Episode 1816 - The Grand Finale (2024)

The sixteenth episode of Season 18 of Hell's Kitchen aired on FOX on February 8, 2019, airing as a double feature alongside the fifteenth episode. In that episode, Ariel and Mia competed in one final dinner service, and the winner of Hell's Kitchen was revealed.

Before service[]

The episode began with a recap of the previous fifteen episodes, mentioning who was eliminated along with some memorable moments. During the recap, Chris, Kanae, and Motto each received the portrait burning sequence for the first time since their exits.

Back at the dorms, everybody split off to discuss the menu, and Roe remarked that Mia had proved a lot to everyone, stating she was rooting for the underdog. However, none of Mia's teammates had any idea what some of her dishes were due to the Puerto Rican naming. Meanwhile, Ariel 's team had a clearer idea of what she wanted, and Ariel was confident as her team believed in her to win. Bret felt the confidence from Ariel, and wanted to help her win the season, while Trev wanted Mia to win as the latter was a force to be reckoned with. While Heather recalled not leaving on good terms with Mia, along with disliking her, she knew what it was like not having people on their back. Heather recalled how poorly her team did during the Season 16 finale and wanted to give her heart and soul to Mia.

The next day, both teams were downstairs prepping for the final dinner service, but while Mia wanted her teammates to be focused, she was scattered on what was going on, and after Trev did not know where the pancetta went, he told Mia to relax. As Mia became more demanding on her team, Heather said it was not a good idea as she felt the former was becoming a dictator as she even barked out orders to Sous Chef Jocky, with the latter wondering what the f*ck was going on. In the red kitchen, Ariel gave clear direction to her team on how to prep her dishes, declared that the young, insecure woman from Season 6 was gone, and was going to prove that she deserved to win. As the red team was looking at plates for the dishes, Scotley commented that Ariel was very vocal and detailed as a leader, and they were all in it together. Motto wanted to finish strong, while Bret commented that many champions were already the winners before they even stepped into the ring.

Two hours before service began, Ramsay checked on Ariel and Mia's dishes to see if they met his expectations. For Mia's dishes, he praised them for looking colorful, and most of the dishes were praised for hitting the mark. For Ariel, Ramsay criticized the shrimp ceviche for having an unneeded purée and tasting overly salty, the albondiga dumpling soup for having even numbers and underseasoned pork filling, the steak for lacking any seasoning, and questioned why she would trade out her mackerel dish for another fish dish when it was well-received during the Final Tasting Challenge. Despite Ariel reminding Ramsay how Josiah Citrin commented on mackerel being a mixed fish for everybody, Ramsay told her to stop running away from success, and while she did not win the challenge, she had not lost the finale yet. Taking Ramsay's advice to heart, Ariel told her team that she was bringing back the mackerel dish and used the feedback to help her team as Kanae was pushing on getting the dumplings ready. After giving their teams a pep talk, Ramsay, Ariel, and Mia asked Marino to open Hell's Kitchen.

Dinner service[]

In addition to the finalist's families, Matt Barkley and Jessie Graff ate in the dining room, while Marcia Clark and JB Smoove ate in the red and blue chef's table, respectively. After receiving their first order, Mia called it crunch time as she wanted to prove that she was a leader and hoped to surprise Ramsay. However, Jose felt Mia should not have placed Trev on appetizers as he did not want to start slow but respected her decision. Then, Mia tasted Trev's risotto, told him to add salt, and wanted everything to be perfect as Trev's risottos were accepted. In the red kitchen, Ariel called out her first order, felt that her team was amped up, and Kanae knew that they only had one shot to help the former win before saying how determined the red team was to see Ariel succeed. However, Kanae found out that her dumplings came out burnt, dismaying Motto as that was not how things were supposed to go. Despite Ramsay growing concerned about the wait, Kanae got her refires ready, relieving her as she did not make them earlier for nothing. Eventually, both teams were pushing out appetizers to high praise from the customers.

