S12.W6 (E26-30)

[Athena]

Begins May 18, 2020.

[katisha]

Wow, having Laura on your team in team challenges really has been the kiss of death this season, hasn't it?  Again she kept her perfect record intact tonight but I did feel a bit sorry for her because it seems she was largely responsible for that team's best dish.  I really don't know why she seems to want to cook pasta dishes all the time because on the few occasions when she hasn't (either because the theme didn't allow it or, like on this occasion, it didn't fit into the menu the team designed), she's shown that she CAN cook other things really well too.

I quite liked the guest chef couple but I don't think they really added much in terms of mentorship.  Shouldn't a mentor be there to do stuff like tell Reynold that his chocolate cake was dry a little earlier than five minutes before service, or mention to Tessa and Sarah T that you certainly CAN have too much squid in a dish and perhaps they should consider fixing it?

I continue to be pleasantly surprised at just how much Jess has come along since her season.  I really like her now!

[Niuxita]

1 hour ago, katisha said:

Shouldn't a mentor be there to do stuff like tell Reynold that his chocolate cake was dry a little earlier than five minutes before service, or mention to Tessa and Sarah T that you certainly CAN have too much squid in a dish and perhaps they should consider fixing it?

I may have heard wrong, but I think Team Savoury did that because their mentor chef had a philosophy of not wasting any part of the ingredients, so they used the whole squid. I understood it as it wasn't a decision they would have made but they did so because of the chef they were working with. I could be wrong, though.

I thought all the emphasis on Laura having been in all of the pressure tests so far was leading up to her finally "breaking the curse," but alas, it was not to be. She's not particularly my favourite, but there were other people I liked on her team (Tessa and both Sarahs) that I wanted to be safe. Now I'm stressed about tomorrow.

[SnideAsides]

Team service challenge combined with the entire focus being on two guest chefs I don't give a rat's arse about? Pass.

[Rosenrot]

Jeez, Brendan. I love you, but if there's clearly something wrong with the dish, DON'T send it out! 

I was very glad that someone finally brought up the fact that yelling "go [insert color here] team!!", "we've got this!", "keep going, guys!" etc. in a team challenge means nothing at all. It's my pet peeve when a team captain does that after they've been told by the judges that they need to be more captain-y. 

Also, someone needs to tell Brendan that being assertive doesn't mean yelling and going all Gordon Ramsay on people, as he seemed to think so in one of his talking heads. 

10 hours ago, ppl said:

I liked seeing Emelia get one up on Laura for once. I think the edit in season 6 portrayed her as a stone cold bitch so it's refreshing seeing her being friendly with the other contestants.

You know, I was wondering why I couldn't stand her in her season and now I suddenly find her hilarious. Either she's really changed or her edit was less flattering earlier. 

Too many people I'm fond of in the pressure test again. 

PS: I think I'm developing a crush on Jock. I find this highly worrisome. Please send help. 

[katisha]

8 hours ago, Niuxita said:

I may have heard wrong, but I think Team Savoury did that because their mentor chef had a philosophy of not wasting any part of the ingredients, so they used the whole squid. I understood it as it wasn't a decision they would have made but they did so because of the chef they were working with.

You're right, he did - and that kind of makes it worse!

[limecoke]

Had I set that, I’d have them divide into teams before knowing the nature of the challenge. Then I’d have them draw knives (or similar) to see which team does savory and which does sweet.  I knew from the get-go that desserts would win so skipped to the part where they served the dishes and, of course, the inevitable happened. It’s ok, but I’m afraid someone I like will go home.

 

 

[xchouchoutex]

3 hours ago, limecoke said:

Had I set that, I’d have them divide into teams before knowing the nature of the challenge. Then I’d have them draw knives (or similar) to see which team does savory and which does sweet.  I knew from the get-go that desserts would win so skipped to the part where they served the dishes and, of course, the inevitable happened. It’s ok, but I’m afraid someone I like will go home.

 

 

I did exactly the same thing, i knew they would win especially for having Jess and Emilia ( yeah because challenge after challenge it turned out that Reynold is not that dessert expert they make us think , he’s focusing on fascinating people by the plating )

Also when they were choosing the captain , did everyone else see Reynold had a facial expression like he was expecting to be named And reece popped up instead ?

[ppl]

Reynold needs to stop experimenting in team challenges. Why didn't the Pink team just drench their dry sponge cake with kirsch?

I thought the Yellow team would win because the judges liked their fish/squid dish but didn't really like Reynold's dessert.

The guest chef couple were useless and I knew from past challenges they were in before that they wouldn't be able to offer a lot of help.

Emelia really saved Poh's bacon. Poh is thinking like she's hosting a cooking show and not being practical.

Jess's dessert is the dish I wanted to taste the most.

