18 contestants entered Hell's Kitchen, where they were greeted by Marino, who presented them with a slot machine. Ashley pulled the lever, which revealed Ramsay's message to meet him in Las Vegas and dispensed plane tickets. After a parade celebration, which included Season 12 winner Scott Commings, Ramsay welcomed the chefs to BLT Steak at Bally's Las Vegas, where the winner of this season would become the head chef. He also introduced his new sous chefs, Season 10 winner Christina Wilson and Aaron Mitrano, before having the chefs make their signature dishes in the BLT Steak kitchen.

Team challenge/signature dish: The contestants had 45 minutes to cook their signature dish, rated from 1–5 by Ramsay. Eddie's Bambi tenderloin scored 3 while Sherkenna's crab-stuffed salmon scored 2, Frank's penne a la vodka scored 3 while Ashley's ostrich filet scored 2, and Dannie's Thai pan-seared scallops scored 4 while Mark's black mussels scored 1. Joe's veal scored 3 while Meese's pork loin scored 1, Jared's halibut and Alaskan king crab cake scored 4 while Vanessa's eggplant involtini scored 1, and Jackie's seared scallop and grilled corn salsa scored 3 while Kevin's chicken caesar piadina scored 1 as he used pre-made dough and pre-made salad dressing, and was threatened with elimination on the spot. Kristin's grilled pork tenderloin scored 3 while Alan's pan-seared maple glaze salmon scored 1 and Chad's roasted partridge breast scored 4 while Ariel's shakshouka scored 3. Lastly, Manda's corn-flake-fried scallops scored 3, but Hassan's pan-seared scallops scored 4, giving the men a 24–22 win.

Reward/punishment: The men were rewarded with a view of Las Vegas on the High Roller, followed by dinner at Drai's Nightclub at The Cromwell Las Vegas. The women stayed at Bally's and were sent to Sterling Buffet to peel 50 pounds of shrimp and make over 1,000 pounds of truffle mashed potatoes. Upon returning to Hell's Kitchen, all the chefs were each gifted with a brand new set of Henckels knives. Before service, Jared annoyed his teammates by trying to be a leader.

Service: Audrina Patridge and Morgan Stewart were guests for this service. Ariel, Meese, Eddie, and Jared served tableside grilled shrimp. In the women's kitchen, Vanessa burnt pizza and served cold squash, needing her teammates' help, but Sherkenna and Ashley's strong performances on meat and fish helped the women finish service. In the men's kitchen, Alan fired entrees before appetizers were finished and then overcooked scallops despite his first portion being accepted. Mark burned the pizza for Audrina's table, but Frank made another one. Jared and Eddie jumped into the kitchen to help, only to underseason the risotto. After Kevin served raw lobster and two diners walked out, Ramsay ejected the men and asked for two nominations.

Elimination: Mark and Kevin were nominated, with Alan also receiving serious consideration. Ramsay send Kevin back in line and eliminated Mark for his poor performance on appetizers and lack of fightback.

Mark's comment: "I didn't expect this at all. I came in thinking that I was gonna be on top, and here I am, first to be kicked out. Every part of me wishes I could come back tomorrow, you know. It's hard."

Team challenge: The chefs were tasked to make baskets of shrimp dumplings each in pairs for 20 minutes without getting distracted by strippers, a marching band, and sumo wrestlers. Since the women had an extra member, Kristin, Manda and Meese worked as a trio. For the men, Kevin and Chad scored 4, Frank and Hassan didn't score any, Eddie and Joe scored 1, and Alan and Jared excelled scoring 7. For the women, Jackie and Dannie scored an impressive 6, Kristin, Manda and Meese scored 2, Sherkenna and Vanessa scored 3 (only Vanessa's were accepted), and Ariel and Ashley scored 2, giving the women a 13–12 win.

Reward/punishment: The women went on a helicopter trip to Malibu and had lunch with Ramsay at Geoffrey's. The men prepped mushrooms and corn for the service's table side appetizer, during which Frank and Jared got into an argument over what caused their first challenge loss.

Service: Dexter Darden and the sumo wrestlers from the team challenge were guests for this service. Hassan and Manda served tableside corn fritters. Appetizers ran well, but Ashley forgot to turn the stove on when cooking risotto and Joe dropped a lamb and struggled remembering orders, but recovered. The Game then arrived having not booked in advance with a ten-top table, requiring the teams to work together to serve it. In the women's kitchen, Ariel served Meese's snapper while it was raw, causing Ramsay to jump in, and blamed Meese. Meese struggled with communication, and Sherkenna burned the Arctic char twice, allowing Dannie to take over and serve an acceptable portion. Both teams finished service; Ramsay named the men winners for their strong finish and fewer overall mistakes. Ramsay ordered the women to nominate three chefs, rather than two, for elimination, marking the second time in Hell's Kitchen history this has happened, the first time being on Season 12.

Elimination: Meese, Ariel, and Sherkenna were nominated. Ramsay sent Ariel back in line and eliminated Sherkenna for giving up during service and allowing Dannie to take over.

