20 chefs were taken on a bus to Hell's Kitchen. Chef Ramsay greeted them and mentioned that Los Angeles is known not only for its cuisine, but for its entertainment. Cooks and diners then danced to the show's theme song while Ramsay had the chefs go to the kitchen for their first challenge. Again, the teams were divided up between the women (red team) and the men (blue team).

Team challenge/signature dish: The teams had 45 minutes to create their signature dish, judged by Ramsay.^[3] Anton's seared crabmeat-crusted pork chop scored over Simone's pork chop, Jason's seared and braised wild salmon scored over Nicole's halibut, Chris' Cornish hen scored over Joy's chilled corn soup, and Kashia's New York strip scored over Mike's herb-fried tortellini. Mike revealed that the tortellini was store-bought, and the sauce was made with canned tomatoes. Ramsay, disgusted, dumped out his dish. When sent back in line, Mike muttered an insult, causing Chef Ramsay to pull him back out and berate him. Melanie's scallops scored over Richard's pan-roasted sea bass, Bev's fish tacos scored over Gabriel's stuffed chicken breast, neither Gaurav's tuna steak nor Sandra's pan-seared cod scored a point, Beth's fried catfish scored over DeMarco's ricotta gnocchi, and Ralph's New England lobster scored over Rochelle's sauteed chicken and asparagus. Lastly, Jessica's rosemary-crusted venison loin scored over Scott's fennel-dusted rack of lamb, giving the women a 5–4 win and marking the third consecutive season the women won the signature dish challenge.

Reward/punishment: The women had dinner with Ramsay at one of his Los Angeles restaurants while the men prepped both kitchens and cleaned the dining room. Mike walked out on the punishment, angering his teammates since he was responsible for their loss.

Service: Chris and Melanie served tableside chicken Caesar salad. In the men's kitchen, Gabriel, DeMarco and Gaurav proved incapable of getting any appetizers out. Gaurav's risottos came out soupy and then peppery, and he only angered Ramsay further by tasting the risotto with his fingers. DeMarco overcooked the lobster tail and Gabriel served scallops seared on only one side. In the women's kitchen, Nicole's lack of knowledge led Joy to take over most of the responsibilities on the fish station, however, Joy overcooked her scallops. Sandra, angered that she had to refire her risotto, refused to communicate properly with Joy and Nicole, while Joy and Sandra repeatedly argued over the latter's lack of communication. This led the women to struggle to time their appetizers correctly, and Ramsay kicked Joy, Nicole, and Sandra out after Joy and Nicole failed to start their lobster tail, even though Sandra's risotto was already at the pass. Both teams were kicked out when both Gabriel and Kashia overcooked scallops. Ramsay noted it as the worst opening service in the show's history, as nothing was served from either kitchen. For the first time since Season 8, both teams lost on opening night, and had to provide two nominees.

Elimination: The women nominated Sandra and Nicole while the men nominated Gaurav and DeMarco. Ramsay eliminated Gaurav for his poor performance on appetizers (especially for putting his fingers into the risotto) and nonchalant attitude.

Gaurav's comment: "I definitely do not think that I'm the worst chef in that group of 20 people, definitely not. I understand that I tasted the food by my fingers, but everybody does it."

The chefs were woken up by bikers performing stunts inside a spherical cage.

Team challenge: The chefs worked in pairs in a "chef's relay", where they pedaled tricycles to a cooking area and aimed to finish prepping all five areas first. Since the men had one less member, Gabriel went twice. DeMarco and Richard finished cleaning shrimp before Kashia and Bev, Jessica and Beth finished breaking down chicken before Anton and Chris, Jason and Gabriel passed Melanie and Simone cleaning oysters, Mike and Scott finished filleting trout before Sandra and Nicole, and Ralph and Gabriel finished making egg white omelettes before Joy and Rochelle, giving the men their first challenge win.

Reward/punishment: The men flew to San Francisco, where they had lunch at Epic Roasthouse with Ramsay and rode Segways around the city. The women were sent to a farm in a school bus to pick carrots and make stock upon their return to Hell's Kitchen. During the punishment, Nicole's quiet behavior annoyed Kashia, leading to an argument about the former's lack of passion.

Service: Mike and Sandra served tableside oysters, but Mike inadvertently served a couple of the women's tables. In the men's kitchen, Jason served bland risotto and DeMarco cooked tuna in a cold pan on appetizers, but both recovered. Scott and Gabriel mixed up cooking times on entrees, and after Scott served raw halibut and Gabriel served raw chicken twice, Ramsay threw the men out. In the women's kitchen, Simone and Nicole failed to serve an acceptable risotto and were thrown out, and though Kashia did well on meat, Beth served raw lobster and raw and overcooked halibut, causing Ramsay to throw the women out. Ramsay again named both teams losers.

Elimination: The men nominated DeMarco and Gabriel while the women nominated Beth and Simone. However, Ramsay overruled and eliminated Nicole, feeling her negative attitude and lack of passion, cooking ability, fight back and leadership outweighed the mistakes made by the four nominees.

Nicole's comment: "I'm not gonna cry like a little bitch. I don't give two flying fucks what he thinks and what he says. He can kiss my big fat ass. Bye, Chef Ramsay."

The chefs were woken up by pigs running through the dorms; each chef had to carry a pig outside.

Team challenge: The teams had to dig up potatoes in a pen full of farm animals, three chefs a time, until one team reached 100 pounds. While the men won that part of the challenge, they were then informed it was not all of it, they also had to create potato dishes. Each team then picked five dishes for Ramsay to rate from 1–5. Jessica's sweet potato succotash and Richard's Irish Colcannon both scored 4, Sandra's pancetta sofrito and Ralph's potato salad both scored 3, Jason's potato gratin scored 4, while Bev's potato hash scored 2 and Melanie's gnocchi scored 4 while Mike's boulangère scored 1. Lastly, Scott's potato souffle scored 4, but Joy's pierogi scored 5, giving the women an 18–16 victory.

