Hell’s Kitchen Recap: Gordon Ramsay Explodes Over Raw Salmon, Kitchen Chaos, and a Montana Meltdown md06

Eggs are flying and tempers are boiling as Hell’s Kitchen serves up its most explosive service yet.

To test the chefs’ teamwork, Gordon Ramsay challenges the remaining contestants to a speed breakfast showdown for local Connecticut police officers. Then, during a dramatic dinner service, both the Red and Blue teams crack under pressure at the fish and meat stations, forcing them to face Gordon’s fiery wrath in the all-new “The Heat is Coming to Hell’s Kitchen” episode of Hell’s Kitchen: Battle of the States, airing Thursday, Oct. 9 on Fox.

This season, Gordon is joined by sous chefs James Avery, keeping an eye on the men’s Blue Team, and Season 17 champ Michelle Tribble, managing the women’s Red Team. Twenty chefs have advanced to represent their home states, but only one will earn the title of head chef at Hell’s Kitchen Foxwoods Resort and Casino — along with the $250,000 prize.

Here are the contestants competing and the state each represents in Hell’s Kitchen: Battle of the States.

The Challenge

The chefs are rushed outside into the pouring rain as a brigade of police officers pull up, sirens blaring. Gordon assures them there’s no emergency — they’re preparing a breakfast service for the officers, hoping to take care of them the way they take care of the public. In the speed breakfast challenge, diners can order from a hearty lineup of steak and eggs, lobster Benedict, Monte Cristo breakfast sandwiches, and sticky toffee waffles. The first team to serve all their tables wins the challenge.

After a few hiccups in the challenge — the Red Team’s Cara Marie served raw steak (twice!), while Cat undercooked the shrimp — the Blue Team ultimately came out on top, earning an all-access tour of the Mystic Aquarium followed by an “exquisite” Italian lunch with Gordon. Meanwhile, the Red Team stayed behind on cleanup duty and prepped the kitchen for dinner service.

Montana meltdown

Despite a stellar brunch challenge, Chase can’t shake the PTSD from his disastrous dinner service the night before. Instead of feeling joy, he’s overcome with dread and anxiety about returning to the dining room. “It keeps compounding my anxiety and depression,” he admits.

Later, Chase meets with Gordon, revealing that he’s been in a difficult mental space since his divorce two years ago. The intense pressure of Hell’s Kitchen has started to push him back toward that dark place. Gordon reminds him that health comes before competition — and compassionately sends him home to Montana.

Dinner service

Before dinner service even begins, Elaina is spiraling about manning the fish station. Salmon isn’t her strong suit, and she’s terrified the Red Team will get booted from the kitchen — again. Gordon swoops in with a mini masterclass on cooking fish, and for a moment, Elaina seems reborn with confidence.

That glow-up doesn’t last long. The first tray out? One raw salmon, one overcooked. A true two-for-one disaster. Eventually, she pulls herself together and starts sending up salmon that actually looks edible.

Things only get hotter when Alexandra and Anaiya start bickering — loudly debating which one of them has the worse attitude. After a couple of overcooked Wellies, Gordon has had enough and boots the Red Team from the kitchen entirely.

Meanwhile, in the Blue kitchen, Bradley manages to burn himself and bails from the line. His teammates aren’t exactly sending thoughts and prayers — Anthony snarks, “It’s not like you’re Freddy Krueger, get back in the line.”

Anthony’s patience wears thin as his team forgets how to call times, leaving him scrambling to plate on cue. Still, he nails his salmon and keeps the Blue Team afloat while everyone else flounders. But the calm doesn’t last — Anthony and Henry soon get into a full-blown war of words before Gordon calls for a timeout. Once those two cool off, Paul gives Gordon one last reason to lose it — raw lamb. “Get out!” he screams, and it’s game over for the Blue Team.

Elimination

After a heated deliberation, both teams nominate two chefs for elimination: Elaina and Alexandra from the Red Team and Paul and Antonio from the Blue Team.

After each nominated chef pleads their case to say, Gordon decides to light both Paul’s and Elaina’s dreams up in flames. The host ends the episode with a poem: “Here’s the story of Elaina and Paul, who couldn’t cook their proteins at all. They failed on the fish and meat, and led their teams to defeat. And now, their jackets will hang on my wall.”