Sherkenna's comment: "Tonight, I just hit a bump in the road, and I never bounced back from it, and I completely lost focus. But at the same time, I learned more about myself. I might be small town, but I can get down. Be looking for me. Y'all will hear about me again."

Team challenge: After greeting the chefs in French, to improve their communication, Ramsay gave each chef a jacket with a recipe on the back of it, with a chef's teammates having 40 minutes to communicate the recipe to them. The men won 5-3 as Kristin and Manda's dishes were ruined by miscommunications from Meese and Dannie respectively; Chad and Dannie's dishes were not judged.

Reward/punishment: The men headed to The Ritz-Carlton Bacara Resort in Santa Barbara, where they received poolside foot massages and mojito cocktails, while the women prepped 100 pounds of sea bass for the next service and had fish head soup for lunch.

Service: For an additional reward, the men had the honor to cook for Buzz Aldrin, who was a guest for this service. Alan and Ashley served tableside sea bass. In addition to Aldrin, Terry Fator and Tiya Sircar were also guests for this service. The men had a near perfect service, their only problems being Kevin serving a raw vegetarian risotto (which Jared recovered) and nearly putting already cooked wellingtons for Aldrin's table back in the oven until Eddie and Hassan stopped him, prompting Ramsay to call him a "space cadet". In the women's kitchen, Dannie performed well on risotto, but Vanessa struggled remembering orders, forgetting a lobster tail. Ramsay had Christina write an order on Kristin's back after she failed to remember it. Manda struggled with communication and timing on garnish, Meese threw away perfectly cooked wellingtons, and Jackie served cold Arctic char twice, causing Ramsay to lament that the team had thrown more food out than they had served. Ramsay ejected the women, having the men finish their service.

Elimination: Despite the team agreeing to nominate Meese and Manda, Ariel announced the nominees as Meese and Vanessa. Ramsay sent Meese back in line and eliminated Vanessa for her lack of confidence and communication.

Vanessa's comment: "I'm definitely disappointed that Chef Ramsay wasn't able to see the real me in this competition. This opportunity meant everything to me. I wanted to do it for my mom, because she's my biggest fan. I was supposed to win, I was supposed to win. I told her I was gonna win."

Team challenge: The chefs were brought out to a local lake, where they were given 10 minutes to gather five rubber ducks with an ingredient on it, then use them to make a duck dish judged against an opposing team member who had the same ingredients in 40 minutes, with Ramsay and Chef Josiah Citrin rating each dish from 1-4. Since the men had an extra member, they chose Kevin to sit out. Joe scored 6 and Manda scored the minimum 2 for severely overcooking her duck. Ariel, Chad, and Jackie each scored 5, while Frank scored 7. The women cut the margin to 22-21 as Dannie and Meese scored 5 and 4 respectively while Alan's greasy collard greens and Hassan's poor presentation earn them a measly 2 apiece as well. Ashley gave her team a one point lead with her 6 over Eddie's 4 as his duck breast was caked in raw fat, but on the last round, Jared scored a 6 while Kristin scored a 3 due to her duck being overcooked, giving the men a 32-30 win.

Reward/punishment: The men spent the afternoon sailing on a luxury yacht and had dinner with Ramsay at the Penthouse Restaurant at the Huntley Hotel in Santa Monica, during which Joe jokingly asked if he could use Ramsay as a reference after his appearance on the show. The women prepped a large delivery of duck for the next service and had duck feet sandwiches for dinner. During the punishment, Jackie's antics continued to get on her teammates' nerves, and she angered Christina by titling a prep list "The Fuckin' List".

Service: A VIP guest was seated at each chef's table with Kris Jenner in the women's kitchen and Dita Von Teese in the men's kitchen. Frank and Dannie served tableside duck confit. The men once again had a near-perfect service, their only problems being Kevin not communicating from the meat station until Hassan took charge and led the men through their third dinner service win. The women struggled throughout the night with Ashley again forgetting to turn the stove on when cooking capellini, Manda under seasoning the risotto and Jackie serving raw chicken. However, it was Meese who failed to communicate with her teammates again and sunk on garnish when she served mashed potatoes on a tray for the chef's table. Ramsay had several of the men help the women finish service for the second night in a row.

Elimination: Jackie and Meese were nominated. Ramsay eliminated Meese for her problems with communication and being nominated three consecutive times.

Meese's comment: "I've never been through anything this hard in my life. I'm so disappointed in myself. I was fighting to make a better life for my family, and I blew it."

Team change: Following Meese's elimination, Ramsay moved Hassan to the women after being impressed with his performance during the service, hoping he could help lead them.

Team challenge: The two teams had 45 minutes to create a holiday platter consisting of three dishes for three major holidays: Fourth of July, Cinco de Mayo, and Mardi Gras, with Ramsay and Family Circle editor-in-chief Linda Fears judging the dishes. For the Fourth of July round, Kristin and Jackie scored one to Frank and Joe's two. The Cinco de Mayo trios of Hassan-Manda-Dannie and Eddie-Jared-Alan each scored two. Ariel and Ashley scored two on their Mardi Gras dishes, but Chad and Kevin did not score any points due to raw chicken and undercooked rice, giving the red team a 5-4 win.

