Fishing for Success

Last time, nobody cooked well and Dominic was sent home. In other words, the usual at Hell's Kitchen.

Post-elimination thoughts: Jason claims that he knew it was either going to be him or Dominic. Bobby decides that a laid-back approach doesn't work. No, really? Meanwhile, the girls rally together and swear (like sailors) to beat the boys.

Night camera footage of people sleeping can only mean one thing: It's the traditional "wake up chefs before 6:00 am with loud noises" event! This year, like all the previous years,  Gordon makes the chefs sort through all the trash from the previous night and put it into gigantic bins. Jen says what I've been thinking, which is how gross it is that everyone's walking around in bare feet. Out of interest, it should be pointed out that the only people in a chef's jacket is Gordon...and Bobby.

Challenge time! Today's challenge: fillet a halibut and cut it into 6 ounce portions. The team with the most portions in 20 minutes wins! The men finish with 8 minutes to spare, while the women continue to slowly cut their fish. Jen calls out Sharon for slowing them down.

Time's up, and it's time to start going through the fish. The women come up with 41 pieces of fish that Gordon deems usable. The men  start off badly, but then come back to tie with the women at 41. Apparently, this is the first time a challenge has ended in a tie, so we go to the weigh-off. Each team picks a member to select a fillet that they think is closest to 6 ounces. Ben's fillet is 5.9 ounces, and Corey's weighs...4.8 ounces. Win to the Blue team! They get to go on a yacht with Gordon. The women must prepare all the fish fillets and stock for the next service. 

The men pass the women prepping in the kitchen. Jen decides to "make [the fish] fly" as she whacks her cleaver on the board into a pile of fish. Understandably, people are less than happy about it. We get footage of yachting interspersed with fish, and Jen (in what is becoming a pattern) blames Corey for the loss and claims she could have done better. Corey rightly points out that this is what Jen does, and that it's stupid.

At prep the next day, Sharon has a huge problem with prep, mixing up recipes. Louross keeps the men on track with supporting words. Corey says that Christina has no cooking skills but comes across as a know-it-all. Jason throws out some chauvinistic cliches about women lacking men that's just tactless.

Before the opening,  Gordon quizzes Petroza about the menu, but Petroza can't come up with more than one appetizer. Disgusted, Gordon sends him upstairs to review the menu and shouts that the station will remain unmanned until he comes back. Then, Gordon announces that in order to give Jean-Phillipe a break from whiny customers, one chef from each team will be an assistant maître d'. He picks Craig from the guys and Rosann from the women. 

Petroza laments his task to learn the menu. He goes back downstairs to be quizzed by Gordon, who tells him to start from the bottom up. Petroza begins with a Verona chocolate fondant with a black cherry sorbet, but is immediately wrong (it's a black cherry sauce, not sorbet). Petroza claims that he's done and ready to quit. Bobby comes back up and tries to get Petroza back in the kitchen, but Petroza's not having any of it. 

After commercials, we see Bobby with Petroza again, and they both make their way back to the kitchen. Gordon asks Petroza what the entrées are, and with some hand motions from Gordon, manages to list them all before going to the meat station. 

Doors are open! Craig brings in the first order to the men, while the women have no tickets after 37 minutes.  Bobby wrecks the first appetizers, but they manage to get their act together eventually. The first orders finally make their way into the women's kitchen after 45 minutes. Corey knocks out a spectacular risotto and is complimented by Gordon.

The men finish all their appetizers and move to entrées. Jason has problems with raw fish, and Gordon calls everyone over to feel the fish. At the same time, Petroza undercooks the beef. On the floor, Craig is carrying a chair across the dining hall and whacks a woman on the back of the head. Jean-Phillipe orders Craig to apologize to the woman, and he very sincerely does so. 

Back to the women. Still a lot of problems with cooking. Sharon is slowing people down some more.

Entrées leave the men's side, with Gordon complimenting Petroza for the quality of his lamb. Entrées also leave the women's side, but just then, Gordon discovers a ticket for the red team. Rosann explains that she has a backlog of tickets going back nearly two hours because she didn't want to overwhelm the kitchen. Gordon is flabbergasted. 

Communication problems plague both sides with missing beef orders. A fish plate comes back raw. Gigantic flames on the men's stovetops. Gordon shuts the whole thing down.

The women are named the losers, and Corey gets to decide which two members to nominate. Jen wants to nominate Sharon, but Rosann isn't so sure. Corey talks to Ben and Bobby and reveals that no one has asked her to be saved.

At elimination, Corey chooses Christina (for strategic reasons) and Jen (for personal reasons). Christina makes a teary speech about how much she wants to be there, while Jen rambles on and on to the point where everyone is yawning. When she finally finishes, she asks if she can add one more thing, but Gordon doesn't want to take that chance and cuts her off. 

Gordon thinks for a moment and says that he needs people he can believe in, and there is someone that he "just doesn't believe in". And that person is...Sharon. He sends Christina and Jen back to the line, and tells Sharon to give in her jacket. 

Gordon's summary of Sharon: "Sharon paid great attention to detail. Unfortunately, it wasn't her cooking, it was her makeup."  

Next time: More bad cooking, a fire, and an ambulance!