Reward/punishment: The women went out to sea on a luxury sailboat. The men had to give the animals baths. During dinner service prep, DeMarco cut himself and was sent to urgent care, while Rochelle and Simone both fell sick, but their team believed Simone was faking. Both women returned in time to start the service.

Service: Kashia and Ralph served tableside Steak Diane. Guests in attendance for this service include Senen "Sen Dog" Reyes and EC Twins. Anton and Joy did well on appetizers, but both teams struggled on fish; Simone served raw lobster tail, and Ramsay found her and Jessica using too much oil for the scallops and putting raw scallops in the same pan as cooked ones. After they served raw scallops and salmon, Ramsay kicked them both out. Chris served halibut with no crust while Mike struggled to communicate with him, and DeMarco, who returned mid-service, poorly sliced chicken. However, in the women's kitchen, Sandra served perfectly cooked Wellingtons. Ramsay threw the men out when Scott sliced lamb before Chris's halibut was ready, and the women after Bev served raw and overcooked halibut; this was the third service in a row where both teams lost, marking the worst service start in the show's history. For the first time in Hell's Kitchen history, Ramsay had the teams nominate three chefs for elimination, instead of two.

Elimination: The women nominated Simone, Rochelle, and Sandra while the men nominated Mike, DeMarco, and Chris. After the nominees were named, Ramsay called Simone, Mike and DeMarco forward, had them remove their jackets and gave them ten seconds to plead their cases. But as Ramsay went to announce his decision, Simone immediately volunteered to leave the competition, marking the third voluntary exit at elimination (after Ji-Hyun Cha from Season 5 and Joseph Tinnelly from Season 6). Before sending the chefs back, Ramsay gave DeMarco and Mike back their jackets.

Simone's comment: "I'm normally really energetic and lively, and since I haven't been feeling well, I think I've come across as very soft and not someone who can fight. And even the biggest, most wonderful things sometimes don't turn out to be the best for you."

Ramsay dumped about 200,000 pennies ($2,000) on the floor to give the chefs a lesson on consistency, representing how much money was wasted last service. He then taught them how to make ravioli.

Team challenge: The chefs made ravioli dishes in pairs; the first team to make ten approved dishes would win. The pairs for the women were Melanie and Jessica, Kashia and Sandra, Bev and Rochelle, and Beth and Joy. The pairs for the men were Jason and Scott, Ralph and Richard, Chris and Anton, and DeMarco, Gabriel, and Mike, since the men had an extra member. The men raced to a 6–0 lead, but the women quickly caught up, mainly thanks to Jessica and Melanie. With the teams at a 9–9 tie, DeMarco, Gabriel, and Mike, whom struggled, finally submitted a dish, but it was rejected, allowing the women to pass with their tenth dish and win their third challenge.

Reward/punishment: The women were rewarded with a day at a mansion in Beverly Hills. The men prepped both kitchens and wrapped the pennies Ramsay dumped.

Service: Ramsay announced this service will host steak night. Beth, Rochelle, Gabriel and Scott served tableside salad and prime rib. Guests in attendance were Sharon Case, Suzanne Whang and Vanessa Marcil. In the women's kitchen, Bev served salty risotto, but Joy and Melanie did well on appetizers and meat. In the men's kitchen, Ralph ignored Mike on the appetizer station, causing Ramsay to scold them both, but Mike served risotto with no lobster. After Richard and Ralph served cold crab cakes and watery ravioli, Ramsay forced them to eat their mistakes, while Chris undercooked fillets. After the women finished service, Ramsay had them help the men, where Jason got into a heated argument with Sandra, forcing Ramsay to intervene.

Elimination: Mike and DeMarco were nominated. Mike pleaded to be transferred to the women, but Ramsay eliminated him for his lack of passion and effort, terrible attitude, refusal to be a team player, and for consistently being a poor performer.

Mike's comment: "I definitely feel like I was the fall guy. I'm gonna have fun watching the guys go down, because they're a bunch of backstabbing bitches. There's no camaraderie there. I will definitely forget about these guys as quickly as they've chosen to forget about me."

Team challenge: The chefs played a variant of Concentration where they had to match side dishes with four different types of protein (pork chop, swordfish, ahi tuna and chicken breast) in pairs. Melanie/Rochelle and Anton/Richard both scored on chicken breast, Chris and DeMarco scored over Jessica and Kashia on pork, Sandra and Beth scored over Jason and Gabriel on ahi tuna and Joy and Bev scored over Scott and Ralph on swordfish, giving the women their third straight challenge win.

Reward/punishment: The women were rewarded with a day of kayaking at Laguna Beach, followed by lunch at Studio Restaurant at the Montage Laguna Beach Resort. The men prepped over 100 pounds of honey taffy from scratch and had sardine smoothies for lunch. Before prep, DeMarco told his team that his father walked out on him when he was six months old.

Service: A brunch service was set up as part of the first-ever Hell's Kitchen wedding, with the faster team winning service. The women served the bride's family, the men served the groom's family, and both did the wedding party's table. Rochelle and Scott got fruit salads out quickly, but Beth burst an egg and burnt bread. Beth then struggled to keep up on the croque monsieur station and argued with Kashia and Bev, resulting in her serving a raw egg after being pressured by Kashia to bring it up. For the men, Ralph tried to cook bread in a cold pan and undercooked eggs. However, DeMarco caught the blame for serving the egg, despite telling Ralph the egg was undercooked and Ralph ignoring him. Both teams got to the final ticket. Despite Beth overcooking another egg, the women finished first due to Gabriel and Richard's slow performance on scrambled eggs, giving them the win and the men their fifth consecutive service loss.

Elimination: DeMarco and Gabriel were nominated; Ramsay also nominated Richard. Ramsay eliminated DeMarco for his lack of improvement, being nominated five consecutive times (the longest streak of nominations in the show's history, later tied with Season 14's Josh Trovato), and saying he ran out of chances.

DeMarco's comment: "The blue team had it in for me from the beginning. No matter what I did, it wasn't good enough. My team took away the chance for me to be head chef, and it kills me. But this isn't the end. I know I can cook, and I have a lot to prove to a lot of people."