Reward/punishment: The red team visited the Sunstone Winery in Santa Ynez, where they had lunch and created their own wine. Ariel and Ashley's dishes were also chosen to be featured in an upcoming issue of Family Circle. The blue team made candy, cake pops, and cookies for family night. During the reward, an argument broke out between Dannie and Hassan, as Dannie openly stated she was opposed to Hassan leading the red team, which carried on into their return to Hell's Kitchen that night.

Service: A kid's menu was provided alongside the regular menu; Ariel, Jackie, Chad, and Jared served grilled cheese in the dining room. Millie Brown and Everclear musician Art Alexakis were in attendance for family night in addition to Marino's family, who were there to celebrate his daughter's birthday. Kevin struggled on fish, dropping scallops too early and therefore hindering the rest of his team. Ramsay then proceeded to show him how to cook the scallops, only to be interrupted by Joe spilling the sauce for the scallops on the grill, almost setting the kitchen on fire. Alan served soupy risotto and then added too much cheese to it, making it all sticky. Ramsay ejected the blue team out after Joe undercooked the fish and chips. The red kitchen started off strong under Hassan's leadership, but a lack of communication between him and Dannie led to Dannie forgetting an order of tuna for Marino's family before overcooking it. After Hassan served raw New York strip, Ramsay kicked the red team out as well.

Automatic elimination: After the blue team failed to serve a single appetizer due to Kevin overcooking the scallops even after having been shown how to cook them, Ramsay sent them to the pantry room to regroup and eliminated Kevin on the spot. For unknown reasons, Kevin did not give any form of exit interview, formal or informal, whatsoever; this is the only the second instance in the show's history of a non-hospitalized contestant not providing closing thoughts on their time (with the first being contestant Jeff LaPoff from Season 1). Kevin did not receive a coat-hook scene and picture burning sequence until the next episode, and he gave no comment on his departure.

Elimination: The red team nominated Manda and Kristin while the blue team nominated Joe and Alan. Ramsay eliminated Alan for his failure on the appetizer station and irregular performances.

Alan's comment: "Chef Ramsay definitely made a mistake tonight. I had a couple missteps in the kitchen, but at the end of the day, blue team, they lost a strong cook. You know, hey, enjoy that, blue team, because I can see a lot of losses coming your way."

Team change: Following Alan's elimination, Ramsay called down Manda and Kristin. Instead of eliminating either one, Ramsay moved Manda to the blue team due to them now being short two chefs.

During the recap of the previous episode, Kevin's jacket was hung and his photo was burned. Over the night, Ashley and Jackie had a heated argument about the previous night's nominations (due to Ashley attempting to nominate Jackie as the weakest chef right after promising to vouch for Jackie), causing Ashley to break down crying and Jared to comfort her.

Team challenge: The next morning, Ramsay brought the chefs to Fields Market, where they were given 10 minutes to rearrange shopping carts with letters to spell out six ingredients that the whole team would use, then one minute to obtain a personal ingredient, and finally 30 minutes to create their own dishes, with Ramsay rating them 1-5. For the blue team, Chad scored 3, Eddie scored 4, Frank scored 3, Jared scored 3, Manda scored 4, and Joe scored 5. For the red team, Jackie scored 2, Ariel scored 5, Hassan scored 3, Kristin scored 4, Dannie scored 3, and Ashley scored 5 to tie both teams at 22. Ramsay broke the tie by reexamining Ariel, Ashley, and Joe's dishes; he declared Ashley's dish the best, thus awarding the red team the win.

Reward/punishment: The red team flew over Los Angeles in stunt planes. The blue team had to prepare fruit and coconuts for a Spanish sangria.

Service: In attendance were Thomas Ian Nicholas and Omar Benson Miller. Joe and Kristin served table-side octopus. In the red kitchen, Ariel had a strong performance on appetizers, but Hassan was criticized for sweating in the lobster, though he recovered. Jackie struggled with communication on garnish and under-portioned fries, and Dannie overcooked New York strip because of Jackie taking so long. In the blue kitchen, Jared had a strong performance on appetizers, but Joe struggled table-side and was forced to leave to change his jacket. Eddie struggled to communicate on garnish, causing Frank to overcook Arctic Char. Ramsay confronted the blue team after Chad attempted to serve raw chicken for Miller's table. Both teams finished service with no ejections, but for the second service in a row, Ramsay named no winner; however, Ariel and Jared were named Best of the Worst and each asked to nominate two members of their team for elimination.

Elimination: Ariel nominated Jackie and Kristin, and Jared nominated Eddie and Joe. Ramsay questioned Kristin's nomination and ended up sending her back in line without asking for a plea. Ramsay also sent Joe back in line and eliminated Eddie for his lack of leadership and poor performance on garnish.