Forty-five minutes into service, Mia was ready to begin entrées. Roe boasted that she was already on the winning brigade since Season 13 and that it would help Mia out. However, Mia found out that the pork was raw, dismaying Heather as Roe needed to mark the pork and cook them, before knowing that nobody wanted raw pork. Then, Roe asked Heather to help her check the refires, but that caused a slowdown, much to Trev's dismay, and when Mia asked Roe for a time, the latter did not respond until she said one minute. However, a frustrated Mia complained she won the challenge and picked Roe first as she thought the latter was the strongest before calling it nerve-wracking. Eventually, Roe got her refire accepted. In the red kitchen, the red team moved onto entrées, but even though Ariel admitted to never working with Scotley until tonight, she hoped the latter would keep up as it was a lighter menu. Unfortunately, Ariel saw the steaks were getting charred, and when she told Scotley to watch his station, he got annoyed at Ariel for micromanaging his work. Despite being forced to start over, Scotley got his refire accepted. Mia called for the following order in the blue kitchen but felt a little concerned about Heather because the latter got eliminated over her previously. Still, Heather said she would help Mia win, even if they were not BFF, as she knew how it could hurt for the door not to open as she got her steaks accepted. In the red kitchen, Ariel wanted Bret to focus on meat as he had a big responsibility, and while the latter wanted to be in the finale, he wanted to see Ariel win as she is a phenomenal chef. Unfortunately, Bret's wagyu steak was cold, but he got the refire accepted despite feeling down by that.

Eventually, both teams were pushing out entrées at a brisk pace, and they were on their final tickets. Mia told her team to keep up their strong pace, but while Heather brought up her dishes, Roe sent up broken sea bass, leading her to feel that she was overcompensating. Mia decided to refire the entire table, with Heather accusing Roe of dropping the ball, and the former told Marino what was going on. Soon enough, Roe's refire was accepted. In the red kitchen, Ariel told her team to finish strong as they started, while Ramsay reminded them that they were cooking for was the Six Flags table. However, while Scotley served sexy mackerel, Bret's chicken had burnt skin, with the former telling the latter to put his big boy pants on. After two minutes have passed, Bret's refire was raw, and when a pissed Ramsay ordered him to wake up, Bret yelled that he was awake. However, Ariel told Bret to take the raw chicken back to the oven as she had no more time for mistakes, and soon after, Bret's third attempt was accepted. Eventually, both teams got their orders completed, and service was over. When clearing down, Ariel was happy service was over and Ramsay saw her as a leader, while Mia said she gave everything she had despite some bumps.

Post-mortem[]

After service, both teams were back in the dorms, and while Scotley said that it was a close finish, he really hoped that Ariel would win, while Jose felt that Mia would win as she proved to the veterans she was a threat. However, both Ariel and Mia felt nervous about what would happen next as the former was wired up, and Mia ate down a quart of ice cream. Suddenly, Ramsay and the Sous Chefs walked into the dorms where, after apologizing for having the chefs look at a mural of himself for weeks, thanked them for coming back and putting effort into that night, with Roe saying she would bleed Ramsay as she looked up to him. After, the chefs, minus Ariel and Mia, left the dorms towards the dining room. Simultaneously, Ramsay went back to his office to look over the comment cards and recall the two's moments during the competition. Back at the dorms, both Ariel and Mia felt that they were the winners of that seasons for different reasons.

Winner chosen[]

Later, Ramsay called the dorms and asked Ariel and Mia to make their way down to his office as they walked through a large crowd. There, Ramsay praised Mia for performing so strongly in the competition and putting out some creative dishes while praising Ariel for being the most consistent chef in the competition and not getting nominated once. After, Ramsay had both of them stand in front of one door each and revealed that only the winner's door would open. After they nervously waited for Ramsay's countdown, both turned their door handles, but only Ariel's door opened.

Ariel became the winner of Hell's Kitchen and won the Executive Chef's position at Hell's Kitchen at Caesars Palace with a $250,000 salary, making Mia the runner-up. Mia did not feel sad about losing, was proud to have made it that far as a rookie and said it was only the beginning. Ariel said that she made it out a winner after two attempts, felt incredible, and even offered Mia a job should there be an opening. Later that night, Ariel hung her portrait on the Wall of Fame with her father.

Ramsay's Comment: "Since the first time she was here, Ariel has grown 10-fold as a chef. She is fiercely talented, extremely determined and a commanding leader. I could not be more pleased to have her as my executive chef of Hell's Kitchen in Las Vegas."

Trivia[]

• Title Reference: The title refers to the finale of Season 18.