Team captain nomination: No challenge took place; Ramsay asked both teams to choose a team captain for dinner service. Melanie and Anton were chosen. Melanie stated she would lead from the fish station, while Anton stated he would "float" around stations to lead. Joy noticed Beth looking unfocused during prep and suggested the women proceed to service without her, prompting a heated argument.

Service: Ramsay put the team captains to the test when he announced the VIP guests for the chef's table with the women cooking for Elizabeth Perkins and the men cooking for Holly Marie Combs. Sandra forgot a capellini on appetizers and Joy argued with her for not communicating, while Beth served raw and overcooked lobster and was non-communicative, leading Melanie to take over most of her responsibilities. However, Melanie, whose leadership was largely ineffectual, ruined the VIP table's order with raw halibut, and Kashia served perfect wellingtons but was slow to say when they would be ready. Anton's leadership, meanwhile, was fairly overzealous though seemingly more effective, however, Ramsay scolded him for shouting over him while he was reading a ticket. Gabriel and Ralph put in strong performances on appetizers under Anton's leadership, but Chris sent overcooked and undercooked scallops, the latter of which Anton served for the chef's table without Ramsay's approval first, but recovered. Jason performed well on meat, but Scott had communication issues despite cooking fish perfectly. Both teams completed service; Ramsay gave the men their first service win and praised Anton's leadership.

Elimination: Beth and Sandra were nominated. Ramsay polled the team, and though all except Jessica wanted Sandra gone, Ramsay eliminated Beth for her lack of leadership and confidence, being out of her depth, and sub-par performances.

Beth's comment: "I wouldn't change coming here for $1 million. But I'm worried that I'm never gonna be better than I am at this moment. And it scares the shit out of me. Right now, all I want to do is go home... and cry to my mama."

Team challenge: The teams had to cook four gourmet pizzas to be rated from 1–10 by Ramsay and Wolfgang Puck. Each team had three pairs and a solo chef and allowed to drop one pizza. The men did not serve Jason and Chris' pizza, while the women decided Bev and Kashia's was the weakest, despite their protesting that Joy and Jessica's pizza (which was very small and simple after Joy accidentally dropped their original pizza on the floor) was worse. Rochelle scored 5, while Ralph scored 3. Joy and Jessica scored 4, while Gabriel and Scott scored 5. Lastly, Melanie and Sandra scored 3, but Anton and Richard scored 7, giving the men a 15–12 win. After declaring the men the winners, Ramsay and Puck tasted Bev and Kashia's pizza and revealed it would have also scored 7, criticizing the women as it was the best pizza by far.

Reward/punishment: The men were rewarded with a pool day and a yoga session on the roof of the Andaz West Hollywood. The women made ravioli for Italian family night and prepped both kitchens. After the punishment, Kashia called out Melanie for unilaterally deciding to drop the former's pizza, but Melanie argued that Kashia should have been more outspoken about her confidence in her pizza.

Service: Both teams struggled on pizzas during family night. Bev repeatedly undercooked and burned the pizzas and Sandra rolled the bases too thick which completely held up the kitchen, but with Joy's help, Bev managed to successfully get the pizzas out. Rochelle also served scallops with no color, but managed to recover, and after that the women were able to successfully complete service (as well as successfully serve Ramsay's family in the dining room). In the men's kitchen, Chris constantly served burnt and raw pizzas while Scott tried to help, but only made the situation worse by burning even more pizzas. Even with additional help from Gabriel, the men were only able to serve ten pizzas before running out of pizza dough, causing Ramsay to send Scott and Chris into the dining room to apologize to the diners and ask them if they'd like something else. Anton accidentally caused a small fire on the fish station when the bottom of a bottle of oil came out when he picked it up, and Ralph served raw rib-eye then undercooked and poorly cut lamb. However, thanks to Jason, the men finished service. During the post-mortem, Ramsay asked both teams to collect all the discarded pizzas to show the amount of pizza they had wasted. Despite Ramsay being angry with both teams, Ramsay named the women the winners for having fewer problems on each station, and asked the men to come up with two nominees for elimination.

Elimination: The men nominated Chris and Scott for their problems with the pizza, but Ramsay also nominated Ralph, who had argued that he had nothing returned to him despite his abysmal performance on meat. After hearing their pleas (during which Ralph angered Ramsay by trying to claim he had yet to mess up), Ramsay eliminated Chris for consistently wasting pizza dough and mediocre performances.

Chris's comment: "My creativity in the kitchen goes far beyond what these fools can do. I made a mistake relying on my teammates, and it ended up being my demise. It's the heat of Hell's Kitchen. You can win or you can lose. You can get burned. And I got burned."

Team challenge: The teams had to cook sampler dishes for attendees of a dinner honoring the 160th anniversary of the Phi Mu sorority. Each team had to serve a chicken, seafood, and beef entree. The women did well under Kashia's leadership, while the men wasted over 10 minutes deliberating, barely finishing on time. The men scored on chicken, but the women won 2–1 by scoring on seafood and beef.

Reward/punishment: The women were rewarded each with a $500 shopping spree at the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, where they met Season 10 winner Christina Wilson. Following their meetup with Christina, the women had a special dinner prepared personally by Guy Savoy at his restaurant, Restaurant Guy Savoy. The men decorated the dining room under the sorority's party committee's direction.

Service: Gabriel and Richard put in strong performances on appetizers and garnish and got the men off to a good start on appetizers. However Jason served raw fried chicken twice, forcing Anton and Gabriel to help him, and Scott, despite cooking meat perfectly, didn't communicate to Richard and Gabriel on garnish when he was going to walk up to the pass, which put both of them behind. Despite this, both Scott and Jason managed to recover and successfully serve entrées. The women got off to a bad start due to Bev struggling to make crab cakes and giving inconsistent times for them, but Bev still managed to successfully serve them. However, on entrées, Kashia served raw fried chicken while Jessica did very little to help her, forcing Ramsay to pull them both into the pantry and tell them to get a grip. Sandra however had a successful performance on the fish station. After that, Kashia again served raw chicken that Jessica thought was cooked, but managed to recover and serve a properly cooked portion. However, Bev forgot what she was supposed to be cooking for garnish and then proceeded to serve cold mac & cheese, causing Rochelle to take over for her on garnish. Both teams finished service; Ramsay called out both teams' lack of teamwork but named the men winners.

