MasterChef season 8 episode 11 review: A cliffhanger; Newton vs. a jar

In some ways, MasterChef season 8 episode 11 was both exciting and maddening — especially in terms of its ending.

We figure that there are many people out there who are angry about the show ending with a cliffhanger — personally, we’re the most angry for Newton and Yachecia, who have to carry around with them this secret for another week. There is also some disappointment that comes from this when it comes to closure. Neither one of these two is going to get the memorable goodbye package where they get to talk about the journey and explain what it meant to them — at least if they’re planning to do the show as it was shown to us in the preview where there’s this big reveal back in the kitchen. That’s a bummer for either one of these two, who have been two of the biggest personalities in the kitchen this season.

Let’s step back for a moment to how we got here, given that one of the big themes for this entire night was things turning out incomplete. Daniel’s team lost the Caesar’s Palace dinner challenge as a part of the Blue Team, in part because the entire vision didn’t make it on the plate and it ultimately looked rather sparse. To make things worse, at least one person (reigning champ Shaun O’Neale) was served raw fish. The Red Team had their problems — every team does in these challenges — but they came together at the right time.

Here’s where things got a little more controversial: Daniel decided to pair off Yachecia and Newton for the Pressure Test rather than going in himself. Our feeling is that the judges, even if they may decry it in the moment, respect the home cook who goes in there and takes ownership for what happened with their team. The only time we can see a captain justified in sending in other people is if the other two home cooks were so terrible that they independently sunk the team. We don’t think that is really the case here.

The culinary battle of the ages

The Newton vs. Yachecia showdown is reminiscent of what we saw with Luca a few seasons back in Las Vegas — if you remember, Luca went on to win that season. We’ve already said that Yachecia is our winner pick, so it should be clear who we think is going to win this showdown. It does seem like Newton did a better job with the ingredients he got on the plate, but here’s the problem: He was missing two important components to this champagne oyster-based dish. One of them was as simple as him struggling to open a jar of caviar.

Here’s the thing: We would hate to think that our failure to open a jar (that’s not easy!) would be the reason for our elimination. Hopefully, that’s not what sets Newton back if he goes home. It’s going to stink to lose either of these two, but that’s why this is so exciting — we’re losing someone either way who we didn’t think would be gone this soon. Episode Grade: B (docked mostly by the cliffhanger).

Want to get some other news when it comes MasterChef?

Then be sure to visit the link here! That’s where you can see not only episode reviews, but also new exit interviews with all of the eliminated home cooks. (Obviously, there is no exit interview this time since we don’t know who is out of the competition.)