Hell's Kitchen Episode 8.13 4 Chefs Compete

With Gail out of the competition, the final four contestants - Nona, Russell, Jillian, and Trev - breathe a sigh of relief as they head back to the dorms to get some sleep.

The next day, Chef Ramsay pairs up Jillian with Trev and Russell with Nona. Each duo must come up with a dish to make in 30 minutes. What they don't know is that this task is just a distraction. Chef Ramsay is using the time to cook up an entrée he'll be serving for today's "Taste It, Now Make It" challenge. Chef Ramsay believes a great chef should be able to identify the key ingredients in any dish simply by tasting it, and he uses the dishes the two teams just cooked up to demonstrate it.

First, he tries Trev and Jillian's dish and quickly picks out lamb, pear, red pepper, and cinnamon. Then he identifies the rib-eye steak, lemon, and mascarpone in Nona and Russell's dish. Next, the four contestants, working individually with 45 minutes on the clock, must look at, smell, and taste the meal that Chef Ramsay has prepared and attempt to recreate it.

As the four get cooking, Russell and Nona move forward with veal, Jillian goes with pork, and Trev is undecided and starts making both veal and pork, explaining he's heeding Chef Ramsay's advice to give himself options. The chefs continue to decipher the base for the sauce and the ingredient for the dish's puree, and Trev keeps up his strategy of making two types of everything. He'll make a snap judgment about what to present to after tasting his final creations. The problem? In his rush to figure out what to serve, he's left the puree off his plate. Uh-oh.

It's time to present. Chef Ramsay tries Jillian's roasted pork loin with brown truffle gravy and sweet potatoes, followed by Nona's pan-seared veal with cabbage, pancetta and sweet potato puree. He likes what he's tasted so far. Next, Chef Ramsay tries Russell's pan-roasted veal loin with Napa cabbage, bacon, and a sweet potato puree. Finally, Trev presents his pork loin over a bed of Napa cabbage with a port wine sauce, but must admit his carrot puree is still over on the counter. Chef Ramsay tries it anyway and it turns out Trev is the only one who got the puree correct.

Russell and Nona, however, were the only two to correctly identify veal as the protein. The win comes down to Russell's bacon versus Nona's pancetta. Since Chef Ramsay's dish indeed included pancetta, Nona wins.

She's rewarded with a new set of cookware and a visit to a Beverly Hills spa. She chooses Russell to join her. That means Jillian and Trev must stay behind to prep the kitchen and work laundry day. Later, during confessional, Nona admits that she wanted to take Jillian but chose Russell as a strategic move, so she wouldn't be on his "target list."

Later, just moments before it's time for "Hell's Kitchen" to open for dinner, Chef Ramsay calls Jillian to his office, where he advises her to stop beating herself up and learn to fight back. During confessional, Jillian says that she got the pep talk she needed.

As the first appetizer orders roll in, Jillian, Nona, and Russell all win compliments from Chef Ramsay on their creations, and he implores them to "keep it going." Unfortunately, they don't. Nona delivers an over-peppered risotto, and Russell hands over raw scallops, sending Chef Ramsay into a rage.

Luckily, the kitchen manages to rebound quickly, the chefs move on to entrées, and the pressure shifts to Trev on the meat station. After Trev stumbles while trying to check if the Beef Wellington is done, Chef Ramsay calmly checks it for him, and then gives him an entire tutorial, leaving the others wondering why Chef Ramsay is doing Trev's job for him. After Trev takes a "time-out," he makes a crucial mistake by forgetting to deliver two Wellingtons, prompting Chef Ramsay to temporarily kick him out again.

Russell, on fish, is the next to mess up, but he manages to get back on track after a "talking-to" from Chef Ramsay. The contestants finally find their groove and get close to the finish line, but things slow down when Russell and Trev start bickering and Nona sends up bland and burnt risotto.

After everyone bounces back, the final four move on to desserts, as Russell tries to get Trev to tell him who he plans on nominating for elimination. Trev isn't talking.

After service ends, Chef Ramsay tells the final four that they made a comeback with this dinner service. It wasn't perfect, but it was good. And for the first time in a while, Chef Ramsay is happy. Phew! The bad news: They have to come up with two individuals for elimination.

Upstairs, Jillian and Trev both say that they had great nights. Trev says Nona and Russell should go up, while Nona and Jillian vote for Trev and Russell. After Trev suggests that Russell should be put up for elimination, Russell loses his cool and threatens him before storming out.

Downstairs, Trev tells Chef Ramsay that he's the first nominee because he wasn't communicating well enough. Russell is the second nominee for undercooked halibut and bad scallops. Russell explains that he's shown he can be a leader, but Chef Ramsay responds that Russell's arrogance can outshine his talent. Chef then says Trev panics and works too fast for his own good, but Trev insists he thought he did a damn good job tonight.

Chef Ramsay asks Russell to step forward, but instead of making him take off his jacket, he surprises him with a visit from his girlfriend and his parents. Chef Ramsay then proceeds to introduce friends and family of Trev, Jillian, and Nona as well and announces there will be no elimination . . . until next time.