Elimination: Bev and Jessica were nominated. After a heated argument between the two women during their pleas, Ramsay sent Jessica back in line and eliminated Bev for her lack of intensity and letting Rochelle take over her station during service.

Bev's comment: "Chef Ramsay, you made a very big mistake tonight. You're willing to keep a bunch of crybabies, who are emotional all the time? Really, you want these people to run your restaurant? How about someone who didn't fucking cry or never gave up? How about that?!"

Team challenge: Ramsay tested the chefs' adaptability, placing six ingredients under four domes. Every few minutes, a new dome became available, and each chef would have to grab one ingredient from the dome to incorporate in their dish. They had 30 minutes to make their dishes, judged by Chef Michael Cimarusti. Kashia scored over Ralph on New York strip, Rochelle scored over Richard on lobster, Jason scored over Joy on sea bass, both Gabriel and Melanie scored on chicken and Anton scored over Jessica on ahi tuna. Sandra then scored over Scott on duck breast, giving the women a 4–3 win and their sixth challenge victory out of eight.

Reward/punishment: The women were rewarded with lunch at the Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes and a private volleyball lesson with Olympian Kerri Walsh Jennings on the beach. The men had to do the waitstaff's chores, which included doing their laundry and cleaning the dining room and the main entrance.

Cook for your life – continued: Ramsay eliminated a tearful Jessica for undercooking lobster in the risotto and overcooking halibut. Jessica did not receive a comment from Ramsay or a coat-hanging and picture-burning sequence, but her hung jacket and burned picture was seen next to Ralph's.

Jessica's comment: "This is my dream, and it just is so crushing. I have so much passion, and I know I'm the person that is right for the job. I deserve to be here. I know I do. I know I do."

Pre-service: The next morning, Ramsay brought the chefs to his gastropub^{[note 1]} to give them inspiration before he announced that next service would have a special menu based on it. During prep back at Hell's Kitchen, Ralph began to feel sick, caused by bad sleep (courtesy of Gabriel's snoring the night before), but returned before service.

Service: The men did well on appetizers under Jason's leadership, with the only problem being Anton not communicating with the other stations and cooking sliders too fast. However, they had a complete meltdown on entrées; Anton forgot to cook a New York strip for a table and then miscommunicated to Ramsay how long the next table would be, while screaming at Ralph and Jason when they tried to correct him. Scott served watery salad and soggy fries and his attempts to lead the kitchen proved largely ineffectual. Ralph had trouble keeping up on the fish station due to Anton and Gabriel's lack of communication and undercooked fish and chips. Gabriel struggled cooking the chicken and gave Ramsay and the rest of the kitchen inconsistent cooking times, leading some tables to walk out. The women had a decent service, with the only problems being Joy initially not knowing she had to cook the buns for the sliders and Kashia serving cold garnish and then forgetting the garnish for the chicken. The women finished service and all but Sandra, who was on desserts, were ordered to help the men. However, the women struggled to work together with the men, who once again had trouble communicating. After Ralph served a soggy fish, Ramsay kicked the men out and had the women finish their service. The women were named the winners, and Ramsay tasked the men to name two nominees for elimination.

Elimination: Scott and Gabriel were chosen as the men's nominees. However, Gabriel attempted to nominate Ralph when asked by Ramsay who the nominees were. This led Ramsay to express frustration over the men's lack of teamwork, and although he accepted Gabriel and Scott as the nominees he also nominated Ralph (sarcastically stating "why not"). After each of them plead their case, Ramsay eliminated Ralph for his problems with the fish and chips, refusing to take responsibility for his mistakes (he attempted to blame his problems that night on the lack of communication in the kitchen), and mediocre performances, saying he was not ready to be a head chef.

Ralph's comment: "Where I come from, you don't rat people out, you take it on the chin, and you go forward. Gabriel choked tonight, and it'll catch up to him. His time will come. I'm definitely not the worst chef in that kitchen. Chef Ramsay, you just made the wrong decision tonight. I feel bad because, you know, I could've showed you a lot more."

Team challenge: The chefs had to match eight cuts of pork with eight body parts of a pig; the men won, so each member was allowed to choose which cut of pork they wanted to cook with and which member of the women they wished to compete against. Melanie scored over Anton on the shoulder, Rochelle scored over Richard on loin, giving the women an early 2-0 lead, but Gabriel scored over Joy on ribs and Jason scored over Sandra on the belly. Lastly, Scott surprised Ramsay by presenting a completed ravioli dish and scored over Kashia on pork cheek, giving the men a 3–2 win.

Reward/punishment: The men went skydiving with Jean-Philippe at iFly and each received their own Vitamix blender. The women made peanut butter by shelling peanuts by hand and prepped both kitchens. During the punishment, Rochelle opened up about her desire to start a family, causing her teammates to question her dedication.

Service: The men got off to a good start under Jason and Scott on appetizers (with Jason having taken over making the latter's risotto due to not trusting him), but Anton cooked only nine scallops instead the required ten and then pushed Scott away when he tried to help. On entrées, Anton overcooked halibut and blamed Scott for it due to the latter confusing him, causing Ramsay to march all the men into the store room and tell them to sort out their differences. However, on the next ticket, despite Richard providing perfect wellingtons, Gabriel ruined the ticket with cold mushrooms, forcing them to start over. In addition, Anton continued to have trouble on the fish station, sending overcooked salmon to the pass while blaming Scott, so Ramsay took over for him on the refire. In the women's kitchen, Rochelle did well on appetizers but was hampered by Sandra struggling to provide the lobster tail for the risotto (due to it falling apart) and Kashia forgetting to turn her gas on when cooking capellini. On entrées, Sandra did not communicate with Joy on garnish and Melanie on meat, and despite acknowledging not to walk up her salmon yet (due to Melanie's wellington not being ready), Sandra still brought it up when asked how long by Ramsay. When Sandra finally managed to coordinate properly with rest of the kitchen, the salmon was overcooked, leading Ramsay to have to refire the table. Despite the problems, both teams managed to complete service, but Ramsay was frustrated with the lack of coordination in both kitchens, and named both teams losers. He then tasked them with coming up with two nominees for elimination, specifically stating to choose the people that were making it difficult to coordinate properly.