Eddie's comment: "I was here for a reason, and that reason was to win. I guess I tried too much to be a team player and help too many people besides myself. Just watch what happens to that blue team. They're gonna crumble. I guarantee you, a member of that red team is the one who takes everything home. Story of my life, nice guys finish last."

After returning to the dorms, Ariel got drunk and injured her foot and was seen by the medic.

Team challenge: After welcoming newlywed and red kitchen sous chef Andi back to Hell's Kitchen along with her husband Brice, Ramsay gave each team 45 minutes to make two seafood appetizers, two chicken entrees, and two beef entrées. Andi and Brice would choose one dish of each type to be served during their wedding reception the next night. Because the blue team was short one member, Joe agreed to cook both a seafood and a chicken dish. Frank, meanwhile, made both steak and chicken without telling anyone beforehand, and convinced his teammates not to present Manda's ribeye. Chad scored for the blue team with his prawns and handmade pasta before Dannie scored with her romanesco filet, but Joe won with his stuffed chicken breast with pancetta and Brussels sprouts, giving the blue team the win.

Reward/punishment: The blue team headed to Las Vegas where they went ziplining at the Rio and spent the night in a grand suite at Caesars Palace. The red team decorated Hell's Kitchen for the reception under the supervision of celebrity wedding advisor Kristin Banta (over whom Hassan got distracted easily) and made macaroons. Before leaving for Las Vegas, Manda angrily confronted Frank for forcing her dish out, despite the fact that their team won. During the punishment, Ariel was sent to the hospital, revealing she had broken her fifth metatarsal bone, but returned wearing a compression boot.

Service: That night was Andi and Brice's wedding reception, with a head table to be served by both kitchens. During appetizers, in the red kitchen, Jackie under-portioned risotto and Dannie cooked the scallops in a regular pan, causing them to stick. In the blue kitchen, Joe forgot to add herbs to his risotto and Chad overcooked scallops. Things quickly fell apart during entrees. Ramsay ordered Hassan and Jared to coordinate their kitchens to serve the head table at the same time, however both sent up raw chicken. Jared managed to recover, but Hassan undercooked the chicken again, forcing Ramsay to serve only half of the head table. After Chad served raw salmon, both teams managed to complete service with no ejections, but for the third service in a row, Ramsay declared no winning team.

Elimination: The red team nominated Hassan and Dannie, while the blue team nominated Chad and Jared. In one of the season's biggest shockers, early frontrunner Hassan was eliminated, as Ramsay felt that his performance on the meat station during that night's service was his worst yet, in addition to his declining performances since moving to the red team.

Hassan's comment: "I was the best person on the red team, and I'm a team player, and I'm a hard worker. The future for the red team right now, they're gonna fall apart again. They're gonna hate each other, they're gonna scream at each other, and you know what? I hope they do. I don't really care, I'm cheering for the blue team now."

Team challenge: The chefs entered the dining room, where they saw a performance by Steve Vai, leading to their next challenge where they had to create dishes with seven, six, five, four and three ingredients. The red team led 3-1 with only one dish left, thus winning the challenge by default, and Ramsay didn't even taste the pork chop dishes from Dannie and Jared. Even though Kristin's sea bass was the only one from the red team not to earn a point, she still earned high praise for beautifully cooking the sea bass but losing to Manda's by an edge. The blue team's other three dishes (Frank's hangar steak, Chad's tuna, and Joe's lobster) all received harsh reviews.

Reward/punishment: The red team participated in a paintball match with Marino, while the blue team took in deliveries of ice and wine and prepped both kitchens. During the punishment, Manda threw her back out lifting boxes out of a van, but was eventually able to continue.

Service: Guests in attendance were Jonathan Loughran and Garcelle Beauvais. The red team had a near perfect service under Kristin's leadership and Ariel's concentration, with their only problem being Jackie momentarily falling behind on garnish and Dannie relying heavily on Ariel throughout, as she was uncertain of what to do. In the blue kitchen, Jared cooked scallops off the stove, causing them to stick and Ramsay to send him out for a break. Chad and Jared then failed to communicate on entrees, while Manda was threatened with elimination on the spot after undercooking New York strip and chicken and failing to communicate with her teammates. The red team were named clear winners for having no communication issues.

Team change: Though Manda and Jared were nominated, Ramsay called Chad down and gave him one last chance in the red team, with Dannie taking his place in the blue team. Ramsay felt that they both needed to get their confidence back after their declining performance tonight, especially Chad.

Team challenge: After they were greeted by a 12-year old bison named Jack, the chefs headed outside for their next challenge, where opposing team members stood in front of different cuts of bison. The two chefs for each cut competed in archery to win the right to pick a flag representing the country whose ingredients would be used in the dish. Each chef had 40 minutes to cook their dishes. Everyone from both teams ended up scoring a point except for Manda's questionable combination of pappardelle pasta and flank steak and Jackie's dry meatballs, resulting in a 4-4 tie. Ramsay broke the tie by choosing the best dish of the challenge. Chad's dish won for the red team.

