Ep 13. Social Media in Hell

Hell's Kitchen is an American reality television cooking competition show, with the nineteenth season premiered on Fox on January 7, 2021, and ended on April 22, 2021.

In the highly anticipated thirteenth episode of the twentieth season of Hell's Kitchen, the competition heats up as the remaining contestants must face the power of social media. The chefs are tasked with creating dishes based on popular social media trends, with challenges closely monitored by reigning queen of social media in the kitchen, Christina Tosi.

The episode begins with a recap of the previous week's episode where the contestants performed admirably in the seafood challenge. Chris Motto's team won the challenge and was treated to a luxurious overnight stay at a nearby resort while the losing team ended up with a grueling punishment that left them drained and demoralized.

The next day, the contestants are summoned for the mystery box challenge that revolves around popular social media trends. The challenge requires each contestant to make a dish based on one of three social media trends randomly chosen from a box. The three trends comprise the "sushi burger," "deconstructed lasagna," and "overnight oats."

As usual, the fiery chef Gordon Ramsay is on hand for close scrutiny of each contestant's progress. The judges this week are the queen of sourdough, Christina Tosi, and the internet sensation Chocolate Johnny. Each dish is judged imperiously, with flaws harshly criticized and the best dishes earning lavish praise.

Next, the contestants are given a new set of challenges that involve using social media to promote the restaurant. Concepts like hashtags, tweets, online campaigns, and viral videos are discussed in intricate detail and each chef sets about marketing the restaurant on his or her designated social media platform.

This part of the episode culminates in a contest where each chef presents their social media campaign, and the winner gets precedence in picking teams. The winning team gets to dine at the iconic Beverly Hills restaurant, Spago, while the losing team undergoes yet another grueling punishment.

In the next phase of the challenge, the teams are tasked with using social media to sell their dishes to unsuspecting guests. Their dishes are either created from Tosi's socially inspired mystery box challenge or a classic Hell's Kitchen dish.

The teams are first given the task to market their team concept and rally customers to their tables. They are then expected to deliver an exceptional dining experience to ensure that customers spread the word and promote the restaurants on their social media platforms.

The final phase of the challenge involves delivering feedback to Chef Ramsay in a comprehensive post-dinner report. The report is intended to evaluate each chef's participation in the dinner service and to inform critical decisions about the next elimination.

Tensions run high as the chefs on each team evaluate each other's performance in the post-dinner report. Comments on social media, including genuine compliments or harsh criticisms of food and service, are carefully weighed in the final decision.

In conclusion, Hell's Kitchen season 20 episode 13 provides a fascinating insight into the power of social media in shaping people's perception of restaurants in the ultra-competitive culinary landscape. The episode showcases the chefs' ingenuity, creativity, and resilience in adapting to rapidly changing culinary trends in the digital age.