Everything about Masterchef Canada, eh?

Tonight: Motive, Masterchef Canada, Heartland

Motive, CTV – “Six Months Later”
In the Season 3 premiere of MOTIVE, Detective Angie Flynn (Kristin Lehman) finds herself in a new role within the Metro Police Department, away from Homicide. But news concerning her former partner, Detective Vega (Louis Ferreira), lures her back to help investigate a case involving his father and the death of a beautiful young socialite. A recovering addict, the victim’s past points to a potential overdose as a cause of death. But as details emerge, it becomes clear her death was no accident. Victor Garber (Argo) guest stars.

Masterchef Canada, CTV – “Slice of Life”
The home cooks face their second Mystery Box Challenge and this time, victory rests on an iconic Italian favourite. The home cook who most impresses the judges selects the ingredient everyone else cooks with in an Elimination Challenge inspired by the journey of MASTERCHEF CANADA Season 1 winner, Eric Chong.

Heartland, CBC – “Eclipse of the Heart”
Lou returns from Vancouver with an admission that threatens to change the Heartland family forever.

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Ratings: Masterchef Canada, Saving Hope

From a media release:

The second season of hit original series MASTERCHEF CANADA, which debuted following massive on-air promotion during the Super Bowl on February 1, is currently averaging 1.5 million viewers as a Top 15 hit this winter among all key demos, making it the #1 Canadian series on television. Also in February, SAVING HOPE continued its run as the #1 Canadian drama series this broadcast season among the key adult demos. Its explosive season finale was watched by 1.7 million viewers.

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Review: MasterChef Canada competitor collapses

MasterChef Canada suffered its first call for medics on Sunday night, and it had nothing to do with the high-flying folks of Cirque du Soleil’s show Kurios: A Cabinet of Curiosities. Instead it was frontrunner/former Canadian military member Line who needed medical attention, though not because she cut or burned herself.

Turned out the stress of her Blue Team losing to Andrew’s Red Team during the Team Challenge and a lack of ingesting enough liquids caused the curly-haired home cook to collapse moments after saving herself from the Pressure Test. (Line is fine and returns next week according to the tease for next Sunday’s episode.) Would you have saved yourself from the Pressure Test? Though former CFLer Jon was quick to jump on Line for doing that, I’m pretty sure I would have done the same if I was in her position. After all, MasterChef Canada is a competition, not a summer camp.

Sunday’s “Juggling Act” marked the show’s first Team Challenge, and the all-important first peek at who is rubbing everyone the wrong way. That person is always the last to be picked on a team, and when Jennifer was the one I wasn’t surprised. She’s either super-annoying or being edited that way and was added to Line’s squad last.

It didn’t take long for Jennifer to grate on Line’s nerves because she didn’t know how to use a mandolin; the resulting comments from her team leader left Jennifer in tears and Alvin warning Line that she was being too hard on Jen. Andrew’s team was the polar opposite, a squad full of free thinkers and free-wheeling, a recipe that often results in disaster but in this case secured Andrew and the Red Team a win.

Back in the MasterChef Canada kitchen, the Red Team was tasked with making the French Canadian treat tourtière for the judges. And, after Blue saved Jennifer from elimination and Line took a tumble after saving herself, the remaining cooks got down to business. Having experience making tourtière myself, I know it’s important not to over-season with herbs and cloves and to make sure the meat filling is thick and juicy. Unfortunately, Debra’s wild boar offering was too dry and she left a bay leaf fragment inside, a major no-no. Tammy, meanwhile, foundered because she added too much apple and rosemary to the middle, drawing the attention away from her protein.

In the end it was Debra who was forced to hang up her apron and depart the MasterChef Canada kitchen.

Note and quotes

  • Who else caught the llama head in the first two minutes of the episode? Coincidence or shout-out to last week’s escaped animals?
  • I’m stealing Jon’s idea of tin foil and hotel pans to keep the heat in on an outdoor grill.
  • “I’m so sorry I forgot my lollipop, because there are a whole bunch of suckers here.” I’m not sure what that meant, but clearly Michael meant it as a diss.

MasterChef Canada airs Sundays at 7 p.m. ET on CTV.

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Tonight: Canadian Screen Awards, Heartland, Masterchef Canada

Canadian Screen Awards, CBC
The 2015 Canadian Screen Awards, hosted by Andrea Martin celebrates our country’s finest talent in all screen industries in this star-studded celebration.

Heartland, CBC – “Riders on the Storm”
Amy and Ty help Scott’s nephew realize he is worthy of continuing his family tradition of relay racing.

Masterchef Canada, CTV – “Juggling Act”
The home cooks’ first Team Challenge requires them to cook a hearty performance day lunch for the world-class acrobats, performers, and crew of Cirque du Soleil’s show Kurios: A Cabinet of Curiosities. Once back in the MASTERCHEF CANADA kitchen, the losing team faces the dreaded Pressure Test, in which they are challenged to master a historic Québécois dish.

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Review: Advantages and accidents on MasterChef Canada

If you had the chance to save a competitor in MasterChef Canada, would you save a friend, a weak chef or a strong chef? That was the task left to Jon to contemplate after he emerged as champion of the first Mystery Box Challenge.

If it was me, I’d be saving weaker chefs I felt I could take down later in the contest. Home cooks that looked like they’d break under the pressure of group challenges, would stress out over little things or be totally disorganized. So I wasn’t shocked at all when Jon—after kicking butt with his cream cheese tarts—picked Jennifer as one of the three chefs he’d save from elimination. I was a little shocked that Jon chose David as his first save, though. I’m guessing it’s because they’ve become fast friends, but David has proven himself to be a skilled competitor and that move may come back to haunt Jon.

Speaking of decisions coming back to haunt them, I wonder how Kevin felt after basically saving Andrew from elimination this week? Andrew badly overcooked his pork chop in the Mystery Box and asked for another chunk of meat. Kevin gave him his, and Andrew not only got kudos for that plate but went on to land the top dish of the night with his crispy ginger beef. Andrew will be one of two captains when MasterChef Canada moves to Toronto’s docklands to prepare food for Cirque du Soleil in two week’s time.

Also nabbing a captain’s spot was Line, who was able to turn the one stir fry she tried years ago into a winning plate. The girl needs to lay off the shocked look on her face, though, she knows what she’s doing.

At the other end of the scale were Debbie, Kyle and Kwasi. Debbie cut herself early on Sunday night and never recovered, Kyle’s huge chunks of vegetables doomed him, especially when Alvin made a point of telling him that, and Kwasi’s veggie stir fry wasn’t up to snuff. In the end it was Debbie and Kyle who were shown the door.

Notes and quotes

  • There are still some chefs that haven’t gotten the spotlight at all, like Cody, Christopher and Kristen
  • Is it just me, or does the exterior to MasterChef look a lot like the exterior for Hell’s Kitchen?
  • Lifehack! I forgot you can sharpen a knife using the bottom of a ceramic bowl.
  • “Kevin?!” You couldn’t fake the surprise reaction when Kevin heard his name called out.
  • Michael Bonacini once cooked a chicken with the gizzards still in the plastic bag inside of it? There is hope for us all.

MasterChef Canada airs Sundays at 7 p.m. ET/PT on CTV.

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