Reward/punishment: The red team got to meet and feed animal actors. In addition, Ramsay rewarded each of them with their very own Vitamix blender. The blue team cleaned the carpet (which had been soiled by Jack), and made bread and butter the old fashioned way for that night's cowboy steak dinner service. Joe broke the ceramic while churning the butter twice.

Service: Cowboy steak night was the theme for this service. In addition, Stacey Dash and Phil Dalhausser were in attendance that night. The blue team managed to have a strong service, mostly due to Dannie's performance on the fish station and their consistent communication. However, Joe tossed mashed potatoes in the pan and served greasy fries, resulting in three of his teammates having to help him out. Despite this, the blue team managed to finish service. In the red kitchen, Ariel undercooked scallops for Stacey Dash's table, and undercooked and then overcooked more scallops. During entrees, Ariel continued to struggle on fish, and Jackie's attempt to help her resulted in them burning tuna. This and Ashley undercooking several ribeyes led Ramsay to eject the red team. While debating for nominations, Jackie revealed to her team she had only been cooking for three months, shocking her team, who believed she did not deserve to be there.

Elimination: Ariel and Jackie were nominated. However, Ramsay spared them both and eliminated Joe for continuing to struggle in dinner services despite his strong challenge performances, making him the sixth person to be eliminated despite being on the winning team after Carol from Season 5, Salvatore from Season 7, Raj from Season 8, Jeremy from Season 11 and Randy from Season 14.

Joe's comment: "Hell's Kitchen was much more grueling than I could have ever imagined. It's easy to be an armchair quarterback when you're sitting at home watching it, going, 'Yeah, I could make a risotto.' It's a much different story when you're in the line of fire with Chef Ramsay up your rear end. If ifs and buts were candies and nuts, we'd all have a Merry Christmas, and I'm the one out here right now, so I'm the one that's gotta take it on the chin."

Kristin and Jackie got into a heated argument over the latter's inexperience with cooking, causing Jackie to dump cigarette ash on Kristin's shoulder. Kristin walked out of the argument, though later returned for the challenge.

Team challenge: The teams had 30 minutes to make vegetarian, sweet, meat, and seafood breakfast dishes, which would then judged by Ramsay and Chefs Suzanne Tracht and David Lefevre, with them giving each dish a score of between 1 and 3 stars. As the red team had an extra member, Jackie and Ariel both made vegetarian dishes. Ashley beat Manda 9-3 on French toast, and Kristin and Frank tied at 8 apiece on meat. However, the red team was sunk by Jackie (whose dish was chosen over Ariel's for superior presentation) and Chad scoring the minimum 3 stars each. Jared was worried about having broken the eggs for his Mexican tostada, but the judges thought it tasted delicious and gave him a perfect 9, giving the blue team the win, 25-23.

Reward/punishment: The blue team flew to Palm Springs in a private plane, where they each rode all-terrain vehicles. The red team cleaned both kitchens and hand-squeezed oranges for the mimosa that was part of the next service's brunch special. During the punishment, Jackie talked with Christina about her position in the competition. Christina suggested that if Jackie were to restrain her ego, and ask more questions, she could become a better chef, though Jackie said she did not want the red team to see her as weak for asking questions.

Service: In addition to local chefs and their families, Ramsay also announced VIP guests for the chef's tables, with rapper Flo Rida sitting in the red kitchen and comedian Jeff Dunham and his puppet Walter in the blue kitchen. In the blue kitchen, Jared served raw chicken twice and got kicked out, while Frank left Manda to take care of his French toast. When the toast got burned, Manda was also kicked out. In the red kitchen, Chad served a tuna salad before Ariel could add quail eggs, and got kicked out for undercooking French toast. Jackie undercooked chicken, but recovered. Ramsay merged the remaining chefs together to finish service in the blue kitchen, but angrily demanded an explanation for the service rather than nominations for the first time in the series' history.

Elimination: Ramsay asked each team for an explanation of the service, and the chef they did not want on their team any longer. All of the members of the blue team chose Frank, who conversely chose Manda, while the red team picked Chad, who chose Ariel. Ramsay immediately eliminated Chad for his lack of confidence and worsening performances, making him the sixth consecutive man to be eliminated.

Chad's comment: "I had no idea Hell's Kitchen would be this difficult. What pisses me off is just to see some of the people in there move forward that I know shouldn't move forward. The only good thing about leaving Hell's Kitchen is I'm done with the red team, I don't have to listen to the bickering."

Team challenge: The teams had five minutes to gather the ingredients for a rack of lamb, sea bass, and chicken. Then they took two turns having five minutes to cook the ingredients for one of the proteins before being replaced by a teammate. The red team decided Jackie should go first, as she was the weakest chef, and the others could recover if she messed up. Both teams scored on the sea bass, the red team scored on the lamb, and the blue team scored on the chicken, resulting in a tie. Ramsay then used the sea bass as the tie-breaker, and judged the blue team's to be slightly better, giving them the win.

Reward/punishment: The blue team attended a horse race as VIPs at Santa Anita Park, though Frank, still annoyed about being nominated the day before, did not enjoy the reward, annoying his teammates. The red team prepped two 100-pound lambs for service.

