Last week, things really heated up, as the teams went through a cooking relay, one of the guys made a comment that offended one of the women, and though neither team was able to complete a dinner service (again), the guys kept losing, causing Giacomo to be sent out of the kitchen. With 8 left, can either team pull themselves together?

Does Tom "get it"?

After returning to the dorms, Tom feels that he's gonna make Garrett and Keith feel stupid for nominating him. But Garrett still feels that the team would be better off without Tom. So far, I'd have to side with Garrett on that one. Then, Garrett and Tom yell at each other for a moment, with Tom continually saying that he has their back, and Garrett saying that the nomination wasn't that easy. At 2:37AM, Tom sits at the table outside with Heather and Rachel. Soon enough, they get into an argument, with Tom saying he gave up more than anyone else to be there, and Heather and Rachel both refuting that they all gave up time with their families to be there. Then, Tom says that he only cares about the money, and Heather says she's in it for the experience to work with "him" (I think by that, she meant Gordon Ramsay). Yeah, at this point, it seems like everyone would be happy to see Tom gone.

The finer points of lunch

At 7:53AM, the teams are getting changed and ready for another day of the experience known as Hell's Kitchen. They're lined up in the dining room, and it is obvious that the men are in a tough position, since there's 3 of them left, and 5 women. So, Ramsay, after declaring that the men have pretty much lost the "battle of the sexes", and noting that Heather, Sara, and Rachel are emerging as leaders, he decides to send one of those 3 ladies over to the blue team. Specifically, Heather. She's not happy, because now, she has to work against a team with which she had managed a few wins. Sara is happy, though, because she thinks she can now handle being more of a leader. And with that, the teams are even again, and Ramsay decides to lead the teams out on a trip to one of L.A.'s most successful restaurants.

Turns out that what Ramsay was referring to was Pink's, a hot dog restaurant that gets 2,000 customers a day. He then lets the teams order hot dogs. Oh, did I mention that Pink's features the "Gordon Ramsay Dog"? The sign advertising it there also has a mention of this show! Sure enough, Rachel orders it, and Ramsay wonders if she's looking for brownie points (to which, Rachel says yes). Tom then mentions that he has experience working at a hot dog place, and eventually, he winds up behind the counter, putting together a hot dog for Keith (a.k.a. K-Grease, as we find out at this point)! Turns out that he did good with it. Then, once everyone has a hot dog, they chow down. Virginia says she didn't try the Gordon Ramsay Dog, but she's sure it was "very spicy and hot, just like he is". I'll leave it at that.

Once they're done, Ramsay makes an announcement: for the first time ever, Hell's Kitchen is opening for lunch! And in less than 2 hours! With that, everyone began running all the way back to the restaurant, with Keith lagging behind. They arrive at 10:13AM, and with the lunch service starting at 12PM, they don't have much time to learn and prepare some dishes meant specifically for this service. Rachel feels sorry for Heather having to work with the guys, but Heather hopes that she can help them focus on the task at hand. The red team is feeling confident, but Sara thinks that with Heather on the blue team, Rachel won't be able to pull it together. We'll see... Ramsay then has the teams line up, and explains that this lunch service is their challenge this time. He says he's looking for speed, taste, and quality.

And with that, the clock strikes 12PM, and Hell's Kitchen is open for lunch. And just as quickly, a stampede of kids run into the dining room. That's right; these kids are the customers! And they don't seem patient at all, so this will certainly be quite the challenge. Soon enough, the teams get going, and Heather immediately tries to get the blue team organized. And again, Ramsay asks Keith to pull his pants up. As the kids begin to make a mess of the dining room with confetti and balloons and other stuff, Ramsay finds himself having a hard time avoiding swearing, since, well, there are kids there.

In the red kitchen, Sara ends up cutting her finger on something. She tends to it, but as she does, Rachel tells her to "keep it above the heart". Sara didn't care much for that, apparently, as she says she'd rather have her space. In the blue kitchen, Ramsay calls for some Caesar salad, and Tom says he's got it. But Garrett is trying to help, and Tom doesn't appreciate it. There's a bit of arguing, but Heather tells them to stop it. And they do. Back in the red kitchen, Rachel is trying to help Sara with some pizza, but Sara wants her to back off and let her handle it herself. But Rachel ends up helping anyway, as she feels it's good for the team.

