Hell's Kitchen (American season 22)

Eighteen contestants arrive to Hell's Kitchen and are welcomed inside; Oscar De La Hoya, Martina McBride, Dia Simms, and host Gordon Ramsay are all standing behind four opaque doors as voiceovers of their life and rise to fame are played, with the corresponding celebrity opening their door upon the voiceover's completion. Ramsay explains the theme of the season as "the American Dream" and instructs each chef to begin the signature dish challenge.

Team challenge: Ramsay scored their dishes on a scale of one-five. Leigh struggled with her salmon, as her pan was too hot and the skin was burnt; she removed it and served the dish skinless. Notably good signature dishes included Ryan's veal dish and Sammi's linguine with clams (both five points), as well as Johnathan's gnocchi dish (also five points), while notably poor dishes included Tad's sausage biscuits with strawberries (one point), as well as Dahmere's lobster spaghetti, which had boxed pasta (one point). The challenge ended in a tie, 29-29, with Ryan and Sammi's dishes settling the tiebreaker; Ramsay ultimately gave the win to Sammi and the women.

Individual challenge: Ramsay revealed that each contestant had to prepare their very own scallop dish by shucking and cleaning scallops by hand. Each team had to nominate their three best dishes and Ramsay would pick the winner from each team. The women voted for Sammi, Leigh, and Melissa's dishes while the men picked Jermaine, Johnathan, and Ryan's dishes. Ultimately, Melissa and Johnathan won the punishment passes, which allowed them to skip a punishment for a reward and choose the member of the other team to take their place in the punishment.

Service: De La Hoya and McBride sat at the chef's tables while Garcelle Beauvais and Alex Mack were also in attendance for opening night, which was rocky for both teams. For the men, Jason undercooked lobster twice, while Brad and Tad undercooked De La Hoya's steak. Ramsay kicked them out after Tad undercooked chicken and Jason undercooked halibut. The women didn't fare much better as they were berated for celebrating after serving the first table of appetizers. On entrées, Carmen had trouble keeping up on fish and argued with her teammates, Sandra undercooked steak, Atoye undercooked chicken, and Ramsay kicked the women out as well after Claudia giggled nervously when they were getting yelled at.

Elimination: The men nominated Brad and Tad, while the women nominated Sandra and Atoye. Ramsay first sent Sandra back in line, believing her performance was not poor enough to justify being nominated, then eliminated Tad for his unacceptable performance on meat as well as failing to make any form of positive impression up to that point.

Individual challenge: Each team was tasked with making crab cakes, omelets, chicken & waffles, and steak & eggs for a dining room full of recently naturalized U.S. citizens. On the red team, Claudia undercooked chicken, which prompted Raneisha to take over the station; she was able to cook it without any refires. On the blue team, Mattias undercooked two steaks; he was also able to rebound and serve the diners without any further issues. The men narrowly won the challenge, finishing one table ahead of the women.

Punishment/reward: The men enjoyed a poolside lunch atop a private resort while the women had to pick up confetti from the naturalization ceremony and prep the kitchens for service. Melissa declined to use her punishment pass. During the women's punishment, Melissa claimed the kitchen was free of confetti when there was a loose strand atop a table; sous-chef Christina responded by dumping one of the bags the women had filled onto the floor for the women to pick up once again. The men enjoyed the reward as a team without any infighting (aside from playful ribbing at the lunch table).

Service: Victor Cruz and Bobby Berk sat at the blue and red chef's tables, respectively; also attending were Alaska and Liam Pace. In the blue kitchen, Mattias' meat issues continued when he repeatedly undercooked steaks and chicken, sometimes burning the outer edge on one side. Jermaine sent up overcooked wellingtons, and Brad ran around the kitchen aimlessly once his appetizers were complete in search of a new task; eventually, Ramsay got fed up and kicked the men out after repeated failures. In the red kitchen, Claudia served raw lobster tail for the risotto; she was able to refire it properly, but later fell behind with Donya on fish entrees for Liam Pace's table. Carmen continued to struggle on proper communication by calling out ticket times that were not agreed upon by the rest of the team. Raneisha undercooked meat twice, and when a meeting in the store room did not improve service quality, Ramsay also kicked out the women and both teams were named joint losers.

Elimination: The women nominated Donya and Claudia while the men nominated Mattias and Brad. Ramsay was perplexed by Brad and Donya's nominations, even going so far as to ask Donya whether she felt her nomination was fair, to which she believed Carmen should have been nominated instead. After sending the two of them back in line, Ramsay ultimately eliminated Claudia, believing she did not exhibit enough consistency or professionalism to win.

Individual challenge: One chef from each team was tasked with elevating a classic American comfort food. Melissa and Brad had cheeseburger, Mattias and Raneisha had pizza, Jason and Carmen had chicken wings, Ryan and Atoye had spaghetti & meatballs, Leigh and Dahmere had mac & cheese, Jermaine and Donya had lobster roll, Sandra and Devon had philly cheesesteak, and Sammi and Johnathan had fried chicken. The challenge went exceptionally well for both teams; the only chefs not to a score a point were Jason (as his wings were too salty for Ramsay's liking), Atoye, and Raneisha (who both deviated from the dish too far for Ramsay's liking). The men narrowly won the challenge seven-six; Melissa used her punishment pass, trading places with Jason in the punishment.

Punishment/reward: Jason and the women were tasked with making bread by hand the entire day while Melissa and the men got to enjoy a parasailing excursion followed by dinner at a mansion in Santa Barbara. Jason severely annoyed the women with his snide remarks and comments, believing they were not working fast enough for restaurant standards. Melissa and the men enjoyed the reward as a team, with Dahmere encouraging the team to continue their hard work and reminding them that their pursuit of the culinary industry got them into the reward they enjoyed.

Service: Nikki Howard sat at the blue chef's table while Jennie Garth sat at the red chef's table. Gigi Gorgeous was in attendance despite not being mentioned in this service.[29] On the blue side, Mattias continued his inconsistencies from the previous service on the fish station, sending undercooked lobster tail for risotto to the pass twice before finally cooking it to Ramsay's standards. On meat, Ryan and Jason struggled, with Ryan undercooking lamb and Jason placing whole knobs of butter on New York strips instead of basting it with melted butter (an act which upset Ramsay to the point where he pulled the blue team up to the pass and sternly put Jason back in line in front of everyone). The women had a very good service; the only issues were Raneisha adding too much liquid for a carbonara and lying to sous-chef Christina about it, Sammi overcooking halibut, Atoye not firing garnish according to ticket times, and Sandra not communicating with the team. After Ramsay pulled Sandra aside and warned her to get focused, the women rebounded. Both teams completed service for the first time, and the women were named the winners over the men.

Elimination: The men nominated Mattias and Jason. Although Ramsay was still fed up with Jason's flippant attitude and willingness to "cut corners" for convenience, he ultimately eliminated Mattias, feeling he was on too severe a downward spiral to continue any further.