Team challenge: Ramsay had each chef, one by one, enter a dark, makeshift "grocery store", where they had to use the sense of feel to collect five ingredients in one minute. He then gave them 30 minutes to use the ingredients, judging the winning team through a King of the Hill match between all chefs individually. Gabriel was not allowed to sit on the hill after forgetting his chicken mousse. Scott, Sandra, Anton, and Rochelle each got on the hill when presenting their dishes, but Rochelle beat out everyone else to win the challenge for the blue team.

Reward/punishment: The blue team were rewarded with massages at LeSpa at the Sofitel Hotel in Beverly Hills, while the red team had to take in deliveries of food.

Service: 24 UNICEF charity members were guests for service including ambassador Angie Harmon, who served as the host for this special event. Each chef was in charge of a course, cooking twelve portions. On the risotto course, Anton's only problems were having the pans too hot at the start and then having trouble communicating with Joy, who was doing the lobster tails, while Rochelle briefly confused Gabriel by taking over his seasoning of the risottos. On the tuna tataki course, Melanie had no trouble, but Gabriel forgot to cook two tuna. Luckily, Rochelle noticed and she was able to successfully cook the additional tuna and get the course out on time. Both Kashia and Richard struggled leading the tortellini course. The former failed to notice that the tortellini was undercooked and then blamed Melanie and Anton for it, which completely held up the kitchen. The latter failed to take all the tortellini out of the pasta water and, as a result, came up short when plating, while the remaining tortellini overcooked during that time. As a result, the blue diners received reduced portions, which was exacerbated when Gabriel put out thirteen plates instead of twelve. On the rack of lamb, Scott led strongly, only struggling to put sauce on the plates due to using a ladle instead of a spoon. Sandra failed to notice that the lamb was undercooked, and then overcooked it when she attempted to quickly flash it in the oven, despite warnings from Jason and Ramsay. This forced the blue team to serve only one lamb chop per guest. Lastly, Joy and Jason both led well and got the beignet courses out with no problems. Despite both teams completing service, Ramsay named both teams losers and asked for two nominees from each team.

Elimination: The red team nominated Kashia and Scott while the blue team nominated Sandra and Gabriel. Ramsay send Scott and Gabriel and then Kashia back in line and eliminated Sandra for her issues on lamb and her lack of coordination with her team.

Sandra's comment: "I definitely feel like something slipped away. I had it in my fingers, and I feel like I dropped the ball tonight. I know in my heart I'm a better chef than a lot of the people in there. Tonight was just not my night, but I've done a lot of great things here. I don't have anything to hang my head low about at all. Not at all."

Pre-service: For the second time this season, there was no challenge; the chefs were visited by two rappers, who sang instructions for the teams to create their own menus. Melanie forced through most of her ideas for the red team, while shooting down Kashia and Anton's ideas, but Anton, Joy, and Kashia were still able to get some of their dishes on as well (including Kashia's dish from the signature dish challenge). However, Kashia was irritated with Melanie for shooting down her tuna slider idea but then later recommending it to the rest of the team as her own idea, while the red team expressed concern over Joy's fried chicken dish due to the problems both teams had with fried chicken on a previous service. Most of the blue team contributed ideas for their menu, but they had to prompt Rochelle for input on the menu due to her lack of confidence. Ramsay felt both menus were decent, but insisted on tweaks, and expressed similar concern over Joy's fried chicken dish and reprimanded Rochelle when she burnt a sampler crab cake and giggled nervously. Despite that, both teams got their menus approved and then had to prep for service that night. However, during prep, Rochelle got overwhelmed and argued with her team leading to a crisis of confidence until she was encouraged by Kashia in the dorms.

Service: Max Ehrich was guest in attending this service. During this service, each diner would have the choice of which menu they would choose from, with the blue menu ultimately being the more popular of the two. Although Jason was worried about Rochelle on appetizers due to her earlier crisis, she managed to consistently get appetizers out at a good pace. However, Richard undercooked crab cakes and almost cooked the refire in a dirty pan until Ramsay stopped him, but managed to recover. Gabriel, however, served undercooked steaks twice while Richard was slow on garnish and under portioned sides, causing Ramsay to have to send Rochelle over to help him. In the red kitchen, Anton cooked more portions of risotto than needed and Melanie had trouble cooking Anton's scallop dish, after he told her to sear the scallops then bake them in sauce, which turned them soggy, forcing her to throw away several orders of scallops. When Melanie had scallops returned for being undercooked, she noticed she was out of scallops. Luckily, Anton was able to get extra scallops from the blue team because they didn't put a scallop course on their menu, allowing Melanie to successfully cook the refire. Despite the team's worries about the fried chicken dish, Joy got every order out perfectly, while Kashia delivered every order of her signature dish perfectly. Ramsay named the red team winners for a strong finish, and told them that one of the women would be transferring to the blue team after elimination.

Elimination: Despite Gabriel and Richard attempting to convince Jason to nominate Rochelle due to her earlier crisis, the blue team ultimately decided on Richard and Gabriel as the nominees. Ramsay eliminated Richard for failing to live up to his experience, lacking Gabriel's determination and being kicked off his station by Rochelle. However, he warned Gabriel that he was on his very last chance, and that his performances would need to dramatically improve in order for him to stay.

Richard's comment: "I'm 48 years old. I wasn't supposed to be here, and I did everything anybody else, who was 28, did, as good or better. I wanted to be there at the end, but am I gonna go pout and cry about it? Fuck, no. It's been a great experience. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I'd do it at 49 and really piss people off."

