S13.W1 (E01-04)

[Athena]

Premiered April 19, 2021.

Welcome back!

[babs1226]

Good to be back.  Good to see the judges again.  The first two episodes are my least favorite, and I'm wondering how long this took if they were only letting one person cook at a time. That being said, they have some interesting contestants so far.  

[retrograde]

Yeah I could do without the auditions (we've seen half the people who get through in the ads anyway) but I don't think there was anyone I disliked. 

[katisha]

3 hours ago, retrograde said:

Yeah I could do without the auditions (we've seen half the people who get through in the ads anyway) but I don't think there was anyone I disliked. 

I have just finished watching the first episode and I concur. In fact, there are some immensely likeable contestants in this bunch. I particularly liked Kishwar and Minoli (so I hope they can do justice to their specialty cuisines as well as being versatile enough to cope when challenges require something different). I also liked the guy with the Scottish husband (and the Scottish husband telling Jock he'd give his hubby an "aye"!) 

And though it's not going to be his fault, I think the way they edit Blokey McTradie is going to bug me a lot because it always does! "You're a BOILERMAKER and yet you cooked a PRETTY CAKE...OMIGOURD!!!"

[SnideAsides]

I'm so fucking happy Conor got through. And that the "I disagree" dude from last night who did the same "play to the judges instead of being competent" trick again (serving Mexican street food to Andy this time) didn't.

[Rosenrot]

Great to be back! 

Watched the first episode. So far I didn't dislike anybody, but I do feel like Blokey McBlokeface will get on my nerves because the same thing happened with Tim - at first I liked him, and then suddenly I didn't. (But, katisha is right - a lot to do with the editing, too.)

9 hours ago, retrograde said:

Yeah I could do without the auditions (we've seen half the people who get through in the ads anyway)

Oh, but do be fair - us foreigners haven't. 😄 

It's the first episode and so far Reynold's been mentioned at least three times. OH. JOY. 

Aww, Jock learned a new word. ❤️

[retrograde]

Yay, Conor. Also yay minimal larrikins and blond chicks "inspired" by that one time they went to Bali. 

[Aerobicidal]

I'm praying that blushing Instagram pork and whimsical mushroom dessert do not become storylines or recurring themes now that the auditions are over.

The extreme feel-good tone of the first two episodes is not my thing, but I don't think it's ever been more appropriate than now. 

I'm interested to learn more about many of the contestants and hoping that the season doesn't become all about that bloke, 'bout that bloke.

I'm not caught up on all the discussions here--so I apologize if this has already been said somewhere--but I recently watched Masterchef Asia (just one season, from 2015) and I'm watching the current season 2 of Masterchef Singapore. Audra Morrice is a host/judge on both, and I think both shows do a pretty good job of capturing the tone and feel of the better years of Masterchef AU--only without 80 episodes per season. So I would recommend those. (The language used in both shows is English.)

[SnideAsides]

Kishwar is a fucking angel, I love her so much already.

Edited April 21, 2021 by SnideAsides

[katisha]

55 minutes ago, SnideAsides said:

Kishwar is a fucking angel, I love her so much already.

I couldn't agree more.  She's such a sweetheart.

Of the three who managed to get the only three immunity pins that will be offered this season, the person I was most pleased to see get one was Elise because she seems very genuine.  I'm not so keen on Ms Insta with her perfect plating (although I can buy the fact that it probably tastes really good if all the judges say so) and I think Therese may bug me if she doesn't leave the Reynold fancy frozen dessert wheelhouse from time to time.

Speaking of the judges, I have to give Andy a "most improved" award this season.  He seems to have found a much better judging groove and isn't just saying that everything has "bags of flavour". You'd almost think he'd read this forum! 😄 And the three of them are playing off one another as well as ever.

Emilia - God, she's good value!

I haven't got a hope of remembering any names yet so here are some other random things I liked.

• Tommy the kindergarten teacher and his use of such classic Aussie expressions as "Bob's your uncle" cracked me up.
• Conor and the "hot mess" guy being drama queens together, and then Mel's pep talk to the hot mess guy.
• Depinder being brave enough to cook choux pastry for the choux queen.

And just like that, we're already losing someone tomorrow night.  The previews suggest it's "one of the best cooks" but it better not be Kishwar!

[dippydee]

Yay show I’ve missed you. Masterchef UK is fine but I absolutely cannot stand Greg so it ruins half the joy for me. It’s just so nice to see Melissa eating elegantly again.

I skipped the first episodes because I’m not a fan of the auditions. There’s just too many people to keep up with, there are still too many people to get any real sense of them but so far I do like Elise and Conor and I’m joining the Kishwar fan club too. I’m not sure about Beardy McBloke he seems nice enough but like the kind who always ends up going really far despite being really basic.

