Original subtitles

- Previously on - Back to Win"...

The first mystery box of the season...

You feeling lucky tonight?

...was a big one.

- Oh, my God! - What's up, guys?

For some cooks, big bets paid off...

I think you've hit the jackpot on there.

You plate with such beautiful finesse.

Congratulations goes to Fred.

...while others saw their luck run out.

It's a little bit heavy and greasy.

It's kind of a disaster.

The person not moving forward is Cate.

- Tonight... - Ramsay to Coast Guard.

...the top 18 face their first team challenge of the season.

You will be feeding the women and men of the U.S. Coast Guard.

- Uh-oh. - But with another cook in the firing line...

Let's get some chow, men!

- How long are you blanching them? - Don't holler at me.

- Don't jump ship. - ...it won't be smooth sailin.

Where's the potato?

- We're not ready. - Say that again.

It's stressing everybody out.

Hey! It's raw. hell!

On the floor,

and we've just put them back on the grill.

- You're going down, young man.

Look at the water. It's freaking beautiful out here.

- The good old USA Coast Guard. - Red always wins.

God bless America, brother.

Blue team, red team. I see teams!

Team challenge! Let's go!

- Are you guys pumped? Pumped? - Oh, yeah.

Top 18, and I'm trying to be pumped up about this,

but I look back on my first field challenge,

and it never goes according to plan.

We are about to start service, and look at this .

Somebody take control, please.

- Get your together quickly. - Got it, Chef.

Oh, my God. But, hey, we have more experience now.

So we should be able to handle this with a lot more precision.

Where are they gonna pop out of?

You think they'll come out of a submarine?

We're each gonna get a boat.

Wait, what is that?

Look behind you. Look behind you. Look behind you.

Look behind you.

- Riding in style, eh, boys?

Listen, guys, it ain't no speedboat from the Amalfi coast, but it'll do.

Guys, pipe down. Pipe down. Come on, I'm trying to get us clearance.

Ramsay to Coast Guard.

Gordon Ramsay, this is Station Los Angeles, over.

Can we get clearance please?

Roger. Anything for Gordon Ramsay,

as long as you don't call me a doughnut.

Of course not. Don't worry, please.

I'll save that for Aarón. Thank you. Docking now.

They got a whole entourage.

Oh, man. That was fun.

Whoo-whee!

"MasterChef" gods, look out for us today. Mainly me.

What do they got?

Welcome to the Los Angeles base

of the U.S. Coast Guard

for your first big team challenge

across this extraordinary "Back to Win" season.

And for the first time in "MasterChef" history,

you will be feeding the brave women and men

of the U.S. Coast Guard.

- No pressure. - This challenge is literally sink or swim.

Uh-oh.

I hate team challenges because I can't do everything.

I have to rely on my teammates to perform well,

and in my experience, someone always falls short.

You will split up into two teams

and you will cook a hearty, delicious lunch

for over 100 Coast Guardsmen.

Fred, you have won immunity in last week's challenge,

so you will be safe from elimination today,

but you will still be taking part in today's cook.

Now we're gonna divide you up by seasons.

So anyone from season seven or before, you'll become the blue team.

That includes you, Dara, from season one "Junior,"

and Shayne from season five "Junior."

Anyone from season eight to 11, you are the red team.

Oh, .

I don't wanna be on a team with Emily

because the last time I was on a team with Emily

she called me sassy.

- Pork is easy to cook if you know what you're doing. - Yeah, yeah.

You don't need to get sassy.

You're the one that's getting sassy.

Emily thinks she knows everything,

and I don't want back and forth with Emily today.

All of you, come forward, get your aprons, and come back

and stand up in teams! Well done.

- Head back over there, please. - Right over here.

- Right over here. - Aprons on! Aprons on!

- Red. - Shayne.

- Amanda. - It matches my eyes, y'all.

- Right, every ship needs a great captain, right? - Yes, Chef.

So spend a couple minutes and come back to me with two solid captains.

- Off you go. - All right, raise your hand if you want to be captain.

- Blue team, who do you think? - I think Derrick would be a good captain.

I'll do one. I'll be captain.

- Yeah. That's great. - Yeah, I'm cool with that.

You got this, Christian.

Just speak to me, don't yell at me.

Wow, blue team have got it already.

They've gone with Christian.

Blue team!

It's between Gabriel and Alejandro.

- Wow. - Wow. That's interesting.

- Who is it? - You wanna be captain?

No, I'll be best second hand though.

All right, so Alejandro it is.

- So good. So good. - Whoa!

Red team!

So the blue team has Christian as a team captain

and red team has Alejandro as a captain.

Christian, what are you gonna bring to the blue team today?

Focus. We're gonna win. There's no doubt about that.

Season five, I had a total of five losses with team challenges.

You cooked us the worst dishes of the evening.

So I'm not trying to keep that going.

Communication is key.

So this time my focus is to have my voice heard.

Right, red team, Alejandro.

A captain needs great leadership.

Can you bring that today to the challenge?

It's not gonna be a dictatorship. It's gonna be teamwork.

- But you need to dictate to get out the gate. - Yes, Chef.

If we didn't captain our restaurants or they didn't captain the ship,

"Just do what you want. I'll see you at the end,"

- it doesn't work like that, right? - Yes, Chef.

At the end of the day, nobody else raised their hand,

so it's up to me to get it done

and prove to the judges that I can be a great captain.

