Culinary Class Wars Season 2

Season 2: A Victim of Its Own Expectations

I don’t know if season 1 was actually better than season 2, or if it just felt that way because, as viewers, we were completely unprepared for what we were about to see. Season 1 came out of nowhere and caught everyone by surprise. No one really knew what the show was about or what to expect.

I personally enjoyed this season, but I do understand why some people feel it’s weaker than season 1.

I don’t think the main issue was the absence of season 1 challenges, even though many viewers wanted them to return. I actually appreciated that the producers tried to change things up and keep the element of surprise, but that decision also became the show’s downfall in a way. As I mentioned earlier, everyone came prepared this time, viewers and participants alike, especially the black spoons. To maintain the shock factor, the producers felt they needed to shake things up, which led to the introduction of the “Eliminate the whole team” challenge. On paper, it’s a strong idea, but in execution it left them with only two black spoons, who then had to be protected at all costs to stay true to the programme’s theme (for at least two challenges). This twist would have worked much better if the teams had been mixed, allowing for a more balanced elimination.

The White–Black Spoon alliance was a great concept, but it ended up feeling pointless after the elimination of the entire black team. If they had introduced that alliance first, pairing one black spoon with one white spoon, and then applied the same twist by having them compete against each other, it would have had far more impact.

At least the finalist challenges felt fairer this season. Last season, Napoli Mafia made it to the finals through a relatively easy challenge and didn’t compete in the iconic tofu challenge (if I remember correctly). This season, both finalists had to endure a form of an infinite cooking challenge, which felt much more balanced.

Cooking Hell remains my favourite challenge. In both seasons, it really showcased the skill and depth of knowledge these chefs possess.

Overall, this season had more interesting and likeable characters, but having the team elimination twist constantly hanging over their heads boxed the show into a corner and made it harder to fully enjoy. That said, I’m very happy that my favourite won this time! I really hope we get a season 3, with some unexpected challenges that don’t end up pushing the show into a wall again.

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Season 1 was better

There's a lot to uncover here, but I'll only be talking about things that I felt are important to talk about regarding this season.

The two main selling points for season 1 imo: The casts' characters and the creativity of the challenges
-- Season 2 failed to exceed or meet expectations on these 2 points which drastically lowered the quality and the enjoyment of watching the show. But this isn't to say that the cast for this season were weaker, I actually think the cast this time round were better chefs -- which leads me to my next point.

Overall, this season was more polished. The format of the competitions and eliminations were most of the time better, the chefs and the dishes they cooked seemed to be better, the story-telling was better, and a few other minor things as well.

The main reason this season isn't better than season 1 is because of season 1's great cast and creative challenges. Finding entertaining yet skilled chefs would probably be hard, but they should've at least had creative challenges for this season. I really enjoyed the convenience store challenge and the restaurant challenge from season 1. Even the carrot challenge in season 2 felt a bit lacking for some reason.

What people will remember from this season most is the great ending and satisfaction that even season 1 failed to do.

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