Also super happy to see Emilia, she’s always hilarious but she seemed so much freer And funnier without the weight of competition. 

[babs1226]

It's going to be an interesting competition.  There seem to be quite a few talented cooks this year.  I do like that there won't be an immunity cook every week. It's good to mix things up.

Edited April 21, 2021 by babs1226

[zibnchy]

12 hours ago, SnideAsides said:

Kishwar is a fucking angel, I love her so much already.

I didn't watch the audition episodes because I got 10 minutes in and had already cried a LOT and I couldn't deal. I'm extra emotional right now and the slightest hint of a sad backstory makes me cry. So anyway...

Is Kishwar the woman in Emilia's Mystery box episode who was very worried her food might be too simple because she just made something her family likes? Because I was sooo sad that she was worried and I love her. I hope I didn't just jinx her.

Hiring Melissa is the smartest thing this show ever did. And Andy is so much better.

I was surprised by the top 3.

[Aerobicidal]

Episode three started off alarmingly with Blokey's "I can't believe I'm wearing an apron!"* and the reference to Reynold's little mushroom (which would explain a few things), but improved after that.

I appreciated how calm and articulate Emilia was. I doubt I'll be using those adjectives much when thinking about this show, but I'll take what I can get.

I don't like the immunity pins, I wish this show would ban desserts, I'm still annoyed by social media food woman, the music will never stop annoying me, and I wish the floor would open underneath anyone who screamed . . . but, aside from that, this season is off to a great start.

*I will add that if he was on the U.S. version, they'd make him wear heavily soiled overalls and weave bits of twigs, manure, and bird feathers in his beard.

[retrograde]

The tongue-lashing they gave Trent was some of the harshest feedback I can recall on this show in a while! I actually wonder if there was more we didn't see on screen, because they all seemed almost annoyed with him? Like he was really messing around the whole time, or something.

Andy is definitely better, but a lot of his feedback was still along the lines of "This tasted great!" 

Everyone who said "I love silverbeet" is a liar. 

Tommy is my favorite so far.

The elbow bumping is ridiculous when no one there is wearing a mask. Give up the charade, guys. 

[Rosenrot]

The fancy mushroom lady reminds me of that one girl who wrote her kid's name on the plate with ketchup or some such. I'm not sure why - it's been ages since I saw that season and they probably don't even look alike. But now every time I see her, I just think about that little blunder and giggle to myself. 

Wow, Kishwar looked miserable bringing her plate to the judges. 

So I already decided that Pete is a treasure and needs to be protected. (And yes, I'm basing this entirely on his looks since he's barely said two words. Perhaps later on his character too, but for now, I'm a sexist.) Tommy is pretty adorable as well. 

I want Jock to taste my food ( = bowl of Ramen noodles) and look at me intensely. (I'm sorry, I will stop this, I promise. I'm just excited that the show's back again!) 

10 hours ago, retrograde said:

The tongue-lashing they gave Trent was some of the harshest feedback I can recall on this show in a while! I actually wonder if there was more we didn't see on screen, because they all seemed almost annoyed with him? Like he was really messing around the whole time, or something.

True. He seemed busy enough. I guess non-tempered chocolate is just offensive on all possible levels...  

Edited April 22, 2021 by Rosenrot

[dippydee]

Trent’s audition must have been absolutely amazing since didn’t have a single good cook out of the 3 I saw from him. I know he said savoury wasn’t his thing but his desserts were poor too. That tart was terrible, I bet Reece is somewhere yelling at the tv.

Still too many people but I’m liking Depinder now too, after cooking choux for Emilia and the yummy looking biriyani she seems like a good one.

 

[katisha]

4 hours ago, dippydee said:

Trent’s audition must have been absolutely amazing since didn’t have a single good cook out of the 3 I saw from him.

Yes, that's exactly what I thought during the episode. How on earth did Trent make the final 24 in the first place? So I wasn't at all shocked to see him booted out and it was absolutely the fairest decision.

[babs1226]

3 hours ago, katisha said:

Trent’s audition must have been absolutely amazing since didn’t have a single good cook out of the 3 I saw from him.

I don't remember what he cooked for his audition, but it seems he was a one trick pony.  I got the impression from the judges' feedback that he spent too much time "performing" and didn't focus on his cooking, which is why his tempering failed.  They didn't think he was taking it seriously enough.  Just my take.  He was definitely the right person to go home.

[retrograde]

I admit I was thrown off the scent, because the voice over at the end of the previous episode said "one of the best cooks in the competition will go home."

I actually didn't remember Trent from the audition episodes, but I went back and watched. He wasn't on for long, but cooked a plated cheesecake thing that Melissa liked. 

