Hell's Kitchen (U.S. season 18)

Hell's Kitchen (U.S. season 18)
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	16
Release
Original network	Fox
Original release	September 28, 2018 (2018-09-28) – February 8, 2019 (2019-02-08)
Season chronology
← Previous Season 17
List of Hell's Kitchen episodes

The eighteenth season of the American competitive reality television series Hell's Kitchen (officially known as Hell's Kitchen: Rookies vs. Veterans) began airing on September 28, 2018 on Fox. ^{[1] [2]} Gordon Ramsay returns as host and head chef, and Season 10 winner Christina Wilson and British MasterChef judge James "Jocky" Petrie return as the red and blue sous chefs, respectively, alongside maitre'd Marino Monferrato. This season features eight new contestants battling eight returning veterans. For the first time, the winner of this season will receive a position as an executive chef at Gordon Ramsay Hell's Kitchen Restaurant at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada.

This is the first season since season 1 to not begin with men on the blue team and women on the red team. It is also the third of the last four seasons to feature a chef eliminated during service, the first season since season 13 that no chef from the winning team was eliminated, and the first season since season 12 where two chefs quit. This is also the first season to have a chef quit before the finals. Ariel Contreras-Fox, who previously finished in third place on Season 6, won the competition; she is the second consecutive returnee, and sixth consecutive woman to do so. She is also the ninth contestant to win the competition without being nominated for elimination once, after Kimberly-Ann Ryan, Meghan Gill, La Tasha McCutchen, Christina Wilson, Holli Ugalde, Dave Levey, Heather West, and Michael Wray.

Opening sequence

The introduction for season 18 was recycled from the previous season except for the title card where it instead shows the rookies on the left side and the veterans on the right side.

Chefs

Sixteen chefs competed in season 18. ^[3]

Rookies

Contestant	Age [n 1]	Occupation	Hometown	Result
Mia Castro	28[ citation needed ]	Private Chef	Miami Beach, Florida	Runner-up
Chris "Motto" Motto	35[ citation needed ]	Executive Chef	Baton Rouge, Louisiana	Left before Finals
Kanae Houston	25[ citation needed ]	Sous Chef	Los Angeles, California	Eliminated before Black Jackets
Jose DeJesus	34[ citation needed ]	Chef de Cuisine	Bronx, New York	Eliminated after 8th Service
Scotley Innis	33[ citation needed ]	Sous Chef	Atlanta, Georgia	Eliminated after 7th Service
Elizabeth "Gizzy" Barton [4]	31[ citation needed ]	Sous Chef	Atlanta, Georgia	Eliminated after Cook For Your Life
Chris Mendonca	25[ citation needed ]	Executive Chef	Boston, Massachusetts	Left before 5th Service
Scott Popovic	39[ citation needed ]	Executive Chef	Cleveland, Ohio	Eliminated after 1st Service

Veterans

Contestant	Age [n 1]	Occupation	Hometown	Competed	Result on original season	Result as "Veterans" on Season 18
Ariel Contreras-Fox	35[ citation needed ]	Chef de Cuisine	Brooklyn, New York	Season 6	3rd	Winner
Bret Hauser	34[ citation needed ]	Personal Chef	Fort Lauderdale, Florida	Season 14	11th (Left due to injury)	Eliminated before Finals
Heather Williams	28[ citation needed ]	Executive Chef	Easton, Pennsylvania	Season 16	Runner-Up	Eliminated after 10th Service
Trevor "Trev" McGrath [5]	37[ citation needed ]	Lead Chef	New York, New York	Season 8	4th	Eliminated after 9th Service
Rosanne "Roe" DiLeo [6]	36[ citation needed ]	Head Chef	Dallas, Texas	Season 13	5th	Eliminated after 6th Service
Torrece "T" Gregoire [7]	34[ citation needed ]	Director of Operations Chef	Draper, Virginia	Season 14	Runner-Up	Eliminated after 5th Service
Kevin Cottle	43[ citation needed ]	Executive Chef	Middletown, Connecticut	Season 6	Runner-Up	Eliminated after 4th Service
Jennifer "Jen" Gavin [8]	33[ citation needed ]	Private Concert Catering Chef	Chicago, Illinois	Season 4	4th	Eliminated during 2nd Service

Notes

1. Age at the time of filming

Contestant progress

						Original teams			First switch							Second switch	Individuals		Final
No.	Chef					1801/1802	1803	1804	1805	1806	1807	1808	1809	1810	1811	1812	1813	1814/1815	1815/1816
1					Ariel	WIN	WIN	LOSE	WIN	LOSE	IN	LOSE	WIN	WIN	WIN	IN	IN	IN	WINNER
2					Mia	LOSE	WIN	LOSE	WIN	LOSE	IN	NOM	WIN	WIN	WIN	IN	NOM	IN	RUNNER-UP
3				Bret		WIN	WIN	LOSE	LOSE	WIN	NOM [n 1]	WIN	LOSE	LOSE	NOM [n 2]	IN	IN	OUT
4				Motto		LOSE	WIN	LOSE	LOSE	WIN	IN	WIN	LOSE	LOSE	LOSE	IN	IN	LEFT
5				Heather		WIN	WIN	LOSE	WIN	NOM	NOM [n 1]	LOSE	WIN	WIN	WIN	IN	OUT
6			Kanae			LOSE	WIN	LOSE	WIN	LOSE	IN	LOSE	WIN	WIN	WIN	OUT
7		Trev				WIN	WIN	NOM	LOSE	WIN	IN	WIN	NOM	NOM	OUT [n 2]
8		Jose				NOM [n 2]	WIN	LOSE	LOSE	WIN	NOM [n 1]	WIN	NOM	OUT
9		Scotley				LOSE	WIN	LOSE	NOM	WIN	NOM [n 1]	WIN	OUT
10		Roe				WIN	WIN	LOSE	WIN	LOSE	NOM [n 1]	OUT
11		Gizzy				LOSE	WIN	NOM	WIN	LOSE	OUT [n 3]
12		T				WIN	WIN	LOSE	WIN	OUT
13		Chris				NOM	WIN	NOM	LOSE	LEFT
14		Kevin				WIN	WIN	NOM	OUT
15	Jen					WIN	OUT [n 4]
16	Scott					OUT

Keywords WIN = Won the dinner service LOSE = Lost the dinner service IN = not nominated for elimination NOM = nominated for elimination OUT = eliminated LEFT = withdrew from competition

Color key      Chef was eliminated after nomination      Chef was eliminated without nomination      Chef was eliminated during service      Chef withdrew from the competition      Chef was retained after nomination      The winner of Hell's Kitchen      The runner-up of Hell's Kitchen

Notes

1. Chef participated in the "Cook For Your Life" challenge
2. Chef was nominated by Ramsay
3. Chef was eliminated in the "Cook for your life" challenge
4. Chef was eliminated by Ramsay during service

Episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Original air date	US viewers (millions)
267	1	"Rookies vs. Veterans"	September 28, 2018 (2018-09-28)	2.98 [9]
Sixteen chefs arrive at Hell's Kitchen, and are greeted by Marino and the Sous Chefs, who serve them butternut squash risotto for lunch. After lunch, Ramsay revealed himself and announced the grand prize for that season. After half of the chefs explain their credentials, the other half reveal themselves to actually be returning chefs from previous seasons, much to the rookies' shock. It was then that Ramsay revealed that for the first time, he would be pitting rookies versus veterans, with the rookies cooking in the red kitchen under Sous Chef Christina, and the veterans cooking in the blue kitchen under Sous Chef Jocky. Team challenge/signature dish: For this year, the veterans had to recreate the rookies' signature dishes. The rookies not only received the ingredients they wanted for their dishes, but also got to pick which veteran they wanted to cook against. Both teams had 45 minutes to cook their dishes, to be rated on a scale from 1-5. T and Motto each scored three points on shrimp and grits, while Kevin received a perfect five on fish stew, and Kanae scored only three after Ramsay compared her plantains to a camel's turd. Roe scored three points over Scott's two on black bass, while Chris and Bret each received four points on the duck breast. On the scallops with parsnip round, both Ariel and Jose scored four points, and on the snapper round, both Scotley and Trev scored three points. Mia scored a perfect five on her grilled pork, but Jen scored only two because her pork was badly overcooked. Finally, both Gizzy and Heather scored perfect 5's on scallops and cucumber gazpacho, and the challenge ended in a tie at 29 points, only the second such occurrence in the signature dish challenge, after season 8. This was also the first time under the new scoring format that nobody's signature dish received a 1. For the tie-breaker, Ramsay called up Mia and Kevin to bring their dishes up again, and after a second look, he gave Mia's dish the edge, and the rookies won their first challenge. Reward/punishment: The rookies celebrate their first challenge win when they had dinner at Charcoal in Venice Beach with Ramsay and Chef Josiah Citrin. The veterans prep for opening night by deshelling the sunflower seeds and detailing the mushrooms. Jen earned her teammates' ire for costing them the challenge, pureeing mushrooms for duxelle without cleaning them, and giving attitude to Sous Chef Jocky. She and Bret started to get on each other's nerves over their conflicting personalities, but started to warm up to him when he revealed his tattoos in memory of his deceased parents. Challenge – Part 1: The teams were greeted to a Scottish funeral being held in the dining room. As Ramsay was about to reveal someone near and dear they were saying goodbye to, the episode ends on a cliffhanger.
268	2	"A Fond Farewell"	October 5, 2018 (2018-10-05)	2.66 [10]
Challenge – Part 2: Continuing from the previous episode Ramsay revealed that someone they were saying goodbye to was the lobster risotto from the menu, which has been a staple dish since the beginning of the series. After, Ramsay revealed that he would be giving each of the chefs an opportunity to put their own risotto dish on the menu that season, with the winner also receiving a Punishment Pass, a one use advantage that can allow any chef to skip out on a punishment and join the winning team on their reward. The chefs had 45 minutes to cook their risottos, and Ramsay had the Sous Chefs taste their dishes to pick the top four of both teams. The rookies were represented by Chris, Gizzy, Mia, and Scott, while the veterans were represented by T, Roe, Ariel, and Bret. In the end, Bret's tomato risotto with grilled shrimp and asparagus beat out Mia's basil and split pea risotto with pancetta, and he won the challenge, although his emotional celebration annoyed the rookies. Before service: Before service began, the Sous Chefs called both teams down to discuss the new menu items, but neither Christina nor Jocky were happy when the rookies arrived late and separated. While prepping for service, Jocky became irritated with Trev for improperly marking the Wellingtons, while Christina told the rookies to use the veterans' arrogance to their advantage. Service: Don McLean, Annie Wersching, Kyle Schmid, and Courtney Sixx were seen at opening night, and a shrimp and pasta appetizer was served tableside by Roe and Scotley. The veterans started out slow with T serving a risotto that had more cheese than tomato, but recovered, and while Trev served mushy scallops in a small frying pan, he recovered as well. On entrees, Bret accidentally sliced his lamb before bringing it to the pass, and Jen was late to serve the sauce for a pork chop. Despite those problems, the veterans finished service on a high note. In the red kitchen, Scott only fired one serving of shrimp for two risottos on order, and was caught cooking more shrimp for the tableside station despite it being Scotley's responsibility. The problems continued on entrees as Jose served raw halibut, Chris was caught writing down cooking times instead of helping Mia out on meat, and a communication breakdown occurred when nobody could recite an order correctly. After Mia served raw lamb, Ramsay finally had enough of the rookies' fragmented performance and threw them out of the kitchen, before asking them to name two people for elimination. Elimination: The rookies agreed to nominate Scott and Chris as they were the ones who were the most lost that night, but Ramsay decided to call down Jose as well. During their pleas, Chris revealed that nine months prior to the competition, he had suffered a major accident that destroyed 90% of his face and also affected his memory. While Ramsay felt bad for him, he told the latter he needed to see him fight back. In the end, Chris and Jose were sent back in line and Scott was eliminated for being confused all night and failing to uphold his impressive resume. Ramsay's Comment: “Scott remembers working with some of the biggest named chefs in the world. But whether they would remember him is another matter entirely. I know I won't remember him by tomorrow.”
269	3	"Hell's Riders"	October 12, 2018 (2018-10-12)	2.67 [11]
Team Challenge: The chefs were tasked with cooking lunch for the Marine Corps. The menu included entrees that represented the air, land, and sea: chicken parmesan, New York strip and frittes, and fish and chips. For the rookies, Scotley constantly micromanaged Mia on the fish station, and his misdirection eventually caused a paper towel to catch fire. Gizzy was lectured for waiting for water to boil before putting in pasta. The veterans' service was bumpier, as Jen overdressed salad, leading Heather, who was supposed to be on French fries, to jump on the station much to Jen's annoyance. Kevin rushed Heather on fries after she forgot to delegate her station, causing an order to be sent back from the blue dining room for being undercooked. Ramsay berated the veterans for not communicating and giving up after Roe served soggy fish, but they rallied behind Kevin's leadership. Both teams reached their last ticket at the same time, but Ariel sent cold steak, allowing the rookies time to complete their ticket and win their second challenge in a row. Reward/punishment: The rookies were rewarded with a trip to Paramount Ranch, where they would star in their own Western movie called "Hell's Riders", alongside Marino. Ramsay offered Bret the chance to join them using his punishment pass from the risotto challenge, and Bret accepted, irritating his teammates, who were tasked with preparing calamari for a tableside appetizer. Jen walked out of prep and broke down in tears after getting in an argument with Heather and Ariel over how to prepare beurre blanc sauce (ironically, they thought Jen's from the last prep session was better). Before