Hell's Kitchen (American season 9)

Eighteen new chefs were brought to the Orpheum Theatre, where they walked onto a stage behind a curtain with their covered platters bearing their names and the sounds of an audience cheering and chanting could be heard. But after an announcer introduced the chefs, the curtain opened to reveal an empty theatre. Chef Ramsay appeared and reminded them they were not stars yet and announced the prize was a "head chef" position at BLT Steak in New York City. He then told the chefs to return to Hell's Kitchen and cook their signature dishes.

Team challenge/signature dish: The women (red team) competed against the men (blue team), and had 45 minutes to prepare their signature dish, judged by Ramsay. Will's sheep's milk gnudi scored over Carrie's chicken fried ribeye (as she put sugar in the mashed potato she used), Amanda's eggplant rollatini and Brendan's salmon both scored a point, Jennifer's pork scored over Jonathon's "punch-drunk" chicken (he was even threatened with elimination on the spot after he revealed to Ramsay that he used canned pineapple slices for his dish and claimed he had "limited time"), Paul's eggplant involtini scored over Krupa's stuffed naan (in addition, Krupa was called Crapa), neither Jamie's lamb lollipops nor Steven's seared diver scallops earned a point, Elise's scallops scored over Chino's dish as he used too much miso, Monterray's sea bass and Natalie's lamb both scored a point, both Elizabeth and Tommy earned a point for their dishes, and finally Gina's pan-roasted pistachio scallops lost to Jason's pork tacos as the scallops were burnt on the top. The men won 6-5.

Reward/punishment: The men were treated to lunch at the L.A. Market restaurant with last season's winner, Nona Sivley, while the women were forced to clean the kitchens for dinner service.

Jason's exit: Shortly before dinner service, Jason became short of breath and was rushed to the hospital; he would not return to Hell's Kitchen.^{[note 1]} Jason is responsible for the fastest exit in Hell's Kitchen history for any reason. No elimination sequence was given for Jason, but his jacket and burned photo was seen next to Gina's and Krupa's. He would return in Season 12, where he'd come in second place.

Service: In the blue kitchen, Chino was scolded for asking Ramsay to repeat an order, and Steven served appetizers for the second table before they had even served the appetizers for the first table. Monterray then confounded Ramsay when he brought garnish for the entrées despite the fact that they hadn't even sent out any appetizers. However, thanks to Will taking control, the team managed to send out appetizers. On Entrées, Chino burnt cod which prompted Ramsay to send him to the chef's table for the rest of the night. Steven then took over but overcooked scallops and only angered Ramsay further when he argued that he thought they were cooked. Because of this, Ramsay also sent Steven to the chef's table and sent Tommy there as well after he boiled scallops. Additionally, despite Jonathon and Paul cooking meat perfectly, the men were unable to serve anything due to Monterray first failing to serve the garnish in time and then Brendan burning the potatoes (the latter was also seen sitting at the chef's table later that night despite him having not been shown being kicked off the station). In the red kitchen, Elise shouted over Ramsay while he was calling out an order and then served soupy risotto, prompting Krupa to take over. Because of her, the women were able to successfully serve appetizers. After Carrie overcooked scallops, Elise attempted to take over but this only angered Ramsay further due to her neglecting her responsibilities at the appetizer station. Because of this, Ramsay sent Elise to the chef's table for the rest of the night. Thanks to Krupa's strong performance on meat, the women were able to serve some entrées. After customers began leaving, Ramsay shut the kitchens down. Ramsay declared the women winners for at least serving entrees, and the men were ordered to nominate two chefs for elimination.^{[note 2]}

Elimination: Steven and Monterray were nominated; Ramsay also nominated Chino. Ramsay eliminated Steven for being the worst performer of the night.

The chefs were awakened to the sound of a kid playing an electric guitar, and were brought outside.

Team challenge: The chefs worked in pairs to grill four pieces of meat to Ramsay's standards in 20 minutes: a medium rare New York strip, a medium ribeye, a medium well filet mignon, and a well-done burger. Jennifer, Gina and Elizabeth formed a trio, while Will worked alone. Each team would earn one point per piece of acceptable meat. For the women, Amanda and Krupa scored 4, Elise and Carrie scored 1 due to their friction, Jamie and Natalie scored 3, and the trio scored 2. For the men, Jonathon and Brendan scored 2, Tommy and Chino scored 3, while Paul and Monterray scored 2. However, Will achieved a perfect score of four to give the men an 11-10 win.

