Masterchef (US) - General Discussion

[cooksdelight]

Man, that elimination challenge was designed for Subha to fail, no way he could keep up with Gordon. His plate looked like shit. But Micah served raw fish and bless his heart... at 19 he’s done very well to get as far as he did.  I cried right along with him. I’m really sorry his parents couldn't make it, I hope they are OK.

Noah was really hyped up today about tonight’s show so I knew he did well.

That entire challenge was to see who can listen, pay attention and execute within a specified time frame. Whoever wins this is expected to put together a cookbook and make special appearances doing demos of their food. When you think of it in that context, some of these challenges make a lot of sense.

Edited to add that after I slept on it, before I even looked in here to read comments I was furious with Gordon and how he embarrassed Micah. That was downright cruel.

Edited August 29, 2019 by cooksdelight

[daisybumble]

I would bet that they didn't even try to contact Micah's parents, just to have more DRAMA.  I mean, they couldn't even dig up a friend or a cousin or something, just so he would have someone to cheer him on?  And while people most certainly can be weird about things, it doesn't make sense why Micah's parents would have that much hatred against the idea of him being a chef.  It's honest work that can be very lucrative, and have a great deal of opportunity. 

[KLovestoShop]

Some families can be hard asses, and I bet Micah’s is one.  I felt terrible for him, and when he needed medical attention, I knew he was toast.  I really hope GR follows through on his promise to help guide his career.  

[Such A Flirt]

7 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

And they don’t make the family member help them fix a dish, do they? They just hang out on the balcony.

They did have the family members help at least once on MC Canada. Actually, if I remember correctly, the family members did all the cooking while the contestants coached them.

[Love]

Good grief! Subha’s going to win this isn’t he?

[zibnchy]

Fuck this show and fuck Gordon Ramsey. That was just cruel. Not just Gordon's usual asshattery, actual cruelty. Especially nasty how the camera just lingered on poor Micah as he watched so much happy family bullshit from the sidelines.

My shitty family couldn't be bothered to show up at my college graduation and that was 35 years ago and I still remember every bit of how much it hurt me. He will never forget this.

Couldn't they have found a friend or a cousin? Did they even try? Did they think crushing a vulnerable young man on TV would be good for ratings? I wish Micah would tell GR to go fuck himself and find himself a real mentor.

[DoctorK]

1 hour ago, daisybumble said:

I would bet that they didn't even try to contact Micah's parents, just to have more DRAMA.

Yeah, this reeks of manipulation, especially when they showed other contestants with their families/friends etc then cut to Micah standing alone and forlorn. There is no way they couldn't find a nephew, uncle, friend, neighbor ,co-worker or favorite starbucks barrista to support him.

ETA: Gordon sabotaged Micah, when Gordon told everybody to turn their fish, Micah told him that his (he had been delayed with the first aid for his cut) wasn't ready and need more time, Gordon told him to turn it anyway and the fish was under done on that side. More manipulation.

Edited August 29, 2019 by DoctorK

[hhawks]

1 hour ago, daisybumble said:

I would bet that they didn't even try to contact Micah's parents, just to have more DRAMA.  I mean, they couldn't even dig up a friend or a cousin or something, just so he would have someone to cheer him on?  And while people most certainly can be weird about things, it doesn't make sense why Micah's parents would have that much hatred against the idea of him being a chef.  It's honest work that can be very lucrative, and have a great deal of opportunity. 

I wonder how much this episode was scripted.  For the entire hour, every other reaction shot was an emotional

18 minutes ago, zibnchy said:

Fuck this show and fuck Gordon Ramsey. That was just cruel. Not just Gordon's usual asshattery, actual cruelty. Especially nasty how the camera just lingered on poor Micah as he watched so much happy family bullshit from the sidelines.

My shitty family couldn't be bothered to show up at my college graduation and that was 35 years ago and I still remember every bit of how much it hurt me. He will never forget this.

Couldn't they have found a friend or a cousin? Did they even try? Did they think crushing a vulnerable young man on TV would be good for ratings? I wish Micah would tell GR to go fuck himself and find himself a real mentor.

