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Review: Hairy wedding on MasterChef Canada

Sunday’s newest episode of MasterChef Canada, “Wedding on the Waves,” was notable for a couple of reasons. First, it featured perhaps the most difficult Team Challenge so far—making a three-course wedding dinner on a boat for 70—and it saw the expulsion of two strong home cooks during the Pressure Test.

Andrew, who I thought had a very good chance of competing in the season finale, and Cody saw their fates sealed when they ran into the buzz saw that is a French fruit tart. Cody has been an up-and-down competitor who has the confidence to win but was betrayed by an ego that made big promises he couldn’t deliver.

The pair were both members of the losing blue team earlier in the episode thanks to a three-course meal that was skimpy on big flavours and fraught with bad time management. Andrew had rightly given his team the chance to shine during each of their courses, but he didn’t step in at the right moments and confusion reigned. Appetizers were tabled missing key ingredients and that as enough to hand them defeat.

Michael, on the other hand, was an astute and canny leader, knowing when to step in and take charge on the boat, a key move that got them back on track after a canapé was served with a hair in it. To the bride. Some crews would have been deflated and easy to beat, but not the red squad. Michael bucked up their confidence and they walked away with the win thanks to a winning canapé from Sabrina and a beautiful plating of their duck breast main course.

Once the Pressure Test began, I targeted Cody, Andrew and Jon for elimination. All three fumbled along the way, but Jon’s tart won out despite being a little light on pastry cream. Andrew had plenty of cream but it lacked flavour and Cody forgot to put raspberries on his tart, a major sin in a replication challenge.

Who do you think will win MasterChef Canada? Comment below or via Twitter @tv_eh.

Notes and quotes

  • Toronto’s harbourfront beautiful? Sure, if you ignore the construction and fishy smell.
  • Having your wedding featured on MasterChef Canada is certainly a way to make the memories last forever.
  • I would have eaten Sabrina’s fig-proscuitto flower. Who am I kidding? I would have eaten 10 of them.
  • It sure looked windy and cold out there on that boat.

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

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Preview: Timber Kings spinoff Carver Kings spotlights chainsaw artists

I’m a fan of Timber Kings, HGTV’s hit docudrama about the guys and gals of Pioneer Homes who create fanciful masterpiece log homes for clients. I’m always amazed at how those folks not only see art in trees but turn their visions into a reality.

I’m just as impressed, and maybe even a little more so, with the dudes on Carver Kings. A companion piece to Timber Kings, each half-hour instalment spotlights the guys at Pioneer who create carved pieces to accompany the homes built. Sunday’s finale jumps right in with Mark Colp and Ryan Cook carving a 13-foot modern totem pole ordered by a couple who own a ski lodge built by Pioneer in Colorado. Mark and Ryan have just five days to create a stunning piece featuring animals native to the area: a wolf, owl, bear, fox and eagle.

And while Mark is a speedster with the saw, Ryan is a relative rookie and Mark is unsure of his partner’s chops. Reality shows like Carver Kings usually inject some kind of drama into the storytelling and this is no different. Will Ryan make mistakes? Yes. Does he battle back and fix them? Why, yes. And as long as you go into this knowing the thrills are a little contrived, you’ll enjoy yourself. Also on tap in Sunday’s debut: three junior carvers are given a big job by veteran Pete Ryan, who challenges them to create a Pioneer Homes logo to be placed on the Carver Corner building.

Visually, Carver Kings is stunning. You can almost smell the cedar as wood shavings cascade down as intricate artwork is teased out of the trees. The series is a worthy companion to Timber Kings and worth checking out.

Carver Kings airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV Canada.

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Comments and queries for the week of April 3

I have been trying to find out why Line didn’t have to be tested [during last Sunday’s episode of MasterChef Canada]. If you or anyone else knows please let me know.—Sharon

There are weeks when there is so much going on with other contestants that others don’t get any screen time. That was the case with Line and Sabrina this week.


I think TV critics are useful for the industry, so long as they are reviewing shows that are their type. By this I mean that someone who doesn’t like sci-fi, shouldn’t critique a sci-fi series, someone who has never liked the romantic comedy genre should not review a romantic comedy, and a 61-year-old man shouldn’t critique a series about 20-something women unless any of them can actually do it objectively and empathetically. Too often I’ve seen a terrific show being ripped to shreds in a review, only because the critic has no interest in the genre and can’t or won’t try to connect to it. Sci-fi shows seem to get the worst of it and when you go to fan sites and such, you hear about it, especially around awards season where it’s almost like critics look down on the genre.—Alicia


Cheers, Diane, for taking on a poll and the blow-back that apparently goes with it. ;) My “write-in vote” would be, (perhaps no surprise) for Strange Empire, at least for what it was reflecting in Canadian thought about our history during during its run (2014-2015). The Indigenous and multi-gender viewpoints, not to mention the quality of acting and writing, marked a step forward for the CBC network, in my opinion. Time may prove that this show was CBC at one of its most interesting (and important) points. The network is, unfortunately, a little less on both fronts now, with their abrupt and less-than-forthright cancellation of the show.—Chad

I’m a U.S. citizen but my mom grew up in a very small town in Saskatchewan. We’d visit every other summer growing up. Corner Gas reminds me so much if those visits. Aside from that it’s also one of the funniest shows I’ve ever seen regardless of country of origin.—DC