service began, Ramsay and the sous chefs showed everyone the Hell's Riders trailer. Service: Aly Michalka was in attendance despite not being mentioned in this service. Mia and Ariel served grilled calamari tableside. Both teams had relatively little trouble with appetizers, except for Motto cooking a risotto off the stove and making it too crunchy, and Trev taking too long to assemble cold appetizers, with Ramsay chiding him for taking a sip of water before he served the appetizers. On entrees, Jen served bland mashed potatoes for the first table, argued about it with Heather and Sous Chef Jocky when they tasted for her, and when Ramsay came in to check on the team, aggressively asked him what he was about to yell at her for. Scotley provided inconsistent times on his beef wellingtons, which caused Gizzy to overcook halibut, and Ramsay replaced her on the fish station with Jose. Mia entered the kitchen from tableside, helping Kanae catch up on garnish and Jose repeat an order from Sous Chef Christina. Automatic elimination: Jen stalled the blue team with her garnishes and did not communicate with Bret or T. After a shouting match with the latter, Jen sent up leeks with two duck on order, but Ramsay and Jocky affirmed there was only enough for one of the orders. When Jen protested that she did send up enough leeks, Ramsay pulled the pan out from the dish tray and showed the entire team, but Jen accused Ramsay of throwing the pan of leeks under the hot pass to sabotage her. Ramsay dropped the pan on the floor in a fit of rage and escorted the veterans to the pantry room. All the while, Jen continued to yell at Ramsay for disrespecting her, until he was left with no choice but to order Jen to remove her jacket and leave through the front door. This marked the 9th time a contestant was eliminated during service. Afterwards, the veterans got their entrees out more quickly and neither kitchen made another error. After service, Ramsay announced to both teams that he sent Jen home because he would not tolerate insults against his reputation. Then for the second time in two seasons, both teams were declared winners after an automatic disqualification, in lieu of the nomination process. Unlike most chefs who get eliminated during service, Jen still got her coat hung and picture burned at the end of the episode. Ramsay's Comment: “Jen accused me of sabotaging her. The truth of the matter is the only thing that sabotaged Jen tonight was her cooking.”
270	4	"Hell Freezes Over"	October 19, 2018 (2018-10-19)	2.54 [12]
Everyone expressed shock over Jen's disrespectful attitude that led to her early departure. Chris, Jose, and Scotley relax in the hot tub while taking turns hitting on Mia, with Trev reassuring her that the two of them would get black jackets but not the other three. Team Challenge: The sous chefs handed winter jackets to all the contestants. When they went outside, Ramsay had set up an artificial snow slope. He tasked each team to take four runs down the slope in sleds. The blue team finished first, and they were given a 10-second headstart to grab ingredients for the winter soup challenge, where each contestant had 45 minutes to prepare a soup. Ramsay brought in Traci Des Jardins and Brian Boitano as guest judges, and each judge would rate each soup from 1-3 stars. The veterans got off to a strong start as Trev scored 6 stars, Heather scored 8, Ariel scored 7, T scored 8, and Kevin scored 6. But Roe and Bret scored the minimum 3 stars due to insufficient seasoning and canned tomatoes, respectively. (Ironically, Bret saw a fellow competitor make the same mistake on the signature dish back in season 14) This left the veterans with a score of 41. For the rookies, Mia scored the maximum 9 stars, Motto scored 6, Gizzy scored a perfect 9, Chris scored the minimum 3, Jose scored 7, and Scotley scored 8 for a total of 42, automatically giving the rookies the win before Kanae's soup was tasted. Kanae managed to score a perfect 9 as well to make the final score 51-41, and it was the rookies' third challenge win in a row. Reward/punishment: The rookies were rewarded with a day and night of pampering at L'Horizon Resort in Palm Springs and dinner at Sopa, while the veterans had to shovel out the snow and prepare both kitchens for service. Bret took his poor performance very personally, drawing his teammates' ire. Trev struggled to poach eggs during prep, earning Sous-Chef Jocky's criticism once again. Service: Hayley Orrantia was in attendance. In addition, each team received VIP guests at their respective chef's table. The blue team had Cheryl Hines and Rachael Harris, and the red team had Morgan Spurlock. Gizzy and Bret served tableside clam chowder, but both struggled. The former was criticized for entering the kitchen while attempting to help Mia on flatbreads, while the latter worked slowly, socialized with the customers, and held up his team. Scotley and Mia argued on appetizers, prompting Sous-Chef Christina to intervene. On entrees, Chris forgot about a pork chop for Morgan Spurlock's table that Ramsay had put into the oven before service opened, and Ramsay found it burned completely black. Kevin served cold New York strip, while Motto overcooked steak but recovered. On the next ticket, Kevin overcooked and undercooked lamb chops while rejecting Trev's assistance, leading Ramsay to march the entire Blue Team into the pantry. When Kevin served the lamb raw again, Ramsay stepped in to cook it himself. Even though nobody was ejected, Ramsay declared both teams losers due to their careless errors and regression from the previous week. Team Change: The blue team nominated Kevin and Trev, while the red team nominated Chris and Gizzy. After questioning the nominees, Ramsay first asked Kevin and Gizzy for their jackets, only to ask Kevin to go the Red Team and Gizzy to the Blue Team. Then he asked for Trev's jacket, only to send him to the Red Team as well. It seemed as though Chris would be eliminated, but Ramsay merely sent him back in line and warned him it was his last chance. Finally, Ramsay sent Mia and Kanae to the Blue Team and Bret to the Red Team, and announced that he was ending the Rookies vs. Veterans experiment in favor of the traditional battle of the sexes, only in opposite color jackets (the men are the red team and the women are the blue team). This is the largest team reassignment (6 people) in the show's history. Notably, Trev was also temporarily transferred to the red team during his first Hell's Kitchen appearance. Ramsay's Comment: "Rookies, veterans... the only title I really care about is Executive Chef. It's time to see who will lead and who will fall."
271	5	"Fish Out of Water"	November 2, 2018 (2018-11-02)	2.50 [13]
Jose and Kevin talked about the impact having kids had on their lives. Team Challenge: Ramsay greeted the chefs with a performance from composer Stephan Moccio, in order to illustrate the importance of working in several different styles. He then asked Marino and the sous chefs to drop a giant fish from the ceiling, in order to introduce today's challenge: Each team would cook halibut seven different ways, one for each chef. Ramsay brought in David Lefevre as a guest judge. Gizzy scored over Bret in the battle of grilled halibut, despite her concerns that her fish was overcooked. Mia scored over Chris on steamed, but Kevin put the men on the board by beating Roe on poached. Kanae scored over Scotley on smoked, while Ariel and Jose each scored on shallow-fried. Motto scored over Heather on pan-seared to keep the men's hopes alive, but T scored over Trev on oven-baked, to give the women their first challenge win of the season by the score of 5-3. Reward/punishment: The women went on a virtual reality adventure and received Vitamix blenders, while the men had to compost food waste in manure, during which it started raining. Motto was the only one not to complain about the work, as he grew up on a farm and was used to it. Service: Guests in attendance for this service include