-SPOILERS AHEAD-

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Okay, this is an interesting one. The first pressure test of the season. The first French themed. And the first double elimination.

Btw TLC Asia did leak the episode clips in advance. Not a lot, just some comments and the tastings, so no results, but it did say a lot.

For a restaurant, I can see this pressure test dish being so hard to plate on the past. Sure, like most elements are probably plated in advance, but the dots were actually so perfectly placed. It's really a precision challenge more than anything else.

Btw they did have recipes, but it was probably hidden like other countries' pressure test unlike in Australia.

Contestants did have 90 minutes, which is definitely tight for a dish like that.

I think even one of the judges said he did this before, which was nice. Even Aerum said she knows this exact dish but never ate it.

I also like how one of the judges said there should be exactly 72 dots, but the chef did say approximately 68 to 73. Just spaced well. Which makes sense

I definitely love how this pressure test was edited. In Australia, I do think there is a tried and tested 6 makes it a little predictable. But it def jumped to different places and stuff. Even when people are doing different things, they made the person who did bad, explain why doing the other way, is wrong, apparently both were lol.

I also kind of liked that the guest judge was very direct and actually saying if something is good or calling it out if it's bad. Not one of those quiet glances. And he actually explains like why it's wrong or what happens. Even giving them more advice.

A lot of people weirdly did struggle with cauliflower puree. Mostly people were undercooked or not enough liquid. I think only Ivory got a good job in this aspect.

Even the last few minutes, barely anyone was plating. There was unset jelly, broken mayo, and all that so it was stressful seeing Nambie by the blast chiller and Iviry making mayo the last minute.

Also Nambie and Sandy did get their backstory footage the most this episode. And this was the quietest Ivory has ever been plus her least screentime

So for the tasting,

We can see Aerum is really in her element. She did mention earlier in the episode she's way more comfortable with fine dining and French. And the other episodes were streetfood, so now she's really shining. And apparent GIRL WAS ONLY 17 when she joined the first masterchef, which is young and not even masterchef junior. I also liked that she also really took responsibility for her team loss and really cheered on for her girls

I think Aerum's mistake was cutting the crab a little too small, and maybe not enough cauliflower flavor. But she didn't have any glaring errors. Like it really was prepared well. She even got the "I can't tell which plate which is which comment"

Now for Sandy, she also did really well. I think her major issue was the plating. She didn't put enough dots. I think they also really liked her gel, but they said something that it was too cold. But also, maybe aside from the presentation, not too huge of errors.

This really probably was the most locked in Ivory was this season. She did get the least screentime, but she did look calm. She didn't have too many errors until the last minute. I do think she was unlucky that one of her elements was in the fridge, so the chef didn't call it out, and he did always call things out. I thought she was doing well cuz the edit made her do the right things even with the stock, so it's a surprise. But again, I do like the chef really explaing how things went wrong.

Ivory did get harsh comments like, "I don't think you respected the recipe" from the chef. And chef Edward did also say something that the flavors are good, but it's cause the ingredients are good and the recipe is good, lowkey a backhanded compliment lol. But also he also made a funny comparison saying her mayo is supposed to be like Khanh's shirt but ended up like Therese's sweater.

Nambie did struggle the most. You could definitely see the stress. But for the positive part, it seemed like she really listened with the seasoning. The judges pointed that out. But with the gel not setting, she was literally piping the last minute.

It was so heartwarming tho a little sad seeing them cry altogether. Chef Pam was hugging Nambi. I loved their encouragements, saying that crying means that she cares. But its definitely sad seeing how close Nambie was, but the gel was just not set.

It was definitely obvious it was Nambie and Ivory going. Both had far too many mistakes compared to the other 2. If it weren't, I could still see Nambie going cuz of the unset gel, but Ivory did have many mistakes.

Others said it was tight, that everyone made mistakes, and while everyone did, it was a wide gap. Aerum was always gonna be safe tho.

I'm pretty sure Aerum is gonna be in Culinary Class Wars in a future season. I'm surprised she hasn't ngl. But if she does win this season, she's definitely getting a slot for the white apron chefs

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So next episode is a mystery box outdoors. Maritime silk route I think?

Not sure what the exact goal is. They're in white aprons, but I think someone is going home?

Maybe it's gonna be a 2 person finale if 1 person goes home each episode now?

The wall