Team change: The red team then announced that they would send Melanie to the blue team to even up the numbers.

Team challenge: The annual "blind taste test" took place; Rochelle identified three ingredients compared to Joy's two, Anton and Gabriel both scored one and Scott scored two while Jason failed to get any. Lastly, Melanie also did not get any, while Kashia scored one, giving the red team a 6–4 win.

Reward/punishment: The red team were rewarded with a private ice skating lesson with Olympian Rachael Flatt, while the blue team had to take in deliveries of ice and make ice cream by hand for service. Concerned about Gabriel's lack of fightback, Ramsay gave him a pep talk in the storeroom before service.

Service: Ryan Pickett and Dante Basco were in attendance for this service. The blue team had a strong service thanks to Melanie on appetizers and Gabriel on garnish, with the only problems being Jason briefly falling behind cooking lobster tails and Rochelle serving undercooked chicken then struggling to remember tickets, but both rebounded as Gabriel quickly reorganized the team. In the red kitchen, Scott got the kitchen off to a good start on appetizers, but Kashia forgot to cook one scallop, and when Scott tried to help, he cooked an entire portion rather than just one scallop. Anton then caused disarray when he jumped in as well, however, Kashia managed to quickly retake control of her station and serve an acceptable scallop. However, Kashia was caught braising a salmon in sauce rather than searing it and gave attitude to Ramsay when he scolded her for it. On entrées, Anton undercooked chicken, but when Scott sliced it and served it, Ramsay scolded the latter for not noticing that it was raw. Anton then became disorganized on the meat station and fell behind on orders, telling Ramsay he was ten minutes away on a wellington when Kashia's salmon was already at the pass. Anton then overcooked the wellingtons, blamed the oven for his problems, and argued with Sous Chef Andi (who in turn berated him intensely), causing Ramsay to send him to the storeroom and tell him to bounce back. Both teams finished service; Ramsay praised the blue team, particularly Gabriel, for their excellent service, but berated the red team and asked them to nominate two people for elimination.

Elimination: Anton and Scott were nominated. Ramsay eliminated Anton for his arrogance, disintegrating performances, refusal to be a team player, and constantly blaming others for his mistakes.

Anton's comment: "I think Chef Ramsay might have taken tonight as arrogance, but I know my abilities. One day, Chef Ramsay and I will meet again. Maybe next time, it'll be his restaurant next door to mine. I didn't walk away with the crown, but I was the best out of everybody in there. So that makes me the winner of Hell's Kitchen in my opinion."

Team challenge: The chefs were taken to Bristol Farms and given $35 per team and 15 minutes to shop for ingredients and 30 minutes to cook three portions of a dish. Since the blue team had an extra member, Rochelle and Gabriel worked together. The guest judges were editor of LAist Krista Simmons, Master Yelper Anita Lau and IDG Director of Development Brent Berkowitz. Each judge gave a price they would pay for the dish and the three prices were averaged to give a score. Kashia's top sirloin with bourbon sauce scored $24.67, while Jason's Cornish hen scored $20. Rochelle and Gabriel's trout dish scored $21.33, while Scott's pan-roasted sea bass and jumbo shrimp scored $23.67. Joy's seared pork loin rubbed with sage, salt, black pepper, and spiced applesauce scored $24.67, while Melanie's lamb chops with fresh rosemary, garlic, and lemon sage couscous scored $28. The blue team's total was $69.33, but the red team won the challenge with their total of $73.01.

Reward/punishment: The red team were rewarded with a $1,000 shopping spree at The Grove at Farmers Market, followed by lunch at Hatfield's Restaurant in Los Angeles. The blue team cleaned the dorms and bathrooms.

Challenge: At a press conference the next day, Ramsay revealed the season's first individual challenge, in which each chef would be competing to earn a black jacket, immunity from elimination in the next dinner service and their dish a place on the December page of the first Hell's Kitchen calendar. Each chef was given 45 minutes to create a dish of their choice. Ramsay then revealed three guest judges alongside him to judge the dishes, Season 3 winner Rock Harper, Season 9 winner Paul Niedermann, whom Jason meets for the first time since he withdrew due to illness, and Season 10 3rd place finisher Dana Cohen; each judge rated the dishes from 1–5.

Jason's stuffed halibut with capellini, goat cheese, crab and shrimp scored 8, Kashia's rack of lamb covered with honey pistachio and demi-glace scored 11, Rochelle's seared New York Strip steak with cilantro-lime chimichurri sauce scored 13, Scott's pan-seared sea scallops and poached crab with tarragon butter scored 11, Melanie's marinated rack of lamb with red wine rosemary garlic and creamy basil-infused mashed potatoes scored 5 because she added raw flour to the potatoes, and Gabriel's roasted rack of lamb did not even score a single point because he forgot to plate most of it, and the part that he did plate was severely overcooked. Last up was Joy, with a seared duck breast with oven-roasted figs, mushrooms, and Swiss chard.

Challenge – continued: Joy's dish impressed all four judges (even though she admitted she had never used most of the ingredients before), earning her an almost perfect score of 19 points.

Reward/punishment: Joy earned a black jacket and immunity from elimination after service, a December spot on the calendar, and was also treated to lunch with Rock, Paul, and Dana in the Hell's Kitchen dining room. The others prepared the food and served it to them.

Service: Before service, Ramsay revealed that every chef surviving elimination after service would be rewarded with a black jacket. Dinner service featured a special VIP table for members of Oxfam, an anti-poverty charity, including ambassador and actress Minnie Driver, and founder Raymond Offenheiser. Both teams had to serve them at the same time, but Gabriel served scallops too early and miscounted them before overcooking them, though he recovered quickly, and Melanie served undercooked chicken. In the red kitchen, Scott cooked an order a halibut too early and had trouble cooking salmon for the Oxfam table, Kashia served perfectly cooked but poorly cut chicken. Gabriel was caught cooking halibut and salmon in the same pan before serving raw salmon for the Oxfam table.

