There’s something fishy going on in Hell’s Kitchen! This week, the chefs must shuck and prepare the perfect scallop dish for Gordon Ramsay — a high-stakes test with zero margin for error. Who will rise to the occasion, and who will sink to the bottom? Dive into our full recap of the “Hell on a Halfshell” episode of Hell’s Kitchen Season 24, airing Thursday, Oct. 2.
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.
| Blue Team | State | Red Team | State |
| Anthony | Iowa | Alexandria | Oregon |
| Antonio | New Hampshire | Anaiya | Delaware |
| Bradley | Louisiana | Cara Marie | Rhode Island |
| Carlos | Alaska | Cat | Maryland |
| Chase | Montana | Cydni | North Carolina |
| Chris | New Jersey | Elaina | South Carolina |
| Henry | Texas | Ellie | Nevada |
| Jayden | Massachussetts | Jada | Florida |
| Jon | Georgia | Lisa | California |
| Paul | Colorado | Maddy | New York |
The Challenge
Gordon never misses a chance for theatrics — unveiling this week’s challenge with a box of fresh scallops crashing down from the ceiling. “I said fresh, right?” he quips, as the shellfish scatter across the floor. The chefs must now deliver scallop dishes that are not only perfectly cooked and delicious, but also visually stunning. Gordon warns that scallops have a razor-thin margin of error — and so do the chefs. One misstep could send them home, while those who rise above the rest earn the coveted Punishment Pass. This game-changing advantage allows the holder to dodge a loss by swapping onto the winning team, securing the reward and avoiding the punishment. The chefs have 30 minutes to complete their dish.
Once each chef completes their dish, sous chefs James and Michelle will choose which dishes will represent their teams and be tasted by Gordon. James chooses Antonio, Chris, and Jayden as the Blue Team’s best. Michelle picks Lisa, Jada, Anaiya, and Cat as the best from the Red Team.
Punishment Pass
After tasting all of the top dishes, Gordon chooses Chris and Anaiya as the recipients of the Punishment Passes
Worst Dish of the Night
After the teams presented their best dishes, Michelle and James also singled out the weakest of the night — putting those chefs at risk of going home. Michelle chose Cara Marie and Maddy, while James selected Chase and Carlos. Gordon ultimately sent Carlos back to Alaska before he even completed a dinner service, calling his performance “underwhelming” and bluntly stating, “You are not ready.” A disappointed Carlos walked away saying, “I feel like I let my state down. I am so disappointed in myself.”
Dinner Service
After a day of intense menu training, the chefs were eager to kick off their first dinner service. But as tickets began pouring in, the Blue Team quickly unraveled — Bradley panicked on the line while Chase burned his opening flatbread. Over in the Red kitchen, Elaina and Jada set the tone by nailing their first appetizers.
Back on the Blue side, Bradley’s silence left Antonio stranded. When Bradley wouldn’t call out his risotto, Antonio walked up his scallops on his own, only for Gordon to send them back. “I’m not serving them,” he snapped. Then Chase’s second attempt at flatbread landed raw, prompting Gordon to huddle the team for a blistering tongue-lashing.
The pressure only mounted. Bradley made another critical mistake by tossing peas into the risotto, forcing a complete re-fire that set the team back even further. When Gordon caught Chris hand-picking the peas out in desperation, he halted the kitchen, threw the dish in the trash, and exploded: “You’re a bunch of fucking idiots. Get your shit together!”
The Red Team’s winning streak nearly came crashing down when Maddy froze at the pass, unable to recall a single table order. After failing to repeat it back to Gordon three times, he sent her away to regroup. Maddy returned with her head back in the game, but over in the Blue kitchen, things only got worse. The team burned through so many flatbreads they ran out of cheese, leaving Gordon furious. With no flatbreads left to serve, Chase scrambled to throw together salads instead.
Later, Maddy stumbled again, sending up one undercooked salmon followed by another that was overcooked. On the Blue side, Henry delivered a raw lamb chop. Gordon had reached his breaking point — but still didn’t shut down the kitchen. The final straw came when Cat walked up raw pork, pushing Gordon over the edge. He stormed into the storeroom, screamed at the women, “Get the fuck out of here!” and sent them back to the dorms to nominate two chefs for possible elimination. Just minutes later, Gordon tossed the men out with the same instruction.
Elimination
The nominees for elimination were Maddy and Cat from the Red Team, along with Chase and Bradley from the Blue Team. In the end, Gordon sent Maddy back to New York, declaring, “New Yorkers may be tough, but properly cooked salmon shouldn’t be. Maddy is gone because she wasn’t able to figure that out.”
Next time
Chaos erupts in the kitchen, pushing Gordon to make a tough call. As the chefs struggle with the fallout, will the pressure drive one of them to commit a mistake so criminal that Hell’s Kitchen is forced to shut down?