I too thought that Micah was used as a tool tonight in service of Savior Gordo.  Twice Joe said that Micah's soup was the best of the four.  All he did was miss the cook of the fish by two minutes.  The point of the challenge was to see if they could follow Gordo's rapid fire instructions.  Micah did dispute the distractions and slicing up his finger, and Subha clearly was a confused mess  Joe even picked up some gross mystery green thingy off Subha's plate.  So poor Micah, but, wait, let's all be thankful for Gordo to the rescue.  

[jewel21]

I felt really bad for Micah and wondered why they couldn't get one of his friends to come, or a cousin or sibling? Seeing him having to listen and watch the other contestants with their family members broke my heart and I found it incredibly cruel. I really wanted him to win this challenge. He was doing great until he cut himself. I still think he should have been saved over Subah. This show and the judge's decision really angered me and I'm still peeved. 

[Aerobicidal]

"The amazing BJ" is the most stunning three-word phrase in the history of this amazingly stunning season of Masterchef.

I always say that "original screenplay by Sylvester Stallone" is the most stunning five-word phrase in the English language.

But I'm not sure which one is more stunning.

[spiderpig]

Once again Noah's and Subha's dishes looked like barf on a plate.  I felt Micah was exploited by saving him for last in the family Olympics to point out no one would be there for him.

I hate this show when they take cheap shots.

[GaT]

How was Subha not eliminated? Are they keeping him just to surprise us every week? 

Poor MIcah, that was just mean.

[mertensia]

2 hours ago, Aerobicidal said:

"The amazing BJ" is the most stunning three-word phrase in the history of this amazingly stunning season of Masterchef.

I always say that "original screenplay by Sylvester Stallone" is the most stunning five-word phrase in the English language.

But I'm not sure which one is more stunning.

My closed captioning said VJ, so I wondered if she was actually a Vijay.

Poor Micah. That was just... No. I would have been okay if Micah had been all "my folks are vacationing in Australia for their anniversary right now, so I'm cool with their not being here" or being very vocally "fuck them. I don't consider them family."  But no, he gets the shitty parents blowing him off.

So, two injuries in the Dreaded Pressure Test. Maybe season 11 someone will chop off a finger or break an ankle.

watching the previews I did wonder if

Micah got cut because he couldn't get a passport in time.

[galaxychaser]

No one came to my college graduation either. It sucked. Poor Micah I know how he felt.

[Ellee]

At minimum I hope Micah gets money towards tuition from all this.  Giving too much credit to MC here but maybe that was the plan.  

[displayname]

They really couldn't find anyone for Micah? Not even a friend, or coworker... It seems so manipulative.

3 hours ago, mertensia said:

My closed captioning said VJ, so I wondered if she was actually a Vijay. 

The nametag when she was introduced called her "Vijaya".

Edited August 29, 2019 by displayname

[MaryHedwig]

7 hours ago, DoctorK said:

Yeah, this reeks of manipulation, especially when they showed other contestants with their families/friends etc then cut to Micah standing alone and forlorn. There is no way they couldn't find a nephew, uncle, friend, neighbor ,co-worker or favorite starbucks barrista to support him.

Or a high school teacher.

[spiderpig]

I have to come back to sound off again about Micah.

The whole family gimmick did nothing for the competition other than to set up Micah and humiliate him on national television.  Shame!!!  He's 19 years old, and as far as I know isn't an axe murderer or international terrorist.  This could affect him for life, no matter what puny carrot Gordon chose to dangle before hie (which we'll never find out about, if it actually happens which I doubt,)

Signed,

Disgusted

[cameron]

6 hours ago, spiderpig said:

Once again Noah's and Subha's dishes looked like barf on a plate.  I felt Micah was exploited by saving him for last in the family Olympics to point out no one would be there for him.

I hate this show when they take cheap shots.

Both of Subha's dishes in each challenge last night looked like vomit.

Can't believe that the bumbling Subha is still there.  Doesn't follow directions and his food looks crabby.  Still think that this is producer driven like the last season of Master Chef Junior.