Okay, each team will need to devise a menu

that includes a protein, a starch, two vegetables,

and one sauce.

Now remember, at the end of the day,

one of you will be eliminated,

and this will be the last time you cook

in this competition.

- Wow. - Damn.

Now, Joe, Aarón, and myself

want to sample a dish from each team

in around 30 minutes. Right, everybody ready?

- Yes, Chef. - Off you go! Good luck!

Let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go!

- Come on, come on, come on! - Let's go, let's go!

Let's see what we got. All right, what do we got?

For the protein, I want to go with a New York strip.

- We all agree? - Yes.

You don't wanna do salmon or something?

- No, steak. - Okay. Done.

New York strip.

Being team captain is an honor,

but it also comes with a lot of responsibility.

Last time I was captain, we lost the challenge.

Blue team, we didn't get out of the gate strong.

No real leadership.

This time I cannot lose the challenge again.

How do you want the New York strip to be cooked? On the stove or on the grill?

We're gonna grill them first and finish them in the oven.

- Yeah, we can bulk that out. - Perfect, you and I.

- We need a vegetable now. - Broccolini.

Broccolini? Broccolini? Perfect.

Let's finish the broccolini with a little lemon right off the grill.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Sexy.

And remember, this is teamwork.

It's not about one person or two person.

- It's about all of us. - So this is what we're making.

We're gonna take these guys to New Orleans, all right?

So we're gonna do a corn asparagus maque choux

served with potato wedges and codfish.

If we're gonna take this to New Orleans,

I have a bad deep fried fried corn on the cob

- that I think I would go well. - I don't like that.

What if we do corn, like, a play on elote?

- That's what I was thinking. - And make it a New Orleans style elote.

Listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen.

- I'm telling what we're gonna do. - No, I--

We're doing a corn maque choux asparagus.

You're gonna chop up the asparagus.

You're gonna put the corn with it.

That's a suggestion, right? 'Cause we're all gonna discuss.

That's what we're doing. That's the vegetable.

Christian has come up with a dish that sounds really great,

but it seems like he's pretty dead set on his menu.

If you wanna go tricolor bell peppers,

don't use yellow. Just use red and green.

I hope that Christian can communicate with us as a team.

I think if we can come together,

we'll be really strong throughout this whole cook.

What kind of sauce are you thinking about?

I feel that we should do a cream lemon sauce for the fish.

We could do some kind of Cajun gastrique or something.

Let's do both sauces. We can make both sauces.

Now listen, don't change nothing until talking to me, all right?

- You're leading the way. - Let's get this win. Let's go. Let's go now.

- Corn, corn. - Corn on the grill!

- Corn on the grill. - Emily just so that we're consistent,

I'm just gonna just slice this.

- Slice the bottoms off? - I need shallots cut.

I'm gonna do either two big pieces or kinda of a set.

- But we're kinda gonna aim... - That's perfect.

- ...for consistency on the portion size. - That's perfect.

- So, big challenge. - Yes.

- Over 100 is a major catering gig, right? - Sure.

So these teams need to have the same kind of structure

as a professional catering chef.

It's not a banquet, is it?

It's not a case of just cooking stuff,

reheating it, sending out en masse.

It needs to be restaurant quality.

Think about it. This is "Back to Win."

- So these people have done field challenges before. - Yes.

They know what's at stake, and they know that the protein

has to be cooked properly, right? That's fundamental.

These guys were out at sea. They're coming back.

- Sure. - They're expecting a well cooked meal.

- We doing good back here? - Yes.

- We are doing good. - Awesome.

So, red team captained by Alejandro.

A strange move there.

You know, Alejandro has trouble taking guidance...

- That's right. - ...and sometimes listening,

so now he's putting himself in a place

where he's depending on other people to listen to him.

- Yeah. - Hopefully he can lead by example.

Make sure you taste your vinegar that you're gonna put in the chimichurri

- 'cause that could make it or break it. - Yeah.

So if they start strong, he stays strong,

he could bring them to victory.

If not, I don't see it ending well for him.

Michael, you moving fast? You good?

Doing good. I'm gonna do a little test.

I was hoping someone like Michael,

who is running his own business, knows how to cook en masse.

I thought he would've been the perfect captain for red team today.

- Cajun is spicy. - I know. I know, and it's salty.

So pull it back. Pull it back.

- Blue team, that's captained by Christian. - Yeah.

Has he got the personality and the voice to drive his team to victory?

- Separate. I want the green separated from the red. - Yep. Heard.

We've seen him be reserved at times.

He's a man of few words. But in this particular role

he's gonna have to be very vocal.

- Use a food processor. - Okay, all right.

Use a food processor. Work smart, not harder.

I just set the dining room, and I set only tables of six.

So if you guys could really just pick up sixes at a time,

we'll give them the best a la carte food they could possibly eat.

- Alejandro? - Heard.

Can you try our chimichurri, let us know your thoughts?

- Yes. - Here.

I wanna be the type of leader that helps everybody else

and that does not go crazy when the pressure comes.

If you wanna kick it up, add the pepper flakes at the end.

Yeah, I don't wanna go too spicy on it on it.

It's really good.

I just think it needs to be diluted a little bit.

- Yeah, yeah. - Growing up in Cuba,

I learned how to be relentless and become a fighter.

No matter what goes down in this kitchen,

I'm gonna stick to it, and I won't give up.

It's real good, Michael. It just needs a little more cook.