Reward/punishment: The men was rewarded with a trip to Palm Springs, California via private jet, where they had lunch with Ramsay in the mountains. The women cleaned the grills, drank blended meat and prepped a side of beef.

Service: Carrie and Will served table-side caesar salads while Krupa and Monterray served table-side prime ribs. In the red kitchen, Jennifer served squab in a brisket but recovered and Carrie was slow serving table side caesar salads, requiring Krupa's help. Krupa also dropped the table side prime rib on the floor when serving it, but Ramsay was able to use some of the blue team's prime rib. In the blue kitchen, Chino twice overcooked risotto while at the same time burning it on the bottom but managed to recover and get appetizers out. Brendan fired a sea bass early and then tried to serve the bass whilst lying to Ramsay that it was a new one. Tommy overcooked duck, and the men were kicked out after Brendan served raw sea bass. The women completed service and were deemed clear winners.

Elimination: Brendan and Chino were nominated. Ramsay eliminated Brendan for his arrogance, being responsible for the blue team's defeat in two consecutive services and lying to Ramsay during service. Ramsay then announced that one woman would be moved to the men's team the next morning as the blue team was now three members down, much to the men's chagrin.

Team change: The red team agreed to send Carrie to the blue team, but Ramsay chose Natalie.

Team challenge: The chefs were woken up by a troupe of clowns and sent to take in a delivery of naan bread. Ramsay welcomed 50 children and their mothers for a special "Mommy and Me" service. Each team served quesadilla and macaroni for the children and panini (made from the naan bread) for the mothers. In the blue kitchen, Natalie led her new teammates strongly, with the only issue being Jonathon sending up a panini with too little chicken. Jamie burnt quesadilla and was berated for sulking, while Elise and Carrie argued throughout the challenge. Both teams got to the last ticket, but the blue team narrowly won their third straight challenge.

Reward/punishment: The blue team earned a meal with a medieval jousting tournament at Medieval Times in Buena Park, California. The red team cleaned the dining room and prep for family night.

Service: Ramsay assigned Chino and Gina to be assistant maitre d's. Each table served Margherita pizzas, assigned to Elise and Jonathon. The red team did well on appetizers thanks to Krupa, but the red kitchen continually struggled on entrees. The women proved unable to get past their first ticket as Carrie first misinformed Jennifer what entrées to cook for it, and Amanda then ruined the ticket by undercooking the halibut. Amanda then forgot a cod was part of the order and conflicted with Elise on the fish station, which once again held up the entrees. After Carrie served raw lamb - and only made Ramsay angrier by trying to claim that she thought it looked cooked - he sent the red team into the dining room to apologize to the diners before kicking them out. In the blue kitchen, Chino struggled with poor handwriting and forgot to offer sides to a table. On appetizers, Tommy burnt chicken tenders and then served them dry, which led to Will taking over for him on garnish, and Natalie's beef wellington came out raw, but she recovered quickly, and the blue team, thanks to Natalie and Will's leadership, then finished the red team's service, being deemed clear winners.

Elimination: Ramsay made his own nominations; Jennifer, Carrie and Amanda. Although both Amanda and Jennifer attempted to blame Carrie for being the main reason for the team's defeat, Ramsay ultimately eliminated Amanda for her poor performance on fish and giving up during service.

Team challenge: Each team had five minutes to capture chickens in a pen, with each one earning an ingredient that could be used for the challenge; each team then had 30 minutes to use a single chicken to cook chicken dishes four ways, using only ingredients earned in the chicken roundup. Ramsay joined the editors of People and Entertainment Weekly magazines. Paul scored on fried as Carrie and Gina's was raw, but Jennifer and Krupa and Jonathon and Will both scored on sauteed. Jamie scored on grilled after Tommy and Monterray dropped half of their chicken, but Elise and Elizabeth beat Chino and Natalie on roasted to give the red team their first challenge win, 3-2.

Reward/punishment: The red team spent the day go-kart racing at K1 Racing. The blue team spent the day preparing the chickens for the next service.