Automatic elimination: After Scott and Gabriel both served overcooked and raw salmon respectively for the Oxfam table, Ramsay pulled them into the storage room. When they returned, they completed the VIP table. However, after Gabriel served another raw salmon, Ramsay eliminated him on the spot, making him the sixth contestant in Hell's Kitchen history to be eliminated during service, and the first since Nilka Hendricks from Season 7. Instead of sending Gabriel upstairs like the rest, Ramsay sent him through the front entrance, shocking the blue team and the customers. Outside, Jean-Philippe consoled him before taking his jacket and shaking his hand goodbye. Gabriel was not given the coat hook or flaming picture scene. The teams were named joint-losers and each asked to nominate one chef for elimination.

Gabriel's comment: "It just didn't go my way tonight. It was just one bad service too many. Instead of getting a black jacket, they took my blue jacket. My fucking heart hurts right now, man, because... I was this fucking close."

Elimination: Jason, Scott and Melanie were nominated, but Ramsay ultimately decided to give everyone a black jacket, after having already eliminated Gabriel.

Challenge: The chefs traveled to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where they cooked gourmet tailgate party food favorites for USC Trojans football fans; the dish voted best by a group of 50 fans won. The challenge ended in a tie between Scott and Jason.

Reward/punishment: Scott and Jason had lunch at the Saddle Peak Lodge in the Santa Monica Mountains, while the others sorted garbage from the tailgate party. Jason got drunk during the reward, and in addition to arriving late to prep the next morning, was very sluggish in helping out.

Service: Appetizers ran okay, but Scott had to restart the risotto on the final table after overcooking it and didn't respond when Ramsay asked him what happened. As a result, Ramsay berated Scott and accused him of trying to hide his mistakes. Additionally, Kashia mistakenly cooked one lobster tail instead of two and accused Scott and Joy of not communicating properly to her, even though they had told her to cook two lobster tail. Kashia also refused Melanie's help to run her food to the pass and then lied to Ramsay that Melanie had declined to help her when Ramsay asked why they weren't working together. This caused Ramsay to march both of them into the storeroom where he told them to sort out their differences. On entrées, Rochelle had trouble slicing chicken, forcing Ramsay to help her, while Kashia failed to communicate with the rest of the kitchen and then proceeded to serve raw salmon. She then lashed out at Jason and Rochelle when they asked her for times on the refire and maintained a morose attitude towards the rest of her team, causing Ramsay to send Scott to help her. However, Scott and Kaisha sent raw halibut for a table, which forced Ramsay to send the table incomplete, hoping the halibut could be cooked in time. Kashia and Scott were not able to, and Scott talked back to Ramsay after the latter accused him of not caring. The team finished service, but Ramsay was far from pleased and had the chefs nominate one person for elimination.

Elimination: Kashia was nominated; Ramsay also nominated Scott since he found his arguing "unacceptable".^{[note 2]} Despite his continued frustration with Scott, Ramsay eliminated Kashia for her volatile attitude during service and poor performance on fish, feeling she was not yet ready to be a head chef. However, he praised her for her effort, passion, cooking ability, and heart, telling her she would have a great career.

Kashia's comment: "I came into this with no culinary education. This was a roller coaster ride from the beginning, but I didn't realize how strong I was until I got here. I've made some friendships that I will keep. And I've got so many stories to go home and share with my family. You know, the underdog prevails sometimes. I'm not someone who gives up. When one door closes, I think about the next four that can open for me. This will not be the last time America sees Kashia."

Challenge: The chefs watched a performance by Street Drum Corps, who used discarded everyday objects as their musical instruments. The chefs were then given 30 minutes to make a dish using leftovers from the refrigerators, which would be judged on taste and presentation by Ramsay and magazine food editor Laurie Buckle. While Jason, Joy, and Rochelle received poor reviews, Scott won, narrowly beating out Melanie.

Reward/punishment: Scott was rewarded with a photo-shoot for Better Homes and Gardens magazine, where his dish was featured, followed by flying in a fighter jet; he chose Jason to join him for the jet ride. The others had to take in a delivery of pumpkins and acorn squash and prep them, during which Rochelle cut her thumb and was sent to the hospital but returned in time for dinner service.

Service: Comic book legend Stan Lee was a guest at the chef's table. The Red Hat Society along with Bree Williamson and Keran Giovanni were also guests for this service. Scott had a strong performance on appetizers despite being forced to clean burning rice on the stove, while Melanie failed twice to cook an acceptable capellini for the chef's table, but recovered. Rochelle, on meat, lead entrees and constantly called out times, but Joy, despite acknowledging Rochelle's times, served fish too early, angering Ramsay.

Joy's exit: When Ramsay called out Joy for again serving the fish before Jason's garnish was ready, Joy argued with Ramsay before leaving the kitchen, saying "I'm done" and angrily throwing off her jacket despite pleas from her teammates not to leave. Ramsay followed Joy and called her out on her selfish behavior, but Joy argued back once more, saying she was done with Ramsay, snapping "I know you're done, it shows in your cooking!" and she went upstairs to the dorm. The remaining chefs persevered and finished service, while Joy packed her bags in the dorm; Sous Chef Andi attempted to motivate Joy, and while Joy regretted her decision to walk out, she withdrew from the competition, believing it was too late, making her the third chef to walk out of the competition during service, following Jeff LaPoff from Season 1 and Andrew Forster from Season 7. Joy received a burning picture scene, but it is unknown whether her jacket was hung even though she threw it off.

Joy's comment: "It's too late. I can't apologize. And I feel like I let Chef Ramsay down, and I didn't think about anybody but myself when I walked out that kitchen. I was really hungry, I really wanted it, but the closer I got to the end, the more I started doubting myself. And I should've never did that, because my doubt is what drove me to just walk away. Now that I sit back and think about everything that went on here, and I realize I've come along way. Ever since my first service, my worst service, I've only moved forward. I grew a lot in the kitchen and outside of the kitchen. I made a best friend while I was here, and I was the first one to get a black jacket. I really did blow one of the biggest opportunities I've had in a long time. And it was everything I asked for. And I threw it all away. I threw it all away. And that's just something I have to live with."

