Episode 2313 - Five Comedians Walk Into Hell...

The thirteenth episode of Season 23 of Hell's Kitchen aired on January 16, 2025. In that episode, the five black jackets face their first challenge by teaching comedians how to cook, two chefs enjoy a day shopping and further ignite their rivalry, and a front runner has their worst dinner service performance and is shockingly sent home.

Intro[]

It's revealed that the gift the black jackets received at the end of the previous episode was their own Vitamix, greatly exciting them. They have one final toast to making it to the final five before turning in for the night.

Later at 2:40 in the morning, the men's dorm begins to hear mysterious noises and they are all woken up. Egypt jokes that they're being haunted by a ghost, but Brandon sees a strange light reflected on Egypt's headboard, causing Kyle to switch beds. Kyle spooks Egypt by throwing a bottle near his bed, and the men all share a laugh.

Individual challenge[]

Ramsay greets the remaining chefs in the kitchen, compliments their black jacket appearances, and invites them to teach them how to make lobster ravioli in his style. He instructs them how to make the filling, form the ravioli, how long to cook it for, and a signature caviar beurre blanc sauce that goes with it. He then reveals that he's testing their teaching abilities in a challenge that combines the traditional Cooking School Challenge and King of The Hill Challenge. Their students they will be watching over are well known comedians. The students include Who the Bleep Is That? host Jeff Dye, radio and podcast host Jim Norton, Emmy Award winning writer Judy Gold, popular influencer Druski, and Life & Beth star Yamaneika Saunders. All five of them joke about their lack of cooking skills while greeting Ramsay and the chefs.

Ramsay pairs the chefs with the comedians they're standing across from: Egypt with Jeff, Brandon with Jim, Kyle with Judy, Whit with Druski, and Hannah with Yamaneika. He gives them 45 minutes to teach the comedians how to recreate his lobster ravioli. Egypt starts by instructing Jeff how to properly hold a knife while cutting down on some of the lobster. Whit gives similar instructions to Druski while also instructing him on preparing the mix. Whit wants to prove herself to the other chefs after not being one of the first to get a black jacket the previous day. Yamaneika bonds with Hannah while preparing the pasta, comparing her to her friend and trainer. Jim has some difficulties breaking some of the eggs while Brandon jokes with him. Kyle teaches Judy what texture they aim to make the filling by comparing it to Jim's. Hannah instructs Yamaneika how to microplane a lemon.

Egypt teaches Jeff how to use the pasta roller while Jeff trash talks Sous Chef James watching them. Kyle instructs Judy how to prepare the pasta while both joke about their LGBTQ+ backgrounds, with Judy claiming Kyle's the gay son she wanted but never had. With a little over three minutes, Hannah shows Yamaneika how to put the ravioli in the boiling water (which Yamaneika thinks she doesn't have enough pizzazz for). As most of the chefs prepare their plating, Egypt and Jeff fall behind and they rush to get everything together. Jeff accidentally drops one of the ravioli on the ground. As they prepare the final touches, Egypt instructs Jeff to put the caviar in the beurre blanc, but Jeff, not understanding what it is, dumps it onto the ravioli and leaves their dish without any sauce.

Kyle and Judy's dish is judged first. Ramsay praises the presentation and felt it was a strong start, with his only criticism being it could've used slightly more lobster meat on top, and sends them to the couch. Following them are Brandon and Jim. Ramsay offers similar praises to their dish with the presentation and taste, appreciating the size of the pasta as well. He finds it better than Kyle and Judy's and sends them to the couch to replace them. Judy trash talks Jim as she and Kyle are sent back to line. Jeff heckles them, prompting Ramsay to invite him and Egypt up next. The chefs burst into laughter upon seeing the sauceless ravioli with a clump of caviar on top. Jeff attempts to smooth talk Ramsay to convince him to overlook the lack of beurre blanc. Though Ramsay praises the ravioli, he unsurprisingly rejects them for not including the sauce.

Next up are Whit and Druski. Ramsay praises the solid presentation with the plump appearance (which Druski compares to himself), and decides it's better than Brandon and Jim's. With Whit and Druski taking up the couch, Hannah and Yamaneika are the last ones to judge. Yamaneika attempts to read Ramsay during his judging. While Ramsay does find it to be solid like the other attempts, he does not think it's better than Whit and Druski's. Whit and Druski celebrate with a finger waggle handshake. After learning of the reward and punishment, the comedians leave, with Druski claiming Whit's gonna give her $50,000 of the reward money if she wins, but Whit clarifies it's $50.

Reward[]

For winning the challenge, Whit gets to go on a $1,000 shopping spree at Kitsch at Old Mystic Village with one of the other chefs. The comedians push for their individual instructors, but Whit ultimately goes with Kyle due to their friendship and knowing he's a big shopper. Whit uses her money to purchases various appliances, kitchen equipment, and spices. Kyle challenges himself by giving himself seven minutes to spend his money on in the store, having had a lot of experience going to kitchen stores growing up. While finishing their spree, Whit reminds Kyle it'll be their first time in the kitchen together. While thanking her for the shopping, Kyle tells her he plans to overcome her, and Whit reminds him she's already beaten him one on one in two previous challenges.

