MasterChef may be a pre-taped show, but tonight's mystery box ingredient is 100% live: the MasterChefs are forced to contend with fresh, living prawns. Some contestants rise to the promise of such a fresh ingredient, while others do not--Monti has even more trouble with wrangling her prawns than blind contestant Christine, splashing Chef Gordon multiple times.

Becky is first in the top three, marking her record-setting fifth appearance there. She's matched by Christine's submission of spot prawns in pineapple broth and David's perfectly balanced avocado-infused dish, with David taking the top prize.

David gets to pick the ingredient for tonight's elimination challenge, and is given the options of bacon, corn, or beets, with the proviso being that all contestants must prepare a dessert. David eschews the compelling prospect of bacon cakes in favor of corn, and the judges give him three potential corn-based deserts to try.

In a credulity-testing twist, David forgets the rice for his corn-based rice pudding. Becky conveniently has some unused "backup" rice, which she allows him to take and cook with. Josh says he wouldn't have done it while everyone else says that they would; the bottom line is that David stays in character as the buffoon and everything proceeds normally.

It's all for naught, unfortunately, as David's dessert receives a verdict of, to quote Joe, "really really really really inedibly disgusting."  Becky fares far better with a highly original presentation of "Classy Corn, Trashy Corn," pairing panna cotta with candied popcorn. Christine receives equal praise for her corn and coconut pudding, as do Monti for her corn souffle and David for his corn budino.

Felix joins David in jeopardy with an unfortunate corn profiterole, but the real disappointment of the evening is Josh's underperforming corn creme brulee. With David, they comprise the evening's bottom three. Josh, of course, is not back for nothing, and David skirts by once again. Felix is this week's elimination.

Though I've obviously never had the opportunity to taste Felix's submissions, her reserved nature has always ensured that she was only ever a long shot narratively. Say what you will about David's apparently bumbling nature, at least it makes for good television.

Ted Kindig
Contributing Writer

(Image courtesy of FOX)