Meanwhile, the kids are getting restless 10 minutes into the service, and they break out the silly string! At that point, both teams manage to really get moving, and soon enough, they get dishes sent out to the kids. Everything is now moving smoothly, and the kids are becoming more content now that they are getting their food. But eventually, Ramsay notices that a couple of pizzas that came from the red kitchen aren't as round as they should be. He calls Sara over to see them, and she says she'll get more going. Ramsay says no, and has the pizzas served anyway, since these are for kids, and the shape is really the only problem, but he does tell her to make them more round from now on.

Later, we see that both teams are finally close to completing a service; the blue team has 3 tables left, while red has 4. Red gets one served to tie it up, but blue strikes back, getting down to 2. Both teams alternate serving tables until each team has 1 table left. And both of those tables get served at the same time, completing the lunch service! Ramsay is happy, both teams are celebrating, and the silly string war in the dining room continues. In fact, JP wound up being covered in silly string, and he's even spraying some of it back!

The kids leave happy, and there's a big mess in the dining room, as expected. Ramsay congratulates both teams on completing the service, and says he expects them to carry over the momentum to the next dinner service. But we still need a winner for this challenge. With that, we hear that the kids were asked to rate their food on a scale from 1 to 10. So, with that, here is how the teams scored...

Red: 9.84/10
Blue: 9.85/10

By one hundredth of a point, the blue team has snapped their losing streak! With that, they will be spending the afternoon outside of Hell's Kitchen, having a lot of fun! As for the red team, well, someone has to clean up the mess in the dining room... The blue team heads to the back to get changed, while the red team gets ready to start the cleaning. In the dorms, Garrett says they should rename the team "3 Men and a Little Lady". And Heather doesn't seem to mind. Why not? She did help the guys win. And as the red team is cleaning, Sara decides to inhale some helium from one of the balloons and try to imitate Ramsay with a high-pitched voice. Rachel doesn't find it funny, because it seems to her that Sara doesn't care if she loses.

Fun and games

The blue team is driven to their destination: an amusement park! Upon seeing Pacific Park, which is the one they'll be visiting, they're all really excited, just like kids would be. They walk by a few games, and Garrett tries his hand at one involving popping balloons with darts. He manages to pop a few, as well as Tom. Back in the dining room, there's some balloon popping there as well, but with the balloons that the kids brought in. The blue team plays some more games, including one that involves shattering plates with balls, while the red team cleans up broken plates in the dining room. And what would a visit to the amusement park be without a ride on a roller coaster? The blue team seemed to really enjoy the ride! Then, on the Ferris wheel, Keith tells Heather that them being the final 2 would be perfect, considering her name starts with H, and his starts with K. H & K. Hell's Kitchen. Get it? Heather obviously did.

Back at the restaurant, the red team continues to clean. Sara is trying to have a bit of fun with her cleaning, but Rachel is finding it to be annoying. There's obviously some tension between those two, and sous-chef Mary Ann is watching, apparently also annoyed at Sara's antics. With that, Mary Ann adds to the mess by throwing a cake onto the floor! It doesn't seem to bother Sara, though, but Rachel again tells her to stop it. Frankly, Sara is getting on my nerves as well, and I'm not even there...

Confidence (and lack thereof)

The next day, the teams are up early, and Heather is working on making sure Keith's pants don't slip down again, using a safety pin. After that, the teams are in their respective kitchens, prepping for the next dinner service. And Heather is showing her leadership skills as she tries to keep the blue team organized. Garrett is confident that the blue team will not lose this one. Meanwhile, things are really quiet in the red kitchen. No one is speaking. Things are really tense, and Sara is starting to think that the red team will be seeing some more losses, and she'd like to see Rachel nominated for elimination.

Ramsay has the teams line up minutes before the service, and he says he expects them to get stronger and better this time. He then informs the teams that the ice machine is broken. So, as a second part of the punishment for losing the lunch service challenge, someone from the red team will have to go and get ice if it's needed. So, with that, it's time to get going.

[As a reminder, last season, it was the 4th dinner service when a team managed to complete serving all their tables. We're at that point of this season now; can either team do it this time?]

Sabotage = another potential disaster

The clock strikes 7PM, and Hell's Kitchen is once again open. The customers are inside, and as orders are being taken, we see that on the red team, Rachel is on appetizers, but for one of the dishes (the Salad Saint Jacques), she'll need scallops. Guess who's responsible for that? Sara. Considering what happened earlier, that sounds like trouble brewing, but things seem fine with that at first. Meanwhile, Heather is feeling like the blue team's baby-sitter, as she is giving orders to her teammates. Hopefully, it'll be enough to ensure that things go smoothly there. Back in the red kitchen, Rachel has an appetizer ready to be plated, and she asks for the scallops from Sara. She says she'll get them to her in 2 seconds. Then, when Ramsay comes and asks for it, Sara says she's waiting for the call for the scallops. Wha? Rachel says she called for them 3 times. Okay, either Sara needs hearing aids, or she might have attempted some sabotage...

