Hell's Kitchen/Too Dumb to Live

There are more than a handful of moments in Hell's Kitchen where a contestant would do/attempt to do something stupid, impractical, or devious. Sometimes, the offending chef will get off with a thorough tongue-lashing, while other times, it will simply cost their team a challenge win; most of the time though, they are enough to get them eliminated. Hell, sometimes it's just some harmless stuff that can be chalked up to a lapse in judgement or lack of intelligence. Here are some of the biggest offenders of this trope.

General

Any time an aspiring chef uses frozen/packaged/canned ingredients as part of their signature dishes. Pre-made ingredients are a massive no-go zone in the restaurant business (especially in Gordon Ramsay's restaurants), so that chef will be outed as a lazy prick at best if he notices, and they typically don't last long afterwards. Usually, these chefs are gone within the first few episodes, with Season 3 winner Rock, and Season 16 black jacket qualifier Kimberley being the only exceptions so far.
Being how most of these contestants are trained professionals, the least one would expect from them is that they taste their food before giving it to Chef Ramsay at the pass. This often results in him forcing the whole team to taste the botched order, or in worse cases, the perpetrator eat their mistakes. Also, since Hell's Kitchen cooks its dishes to order, you'd think the aspiring chefs would avoid trying to "get ahead" by doing just that, instead of cooking ahead of time. Yet, as with the signature dishes, these incidents keep happening, and you'd think these guys didn't actually watch the previous seasons.

Season 1

Wendy's infamous "I thought cold water boils faster" comment that leaves Chef Ramsay so bewildered that it became a meme years later!
Jeff, who was constantly targeted by Chef Ramsay for his incompetence, was clearly at his wit's end when Ramsay chided him for slowing the kitchen down. He decided to mutter "you're an asshole" under his breath, which he might have gotten away with... if Sous Chef Mary-Ann hadn't heard him and ordered him to repeat what he said. This, of course, led Jeff to call it quits.
In a later episode, the Blue Team has to use a pass code to access their stockroom as part of their punishment. Andrew decided to try and cheat out of said punishment by putting masking tape over the lock. Too bad for him that Chef Scott walked by at that moment, which earned Andrew the title of "jerk" from the Sous Chef. This was a really dumb move since Ralph and Jessica were able to memorise the code easily the first time they tried it, so there was no reason for Andrew to try and cheat when he could call on them for the code when he needs it.

Season 2

Garrett thought it was a good idea to make a rather sexist remark about how women should cook for the men after a long day of work. He doesn't get reprimanded by upper staff, or eliminated for this remark or anything, no. Instead, he gets verbally eviscerated by Heather, who did NOT take kindly to his comments. At all!

Season 3

Joanna might as well be the this trope, personified. During elimination, Joanna called out Jen's actions that night disgusting (in which Jen tried to reuse trashed spaghetti), warranting her elimination. However, Ramsay cut her off and questioned her actions in trying to serve rotted crab meat, all the while remaining oblivious to the fact it was a much more lethal mistake to make. Joanna was eliminated minutes later by Ramsay by using her own logic.
- Speaking of Jen though, she tossed some spaghetti in the trash when she realised she had too much. When Ramsay called for another order of spaghetti however, she then attempted to reuse the spaghetti she had already threw out, only for Julia to talk her out of doing so. Jen was lucky to get off with a severe warning that night.
Josh repeatedly tried to cook dishes off long before the orders even came through; first he cooked 5 pans of risotto before the restaurant had even opened, then he repeatedly did the same thing with spaghetti. With Ramsay at his breaking point, he kicks Josh out of the competition when one of his pre-cooked risottos comes back, undercooked.

Season 4

In a spectacular Epic Fail moment in Episode 3, Jason suggested that he would try rubbing sugar, butter, and cocoa powder around the pudding bowls for his soufflés to stop them from sticking, not realising that this is what he should've done to begin with. This was enough to not only make Chef Ramsay head desk, but also send Jason packing.
After getting a ticket out in Episode 4, Ben thought it was a grand idea to congratulate his team for their performance... until Chef Ramsay looks over and sees him Hi-5'ing Bobby. Ben's celebratory mood is quickly dashed when Ramsay points out that they (the men) have 6 tickets left to serve compared to the women's....two. Ben spent the rest of his time in Hell's Kitchen with a massive bull's eye on his back, with Chef Ramsay riding him like a donkey up until his elimination 3 episodes later.
In "5 Chefs Compete", the five remaining chefs have to teach some Brainless Beauties how to cook a lobster risotto. Jen tries to cheat by cooking the dish herself, despite Ramsay clearly stating that the cooks were not allowed to do any of the cooking themselves. Jen tries to take over again, only to be threatened with disqualification if she tries it a third time.

