‘MasterChef Junior’ season 5, episode 2 review: The chicken dance and the lobster mash

Tonight on Fox, we had the second episode of “MasterChef Junior” season 5, and with that, some great opportunities to dive into the talent and the passion of some of the young cooks this season. It’s the show that makes you smile, and for some of you in the midst of terrible weather and political craziness over the past couple of months, you probably need a break.

Also, it’s a show that makes you really hungry if you’re watching it and you haven’t had dinner just yet.

Tonight, we saw a variety of different tasty dishes, and more contestants who came into the kitchen hoping to earn a white apron and a spot in the next round of the competition. Tonight in particular we saw a really fun cook-off when it comes to a number of different food items. The chicken showdown is probably the one that made us the absolute hungriest, just because it’s A) what we’re craving while writing this and B) we’ve got some in the house. The lobster showdown at the tail end tonight was a little less relatable, given that this doesn’t qualify as the sort of food that we often tend to make for anyone.

In these early episode reviews, it’s hard to analyze the field of individual contestants too intensely. We don’t know any of the participants that well, and they’re not wearing aprons with their names on them; therefore, it’s heard to muster up all that much of an opinion on some of them as personalities. They do seem fun, but we also do the thing in these early episodes where you try not to get too invested into any contestant or their story because of the fact that this could lead to massive disappointment when they’re eliminated. We’re losing a good HALF of the contestants tonight! That, dear friends, is quite a few.

So what’s the reason for this particular title? It goes like this — every now and then when you see one of the home cooks succeed in the kitchen, you get a little dance, even if it’s a super-subtle one. Hence, the chicken dance and the lobster mash. One of them has already taken off. As for the other, let’s just say that we’re not entirely sure that it will.

Overall – As we noted, this season is still in its infancy, and there’s not much to comment on critically when it comes to episodes this straightforward. If you watch “MasterChef Junior” often, you know that this is not a show that takes a whole lot of risks. It knows what it is, what it’s good at, and it sticks to that. When we get more of the contestants, there’ll be opportunities to see them shine a little bit more. Grade: B.

What did you think of tonight’s episode? Let us know some of your thoughts a comment, and head over here to get some more news when it comes to the show. (Photo: Fox.)