- That's just for the spice. - Good. That's perfect.

Hey, how long are you blanching those asparagus?

- How long are you blanching them? - A minute. One minute.

Christian is just being loud to be loud.

I know he can back up his cooking,

but this is not how you manage a team.

- I need asparagus! Can I get asparagus now! - Yes, Chef! Yes, Chef!

- It's coming! - Hey, they're on the grill!

- Yes. - Let's just not scare the team.

Let's just talk to them like equals, okay?

There is only one way to get through a team challenge successfully,

and that is communication.

I need the sauce!

- Hey! - Let's go! Come on!

She knows. Stop yelling at her.

We good, we good, we good, we good, we good.

- It's stressing everybody out. - We good. What's up?

Come on, you guys. Let's go!

How are you guys looking back there, Derrick and Shayne?

We're finishing off the asparagus!

Come on, Brandi. Come on, come on, come on!

- Come on. Let's go. - Hey, hey.

- What's up? - Hey, I know it's just the way you work.

- Don't yell at me, okay? - Yes, ma'am.

Listen, you guys, I'ma calm myself down.

- Listen, you guys! Listen, listen, listen! - You're gonna have to.

I'm gonna calm myself down

so we can work on a focused path.

All right, you guys? I'm chill.

- You chill? - Pretty amped.

- We chill? - We chill.

Focus, faith, finish. Let's go.

Three F's. Remember, we have to get a plate ready for the judges first, guys.

If you have time to find more salt, just to make sure

- that we've got enough. - Heard.

- Here you go. - Thank you.

Shall we, gents?

Okay, guys, I wanna see a dish in just over 25 minutes from now.

- Captain. - Yes, Chef.

Tell me about the dish you're doing.

We're making a New York strip, sliced, five slices,

and it's gonna be served with sautéed mushrooms

charred broccolini, roasted potatoes,

and a citrus chimichurri.

I wouldn't be slicing the steak on a day like today.

- Yes, Chef. - If that was a restaurant

with 25 guests, I get it.

- 101. - Yes, Chef.

Times five slices, that's 500 slices of meat.

- That's right. - Think about it.

How are you separating the brigade? Who's doing what?

- Gabe and I are doing the grill. - Right.

Michael's gonna do the broccolini.

Emily's doing the mushrooms.

I have Shanika on potatoes.

I have Samantha and Bri making the chimichurri sauce.

I have Fred helping out with the potatoes.

Bowen is floating around and helping everybody.

Why's Emily put mushrooms in the pan with no salt on there?

Emily?

Yeah?

Did you season the mushrooms?

- Not yet, no. - The chef wants you to--

Ah, no. Hey, hey, hey, hey. Look at me. Look at me.

- What do you want as a captain? - Just to season the mushrooms.

- Yeah, exactly. Properly. - Yes, Chef.

I was so happy that you wanted to become the captain,

but run your team. Don't let them run you.

- Yes, Chef. - Let's go.

Emily, multi-task, yes, please?

Right. Come here, you. Where are you going?

The boats don't need washing down. What are you doing?

Right now, I'm washing the potatoes right now.

Come on, get more involved.

- Make yourself available, yes? - Okay, of course.

So just over 15 minutes before we taste one dish, yes?

I know you're not the captain,

but I know you have an extraordinary palate.

- I wanna hear your voice as well. - Yes, sir.

- Oh, my God. That is good. - We did it?

It has just a little bit too much lemon in there.

Can I have everybody grab a spoon and come try this sauce?

Yes, Chef!

They're up here. Let's go.

Try the sauce. One by one please!

Hey, y'all, we're gonna have another sauce for y'all to taste in a minute.

Just be honest. Whatever one you think is gonna work better, tell us.

What do you think?

Come try this sauce, please. Thank you.

Hurry up, let's go! Try the sauce!

I like this one. It has a bite to it. I'm voting Brandi.

I'm going with Brandi. - Dude, that's fire.

- I'm going with Brandi. - That's fire.

- We're going with your sauce. - All right.

- Thank you. Yes, Chef? - Christian, Captain.

If you can please enlighten Joe and I

about the direction you're gonna take with your dish.

The direction that we're going, we're gonna take it to New Orleans.

- We got corn maque choux. - Of course.

- We're also doing a garlic roasted mashed potato. - Gotcha.

And we're also gonna sear off a codfish

and we're gonna top it off with a tomato gastrique.

Cool. Give us some insight on who's doing what.

We got Dara, Tommy, Shelly, and Willie doing the vegetables.

We have Amanda, Derrick, and Shayne working on potatoes.

We got Brandi back there. She's gonna be working with me

knocking out the sauce and also the fish.

And Big Willie's on the grill. Texas, man.

We got to get my Texas boy on the grill.

- How's that corn looking? Looking good. Looking good. - Looking good.

- You think I should go a little bit more? - Double check.

I think if I match you, we're good.

- You understand what I'm saying? - I heard you.

Christian, we only want the tips of the asparagus,

- not the bottom? - Yes.

Derrick, you didn't have any ambition to be captain?

I really did. I really did, but you know, he's here,

and he's got it, and I know what needs to be done.

I can help support him, guide this team to a victory.

So you're kinda second in charge?

You can call me sous chef today.

- Sous chef. - Wow.

Steaks are out resting.

We got the potatoes. We got the broccolini.

I feel pretty confident about having the steaks.

