Last week, the teams had to cook for a wedding reception, and though Melissa performed the worst, she wasn't eliminated.  Instead, she was sent to the blue team to see if she can do better there.  So, there's still 7 left, and they'd better be ready for what's next...

Deception?

Heading back to the dorms, Jen feels that Chef Ramsay did the red team a favor by sending Melissa to the other team.  On the other hand, Melissa feels that she will get along with the guys better, and she starts by telling them that she will never sabotage them.  Rock, in an aside, says that she's still gonna lose, even though she has been given another day.  Meanwhile, the red team has a bit of a meeting, and they basically say that with Melissa off of their team, it's time for them to step up.

The next morning, both teams are basically chatting about various other restaurants.  That is when Jen mentions that she worked at a restaurant in Philadelphia!  A couple of them, actually; she mentions having worked at The Ritz and Morimoto (C-Note: Yes, the Iron Chef's restaurant) during the past 5 years.  This surprises the others, because they all thought that she was just a pastry chef!  Jen does say that she worked mostly with pastry during that time, though.  She wasn't lying; she was just holding back.  Apparently, she didn't mention all this at first because she wanted Ramsay's expectations of her to not be too high!  I gotta admit, that's a clever idea.

Cooking in a pinch

The teams line up in the dining room, and behind Ramsay is something covered in cloth.  Bonnie got the idea that it might be a piano and they'd have to sing.  Thankfully, that is not the case.  Ramsay says that they need to succeed with their ingredients, and today, they'll be working with what is behind him.  He then pulls away the cloth to reveal a tank of live lobsters!  Bonnie looks worried.  Ramsay asks her why, and she says she hates killing lobsters.  Everyone has a good laugh at her expense because of it.  Ramsay then reminds Josh of a moment from the blind taste test when he thought that a bit of lobster was a scallop, and because of that, he's sitting out of this challenge.  He can give advice, but that's it.  The challenge is basically to prepare 3 creative and delicious lobster dishes in 1 hour.  And they'll have to get the lobsters from the tank.  And the lobsters' claws aren't tied shut, so pinching could occur.

The challenge begins, and while Rock had no problem with getting the lobsters, one of them pinches Brad after he gets it into the blue kitchen.  On the red team, Bonnie thought that Jen and Julia would get all the lobsters that they need, but guess what?  She ended up having to get one herself!  She was scared, especially with the possibility of getting pinched.  Bonnie does manage to get one without much of a problem, and it's a big one!  On the blue team, with Rock and Brad knowing what they're doing, Josh is checking in with Melissa to see what she's doing.  So while Josh is trying to coach Melissa, Jen has been trying to coach Julia while doing her own thing at the same time.

Soon enough, time is up, and the dishes are plated.  Time to find out whose dishes are better.  Bonnie and Melissa start things off, both with salads.  Bonnie made a grilled lobster salad with baked apples, and though Ramsay thought it was ambitious of her to grill the lobster, the dish was nice.  Melissa made a citrus-herb salad with poached lobster, but the lobster wasn't cooked properly.  So, the red team gets an early edge.  Julia made a lobster risotto, since it was easy to make, especially after they have been making risottos for days.  Ramsay thought the lobster was nice and tender, but the risotto was boring.  Rock made a buttermilk-fried lobster tail, and it was another dish that Ramsay thought was ambitious, but turned out very well.  With that, this one is tied going into the final dishes for each team.

Jen made a lobster and crab bisque, using some saffron and thyme.  Ramsay said it's nice and soft.  Brad made a lobster bisque with Disaronno Chantilly.  Again, Ramsay thought it was nice.  As a result, Ramsay is finding it to be very tough to decide on a winner.  But it has to be done, and he declares the winning team to be... the red team!  Bonnie felt that their simplicity and flavour was what did it.  For the reward, the red team will get to take part in a photo shoot and interview with In Touch magazine, with Ramsay joining them!  He sends them on their way to get changed, before informing the blue team that for losing, they'll have to sort through garbage for stuff to be recycled.  Rock is not comfortable with this, because he never had to deal with trash before.

