Recap of MasterChef Canada Episode 202 "Patriotic Pantry" OR Who ARE All These People?

What's the point in having 49 "Finalists" when so many are not shown auditioning? I am scratching my head in disgust, and thinking it's just to show how crowded the audition room is. What makes it worse is they don't show the auditions of all 25 home chefs who are awarded a white apron. What's the point? Cramming this process into 2 episodes - when it should be 3, leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth. Pun intended. Then there is what happened to Meg Tucker....


You can see the first 11 home chefs who qualified in Episode 1 BY CLICKING HERE.These are the remaining home chefs who are awarded a white apron.

Line Pelletier
Military Veteran/Computer Specialist
Moncton, New Brunswick

Line (pronounced Lynn, I think) was injured when serving in the military and has undergone 11 surgeries. She says people underestimate her and that she often second guesses herself. We do not hear the judges' individual verdicts. Instead, they form a huddle to discuss her audition, then award her an apron.


Time for another montage of white aprons given to:

Deanna Brown
Stay-at-Home Mom
Milestone, Saskatchewan

Kwasi Douglas
Community Facilitator
Ajax, Ontario

Lauren Scheit
Stay-at-Home Mom
Leduc, Alberta

Debbie MacDonald
Special Needs Teacher
Port Hood, Nova Scotia
Debbie is the last home chef auditioning. She wows the judges with....crab cakes. Yep, crab cakes! Once again, the judges don't voice their official "Yes", but it sounds like they were all in agreement.




Somewhere along the way, the judges said YES to 9 other home chefs to round out the top 25:

Cody Karey
Recording Artist
Vancouver, British Columbia

Gav Martell
V.P. Product Management
Thornhill, Ontario

Inder Kambo
Real Estate Sales
Brampton, Ontario

Meg Tucker
Radio Host
Red Deer, Alberta

Mina Tasic
Pharmacist
Toronto, Ontario

Nikita Scringer
Healthcare Sales Consultant
Calgary, Alberta

Robert Mitchell
H.R. Manager
Toronto, Ontario

Kyle McKenna
Bartender
Paradise, Newfoundland/Labrador

Kevin Gregory
Applications Engineer
Fredericton, New Brunswick

Wait a minute... don't get too excited... those aprons don't have your names on them...yet! Who are all these people?

That completes the top 25 who are awarded that coveted white apron. But there are two problems: there are only 16 stations in the MasterChef Kitchen; and those aprons don't have their names on them just yet. Therefore....time for a Stress Test Elimination!

The No-Cook-Nine

The judges start calling out names and tell them to take a station: Michael; Nathan; Mina; Jon; Deanna; Cody. Also called were: Sabrina; Andrew; Line; Lauren; Gav; Inder; Meg; Nikita; Robert; and Kyle. Of course, they are all proud to make what they thought were the top 16. Michael is especially proud because he was picked first. His joy makes me wonder if he was always picked last in school. But this...this has to mean something, right? Wrong. The nine home chefs who weren't picked are lined up at the front and kind of pissed off because they think they are going home. Wrong again. Of course THEY don't know how well they did compared to the ones who have taken a station. But we do. Kwasi, Christopher, Tammy, Jennifer, David, Debbie, Debra, Kristen and Kevin are told they won't be cooking today. Eyes start leaking. They start questioning their lot in life. "Why me?" 'I KNEW I should have used that cumin!" "Were my crab cakes not crabby enough?" Then they are told to head up to the gallery. They don't have to cook because they are clearly better than the ones who were made to pick a station. Ta-da! There is much celebration as they realize they are automatically elevated to the top 16, and even better than that, they will get aprons with names.

Where's the beef? That's red, isn't it?

The unfortunate 16 who are left on the floor come to the realization that the wool has been pulled over their eyes. Man, are they pissed off or what? They are shown a display of red and white fruits and veg - cleverly laid out to create a Canadian flag. How they didn't see this thing when they entered the kitchen is beyond me. Didn't they say, "What's up with that thing?"

Hey wait a second....is this going to be some kind of veggie cook-off? (no...there were other items provided in another pantry)

This red and white cornucopia of produce is even given it's own hashtag: #OCanadaPantry. I wonder how many Twits fell for that one. Still, if I were one of the finalists who weren't deemed hashtag-worthy, I would be a little cheesed that an inanimate object got a hashtag when I didn't.

I won't get into who cooked up what concoction from this, or who scorched their steak <cough>Jon<cough>. I am just going to cut to the chase. The seven home cooks who satisfied the judges enough to advance are: Andrew; Cody; Jon; Kyle; Line; Michael; and Sabrina.

Now an observant viewer would have noticed there were only 15 cooks cooking their hearts out, or as Alvin so eloquently advised, "Cook as if your life depends on it!". Who was number 16 and what's up with that? Well the 16th home chef was Meg Tucker. As it turned out, she took sick at some point - I am not sure when. It had to have happened after they were introduced to the kitchen. She is the third person in the front row of the group of 25 (see the picture above). Paramedics were sent in, and she was advised to withdraw from the competition. Poor girl. In all seriousness, I truly hope she is better and gets another chance in the future.

The final 16...a.k.a. "the-ones-who-get-their-names-printed-on-their-aprons"

See? They got their names!