I think we could get them done on time,

and if everybody cooperates and does their role,

they should all come out perfect.

How many batches of the chimichurri did we do?

I did the one for them and I'm working on another here.

Keep a little sample because it needs to taste the same.

Absolutely. Thank you.

Bri, you're gonna plate the first plate?

- Yep. - Okay.

- Uh, Captain Alejandro. - Chef?

Just under five minutes before we taste one dish.

- Thank you. - Yes, Chef.

- That's perfect. - They feel a little rare.

- Are they still rare? - They feel a little rare to me.

They're good. It's a New York strip.

- Trust me. - Yeah, it's rare.

- Yo. All right, bro. - Trust me, trust me.

Tommy, how you looking back there, brother?

I'm doing more asparagus with Shayne.

You looking amazing, brother. You looking amazing.

Where's the judges at?

- All right, Christian. Wow. - Yes, Chef.

Nice. Interesting. All right, tell us about the dish.

All right, here you have a seared cod

with a garlic roasted mashed potato,

corn bell pepper maque choux,

some grilled asparagus,

and tomato gastrique.

- It's slightly undercooked there. - Slightly undercooked?

- You're a minute away. - Okay.

- Close. Close. - It's close.

First thing is, there's a lot of sweet going on there.

If you're gonna give me a Cajun style--

- I need some fire from you. - Some heat. Yes, Chef.

I need some acidity, I need some power in there.

Because right now it's just obliterated with sweet.

I agree with Chef. Take a jalapeno,

slice it in half, sauté it on your maque choux.

Pull the honey back. You don't need as much

because the corn is inherently sweet,

- and the peppers are. - Up the game here.

You don't wanna lose this challenge.

- Hell no. Thank you. - Thank you.

I need everybody in. I need everybody in.

I had to pull my team together and let them know

that we really need to get this together, and we need to readjust.

What we gonna do is we gonna season the fish

a little bit more. Put a little heat on the fish.

And we need to execute this quick and fast.

- Pull back on the sweetness. - Because if we don't,

we will be going home. Somebody will be going home.

- You can do better than that. - Yes, Chef.

- Christian, lift it up, please. - Let's go.

Listen, guys. We're back to win this, all right?

Guys, final look. What do we think?

Beautiful.

Wait, I thought we're cutting it.

No, I decided not to. Chef Gordon advised not to.

- Alejandro, come on, guys, please. - We're done.

Describe the dish, please.

We have a grilled New York strip,

sautéed mushroom, charred broccolini,

roasted potatoes, and a citrus chimichurri.

- It's raw. - It's raw for sure.

- See this here and that there? - No good.

- Do you wanna eat that? - Yeah. Got it, Chef.

It's not seasoned. It doesn't jump out of the plate.

- It doesn't excite me. - Yes, Chef.

All I taste is decent meat. I want crust.

Who made the chimichurri?

Bri and Samantha.

The chimichurri is the best thing you got going on here.

You have these huge stems on the broccolini.

Those need to be trimmed or you need to slice them in half.

They're woody and they're really tough to eat.

Just look at the stem on that.

- It's like a tree, yeah? - Okay, Chef.

- Come on. That's not edible. - Got it, Chef.

Alejandro, are you capable of taking

all that feedback we just gave you

and redirecting everyone in this team to do what we just said?

Yes, Chef. I'm gonna get it done right now.

Look at me. Get your team together

and start adjusting this plate.

Otherwise you're going down, young man.

Yes, Chef.

Look at me. Get your team together

and start adjusting this plate.

Otherwise you're going down, young man.

Yes, Chef.

Okay, powwow real quick.

- The sauce is on point. - Great. Thank you.

Obviously, we know we gotta cook this a little more.

I was in a rush.

The broccolini, way too thick.

So split them in half or cut them short.

We gotta improve, but we're not bad.

Okay, not a good start for us.

Our test plate for the judges,

I mean, yeah, they liked our sauce,

but that's about it.

We had rare steak and under seasoned vegetables.

This is not going well.

- Thick stems off. - Thick stems off?

They're taking too long to cook.

20 minutes, red team, blue team!

20 minutes! Let's go!

Why are these back here?

Yeah, what are we gonna do about this?

Derrick! Derrick and Shayne!

Come here, man. You really...

We don't-- I have three pots going.

So why you just didn't fill this up and put it on top?

Because it'll take too long.

- It's a shallower pan. - Shallower is faster.

Derrick was making mashed potatoes in the small pots

where you could've dropped all the potatoes in the big pot.

I was trying to just get you some potatoes so we could start.

I need the stove for my fish, man.

That's cold water.

- Oh, my God. - hell, man.

I'm pouring your water out.

Either get over it or just be mad.

And obviously you're mad, so I don't care.

You just iced my potatoes, man.

That don't help. That don't help. Bring it down.

I gotta start this fish soon. I gotta start my fish.

Derrick and Christian have just gone for it big time.

Christian's acting like a petulant teenager

who's just thrown a massive hissy fit.

You know how to cook fish, right? You said you know how to cook fish, right?

I know how to cook fish. I'm asking you what did the judges tell you?

Two to three minutes on the side! Two to three minutes on the side, Brandi.

- Please. Thank you. - Please don't holler at me.

- Ten minutes, guys. - Ten minutes, guys!

Did y'all hear that? Ten minutes!

All right, what are we doing? What are we doing?

Girl, what are you doing? We need potatoes.

