i feel like the themes and setup for the challenges were much more enjoyable in s1 despite the higher production value for s2 but i found myself rooting for more of the contestants this time round, the white spoon team in particular (chef son, chef hou, venerable sunjae and chef choi were my favs). my main gripe is that a lot of the black spoons were cut too early and it didn't really allow us to see their full potential, putting a lot of pressure and emphasis on the 2 that did make it to later stages. huge congrats to the winner though, much deserved!
just finished this week's episodes... rooting for an all white spoon final for the twist. but i feel like culinary monster will get through to make it another black spoon vs white spoon final repeat like last season even if i overall found myself rooting for more of the white spoons this season. i think their main flaw was eliminating so many of the black spoons in one go like that. i may be biased as i grew up on chinese cuisine personally but every one of chef hou's dishes i really wanted to try, the fact that he managed to make those steamed carrot noodles perfectly shows how his skill and experience is top notch for a reason. i think this challenge really showed his creativity.
aw man, i really wanted son jong won in the final... hoping for either choi kang rok, brewmaster yun or venerable sunjae to win. i did like culinary monster at first purely on a talent level... but as more time went on i feel like his ego and arrogance got too much (it was refreshing to see him work in a team with son jong won for this reason as he toned it back for that) and now without chef son, this has only made it worse i fear.
I thought it would be 3 or 4 black spoon saved, was super surprised when it was only 2!
that disappointed me as well... there were around 3-4 that i would've loved to see continue. namely witch with a wok, culinary monster, seoul mother and rebellious genius
the cliffhanger for ep7 was absolutely brutal... i kinda hate that they've gone with the all black spoons or all white spoons advancing even if it massively raised the stakes bc i would've loved to see my favs from each team battle it out for longer as solo duels or even working together on a mixed team as there's amazing stars from each. it also made me so happy seeing my favourites from s1 return as judges, especially edward lee and choi hyunseok!
from white spoons, chef son is hands down my fav and venerable sunjae is so fascinating to watch too. my favs are witch with a wok, seoul mother and culinary monster from the black spoons.
sugiki invites suzuki onto the dancefloor to dance with him at the asia championships and he accepts. they dance all the various dances they practiced together, openly kiss in front of everyone at the end. then we see sugiki say "see you at 10dance" and then it ends there.
so absolutely worth the hype omg... i can't even think about the amount of dedication put into the actors learning so many different dances to such a high level. i held my breath for so many of the scenes. such a beautiful movie.
love chef son jong won's performance so far as expected. looks like we're getting 3-4 episodes a week until the end of this month and then this will reduce later on... i can sense the tension in the cliffhangers already.
they won fairly... just because you didn't want Korea to win doesn't change it, deal with it, and the so called…
the map truly didn't help them much at all, just telling them that there's a weighted cart, obstacles and a bridge... plus everything was made as fairly as possible for the actual finale such as matching the weights to the team's overall body weight, letting the losing team for challenge 1 pick the next one, etc.
everyone did amazing in the finale and the teamwork was so strong, i love that everyone is truly just a big family. sungbin and minjae were truly the mvps in the final challenges. i think it goes to show that aside from him being a general powerhouse, sungbin is a really solid strategist and good at analysing others' tactics too when observing their plays. it reminded me of why i rooted for him so much in s1 and i'm so glad that he and eunsil finally got their victory moment.
i don't get all the complaints about korea winning and rigging and whatever as it's clear that every team worked their asses off and the contestants are all on good terms engaging with each other on social media etc... versus the controversy with the finale of s1 where everyone had their doubts. the mood is entirely different.
sure it feels "typical" that korea won a korean-made show but in the final it really was neck and neck. as team mongolia said, they were matched in strength for the wall push but korea pulled ahead with their strategy and timing their pushes to match minjae's direction with him being the most physically strong, plus sungbin running like a madman between the different lanes.
it felt very fair that the weights were matched to each team's body weight and that they let the team losing round one pick the second game. they were even equal down to the last second on the weighted ball pull, korea just seemed to gather their rhythm for the final round that counted the most... especially saying this as someone who doubted a lot of strategic choices by kdh prior to these last two quests.
best thing is that australia didnt make it to the top 3 :D
i was so glad for the other teams when i saw the deathmatch. it goes to show that strategising plays a huge part in success too as they massively neglected strategy for overconfidence by not even considering the possibility of a backup plan. underestimating japan in the rope game was their downfall.
japan's departure was the most sad for me honestly. i do think they were one of the most tenacious teams and incredible for beating teams like turkiye and australia who people expected to be potential finalists off the bat. i loved the sense of family they had and the fact that you could see them all fully embracing the finalists in the end too. huge respect to them all, there's not one person who didn't truly give 110%. it's very clear how hard they all worked.
honestly the castle quest showed just how good team korea are at working together - everyone had their bit to…
mongolia's last min log strategy with the bridge was brilliant omg. orgil really came in clutch for that and i love that they all trusted him and went along with it despite their hesitance at first
honestly the castle quest showed just how good team korea are at working together - everyone had their bit to play and they smashed it. it was crazy seeing how fast they managed to complete all of that. i felt like kdh redeemed himself here from questionable strategies in the previous quests lmao.
itoi is such a machine i love watching that guy compete. same with amotti, i loved his tenacity in s2 and he shows again and again that he's such a strong all-rounder.
so happy my ideal top 3 made it to the finals. at this point i'm happy regardless of who wins. i would've been annoyed if australia took the win even despite how strong they were purely as it defeats the purpose of physical ASIA
from white spoons, chef son is hands down my fav and venerable sunjae is so fascinating to watch too. my favs are witch with a wok, seoul mother and culinary monster from the black spoons.
sugiki invites suzuki onto the dancefloor to dance with him at the asia championships and he accepts. they dance all the various dances they practiced together, openly kiss in front of everyone at the end. then we see sugiki say "see you at 10dance" and then it ends there.
i don't get all the complaints about korea winning and rigging and whatever as it's clear that every team worked their asses off and the contestants are all on good terms engaging with each other on social media etc... versus the controversy with the finale of s1 where everyone had their doubts. the mood is entirely different.
sure it feels "typical" that korea won a korean-made show but in the final it really was neck and neck. as team mongolia said, they were matched in strength for the wall push but korea pulled ahead with their strategy and timing their pushes to match minjae's direction with him being the most physically strong, plus sungbin running like a madman between the different lanes.
it felt very fair that the weights were matched to each team's body weight and that they let the team losing round one pick the second game. they were even equal down to the last second on the weighted ball pull, korea just seemed to gather their rhythm for the final round that counted the most... especially saying this as someone who doubted a lot of strategic choices by kdh prior to these last two quests.