MasterChef

- Gordon: Previously on "MasterChef"... - This is season ten.

You are the top 20.

...the first big challenge in the MasterChef kitchen.

Some proved their skills...

- Noah, you were very diligent. - Perfection.

...and earned a place on the balcony...

- Keturah, Sarah. - Jamie, Subha.

Head upstairs.

...while others were forced to cook for their lives.

If I screw this up...

- Evan, it's a season 5 dish. - Mm-hmm.

Wuta, the plating really exemplifies

your lack of experience, to be very honest.

Ultimately, two home cooks handed in their aprons.

Deanna, Kenny, please place your aprons on your stove.

Tonight...

Gordon: Are you ready to start celebrating

- our amazing 10th season? - ( cheering )

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

at a "MasterChef" 10th anniversary pool party.

Joe: You'll be making all of the party food

for former "MasterChef" contestants and winners.

Do not ruin our party

or your team will face elimination.

And a lot is at stake

because immunity is on the line.

You're making burgers. Has anyone tasted one?

Those buns better not be burnt.

- Who's cooking the chicken? - Come on, people.

It's a non-stop battle...

Make burgers, Evan. Move!

He is a deer in headlights.

...for the teams to stay out of elimination.

- What the ( bleep )? - Fred: Mentally, I am preparing myself

for this elimination challenge.

This is a little bit raw.

Season ten! Season salmonella!

Look at this dadgum villa. Unreal.

Dorian: Walking up to this beautiful house,

it's just absolutely breathtaking.

Little old me from country Georgia,

I have never seen anything to this magnitude.

I feel like a "Beverly Hills-billy."

- Okay. - Look at all of the pink, Bri!

Welcome, everyone. Come on in, guys. Let's go!

That is a serious outdoor pool.

Kimberly: The pool area is beautiful.

I'm ready to celebrate.

I'm ready to party it up right now.

- Thank you. - But this is "MasterChef."

Something about this seems a little too good to be true.

Cheers.

- Uh-oh. - Uh-oh.

Look at this guy.

That's so fly!

Aarón:

Take it easy!

- Good to see you, bud. - Nice car.

- Good? Good to see you. - Awesome.

Are you ready to start celebrating

our amazing 10th season of "MasterChef"?

In just a few hours, this Hollywood mega-mansion

is gonna be home to the hottest party in LA,

celebrating ten amazing seasons of "MasterChef."

- Awesome. Awesome. - Here, here.

Welcome to your first team challenge.

Today you'll be making all of the party food

for 100 VIPs

and former "MasterChef" contestants and winners.

- Whoa! - Whoa.

Shari: It's the first team challenge,

and I have been waiting for this.

But my biggest worry is what are we cooking?

For your first big challenge, you'll be split into two teams of nine.

- Okay. - Okay.

We'll pick the team captains. It's our party,

and we're not taking any chances,

and we want to see more from two people

that did really well in the skills test.

- So, Sarah? - Yes, Chef.

Today you'll be captain of the Red Team.

Noah: All right. Let's go, Sarah, let's go!

The captain of the Blue Team will be Noah.

Noah!

Let's go, baby!

Cheers.

Thank y'all.

And we're gonna keep this real simple, okay?

Sarah, you have a delicious pineapple cocktail.

Yes, I do.

Any of you that are drinking from the pineapple

- are on Team Sarah. - Yeah, Team Sarah!

If you have a coconut, you're over here with Captain Coconut over here.

I'm Captain Coconut! All right!

Captain Coconut! Let's go.

I've been in the military for ten years.

I've been under extreme circumstances

with a lot of pressure.

I know how to run a team,

and this is gonna definitely give me the advantage here.

Hand 'em... pass 'em down.

Noah: I am so pumped to lead this team

because I'm an alpha.

One thing that I will never fault on

is direct communication.

- Let's roll. Ladies first. - Thank you, Cap'n.

You always hear me, no matter what.

- Let's roll, boys. - I feel very, very confident

that we're gonna be able to make the judges extremely happy.

Today we want perfect pool party food.

That's why you'll be working off a menu

that Aarón, Joe, and I chose especially for today's occasion.

Red Team, you will be making fried chicken drumstick

with green beans and teriyaki glazed grilled pineapple.

You'll also be making beer battered cod with peas

and a bacon cheeseburger with potato chips.

- Excellent. - All right, Blue Team.

You will be making a fried chicken thigh

with asparagus and watermelon.

You will be making coconut crusted cod

with a shaved cabbage slaw.

And finally, a turkey burger for all those health nuts,

with some homemade potato chips.

I'm in the events business, and so I have cooked

for over 100 guests before.

I know that planning ahead

is such a key component for success,

but we don't have time to plan.

The stakes are high,

and reacting rather than planning

is a little scary for me.

You need to keep our guests happy

because we will be listening to every word they say.

But, more importantly, you need to keep us three happy

because we will be judging your dishes.

Gordon and Aarón will be in the kitchens

seeing how you work, watching every detail.

And I'll be out poolside in the crowd

trying to find out how much they like your food.

- Yes, Chef. - Yes, Chef.

Our incredible guests will be gathering

around this pool in one hour from now.

Do not ruin our party,

or your team will face elimination.

Your 60 minutes...

starts... now.

- All right, let's go. - Come on, guys.

- Let's go, Subha. Let's go. - Let's go. Hurry up.

Move, move! Now! Dear God, move with purpose.

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

I am a grill master,

but it is not my job to run a grill right now.

That's not where the captain of the ship needs to be.

Coconut crusted cod. Ket, you're gonna be rockin' rollin' that.

- You're gonna be lead dog on that. - Got it.

The fried chicken, you're gonna be the main star with frying the chicken.

Fred, the Thai chili sauce, you made it before?

I've tasted the flavors. I'm familiar with them.

That sounds perfect. And, Evan, you're gonna be

concentrating on the turkey burger.

Evan: Never cooked a turkey burger,

but I'm incredibly confident with grilling.

I grill at my house in Brooklyn,

so I'm gonna blow some minds today.

I'll expedite. We want big, bold flavors, all right?

We're not playing games here. Get your hands in here.

All: One, two, three, Blue Team!

All right.

I believe that trust and communication are the key to success,

so immediately out of the gate,

I'm firing off commands on exactly what we do.

How many ounces you want the burgers to be?

Five ounces. There's not gonna be much reduction.

There's no fat in there.

We gotta move as a cohesive group.

- About to test the fish. - Perfect, testing fish, perfect.

I want to lead us to victory.

That's really frickin' good.

Maybe just a little bit more chipotle.

- Man, that's a great job, Nick. - Good.

Okay, guys, we're gonna do this kind of military style,

so we're gonna have squad leaders.

Kim, you're in charge of the chicken station.

Stay focused on that. Wuta, you help Kim with the chicken.

- Copy. - Jamie, you're good on fish?

- Beer batter and the fish, yeah. - Okay, perfect.

We're gonna have Renee on burger station.

- You feel good with that? - Yes, I feel absolutely confident on that, yes.

Okay, awesome. Red Team, we're gonna win this.

- One, two, three. - All: We're gonna win!

Sarah: Renee, we need to make sure that's seasoned right.

- I will. - Perfect, yep.

I grill burgers all the time back at home in Oklahoma.

It's what I do, and it's what I'm comfortable with.

My husband always just sits back and he's like,

"Can I do something?" I'm like, "No, just sit over there and be quiet."

All right, guys. Taste everything that you're seasoning.

Yep!

- Guys, our first big challenge, season ten. - Big time, big time.

Two amazing teams. There's no easy dish