Service: Each kitchen served two former Olympic athletes with Misty May-Treanor and Jen Kessy for the red team, and Janet Evans and Mark Spitz for the blue team. Krupa and Jonathon were assigned to wait the chef's table. Both teams struggled through service. In the blue kitchen, Natalie performed well on appetizers, but Tommy served a caesar salad with too much dressing to the chef's table. However, Jonathon angered Ramsay when, after the chef's table complained about the salad, he loudly threw the salad in the bin and shouted for another one while Ramsay was reading a ticket. On entrées, Monterray's sea bass fell apart, due to not leaving it on the fish spatula, and he angered Sous Chef Scott when he argued with him about it. Monterray and Jonathon then started arguing over the latter angrily exclaiming he couldn't help everyone, but Will and Natalie successfully defused it before Ramsay got involved. Chino gave inconsistent timings on when his meat would be ready and, despite Natalie trying to help him, served raw beef wellingtons. Ramsay then threw the blue team out after Chino served raw lamb and wellingtons with raw pastry. In the red kitchen, Elise served overcooked scallops with no color but managed to recover after Ramsay showed her how to properly cook the scallops. Carrie and Elizabeth had trouble working together on appetizers, which resulted in Carrie miscommunicating to Elise to cook her scallops despite Elizabeth not having her appetizers finished. On entrées, Gina sliced her steak despite Elise being seven minutes away on her sea bass, and she only angered Ramsay further when she laughed after Ramsay sarcastically told her "well done." Elise then served raw and overcooked sea bass, and Ramsay kicked the team out after Gina served raw lamb. However, after kicking the teams out, Ramsay, Scott and Andi cooked the entrees for the VIP tables. Ramsay declared both teams losers and tasked them with coming up with two nominees for elimination.

Elimination: While in the dorms, Chino attempted to blame Natalie for sabotaging him during service, causing her to break down crying. In addition, Elise and Carrie argued over the latter's consistently weak performances and the former trying to claim she had yet to mess up, culminating in a screaming match between the two. The blue team nominated Chino and Monterray for their poor performances on their stations, and the red team, despite Gina being the worst performer, nominated Carrie and Elise, feeling their bickering was bringing the team down. During her plea, Elise stated that her team would prefer herself to Carrie, so Ramsay polled the entire red team and Natalie who all, except for Elizabeth, stated they wished Elise to be eliminated. Ultimately though, Ramsay eliminated Chino for being a consistently poor performer and his third straight nomination.

Team challenge: Chefs from the Moto restaurant in Chicago demonstrated how to make an orange sorbet using oranges, a sound wave generator liquid nitrogen. The chefs then had 45 minutes to make six protein dishes using only fire and water, with Ramsay and the Moto chefs judging. Since the red team had an extra member, they made two prawn dishes before choosing Elizabeth's over Carrie's. The only dishes to score belonged to Jennifer, Will, Gina, and Paul, tying the score at 2. Ramsay declared the blue team winners, as he preferred Carrie's dish over Elizabeth's and nobody noticed that Krupa mistook filet mignon for veal.

Reward/punishment: The blue team spent the day at a spa at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills. The red team cleaned the dorms and prep the kitchens for service.

Service: Jennifer and Natalie served tableside halibut sashimi, however, Jennifer started to sweat in the halibut, prompting Ramsay to give her a towel. In the red kitchen, Krupa served soupy risotto and, due to Gina bringing her scallops too soon, also served undercooked spaghetti. After Krupa served a spaghetti with too much sauce in it, Ramsay threw her out. Gina then had a communication breakdown with the rest of the kitchen, resulting in Elise not having her garnish ready when Gina was already walking to the pass. After Gina served raw sea bass, Ramsay threw her and Elise out. In the blue kitchen, Jonathon forgot which garnishes and proteins were to go together, prompting Paul to take over, and Monterray served raw beef wellingtons. Tommy didn't communicate with Monterray on meat and had to refire a cod for a ticket two separate times, which resulted in Monterray overcooking his wellingtons in an attempt to keep them hot. This prompted Ramsay to throw the both of them out. Both teams finished service, but Ramsay, disappointed by the lack of communication and leadership, declared no winner.

Elimination: The red team nominated Krupa and Elise, while the blue team nominated Monterray and Tommy. After Elise and Krupa both named Gina as the weakest cook, Ramsay agreed and eliminated her for disintegrating performances and lack of communication and fightback.

