Okay, remember all that stuff I said earlier about this season’s Masterchef? Well, as it turns out, the first one sabotaged was the only one who went out that week, so this stupid mechanic’s impact was essentially nonexistent. As it also turns out, what looked to be a highly grueling long haul ended up excising the remaining cast with the zeal of a tinpot dictator. I remember four going out in one week. (Side note, I can’t remember a time when there were so many double episodes…and I mean for any reality show ever.) I mentioned before that I never know who I should be paying attention to because anyone can be gone at any time, but this season has been such a complete mad-dog blitz that I barely know anything about the ones who did make it. The final is, as they say, best of one, and for the first time in a very long time, Masterchef really looks like anyone’s game. So if nothing else, it should be a more interesting watch.
(Oh, and Gen X got absolutely wiped, of course. 
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All right, since I already know who the winner is, I decided to do a bit of an experiment. I’m going to go through the episode and give various details about how Fox presented the three finallists, Becca (Gen Z), Kamay (Millennial), and Michael (Millennial) and the way they handled the pressure of the final. See if you can find any “tells” about who was going to win…and who wasn’t.
Masterchef season 14 finale - Fox, 2 hours, 9/19/24
== Appetizers ==
Rebeckah wants Kamay to win because of Haitian flavors. Hallie is pulling for Becca because of Gen Z grit. Murt thinks Michael almost has it in the bag because “this is really what he wants to do”. Michael calmly admits that he has tough competition. Becca jokes with an audience member, which she will be doing a lot of tonight.
Kamay “pretends” to be a total jerk. 
Kamay “acts” way too needy and demanding. 
Kamay demands a response from Michael…y’know, one of her opponents for tonight.
Becca just messed up a whole batch of salmon and has to start over. Warren prefers Kamay’s dish to Becca’s.
Kamay yelps during the plating but is certain she has a Michelin star dish.
Judging. Becca’s salmon isn’t complicated but very good overall (really impressive for a second effort!). Kamay’s lobster also gets kudos. Michael’s tortellini nailed it. It looks like a dead heat after the first round.
== Entrees ==
Michael is feeling the pressure because the judges made a lot of comments. Becca is staying the course.
Kamay is struggling with her orange paste scooper. Really struggling. It’s taking way too long.
Michael’s venison is “more rare”, so…it goes back into the oven. Gordon: “He is way behind.” Becca takes out her lamb with a hearty “She DUUNNNN!”
Judging. Kamay’s striped bass is cooked to near-perfection but the passion fruit sauce is way too powerful and acidic. Michael’s venison…is it medium rare…is it…yeah. Gordon and Aaron give big thumbs up, but Joe marks it down a bit for being too grrr-caveman or whatever…“too much meat and not enough crust”. Becca’s lamb is slightly overdone, medium instead of medium rare, but otherwise has excellent flavor.
== Desserts ==
Becca calls herself the “dessert queen”. Kamay is going into this laser-focused. Becca wants to show she’s a force to be reckoned with and blow everyone else out of the water.
Becca is making crusts and calling them her cute little friends. 
Michael says something heartfelt about his mother and is dedicating his dessert to her.
Kamay pulls out her baked items and likes what she sees, as does most of the audience. Becca is smiling and dancing as she moves from task to task…problem! She misjudged the oven temperature for her egg tarts! She cranks it up, but time is now a concern. She’s panicking.
Michael straps on goggles…oh, here it comes! A big container labelled “liquid nitrogen”! He’s really swinging for the fences now! He mutters “that’s perfect” as his bowl spills over with thick vapor. Kamay snarks about not having liquid nitrogen.
Becca proudly brandishes a completed tart to the crowd. Audience split on which dessert is the best.
Uh oh, Becca’s struggling with too-cold frosting. Michael’s hand shakes a bit as he pours his sauces.
Judging. Becca’s tart is delectable but the mousse’s texture is a bit off. Michael’s peach cobbler is complicated…does it all work together…does it…yeah. Truly professional quality. (Aaron does mention that it’s “a little blonde”, whatever the hell that means.) Kamay’s strawberry shortcake is amazingly sweet, just a bit simple compared to the other two.
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And that’s Masterchef Generations! So, did you catch all the tells?
Gordon Ramsay always wants a winner with a good attitude that he can be proud of. That’s true even in Hell’s Kitchen and Next Level Chef. So first of all, if you see someone have a big ego, boast, snark, get all catty, etc., that person’s probably not going to win, or at least be a serious underdog. If you see a contestant who has not shown any of those traits and has exuded maturity and grace throughout, that’s a favorite.
Second, the winner is always someone who can perform under pressure and produce three great dishes. So anytime you see someone make a big mistake at any point, that spells doom. It doesn’t matter if the dessert is the ambrosia of the gods, that contestant’s chances of winning are zero.
