LEGO Masters season 2 is here with an action packed first episode. Here’s my quick recap of all the action.
Spoilers if you haven’t seen the episode – obviously.
There’s a real sense of excitement as the teams limbo their way under the roller door. It’s like those scenes of people rushing in to Aldi when they have a really good special buy.
The teams all gather for an introduction from Hamish. Before we get in to the actual building there’s a few things to get out of the way. Specifically a comically large wooden crate.
Inside the crate is the first surprise of the season – it’s Jordie! The season 1 finalist known for his epic Brick Pit runs is back and he’s got the Golden Brick with him. But that’s not all – one lucky team can win Jordie himself. That sounds weird. They can win his help during one build – he’ll act as a runner, giving them more time to work on their build. While showing off how awesome this prize is Jordie nearly takes himself out attempting to limbo under the previously mentioned roller door. I don’t know if limbo will play as much of a role in future episodes.
Now let’s get stuck in to the actual building with the first challenge.
We are introduced to a giant volcano surrounded by 8 blank islands. The task is for the contestants to populate this archipelago with buildings, animals and of course minifigures. The challenge is called A Whole New World and they’ve got 15 hours.
It’s first in best dressed when it comes to grabbing an island.
Teams have iPads for planning out their builds now. Not sure if it’s obvious product placement or just a cool addition.
It’s fascinating to watch the actual build process and the conversations that take place. Jay and Stani decide to go with a a space tourism concept. Their build promises to have a lot of futuristic architecture.
Runa and Annie have decided to turn their island into a giant turtle. It’s an interesting idea.
Andrew and Damian’s build is called Isle of Eyes and features a nice tall pagoda as a central feature. Brickman loves a nice tall build so this seems like a good idea. It seems to be a good story too.
Jackson and Alex seem to be taking their time to actually do any building – I don’t think having a clear vision at the start is too bad but obviously they want to get some momentum going.
Tim and Danni are going with Wizard World. A fantasy setting can work really well if they pull it off. The octagonal tower will give them technical skill points too.
We head back over to Jackson and Alex to learn that they are going to utilise the lava on their island to do a Steampunk Power Station. Steampunk builds are usually packed with details so I am keen to see how this turns out.
Trent and Joshua are taking the Whole New World concept very literally with their build Newtopia. The central premise here is that a giant monster is terraforming the planet.
Summer and Iona really seem to be struggling to get something started. After a pep-talk from Ryan they think up a concept for their build – Dream Home. The idea is that it’s a super mega private island mansion type thing.
Jennifer and Jodie are doing an underwater build, but it seems to lack a clear focus.
Jay and Stani have decided to make the top of their build spin, which means the first stool of the season is on its way. They add the top and we wait to see if it works. And… it spins!
Andrew and Damian are impressed and with a bit of spurring on from Brickman they decide to try their hand at some power functions of their own.
After initially struggling to get started Summer and Iona are starting to make some nice progress but there are some concerning sounds apparently coming from their build.
Hamish stops by Jodie and Jennifer’s build to point out the clear logical inconsistencies. They seem pretty confident that they know what they are doing. We’ll see.
Hamish has an electric scooter now. Neat.
Andrew has shown off some Technic skills to get the eyes on the top of their tower spinning. Is there anything gears can’t do?
One hour to go.
And disaster for Summer and Iona! While Summer is off in the brick pit, a part of their build collapses. In a great show of AFOL comradery the other teams rush over to help collect the parts so Summer and Iona can try and rebuild before time runs out.
Jay and Stani are pulling out a last minute surprise rollercoaster. On the way to the brick pit Stani has a pretty epic collision with Joshua.
Now comes the fun part where these epic builds have to be very carefully moved in to position. It’s surprisingly stressful.
With all of the islands back in the combined build looks epic.
Now we get in to the finished builds…
The Isle of Eyes
This build from Andrew and Damian is fantastic. I really love the world building that they have done here. Everything feels like it is part of a single story. I love the pagoda. Some fantastic technique.
Steampunk Power Station
An island where the iron age inhabitants have harnessed the power of lava, and things are going a bit wrong. I love the sense of action that they have got in to this build. The buildings may be a little too grey if anything.
Dream House
I like the idea of this but part of me can’t help but wonder if it shouldn’t be more outlandish. It’s a good build but it doesn’t blow me away.
