MasterChef Junior season 6 episode 1 review: Far from a sibling rivalry

MasterChef Junior season 6 episode 1 aired on Fox on Friday night, and by and large we are here to say that this is very much still the show that you remember, even if there is a new / old judge in the mix in Joe Bastianich.

Let’s kick off here by discussing more of what Joe brings to the table, starting with the sole fact that he is a fairly intimidating presence. He is the sort of person who you fear just because you never quite know what he’s thinking about your food. He has, arguably, the greatest poker face with food that the world has ever seen. This is a very positive show and he doesn’t detract from that much; yet, he does add some gravitas and this is the sort of show that needs that.

In these early episodes (especially the first two), it’s really hard to identify any specific contestants. That is almost always the case. There are so many people you have to get to know at one time and that does make things rather difficult. Therefore, we cannot sit here and run down every single one of the girls who advanced in this episode — other than saying that twelve advanced and eight went home. The clear standouts for us were Olivia and Remy, largely because they bring something to the competition that is a little bit different: They’re sisters. It feels like this would be both a blessing and a curse in a competition like this. The good news here is clearly that you have someone almost constantly in your corner no matter what. However, the bad news is that you have someone else to worry about. You saw that when Remy advanced in the steak showdown the first half of the episode and then had to worry about whether or not her sister would join her in the twelve going forward. (Eventually, she did.)

One of the big criticisms of the entire MasterChef franchise is that you’re effectively watching almost the same thing every season and that does still stand. Yet, what makes you want to keep watching are the personalities and we did get a chance to see a little bit of that here and there tonight. Creativity is also something else we embrace, which is why it was somewhat perplexing why the producers decided to go with the steak challenge first, leaving only eight contestants to show off their signature dish. Why not give us a better chance to get to know everyone?

The saddest reveal was seeing the young chef who made beignets depart, mostly because we’re a Cajun food fanatic and would’ve taken all of those in a heartbeat.

Overall, though, the first episode was entertaining, uplifting, and just what you expect from MasterChef Junior. It provided that perfect amount of joy plus reminding you constantly that you were nowhere near this good of a cook so early in your life.

What did you think about MasterChef Junior season 6 episode 1? Share below! CarterMatt will have a review online for episode 2 (featuring the boys) on Sunday.

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