as she correctly guessed all the ingredients of the original dish. Ramsay praised her palate, and told her she have to use it from now on. Virginia was very proud of herself.

Reward

Virginia enjoyed some quality time with Ramsay in the kitchen, to ask him as many questions as she wants. He would give her some tips on how to cook on the line, run the hot plate, and eventually become a top chef. During the reward, she made Ramsay and the Sous Chefs laugh when she was simulating running the hot plate.

Punishment

Heather and Keith were punished by spending some time with Jean-Philippe in the dining room, polishing all the glasses and silverware of the entire dining room. Before the punishment, Heather accused Virginia of taking the recipe of the dish used in the challenge in the recipe book she got during her reward on the previous episode. Virginia accused Heather of being jealous of her success, and did not listen to her as she was proud of herself. Heather told Keith she would not help Virginia anymore, something with which Keith agreed to do also. During the punishment, both of them tried to listen to what Ramsay was saying to Virginia.

Before service

When all three of them finished their duties of the day, Heather gave cold shoulder to Virginia when she asked her if she was mad at her. Heather told she does not want to be her friend anymore. Keith showed attitude to Virginia when he told her Ramsay picked a dish only she was knowing because he was attracted to her. Virginia told him to shut the fuck up, and that he was being rude. When Heather went to sleep, Keith joined her, laughing and having fun with her, leaving Virginia alone in her bedroom. She was sick and tired of being an outsider, and got on her knees, in front of her bed, to send some prayers.

The next day, when the final three was prepping the kitchen, Heather refused to answer Virginia’s questions as she did not want anybody to take her dream away from her. Virginia was annoyed by Heather and Keith’s behavior as both of them thought they already won. She took it as extra motivation to prove everybody and herself wrong. When the chefs were lined up minutes before service, Ramsay reminded them that all three of them would run the hot plate, one at a time. They were stepping in Ramsay’s shoes.

Dinner service

on the first ticket, Virginia burned her two salmons, and trashed them. Ramsay asked her to get them out of the bin, and schooled her on her careless attitude, asking her if that was the start of what would come that night, which she answered no. When Ramsay asked for the chicken, Heather panicked, saying it needed 30 seconds more. Unfortunately, she sent it burned. Ramsay asked her to start again without doing the same mistake over. After that, Keith was the first who was told by Ramsay to run the hot plate. On his first ticket, Sous Chef Scott sent an overcooked lobster spaghetti, but Keith passed the quality control test by spotting it. However, Ramsay told him to show some energy in running the brigade and be more assertive to what is going on. When Keith called his second ticket, Virginia did not answer, and Ramsay had to tell him that she had to answer him. She was unable to give him a proper time, which Keith did not gave himself. During his time on the hot plate, Keith gave a very inconsistent leadership, which included being very soft with his brigade, and allowing them to give him time they need. Heather acknowledged he had to take the reins himself, and not let everybody take the reins for him.

When it was Heather’s turn at the pass, she asked Sous Chef Scott and Virginia a proper time on their food to be ready. She had a tendency to rush because of the pressure on her shoulders, so Ramsay had to told her to stop panicking and calm down. When Keith gave an unacceptable risotto and Ramsay was telling him the problem, he refused to look at him in the eyes and talked back to him. Ramsay told him his attitude was stinking, and asked him to give a beautiful risotto. Ramsay also told Keith, who seemed to have a careless attitude, that he does not have to wait until the end of service to kick him out. When Heather asked Keith a time on his risotto, he gave her seven minutes, but she gave him six. Her good leadership abilities managed the team to send many appetizers out. After that, Ramsay pulled Sous Chef Mary-Ann aside to tell her she could attempt a sabotage. So, she served lumps instead of mashed potatoes. Heather failed to spot the mistake, and when she started arguing, Ramsay lost his patience and told her to stop. After that, Heather was sent back to her station.

Two hours into service, despite some struggles from different chefs on the hot plate, they managed to send out many of the main courses to the dining room. Virginia was told to get on the hot plate to run it. On her first ticket, she was not taken seriously by Keith, who thought she sounded like a cartoon character, and Heather asked her to repeat the order because she did not understand her well. Despite her rocky start, she was very energetic, and Ramsay told Sous Chef Scott to send a Chilean sea bass instead of salmon. Virginia succeeded to spot the mistake, and asked for a salmon. Ramsay praised her quality control. With that compliment from Ramsay, Virginia was determined to finish her turn at the pass strong. She gave clear instructions to Heather, and with three tables left, Ramsay took control of the hot plate back. He reminded the remaining chefs that although they all fight individually to stay in the competition, they have to work as a team as well. Virginia started to struggle on fish, and lacked communication and teamwork with Heather. Despite that, the team rallied to send the last tables and complete dinner service for a third time in a row.

Post-mortem

Ramsay reminded the final three it was a good service, and that a great chef have to make tough decisions. He asked them to nominate one person who they do not think deserves to go in the finals. During deliberation, Virginia said she would not be surprised if she would leave, Heather deemed Virginia as the weakest line cook, but Keith as the weakest leader, and Keith was confident to go through, thinking he killed it. When Heather was about to tell him that he could have been louder, he told her to not fuck around. Virginia was already packing her bags.

Elimination

Keith and Virginia, nominated each other, and Heather, while acknowledging that Keith could have been louder, in the end, nominated Virginia. After hearing from both Virginia and Keith, Ramsay told it was his most difficult decision ever in Hell’s Kitchen. In the end, he eliminated Keith for lacking leadership skills. After Keith gave his jacket to Ramsay, he stood in front of him, and started to question his judgement, telling him how he was a better leader than anybody since the beginning of the competition, with people who did not knew much about working in a kitchen. When Ramsay told Keith he did not think he was ready to lead, Keith accused Ramsay of dropping him in favor of Virginia because he has a “hard-on” for her. Ramsay schooled Keith on his rudeness, and told him this proved he made the right decision, and that his attitude was indeed stinking. Keith hugged Heather, ignoring Virginia, and received a retrospective montage of his run during his exit interview.

Ramsay’s comment: “You got two choices. You run the team, or the team runs you. And sadly, the team ran Keith. If Keith could only lose the attitude, underneath all that, there’s one talented, talented cook.”

Celebration

After Keith left, Ramsay congratulated Heather and Virginia for making it to the final two. He told to get back in the dorms, and get some rest. Arrived in the dorms, both of them were excited and shouted all over the place, when they saw champagne bottles waiting for them on the table, with a letter of congratulations. They opened a bottle, drank a glass, and somebody knocked at the door. Before the people were revealed, the episode ended in a cliffhanger.

My opinion

A lot of people said that Keith should not have been elimination and in the final. I agree and disagree with this.

Agree

I agree because I think Keith was a better chef then Virginia at the dinner service and be more a challenge for Heather.

Disagree

I also disagree because Virginia was better at the challenge then Keith and was better at leading a team so I think Gordon make the right decision about Virginia leading the team better.

My comment: By having the agree and disagree I make a decision that keith should have been in the final with Heather but agree with that Virginia was better leading a team then Keith.

Gordon choose keith to leave.