13 hours ago, Rosenrot said:

Also, someone needs to tell Brendan that being assertive doesn't mean yelling and going all Gordon Ramsay on people, as he seemed to think so in one of his talking heads. 

Agreed. There's also a difference between making something over and over again every day with people you know and creating a 3 course menu from scratch together with different people and personalities. Not to mention that his business is in a food truck/stall vs. a big makeshift industrial kitchen.

[katisha]

That was a very tough watch because too many of my preferred contestants were in that crazily difficult challenge and I don't enjoy watching them get stressed out.  I couldn't agree more with Poh and Emilia when they were observing the horrors going on at Sarah T's bench.  Poh said, "I can't watch this," and Emilia said, "I know.  It's a train wreck."  Poor Sarah T.   She's normally so upbeat and positive and seems to just love cooking, so it wasn't good to see her nearly losing it a couple of times.  I do concede, though, that while she's brilliant at the savoury Asian-inspired dishes she does best, she's kind of a reverse Jess in that she never does dessert and the contestants who are doing well this season are the all-rounders who do both to a good standard.  Sooner or later it'll get her prematurely booted, I think.

I wasn't really thrilled about Sarah Carrot Lady being eliminated either, but I think from now on, the season will only get tougher because there's barely anyone that I dislike.

[misgabi13]

42 minutes ago, katisha said:

I couldn't agree more with Poh and Emilia when they were observing the horrors going on at Sarah T's bench.  Poh said, "I can't watch this," and Emilia said, "I know.  It's a train wreck." 

I agree Katisha - that was so difficult to watch.

Must admit I had all fingers and toes crossed for Sarah T and Simon to be OK!

Some of those boxes were REALLY thick - and yet it wasn't mentioned - bit weird.

However, that desert looked amazing and one that I would totally order (if only for the mandarin!).

Where were Reynold and Jess?  Only 5 people on the gantry.  I do wish they would say why someone isn't there - if only so I don't spend the whole damn episode looking for them!

[Niuxita]

Ah, man, I had such a crush on Sarah C! I know she wasn't the strongest of the remainder contestants, but my GOD she's beautiful. I will miss looking at her pretty pretty face every day!

That said, while I was honestly prepared for her to be the one going home because she was probably the weakest of tonight's bunch, I was so not prepared to watch Sarah T struggle so much! The way she couldn't even answer Laura when she asked what was missing from her dish at the end. Poor thing. I'm glad she lives to cook another day (though I agree that another pressure test like this one might end up being her undoing sooner or later).

Laura is starting to impress me. My mom and I had an ongoing joke about how the only thing she ever cooks is pasta, but she has nailed these past two pressure tests involving ridiculously complex desserts. Wouldn't be opposed to her being there until the end.

Missed Jess in the gantry tonight.

[SnideAsides]

After the last few seasons, I'm so so so sick of the pressure tests being wanky desserts all the bloody time (aside from the "do a sweet dish and a savoury dish at the same time" challenge, last year only had TWO savoury pressure tests), but I will admit I got a big laugh out of this one basically being "we have to do the social distancing thing now; here, put an edible bollard on this plate!".

[Rosenrot]

Oh wow. Phew. Simon had me very worried for a second there! 

10 hours ago, katisha said:

I think from now on, the season will only get tougher because there's barely anyone that I dislike.

This is so painfully true. There's only one person left that I dislike (Laura - my feelings haven't changed from her initial season) and unfortunately for me, I don't think she's going anywhere for a good while. The rest I like; some more than others, but still, only one person left that I'd like to get off my TV. That is indeed very rare, and I hereby predict that I'm going to be very stressed out during the future episodes. 😅

[katisha]

I've thought for the longest time that Masterchef needs to do more vegetarian-themed challenges because I can barely remember any after watching all bar three seasons, so I was very glad to see the show's first-ever vegan Mystery Box.  Some of the cheftestants freak out at the thought of not cooking with a protein so this must have been a new level of fear for them.  I would have predicted Simon to do well, so that wasn't a shock.  Jess - well, she's just coming closer to the head of the pack every day because she has so many more strings to her bow these days.  Poh, well, she's Poh.  Nuff said.  But I had no idea Reece is actually vegan himself.  I did read earlier this year that Reece had lost 35kg and that article contains a before pic where you can really notice a big difference.  His dish looked delicious and I wish I could have tried it so good on him for making top four.

When Reynold said in a piece to camera that when he gets weird dietary requests in his restaurant, it often leads to him cooking his best dishes, and then to have the guest judge practically sneer at his vegan effort...awkward!

 

[retrograde]

Can't believe Laura still cooked pasta.

Was impressed by Reece and Jess. 

Simon's food continues to look unappetizing. 

[Mellowyellow]

Squeeeeeeee

That is all. I think I've got a favorite 😍

[katisha]

5 hours ago, retrograde said:

Can't believe Laura still cooked pasta.

