Episode 12: Basic Straining
Premise: The contestants go to Chef's boot camp! Meanwhile, Harold has had it with Duncan's pranks and Courtney starts to fall for Duncan.
Challenge: Surviving boot camp in a series of torturous challenges. Includes: a canoe-holding challenge, dance scene, writing a 300-word essay, muddy obstacle course challenge, and hanging upside down a tree branch.
Winner(s): Screaming Gophers
Eliminated: Courtney, because Harold tampered with the votes to spite Duncan for bullying him so much
My Favorite Part: The dance scene
I love this episode almost as much as the last one. I thought the elimination was very unpredictable and I did not expect Courtney to be eliminated, but she did in a very surprising twist! There are also a lot of awesome jokes, especially Courtney continuing to reject the fact that she likes Duncan and then eventually joining the dark side by falling for Duncan and helping him steal Chef's desserts. Master Chef was really awesome too! He practically made this episode and it's a really great idea to have him lead the challenge rather than Chris telling the contestants what to do all the time. It was really funny how he kept on snapping at the contestants and saying things like, "You will continue to say nothing!" and things like that. Also, you gotta love the joke when Gwen said that she needed to use the bathroom and Chef made her clean it. It was also pretty funny seeing Duncan make Chef mad by making snide remarks and kissing his nose and then eventually pushing him over the edge. Courtney also telling Chef to take a chill pill was a great "did not see that coming" moment! There are also other little moments here and there, like Geoff and Duncan making s'mores out of Harold's underwear and then Harold taking his underwear and throwing it down in front of Courtney. And another funny moment during the last part of the challenge when Owen lands on Heather and she's like, "Get off me you big ox!" This is a great episode and it was also really nice to see Duncan and Courtney bonding. However, there is one problem with this episode: the plot with Harold tampering with the votes is not mentioned by anyone at all until Courtney mentions it in the episode "Haut-e Campture". It would've been great karma if Duncan actually investigated why Courtney was voted off and then found out it was Harold and then got revenge on him. It's kinda weird how they don't follow up with this plotline until later. Fortunately, that's only a small flaw and it doesn't ruin an otherwise awesome episode.