Reality television is a heightened reality, not really “real” at all. Footage is filmed and then the storytelling is all done in the editing room. The result? What happened in Sunday’s episode of MasterChef Canada, where an open smoker door and open oven door was played up for dramatic effect.
Listen, I get that Sean likes to constantly check on food—he probably opens his front door in the winter—but there’s no way cracking the barbecue smoker lid for a few seconds to check on those ribs is the reason Team Red’s weren’t as tender as Team Blue. That is, unless Sean opened the smoker and walked away for five minutes. Now, he could have done that, except no one actually said how long the lid was open. Everyone was talking about how bad it was he’d done it, but there was no indication as to the time lapse. The outcome? The Blue Team won and Sean was blamed for the loss. (I also find it interesting that Matthew got to pick his “dream team” all at once, but no one mentioned the fact Michelle got an extra home cook in the deal.)
So it was the Red Team ended up in their first Pressure Test of this season. Matthew, rightly so, chose to save himself from cooking and picked best bud Jeremy to join him in the loft. That left Sean, Vince, Jacqueline and Mary to fend for themselves. Of those, I knew Mary would be safe as soon as Michael Bonacini revealed cupcakes were the challenge. Mary lives and breathes baking and her confections stole the show. The biggest surprise was Jacqueline, who didn’t let a little celiac disease stop her from creating wicked-good delights for the judges.
Meanwhile, the ham-handed Sean and Vince were in a neck-in-neck race for “clumsiest looking” cupcakes, something Vince won and was eliminated for.
MasterChef Canada airs Sundays at 7 p.m. ET on CTV.