Stephanie Beatriz, Carly Hughes and Sarah Shahi. Chris and Heather served tableside mussels, but the former was scolded for loitering in the dining room waiting for table side orders instead of helping in the kitchen. However, none of Chris's teammates wanted his help until Kevin let him take over on fish. Nonetheless, Chris still managed to send raw scallops. In the blue kitchen, Ariel brought up two orders of scallops not knowing that T had overcooked one of them. However, T managed to quickly recover and serve acceptable scallops. On entrees, Mia was caught checking wellingtons by slicing them in the middle instead of at the ends, prompting Ramsay to warn all the women to communicate with her. In addition, Gizzy's lack of confidence on her lamb chops caused T to momentarily take over, but Ramsay confirmed they were perfect, and proceeded to lecture T over not letting Gizzy drive her section. Other than that, the women finished service with no further issues. The men had a much bumpier service. Bret served perfect wellingtons, but Scotley failed to communicate with him on garnish, and proceeded to misinform Kevin to cook one salmon when two were on order. This led Kevin to drench the salmon in butter in an attempt to get it up on time. When it came up raw, Ramsay proceeded to take over the ticket and sent the men into the pantry to regroup, where Scotley stated that he couldn't keep an eye on the pass anymore, irking Kevin. After Bret served cold sauce for a Wellington, a frustrated Ramsay threw the men out while the women finished their last ticket. After service, Ramsay pulled Gizzy aside and advised her to find her voice. Elimination: The men nominated Scotley and Kevin, although Motto pushed for Bret to go up for getting the team kicked out. After a tough decision, Kevin was eliminated for being nominated twice in a row and not showing the same passion and desire as he did back in Season 6. Before Kevin left, Ramsay gave him encouragement and told him that he was already a successful and talented chef outside Hell's Kitchen. Ramsay's Comment: "Kevin was a standout in his first time in Hell's Kitchen. Unfortunately, this time around, he seemed more determined to head back to the ski slopes than to the Las Vegas Strip."
272	6	"Hot Potato"	November 9, 2018 (2018-11-09)	2.82 [14]
Team Challenge: For their next challenge, both teams had to make a dish using potato as the main ingredient, and had to collect plastic body parts from Mr. Potato Head to collect their ingredients. Former Top Chef contestant Richard Blais was invited as a guest judge. Because the blue team had an extra dish, Kanae's dish was chosen to sit out due to clunky presentation. The men did well with both Chris and Bret scoring perfect tens, while Trev and Scotley scored six and eight respectively; however, Jose only scored four while Motto scored the minimum two. For the women, Mia once again had a perfect score of ten, while Ariel and Roe both scored near perfect nines, and Heather scored six, but T and Gizzy only scored three. The score was tied at 40 apiece, but Ramsay and Blais deemed Chris' lobster shepherd's pie as the best dish overall, and the men won the challenge. Afterwards, Ramsay and Blais tasted Kanae's dish, which both agreed would have received an eight had it been used. Reward/punishment: The men visited Animal Tracks and ate lunch at a gourmet food truck, while the women had to prep 100 pounds of potatoes for Steak Night. Kanae got frustrated with T, as it was the latter who not only underperformed but also pushed the hardest to drop the former's dish. Chris's Exit: Returning from the reward, Chris starts to feel anxious, questioning his credibility in the competition, before confiding in Sous Chef Christina of his wish to leave the competition, as he had not fully recovered from his accident nine months ago and was experiencing emotional turmoil. After Christina informed Ramsay, although he was upset by Chris's decision, he allowed him to leave to seek help, as the latter's mental health was more important. This made Chris the tenth person to withdraw from the competition, and the first to do so since his teammate, Bret, in season 14. Ramsay did not issue a statement on Chris's departure, but his hung jacket and already-burnt picture could be seen next to T and Scotley's when they were later eliminated. Service: Sitting at the chef's tables were Kelsea Ballerini for the red team and Cornelius Smith Jr. for the blue team. Also attending the service was Titus Welliver. Despite being shorthanded five to seven, the men had a near perfect service, with Ramsay in particular praising Jose and Trev on appetizers and meat respectively. The only problems were Motto briefly forgetting entree orders until Ramsay got him back on track, and some of Scotley's fish being improperly scored, which he attempted to blame Trev for. On the other side, Mia turned in a strong performance on appetizers. However the women completely stalled on entrees when Kanae's branzino for the firefighter six top fell apart, forcing them to refire the table, only for Kanae to serve the branzino raw. Their service went further south when T and Heather's filets came out raw and overcooked repeatedly. Eventually, T stopped communicating with Heather, feeling that the latter wasn't doing her job properly, only to bring up another raw steak on the very next ticket. This drove Ramsay past the breaking point, and he proceeded to kick the women out of the kitchen and task them with naming two nominees for elimination. Elimination: The women considered Kanae, but ultimately nominated T and Heather for elimination, dismaying Ramsay as both of them were runner-ups in their previous seasons. T was eliminated for her poor performance on meat and refusal to communicate with Heather during service, but before leaving Ramsay told T that while she was a very talented chef, he couldn't look past the fact that all the other contestants were performing better than her. Ramsay's Comment: "As a former runner-up, I expected T to come back full of swagger and skill. Sadly, she came back with double the swagger, but only a fraction of the skill."
273	7	"Last Chef Standing"	November 16, 2018 (2018-11-16)	2.81 [15]
Team Challenge: To test the teams' communication and teamwork skills, Ramsay gave them 40 minutes to cook five entrees from the menu (spaghetti and meatballs, veal scallopini piccata, crispy fried chicken, shrimp and grits, and cioppino). Because the blue team had an extra member, Gizzy volunteered to sit out. Every 8 minutes, Ramsay asked both teams to kick out one member at a time, until only Motto and Ariel were left in their respective kitchens; with 90 seconds to go, Ramsay allowed the chefs back into their kitchens for plating. The women won the challenge 4-3 as Trev forgot to plate the fish for the men's cioppino, reminiscent of a similar error he made during season 8's Taste It Now Make It challenge. Reward/punishment: The women went go-karting, while the men were forced to take in a delivery of corn and peas, and shuck them for service. During the punishment, Trev suffered a mild allergic reaction and Sous Chef Christina sent him to see a medic, but Scotley was unsympathetic due to Trev already costing them the challenge, even mocking the former by calling him a "baby girl". Cook For Your Life Challenge: For the second season in a row, the Cook For Your Life Challenge took the place of a normal dinner service. This time, Ramsay put on the block the first three chefs from each team to leave the kitchen during the previous challenge. These were Bret, Jose, and Scotley from the red team, and Gizzy, Roe, and Heather from the blue team. The six chefs were then tasked in creating their own entree dishes in 45 minutes. Elimination: Both Bret's frutti di mare pasta and Heather's coconut curry poached lobster tail beat out Roe's grilled swordfish, but Roe was able to beat out Gizzy's rustic grilled bass. Jose's pan seared salmon and chorizo hash also beat out Gizzy's dish, leaving her to go against Scotley, who had taken over her position in Atlanta. In the end, Scotley's ahi tuna with red lentils won out, and Gizzy was eliminated for leaving the scales on the bass. Before leaving, Ramsay told Gizzy that while she came into the competition strong, she soon lost her confidence later on (as evidenced by sitting out of the challenge and the lack of creativity and conviction in her dish), but urged her not to give up on her dreams. Ramsay's comment: "I had such high hopes for Gizzy from day one, but if she truly can't believe in herself, then I can't believe in her either."
