Welcome to my daily LEGO Masters Australia recaps! If you’re new here, I recap each night’s episode the following day (posts generally go up in the morning) for those that have missed it, or have an aversion to watching TV.
Check out the Episode 1 Recap if you missed the inaugural episode!
LEGO Masters Australia is a reality TV series on Channel 9 which pits 8 teams of LEGO builders against each other to test their creativity and design. It airs on Channel 9 on Sundays (7pm), Mondays and Tuesdays (730pm) and you can stream it on 9Now.
Episode 2 is a short episode, with a runtime of about an hour and gets underway pretty quickly.
We open with a Classic Spaceman orbiting a planet, before Hamish steps up with a baseball bat and..
Blows it to smithereens, right in front of an incredulous Brickman.
Tonight’s episode isn’t just about the teams’ creativity in building with LEGO, but also thinking about how they get destroyed in the most epic and inventive fashion.
The teams are offered 4 choices of how their models will be destroyed
- Baseball Bat
- Moon Drop (dropped from like 4m high)
- Smashed into a wall at 100km/h
- Dynamite. Yes, dynamite
Episode 2 pushes the concept of LEGO Masters to the next level, as it tries to do something that can really only be done on video – showcasing the destruction of amazing LEGO creations in gorgeous slow-mo.
At stake is another golden immunity brick safety from the next episode’s elimination round!
The teams get to work, and we’re treated to montages of the teams working on their designs. They have 7 hours to build something that’s going to look amazing as it gets utterly wrecked.
One thing I didn’t expect was how much I’d come to like each of the teams. We’re treated to more backstory, and most importantly, seeing how they function and build.
I really liked Jordan and Miller sharing how they researched how to brainstorm on Google.
Wholesomeness is on the menu again, and one of the most enjoyable human elements of the show is just how happy everyone seems to be messing around with LEGO.
Sure, this is a competition with $100,00 at stake, but it really doesn’t feel like a competition. Everyone seems to get along with one another, and the teams start to get really likeable and I’m beginning to get invested in all of them as we see a bit more of their personality.
Henry clowning around other tables and messing with other builders is one great example of that being portrayed – I mean, it’s a 7 hour challenge, and this was something very human and relatable – you know, regular behaviour that regular people do.
But what is reality TV without some drama and tension. David and G’s Space Station is a wobbly and fragile design, and David can’t help himself adding more and more features to it.
Tragedy strikes Matt and Lyn, as the Solar System, with a massive Sun as the centrepiece comes crashing down to the ground rather prematurely – it’s a bit of a rude awakening that it’s not all happy clappy, and that the stakes are real, and that mistakes and the pressure of the competition can get to the teams.
We get another awesome Jordan running scene, this time with him cradling their model – Noah’s Ark 2 as Jordan tests its ability to withstand travelling very quickly.
We also get to see a lot more of the other teams that weren’t featured as heavily in the first episode, such as Gayan and Dinushi, and Kaitlyn and Marielle which was awesome.
One of the highlights was Gayan and Dinushi’s story montage when Dinushi describes their addiction to LEGO as being a healthy addiction.
“It’s not drugs, it’s plastic” she quips. I don’t know Dinushi… I think a drug addiction would be a lot kinder to my wallet.
Before we get to the judging, we’re introduced to the team’s spectacular space-themed creations, allowing you to marvel at them before being ceremoniously destroyed.
Henry and Cade are up first with their purple space monster, or Grimace as he’s affectionatelly called.
Hamish steps up to the plate with his baseball bat and a black morphsuit which doesn’t leave a lot to imagination and absolutely hands it to Space Grimace in epic fashion.
This is one of those cases that a text recap absolutely doesn’t do the slow-mo destruction justice, so I highly recommend watching the episode and seeing these beautiful bricks get utterly wrecked.
Check out this beautiful shot on Twitter – it’s spectacularly enthralling and makes for amazing visuals.
David and G’s space station manages to stay completely intact for Hamish to also smash it with his bat.
The awes and looks on the face of the contestants were 100% believable as it’s really breathtaking to see LEGO sets burst into hundreds of pieces in slow motion.