Team challenge: The Culver City High School class of 1991 celebrated its 20 year reunion at Hell's Kitchen. Both teams prepared three meals for a Hawaiian-themed high school reunion; Elizabeth and Paul were tasked with meeting the reunion committee and relaying the information to their teammates, but Elizabeth misinformed her team to cook Asian dishes instead of Hawaiian and also neglected to mention that one of the judges did not eat meat, resulting in the red team cooking the wrong dishes and giving the blue team an easy 3–0 win.

Reward/punishment: The blue team spent the day on a luxury yacht, and their three dishes were added to the menu for dinner service. The red team decorated Hell's Kitchen for the reunion. However, Ramsay was not impressed with the cake they made and he decided that he will not serve it.

Service: The red team had a near flawless service under Elise's leadership and Elizabeth's strong performance on fish, their only problem being Carrie bringing appetizers up to the pass early and then Ramsay catching her trying to add old rice to new rice and reheating it. The blue team served appetizers quickly thanks to Natalie's leadership, but on entrees, Paul held up the kitchen completely by serving undercooked snapper, and Ramsay caught Monterray cooking garnish in a cold. After Paul again served undercooked snapper, Ramsay kicked him off the fish station and put Monterray and Jonathon on the station, but Jonathon did very little to help and Chef Ramsay later caught him walking around with his hands behind his back not cooking anything. After Monterray again served the snapper undercooked, Ramsay threw out blue team, having the red team finish their service.

Elimination: Monterray and Paul were nominated; Ramsay also nominated Jonathon. Paul, despite being the blue team's worst performer that night, was sent back in line first because of a very convincing plea. Ramsay eliminated Monterray for his inconsistent performances, but praised him for his efforts.

Krupa drank too much after elimination, and woke up the next morning with a hangover.

Team challenge: Each team had 45 minutes to cook five dishes containing a type of beer, judged by two beer sommeliers. The dishes were to be ranked from worst to best, and the red team had to drop a dish due to having an extra member, which turned out to be Krupa's. Carrie and Elise gave the red team an early lead, but Natalie, Will, and Tommy all scored to give the blue team their third consecutive challenge victory.

Reward/punishment: The blue team attended the 2011 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach as VIP guests, and met Arie Luyendyk Jr. and Simona de Silvestro. The red team had to take in deliveries of food, including ice and kegs of beer. Elise's teammates got fed up with her for crying when the punishment was being announced and slacking off during the punishment.

Service: Andre Carter and Matt Leinart were guests for beer night. In the red kitchen, Elise forgot to drain her salad despite notice from Carrie and caused confusion by yelling out tickets, Jamie served raw sea bass and Krupa served raw venison and overcooked wellingtons. In the blue kitchen, Natalie served rubbery scallops as Ramsay noticed she failed to turn her pan on hot enough, causing Will to help her. Jonathon sent a wellington with raw pastry and attempted to blame Tommy. He and Natalie were later kicked out for overcooked wellington and raw sea bass, respectively. Both teams finished service, but Ramsay declared both teams losers.

In the recap, Krupa's jacket was hung and her picture was burned.

Elimination - continued: Ramsay asked each chef to choose who they thought would be the strongest leader in their team. Jennifer and Will received the most votes. Ramsay then asked Jennifer and Will who they thought would be the weakest leader. Jennifer chose Carrie and Will chose Tommy.

Team challenge: Each team had 45 minutes to cook five comfort food dishes with a modern twist under the leadership of Carrie and Tommy, judged by Wolfgang Puck. During the cooking process, Carrie had trouble with Elise due to the latter wanting to cook pizza instead of spaghetti, and Johathan struggled to properly make Tommy's pizza due to Tommy's lack of direction. Jamie scored over Tommy on burgers, Natalie scored over Elizabeth on Cobb salad, neither Will nor Elise scored on spaghetti and meatballs, Jennifer scored over Paul on chicken noodle soup, and neither Carrie nor Jonathon scored on pizza because the former's was undercooked and the latter put honey and truffle oil in the dough, which resulted in the pizza having a puddle on top. The red team won 2-1.

Reward/punishment: The red team spent the day at the Laugh Factory in Hollywood and they each received a set of Demeyere cookware. The blue team prepped both kitchens for service and cleaned the dorms. Jonathon, who was responsible for their loss, irked his teammates further by sitting out most of the punishment due to a proclaimed "neck injury."