I know, right? It's like every time they have to cook, her first thought is not, "What shall I cook?" but rather, "How can I make pasta and still keep to the theme?"  She's even got Emilia doing it too.

So as per usual, Poh got the most screen time, and again we had to watch her doing things at the last minute, so all I can say is thank God Jess won immunity.  And I am not sure, @Mellowyellow, if you were referring to Jess but I think she's my favourite now. 🙂  Again tonight she did something kind and unselfish by getting Poh the bamboo steamer that Poh couldn't reach.  She's just a ray of sunshine and she's getting to be a better cook by the day.  I'm fairly sure she won't win but I want her to stay around as long as possible.

[Mellowyellow]

Haha yes @katisha I was referring to Jess.

Actually I had a really quick squiz at the Facebook page, thought Jess won, went to post on the forum, saw an article that was talking about how well Poh did, freaked the crap out thinking maybe Jess didn't win immunity after all and then ran to check the Facebook page again 😂

I really don't care for Poh. I can't actually give a sane reason for it but not my cup of tea. Even though Reynold is a bit over confident this season at least he's quiet and doesn't flap around with all this drama.

I'm not sure how I feel about Laura. I think Laura is very competent and can do anything she's forced to do but the constant pasta and favoritism..... I blame Jock!

 

 

[Athena]

28 minutes ago, Mellowyellow said:

I'm not sure how I feel about Laura. I think Laura is very competent and can do anything she's forced to do but the constant pasta and favoritism..... I blame Jock!

Yeah I am the same with Laura. She's nice but I can't warm to her. It's how I felt about Jess's edit in her season a little. They kept overpraising Jess for doing desserts but at least I started to like Jess a little. 

Can anyone tell me a bit more about what Laura like in her season? Was it pasta pasta pasta all the time too? 

[Niuxita]

STOKED it was Jess, partly because she's become one of my favourites, but also partly because Reece annoys me and Simon is meh. She was adorable running around the kitchen and dropping things, lol.

I know I'm in the minority, but I do really like Poh. She's not everyone's cup of tea, but I just find her so amusing. Her talking heads crack me up (plus she has a fantastic smile). I feel like she'd be really fun to shoot the breeze with while standing around the kitchen cooking dinner or something. That said, I would much rather Jess won immunity tonight, so it was all-around an A+ episode for me.

Laura's "Do NOT start making roti right now" to Poh was HILARIOUS. Goddammit, if she keeps this up, she will end up completely winning me over.

[Mellowyellow]

1 hour ago, Athena said:

Yeah I am the same with Laura. She's nice but I can't warm to her. It's how I felt about Jess's edit in her season a little. They kept overpraising Jess for doing desserts but at least I started to like Jess a little. 

Can anyone tell me a bit more about what Laura like in her season? Was it pasta pasta pasta all the time too? 

Laura was really nice in her first season. Well I still think she's nice hence the conflicted feelings.

She was younger and less experienced but she was still really competent and had flare. I really liked her finale. It was one of the finales where both cooks were decent unlike the ice cream Ben vs Diana finale where I was freaking out that he'd win with a random ice cream.

[xchouchoutex]

Jess has always been my favourite , i like her energy and her ( searching for the word ) maybe innocence, and she just proved that she’s a fast learner 

About Reece, his shock expression makes me sick.

[limecoke]

As someone who didn’t care for Jess all that much in her season, I find her delightful this time around. She’s become a favorite of mine along with Tessa and Brendon.  I’m not sure any of those three have a chance of winning but Jess just might get there. She’s pretty amazing.

Simon seems nice too but I can’t get all excited about his plates of limp veggies with purée and sauce. The judges seem to love his food so what do I know?

Quote

Her talking heads crack me up (plus she has a fantastic smile

She does have a very genuine smile but, man, you could drive a truck in there.  The only annoyance I find with her is the obvious over-the-top favoritism in editing. Not her fault, though.

[ReallyRealReality]

15 hours ago, Mellowyellow said:

I really don't care for Poh. I can't actually give a sane reason for it but not my cup of tea. Even though Reynold is a bit over confident this season at least he's quiet and doesn't flap around with all this drama.

 

I finally figured out why I don't like her.  I thought it was her monstrous cave-mouth, but no... that's just the results.  It's her laugh... at everything SHE says (either aloud or in her head in response to something someone else says)!  She isn't given credit, that I'm aware of, as being a comedian... but boy, does she think she's funny.  I do have a sense of humor, but the only thing I can remember laughing at all season was Ben's phallic twill.  Okay, okay... I also laughed during Katie Perry's visit... but that was awesome.

I've never liked loud, obnoxious people.  Give me Jess, Tessa, Brendan any day... I'd rather watch and learn how their minds work than have to feel frazzled after an episode because 'I've done this so many times I can do it in my sleep but this is the Masterchef kitchen and "it HAS to be perfect" even though I don't have enough time to do it'.  Bah, faux drama!