Season 5

Seth was foolish enough to laugh at Ramsay's insinuation that his sweetened ratatouille was total shit. This resulted in him becoming the first chef to be threatened with elimination at the signature dishes!
Wil took a risk in choosing to nominate himself on opening night, but it was nonetheless a rather stupid risk since Ramsay can spot weakness from a mile away! Wil gets booted first, as Ramsay felt that his heart just isn't in it.
Giovanni moronically tries to backtalk Chef Ramsay after the latter addressed him as "dickface" for screwing up Ben's chicken special in the first black jacket service, which not only resulted in Ramsay screaming at him point-blank, but also his elimination as he felt that Giovanni had given up.

Season 6

Joseph wanting to challenge Chef Ramsay to a fight? Oh, this definitely counts! He really had no reason to do so though, since he was asked to nominate two chefs, and he wasn't in any real danger of elimination.
Suzanne challenging Ramsay's decision to name the Blue Team winners in Episode 3, resulting in a firm telling off, which in turn made her look like a Sore Loser.
Tennille thought she could get away with talking back to the Chef after she repeatedly sent up improperly portioned garnishes, first by telling him he's crap, which gets her kicked out of the kitchen. But as she leaves, she had the balls to say "Fuck You!" to Ramsay, prompting the latter to give her a thorough tongue lashing out the back before he threatens to kick her out of the competition right then and there. She is lucky that Ramsay decided to give her a chance to improve after this.

Season 7

In Episode 2, Siobhan is instructed to work alone for the Egg Challenge, but she immediately disregards it the second the challenge begins when Autumn suggests she work with Fran and herself. Once Chef Ramsay finds out about this infraction, he disqualifies half of the trio's eggs, costing the Red Team their second challenge in a row.
In the same episode, Andrew gets ejected from the kitchen (and then proceeds to quit the competition) after he adds a batch of "Liquid Mashed Potato" to his fresh batch. Arguing with Chef Ramsay that this was a smart idea probably didn't help matters.
Scott's suggestion of Blood Sausage with Prune Purée was so disgusting that the Chef almost vomited. This, combined with his suggestion for Sweet Potato Soup with Ham Hock, also cost the Red Team another challenge. To explain the latter, the ham hock was supposed to be the main ingredient.
Siobhan argues with Chef Ramsay over the quality of her scallops, insisting that some of them were fine/golden brown. They weren't, (Holli: "They were fucking black!"), and an enraged Chef Ramsay forces her out into the dining room to eat the botched order of scallops. This may (or may not) have got her eliminated.
During the second black jacket service, Benjamin gets his ass torn wide open by Sous Chef Scott after he tried to read off the next ticket in Chef Ramsay's absence.

Season 8

While the Red Team are being scolded for a raw pizza, Boris loudly mimics Ramsay within ear shot. Ramsay does not let him get away with that, and threatens to eliminate him on the spot if he tries it again.
Raj's final service ended in disaster for several reasons, but he sealed his own fate when he tried to argue against Ramsay's order to go out to the dining room to apologise to some diners (having wasted the blue team's entire supply of dover sole). No one knows why he also tried to plead his case to Sous Chef Scott, but he certainly wasn't having any of it, either! Raj was predictably eliminated that night, despite the blue team somehow winning that night's service.
In episode 5, Melissa overcooks nearly two dozen (23 to be exact!) fillets at once! Worse still, there was no order for 23 steaks, so she shouldn't have cooked that many to begin with. This gets her transferred to the Blue Team.
- She then proceeds to burn through the Blue Team's entire supply of scallops in the next episode! This gets Melissa eliminated proper this time.
In Episode 7, Vinny tries to cut corners by reheating an old risotto and serving it to Chef Ramsay's family! Incensed, Ramsay threatens Vinny with automatic elimination for this, since serving subpar food to Gordon Ramsay's family might as well be a suicide pact.
Nona tries to do the same thing next episode, but instead of speaking to Sous Chef Andi on whether it is a good idea, she asks Gail instead. When Nona gets scolded for reusing risotto, she then has the balls to blame Gail for it!
In fact, Nona was prone to idiot moves in Hell's Kitchen; first example for arguing with Chef Ramsay over some beef, and then refusing to piss off until Ramsay tells her to, then she tried to butt in when Ramsay was trying to explain to Melissa why she shouldn't cut meat before it's ready.