Service: Servicemen of the United States Coast Guard were guests for service. The red team had some problems on appetizers due to Carrie not rolling a pizza properly and burning garlic for a risotto, but with Jamie's help managed to recover, and the red team then had a perfect performance on entrees thanks to Elise's stellar performance on meat (made even impressive by the fact that almost all entrées ordered that night were meat entrées. In the blue kitchen, Jonathon maintained a lethargic attitude for most of service because of his "neck injury," so he and Natalie struggled to work together on appetizers. Jonathon first tried to cook too much capellini at once then overcooked the lobster capellini, and Natalie served bland mussels. After Jonathon sent another overcooked capellini, Ramsay sent Paul over to appetizers to help him, but Jonathon continued to remain lackadaisical and unfocused. Seeing this, Ramsay brought Jonathon into the storeroom and asked what was going on with him. Jonathon attempted to explain his neck pain to Ramsay, but Ramsay angrily reminded him that just because he was in pain didn't mean he had to give up and told him that a contestant on the show had managed to win with a broken wrist (Dave from season 6). Tommy failed to communicate from the meat station before serving two wellingtons at different temperatures, and Ramsay also berated him for laughing after nearly knocking over Natalie when going into his oven. Both teams finished service; the red team were named clear winners, with Ramsay in particular praising Elise for her stellar performance on the meat station.

Elimination: Jonathon and Natalie were nominated. Ramsay eliminated Jonathon for struggling in three consecutive services and his refusal to take responsibility for his mistakes.

Team challenge: Each contestant had 60 minutes to make a dessert for a romantic dinner. Jordan Kahn, owner of Red Medicine, and Waylynn Lucas judged each dessert on a scale of one to three stars; the team with the most stars would win. Since the red team had an extra member, they had to choose a dessert to not present to the judges. While initially considering Jennifer's due to the smell of alcohol in her dish, they eventually decided on Elise's dessert due to its large portion and unappealing presentation, much to her disdain. Tommy's scored the minimum 2 for having raw dough, while Jamie's only scored 3. Paul scored a perfect 6, but Elizabeth and Natalie also scored 3 each. Carrie and Will each scored only 2, leaving Jennifer to need a perfect 6 to give the red team the win, which she did manage to achieve with her flambeed bananas foster. The final score was 14-13. Ramsay tasted Elise's dessert afterwards and emphatically agreed with the decision to drop it, as it tasted disgusting due to being drowned in vinegar.

Reward/punishment: The red team spent the night at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas and won passes for a future three day, two night stay with Holly Madison, as well as signed copies of her book. The blue team had to prep for date night.

Service: Tommy seasoned scallops too early and, despite Ramsay telling him not to, seasoned them too early again mere seconds after the first instance. After Tommy seared a sea bass for a table before they had sent appetziers for it, Ramsay kicked him out to the dining room for a timeout, but he recovered after talking with the customers and managed to serve all his fish perfectly after that. However, Ramsay called him dumbo when, after returning the kitchen, he watched Ramsay cooking on his station rather than taking over. Paul was thrown out for serving raw chicken, but Natalie and Will both put in strong performances on garnish and appetizers respectively. In the red kitchen, Elise refused to properly communicate with Carrie, due to her dislike of the latter, and Jamie left a strand of hair in garnish and then served burnt zucchini. Carrie served burnt sea bass, and Ramsay threw her out after she tried to claim that she hadn't noticed it, and Carrie only angered Ramsay further by refusing to go and begging to stay in the kitchen. Elise cooked lobster capellini for a vegetarian diner and was thrown out for overcooking oysters. To add further insult, Carrie, Paul, and Elise were all forced to eat the food that got them thrown out. Both teams completed service; the red team were named clear losers.

Elimination: Carrie and Elise were nominated. However, Ramsay spared them and eliminated Jamie for having gone downhill over the last several services, much to the dismay of Elizabeth and Jennifer.

Team challenge: The chefs took part in the blind taste test challenge. Carrie and Tommy both scored one, Will scored one while Elizabeth failed to get any and Jennifer and Paul both scored one. Lastly, Elise scored three while Natalie scored one, giving the red team a 5-4 win.

Reward/punishment: The red team received a horseback ride, champagne and a view of the Los Angeles skyline in Hollywood Hills. The blue team prepped both kitchens for steakhouse night in addition to making grape jam by hand, during which Natalie threw a tantrum after Tommy wouldn't stop making grape puns.