[xchouchoutex]

11 minutes ago, ReallyRealReality said:

I finally figured out why I don't like her.  I thought it was her monstrous cave-mouth, but no... that's just the results.  It's her laugh... at everything SHE says (either aloud or in her head in response to something someone else says)!  She isn't given credit, that I'm aware of, as being a comedian... but boy, does she think she's funny.  

THANK YOU !

 

[TVbitch]

Okay that last immunity challenge actually triggered my seizure disorder. Do they think it makes the show more exciting for the judges to scream and shout and dance about and run to each station to ask about the dishes? The contestants and camera guys were running too and giving us some serious shakey cam. My poor brain! It's like they all decided they better take some lessons from Katy Perry and jazz things up!

Jess is getting stronger which is more compelling than people who started out strong and are staying strong. Reece is starting to get that story arc, too. It always boggles my mind when Jess mentions her daughters, cuz she looks 19 and seems very girlish to me. She is adorable. I am actually rooting for quite a few of them.

I can't warm to Poh cuz (through no fault of her own) production has decided the Faux Poh Show should be front and center every damn episode, but I also think she milks it. And also her constant laughter seems fake to me, and, yeah, I feel like I could crown one of her back molars every time she does it.   

[akr]

3 hours ago, TVbitch said:

It always boggles my mind when Jess mentions her daughters, cuz she looks 19 and seems very girlish to me.

I think you must have misheard something - she's 21 now (19 on her original season), & I only remember hearing her talk about her parents. 

[TVbitch]

Hmm, well I do drink wine while watching.

But I swear I heard her mention "her girls" --maybe she meant her girlfriends  ...or Brendan and Reece. 

[Rosenrot]

I'd be really surprised if Jess had children - she's so young and IIRC, I've never heard her talking about any kids. Perhaps she meant something else. 🤔

On 5/20/2020 at 2:54 PM, katisha said:

I did read earlier this year that Reece had lost 35kg and that article contains a before pic where you can really notice a big difference.

Reece is looking super good, kudos to him for losing all that weight! It ain't easy. His new hair (or lack thereof) also suits him very well, I think. 

On 5/21/2020 at 5:04 PM, Niuxita said:

I know I'm in the minority, but I do really like Poh.

I love Poh. Usually I don't care for people who laugh at their own jokes, but for some reason, with her I just find it kinda adorable. 😄 But I do agree with other posters that the Faux Poh Edit is not doing her much favors. 

[Niuxita]

Ugh, show, why would you tease me with the whole "Khanh's fish is underdone!" only to turn around and be like, "JK everything's fine!" two seconds later. I really wanted him to be the one to go instead of Tracy or Emelia.

[katisha]

32 minutes ago, Niuxita said:

Ugh, show, why would you tease me with the whole "Khanh's fish is underdone!" only to turn around and be like, "JK everything's fine!" two seconds later. I really wanted him to be the one to go instead of Tracy or Emelia.

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one because I like Khanh and I'm glad he stayed, but honestly, I like almost everyone now so I don't actually want anyone to go!

A few random comments about tonight:

• For three out of the five to have overcooked their fish in the challenge was pretty out there and all I can put it down to is that they may be confident with cooking a fillet of fish, but they'd obviously never had to deal with the very specific cuts of fish the guest chef came up with.  Again, Laura showed that when she's not trying to shoehorn pasta into everything she cooks, she's got some serious skills. 
• I liked Tracy in her season and was glad she was back but her dish seemed off from the get go.  Maybe she didn't realise how fatty the cut of fish was going to be because in retrospect, having it with something like chorizo was a huge mistake.
• I couldn't work out for a while what was odd about Josh Niland until it hit me - he obviously didn't get the memo that if you are a chef, you must have a whole stack of ink on your forearms! 
• I would have had to request to be put straight through to round two if I were a cheftestant trying to take part in Name That Fish.  I couldn't name a single fish and their cold, dead eyes always kind of freak me out! 

 

[retrograde]

I find both fish and the term "fish butchery" gross, so this was difficult to sit through.

But the promise of fairytale-themed molecular gastronomy next week makes me want to gag in a different way.

[TVbitch]

On 5/24/2020 at 4:21 AM, Niuxita said:

Ugh, show, why would you tease me with the whole "Khanh's fish is underdone!" only to turn around and be like, "JK everything's fine!" two seconds later.

Uh oh, now in addition to the Faux Poh Show, we've got the Khahn Con! 

The fish butcher seemed a little high on himself for figuring out you could chop up a fish a different way. Surely he copped that from some old fisherman in a tribal village where they usually waste nothing. I can understand how the chef's would not know how long to cook cuts they've never seen before.