Back in the blue kitchen, Garrett has some appetizers ready. But Ramsay notes the lack of salt in a dish. That prompts him to yell at Garrett about tasting the food first. So, Garrett has to start over. In the red kitchen, Rachel brings a risotto to the hot plate, but Ramsay says it's too stiff; it needs to be relaxed a bit more. He then starts asking if this apparent lack of effort has to do with the team losing Heather, to which Rachel responds with "no, chef". Then, back with the blue team, Garrett makes another risotto attempt of his own, ready for plating. Ramsay tastes it, then after asking why the first one wasn't like that, he asks for it to be served. Looks like a good sign for the blue team.

As appetizers are served from the blue team, Ramsay heads back to the red kitchen to see if Rachel's next attempt at a risotto is relaxed enough. Rachel says it is, but when the dish is presented, Ramsay sees that it's now too relaxed. He yells at Rachel about needing to be able to control the quality of her dishes, before Rachel has to start over again. In the dining room, customers at a blue table are enjoying their appetizers, but one of them says that their dish is cold. JP returns the dish to the kitchen, and Ramsay then hands it to Garrett, telling him to make another. Ramsay then asks him if he wouldn't mind heading back to jail. Apparently, this only motivated Garrett more, as he now wants to really prove that he belongs there.

45 minutes in, and Rachel only managed appetizers for 6 tables. Now, as Ramsay reads out an order to the red team, Virginia and Sara has to work together for some entrées. Virginia asks how Sara is doing with the turbot and tortellini, and she says "I'm ready, and waiting for your call." Virginia makes the call, as she brings some dishes up to the hot plate. But Sara isn't moving from her section. Ramsay asks about where the turbot is, and Sara says it's not ready yet. Wha? Virginia says that Sara told her it was ready, but Ramsay notes that Sara hadn't even started it. As Ramsay begins to accuse Virginia of lying to him, we see an evil smile on Sara's face. A-HA! So it WAS sabotage! Sara is intentionally sabotaging her team! And she made Virginia look bad! Heck, after some more yelling, Ramsay says that he thinks Virginia is screwing with the team! Man, I hope Ramsay finds out the truth, and soon...

Meanwhile, the blue team has almost served all of their appetizers, and all that's left is for Garrett to finish a spaghetti dish. But some meat is needed, and that's up to Tom. Ramsay asks for a time, and the response is 7 minutes. Ramsay wants to know why, and Garrett says it's because of the quail. Ramsay then turns his attention to Tom, wondering why the quail isn't cooked yet. Ramsay yells at him about it. Back in the red kitchen, they're almost ready to serve their first entrées, and they just need mashed potatoes from Maribel. But Ramsay notes that the mashed potatoes have "gone like glue". So, it looks like those will have to be started again. To the blue kitchen again, and Ramsay is asking for a Wellington. Tom says it's a little too pink. Ramsay doesn't like the sound of that. He then asks Keith for a time, and he says 4 minutes. Ramsay likes the sound of that. He then talks to Tom for a moment about what just happened.

At 8:31PM, and the customers are enjoying their food. At least, those who have gotten some food. In the red kitchen, Virginia and Rachel are working together on the quail, but when a dish is brought up, Ramsay tells them both that there's some bone still on the meat. He then asks them why the wings are still on, then asks Rachel if this is normal for her. Rachel explains that she's just trying to understand Ramsay's procedures, but he says it's just normal stuff. He then tells Rachel to go and get some ice. And because the ice machine is broken, Rachel will have to head out of the restaurant to get it.

As she does, over in the blue kitchen, Tom is dealing with meat for multiple orders, but Ramsay tries to get his attention as to when certain orders were originally made. He then has to get Tom to stop and head over to him, and tells him that they need quail for a spaghetti now. Tom says they have quail ready there, but Ramsay yells that that quail is for a different order! Apparently, the customers heard it, and they look over to see what's happening. Ramsay continues to yell at Tom, and though he tries to remain calm, soon enough, a fire starts in one of his pans! Tom tries to blow it out, while still trying to deal with cooking the duck in the pan! Eventually, it gets worse, and Ramsay yells at him to leave it, before heading over there and getting the pan off the stove. And once it's off the stove, the fire stops. Ramsay then has Keith switch to the meat section, and asks Tom to not cook anything, but to watch how Keith does it. I'd say at this point, Tom's goose is cooked, so to speak.