Service: Service included two 90-minute time periods; the teams swapped between cooking and serving diners. The first shift featured the blue team cooking and the red team serving. Elise wrote a ticket incorrectly, Tommy failed to communicate on appetizers and Natalie overcooked steaks. When a fire erupted on Natalie's station, they were shut down. For the second shift, Tommy was bogged down by poor handwriting. Though Jennifer did well on appetizers, Elise served raw bass and dropped another one, while Carrie held up a table by being slow on garnish and eventually burning it. Neither team managed to serve all of their tables, resulting in both teams being named losers. In particular, Ramsay singled out Tommy and Elise for being poor team players, resulting in an argument between Jennifer and Elise, who fervently defended her performance.

In the recap, Carrie's jacket was hung and her picture was burned.

Elimination - continued: Instead of one chef, Ramsay had all the chefs remove their jackets and told them that they would be leaving Hell's Kitchen, only to be flown to New York City for a culinary tour of BLT Steak to inspire them.

Team challenge: When they returned to Hell's Kitchen, they were presented with a slot machine, which assigned them ingredients and style of cuisine to cook. Each chef was judged on their dishes, and whoever had the best dish would win the challenge for their team. Tommy sat in the chair first but was beaten by Elizabeth who also beat Natalie (whose dish received the worst review for being too spicy), but Paul, Elise, Will, and Jennifer all got to sit on the high chair in that order. This marked the first time in Hell's kitchen that a team lost four challenges in a row, which occurred again to Season 11's blue team.

Reward/punishment: The red team were rewarded with a trip to Venice Beach, where they rode in a plastic bubble (aka Zorbing) with James. The blue team prepped both kitchens ahead of service.

Service: Tommy served greasy onion rings. Natalie served raw scallops and had sea basses returned for being dry. Elizabeth needed Elise's help on scallops and fired a sea bass when cod was on order, causing Ramsay to send her to the storeroom. Elise's beef wellingtons fell apart due to being cut too deep and she attempted to blame Tommy for scoring them during prep, despite video footage showing Tommy telling Elise he wrapped her wellingtons but didn't score them. After Elizabeth served raw sea bass and Elise overcooked New York strip, Ramsay kicked them both out. On her way out, Elise kicked down a bin and Ramsay made her pick it up before bombarding her with insults, leaving Jennifer to finish service by herself. Both teams finished service, but Ramsay declared both teams losers and had them nominate one chef for elimination.

Elimination: The blue team nominated Natalie and the red team nominated Elise. Despite being a major frontrunner, Ramsay eliminated Natalie for her disintegrating performances, but praised her for her energy and heart. Natalie's exit was paid in a retrospective montage.

Team challenge: The teams were told to cook three entrees; one that would take 30 minutes to cook, one in 20 minutes, and one in 10 minutes. Jennifer scored over Tommy on the 30 minute dish, but Paul scored over Elizabeth in the 20 minute dish. Will then beat out Elise in the 10 minute dish, giving the blue team a 2-1 win. Elise was berated by Ramsay for crying after he announced the results, telling her to suck it up.

Reward/punishment: The blue team headed to a Ted Baker outlet to buy designer clothing. The red team prepped the dining room for service.

Service: Before service, Ramsay revealed that every chef surviving elimination after service would be rewarded with a black jacket. For the first time ever, Hell's Kitchen was "closed" for a black-tie charity dinner event, with both teams serving a twelve-top each. Orlando Brown was guest for this service. This service format would become more frequent in later seasons. The red team cooked for American Cancer Society while the blue team cooked for American Humane Association. Each chef took charge of two out of six courses: scallops, risotto, lobster capellini, chicken, lamb Wellington, apple tatin tart. On the scallops course, Paul led strongly but tried to serve the course without approval from Ramsay first and had to redo the salads due to not noticing that Tommy had served watery salad. Elizabeth struggled in leadership by failing to delegate to Elise and being non responsive to Jennifer and Elise, which led Jennifer to take over her role in leading the scallops dish. For the risotto dish, Elise led strongly and got the dish out with no problems. Tommy fell behind on cooking risotto and tried to add cheese to it before he was supposed to, which led to there being three different tasting risottos. However thanks to Will taking control, the course managed to be served on time. On the cappelini course, Jennifer led well but had problems due to Elise doing very little to help when plating and Ramsay finding that they were plating inconsistently. Due to this, Jennifer argued with Elise and angrily kicked her off the course, feeling Elise was attempting to sabotage her, and ending with the course being late getting out. Will was strong in leadership and had no problems with the cappelini course. On the chicken course, Elizabeth dropped the chicken right after the scallops course which led to the chicken being ready while the diners were still eating the cappelini. Because of this, Ramsay had to ask James to take the plates while some of the diners were still eating. To make matters worse, Elizabeth once again struggled in leadership and attempted to slice chicken off the cutting board. Paul once again led strongly and had no problems getting the chicken course out. On the wellington course, Elise led strongly but failed to notice that Jennifer and Elizabeth had served bland mashed potatoes, leading Jennifer and Elise to once again start arguing over whether they were trying to sabotage each other. Tommy struggled in leadership but recovered after prompting by Ramsay and got the course out with no problems. On the last course, the apple tatin tart, Elise undercooked a pan of apples, which once again caused Jennifer and Elise to conflict over whether they were sabotaging each other. Will had no problems getting the course out, and the blue team finished far ahead of the women. Ramsay declared the blue team the winners and stated that the red team would be up for elimination.