274	8	"One Hell of a Party"	December 7, 2018 (2018-12-07)	2.68 [16]
Trev expressed disappointment that Scotley was not eliminated, while Mia takes exception to Bret cussing and calling her "sweetheart". Team Challenge: After showing pictures of the chefs (along with the staff and Ramsay himself) in their teenage years, Ramsay announced for that night's service, he was hosting his youngest daughter Tilly's Sweet 16th birthday party. Both teams had to create a tasting menu for Tilly's birthday party which included two appetizers, two meat entrees, and one vegetarian entree, with one point being awarded for each dish that Tilly decides to put on the menu. During the challenge, Tilly asked two things of her dad: personal sized four layer cakes for all the guests, and to control his swearing during dinner service. Motto's confetti tuna and Kanae's Asian kebabs scored over Roe's and Scotley's scallops (due to being served with ricotta cheese and being raw, respectively) on appetizers. Tilly also picks Mia's vegetarian entree over Trev's because she loves mushrooms, as well as Jose's fish and chips and Heather's filet mignon. The women won the challenge 4-2 after Tilly picks Ariel's grilled chicken over Bret's baked ziti, which she found to be too rich. Reward/punishment: The women spent the day at a Malibu mansion with a drive-by from an artisan ice cream truck, much to Mia's delight, while the men had to make folding paper decorations along with the four layered cakes Tilly asked for, and also set up a mobile photo booth for the party guests. During the punishment, Bret suffered from rapid heartbeat, and while he required medical attention, he refused to go to the hospital for further testing after his symptoms subsided, not wanting a repeat of season 14 when health issues sent him home early. Dinner service: Thomas Barbusca was at tonight's service. The men had a near perfect service for the second time in a row, thanks to strong performances from Scotley on appetizers, Jose on meat, and Motto on fish. Bret burned sweet potato fries and Trev put too much garlic in spinach after ignoring Scotley's warning, but both of them managed to quickly recover. On the other side, the women went through appetizers fine, save for Kanae requiring Heather's help after poorly slicing ahi tuna, but fell apart on entrees. Roe sent up raw steaks twice, earning the entire team a trip to the pantry. Mia's first attempt at fish didn't have enough batter, and the refire was raw. The last straw for Ramsay was Ariel sending up a raw halibut for Tilly's table. Ariel protested that she had a properly cooked one she meant to send, but the livid Ramsay would have none of it, and he kicked the women out of the kitchen and had the three rookies (Scotley, Motto, and Jose) from the men complete their remaining tables for them. Elimination: The women nominated Roe and Mia for elimination, despite Roe pushing for Ariel to go up for getting the team kicked out. During their pleas, Mia tried to accuse Kanae of not properly setting up her station, but Kanae firmly denied it. Nevertheless, Roe was eliminated for her poor performance on the meat station, which was ironically her strongest station when she was on season 13. Ramsay's comment: “Last time she was here, Roe was a tour de force on the meat station. But tonight her performance left me as cold as a raw New York strip.”
275	9	"What Happens in Vegas"	December 14, 2018 (2018-12-14)	2.66 [17]
Mia and Kanae get into an argument in the dorms over the former throwing the latter under the bus during the previous elimination, as Ariel and Heather break it up. Team Challenge: The chefs were introduced to the Chinese food challenge with a dragon dance performance outside. Ramsay asked selected contestants to pick an opponent to cook against, and the opponent would pick the protein (spot prawns, black cod, pork tenderloin, duck breast, chicken breast) to cook with. Scotley was the extra member on the red team not picked, so he was assigned chicken breast, and the blue team had to select one of their members to cook the extra chicken dish, which turned out to be Kanae. Ramsay brought in Top Chef contestant Shirley Chung as a guest judge. Mia scored over Trev on pork tenderloin, Bret scored over Heather on cod, Scotley scored over Kanae on chicken breast, and Ariel scored over Motto on duck breast to tie the score at 2. Kanae then beat Jose on prawns to give the women their third consecutive challenge win. Reward/punishment: The women flew to Las Vegas with Christina for the night, staying in a private villa in the Nobu hotel, while the men had to make fortune cookies from scratch. Scotley did very little during the punishment, even taking a break to make burgers for a snack and then boiling some of the eggs earmarked for the fortune cookies, angering Trev. He voiced his concerns to Heather and annoyed his teammates during prep the next day by constantly ordering them around. Dinner service: Guests in attendance included Olympic medalists David Plummer and Allison Schmitt, and Los Angeles Kings players Tanner Pearson and Tyler Toffoli, as well as a ten-top occupied by Beacher’s Madhouse performers that both teams had to serve at the same time. Other than Kanae dropping two scallops on the first table of appetizers and not understanding Ramsay's command “Out in one”, the women had a near flawless performance thanks to Ariel on meat, serving their half of the ten-top well before the men did. The men, on the other hand, struggled all night due to their lack of cohesion, with Trev and Jose in particular having trouble working together on the fish station. Jose micromanaged Trev's work on their station and attempted to take over after Trev sent raw scallops. However, Jose only made the situation worse by sending up the scallops in a pan rather than a tray, but Trev managed to rebound and successfully cook the scallops. Things did not get better on entrees. Jose attempted to take over fish after Trev burned salmon, only for his refire attempt to fall apart, leading Ramsay to furiously question who was running the section. After Ariel served perfect lamb chops, Ramsay used them to show the men how meat was supposed to be cooked. Scotley tore the pastry on a Wellington while slicing it, so Ramsay asked Bret to show Scotley how to slice them. His next attempt was raw, so Ramsay put them side-by-side with Ariel’s Wellingtons to make a further example. After the women finished service, Ramsay brought them into the red kitchen to help the men, who were kicked out and asked to provide two nominees after Jose served raw salmon. The women served nearly two-thirds of the red tables in addition to all their own. Elimination: Ramsay angrily demanded an explanation of the men’s terrible service, which Jose blamed on a “bad vibe”. Trev and Scotley then got into a massive argument about each other’s behavior during punishment, which Jose pointed to as evidence of his assertion. Bret then announced that the team had nominated Scotley and Trev, while seriously considering Jose as well. Ramsay was frustrated, but called down the three nominees. Ramsay was disappointed in Trev for being accused by Scotley of walking around with a clipboard but sent him back in line after hearing his plea. Despite Jose being the worst performer of the night, Scotley was eliminated for declining performances after a strong start. Ramsay's comment: "I really hoped that Scotley would be the Big Bad Wolf at my restaurant in Las Vegas. But after his performance tonight, I could not let him in, not by the hair on my chinny chin chin."
