Plot

Chef Ramsay instructs a lesson in teamwork tonight as the chefs are tasked with serving lunch to hungry members of the University of Southern California Trojan Marching Band and Song Girls. That evening during dinner service, both teams feel the pressure, but the red team gets especially heated after one contestant on the red team gets burned.—Fox Publicity

After his teammates put him up for elimination, Jason loses it. "Don't sit around and plot," Jason yells. "We don't do that **** where I'm from!" A string of profanities from the angry chef follows, but no one else appears particularly intimidated -- much less concerned. Later, Ramsay points out that the blue and red team lack teamwork. Thus, he will open Hell's Kitchen for a rare lunch service featuring a basic menu of "burgers, salads, fries," etc. The first team to serve all of its customers wins the challenge.

The customers, meanwhile, turn out to be the marching band and cheerleaders from USC. "I'm definitely fond of cheerleaders," Jay creepily comments. The frantic cooking begins, though Jason appears to be moving at half speed. "I feel like he's pretty good at holding a grudge," Jay comments. Ramsay notices -- and yells at Jason for not being vocal. "It's like a two-way sword," says Jason, noting that he isn't loud enough for Ramsay, but might be too loud for his team (or double-edged sword -- whatever).

In the red kitchen, Jamie moves slow so demonstrative Maria lends a hand. Soon enough, each team only has three tickets remaining. A few fast back-and-forth edits later, the women are declared the winners. "Yes!" a shaking Maria screams into the camera. "So exciting!" The reward: an afternoon on the beach while the men will help pick up garbage from the Los Angeles River. They are given yellow jumpsuits for the task. The women, meanwhile, change into summer wear. "It's a MILF outfit," Fran says to Nilka. "Know what a MILF is?" Unfortunately, Nilka does not -- so Fran explains it.

Later, the men discover all manner of litter (including numerous shopping carts) while the women play Ramsay and his young children in a game of soccer -- followed by cocktails, lunch and frolicking in the surf. Reward/punishment finished, the teams head back to the kitchen to prepare for dinner service -- and Fran promptly burns herself. The catering chef, however, keeps her pain a secret. Ramsay then announces that Holli and Salvatore will act as an assistant Maitre D' for their respective dining rooms.

Customers begin streaming in -- and chef can't read Salvatore's handwriting on the order tickets. A bad start for the blue kitchen. "I don't know how to write English," the heavily accented cook explains. Maria, not schooled in risotto, messes up the risotto. Scott, excited to be on the appetizer station, messes up the potato appetizers. On garnish, Jason is slow. Salvatore forgets to write "medium well" on a ticket. Ramsay goes nuclear, dressing down the new Maitre D' in front of the entire blue kitchen. The young chef heads for the door before being stopped by Jean Philippe. "I'm done," says Salvatore, explaining that he will finish the service and then volunteer to be put up for elimination.

More trouble ensues, including Jason slowing down the blue kitchen (again) and Jamie burning the mashed potatoes. "He was just all over my ass tonight -- and not in a good way," Jamie tells the camera. Siobhan then sends up raw halibut, so Ramsay SMASHES the undercooked fish. Ben excels at the meat station, while Fran does not. Autumn notices that Fran's hand is burned -- and tells Ramsay. "That's a serious burn," Ramsay says. "Go see the medic." So Fran does, returning to the kitchen after being treated.

The two teams manage to serve the last customers. "We completed service, but it does it have to be this painful?" Ramsay asks. He declares the blue team to be the winner, meaning the red team must come up with two names for elimination. After an argument, Fran and Jamie are chosen. Ramsay demands that Jamie remove her jacket and go home. "I'm by far a better cook than Fran is," Jamie says on her way out. Jay describes the red team as "a bunch of girls who can't get their emotions in check."

Afterwards, Ramsay pulls Salvatore aside. "I need you to bounce back," Ramsay says. "I have not given up on you." Salvatore pledges to "do his best." Scott decides to help the young man by helping him study the menu while the other chefs sleep. The next morning, Ramsay presents the next challenge: the chefs will roll a dice with letters on each side on a Hell's Kitchen craps table. They will then have to name an ingredient to go with each six letters rolled. Scott rolls an "H" and chooses halibut. Jason rolls a "E" and picks endive. Ed rolls an "S" and picks salsify. Ben rolls a "C" and opts for crab. Jay rolls a "P" and picks peas. Salvatore rolls a "B" and picks, after much thinking, bacon.

Fran rolls a "B" and picks, after much hemming and hawing, beets (yikes). Nilka rolls an "S" and chooses shallots. Autumn rolls an "M" and, after drawing a blank, picks mango. The men high five. Siobhan rolls an "H" and picks ham. "We're completely screwed," Holli tells the camera. Maria rolls a "T" and takes turnips. More high fives from the men! Holli rolls a "D" and chooses duck. So the women must design a meal featuring beets, shallots, mango, ham, turnips and duck. It's going to be an uphill battle, for sure.

The teams have 30 minutes to create their dishes. Autumn annoys her teammates by butting into everyone's business, while Salvatore annoys his teammates by constantly offering to help with everything. Ramsay deems the men's dish to be quite good. The women's mango-glazed, pan-seared duck with pureed turnips and beets is declared "delicious." The winning dish -- by a fraction -- is the men's dish. The reason: the duck, cooked by Nilka, was far too fatty. So while the women clean and prep, the men get to go skydiving. "Jason don't jump out of planes," a clearly terrified Jason tells the camera.

As it turns out, the guys won't be skydiving, but flying inside a wind tunnel (Jason is relieved). Hours later, the men return to find the women still prepping the kitchens. Overcome by stress, Maria begins to weep -- and takes a short break. "Ramsay is going to be so upset!" she sobs. "I'm so worried!" And with good reason: sitting at the chef's tables will be celebrities Debi Mazar and Kevin Frazier. Dinner service begins -- and Scott begins to "mentor," well, just about everyone. Jason and Jay don't appreciate the "help." Siobhan, meanwhile, sprinkles her pasta with lobster instead of crab ... twice. Apparently, the seafood was mislabeled -- and Siobhan can't tell the difference anyway.

Later, Salvatore sends up perfectly cooked fish -- and Scott more or less takes credit for training the young man. Soon enough, the kitchens are efficiently churning out meals. The steak continues until Ed sends up rock-hard potatoes and Autumn literally drops a salmon. Scott then harsh words from Ramsay for sending up undercooked meat -- much to delight of Jason, who declares that Scott should be "gone." A comparatively smooth service completed, Ramsay tells the evening's star cooks -- Nilka and Salvatore -- to pick one member from their teams to be put up for elimination. After much thought, Nilka chooses Autumn. Salvatore puts up Scott, who recently stayed up late to help the pizza chef cram. No doubt Scott feels betrayed. Ramsay then calls Autumn "soulless" and tells Scott "you're not as good as you think you are." In a concluding twist, he tells the pair to switch teams. Autumn will cook with the men while Scott will work with the ladies.