Season 9

Stephen arguing - twice - that he had good scallops: once during the signature dishes in which he served burnt scallops (which he argued had good flavour) with mushroom risotto (which Ramsay likened to a dinosaur's toe nails), and again on opening night in which he served undercooked scallops (which he then argued were ready because they were "springy"). Both instances told Ramsay that Stephen was in over his head, leading to being first traditionally eliminated chef that season.
What made Brendan think he could get away with reusing an old piece of bass and lying about it? Don't know, but it got him eliminated in Episode 2.
- Averted for some baffling reason when Elise tries the same thing several episodes later.
After Carrie tried to get burnt sea bass past the hotplate, she insists that she didn't see the burnt bottom of the fish. Despite Ramsay telling her to fuck off, Carrie tries to fight her way back onto her section even in the face of Chef Ramsay telling her to get lost repeatedly. Believe or not, controversial as it may have been, this probably saved Carrie that night, since Jamie didn't show the same fight when she made mistakes.

Season 11

Susan served Chef Ramsay raw, bloody lamb chops for her signature dish, but what really pissed him off is that while he was questioning her intentions of serving raw lamb, she had a smug smirk on her face. Ramsay threatened to eliminate her on the spot for it; not only that, but her inability to cook lamb properly became something of a running gag throughout the season.
During opening night, Sebastian tries to play the joker by addressing Michael as "Mikey Wikey", which Chef Ramsay luckily doesn't hear; he does however hear the former address Zach as "Zacky Wacky". Incensed with Sebastian's jovial attitude, Ramsay kicks him out of the kitchen. Oh, but Sebastian's antics don't stop there!
- After being ejected from service, Sebastian tries to re-enter the kitchen; not once, not twice, but three times! On the third attempt, Ramsay threatens to kick Sebastian out of Hell's Kitchen, right out through the front door if he does it a fourth time. This time, Sebastian complies and doesn't disrupt service any further, but is eliminated later that night regardless as Ramsay felt he wasn't taking the competition seriously.
In the "16 Chefs Compete Part 1", both teams are tasked with serving breakfast to the dining room in place of a normal service (it was also an elimination challenge). During this, Jeremy unwisely serves one table with a sample plate that Ramsay had prepared hours earlier, not understanding that this can pose a major health risk. Although the blue team managed to win the challenge/service, Ramsay decided to spare the ladies, and eliminated Jeremy for his earlier blunder. This was also the blue team's reward!

Season 12

While Gaurav was performing poorly on appetisers on opening night, what really earned him Ramsay's wrath was when he decided to use his fingers to taste his risotto, which is poor kitchen hygiene. His repeated excuses and apathy towards the incident got him booted from the competition first.
In Episode 18, Joy started to cop an attitude with Chef Ramsay when she repeatedly sent her fish up to the pass without communicating with Jason, who was on garnish. Instead of listening to Ramsay's complaints and bouncing back from her blunder, Joy threw a tantrum by walking back to her section while being chastised by the Chef. When Ramsay warned her not to take her frustration out on his food, she decided she'd had enough and stormed out like a petulant teenager, effectively taking herself out of the competition.

Season 14

You know, it's bad enough when an aspiring chef uses pre-made ingredients in their signature dish, but it's another thing entirely to argue with Chef Ramsay about it by saying he should've told you that he wanted fresh ingredients only. Well, Monique Booker did just that, not only earning her title of The Scrappy so early on, but also putting herself at loggerheads with her team for the 5 episodes she stayed there for.
Michael was foolish enough to put baking hot pans under the work top on top of some cold pans without telling anyone, which either Brett or Josh could've easily caught a nasty burn from. Luckily they didn't and, also luckily, Chef Ramsay caught Michael in the act this time, but it was an incredibly dangerous move that didn't get him kicked out on the spot for some reason, but it was enough to get him eliminated regardless.

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