‘MasterChef’ season 5, episode 14 review: Did tag team challenge ruin Cutter, Big Willie?

Tonight on “MasterChef,” we had what was without a doubt the most intense episode of the entire season. The tag-team challenge involving dim sum was all sorts of crazy from start to finish.

We should mention here that Courtney was once again declared victorious in a Mystery Box Challenge (yawn), which then gave her the power to pair up the remaining contenders for the rest of the episode. You had Cutter and Elizabeth, Big Willie and Christian, and Leslie and Jaimee.

This may be the most bizarre challenge that we’ve ever seen with the dim sum, since typically, communication correlates directly to success. Not this time! Despite looking like a mess, Leslie and Jaimee managed to make the best dish by far. Maybe Leslie thrives under chaos, or maybe this is normal for him. We actually felt bad for Jaimee, and we say this as someone who finds Leslie great fun most of the time.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth and Cutter, despite a great dynamic as a team, put up some terrible food. Christian and Big Willie’s failures, meanwhile, were more expected based on how they clashed the entire time they were cooking. Despite Courtney’s smirks, we really didn’t think that Elizabeth was in that much danger. She’s been incredible all season, and she was not the only reason for this disaster.

Of course, Leslie and Jaimee were the winners, and when Elizabeth and Cutter were safe, it felt pretty clear that this was Willie’s last bow. He had some good moments early in the competition … but they were early. He’s struggled as of late, almost like this competition became too intense for him. He’s really not meant for this particular competition; his love for food would come out better where he can have more time to shine rather than getting yelled at. Episode Grade: B.

What did you think about this “MasterChef” episode? Share below, and head over here to get some further scoop related tot he show. Also, you can sign up now for some more scoop on everything we cover

Photo: Fox