[Yeah No]

Once again, Subha survives with only his seasoning and his done-ness getting him there.  It's the same every week.  But you can't hide raw fish, that's the tragedy of this.  I really felt for Micah and hated the way the show went out of its way to humiliate him.  I've been rooting for Subha but not if he has to survive at the expense of someone as good as Micah and with such a poor dish.  Still, I can't feel too badly for Micah - His future is going to be very bright I am sure, especially as a result of this show.

[preeya]

2 hours ago, cameron said:

Both of Subha's dishes in each challenge last night looked like vomit.

Can't believe that the bumbling Subha is still there.  Doesn't follow directions and his food looks crabby.  Still think that this is producer driven like the last season of Master Chef Junior.

1

Of course,  it's producer driven (i.e. scripted) and Gordan Ramsey is the Executive Producer. Also, One Potato Two Potato, the production company was founded by none other than Gordan Ramsey.

On another note: The next two weeks' episodes will be (or were) recorded in London. The three-person finale will be in three weeks.

Edited August 29, 2019 by preeya

[Maximoose]

Let's all just take a moment to reminisce back to the early seasons, when the only MasterChef brand advertising they did in the show were things at Walmart vs today where you can have your very own MasterChef on screen celebrity cook for you/teach you how to cook/file your taxes/walk your dog 😆

[Deskisamess]

Gah, was it necessary to see hunky hubby grab her butt with her legs wrapped around him when they greeted? It's not like she's been deployed for 18 months.

[dvr devotee]

I was cooking myself during the show last night (attempting macarons for the first time), so I was listening but not entirely watching. But I actually yelled out "bullshit!" when Subha was saved over Micah. No, let's not save the 19-year-old who has shown steady progression and an ability to learn; we should keep the 54-year-old who spices his food very well but never listens to or applies the critiques and lessons the judges provide him.

I was also salty last night that Gordon didn't offer to pay for culinary school and instead offers up a "meeting" to help "guide" Micah in his career. But in thinking about it today, I think Gordon does genuinely believe Micah has a great career ahead of him, but maybe he thinks Micah might do just as well (or better) going and learning "on the job" than he would in school. But Gordon isn't going to make that decision unilaterally for Micah. If Micah doesn't want to go to school but wants to get experience on the line, Gordon will help get him into the right place to learn under the right chef. And if he wants to go to culinary school, Gordon will help with that.

[Lindz]

Subha LIVES!! He just won't die!! 😂😂 Micah had it til he cut his finger... why didn't they just have guards?? Gimme a break! I'd be as safe as possible. This challenge was designed to get rid of Subha. His timing's terrible & he doesn't follow instructions. He CANNOT win the whole thing!! I wonder if he intentionally focused on the fish or if it was a fortunate accident. That's where strategy would've saved Micah, if he would've prioritized the fish. Poor thing. We were all rooting for him!! Glad he left with his head held high.

Edited August 29, 2019 by Lindz

[jewel21]

26 minutes ago, dvr devotee said:

I was also salty last night that Gordon didn't offer to pay for culinary school and instead offers up a "meeting" to help "guide" Micah in his career.

Same, it came off really vague when in the past he's been very specific about how he wants to help people. This is a 19 year old kid who is alone and has no one in his corner. I just wanted more for him, for Gordon and co. to give Micah some real hope. Also, a 'come up here and say goodbye' would have been nice, too.

[hhawks]

1 hour ago, dvr devotee said:

I was cooking myself during the show last night (attempting macarons for the first time), so I was listening but not entirely watching. But I actually yelled out "bullshit!" when Subha was saved over Micah. No, let's not save the 19-year-old who has shown steady progression and an ability to learn; we should keep the 54-year-old who spices his food very well but never listens to or applies the critiques and lessons the judges provide him.

I was also salty last night that Gordon didn't offer to pay for culinary school and instead offers up a "meeting" to help "guide" Micah in his career. But in thinking about it today, I think Gordon does genuinely believe Micah has a great career ahead of him, but maybe he thinks Micah might do just as well (or better) going and learning "on the job" than he would in school. But Gordon isn't going to make that decision unilaterally for Micah. If Micah doesn't want to go to school but wants to get experience on the line, Gordon will help get him into the right place to learn under the right chef. And if he wants to go to culinary school, Gordon will help with that.