276	10	"Poor Trev"	January 4, 2019 (2019-01-04)	2.50 [18]
Team Challenge: Ramsay revealed that the eighteenth annual blind taste test would be their next challenge, and for that year, the chefs tasted gelatos infused with different flavors. As one chef from each team tasted, their teammates were seated on a stool and would be shot by a spaghetti cannon, dunked on by marinara sauce, and Parmesan cheese should the taster get multiple incorrect answers. Trev failed to score any points, resulting in Jose getting all three punishments, while Heather got two, with Kanae getting only the spaghetti punishment. Motto scored an impressive three, but Mia continued her hot streak in challenges with a perfect four, becoming the fourth contestant in Hell's Kitchen to achieve such a feat. Ariel scored three over Bret's two, resulting in Motto getting the spaghetti punishment. On the final round, while both Jose and Kanae got coffee, the women won the challenge 10-6 as it was now impossible for the men to catch up. Reward/punishment: The women went to Southern California’s Premiere Korean Spa for a day of pampering while the men had to clean up the mess in the dining room, polish all the silverware for the private dinner service, and make gelato by hand. Trev suffered a crisis of confidence as a result of costing his team the challenge, believing he couldn't win without showing he had a decent palate, but was calmed down and encouraged by Heather in the dorms. During the punishment, he suffered a lot of merciless teasing and mocking from his teammates after breaking the ice cream churner, but knew he had to bounce back. Dinner service: For one night only, Hell's Kitchen was closed for a charity night service with the men cooking for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and the women cooking for Waterkeeper Alliance. Camryn Manheim, her son Milo, Dylan Bruno, and Chad Lowe sat in the latter charity's table while the former charity's table had Sabrina Soto, Kevin Zegers and Parker Young. The menu that night featured a five-course Italian meal, and each chef took turns running a course. On the scallops round, Mia led well despite being quiet in certain places, but for Motto, Trev served scallops seared on only one side and the entire team plated slowly. Additionally, Ramsay later discovered an entire tray of wasted scallops, with Trev and Bret arguing over who had cooked them. Both Ariel and Bret lead the branzino course with only minor problems; Kanae took the foil off the tray of fish, nearly letting it get cold, while some of Jose's salad was bruised. Trev led the carbonara course perfectly, with Ramsay calling it the best executed course so far, but Kanae was slowed by Heather plating inconsistent amounts of pasta on each of their plates, resulting in the team having to redo the plating. On the veal saltimbocca course, while Heather had no problems, Jose struggled to give her and Ramsay accurate timings and failed to check any of the veal chops, which led to seven of them, including Sabrina Soto's, being returned for being raw. Infuriated and embarrassed, Ramsay cooked the refires himself as both teams got desserts out. The men were announced as the losing team, and were asked to nominate two people. Elimination: Trev announced that the nominees were Jose and, much to Ramsay's shock, himself. The men all wanted Trev to go home, feeling he was sucking up to Ramsay and did not accept responsibility for the burnt scallops and raw veal. On the other hand, Trev himself denied sole responsibility, arguing that Bret and Motto also had a role in cooking the scallops and veal, respectively. Ramsay ultimately eliminated Jose, much to the other chefs' chagrin, for his poor leadership on his course and allowing the raw veal to leave the kitchen without checking them first, but gave him encouragement. Ramsay's comment: "On a night when it should have been Hell’s Kitchen giving back to some amazing charities, it was charities that ended up giving back Jose’s raw veal."
277	11	"Devilish Desserts"	January 11, 2019 (2019-01-11)	2.92 [19]
Team Challenge: The challenge was a three-on-three showdown to see which team could make the better lineup of desserts to impress Ramsay and restaurateur Valerie Gordon, each of whom would each give each dessert between one and five points. The blue team had an extra dish, and left Heather's unappetizing-looking bread pudding was left out of the lineup. Kanae's deconstructed tiramisu got the blue team off to a poor start, scoring only three points, as it had a cherry glaze that Valerie compared to cough syrup. Motto put the red team into an early lead with his s'mores-inspired bread pudding, scoring seven points. Mia's deconstructed apple and mascarpone tart (which was only deconstructed because she had to improvise when her actual tart kept crumbling on her) was overpowered by ginger and scored four. Bret only scored the minimum two with his Italian arancini balls, which were undercooked to a degree that Valerie described as al dente, opening the door for the blue team. Ariel took advantage of this by impressing with her Thai lime and beet tart, scoring seven for the blue team. This left Trev needing five for the red team to tie, and six to win. However, his chocolate and avocado "kisses," an attempt at a healthy dessert, tasted awful and also scored the minimum two points. Thus, the blue team won the challenge 14-11. Reward/punishment: The women got to have lunch at the Joey Woodland Hills restaurant with their team's sous chef, Jocky, and then went on a $2,000 shopping spree (split into $500 for each team member to spend) to high-end culinary store Sur La Table, though Heather was dour almost the entire time due to her dessert being left out of the challenge, even though her team still managed to win without it. Meanwhile, the men had to break down 600 pounds of ice into handmade ice cubes for cocktails, with Bret and Motto being so annoyed by Trev's lack of cooperation in carrying out the task, they mocked him both to his face and behind his back, much to Trev's disgust (even though he had insisted on doing his part of the task on his own, anyway). Before service, Trev expressed his concerns to his team's sous chef, Christina, about earning Bret and Motto's respect, and asked if it would be possible to discuss opportunities for advancement after the competition. Dinner service: The VIP guests were Randall Park at the blue chef's table and Malcolm Smith at the red. Both teams got through appetizers with no trouble, except for Mia needing Ariel's help on risotto due to a shellfish allergy that prevented her from tasting them. On entrées, Heather overcooked a New York strip steak, and Ramsay stepped in after Kanae served raw salmon for the chef's table, but the women had no other issues and were awarded the win. The men, on the other hand, were plagued by miscommunication and lack of cohesion all night. Bret and Motto failed to answer when Trev asked for a time on fish and garnish, causing Trev to serve a raw Wellington. On the next ticket, Trev forgot to put the herb crust on a lamb (which he claimed to never have cooked before), but luckily, Motto noticed and was able to inform Trev before Ramsay saw it. However, Trev proceeded to overcook one of the two lamb chops, while Bret cooked halibut in a dirty pan. After Bret served raw salmon to Smith's five-month-pregnant wife and Trev's Wellington for Smith fell apart, an irate and embarrassed Ramsay kicked the men out for the fourth time this season. Elimination: Ramsay asked the men for one nominee, but Bret and Trev both staunchly blamed each other for the disaster of a service, leading Ramsay to call both of them down. To the relief of Bret and Motto, Trev was finally eliminated for being nominated three times in a row, worsening performances, refusal to take responsibility for his mistakes, and losing the respect of his teammates. Nonetheless, Ramsay praised him for his passion and dedication and wished him luck in his culinary career. After Trev left, Ramsay warned Bret to step up his game, and asked the women for a volunteer to move into the red team to even the numbers at three each the next day. Ramsay's comment: "Trevor is one of the most passionate chefs I've ever had in Hell's Kitchen. But, until he has the support of his brigade, he'll continue to be lost at sea."