Potatoes are in the oven. We have one already ready for service.

We gotta be cautious. This wind is blowing this heat out,

so we're not getting even heat across this grill.

- Yeah, let me jump in there. - Are you expo-ing?

I gotta pay attention to this grill.

- Okay, who's expo-ing then? - You could expo if you want to.

- Well, I have to plate-- - Okay, expo is different than plating.

- Expo is like, "Get me this, this, this." - I understand what expo is.

- You expo. I'll do the rest. - All right, all right.

- What are you doing? - I'm grilling. He's gonna expo.

It seems that Alejandro wants to be the leader and the cook,

but he should be in everything right now.

But Alejandro just refuses to leave this station.

It's like a dog with a bone. Like, "It's mine, it's mine."

- Are you on the grill now on your own now? - Yes, Chef.

- Nobody helping you. - Just me. I'm good, Chef.

So what are you taking those steaks to now? What are you doing?

- Medium rare. - So it's gotta be rare, and then we go to medium rare.

If we don't take the medium rare,

- by the time they rest, they're gonna be medium. - Correct.

I feel very confident about having the steaks.

Gabriel, remember we have that butter for the steaks too.

Yes, I'm gonna brush them when they come out.

I know I can stick around when things get hot and heavy.

I don't know a lot of people that could do that in this team.

Easy-peasy. How much time?

Like, minutes away, guys. Minutes away!

Teams, it's almost lunch time.

The diners will be here any moment.

Gabe's gone off the grill now on the red team,

so Alejandro is managing those 101 steaks on his own.

We all know that grilling 101 steaks medium rare,

getting a char, and seasoning them right is not an easy thing.

He's really trying, but I'm worried about him.

Let's get some chow, men!

Guys, let's go.

Chow, chow!

Chow time!

Blue team, red team, our guardsmen are here!

- Let's go, we're live! Let's go! - Oh, boy.

Our guests are arriving, y'all.

- Our guests are arriving. - Guests are arriving.

The guests are arriving, blue team!

Guests are arriving.

- What's this? - That's the corn.

That needs salt! That needs salt, salt, salt!

- Brandi, you're good with the fish? - I'm good with the fish.

Tommy, I'm behind you hot, coming in with our fish.

Come on, you guys! Let's get it!

I need these potatoes fast. I need potatoes fast.

I'm pushing fish out faster than potatoes!

Get 12 plates going. We could have two tables ready, I think.

Two, four, six.

Look. Touch them.

It's not gonna bite. It's not even hot.

- Red team, come here! - Yes, Chef.

All of you. Our first bloody table,

the tray's cold, the steak's cold.

I'm not gonna let you just send out.

- No, Chef. Yes, Chef. - We need a system!

And you don't take them here unless they're what?

- They're warm. - They're not even hot.

- They're hot. - Not even hot.

Back in, and let's get this sorted out!

- I got it. - Together.

- You're the last line of defense. - Yes, Chef.

If you don't hold any standards, off for a swim!

- Absolutely, Chef. - Go for a swim!

No, I wo-- won't.

- Heard, Chef. - Heard.

I made the mistake of just trusting what's going on behind me,

and I plated what was in front of me.

I've got a line of guardsmen right now. I need the steaks!

Where are we pulling steaks from?

- Those are not hot. - Putting them back in.

I definitely think that Alejandro is failing as a captain.

There's still time to turn this ship around,

but it's never a good sign when you can't hear your captain's voice.

Would you be so kind as to go to the blue side first? I'm so sorry.

How are we doing on portions of that asparagus?

Watch this fish behind you, Willie.

Make sure you're all stocked up. You got more maque choux here.

Just take that mash. Where's that mashed potato?

Bring me the mash, please. Bring me the mash, young lady.

Where's the potato? We need the potato.

Come on. How long on potatoes, man?

Where's the mash, please?

Waiting on it. Guys, we need the mash.

- We have no mash? Oh, my God. - It's coming.

Gordon has announced we don't have potatoes.

Do you wanna know why?

Because our team captain threw hot potatoes in cold water.

- Derrick, talk to me. Don't jump ship. - Come on, guys.

- Three minutes. - Oh, my God.

- No. - hell.

The guardsmen are gonna have to wait

until we get potatoes up, and it's sad.

We're here to give them a beautiful, great day

to thank them for their service,

and they're standing in line

while our fish gets cold waiting on potatoes.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten,

11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 pieces of cod and no potato?

Where's the potato?

18 pieces of cod and no potato?

We're only doing six at a time! Where's the potato?

Can we take some small pans out and whip some potatoes quickly?

- Yes, Chef. - Yes, Chef.

These coastguardsmen are coming in from every direction.

We've got a line, but we have no mashed potatoes.

Come on, you guys.

Start with that. Start with that.

At first I think, you know, maybe this is Derrick's fault,

but then someone's telling me

that Christian dumped a bunch of cold water

on the only pot of potatoes.

Start with that. Come back to me.

Someone's going home today,

so they gotta get these potatoes done.

You're going salt, and then you're ladling butter?

- Just let me do it, okay? - Okay, I'll just keep mashing.

Just so we have a single flavor, you know what I'm saying?

- Yep, heard. - How are those potatoes looking, Shelly?

Give me two seconds. I'm coming.

Taste, taste, taste.

I need someone to follow me with sauce on here, please.

This is perfect. Get ready to use this. Come on.