I like what  you say about Micah and Gordo in theory, but in the real world, I'm not convinced things will be rosy for Micah.

[cameron]

Most mandolins come with finger guards.  All the home cooks should have been using one.  Just rewatched last night's episode and I think that Subha is delusional.  When he said he thinks that he did everything that Gordon had ask them to do with that dish, had to laugh.  Suppose to put the bean puree down first, followed by the minestrone.  Not in his case, and let's not forget he didn't use the stock in his soup.

Edited August 29, 2019 by cameron

[cameron]

Just got done reading about Micah on Reddit.  Apparently he started a Go Fund Me account which didn't go over well with Jaime.  Very interesting back story here.

[eel21788]

9 hours ago, displayname said:

The nametag when she was introduced called her "Vijaya".

At first, I thought is said, "Vajayjay."

[DEL901]

I know they liked the taste of Noah's food, but I thought it was uglier than Subha's plate.

[eel21788]

2 hours ago, jewel21 said:

Same, it came off really vague when in the past he's been very specific about how he wants to help people. This is a 19 year old kid who is alone and has no one in his corner. I just wanted more for him, for Gordon and co. to give Micah some real hope. Also, a 'come up here and say goodbye' would have been nice, too.

I was pretty disappointed, too. We have certainly seen in the past Gordon Ramsey is capable of a whole lot more.

[Samwise979]

Poor Micah. Ugh I felt so bad for him. I go back and forth on my opinion of Dorian but I was so happy to see her repeatedly hugging him. I know I'm probably reading too much into this relationship but I hope she has adopted him as quasi son and is in his life for a long long time. 

Like others have said, he doesn't have a best friend? Cousin? Coworker? No one??? Shame on the show for not finding someone to come support him. Last season of big brother Canada, the final four had their moms visit - except one guy who's parents didn't approve of him being on the show but, his best friend showed up! It's still a gut punch not to have a parent there but at least you're not completely alone. 

If they seriously could not find anyone to come support Micah, they should have eliminated this part of the show. 

[cameron]

30 minutes ago, DEL901 said:

I know they liked the taste of Noah's food, but I thought it was uglier than Subha's plate.

I actually had a different take on this.

2 minutes ago, eel21788 said:

I was pretty disappointed, too. We have certainly seen in the past Gordon Ramsey is capable of a whole lot more.

Wondering if this goes back to the Go Fund Me and other things that are surfacing on the internet.

[mlp]

I agree with all the comments about poor Micah.  That whole thing was uncomfortable to watch.  I haven't cared much for Dorian but I really liked the way her maternal instincts kicked in and she went over to comfort Micah and her husband also supported him.

Subha is twice the age of some of the other contestants and he's not used to speed cooking with someone yelling at him.  I totally understand why he gets flustered.  In the end, his food tastes good even though it's not artfully displayed.  That saves him.  I don't think he'll win but I do think he deserves to be there.  

My choice for the win at this point is Nick.  He's doing well and he seems to have the passion for cooking that you hear chefs talk about.  Also, he's intelligent, articulate and good-looking.  He'd represent the MC brand well.

[jewel21]

Nick is my favourite for all the reasons you listed above. I would love for him to win.

[preeya]

Just watched a preview clip of next week's London challenge.

Spoiler

It takes place in Gordan's signature restaurant and he's as ornery as ever.

The teams are divided as follows: RED = Shari, Nick, Subha  BLUE = Dorian, Sarah, Noah

 

[hhawks]

2 hours ago, Samwise979 said:

Poor Micah. Ugh I felt so bad for him. I go back and forth on my opinion of Dorian but I was so happy to see her repeatedly hugging him. I know I'm probably reading too much into this relationship but I hope she has adopted him as quasi son and is in his life for a long long time. 

Like others have said, he doesn't have a best friend? Cousin? Coworker? No one??? Shame on the show for not finding someone to come support him. Last season of big brother Canada, the final four had their moms visit - except one guy who's parents didn't approve of him being on the show but, his best friend showed up! It's still a gut punch not to have a parent there but at least you're not completely alone. 