Elimination: Ramsay gave the blue team black jackets before having the red team step up for elimination. After asking what happened tonight, Elise and Jennifer got into a massive argument over whether each of them led their courses well and whether they had attempted to sabotage each other. After each of them plead their case, Ramsay first gave Jennifer a black jacket and then had Elise and Elizabeth remove their jackets. He then eliminated Elizabeth, feeling she was not ready to lead a brigade, before giving Elise the final black jacket.

Challenge: The first individual challenge was to take five comfort foods and create fine dining versions judged by Michelin-starred chefs out of 100 (50 for presentation and 50 for taste). The final ranking was: Will (87), Elise (86), Tommy (74), Paul (60) and Jennifer (52).

Reward/punishment: Will went on a culinary tour of several Los Angeles restaurants via Rolls Royce, and he chose Elise to go with him. The others had to do Hell's Kitchen laundry, including Ramsay's jacket.

Service: For the first time in Hell's Kitchen history, Ramsay announced the team would compete against a team of "returning chefs", consisting of Ben Walanka from season 5, Tennille Middleton and Van Hurd from season 6, and Jillian Flathers and Trev McGrath from season 8, chefs who all received black jackets. The teams made their own menus in a one-hour time limit. During that time, Will have a huge argument with Elise's behavior, and almost walked out of Hell's Kitchen, though chose to stay. David Krumholtz was a guest for this service. The black team had a strong performance, their only problems being Paul overcooking lobster, Jennifer undercooking garnish and Elise trying to push the other chefs too quickly. Trev became a leader as instructed by Ramsay but made a salad for the wrong ticket, while Van undercooked meat and Tennille struggled on fish. The black team won with a 96% approval rate, compared to 80% for the returning chefs, though Ramsay had them nominate two chefs for elimination.

Elimination: Jennifer and Elise were nominated. Ramsay called Jennifer forward, but gave her a new jacket, retaining all chefs after they won dinner service.

Challenge: The chefs were each given a portion of Alaskan salmon and assigned to create restaurant quality dishes with them. Whoever's dish was considered most valuable by Ramsay and a panel of three judges would win the challenge. Paul won the challenge, with Will second, Jennifer third, Tommy fourth and Elise last.

Reward/punishment: Paul received a helicopter trip with Ramsay followed by lunch at the Water Grill, and he chose Tommy to go with him. Also, his dish was put on the menu for service, with the others having to prep it.

Service: Tito Jackson was in attendance for this service. Jennifer got overwhelmed on appetizers and didn't communicate with the rest of the kitchen. Even though Tommy tried to help, Jennifer's lack of communication caused him to have to bring up a capellini undercooked. Jennifer and Elise then had a communication breakdown, resulting in Elise not having her scallops ready in time and both of them arguing as to whose fault it was. Jennifer then served burnt risotto, but she managed to rebound and properly communicate with Elise to get appetizers out. Ramsay decided to make the team to work entrées to speed things up, but Elise overcooked the salmon for ticket, which caused Ramsay to send half of the table's entrées in hope that Elise would cook the salmon in time (she ultimately failed at this resulting in half the table waiting an additional fifteen minutes for their food). Paul attempted to help her, but Elise repeatedly cooked the salmon wrong (not cooking it skin side down) despite Paul and Ramsay's instructions to her. After Tommy served undercooked capellini which Jennifer thought was cooked, and Jennifer denied his request to switch stations, he went over to the fish station to try and help Elise. However, Elise chased Tommy away when he tried to help her and then served raw sea bass. Ramsay kicked the team out but then brought Will and Paul back in to finish service by themselves.

