Lego Masters Episode 4

After another great episode last week that saw the teams building creatures that went over a waterfall, it was time for an episode that had a challenge centered around the musical and movie Wicked! As always, I will only be focusing on the important details of the episode, which are the challenge, any twists that were announced, what each team built, and the results of the challenge. 

The challenge this week was that each team had to pick a spell book that had either a good or wicked spell in it, and the teams then had to use that spell as an inspiration for their build. At the point where they had three hours and fifteen minutes left, Will Arnett “cast a spell” that gave the teams an additional 30 minutes. 

After time was up, it was time for the teams to present their builds. Before that could happen, Will and the Brickmasters asked Anthony and Joe if they wanted to activate the Golden Brick and save themselves from elimination, and since they didn’t feel super confident in their build, they chose to activate the Golden Brick, ensuring that they would last another week.

The first team to present their build was Anthony and Joe, who were given a Banishment Spell. They built a witch’s hat inspired by the world of Wicked, and the story was that inside was Glinda being bound by mystical chains before her banishment into another realm. The Brickmasters acknowledged that the Banishment Spell was not an easy one to get, so the fact that the magic was spinning around it brought some peril and danger into their build, and while they understood why they used the Golden Brick as the measurements might have seemed off, they were impressed with the model and didn’t think that they needed to play the Golden Brick.

The next team to present was Ben and Michael, who were given a Power Spell. The story there was that centuries ago, the good witches of Oz trapped the Wicked Witch’s power in a magical chest contained within an enchanted chain, and due to the power of the big Wicked Witch, the chest busts open and the Wicked Witch of the West is there shooting lightning bolts and terrorizing the Emerald City within. The Brickmasters loved the oversized chain that was part of it, as it made it look like there was so much danger contained inside, and the witch was so well crafted, being perfectly posed with the lightning bolts coming out as she sucks the power out of Emerald City, and they were also impressed by the fact that they used power functions to reveal their inner story and having additional movement on the inside, and the fact that they let the buildings be loose made it look like an earthquake was happening and their character was not moving at all. 

The next team to present was Alex and Tone, who were given a Deception Spell. The story was that their creation had one side showing, a face that was scary and ugly and is luring people inside and enticing them to give them the jewels, and the other side is a skull facing the person who got the spell cast on, who was getting all the jewels, but was actually chained up, and the jewels were going down to the dungeon, and in the back area was a skull mocking her. The Brickmasters acknowledged that there were a lot of layers to their spell, said that the gemstones on the conveyor belt was a nice motion to see, but the fencing blocked their view of it, as it could have stood out even more, and they also really liked the purple face, but they felt that not having it in the front was a missed opportunity in telling their story clearly, and they also used green bricks on a green background, and if they weren’t told there was a face there, they wouldn’t have noticed it as it was really hard to read.

The next team to present was Corey and Rebecca, who were given the Bubble Spell. The story was that it was Glinda’s birthday, she has thrown herself an enormous birthday bash, and so she is forcing everyone in Oz to attend her birthday bash by inviting them with the Bubble Spell whether they were planning on attending or not. The Brickmasters loved the movement in the build, as it talked about as it showed off the reluctance of the party guests before they finally celebrated.

The next team to present was Niki and Brittain, who were given the Love Spell. The story was that it was a bottle of love potion and there were two sisters, one who was being good, and the other who was being wicked, and to solve the problem, the sister went to the wizard in Emerald City, and he offered her some love potion, so she jumped back on the Yellow Brick Road, gave the potion to her sister, and she turned out to be wonderful and good. When they were trying to activate the turning motion that made the transformation happen, it jammed and something fell. The Brickmasters then said that looking at their functionality, they thought it was quite effective with the doors opening and closing on the one side, but it was disappointing on the other side as that was the moment the potion kicked in and the happiness was revealed, but they acknowledged that it was nice that they tried two different types of movement, adding that they had some solid elements there, such as the heart right up front, which invites them into their story and let’s them know where they’re going. 

The next team to present was Sage and Ian, who were given the Butterfly Spell. The story was that it was Glinda’s birthday cake, and the Wicked Witch is going to give her a “butter fly” to prank her on her birthday, there was a wand at the top of it shooting the butter to make the butter and flies turn into the most beautiful cake with beautiful butterflies inside. The Brickmasters said that their movement was effective, as it was in a contained space and giving it the transparence and the colors around it helped it to stand out, but they did say that when you have so many things going on, it can get confusing, so a little bit of restraint goes a long way. 

The next team to present was Anne and Luke, who were given the Friendship Spell. The story was that it was a picnic basket that had a magic potion bottle that was spinning around and spreading the spell of friendship to all the fruit, making them come alive and enjoy being together. The Brickmasters said that the characters were very clever, and then they were actually trying to have the bananas stand out not only in their shaping, but also the movement, but they did acknowledge that the handle on the basket was covering the potion, and they wished that it was moved to the side so it was more in focus. 

The next team to present was Maia and Jamie, who were given the Bravery Spell. The story was that the Wicked Witch has sought out the Wizard of Oz to receive a potion to change her appearance, and as she is going to take the potion, she looks at herself in the magical mirror and realizes that she likes herself just the way she is, and once that act of bravery is completed, the mirror slides open, and she will enter into the new world. The Brickmasters said that they had an eye-catching entry into their story, as they had a hand welcoming her in, and they thought its placement was clever, but they wanted to see a little more reflection on the witch.

The last team to present was John and Justin, who were given the Defiance Spell. The story was that they built Emerald City, which has incredible spires and gorgeous green translucent bricks, opening up to reveal Elphaba’s hat that is levitating up and down, referencing the key moment from Defying Gravity, when Elphaba comes into her own to defy other’s expectations and embrace the wicked side of her. The Brickmasters felt that it was a really strong Emerald City, saying that it was magical and beautifully crafted, and then the reveal of the function that goes up and down brought it into focus like they intended.

After that, it was time for the Brickmasters to announce which two teams were in the top today, and they were revealed to be Ben and Michael and John and Justin, which did not surprise me, as their builds were clearly in another league. The winning team was then revealed to be Ben and Michael, which also did not surprise me.

After that it was time for the Brickmasters to reveal which teams landed in the bottom, and they were revealed to be Niki and Brittain and Alex and Tone, which did not surprise me. The team that was then revealed to be going home was Alex and Tone, which also did not surprise me, as their build seemed to have the most criticisms and they were also in the bottom last week.

Overall, this was another great episode of Season 5 of Lego Masters, and I’ll see you all next week when the teams have to create builds that are centered around a type of movement!