Pre-service: During prep the next day, an argument broke out between Kristin and Ariel after Ariel accused Kristin of lying that she did not cook a steak before service, causing Christina to send them to the pantry to work things out. Meanwhile, Frank continued to openly resent his teammates. Christina pulled him aside and advised him not to take his nomination personally.

Service: Bill Engvall and Lainie Kazan were guests for this service. Frank and Manda struggled to communicate on appetizers but recovered, while Ashley served a soupy risotto followed by one with too much cheese, and broke down until Ramsay told her to fight back. As both teams got entrees out smoothly, an impressed Ramsay declared that this was the best service yet, and announced that the first team to finish their last ticket would win. The blue team narrowly won after Jackie served Arctic char she knew was raw but was pushed by Ashley to serve. After service, Ramsay asked why Ashley was upset, to which she said that she was "better than" her performance that night. Ramsay tells her that he doesn't care if mistakes are made, it's how they're recovered from.

Elimination: Ashley and Jackie were nominated. To the red team's relief, Ramsay send Ashley back in line and eliminated Jackie for her inconsistency, inexperience, aggressive nature, and lack of maturity, but praised her for her improvement throughout the competition.

Jackie's comment: "I'm standing here, not on my cooking ability at all, but on how I get mad. They feel like I'm not professional, and maybe they're just intimidated. I mean, maybe they thought I was gonna kill them all. I don't fucking know."

Ashley was still upset over being nominated the previous night, leading Jared to comfort her, much to the disgust of Ariel, who compared the scene to a soap opera.

Team challenge: The chefs were given the annual blind taste test with the ingredients infused into ice cream. Instead of the dunk tanks from the two previous seasons, Ramsay had the chefs stand in front of two cannons that would blast them with various toppings if their teammate incorrectly answered three times, as well as whipped cream if they answered all four incorrectly. Ariel firstly guessed two correctly out of four, whilst Frank got none, meaning Manda was blasted twice. Ashley went next and also guessed two correctly, whilst Jared only guessed one, meaning Dannie got blasted. Kristin then beat Manda three to two. The blue team had an extra member, so Ariel went against Dannie, who like Frank, failed to score any points. The red team easily defeated the blue team 7–3 (not counting the three more that Ariel correctly guessed after it was too late for the blue team to catch up).

Reward/punishment: The red team went on a $2,000 shopping spree at Roland Kitchenware. The blue team prepared the foul-smelling durian fruit for a dessert to be served during that night's service. During the punishment, Frank constantly talked to Aaron, much to the chagrin of the rest of the blue team. Fortunately, Aaron saw through Frank's attempt to suck up to him, and eventually shut Frank down entirely before ordering him to get back to work.

Service: Olympic silver medalist swimmer Haley Anderson and Meredith Baxter attended the service. The red team had an almost flawless performance, their only issues being Kristin under-portioning risotto and becoming overwhelmed on garnish (though even then she recovered), but strong performances by Ashley on fish and Ariel on meat kept the red kitchen running smoothly, and led them to winning service. The blue kitchen had a much rockier service. Frank had poor communication and served raw snapper and left the other chefs to clean up his mistakes. Dannie's poor communication also sent Frank astray, whilst Manda got overwhelmed with the fish. Jared had to refire New York strip three times after sending them up first overcooked, then raw and then gashed as he tried to check the temperature by opening them up instead of using his fingers. Ramsay declared the red team the clear winners and asked the blue team to send two nominations.

Elimination: After much arguing, Jared and Frank were nominated. Ramsay questioned each chef about what had happened to the three raw snappers, which Dannie claimed she had no responsibility over despite video footage showing otherwise. Ramsay then, to the other chefs' (especially Manda's) relief, eliminated Frank for his declining performances, lack of communication, and failure to take responsibility for his mistakes.

Frank's comment: "Unfortunately, it turned out to be Frank's last night, because of a popularity contest. The blue team never had any drama, until the females came aboard, and that's when the ship sunk. And that's exactly why I get fucking female Marines and I send them back wherever the fuck they came from."

Prior to the challenge, the teams had visits from their loved ones; Manda's brother, Jared's mother, Dannie's sister, Ariel's mother, Kristin's father, and one of Ashley's fathers.

Team challenge: Each chef received a special gift from their loved ones, thinking they contained black jackets. However, upon opening, the boxes instead each contained a straitjacket. Ramsay then tasked the chefs to wear that jacket while telling their loved ones how recreate his branzino dish. Jared's mother cut herself during the challenge and could not plate all the vegetables. Despite Ashley's father being a chef and owning two restaurants, Kristin and Dannie's dishes were the best from their respective teams, but Kristin and her father ultimately won it for the red team.

Reward/punishment: The red team were rewarded with a spa day at Burke Williams Spa. The blue team cleaned the dorms, during which Jared had a debate with Manda and Dannie on which gender was generally less tidy.

