‘MasterChef’ season 7, episode 5 preview: Claudia returns for a Mystery Box!

After tonight’s new episode of “MasterChef,” we admittedly needed a little bit of a chaser. This episode lacked much creativity in terms of either the cuisine or the edit, so getting back to something a little more in our personal wheelhouse after a Pressure Test-less Team Challenge is welcome.

Next week, we have the return of the Mystery Box! Not only that, but we’ve got the return of former champ Claudia to help introduce it. While we’d be down for seeing an all-star version of this show down the road, we suppose that it takes away from the original premise of home cooks start from nothing and working to make their dreams come true. The idea of bringing former contestants back in other capacities plays up the whole inspirational angle more. Plus, we’re just glad they are doing it, since it at least makes this show better at this than “The Voice.”

One home cook (at least) will likely leave at the end of the episode, and following a baking Elimination Challenge that may produce some disastrous results. This is the sort of thing that any smart contestant should at this point be studying, mostly because you have to know that this is something that is going to be introduced at some point along the way. If you’re not prepared for it, then what were you doing instead leading up to filming?

Sure, there were some small glimpses of contestants along the way in the preview, but there is no guarantee that they correspond to any of the dishes shown.

Interested in getting our full review of tonight’s “MasterChef” episode? Then be sure to head over here, or sign up at this link to get some other tasty TV news on all we cover, sent right over to you via our official CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: Fox.)