Elimination: Ramsay didn't say much about Joy after her departure, although he did state her decision to leave proved to him that she isn't ready to be a head chef, and that he expects everyone else to have a better attitude at this stage of the competition. He also added that to be a great head chef, one needs to have composure, discipline, and maturity, and that Joy lacked all of those things in her decision to leave. Ramsay then told the remaining chefs that despite the ups and downs, they all fought back, and that no one else would be leaving. However, he announced that after the next service, two chefs would be eliminated, with the other two advancing as finalists.

The chefs were greeted by Ramsay and security guards in the dining room. VIP guests then arrived; the chefs' loved ones (Rochelle's fiance and parents, Melanie's boyfriend and mother, Jason's girlfriend and mother, and Scott's wife, son, and daughter). They all enjoyed a dish that Ramsay prepared for them in the dining room.

Challenge: This led to the popular 40-minute "Taste it, now make it" challenge. Ramsay allowed the chefs to use a sample plate as a reference since most of them had eaten very little of the dish. For the protein, Jason, Melanie, and Rochelle chose sole, while Scott used escolar. For the garnish, Jason, Rochelle, and Scott chose butternut squash, while Melanie chose pumpkin. For the puree, Jason and Scott chose watercress, Melanie chose arugula and Rochelle chose parsley. Ramsay revealed the protein was sole, eliminating Scott, and the garnish was butternut squash, eliminating Melanie. Jason then beat out Rochelle as he correctly used watercress for his puree, redeeming himself from his bad performance in the blind taste test.

Reward/punishment: Jason went to two Los Angeles restaurants with Sous Chef Andi: the Fig & Olive and Ink, where he met up with his girlfriend and mother. He also won a set of stainless steel cookware. The others had to move furniture out of the dorms and prep the kitchen for dinner service. Rochelle sat out due to her cut thumb and Melanie intentionally sat out as well, hoping Scott would tire himself out and sabotage his chances of getting to the final.

Service: Each chef took a turn running the pass, while also having to spot acts of sabotage Ramsay and Sous Chef James set up. Rochelle was nervous in leadership as she read out tickets too fast and kept giggling, but after a pep talk by Ramsay, she recovered, rejecting poorly presented salads by Scott and catching shrimp in a risotto instead of lobster. Melanie also spoke very quickly and had a hard time maintaining attention, and was also urged to take control. She improved, but failed to realize that Jean-Philippe had given her a ticket featuring a "Caesar special", despite none being on the menu. Scott held everyone to a high standard and was quick to point out even tiny flaws, which annoyed the other chefs, but he led very effectively and caught a duck breast and a raw chicken breast instead of two chicken breasts. Jason was laid-back at first, but then generally led well, catching a salmon instead of halibut.

Elimination: Ramsay firstly eliminated Rochelle, but praised her for her energy, enthusiasm, and natural ability, saying she would have a bright future ahead of her. He then named Scott and Jason to advance to the final, eliminating Melanie.^{[note 3]} Ramsay complimented Melanie on her performance, allowing her to keep her jacket. Neither Melanie or Rochelle received a coat hook or burning picture scene, as well as a comment from Ramsay.

Rochelle's comment: "One of my biggest fears, coming in here, was the fact that I didn't have the experience as everybody else. There were definitely times where thoughts of doubt popped in my head. But I was able to push and push through it. Even being a catering chef, I stood my ground. I've learned so much, and it's been such an amazing journey. Chef Ramsay, thank you so much for this opportunity. And I feel like, in your next restaurant, I might be applying. And I won't laugh as much."

Challenge: Ramsay invited Scott and Jason to the Vogue Nightclub in Los Angeles, where they competed in their final challenge. Both prepared two appetizers and three entrees in one hour to be judged by five well-renowned chefs from 1–10. Scott won 43–42 after beating Jason on the beef entree by one point.

Reward: Scott was given the first pick in drafting a team using the ten chefs eliminated from the competition prior to the final.^{[note 4]} Scott picked Chris, Ralph, Rochelle, Kashia, and Jessica, while Jason picked Anton, Melanie, Gabriel and Bev, and was left with Sandra. Many of the women (particularly Melanie) were annoyed by the order of the selection, feeling it was blatantly sexist and that Scott and Jason were choosing based on who they were friends with on the blue team, rather than considering people's abilities in the kitchen.

Service: The finalists' families along with Sean Kanan and Shanola Hampton were guests for the final service in addition to guests sitting at the chef's tables which included singer Natasha Bedingfield in Scott's kitchen and actor Mark Boone Junior in Jason's kitchen. In Jason's kitchen, despite strong performances from Anton, Melanie, and Bev, Sandra failed to provide times on garnish, served old crab cakes for the chef's table, argued with Jason, and worked slowly. Gabriel overcooked filets, but recovered. In Scott's kitchen, he got through appetizers fine thanks to Chris cooking perfect scallops, but Jessica was disorganized on garnish, serving uneven remoulade sauce and soggy French fries before Scott kicked her out and had Rochelle take over, marking the second time a finalist threw a chef out of the kitchen. Ramsay praised Jason and Scott and announced the results were very close.

Winner: After deliberating, Ramsay called Scott and Jason to his office and gave them final praise before sending them to two doors; Scott's door opened, making him the twelfth winner of Hell's Kitchen.^{[note 5]} Though he left for medical reasons in the Season 9 premiere and actually made it this far in this season, Jason took his defeat graciously and felt Scott deserved to win. Scott gave a victory speech and thanked people for supporting him.

Jason's comment: "I really thought my door was gonna open. I really thought that I had it. But Scott deserves it. He's got cooking skills up the wazoo, and I am truly very happy with Scott right now."

Scott's comment: "Oh, my God. I just... I just fucking won. I can't believe it. I'm still in fucking shock. I pushed really hard. I gave everything I've ever had. It's been a tough road, and it hasn't been without some blood and tears. You know, there's no question this is the hardest thing I've ever done. My whole life is my wife and kids, and now, my kids are growing up on a beach."