Service: In addition to Steve Aoki and Katy Tiz, the chef's tables were featured once again with Cesar Millan and Lil' Jon sitting in the blue and red kitchen respectively. The red team once again had an almost flawless service, the only problem being Kristin serving nine scallops for an order instead of ten and Ashley occasionally forgetting to communicate. As a result, they got their black jackets, and celebrated whilst the blue team finished service. For the blue team, Jared overseasoned pasta despite Dannie's warnings, and had a hair in his mash. Manda burned a snapper, and Dannie struggled to communicate on meat, serving cold Wellingtons and refusing to give a time on the refire. After service, Ramsay asked both teams to decide together who should be nominated from the blue team.

Elimination: Dannie and Manda were nominated, although Ariel and Kristin wanted to nominate Jared. After giving Jared a black jacket, Ramsay gave Manda the last black jacket and eliminated Dannie for her poor performance on meat and for being on a downward spiral since her move to the blue team, despite several warnings to step up.

Dannie's comment: "It's shocking to me that I'm leaving right before black jackets. I was being vocal, I tried to lead the team, and it just wasn't enough, but I know I can walk anywhere and do any job that, you know, is ahead of me, and my future is very bright."

Ashley told Jared, "There's no way I was letting you go home," suggesting that Ashley did indeed talk Ariel and Kristin out of nominating Jared for the previous elimination, due to her need to protect him out of their friendship. However, the upcoming events of the episode would make her regret protecting him.

Challenge: The final five met Ramsay at Ánimo Venice Charter High School, where he surprised them with high school photos of themselves. Jared's in particular surprised everyone as he is bald, and he had hair in his. They were given 40 minutes to cook a unique dish to serve to 100 students. The final rankings were as follows: Jared, Ariel, Ashley, Kristin, and Manda.

Reward/punishment: Jared won a trip to San Francisco, where he met Dwight Clark and Guy McIntyre at Levi's Stadium and had dinner at Bourbon's Steak & Pub. He chose Kristin to join him, which irked Ashley, who had stuck up for him on numerous occasions. The others had to sort the school's trash and recycling from the week before. Upon Jared and Kristin's return, Ashley and Jared argued over him taking Kristin out on the reward, but reconciled after he apologized.

Service: Ramsay gave the chefs the chance to be his sous chef while Aaron and Christina sat at the chef's table. Randy Couture and Neil Jackson were guests for this service. Ariel was strong as a sous chef, rejecting Jared's overcooked snapper. Jared also undercooked scallops and Arctic char. Ashley followed, but was scolded by Ramsay for her lack of confidence and direction. Manda served raw New York strip twice, irking Ramsay. Jared, despite recovering as a sous chef, needed Kristin's help when returning to his station. By this point, even Ashley had begun to regret convincing Ariel and Kristin to spare Jared in the previous episode. Manda was vocal as a sous chef, but struggled to gain the respect of her team, causing them to miscommunicate. Kristin, lastly, was deemed a good sous chef by both Christina and Aaron, but slowed by Manda serving more raw New York strips. Ramsay ordered the chefs to apologize to Aaron and Christina while he took over cooking the last order, and called it the worst black jacket service in the history of the show before asking the team to nominate one chef for elimination.

Elimination: The chefs initially leaned towards nominating Manda until she convinced them to nominate Jared, but Ramsay nominated Manda as well. He eliminated Manda for her worsening performances, but praised her for her determination and cheerfulness; Manda wished the others good luck on her tearful exit. Ramsay then eliminated Jared, much to everyone's shock, for not being as consistent as the final three, but praised him for his cooking ability and commitment. This marked the second ever all-female final three (and the second in a row), and also the first time since Season 6 in which the finalists would be chosen from the final three rather than the final four.

Manda's comment: "Walking into Hell's Kitchen, I didn't think I was gonna make it past the first week. I was not confident in myself at all. Bad things happen. But then great things happen, too. I've done things while I was here that I would've never have been able to do any other time in my life. You can make it in Hell's Kitchen, you can make it absolutely anywhere. And I've grown throughout this competition. I can't wait to go home and show my kids this new and improved mommy. Jack, Dylan, Audrey, Mommy is coming home! Get ready!"

Jared's comment: "From that first moment I came to Hell's Kitchen, I was confident. Right out of the gate, I showed that I'm strong. But I had my fair share of bumps along the way. One of the best things about being on Hell's Kitchen was becoming friends with Ashley. Yeah, we had our fight, but Ashley and I were just genuine friends. It's been a hell of a journey. I may not be the executive chef of BLT Steak, but I'm leaving here with my head held very high."

Ashley and Kristin discussed their belief that they want to be the final two over Ariel, as her attitude had begun to annoy them.

Team challenge: The chefs were greeted by a police-escorted armored truck from Las Vegas, from which four men emerged with briefcases. The first briefcase revealed the $250,000 that would be awarded to the winner of Hell's Kitchen. In addition, each chef picked a briefcase containing a bone-in steak. They then had 40 minutes to cook their steak in addition to two sides, with Ramsay and Chef Ari Rosenson judging each steak dish. Ashley's filet was praised, but her peppers were undercooked. Ariel's New York strip was also perfectly cooked, despite concerns that she did too much. Kristin's was notably simpler, though her ribeye was cooked well and received much praise. While Rosenson was impressed with all three chefs' dishes, he ultimately selected Kristin's steak as the best.