Come on, come on. Knock out these potatoes, guys, come on!

- All right. - Good job!

Y'all be easy on these potatoes, okay?

Let's go! We're looking good!

Great way to bounce back! Great way to bounce back!

Good job, Shelly! Let's go!

Thank you. We appreciate your service.

Thank you, guys, so much.

- Thank you. - Enjoy this giant piece of steak.

We just started, and Alejandro's kind of losing his voice right now.

Alejandro needs to be leading.

Instead he's sitting there at the grill

with no idea what's happening behind him.

- On the side. That's it. - This is hot!

Of course it's hot. It's a kitchen.

Hey, come here, you. Come here. Come here. Stop. How many steaks are on there?

- Five. - Hey, look at me.

- You're the captain. - Yes, Chef.

He needs six at a time. Come on, one more!

Let's not get confused. Let's just do two groups of six, please.

Let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go.

- They're moving fast now. - Separate that. Six and six.

We'll need potatoes in about four minutes.

Potatoes in four minutes, Fred!

Four minutes on potatoes.

- Shanika? Keep it going. - Yes, Chef?

You're the voice of reason. You and Michael, thank you.

- Keep it going. - Heard, Chef.

Finally someone with standards.

- I need six fish. - I need another six.

- Right now, let's go, come on. - I need fish! Please!

- Someone bring me fish. - All right, last of the potatoes are in.

Potatoes are almost over.

- That's woody. - Hey, blue team!

- Come on, you guys. - Blue team!

Yes, you as well, Shayne. Come here!

We did not start serving that.

- Where's the trimming of this? - Come on, you, guys.

Who's on the asparagus now?

- Who's on a asparagus? - I've been grilling it, Chef.

- Hey, we don't lower ourselves to that. - Yes, Chef.

I want your best. Hands up, who thinks that's their best?

- That's . - That is .

- Come on, man. - Take it off. Okay. All right, we got it.

- Let's get our fish, please! - I'm here. I'm here.

- All right. Thank you. - Fix the plate. Grab this plate. Fix this.

All right. I got it. I got it.

I need two more fish to finish me up,

and they need to be beautiful, Christian.

Thank you so much. Enjoy. Thank you.

Her and me, both. Thank you so much. Enjoy.

Ladies, gentlemen, bon appétit. How you doing today?

So you're trying the fish dish of the blue team

and the steak dish of the red team.

Just looking for some initial feedback.

- I'm enjoying the fish dish. - You are?

- I like the combination of what they're offering. - What about the steak?

The steak is really cooked perfectly. A little salty.

The steak was cooked beautifully.

It's a very flavorful cut, as well as the sauce.

Just give me an indication, if you think the fish

from the blue team is better, raise your hand.

Three. And if you think the steak

from the red team is better, raise your hand.

It's a tie. Enjoy your lunch.

Who's leaning towards the red team's steak? Raise your hand.

Leaning toward. Everybody. Full house.

- What are you enjoying more? - I'm leaning towards the fish.

- But the steak is delicious. - Hello, hello.

Are you enjoying everything? Everything good?

- Uh, actually, no. - No? What's wrong?

This steak is-- usually I like a rare steak.

- Super rare. - This thing is still mooing.

It's still mooing? My God. Do you want me to have them

cook it a little bit more, give you another one?

Yeah. Honestly, if I was in a sit-down restaurant,

I would send it back and ask for another one,

ask for my money back even.

You want your money back?

Let's go, guys. Come on.

- Alejandro! - Chef.

Check all the temperatures! Let's go!

- Yes, Chef. - So, guys, we got a little unevenness on the cook.

This one's, like, raw. They want it either more cooked or another steak.

- Hey, guys. - He said it was still mooing.

Hey, it's white fat, ice cold, and raw.

- Oh, God, guys. - He's not happy.

Come on, give me a plate.

- Can I give you this one? - Sure.

- Can this go? - Go. Go, go, go, go.

Good. He's got it. He's got it.

Are you touching these?

- That's raw. - Oh.

Touch that. That's raw. There's no bounce back from that.

- Send that back to them. Send that back to them. - Heard.

Hey, guys, we need this back on the grill, Gabe.

Hey, red team, word from the street

is the seagulls are preferring the steak than the guardsmen.

All right, here we are, sir. Apologies from the red team.

They cooked you another steak.

Why don't you give it a cut in the middle

and let's make sure it's right this time.

Let's see.

That's all right.

I sincerely apologize. I hope you do enjoy your steak.

- Okay. I'm so embarrassed. - Taste everything. Let's go.

Can somebody hand me some apple cider vinegar?

We need to thin out this chimichurri, because we're running out.

Behind you, behind you, behind you.

Apple cider vinegar.

- Do you need more chimichurri? - Yes, we do.

Young lady, I've still got 60 guests to serve.

- Bro, what the ? - That's what happens when we get disorganized.

They're raw. We can still cook them.

They're gonna get cooked.

- Hey, Gabe. - Yes, Chef?

- Alejandro, now. - Chef?

Now!

I was just there in the corner there

and I saw a tray of steaks drop on the floor,

and we've just put them back on the grill.

Look-- say that again?

- Gabe. - Yes, Chef?

- Alejandro, now. - Chef?

Now!

I was just there in the corner there

and I saw a tray of steaks drop on the floor,

and we've just put them back on the grill.

Look-- say that again?

You figured picking up a steak from the floor

and putting them on the grill was gonna kill the bacteria?

