This review may contain spoilers
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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I agree.. season 1 is better
Season 1 is better, but I still enjoyed watching Season 2.I am very proud of and thankful to all the contestants who joined and participated in this competition.
Honestly, after watching Season 1, I was so tempted to travel and try the chefs' cuisines from their restaurants. And I will definitely do so if I visit that country or city.
Of course, Season 2 is good too, as new chefs are introduced, and I love the creativity and uniqueness of their cuisines.
I am probably not used to seeing new members... as you know, I'm so used to watching K-dramas, even with seasons, bahaha.
But most things are relatively similar to Season 1. But damn, I can tell they have a huge budget for this season.
And I loved it.
The winner? I was shocked.
But overall, I truly enjoyed this season as well. I will definitely look forward to Season 3.
I don't know. Watching this is fun.
This is my first time watching a cooking competition. I don't even watch the American one.
Hard work paid off! ♡♡
12:49 AM
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Less good than Season 1 but still a lot of mouthwatering food.
Not gonna lie, this second season is less good to me than S1. Maybe because the novelty factor is not there anymore...But also because the production team made some doubtful choices during the elimination process, they could have found a better balance between the white spoons and the black spoons chefs to make it more interesting.Still, even despite the disparity in screentime, I got attached to a couple of candidates and there were enough variety in the casting to features a wide range of food and cooking style. The editing lacked subtlety, it was pretty obvious from one point which candidates were going to make it into the finale which felt pretty anticlimactic.
I would recommend this to people that enjoy cooking show. It features a wide range of cooking that will definitely make you hungry. Editing and production choices could have been better, as it clearly reduced the suspense and thrills of the competition, feeling overall pretty predictable.
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This review may contain spoilers
Is season 2 better than season 1..?
What did I think of culinary class war season two?I didn’t love it as much as one which is probably really common for series but the reason I didn’t like it as much as season one as I felt like it was more staged and a bit more unrealistic.. hear me out..
Firstly my favourite episode was actually the last one. There was so much more humble conversation and cooking and overall feelings. It was really nice to watch even the judge has joined in which was really nice! I like the white spoon speech at the end the most the way he said everybody’s a chef and everybody worked really hard and basically praising everybody that have been on the show. It did get me emotional but culinary monster also surprised me not as much, but he did surprise me!
it’s black versus white spoon groups and yet almost halfway pretty much all of the black spoons get eliminated and then only to come back…? I get that they’re trying to make it different from season one but at the same time it didn’t really make it fair. I know that they were voted off by a blind tasting however it just doesn’t sit right with me. It doesn’t make it very black versus white maybe if they’d spit into two groups of each spoon. And then one of the each get eliminated so there’s a chance that not both black spoons will get eliminated I don’t know… it just seemed a bit silly for me..
If there’s a season three, would I watch it? I don’t know. I feel like it wouldn’t be a comfort watch it would more be something that I just put on either in the background or just don’t watch it as seriously every week just watching an episode here and there. I could be wrong.. We will just have to see!
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