If it was me, I’d be too star-struck to make an omelette, much less anything high-end for Graham Elliot. And yet that’s exactly what was expected of the Top 8 on Sunday night. “Good Things in Small Packages” showcased not only the finalists preparing a dish utilizing ingredients the MasterChef U.S. judge had selected, but Canada as a cooking nation. Elliot was quick to celebrate the talents of this season’s home cooks, a fact that was cemented at the conclusion of the Mystery Box challenge when he, Michael, Alvin and Claudio tasted four plates rather than the usual three.

In something that has become a trend of this season, David impressed with his stuffed quail (he had expertly boned it prior to stuffing it) and won immunity from the Elimination Challenge.

Every season in the MasterChef franchise seems to feature that odd-looking, phallic sea creature known as the geoduck, and this year was no exception. The suggestive shellfish was one of three sea creatures David could choose to saddle his competitors with and he went with sea snails as conch. That move made perfect sense to David—assuming no one had prepared conch before—but he was dead wrong: Christopher and Jennifer both had recipes ready to go. Things might have turned out quite differently if the judges didn’t throw a massive twist at the finalists: after choosing their ingredients everyone had to move one station forward and use the ingredients chosen by their competitor instead.

What followed was mass confusion until the clock started to tick. Then everyone buckled down and got going—they only had 45 minutes to make something—and I was most impressed with Jon. Despite being a huge, burly CFLer, he showed great restraint and finesse with his sea snail and conch fettuccine with mushrooms, which was a hit with the judges. Christopher once again proved to be a tough chef to beat, wowing everyone with his paella and scoring the top dish of the night. Michael’s conch fritters were a close second.

Someone had to be on the bottom, and that fell to Tammy and Jennifer for their sub-par offerings. Tammy was shown the door.

Notes and quotes

• As soon as Line said she hoped Tammy would be in the finals I knew the mother of six was toast. There was no reason to have that comment in the episode if it didn’t foreshadow what was to come.
• “I’m going to be out of my comfort zone working with these itty-bitty ingredients.” — Jon
• The look on David’s face when Jon slapped his butt was priceless.
• I’m sorry guys, but the making a heart out of your hands is done.

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

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.

You’re only as good as your last dish. Michael Bonacini’s point was certainly driven home on Sunday when David found himself in the bottom two next to Kwasi. It was a pretty stunning fall for David, who has up until this point wowed the judges with his creative take on several recipes, earning him challenge wins and spots as team captain.

And yet it almost ended during “One Potato, Two Potato,” first when his red team and Sabrina’s blue team lost the Team Challenge to Line’s ragtag group of misfits on the green squad. I was sure that David’s bacon-topped poutine would win him votes from hungry University of Guelph students, and they very well might have if the contest had taken place right after the campus pub closed for the night. Instead, the kids—seemingly sober after a day full of classes—opted for Line’s butter chicken on fries and she walked away with the win and safety for her team.

That meant strong chefs like Michael, Christopher, Sabrina and Cody battled it out in the Elimination Challenge re-creating tortellini for the judges. And though Cody, Sabrina and David were confident their flavours would triumph, all three were criticized for lacklustre attempts. Luckily for them, Kwasi’s African and Italian-inspired pasta filling confused the judges, leaving them the easy task of sending him home.

Notes and quotes

• I had no clue the University of Guelph had that agricultural program. Is it too late for me to enrol as a mature student?
• Michael Bonacini can talk about “perfectly seasoned gravy” all he wants. University kids aren’t picky when it comes to scarfing down poutine after a night at the campus pub.
• “Grab your potatoes!” Alvin makes everything sound dirty.
• Alvin is the huggiest judge of Season 2.
• As a judge, I’d be worried there was finalist sweat in my food.

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