After shopping, the two got to enjoy lunch at the James Beard Award-winning Shipwright's Daughter with Sous Chef and former Hell's Kitchen champion Michelle Tribble. They talk to her about what it's like being in the final five, and she encourages them to show their passion as Ramsay considers it a defining quality for the winner. Kyle and Whit continue to trash talk each other despite the friendly conversation with Michelle.

Punishment[]

For losing the challenge, Brandon, Egypt and Hannah had to clean the red kitchen to prepare for the night's service, which was left a massive mess by the comedians. While it was a tedious process, the three appreciated how quiet it was in the kitchen compared to past services, which Brandon felt was therapeutic. He's reminded of his restaurant back at his home where they talk casually and don't yell at each other. Being an introvert, he considers coming to Hell's Kitchen a huge step for him towards outwardly expressing himself more. While finishing up, James tells them they need to clean the blue kitchen as well.

Before service[]

As the chefs prepare for the night's dinner service, Kyle and Whit continue to taunt each other despite the reward. He also gets Brandon involved as well by telling him to get used to last place. As they make their final preparations, Ramsay tells Marino to open Hell's Kitchen.

Dinner service[]

For the night's dinner service, there is a special guest table featuring the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Council. For their first black jacket dinner service stations, Hannah and Kyle are on appetizers, Egypt is on garnishes, Whit is on fish, and Brandon is on meat. For their first order, Kyle prepares the carbonara while Hannah prepares the risotto. Kyle prepares the carbonara without any issues, but due to some miscommunication on timing, Hannah begins to fall behind on risotto. Ramsay sends the carbonara out and criticizes them for not having the risotto ready. Despite the timing hiccup, Hannah manages to get it out properly and they begin to have a more consistent output for appetizers.

With appetizers wrapping up, Ramsay has Brandon begin work on the entrees for the tribal council. After only Kyle and Hannah respond, Ramsay has all five of them repeat the order as Brandon says it'll be out in eight minutes. When Ramsay asks for a count a couple of minutes in, Brandon doesn't respond, so Whit does instead. As they deliver the order to pass, Ramsay brings them up to remind them of the VIP table before revealing that Brandon brought up raw chicken. As they fall behind, Hannah offers to help Brandon, but he recooks it on his own and it's accepted. The tribe enjoys the food despite the longer wait for the chicken. For the next order, Egypt and Ramsay notice Brandon flustering, not initially responding to Egypt's call question and keeping the meat on for too long. When they bring up the next order, Ramsay lambasts Brandon for overcooking the lamb when the customers asked for medium and medium rare and encourages him to take his time. Brandon quickly brings up a better cooked one afterwards.

When Ramsay asks for the next order, Brandon initially miscounts repeating it back before saying he needs ten minutes to cook as he needs time to rest, but Ramsay warns him to avoid overcooking them. Hannah, Kyle, and Egypt offer to help him, but he refuses, and only communicates back time when Ramsay requests it. The garnishes and fish are brought to pass first, and all of them are prepared well. However, when Brandon brings up the Wellington, Ramsay summons all of them up to show it's overcooked and that their cadence between meat and fish is off. Ramsay encourages Hannah to help Brandon with the Wellingtons, and they are brought up cooked properly. After the series of mishaps, the rest of the night progresses normally.

Automatic elimination[]

After the restaurant closes down, Ramsay felt that their first black jacket service did not go smoothly, criticizing their lack of communication. He felt Kyle and Hannah bounced back on appetizers after the initial timing mishap, Whit finished strong on fish, and Egypt was on point for garnishes. Ramsay then focuses on Brandon, reminding him he's had several highs throughout the season, but when the stakes were at their highest, he had his worst performance.

Because of this, Ramsay decides to eliminate Brandon on the spot, shocking him and the other chefs. He wishes him the best of luck and expects him to have a promising career. Brandon says his goodbyes to the other chefs as he leaves and wishes them luck. During his exit interview, he expresses his disappointment in failing that night's service and losing. However, he considered the experience once in a lifetime and reflects on his perfect score in the Signature Dish Challenge, winning the Punishment Pass and going to New York, and Dan Barber picking his dish to be the best in a challenge. He plans to push for a Michelin at his restaurant and send a picture of it to Ramsay when he wins it and invite him for a beer.

Ramsay warns the final four chefs that the competition will get even more intense and that there is no room for error before dismissing them. All of the competitors are ready to bring their A game towards the last few challenges and win the ultimate prize.

Ramsay's comment: "Throughout the competition, at times I could see Brandon as my next head chef. But after tonight's performance, I could only see him going home."

Trivia[]

• Title Reference: The title refers to the five comedians the chefs had to teach during the challenge.
• This marks the first time since Season 13 where Ramsay eliminated a chef during the Post-Mortem. It's also the first time since Season 6 where a Black Jacket chef was eliminated in that way.

References[]