‘MasterChef’ season 7, episode 2 review: The top 20 is chosen

The opening episodes of “MasterChef” are typically fun to watch as a viewer, but when it comes to writing a review about them, it’s difficult. We don’t know the people, and as a result of that, it’s really all about the food.

While at times the audition format of this show changes, what we like about the decisions made this season is that we’ve got the combatants doing something with structure. You’re either pairing them off or putting them in groups of four, and from there, having them cook relatively similar dishes like burgers or shrimp and grits. The twist is that they can make them however they want. This allows for creativity, regionality, and personality to come through. We had this several times in this episode, but not always to great effect. What we often found is that people who kept their ingredients and their ideas simple were the ones who got the white aprons in the end.

We also, surprisingly, like the two-person judging panel at this point. There’s really no need to go crazy with the amount of opinions, since Christina Tosi and Gordon Ramsay do the job just fine. We’ll be a tad more confirmed when the guest judges start coming and the show potentially becomes more about introducing these people than getting to know the contestants that we have.

For now, we’ve got a good cast, some tasty food, and relatively straightforward storytelling. It’s “MasterChef.” Basically, if you’re used to this comfort food, you probably loved this hour, even if there were few twists and not a whole lot of tension in the edit moving into meeting our top 20. Episode Grade: B.

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