Lego Masters Episode 9

After a great episode last week where teams had to build replicas of objects out of Lego bricks, it was time for the semifinals with the most unique and difficult challenge so far in the series! 

For the challenge in this weeks episode, the teams had to make a contraption that moved a ping pong ball from one build to another team’s build, and the goal was to get the ball to go through all four builds, going from one end of the studio to the other. 

The first team to present their build was Anthony and Joe. The story behind their build was called “Escape From Mom,” and the story was that Johnny and his mom are out for a summer vacation at an amusement park, and Johnny decides to go on a little adventure of his own. The ball was going to go up the anti-gravity funhouse, go down the Whoa Coaster, and then up through the Flume of Doom. The Brickmasters thought that it was impressive, saying that the roller coaster in the middle was inviting them into their story, and they get the theming right up front, and they also tried such different movements, as they loved the spinning and that they tried the different colors to bring attention to it, and it also seemed like a clever way to ensure that the ball was going to make it into what they described as their hero item. 

The next team to present their build was Sage and Ian. The story behind their build was called “The Tale Of Sage And Ian,” and the story was that being on Lego Masters felt like a fairy tale, so they wanted to capture that. The first book had their figures high-fiving, the second book represented Sage getting invited to the Masquerade Ball, and she felt like Cinderella, and the third book represented the fierce Technic Serpent that both Ian and Sage are afraid of, but when they make it through, they reach the beanstalk which takes them to the finale. The Brickmasters said that their build had fantastic storytelling, and they loved that they made it personal, but they also put a fun, whimsical fairy tale layer on it, they liked how they incorporated movement into their build, and how they would be relying on gravity moving the ball through their build, but they did wish that they were a little more creative on the path that the ball was going to take, as their design was a linear journey, and it would have been fun if there were some twists and turns along the way.

The next team to present their build was Ben and Michael. The story behind their build was called The Lost Meatball, and the story was that a meatball has fallen from the spaghetti plate into the sink, where his pal the pan and the sponge are going to scrub him back up, he’ll get carried up the grapevine, and at the end, it comes off with his friend Mr. Cupboard, who rocks the cans on top to push him along so it can get up back on its way. The Brickmasters said that it was really compelling, if it pulls off and actually works, as they had taken something that could be as simple as circular movement and elevated it into something that has a magical quality with the escape hatch that you’re dropping down into your next moment, and with the building at the top, they put their most magical movement yet with all the cans working together to help the meatball out, and they loved how much fun they had in creating the story, but they did acknowledge that the cans were a concern as to whether or not they would work.

The last team to present their build was Corey and Rebecca. The story behind their build was called Hairbrush Inspiration, and the story was that Lenny the Lion was brushing his hair, and he noticed how big his ears are, so he became self-conscious and put on some earmuffs, which got him in the mood for some sledding, so he went down his sledding hill and definitely needs a cup of cocoa, and once he drinks that cup of cocoa, he’s inspired to travel to Costa Rica because that’s where they harvest cocoa beans, and once he’s there, he finds himself playing soccer with the locals and scoring a goal. The Brickmasters said that they were ambitious with their build in both the scale and the functions, with five points of unique movement, but they did acknowledge that some of the storytelling details weren’t as polished as they could have been.

After that, it was time for the ping pong ball to go through all four builds. It went through Anthony and Joe’s build with no trouble at all, it made it through Sage and Ian’s build almost perfectly, as gravity brought it through the first part perfectly, and while it fell off the carrier at first, it ended up perfectly landing back where it started, and then made it through with no trouble at all, Ben and Michael’s build started off working well, but the cans weren’t working, so the ball stopped moving, and they had to get it to move manually, and Corey and Rebecca’s build resulted in the ball stopping twice while going down the tracks, but the rest of it went well. 

After that, it was time for the Brickmasters to announce which three teams were going to make it to the finale. The first team they announced was Anthony and Joe, which did not surprise me, as their build had no problems with the ball going through it. The second team they announced was Sage and Ian, which also did not surprise me, as while there was a brief stumble with their build, it literally corrected itself. The last team they announced was Ben and Michael, which did not surprise me, as while both teams didn’t have their builds go the way they wanted them to, I felt that Ben and Michael had been stronger up to that point. This meant that it was time for Corey and Rebecca to be eliminated. 


Overall, this was another very good episode of Season 5 of Lego Masters, and I’ll see you all next week with the Finale!