But that's not the only problem Rock is having with this.  He's rather ticked off because he didn't think the red team was creative enough.  Brad feared that Rock would flip out, and that's precisely what happened.  Melissa asks the others if Rock always gets that mad, and they say that this is the first time they've seen him like this.  He's just slamming things left and right as they're cleaning up the kitchen.  Oh, boy.  Thankfully, he does calm down enough when it's time to head outside and deal with the trash.  Scott explains to them that they'll have to separate the recyclables, clean them, and put them in their respective bins.  With that, the sous-chefs add more trash to the pile before the team begins.

Opposite ends of the glamour spectrum

Meanwhile, the red team meets Ramsay at a limo parked out at the front doors, and they get going to the photo shoot.  Of course, they get to enjoy some champagne on the way.  Upon arrival, the ladies go right to the makeup chairs.  After that, they get some nice dresses to wear before heading to a table for some food and more champagne.  Back outside Hell's Kitchen, the blue team is busy dealing with the trash, when Scott informs Rock that he is needed at the photo shoot.  Well, this oughta be interesting.  Back at the shoot, Ramsay and the red team are chatting, when in comes Rock.  He compliments the way the ladies look, while they're confused as to why he's there.  Ramsay tells Rock to get the garbage from the nearby bin and take it with him, back to the garbage pile.  Ouch.  The ladies could tell that he was ticked.

But now, it's time for the photo shoot!  They end up doing sort of a Charlie's Angels theme with the photos, with Ramsay in the middle and the ladies around him holding various kitchen utensils.  It was quite fun for them, and the final product turned out nicely.  Of course, the same cannot be said for the blue team, as Rock returns with the extra garbage.  And once again, he is angry about having to deal with this.

High confidence

After what the teams had just gone through, they still have to prepare for the dinner service, which is happening that very night!  Rock spends some time alone outside, hopefully to calm down enough after what has already happened.  He says that despite that, he plans to go back to leading the team and making sure that things don't go wrong.  Soon enough, everyone is in their kitchens, prepping for the service, and the blue team is getting an idea of what working with Melissa will be like.  They end up having to suggest a few things to her, but they do seem confident.  The red team is also feeling confident, because they don't have Melissa to deal with.  Bonnie is feeling nervous, though, because there's only 3 of them left, meaning each of them have more to do.  With a few minutes to go before the service starts, Ramsay gathers the teams together and tells them that Bonnie's grilled lobster salad will be a special main course tonight!  But it's the blue team that will have to get the lobsters from the tank for both teams when they're needed.  Josh says he'll take care of that.  After a reminder that this is Melissa's last chance, it's time to get going.

FIRE!!!

The doors open at 7PM once again.  The red team gets the first order, and as they get going, Ramsay reminds them that they'll have to work quicker since the blue team has one more person than them.  Soon enough, Julia needs a lobster, and Josh goes to fetch it for her.  No problem there.  After Rock tells Melissa not to be afraid to ask if she needs anything, Ramsay gives them an order.  He then notices that a pot of water with spaghetti in it is not boiling.  Rock ends up being the one to take care of that.  In the red kitchen, moments after Josh gets them another lobster, they have some appetizers ready.  Julia gets a compliment for her scallops, and those appetizers are served.

Meanwhile, Brad is apparently quite anxious to get some appetizers served.  So much so, that he delivers 3 dishes, when only 2 were needed!  This isn't a good start, as Ramsay tells them to stop panicking.  Back in the red kitchen, things are still moving along quite smoothly.  Maybe having Melissa gone was just what they needed!  Speaking of whom, in the blue kitchen, she is screwing up with the scallops.  Ramsay says they're like paper scallops, before adding that everything she touches, she screws up.  He then starts calling Melissa a gremlin.  Ouch.

At 8:05PM, the red team has served 28 out of 50 appetizers, and they're still moving along very well.  Ramsay is telling them that this is the best start they've ever had, and they basically need to keep it up.  But just when it looks like nothing is going to go wrong, Bonnie pours something into a pan, which causes a fire!  Uh-oh.  Bonnie seems to be panicking, as Jen is telling her to get the pan off the stove, but Ramsay is telling her to just get away from it!  The mixed signals ends up resulting in Bonnie just carrying the pan, with the fire still blazing in it!  Soon enough, the fire dies down, and Ramsay talks to her about what she's supposed to do when something like that happens.  The first thing: Stand back.