And they put their lives at risk?

- I'll move them. - Hey. Hey, stop!

All of you come here. Stand there.

We've just dropped a tray of steaks, six steaks on the floor.

- He just picked them up and put them on the grill

- 'cause he just told me... - Oh, my God.

...he thought it was gonna kill the bacteria.

- I did. - No, you--

- No! - I did.

You think I'm gonna keep you as a captain?

You better have a meeting right now and sort this out.

"I stuck them on the grill because I thought I'd kill the bacteria!"

- Heard, Chef. - Hey! For the U.S. Coast Guard!

- Wow. - That's a no-no.

Food safety 101. Trash it.

Holy . Gordon just fired Alejandro.

- We need a real leader. - Michael, new captain.

- I nominate. - Michael or Shanika. Michael? Michael.

This whole time, I feel like I've been right in the middle of this competition.

This is my chance to step up and finally show Gordon the chef that I am.

Everybody, breathe. You're still cooking steaks.

I'm gonna remove them. They're the first six. My apologies.

That's fine. Make sure you know where they are. But listen to me.

Let's just take this one step at a time.

- We're okay. - Let's go, please!

We have steaks ready to go right here. Let's go.

Whatever fell on the ground, trash 'em.

Guys, I need one more steak!

We cannot let one of these guys down.

Things are not set up the way I would've done it.

I'm kind of taking over someone else's mess,

and I hope I can pull it off.

Thank you all so much for your service.

Thanks for waiting. All right, guys.

- There you are. Thank you. - Thank you so much.

Good job, Shelly! Let's go!

Season that fish! Thank you.

Pick up, please.

- Thank you, gents, ladies. - Thank you so much.

- Thank you. - Thank you. Enjoy.

We got our next six steaks ready, guys.

Here, Mike. There's bread over here.

Having Michael in the leadership position,

I feel like he able to salvage

the destructive mess of our team.

Hey, where's that chimichurri? Did it come out?

Chimichurri's on the pass.

Somebody make sure it tastes like the other batch.

Him having a voice, him delegating,

him giving us a sense of direction,

assignment of roles, in essence is helping us

get some kind of consistency so we can help get dishes out.

- Do you want these in the oven? - No, these are ready to go.

These are our next six. Please set them down on the table over there.

- Blue team! Listen, blue team! - Guys, listen up!

- Yes, Chef! - Everything!

Seasoning, temperature, check it, yes?

Guys, guys, we got some raw cod here.

- Oh, no. - Yep. Like, totally raw.

Oh, . Blue team, come here!

You can't be totally raw like that.

Hey, that's not under. That's raw.

- One more on the fly, quickly. - Right away. Right away.

Blue team, now you're rushing and just sending out.

- Slow down. - Yes, Chef.

Get your brigade back in their positions

and command this ship now!

- Yes, Chef! - Let's go!

One now. Hey, one now for Joe.

- One now. - Let's go!

Bollocks. Let's go.

Christian, do you need me to take over fish?

- Do you have too much going on? - I'm good.

- Are you sure? - Yes.

Make it nice. Make it nice.

- Thank you. - Thank you.

Okay, team, I need six pieces of fish,

six portions of potatoes, six asparagus, and six corn.

- Thank you, Derrick. Got it. - Come on, you guys, let's go! Come on, let's finish hard!

Here we go. Here we go. Here we go.

Okay, apologies from the blue team cooks.

They're very sorry. They recooked it for you.

I think this one looks perfect.

Check it out. See if it's done to your liking.

I'd hate to have to send back two dishes.

- No, it's good. - Nope. It's good.

- It flaked up. - Enjoy.

You guys deserve to take some time off.

- Thank you so much. - Guys, guys, guys.

- Yes, Chef? - Make sure they're all plated consistently.

- Don't be trying to skimp. - Please, same portions, guys.

Who would you vote for if you had to vote at this point?

- Oh, blue team. - Blue team.

I'm going to have to go with the red team.

- All right. - Let's go. Come on.

- Thank you so much. - Thank you. Sorry about the wait.

- How is your steak cooked? - I think it's perfect.

- Seasoned properly? - Seasoned just how I like it.

- Do you agree? - I agree.

You are tasting the fish. You enjoying it?

Cajun, sweet, a little spicy.

How about you down there?

Raise your hand if you would vote for the red team steak.

One, two, three, four. And blue team fish?

Two for fish, four for steak at this point,

but you can always change your mind.

- Enjoy. - Thank you.

Good job, boy. You hear me? Good job.

- Let's not celebrate yet. - Done. Let's go.

- Thank you very much. - Thank you, guys.

Today I will be voting for the blue team's cod.

I really wanted to vote for the cod,

but I think that the steak

was done exceptionally well.

The cod flows really well.

I will be voting for the blue team's cod.

Where's the energy gone for the last table?

Come on, guys! Let's go then!

Let's go, guys! Let's finish strong.

- It's done. It's done. - Perfect.

- I'm coming up with sauce. - These are for steaks.

- Bri is here. - Okay.

Come on, girl. You can bend, you can do, you can move.

Thank you. Thank you. Make sure the M is facing us.

If you do this, okay?

- Three and three and three. - Yeah.

Then you got room. No. Then you room to go.

You go left and right. Put your tray left and right.

Garnish left and right, I've been saying to you all day.

- Please get organized, Bri. - I just-- yes.