We got our first "me on a plate" of the season this episode, courtesy of Amir. 

Favorites from this episode: Eric and Depinder -- and Linda's egg noodle thing looked really good.

[misgabi13]

On 4/23/2021 at 10:30 AM, babs1226 said:

I don't remember what he cooked for his audition, but it seems he was a one trick pony.  I got the impression from the judges' feedback that he spent too much time "performing" and didn't focus on his cooking, which is why his tempering failed.  They didn't think he was taking it seriously enough.  Just my take.  He was definitely the right person to go home.

I totally agree it was his time - he was fun to watch but what a lot of faffing about!

There are so many people we still have barely seen on the screen.  I spent a good few minutes trying to remember if I actually knew a person called Yo Yo was on the show!

Some of the food looked amazing and I get really jealous of the judges just because they can taste it.

Welcome back Masterchef!

[seltzer3]

Yeah, there were way too many people.  I can't keep track of them.  This season though seems to have the most asian contestants in the top 24.  Rooting for Depinder, especially since for some reason female Indian chefs seem to get cut very early.

Trent was a hot mess.  The whole situation with the lemon myrtle was crazy.  Its like he thought lemon myrtles was sprinkling garlic powder or something.  But that was absurd that you had an entire layer of lemon myrtle in the chicken, that is not appetizing.  The talent pool is pretty deep.  Some of the dishes in the bottom 5 (for round 1) I actually thought looked really good.  So I can see a lot of people getting eliminated over the smallest mistake.

[vmarsissmart]

I always enjoy Masterchef AU but I'm over the over the top yelling by the judges.   That being said, the majority of the food this week looked amazing.  I love how much more relaxed Emelia is and please stop annointing people the queen of something when they do something really good once.  One good choux pastry does not a choux queen make.   

[Niuxita]

Whew, it's gonna take me a minute and a half to catch up on all the episodes from a single WEEK, lol. Stay tuned for Christmas Day, when I'll finally be able to post my comments on the finale!

On 4/22/2021 at 8:05 AM, Rosenrot said:

I want Jock to taste my food ( = bowl of Ramen noodles) and look at me intensely. (I'm sorry, I will stop this, I promise. I'm just excited that the show's back again!) 

Don't feel bad, cause I'm about to do the same with Melissa every week. Speaking of, obligatory week 1 thirsty comment: GOD, how I've missed watching her eat.

So great to see Emelia again! Now with 100% more adorableness and sass. "Did I mention I won Back to Win?" "My recipe is on 10play." Yassss girl, own it!

On 4/21/2021 at 6:22 AM, SnideAsides said:

Kishwar is a fucking angel, I love her so much already.

Same!!! She's so lovely! I'd even go so far as to call her my early favourite. It breaks my heart that she clearly doesn't think she's good enough to be on a show like this, but I hope that doesn't end up being her downfall in like a pressure test or something (if they're still gonna do those) when you need to make a ridiculously elaborate dessert that looks exactly like the guest chef's. It would be amazing to see her grow in confidence as the season progresses.

I also want Minoli, Jess, Therese, Depinder and her happy dances, and Elise (who is shaping up to be this season's super cute version of Laura (not that Laura wasn't a cutie, but it's the glasses that do it for me)) to go far. I'd much rather Therese be dubbed this season's Reynold than that other bland dude, but that's just me.

I was happy with the decision to send Trent home, both because I was sure it was Linda after all the camera time she was given and I wanted her to stay after the cool and composed way she dealt with the egg yolk snafu without breaking a sweat (goals!), and because contestants that buy too much into their own "look how OTT I am!" hype annoy the crap out of me. In a similar vein, I can already tell Conor's shtick is gonna wear thin after a few weeks, so I hope he tones it down.

Edited April 26, 2021 by Niuxita

[Rosenrot]

Excuse me but what am I missing here? With the professionals, it was "here's 90 minutes and an open pantry, make what ever you bloody well like" more often than not, and with the amateurs it's straight into "here's this weird poem... thing... that Nigella recites staring way creepily at the camera, make a cake out of that". 

Also, nice try, show. I didn't believe for a second that Blokey was anywhere near getting the boot.

Tom's voice really appeals to me. He could read aloud a phone book and I'd be mush in his hands. I'm glad he stuck around. 

On 4/26/2021 at 10:46 PM, Niuxita said:

Don't feel bad, cause I'm about to do the same with Melissa every week. Speaking of, obligatory week 1 thirsty comment: GOD, how I've missed watching her eat.

Aww, thank you! 😄 We can definitely be thirsty together!

ETA: SORRY, forgot there was a new thread again and posted in the wrong place!

Edited April 27, 2021 by Rosenrot