Back in the blue kitchen, Josh is preparing some mashed potatoes, but Ramsay notices that it's "gloopy and runny".  It turns out that he didn't put salt in the potatoes.  Rock feels that he's all over the place and not focused enough on what he's doing.  Needless to say, Josh will have to restart that.  Back in the red kitchen, the ladies seem to have put the fire behind them, and have gone back to doing very well.  Jen gets a compliment on her potatoes, and Bonnie gets a compliment on her Wellingtons.  Things are really looking up for them, while things continue to look down for the blue team.  This time, Brad's risotto is overcooked.  Ramsay tells him that this has been his worst service yet.  But Brad feels that Melissa screwed him over, as she brought the risotto.

In the red kitchen, Ramsay calls for some sea bass, and Julia says she doesn't have it, but suddenly says she does when she spots it in front of her!  Oops.  Ramsay tells her to wake up.  But then, Julia is starting to struggle some more with a scallop, and this prompts some yelling from Ramsay, where he ends up telling her that she needs to listen.  Meanwhile, Melissa has some monkfish ready.  But Ramsay sees a problem, and he asks Josh to check it.  Josh says it's overcooked.  Ramsay can't believe that Melissa didn't know it's overcooked.  After telling this to Brad, Rock, and even Scott, Ramsay compares the monkfish to "regurgitated dog ****"!  Ramsay wonders where the other monkfish are, and Melissa says she only has one left.  Ramsay doesn't like the sound of that, and he decides to have Rock and Melissa switch stations, with Rock going to fish and Melissa going to garnish.  And Ramsay has to tell her a few times to get off the fish station.

Back with the red team, Bonnie and Julia begin to argue about whether something is done or not.  Julia says it is, while Bonnie says it isn't.  Afterwards, Julia starts crying.  Oh, geez...  She says she was starting to feel overwhelmed.  With just 2 orders left.  Hmm.  Meanwhile, Melissa is running out of potatoes.  Rock asks if anyone knows where there may be more, but they don't.  That's not good.  But they're about to face something worse; a whole table of 6 is having a problem with their food.  So, JP has it all brought back, relaying the message that the lobster and beef are overcooked.  Now, Ramsay has had it with the blue team, and after reminding them of what happened with Melissa's monkfish, Josh's mashed potatoes, and Brad's appetizers, he tells them, "Shut it down!"  And it looks like someone is disappointed about not getting dessert.

A big decision to make...

With the restaurant closed, Ramsay delivers some obvious news; the blue team lost.  He notes that 2 sous-chefs, an executive chef, and a line chef just got beaten by a nanny, a short-order cook, and a pastry chef.  Talk about rubbing salt in the wound...  Anyway, Ramsay notes that Josh is the only one left who hasn't had a good service, and that this was definitely Brad's worst service.  He asks Rock what is going on, and he says that some people can't handle pressure well.  With that, Ramsay asks all 4 of them to come up with 2 individuals to nominate for elimination.

In the backyard, the blue team has a meeting, to try to come up with who should be nominated.  Melissa knows that she'll be up there.  Then, they decide to consider whether they should decide this based on just tonight, or overall.  According to Brad, if it's just based on tonight, then it would be Brad and Melissa, but if it's based on overall performance, it would be Josh and Melissa.  Both Brad and Melissa agree that it might as well be based on overall performance.

...Or is it?

With the red team at the safety of the nearby table, the blue team lines up for what could be a tense elimination.  Ramsay asks if they've made their decision, and asks if it was difficult.  They say yes to both.  Ramsay then says, "Cut the crap, will ya?"  With that, he just asks Melissa to step forward, and tells her to take her jacket off and leave!  Seemed like an easy enough decision, considering that she had plenty of chances, and couldn't improve enough to warrant her sticking around.  Oh, but Ramsay isn't done yet!  He then asks Brad and Josh to step forward!  After a non-elimination week last time, it looks like this week could make up for it with a double elimination...

At least he's giving these two a chance to explain why they feel they should stay.  Josh says that he has a lot more to show, and he doesn't want to give up.  Brad basically says that he never had such a bad performance before.  Then, after some flashbacks of Josh's mashed potatoes being runny and Brad panicking to the point that he delivered an extra appetizer, Ramsay decides that... both of them are getting another chance.  So, apparently, this won't be double elimination after all.  Ramsay tells them all to get a grip, before sending them back to the dorms.

In the next episode, we'll get to see some paintball action, and the teams will have separate menus facing off against each other.  But it looks like both teams will really struggle during dinner service, causing Ramsay to do something drastic.