James Avery debuted as the Blue Team's sous-chef, replacing Scott Leibfried, who had a work obligation at Mick Fleetwood's restaurant in Maui.

However, one month after the season aired, Witt was denied the head chef position at Gordon Ramsay Pub & Grill at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, due to "unforeseen personal circumstances".

The contestants cooked their signature dishes at Caesar's Palace, in front of a live audience for the first time in Hell's Kitchen history.

Upon arriving at Hell's Kitchen, Gina annoyed her teammates, especially Nedra, by showing them her puppet, Alfredo Al Dente, instead of studying the menu.

Susan needed Nedra's help to prepare smoothies and Danielle was slow on sweet potato fries, but the women caught up, largely due to Zach undercooking salmon and then lying to Ramsay about attempting to serve a previously rejected portion.

Reward/punishment: The women flew in a private jet to Monte De Oro Winery in Temecula, California, where they had lunch and made their own wine by squishing grapes with their feet.

The women took a huge early lead as Ray underseasoned scrambled eggs and Jeremy lost track of orders before serving one of Ramsay's sample dishes.

The men got off to a strong start with Jon and Anthony on appetizers, despite Barret initially cooking crab cakes not on order and then being slow bringing up the salad for them.

This resulted in Ramsay ejecting the trio, plus a very confused Cyndi (who hadn't messed anything up), after which he called Susan into the kitchen to help Ja'Nel and Mary complete service.

Reward/punishment: The women were each rewarded with a Vitamix blender and joined Ramsay in a photo shoot for People magazine, where Mary's dish from the challenge was showcased.

For the poached prawn course, the men got off to a good start under Jon, despite Ray having some trouble cooking the tea noodles for the course, while Ja'nel initially struggled to give a time for the course before Ramsay warned her to be more vocal.

The refire got further backed up when Zach decided to sabotage Ray by serving lobster cooked in cold sauce, eventually delaying it until after the fourth course had already been completed.

Things soon got worse when Michael undercooked and overcooked halibut, leading Ramsay to send him to the bar for a time out, during which Zach served raw pork.

The blue team had to take in a delivery of wine, clean the stemware, slice 40 pounds each of lemons and limes, and prep both kitchens for service.

Nedra was very slow on appetizers while her station was disorganized, causing her to serve a risotto that was too salty, and she only made it worse by shoving Zach and Anthony aside when they tried to help her.

Ramsay threw out the red team as well after Ja'Nel undercooked halibut for Hu's table and chewed out Cyndi for muttering "fuck me" under her breath.

Reward/punishment: The blue team went on a helicopter tour of Los Angeles and visited the Gillette Ranch in the Santa Monica Mountains to sample rare caviar.

The red team had to unload a truck of potatoes and onions to prepare meals for the Los Angeles Mission and prep both kitchens for service.

Mary won with a perfect score of 15 (she was the only chef who had experience using a pressure cooker), Ja'Nel came in second with 14, Jon third with 10, Susan fourth with 9, and Cyndi last with 7.

On the black team, Susan was made to float, Cyndi took the meat station, Jon on fish, Mary on garnish and Ja'Nel on hot appetizers.

Ramsay felt that their steak tartare was underseasoned and that failing to serve the confit was unacceptable, ordering the returning team to recook both dishes from scratch.

The returning chefs presented a rendered duck breast with toasted pistachios and veal lamb chop with collard greens and ham-hock for their entrée.

Challenge: The chefs had to create ten gourmet burgers, which would then be judged by Ramsay and Jean-Phillippe along with people associated with some of the finest restaurants in the country, including Darren Kim of Nobu, Marino Monferrato of Ceconni's (who would become maitre d' of Hell's Kitchen two seasons later), and David Rosoff and Joseph Bastianich of Osteria Mozza.

Ramsay sent Mary back in line and eliminated Susan for her worsening performances in the past three services, but gave her encouragement, stating that he would maybe have a job for her in the future.

Reward/punishment: Cyndi was rewarded with a $1,000 shopping spree with Jean-Philippe at Sur La Table, followed by lunch with Ramsay at his newest Los Angeles restaurant, The Fat Cow at The Grove at Farmers Market.

Lastly, Mary led well with her assertiveness, sending back Jon's rubbery scallops and Cyndi's cold risotto, and spotted a lamb wellington instead of beef.

They then planned out four appetizers, four entrées and two desserts with help from Sous Chefs James and Andi for their service before meeting Gary Selesner, President of Caesar's Palace, and Hell's Kitchen season 10 winner Christina Wilson at Gordon Ramsay Steak.

During prep, Dan worked slowly, asked many elementary questions, and showed Mary no respect before walking out for a smoke break, prompting her to warn the entire team that she would watch them all very closely and not hesitate to kick people out.

Also among the diners for service were talk show host Leeza Gibbons, actor John Schneider and former Olympic diver Greg Louganis in addition to the finalists' family members.

In Ja'Nel's kitchen, Ray underdressed salads and Susan burned flatbread that was supposed go with Cyndi's mussels, but thanks to Amanda, they served appetizers.