278	12	"Break On Through"	January 18, 2019 (2019-01-18)	2.64 [20]
Team Change: The next day, after a conversation with Ariel (who initially wanted to transfer) about stepping up as a leader, Mia volunteered to move back into the red team to even the teams up at three each. This makes Mia the third person in the show's history to switch back to their original team, after Autumn from season seven and Trev from season eight. Immediately afterwards, however, Ramsay announced that the chefs would be competing in a series of challenges to win a black jacket, and the lone chef who did not win one would be sent home. Black Jackets Challenge 1: For their first challenge, each chef had to punch a hole to collect their ingredients: protein, two vegetables, starch, and a wildcard. They then had 45 minutes to cook their dishes using the ingredients. Motto, Bret, Ariel, and Mia all got good reviews, while Kanae's dish received positive feedback for her flavors but was ruined by raw green beans. Heather's dish received the worst review, as she didn't let her duck (which she had never cooked before) rest long enough, and made potato puree in a Vitamix blender, which led to it being gummy. In the end, Ariel's pan seared scallops and Mia's filet mignon were deemed the best of the six and won the first two black jackets; this makes Ariel the sixth person to be awarded a black jacket in two separate seasons. The two were rewarded by spending their day at the Black Jackets Lounge. They also got to watch live feeds of the ongoing challenges, but the feed would cut out as Ramsay was about to announce the results. Black Jackets Challenge 2: For their second challenge, the remaining four chefs had to spin a wheel to decide on four ingredients they would all need to use, which were quail, eggplant, baby leeks, and cauliflower. Heather spun the quail, which distressed her due to her inexperience with duck and quail. They then had to cook their own dish using those ingredients in 45 minutes. Bret and Motto had the two best dishes of the four, as Heather left a lemon wedge in her quail and also removed the wings and legs, while Kanae's cauliflower puree was of poor consistency. Bret and Motto won their black jackets, and joined Ariel and Mia at the Black Jackets Lounge, leaving Heather and Kanae to compete in the final challenge. Black Jackets Challenge 3: For the final challenge, Heather and Kanae had 45 minutes to make their own surf and turf dish. Heather burned her hand late in the challenge but managed to finish, presenting a traditional filet mignon and lobster tail with broccoli rabe and mashed potatoes, while Kanae made an Asian inspired pork chop and prawns with coconut cilantro rice. Elimination: After tasting both their dishes, Ramsay gave Heather the final black jacket of the season, much to the disappointment of the other chefs who felt that Heather had played it safe in her dish (ironically, Heather received the first black jacket during the black jacket challenge of season 16). Therefore, Kanae was eliminated from the competition for underseasoning her rice and making her prawns too sweet. Before Kanae left, Ramsay said that she would have a bright future in the culinary industry, hoping that one day she would become an Executive Chef. Ramsay gave no comment on Kanae's elimination, and she did not receive the coat hanging and portrait burning sequence.
279	13	"An Episode of Firsts"	January 25, 2019 (2019-01-25)	2.66 [21]
As the final five celebrated in the Black Jacket Lounge, Bret revealed that having earned a black jacket meant a lot to him as he fell victim to his circumstances when he was younger, nearly facing a 30-year prison sentence. Individual Challenge: The next day, the final five received breakfast from the Sous Chefs in the form of Ramsay's eggs Benedict, which Ariel and Mia took extra time to analyze. Their premonitions proved correct when Ramsay announced the Taste It Now Make It Challenge, and tasked the five to recreate the dish. Both Bret and Heather were disqualified for serving broken Hollandaise sauce on their dishes. Motto, who elected not to taste Ramsay's sample plate, was also eliminated for being the only person to identify prosciutto but not Canadian bacon. Ariel and Mia each got one component of the hollandaise sauce correct (paprika and shallots, respectively), so Ramsay declared both of them winners. Reward/Punishment: Ariel and Mia went with the Sous Chefs on an indoor skydiving experience, along with having lunch at Sweet Butter, while the remaining chefs had to clean the dorms. Dinner service: Kelli Berglund and Drew Van Acker were in attendance in addition to Los Angeles Rams players Rodger Saffold, Tyler Higbee, and Jared Goff. The chefs struggled with communication and timing all night. Ariel put in a strong performance on appetizers, but Heather fell behind on the fish station, requiring Motto's help, and struggled to communicate to Ariel and Motto when the scallops would be ready. Because of this, Motto brought the scallops up to the pass two minutes before Ariel's risotto was ready, but after that, appetizers ran smoothly. On entrees, Bret served a raw New York strip and Ramsay scolded him for not communicating with Motto. Motto managed to get the refire accepted, but the order was slightly delayed due to Bret sending up the sauce late. Mia froze on garnish and did not respond when Bret asked for a time, while Heather stalled the kitchen on the LA Rams' table due to the salmon skin breaking off, requiring Motto to help her out again. After a communication breakdown caused Motto to get confused over how many fish were on order, Ramsay got the chefs back on track, and dinner service continued with no other problems. Despite completing service, Ramsay was not happy as they did not maintain their strong start, and tasked the final five with nominating two people for elimination. Elimination: Heather and Mia were nominated for elimination, even though the latter argued for Bret, who was responsible for two steaks getting sent back. Ramsay polled the other three on who should leave; Motto and Ariel voted for Heather while Bret voted for Mia. Ramsay agreed and eliminated Heather for her worsening performances, making excuses for her mistakes, and not showing the same strength she had back in Season 16. With Heather's elimination, none of the former runner-ups that came back this season were left. Ramsay's comment: "Too many times, Heather blamed her mistakes on having a bad day. I'm not looking for apologies, I'm looking for an executive chef."
280	14	"What's Your Motto?"	February 1, 2019 (2019-02-01)	3.08 [22]