If they seriously could not find anyone to come support Micah, they should have eliminated this part of the show. 

I completely agree that they should have eliminated the entire family part.  Instead they made it the focus with far too many reaction shots of Micah all alone.  I was also happy to see Dorian so supportive.  I've noticed those two have been supportive for awhile now.  What exactly is it with his parents?  Are they in jail?  Are they sickly?  Have they disowned their son?  I still can't understand that either Micah has nobody in his life ever who would support him on one episode of a reality tv show, or Gordo and the producers couldn't get his parents, so they said that's it, let's focus an episode on Micah's having nobody and then eliminating him because he made one mistake on his dish, which was otherwise declared the best, and one of the other contestants had a crappy presentation of a seriously flawed, but spicy, dish.

[jewel21]

Apparently Micah's parents don't support his culinary dreams and told him he would fall flat on his face and fail. I believe that they basically said if you go on the show, don't bother coming back home. Or at least, that's how I understand the situation. 

[OoogleEyes]

That was kind of heartbreaking. I hope that Micah is truly not that alone in the world. 

[Deskisamess]

It's despicable that everyone involved with the production of this show thought doing that to Micah was ok. It was horrid.

If he was a man in his 40's it would be totally different. At 19, he is barely an adult. If his home life is what they've made it out to be, this was intentional and done to garner viewers and rating points.

The way it was handled was flat out abusive. 

[cooksdelight]

I thought his parents were out of the country?

[Dance4Life]

Every week people are ‘winning’ by default.  Someone is presenting raw food.

This season sucks! 

MC and Big Brother.....bust! 

But, why do I keep watching???

We all know the Harvard kid  is gonna win. 

Micah is only 19! He will go to culinary and cook! He doesn’t need no stinking show with sucky cooks! 

[galaxychaser]

6 hours ago, cameron said:

Just got done reading about Micah on Reddit.  Apparently he started a Go Fund Me account which didn't go over well with Jaime.  Very interesting back story here.

Can you post a link?

[hhawks]

1 hour ago, Deskisamess said:

It's despicable that everyone involved with the production of this show thought doing that to Micah was ok. It was horrid.

If he was a man in his 40's it would be totally different. At 19, he is barely an adult. If his home life is what they've made it out to be, this was intentional and done to garner viewers and rating points.

The way it was handled was flat out abusive. 

Yes, what a buzz kill for a fun little cooking show.  It's despicable the way the entire episode was handled.  I wandered over to Reddit to see what the controversy is.  Micah has a GoFundMe sight.  So what?  He's not as wealthy as shiny country club Nick, so a poor teenager has a GoFundMe and apparently Chef Jamie from earlier in the season is commenting and he too is not supportive.

[Dance4Life]

2 hours ago, jewel21 said:

Apparently Micah's parents don't support his culinary dreams and told him he would fall flat on his face and fail. I believe that they basically said if you go on the show, don't bother coming back home. Or at least, that's how I understand the situation. 

Am I the only one not buying this?  

I have a feeling there are no parents.....junkies.........jail.....divorced/family separation.........I dunno......maybe my imagination is running wild....here. 

[hhawks]

2 minutes ago, galaxychaser said:

Can you post a link?

I googled Micah Big Brother Reddit and got a bunch of results to click on.

1 minute ago, Dance4Life said:

Am I the only one not buying this?  

I have a feeling there are no parents.....junkies.........jail.....divorced/family separation.........I dunno......maybe my imagination is running wild....here. 

I said so too.  What's the real story with the parents and that shitty episode?

[galaxychaser]

Gordon covered his ass since he really didn’t promise him anything specific like

paying for culinary school 

giving him a job for 2 months in his restaurant 

[hhawks]

Just now, galaxychaser said:

Gordon covered his ass since he really didn’t promise him anything specific like

paying for culinary school 

giving him a job for 2 months in his restaurant 

Shame on you, Gordo.

[Deskisamess]

The Masterchef Facebook Page is full of gushing support for how wonderful GR is for offering to mentor him. No one is being critical of the show and the obvious manipulation of the entire thing.