They should rename Schitt’s Creek “Schitt’s Creek – USA.” Anytime they mention a place or location, it is in the U.S. Anytime a person is mentioned outside their small community, it is usually an American or someone foreign. There is nothing Canadian about it. Even Mr. D is getting into the U.S.A. game.—Georges


I first thought Crabtree was covering for Edna or Simon [on Murdoch Mysteries], but the fact that he left his boots to be so easily found is not in his character as a police officer. There is definitely more than meets the eye here. Simon said that his father was involved in a criminal element so maybe someone from his past will surface and be found guilty. I want Crabtree to get together with Edna. They make a better match than he and Emily.—Cloquette

George would not have killed Edna’s husband. It’s just not in his character. I believe he is protecting either Edna or Simon. But if he tried to help them cover it up, he’s done a very sloppy job and one that, at best, would make him an accessory after the fact, and something that would cost him his job as a police officer. Not at all the calibre we have come to expect from him in his association with William. Perhaps he discovered the crime scene, walking through the blood, and allowed the clues to be discovered pointing to him to give Edna and Simon time to disappear. Still somewhat culpable, but not as reprehensible. I would sorely miss the character of George were he to leave the program. Mind you, they’re all integral to the series and the absence of any one of them would be unfortunate.—Koboclio

Got a comment or question about Canadian TV? greg@tv-eh.com or @tv_eh.

 

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Review: Kings, queens and gods on Vikings

Before I get into this week’s Vikings review, I’d like to pause for a moment and remember Athelstan. Unlike Siggy, I didn’t really see his death coming. Sure, Floki has been giving Athelstan major side-eye this season, but still, I thought Ragnar’s Christian friend would last until the end of the Viking king’s reign. He will be missed.

When Clive Standen told me earlier this year that the siege of Paris was coming, I was excited. Then I spoke to the folks at Mr. X Inc. and Take 5 Productions, who do the visual effects for Vikings. From what they told me, this Thursday’s episode, “Paris,” would blow my mind.

And it did. Wasting absolutely no time with the journey around Europe, Ragnar and his supporters cruised up the Seine and had Paris in their sights. (That staring fight between Ragnar and Floki was amazing, wasn’t it? Floki looked pretty scared, if you ask me.) Unfortunately, the battle didn’t take place this week. But heck, you have to set up camp and prepare. And what preparations! I’m assuming Ragnar is playing Floki like a lute by giving him the important role of leading the first siege against Paris. If Floki fails, it will be his fault and because the gods are angry with him. But he might just succeed, what with those cool and impressive-looking siege towers he’s constructed.

“Paris” also introduced viewers to a pair of real historical figures in Count Odo and Emperor Charles, the former a bold, brash, calculating man and the latter a weakling paranoid he’s not as revered as his predecessor, Charlemagne, and relying on his daughter, Princess Gisla, to keep him focused. Charles clearly wanted to run off as soon as Odo reported the Northmen were on the way.

Meanwhile, back in Wessex, King Ecbert and Queen Kwenthrith were involved in a pissing match over who was the most powerful and it looks like Ecbert is going to win out. He has, after all, stayed ahead of Ragnar and is plotting to take over the land lorded over by Judith’s father. (Did anyone else find it a little creepy that Ecbert kissed his daughter-in-law passionately on the lips?)

The teaser’s for next week’s episode shows Floki leading the charge against Paris. A quick Google search revealed the Vikings didn’t sack the city, so we’ll see if Michael Hirst’s story sticks to historical events or goes off in a new direction.

Notes and quotes

  • The throbbing background beat during Ragnar’s voyage up the Seine set the tone for the episode.
  • I’m digging Ragnar’s bald look. Paired with those tattoos, he looks totally scary.
  • The snake and mouse Ragnar was holding in the camp wasn’t coincidence. But was Ragnar the serpent or the rodent?

Vikings airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on History.

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Killjoys lands on Space in June

This just in: Killjoys takes off on Space in June. The specialty network made the announcement earlier today, noting Season 1 launches Friday, June 19, at 9 p.m. ET on Space.

As previously announced, the Space/Syfy series—starring Aaron Ashmore, Luke Macfarlane and Hannah John-Kamen—comes from the folks at Temple Street Productions, who head up a little show called Orphan Black. Michelle Lovretta (Lost Girl) serves as writer, creator and showrunner.

The trio portray three interplanetary bounty hunters—a.k.a. Killjoys—as they fulfill deadly warrants across a planetary system called the Quad. (Check out the explosive teaser trailer below.)

Here’s how Space describes each character:

“Hannah John-Kamen stars as the gorgeous, complicated, and deadly Dutch. A top-level Killjoy, she’s a much loved and charming presence in her community, with a unique gift for earning people’s trust and respect regardless of their class. Under her banter and protective flirtations, there is pain, maturity, and a deep solemnity resulting from a dark secret past.

Aaron Ashmore takes on the role of John Jaqobis, a Level 3 Killjoy who, despite his profession, is a peacemaker who hates conflict. Cheerful and kind-hearted, John prefers not to fight, but his sarcastic wit has put him into the fray enough over the years to teach him how to do it well, and dirty. Give this man any machine or situation, and he can fix it, build it, and fly it.

Luke Macfarlane stars as D’avin, a handsome, rugged, sarcastic, and incredibly loyal former soldier. He dreamed of enlisting in the military since boyhood, and his hard-won expertise in tactics, manoeuvres, and hand-to-hand combat make him an instant asset to the Killjoy team.”

Who is pumped for the debut? Tweet @tv_eh!

Killjoys debuts Friday, June 19, at 9 p.m. ET on Space.

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