Shortly before midnight, Ramsay called everyone down and introduced them to Dan Drake, founder of pancake catering company Dancakes, who used pancakes to draw portraits of the four contestants as well as Ramsay. Ramsay announced the challenge, which was to create an innovative dish to be prepared and served tableside for many esteemed chefs visiting Hell's Kitchen. Individual Challenge: Guest judges included Ted Hopson, Geoff Baumberger, Michael Fiorelli, and Joel Miller. Ariel made duck meatball (albondigas) dumplings in pozole soup, while the others made shrimp dishes inspired by their heritages (Italian, Puerto Rican, Cajun). Motto nearly dropped his pan for one table while telling them a story about a cookoff he was in. For another table, he worked so slowly that he was nearly unable to serve them in time. Mia, when asked about the name of the shrimp that she was using in her dish, completely forgot the name. Nonetheless, she charmed some of the chefs with her Puerto Rican demeanor. Bret unsettled several guests with his talk of his many seafood-based tattoos. Ariel's story about her prior experience in season six and her drive to, at the very least, finish higher than that time, elicited sympathy from her guests. In the end, Ariel's dish won the challenge, and she chose Bret to join her on the reward out of veteran solidarity and sympathy of him facing so many punishments. Reward/punishment: While Ariel and Bret enjoyed a day at the beach, horseback riding, and a personal massage session in Malibu, Mia and Motto had to wash, peel, zest, and juice citrus fruits at the bar to make sangrias for the upcoming dinner service. Dinner service: Attending service were Amber Rose, Neen Williams, and Curt Menefee. The final four took turns running the pass, and had to be on the lookout for sabotages from Ramsay and the sous chefs. Bret caught Christina making a carbonara with spaghetti instead of tagliatelle and rejected Ariel's undercooked scallops, but ironically missed orzo pasta being used in place of rice for his own risotto. Ariel sent back Jocky's tuna tartare, as beef tartare was on order, and Bret's scrambled carbonara, but couldn't taste the difference between fennel and onion puree. Mia spotted monkfish wellington instead of lobster, but missed a ribeye in place of New York strip and Bret's garlicky risotto. However, she recovered to reject Ariel's bland mashed potatoes as well as another one of Bret's cracked carbonaras. Motto noticed that Marino had given him a ticket with salmon tartare, which wasn't on the menu, and attempted to send back a pork chop for being undercooked, only for Ramsay to inform him that it was actually a veal chop. Ramsay was relatively pleased by the service, and asked the four chefs to nominate someone whom they felt did not deserve to advance to the final. Motto's exit: Bret and Mia nominated each other, but Motto shocked everyone by nominating himself. Motto revealed his desire and obligation to take everything he had learned at Hell's Kitchen to upgrade the culinary landscape in his hometown of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and announced his decision to Ramsay at the elimination ceremony. Ramsay was disappointed in this, but praised Motto's tenacity and sincerity, asked Motto to call him to discuss opportunities when he was finished, and allowed him to keep his jacket. Motto did not get his jacket hung, picture burned, or an elimination statement. Ramsay then announced Ariel as the first finalist, but before it was revealed whether Bret or Mia would be the second, the episode ended on a cliffhanger.
281	15	"A Rollercoaster Ride"	February 8, 2019 (2019-02-08)	3.17 [23]
Continuing from the previous episode, Ramsay named Mia as the second finalist and eliminated Bret, but praised him for his unmatched passion, reminded him how proud of him his parents would have been, and allowed him to keep his jacket. He then assigned Ariel to Sous Chef Christina and Mia to Sous Chef Jocky, who would help them prepare a tasting menu consisting of one cold and hot appetizer and one seafood, chicken, and beef entree. The next morning, Ramsay brought in Ariel's and Mia's parents. He took the final two to brunch, where he announced that Six Flags Magic Mountain had been closed for the day, and they would be able to ride the rides with their parents all afternoon including Viper. Ariel and Mia quickly realized that both of their menus were quite similar, due to their desires to incorporate their respective Latin heritages. That evening, Ramsay and his daughter Holly joined them and told them there was one more roller coaster to go on that had not yet been opened to the public: Full Throttle. He led Mia and Ariel to it, where they were greeted by a live audience. Challenge: Ariel and Mia were given 60 minutes to create their menus with the help of their sous chefs. Ramsay brought in various guest judges to rate the dishes on a scale from 1 to 10. Mia beat Ariel 9-8 on the cold appetizer and chicken entree, but Ariel did the same on the hot appetizer and seafood entree, which meant that chef Michael Cimarusti would break the tie on the beef entree. He gave Ariel 8 and Mia 9, which gave Mia the challenge win and the first choice of the returning chefs from the season to form a brigade for the final dinner service. Mia picked Roe, Trev, Jose, and Heather. Ariel picked Kanae, Bret, Motto, and was left with Scotley. The chefs and the sous chefs then all got on Full Throttle for one last ride before heading back to Hell's Kitchen.
282	16	"The Grand Finale"	February 8, 2019 (2019-02-08)	3.17 [23]
In the season recap at the beginning of the episode, Chris, Kanae, and Motto each had their pictures burned. Pre-service: Ariel had no trouble getting her team to buy in to her menu, but Roe, Heather, and Trev had trouble pronouncing several of Mia's dishes' names and got annoyed with her micromanagement during prep. Heather in particular was not pleased to have to work for Mia. Ramsay liked Mia's menu, but asked Ariel to re-season every one of her dishes. Dinner service: The finalists' families plus Matt Barkley, Jessie Graff, and Yael Grobglas were in attendance for the last dinner service while Marcia Clark and JB Smoove sat at Ariel's and Mia's chef's tables respectively. Both Mia and Ariel got through appetizers smoothly. Mia had to remind Trev to salt his risotto, and Kanae needed Motto's help after burning dumplings, but they all recovered. On entrees, Roe undercooked pork and overcooked sea bass, the latter of which forced Mia to refire an entire table. In the red kitchen, Scotley nearly burned ribcap until Ariel reminded him to pay attention to his station. Bret bounced back after sending a cold steak, but when he served raw chicken twice for the Six Flags executive staff table, Ramsay yelled at him to wake up. Despite the minor hiccups, both teams finished service on a strong note. Winner: As per Hell's Kitchen tradition, Mia and Ariel stood in front of two doors. Ariel's door opened, making her the eighteenth winner of Hell's Kitchen and the second winner in a row who had returned after making a previous run on the show. Mia took her defeat graciously. Having grown close to Mia through their positive competitive rivalry during the competition, Ariel promised to keep a job opening for Mia in Las Vegas if the opportunity arose, and hung her picture in the Hall of Fame. Ramsay's comment: "Since the first time she was here, Ariel has grown tenfold as a chef. She is fiercely talented, extremely determined and a commanding leader. I could not be more pleased to have her as my executive chef of Hell’s Kitchen in Las Vegas."

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16. Welch, Alex (December 10, 2018). "'Hell's Kitchen' adjusts down: Friday final ratings". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
17. Welch, Alex (December 17, 2018). "'Fresh Off the Boat' adjusts down: Friday final ratings". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
18. Welch, Alex (January 7, 2019). "'Fresh Off the Boat,' 'MacGyver,' 'The Cool Kids,' all other shows hold: Friday final ratings". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
19. Welch, Alex (January 14, 2019). "'MacGyver' adjusts down: Friday final ratings". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
20. Welch, Alex (January 22, 2019). "'20/20' adjusts down: Friday final ratings". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
21. Welch, Alex (January 28, 2019). "'Dynasty' adjusts down: Friday final ratings". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
22. Welch, Alex (February 4, 2019). "'Hell's Kitchen' adjusts up: Friday final ratings". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
23. Welch, Alex (February 11, 2019). "'Blindspot' adjusts up: Friday final ratings". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved February 11, 2019.