Third, little mistakes matter too, particularly if they’re a result of pressure or inadequate cooking time. Just a little overcooked, undercooked, too sweet, too bland, too soft, too firm, etc. spells trouble. Even more so if the contestant is clearly struggling at points.
Fourth, while it’s not a deciding factor in itself, when you see a sweet story figure prominently in the final, especially when it hasn’t been flogged particularly hard up to that point, and especially involving a loved one, that’s generally the mark of a someone who could win it all.
Fifth, displays of technical skill draw high marks. All other things being equal, a dish that used an highly professional process and/or specialized equipment will score above simple and safe.
And finally, while it’s much less overt than on shows like American Ninja Warrior, the judges do engage in horse race narrative when they think they see someone about to run away with it. You know this is happening when they start breaking out excessive or dumb-sounding criticisms (one at a time so as not to draw suspicion) or tease that something went horribly wrong before just before the commercial break and immediately after confirm that there was nothing wrong.
All right! Moment of truth! THE WINNER OF MASTERCHEF GENERATIONS…
…nah, too obvious, not gonna insult your intelligence. 
(Just in case you still haven’t figured it out, you can find the answer here.)
Bottom two go to elimination playoff etc.
The three teams competing for the $100,000 grand prize: Lenore and Jessica (friends), Janusz and Keiron (friends), Becky and Daniel (siblings). Normally I don’t watch to the final result because I can’t stand the sight of a powerful contender working hard to go the distance and then taking home just as much as the clueless schlubs who got bounced in the first round (even more so given the level of skill required here), but a hundred grand is a slightly less apocalyptic loss than usual, so here’s the deal: I’ll watch to the end if one team proves to be obviously either way smarter, way more skilled, or way more likable than the other two.
Curtis Stone gives a dire warning that making a bad dish will count against them, which of course there was absolutely no risk of up to this point. 
Their dish is lemon pistachio domed tartlets topped with lemon curd with pistachio insert glaze topped with fresh pistachios and gold leaf. Stone says some more stuff which I’m certain someone on the Fox staff assured him wasn’t both painfully obvious and completely superfluous. 
) Janusz grumbles about how complicated the contest is. Bad sign.
He points out that the key question are, was it lemon and orange or just orange, and where was the semolina used?
), the object is to either accept a deal of a higher value than the reserved case or go the distance and have a higher value in that case than the final offer. Fail and the player is eliminated; succeed and the player gets to eliminate anyone who doesn’t have immunity. This is essentially a coin flip, so statwise it makes no difference whether the selector puts up a friend or a foe; it’s strictly a matter of gut feeling. David ultimately chooses his staunch ally Parvarti; he clearly intends for her to knock out one of their last two obstacles, CK and Lete, and virtually assure that one of them gets a shot at the ultimate prize.
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Lete says she’s going to win because something Wonder Woman. CK admits she’s physically inferior and will need to get really lucky to make the final Bank-face. My overall impression of these people is that I’m glad I won’t be seeing them anymore after next week.
Makes a big show of deciding who to mislead with the cases, and I’m surprised he didn’t decide to screw everyone over.
Giving him to free rein to mess things up according to his own crackpot criteria of what a good “game” is like giving a serial killer a rocket launcher.
No medical extractions whatsoever. More bickering, more drama. Blind luck. Weepy confessionals. Shots of boring wilderness with absolutely nothing in it. Teasing at savage animal attacks that never happen. More goddam freaking blind luck. 
), a bell-memorizing task, and…croquet. This is boring! I mean, Deal or No Deal Island had distressingly few thrill rides (my personal favorite is still the divebombing contest), but they were there!
(WHAT?? WHAT?? WHAT??) So naturally he goes after his biggest remaining threat…Mack.
I absolutely despise when reality TV decides to make a complete mockery of itself like this. Seriously, this is “Paschal eliminated by a purple rock” territory (and it says a lot that I don’t even remember when I stopped watching Survivor and the injustice was so utterly stark that I still remember that name, that object, and that color). And of course, a couple of Primetimers 
I’ll finish what I started, but this show is going to have to really come up with something earthshaking to convince me that it wasn’t a complete waste of time. I’ll hold out hope for as long as I can.
It’s as fair as anything I’ve ever seen on this ridiculously loopy, fluky show, so whatevs. Mainly I’m curious as to why anyone would ever take the sendback option, as that only puts him further ahead of one man, whereas advancing puts him ahead of both, but I’m sure that, like the soldiers challenge, there’s some dumb proviso JDM never bothered to mention that’s going to explain this weeks after the fact. 
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, so he’s doing well for himself, which is nothing short of miraculous given the Mount Midoriyama-sized screwjobbing he’s received, so if that was what was keeping you away, you can relax now.