Reward/punishment: Ramsay treated Kristin and her parents to a special lunch prepared personally by Rosenson at Wolfgang Puck's restaurant CUT in Beverly Hills. Ashley and Ariel cleaned the armored truck and motorcycles and prepped the kitchen for that night's service.

Service: Los Angeles Angels manager Mike Scioscia was a guest for this service. Like the previous service, each chef took turns in leading the kitchen, with the usual sabotages from Aaron, Christina, and Ramsay. Ariel went up first, and despite not recognizing carrot puree instead of butternut squash in a risotto, she was overall praised for her place on the hotplate, and was deemed a strong, if demanding leader. Kristin went up next, and has a good run as well. She spotted Aaron sending up Wellingtons with no mushroom duxelle, but called out capellini on the ticket despite it not being on the menu, though even then she recognized her mistake immediately. She also had communication problems with Ashley, who sent up an overcooked snapper, and though Kristin was reminded to be in control, Ashley still did not respond until Ramsay called her out on it. Ashley, however, struggled at the hot plate, failing to get a response from Ariel before being given an undercooked risotto. She nearly broke down again, but Ramsay urges her to fight back. Ashley recovered to identify Ramsay replacing black pepper puree with black garlic, but mistook Christina's salmon for Arctic char. Ramsay praises the final three, though asks them to vote on who should be eliminated.

Elimination: Ariel and Kristin both voted for Ashley, who voted for Ariel. Ramsay named Kristin and then Ariel as the final two, eliminating Ashley. Ramsay praised an emotional Ashley and allowed her to keep her jacket, though her photo was still burned.

Ashley's comment: "I did not come to Hell's Kitchen to walk through that door, I came to Hell's Kitchen to walk through the big door, the door to my future. This has been a wild journey. It has been the hardest thing I've ever done, but I made it very far. I'm proud of myself. After working with my dads for eight years, I have done this entire competition completely on my own. I have done it with my own talent, and I learned that I am one tough bitch. Winning Hell's Kitchen would've been my ultimate dream come true, but my dad is probably really happy deep down that I didn't win because he's not gonna lose me to BLT Steak."

Ariel and Kristin spent the night in the Presidential Suite at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel and received a surprise visit from their families. Afterwards, they planned their menus for their final dinner service. The next morning, they received advice from Season 9 winner and BLT Steak Miami chef Paul Niedermann, then flew in a helicopter with Ramsay to the USS Iowa (BB-61), where their final challenge would take place.

Challenge: The finalists were given one hour to make three main entrées (one fish, one chicken, one beef entree), one cold appetizer, and one hot appetizer. Their dishes were scored from 1–10 by the top chefs. Kristin's beat Ariel 9-8 on the cold appetizer and chicken entree, but Ariel returned the favor on the hot appetizer and fish entree. The beef entree, which would therefore decide the challenge, was judged by Keith Treyball, president of BLT Steak. Kristin scored an 8, though Ariel scored a 7.5, meaning Kristin narrowly won the challenge by a score of 42–41.5.

Reward: Kristin received first pick in drafting a team with the eight chefs eliminated prior to the final. Kristin picked Ashley, Frank, Joe, and Chad, while Ariel picked Jackie, Manda, Dannie, and was left with Jared.

Pre-service: Both teams ran through their menus. Kristin went through slowly and methodically whilst Ariel rushed through her menu, leaving her team confused.

Service: Johnny Gill, Dave Stewart, Larenz Tate, and the finalists' families were guests for the final dinner service. Both teams were strong but encountered problems. In Kristin's kitchen, Joe underseasoned coleslaw, but recovered quickly. Frank undercooked duck for Kristin's parents, and Chad served raw salmon, both requiring Ashley's help, while Kristin struggled to gain control after none of her team responded to her orders. In Ariel's kitchen, Manda nearly sent the wrong order on cold appetizers, but recovered quickly, Jackie had a strong performance despite cutting down fish sizes, and Dannie walked out of service after undercooking and then overcooking a pork chop, allowing Jackie to take over (marking the first time a returning chef walked out of a finalist's dinner service). Both teams finished service.

Winner: After deliberating, Ramsay called both finalists into his office and had them step in front of a door each; Ariel's door opened, making her the fifteenth winner of Hell's Kitchen. Ramsay had words of encouragement for Kristin, and told her to not give up her dreams. Kristin took her defeat graciously.

Kristin's comment: "I'm a little overwhelmed, but this is a turning point in my life, and a turning point in my career. I've grown into someone that I'm so proud of. You know, my picture's not in the hallway, but being a finalist has been the best experience ever."

Ariel's comment: "This opportunity is just gonna open the doors for me to have a happy life. It's just really an awesome feeling. I mean, I can't even imagine. A quarter of a million dollars? Like, I've never had more than $2,000 in my bank account at one time. I really can't wait to share this with all of my family and friends that have believed in me."