Newtopia
I quite like the creature that they built but this isn’t as clearly set out as some of the others story wise. A bit too much going on I think.
Underwater World
It’s a bit confusing about whether this is underwater or above water. What looks to be a nice build overshadowed by a bit of a lack in clarity.
Wizard Island
A really nice tower and some fun colourful landscaping here. While I think they did a good job I can’t help but feel that this one is a bit overshadowed by some of the others. It doesn’t have as much action as some of the better builds. It feels a bit static.
Turtle Island
Lots of nice greenery here but I am not a big fan of the turtle head. It’s a bit too blocky for me. If I didn’t know it was a turtle I probably wouldn’t get this.
Hotel Magma
I really love the idea behind this one and these guys did a great job of taking advatange of that central volcano. The rollercoaster is a good late addition. It feels a bit Las Vegas-ish and I saw that in a good way. Unfortunately their spinning hotel doesn’t spin. It seems have been damaged in transit.
But.. of course we aren’t done yet! There’s a surprise second build! Not a surprise for anybody that checked the TV guide and knew there was 30 minutes left in the episode.
The teams have to create a gift from their world, to the world to the left. There is two hours for this build and their models will have to tell their own story with no explanation.
Jay and Stani are going to build another rollercoaster. That’s a great gift idea.
Summer and Iona are doing a giant bottle of champagne. A fun idea that works with their house.
Damian and Andrew are gifting their neighbours a feast, with a tribute to the eyes of their island. They seem to be doing a lot to the boat itself, which isn’t the brief.
Danni and Tim are doing an evil gift. It’s a gem golem. Not sure how Hamish and Ryan are going to go picking up what that is.
Jackson and Alex are sending a construction crew over to Summer and Iona. I love this idea.
Jay and Stani are going for another spinning tower. Bold play.
Annie and Runa are giving away free turtles.
Trent and Joshua are giving the gift of a terraforming alien/monster thing.
Here’s how the extra builds all turned out;
Jay and Stani
Their rollercoaster and spinning tower gift works perfectly with the original build.
Annie and Runa
I think I like this turtle better than their big model.
Iona and Summer
Really nice champagne bottle. Compared to some of the other teams it’s not blowing me away though.
Jennifer and Jodie
Their build works well with their first build but I think that first build had too many issues for them to be in the running for a win.
Trent and Joshua
Nice consistency with their larger build. We aren’t shown a lot so they clearly aren’t in contention.
Andrew and Damian
I like the way they have continued the iconography of their world across to their gift. Too much work on the boat.
Tim and Danni
Yep – Hamish has no idea what a golem is. Story is too confusing.
Jackson and Alex
Theming is really consistent. Not sure why they are copping it for their story not being clear. I thought it was pretty obvious, and Hamish did get there.
And the winner is…
After a combined 17 hours of building only one team can take out the Golden Brick and the Flash Jordan Brick and that team is… Andrew and Damian. This was absolutely my pick as the winner too. I loved the worldbuilding here as well as the technical skills on display.
Tomorrow stuff is going to blow up.
Great review Michael, thanks for this. I really enjoyed the ep, there wasn’t a dud build among them. They have done well with the selection of contestants. The only pair that seemed to disagree with each other were the married couple, but that could have been the editing.
My pick was the turtle. I loved the creativity behind that even though you are right about it not quite looking the part. The gift was very cute. Andrew and Damian deserved winners though.
I thought it was pretty obvious from quite early last season that Henry and Cade were the most talented builders (with no disrespect meant to the others); they just had every aspect covered so well. I already have the same feeling about Andrew and Damian – it’s only one build I know, but like H&C last year they just seem to have the same very well-rounded mix of being able to do technical stuff while also adding the creativity and polish with small details.
I want a Kale cameo. My favorite from last season.
I bet they’d have tried, given how much he spiced it up last year; if it doesn’t happen I suspect it’ll be because he wasn’t up for it. He may not have been thrilled with how he was portrayed!
After the Bilsy / Kale situation last year I’m wondering which (if any) pairs were matched by the producers this year – I’ve wondered about the scientist / psychic combo. I don’t think I heard any mention of their longstanding friendship etc, and the scientist was newish to the hobby.
The show’s website describes them as friends, and the recap video they aired last night showed them building together. They seem to build very well together, but it’s hard to tell when 15 hours of activity is edited into a few minutes of each contestant