Meanwhile, at a local grocery store, Rachel has picked up some ice, but it seems that she forgot to bring some money! Uh-oh. Luckily for her, there are other customers there, and Rachel ends up begging for one of them to pay for the ice. Thankfully for her, the customer agrees to it. Then, as she is running back to Hell's Kitchen with the ice, she stumbles and falls. Whoops. Back in the red kitchen, the red team has gotten their act together, and they're pushing out entrées. Soon enough, Rachel is back with the ice, and as she unloads it, a customer notices, and wonders why she isn't cooking. (If that same customer has seen this episode, she'll know why now.) Rachel is then back in the kitchen, ready to continue.

At 9:03PM, each kitchen has only served half of their entrées. Then, Ramsay calls over Virginia, and asks her how a Wellington that he has pointed out was supposed to be done. She says medium, then he asks what it really is. Virginia says she thought it was medium, but Ramsay again asks what it is. She finally says it's rare. Then, Rachel is asked why she's glazing a dish with butter instead of egg wash. Rachel says it is egg wash, but Ramsay asks what's in there; egg yolk or egg white. Rachel says egg white. Based on Ramsay's reaction, Rachel then figures out that it should have been egg yolk. Nice time to find that out, after other dishes have been sent out glazed with the wrong stuff. Then, Ramsay asks for some more Wellingtons, and Virginia says they ran out.

At this point, Ramsay has had enough. He goes off on the ladies about how they haven't done much right, then calls over the guys, calling one of them "Doughnut". [I'm not sure what to think, considering I use Doughnut as a nickname when I browse various message boards...] He then says that he has had enough, and he asks the teams to go straight back to the dorms, and each team will have to nominate one of their own for elimination. I guess that means both teams have technically lost, then. They then head back to the dorms, and Ramsay yells at them to not bother turning anything off.

Trying to make sense out of such a mess

Back in the dorms, Virginia is crying about being called a liar, while Sara is telling her that he's just doing that to make her better. Um, yeah... Virginia then accuses Sara of being passive-aggressive, but she denies it. She then admits to making Virginia look like a liar, but claims that Virginia needs to learn from her mistakes (even though it was Sara's fault in the first place). Meanwhile, Tom is isolated from the rest of the blue team, who are talking about, well, Tom. And Tom seems to be focused on what he plans on saying in order to stay in the competition. He says he's like a piece of gum stuck to the bottom of a shoe, they can't get rid of him. Oh, we'll see about that. Outside, the red team talks some more, and they seem to have a consensus to send Virginia up as their nomination. She seems ready to accept it, and Rachel says she'd better stick up for herself. Maribel then points out that 2 problems that night were with the potatoes and the risotto, and since the risotto was Rachel's responsibility (the potatoes were Maribel's), that seemed to begin complicating things further for them.

Sending dead weight packing

Both teams are lined up in the dining room, and Ramsay says that he has a bunch of fast-food chefs in front of him. He then asks Keith, as the bright spot on the blue team for tonight, for the blue team's nomination. Keith says it's Tom, because he's contributing the least as far as getting the food out goes. Ramsay then asks Sara, whom he thinks showed some initiative (we know she was just sabotaging things), for the red team's nomination. Sara says it's... Virginia, because, as Sara says, she didn't make as many mistakes as Rachel (I'm not so sure about that, personally). Ramsay was surprised, seemingly thinking Rachel should have been nominated instead. With that, Tom and Virginia are asked to step forward.

At this point, it's time for those 2 to plead their case. Tom says he won't give up, he can't be beaten down, and he refuses to be gotten rid of. Virginia says that her heart and soul is in food, and if Ramsay thinks she should be there, then she should be there, but if not, then she doesn't. Ramsay then asks if Rachel is happy, and Rachel says no, and she'd be willing to take her place. Ramsay says the offer is tempting, then we see the flashbacks. This time, they're of Rachel screwing up the egg wash, Tom screwing up the quail, and Virginia being blamed for lying after Sara lied. At that point, Ramsay declares that the one going home this week is... Tom. I'd say it's about time, really; aside from the steak challenge, he didn't really seem to be able to do much good at all. Ramsay then addresses the others, saying that this was the worst dinner service he had ever been through, but he's not giving up on them, so they'd better not give up on him.

In 2 weeks (no episode next week), more arguing between Rachel and Sara ensues, it seems like celebrities are showing up, and Ramsay kicks one of the hopefuls out of the kitchen. Will we finally see a successful service next time? We'll see...