Over here. Line up over here, gentlemen.

Good job, Derrick. Come on, Derrick. Good job, baby.

- Come on up! - Thank you so much. Enjoy.

- Thank you. - Come on! Last table!

- There you go. Thank you. - Thank you. Thank you very much.

- Thank you guys so much. - Sorry about the wait. Good to see you.

- Thank you so much! - Whoo! Whoo!

- Hey, yeah! - I wanna talk to everybody real quick.

We can't congratulate each other.

We have no feedback yet. So here's the deal.

You can congratulate yourselves on working as a team,

but don't have that jubilation with the food just yet.

- That's it. Yes, Chef. - Yes, Chef.

- All right? - Last one. Let's go.

- Thank you.

Hey, hey, hey. I am lost for words.

- Sorry, Chef. - Sorry, Chef.

- Clear down. - Yes, Chef.

Attention, guardsmen, everyone.

Red pylon, blue pylon. This is your vote.

- Yeah! Yeah! - You excited?

It was great that Michael stepped up as a captain

because at the moment we needed leadership,

and Gordon did not feel that I was fit to do it at the time.

And I agree with him. I was not.

So I'm glad that Michael took over and got it done.

I have done team challenges before.

Smaller teams and never outdoors, so it was tough.

But, hey, you live and you learn, you know?

I have no idea how the other team did.

I'm sure they had their hiccups as well.

So now it's up to the judges

and the Coast Guard men and women to decide

which dish tastes better and who the winner is.

Y'all better pray they did worse than us.

We started rough, but once we settled down,

I feel that we came together.

I should've never dumped out the water

for the mashed potatoes that Derrick put on.

I feel that if I would've not dumped that out,

I'm sure we would've had the potatoes right on time

and the plates going out at a decent time as well.

I do apologize to my team for all the yelling,

but I appreciate you all. We got it done.

My team voted for me, which is good.

I felt like in season ten when I was here last time,

I was kind of the quiet guy in the background.

I can't do that this time. I'm a chef.

I know what I'm doing. I needed to take some leadership today.

I tried to get this train back on its track.

I'm not really sure if I pulled it off at the end,

but we'll see what happens.

I love every single member of our team,

but when you serve steak that fell on the floor,

I don't know if that's the behavior of a chef.

I'm not sure if I can forgive that.

Let's go.

It was an absolute honor

it be given this opportunity

to cook a very special lunch for you all.

Give a round of applause for our blue team and our red team.

Now, one of these teams will be crowned the winner of today's challenge,

and sadly the losing team will say goodbye to one member of their team.

Right, it's time for the moment of truth.

The team that will be safe from elimination...

congratulations, it goes to...

...the blue team!

Well done!

I just won the first team challenge as team captain,

and I had the best three dishes this past challenge,

so I'm on a high right now.

Thank you, guys! Thank you, all!

Ladies and gentlemen, we appreciate your service.

God bless, stay safe, and thank you once again.

Please, blue team, red team, line up.

Red team, give us a moment.

We need to have a very serious chat. Excuse us.

- They had a great start, the red team. - Yes.

The first three tables, look, it was a grand slam

because the steaks were coming out right in the beginning.

- Yeah. Alejandro let his team down massively. - Yeah.

If a captain falls apart like that,

I mean, you can see the effect it had on the steaks.

- That protein can make or break any dish. - Literally.

Bri was all over the place.

It's implicit that you're gonna take a responsible role on your team,

- and she really didn't do it. - Yeah.

- You guys in agreement? - Got it?

- Yeah? - Yeah.

Moment of truth.

Admittedly, that was a very difficult challenge,

but the same challenge for both teams, red and blue team.

But listen to the final total of those votes.

- 30 votes to the red team... - Wow.

...and 71 votes to the blue team.

- That for me was a bloodbath. - Yeah.

So, red team, Joe, Aarón and myself

all agreed that one of you shall be going home.

That person is...

Alejandro.

Alejandro, when you're a captain, you need to run your team.

Today's performance, your team ran you.

But under no circumstances will we ever be in a position

where we pick food up off the floor,

re-grill it, and send it.

That is never happening ever.

Certainly not under our watch and certainly not cooking for military.

- Is that clear? - Yes, Chef.

Please say goodbye to your team and hand me your apron.

You know, it's sad to cook for the last time in the MasterChef kitchen,

and I feel bad I let my team down.

A good captain goes down with the ship.

As is only fair, I should be the one going home,

- and I'm going home today. - Good luck, my friend.

I was able to be part of two different seasons of "MasterChef,"

coming close in the semifinal last season,

and now this season making it to the top 18,

so I'm just gonna hold my head up high.

We've just sent home another semifinalist. That's three in a row.

Do you all understand now how tough this competition is?

- Yes, Chef. - You've got to get your heads in the game.

- Yes, Chef. - And the big question is

- are you guys back to win? - Yes, Chef!

Then start acting like winners!

Quickly!

- Next time... - It's a secret that's so big,

I'm almost afraid to say it on national television.

...a shocking truth sets the cooks on a challenge no one saw coming.

- I actually love vegan food. - That can't be true.

Tonight you have to cook an incredible vegan dish.

- Vegetables by themselves? It's like a bad nightmare. - You gotta go. Now!

With immunity and elimination at stake...

This is a crowd-pleaser, a money-maker, and a winner.

...the proof is on the plate.

- That is not good. - The errors are significant here.

Say goodbye.