Next up is the Moon-Drop, where the LEGO sets are dropped from 4 metres high. We have Bilsy’s and Kale’s Space Hotel, complete with the controversial roof.
Once again, we get more focus on Kale being not so much the villain, but difficult to work with as he imposes his will on Bilsy and doesn’t really appear to be a team player.
No DILF-comments today (thankfully), however Kale’s roof, which he insisted on including in his build proves to be their downfall as the model fails to really burst in all directions.
Up next is Jimmy and Maddy’s Honeymoon Spaceship which contains a miniature version of themselves embracing in it.
They’re clearly being positioned as the “couple madly in love” stereotype and their determined to let that shine in their builds, which Brickman feels might be holding them back, as their design wasn’t spacey enough.
On to the fun stuff, with Kaitlyn and Marielle space mine, which again, showcased their amazing use of colours and shapes.
Outside of Henry and Cade, I think Kaitlyn and Marielle are the team to watch as they really impressed me with their unique models and vision.
Their model spectacularly gets blown to pieces (literally) with some explosives.
There were multiple explosions, with different chunks of the design blowing up in different intervals, making this one of the more cinematic slow-mo videos.
Gayan and Dinushi’s Space Worm attack on a complex was next. They spent a lot of time in the episode dwelling on Gayan taking forever to complete his space worm, and I think it pays off, with it looking terrifying (much like the Demogorgon from Stranger Things) next to the complex, which the hero has rigged with explosives ready to explode.
They really tied the build and narrative perfectly to the choice of destruction, and I really liked the timer in the front.
The entire structure gets utterly destroyed in one mighty explosive blast. Can I say how cathartic it is to see all the colourful pieces flying and twirling around in slow motion?
But an unexpected twist emerges! The space worm somehow manages to survive the entire blast completely, to everyone’s shock and surprise!
The judges and contestants are surprised and they even discover that the Hero’s spaceship also survives the blast. Conspiracy theory?
Up next we have Mat and Lyn’s black hole/solar system sans sun, which would be slammed into a wall at 100km/h.
As it’s lacking the sun, the collision into the wall wasn’t as impressive as it would’ve been.
The final model to be destroyed is Jordan and Miller’s Noah’s Ark 2, a futuristic spacecraft carrying 2 of each animal.
I love the design, and the use of yellow.
The shape of Noah’s Ark 2 was perfect for being slammed into the wall, and we were treated to a spectacular “pancake-ing” of the craft in slow-mo.
In the end, two teams were shortlisted – Henry and Cade’s Purple Monster, and Gayan and Dinushi’s Space Worm, with the latter emerging victorious.
It was a really tight decision, as either could’ve won, but it was fantastic to see Gayan and Dinushi win and be safe from elimination after what was a fairly rocky start in the first episode.
Henry and Cade also have cemented themselves as probably the front-runners in the competition, despite not winning. They’ve come in second two nights in a row, and their chemistry and creativity have been really impressive and I’m certainly waiting for more.
All in all, I really enjoyed Episode 2, and found it better than the first. I’m starting to get really invested in the teams and thoroughly found the dynamics between the teams really enjoyable.
The slow-no destruction was really fascinating and made for some jaw-dropping moments. You can often gawk at amazing LEGO builds at conventions or on social media, but seeing them get utterly destroyed in slow-mo is such a cool novelty.
I really love how happy everyone seems to be in LEGO Masters Australia. It’s actually something you don’t see much on TV, or in general – watching adults just have fun, and enjoy a hobby with no hidden agenda.
This really struck a chord with me and reminds me about why LEGO brings me so much joy – kudos to the producers to really bring that to the fore and capturing all of that on camera.
Also, it looks like LEGO Masters Australia continues to be a huge hit with TV audiences with it taking the top spot in yesterday night’s TV ratings. So pumped to see this doing so well!
That’s it for my LEGO Masters Australia Episode 2 recap! Tune in tonight at 730PM on Channel 9 for the first elimination round!
Is there any way for those of us outside Australia to catch this online? I really want to watch this!
Another great review. I thought last nights win was to make you safe from tonights elimination only, and not for a golden brick. Whilst the Golden Brick appears to be able to be used at a time of their choosing.
Oh thanks for that, I totally misunderstood that bit!