After weeks of competition, countless dishes, tough challenges and buckets of tears, MasterChef Canada crowned a Season 2 winner: concrete worker David Jorge edged out Line Pelletier to take the title, trophy and $100,000 grand prize.

“I am the best home cook in Canada and no one can take that away from me,” David said moments after he was named winner, sharing the good news (and more than a few tears) with his wife, mother and two sons. He plans to use his windfall to start his own restaurant.

“I’m not going to give up because there is always another road to the finish line,” Line said after her close defeat. The finale was incredibly tight and I have to admit it did look like Line was going to snag the crown. Not only do cooking competitions tend to reward competitors who evolve week to week like she did, but her underdog story certainly made her one of the show’s sweethearts.

But nothing could stop David, whose culinary skills led him to numerous weekly wins and a spot at the top of the show almost every week.

In an interesting twist to what the pair did week to week, David opted for more rustic adaptations for his appetizer, main and dessert while Line went more high-class, proving she could compete with her counterpart. David’s early gaffe, leaving membrane on his sweetbreads, was erased by a stellar pork and seafood entree and layered lemon dessert. Line started off strong with a surf and turf app followed by an elk and potato main that landed a little left of the mark with judges Claudio Aprile, Alvin Leung and Michael Bonacini. I thought her dessert of a cheese plate was a little simplistic, though its multiple ingredients wowed the judging trio.

Unlike some cooking shows where one or more undeserving competitors squeak into the finale, I was pleased David and Line made it. Both definitely earned the right to be there and came off as giving, caring people who were respected by their fellow competitors.

Notes and quotes

• Guys, is the making a heart with your fingers still a thing?
• I really wish the editing for this episode had allowed us to see Line make those cool curled crackers for her appetizer.
• When Claudio is freaking out over time, like he was with David during the dessert round, you know you’re in trouble.

What did you think of this season of MasterChef Canada? Comment below or on Twitter via @tv_eh.

Just in time for Mother’s Day, Sunday’s episode of MasterChef Canada boasted mothers … sons, daughters, sisters, brothers, wives, fathers and boyfriends as the folks the contestants left behindto compete were there to cheer them on. Yes, things got a little dusty both on the MasterChef Canada set and on my couch as Alvin, Michael and Claudio introduced the families of Line, Sabrina, Christopher, David and Cody and everyone shared an embrace.

And it was Line who came out as the big winner during “From Home with Love,” snagging her very first Mystery Box challenge—in front of her daughters, no less—and a coveted spot in the semifinals. Joining her there are Cody, Sabrina and David, who successfully navigated the most difficult Elimination Challenge so far.

Kudos to Line for using her past work in military intelligence in the MasterChef Canada kitchen. After observing her fellow competitors, she successfully threw both Cody and Christopher curve balls that put them in the bottom two. Giving Cody a crepe pan to use was genius; she correctly advised he would overthink what he had to do and stumble. Cody used a head-shaking 13 ingredients in three crepes and ran out of time on them, failing to finish plating completely. Luckily for him, what he managed to get onto the plate tasted good.

Christopher struggled with the meat grinder he was given and churned out a pork patty dry and devoid of flavour. Christopher was off his game all night and I blame the fact his parents and brother were there at the beginning. That seemed to throw off his focus and he never recovered. As a result, he was eliminated.

Sabrina wasn’t derailed by the pressure cooker she was handed; the Montreal native whipped off braised lamb on top of homemade pasta that had Claudio drooling.

And then there was David, who managed to make vanilla bean ice cream with thyme and lemon in under an hour and served it on top of a blueberry cake. Cooking and tempering custard for ice cream takes time and it needs to be cooled before it can go into the cooling chamber to make the frozen dessert. Somehow David pulled it off, and he and Line may very well end up being in the finale against one another.

Notes and quotes

• Whatever Cody ends up doing as a profession, surgeon should not be it. His hands shake way too much.
• “That is cookies and milk in dreamland!” Alvin is the best.
• “You are the only Chinese dude who is challenged by rice. — Claudio

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