MASTERCHEF “Top 5 Compete” Season 2, Episode 17 – Tonight’s MasterChef Mystery Box Challenge evoked grumbling from the remaining contestants once they discovered that the test was to create an elegant and delicious dish made from ground beef, ground pork and/or ground veal.
Throughout the entire Mystery Box segment, Suzy’s side interviews were driving me crazy. In the kitchen, she seemed quiet and calm, but once she was alone with the camera it was like her inner diva could no longer be contained. I’m not sure how manufactured that snarky persona is because the way those side interviews were cut together it made it seem like it would be impossible for her to feel anything but envy or disdain for her fellow competitors. Yet, when Ben won the challenge with his version of the shepherd’s pie, she was there in the background smiling and laughing along with all the other contestants who seemed genuinely happy for Ben.
Having won the Mystery Box Challenge, Ben received the advantage for the Elimination Challenge that followed. In earlier reviews, I had remarked that aside from the offer of immunity, the “advantages” were often not that helpful, but in this case, Ben not only got to pick the dish they were going to prepare, he was able to ask three questions about Chef Ramsay’s $87.00 dish that the contestants were going to have to replicate. To his credit, Ben asked good questions about the preparation of the parsnips and venison but he was the first to admit that he squandered his opportunity.
Suzy was the only one of the remaining contestants who managed to replicate the dish somewhat successfully. Ben, Christian, Jennifer and Adrien all landed in the bottom and it seemed like the judges were ranking them in order of bad to worst.
Despite his advantage, Ben produced a complete flop of a dish. Ben was the contestant I was hoping to go all the way to the top in the MasterChef competition, so I was very disappointed to see him go home at this point. I loved the comedy he brought to MasterChef through his outrageous commentary and ridiculous facial expressions, but mostly I loved his excitement for food, his honesty and the optimism he maintained throughout the entire competition. It seems as though he left as much of an impression on the three judges as he had on me, so who knows, maybe we’ll see a MasterChef themed, Ben Star inspired chef hat in the near future.
Although Christian’s dish was not the worst, I was hoping – as Chef Bastianich said – that his arrogance would be the end of him. It’s one thing for him to gloat when his dishes are impeccable and well received, but Christian has repeatedly shown that he is unwilling to accept any criticisms. At this point, I’m cheering for “anyone but Christian” and I’ll be rooting for him to be the next one to turn in his MasterChef apron.
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