Elimination: Jennifer and Elise were nominated.^{[note 3]} Prior to the elimination, Elise pulled Will and Paul to one side and made them promise to back her up if Ramsay asked them who was the weakest chef. After Paul and Will honored their agreement (though Tommy thought Elise was weaker), Ramsay agreed and eliminated Jennifer for her lack of leadership and feeling she didn't have the personality necessary to be a head chef, though he praised her exceptional cooking ability.

Before the challenge, Ramsay surprised the remaining chefs with a visit from their loved ones (Elise's husband, son and aunt, Tommy's girlfriend and mother, Paul's older brother and Will's mother and wife).

Challenge: After eating a dish made by Ramsay, the chefs had to recreate it in 35 minutes. Everyone got the garnish correct, but Paul won by correctly identifying cod and prosciutto, Elise and Will both finished second, correctly identifying prosciutto but not the fish, while Tommy finished last after using monkfish and serrano ham.

Reward/punishment:Paul and his older brother attended a Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Chicago Cubs baseball game, where they met Tommy Lasorda, Jamey Carroll, Steve Lyons and Don Mattingly. The others had to move furniture that have not been used out of the dorms.

Service: Rex Hudler attended as a guest. Each chef took a turn running the pass, while also having to spot acts of sabotage Ramsay and sous chef Scott set up. Paul was strong in leadership and managed to spot Tommy's raw cod when he brought it up. However, he failed to notice Scott's sabotage of putting shrimp in the lobster capellini and had problems due to Tommy not communicating properly when his fish would be ready. Tommy struggled in leadership, due to not calling out accurate times to the rest of the chefs, and read tickets slowly by not removing them from the pass. He also failed to notice James' sabotage of putting filet on a ticket despite none being on the menu. Elise led well, but she failed to notice that a puree was made of potato instead of cauliflower, despite tasting it, and started to break down as a result. However, she managed to recover and successfully spot Sous Chef Scott's sabotage of replacing mashed potatoes with parsnip puree and reject Tommy's crumbled sea bass. Will was strong in leadership and spotted Scott's sabotage of serving lamb wellington instead of beef and hanger steak instead of New York strip. However, Elise served raw pasta with the spinach and then attempted to pass off the same spinach on the refire, despite Will telling her to recook it. Elise then served mashed potatoes with black pepper in them and argued with Will over it, who suspected Elise of attempting to sabotage him. The rest of the kitchen then failed to respond to Will when he called out an order, but he managed to quickly retake control and led strongly from then on.

Paul and Will prepared a menu featuring four appetizers, four entrées and three desserts, and were given new white jackets. Ramsay then sent them to BLT Steak Los Angeles for with their relatives before they walked into a room filled with a cheering crowd.

Challenge: Paul and Will cooked five dishes to be judged by executives of BLT Steak. Will won 3-2.

Reward: Will was granted first pick in drafting a team using the eight chefs eliminated from the competition prior to the final.^{[note 5]} Will picked Tommy, Natalie, Jennifer and Krupa, while Paul picked Elise, Elizabeth, Jonathon, and was left with Carrie.

Service: Among the guests for service were the final two's relatives and BLT Group President Keith Treyball. In Will's kitchen, Natalie got the kitchen off to a strong start on appetizers, but Krupa repeatedly undercooked and overcooked fish, with one dish being returned for the dining room for still being under cooked. Will eventually relegated her to desserts and replaced her with Natalie, but Natalie found that Krupa had failed to properly cook or season any of the fish on order, telling Will she was at least eight minutes away on one ticket. In Paul's kitchen, Elise put stock in an appetizer that didn't need it and one of her pans caught on fire, but she recovered. Elizabeth overcooked scallops and Jonathon's steak repeatedly came out raw. As a result, Paul kicked him off the station and replaced him with Elise. Carrie struggled to keep on garnish, so Paul sent Elise over to help her, eventually turning their service around.

Winner: Ramsay then chose the winner based on the customer comment cards and his own observations. Ramsay gave Will and Paul final praise before having them step in front of a closed door. Paul's door opened, making him the ninth winner of Hell's Kitchen. Paul dedicated the win to his mother, who had died a few months before he came to compete, while Will took his defeat graciously.