LEGO® Masters USA – Season 2, Episode 6: Demolition Derby
After yet another week’s break, LEGO® Masters USA, Season 2 returns for it’s sixth episode titled ‘Demolition Derby’. And just like the title suggests, our teams were challenged to create a brick-built remote-controlled vehicle to compete in a miniaturized demolition derby. More smashing! More carnage! The world’s cutest 4 wheelers had to outlast and out-smash one another to secure the win. I think this is as close to ‘Mad Max’ madness as we’ll get on this show 😁 Our 8 remaining teams certainly had fun with this one, so let’s see how they did.
Double the Challenges, Double the Rewards!
This week’s episode upped the ante for challenges by having TWO in one episode. Similar to the “Need For Speed; Super-Bridges” challenge from Season 1, episode 6, we started with a smaller challenge before the primary one. Challenge 1 involved building the Technic Lamborghini Sián FKP 37 (42115) model. But here’s the shady twist: it had to be done from memory. This was certainly a tough ask, especially using technic parts which I find not as intuitive to build with as traditional system bricks. There’s a whole other approach to design and construction that comes into play, so hats off to you if you can knock it out.
But hold on. Can I be controversial-yet-brave for a moment? Was this really as difficult as it was presented in the final edit? Based on the photo below it does look like the teams got to spend a little bit of time with the model before Will ‘accidentally’ knocked it over and broke it. Everyone is shown here making sketches, Wayne’s even got a measuring tape in hand. This wasn’t shown in the final episode. I guess the producers wanted to play up the overall difficulty setting for TV. I’m not mad that this wasn’t shown, but I am glad to see this image. It’s a better picture of the overall scope and criteria of the challenge. Even with this creative editing, it was still a tough little assignment.
If You Recall…
With 4 hours on the clock, each team did their best to copy-and-paste for the win. The 8 finished builds ranged from “fairly close” to “close enough”, but overall everyone did admirably. Caleb & Jacob, who openly confessed to knowing squat about cars, drove away with the win. Their build was definitely the closest. A few teams though made something more akin to a dune buggy or station wagon rather than a sleek Italian sports car. With this win the twins have gained an additional advantage for the main challenge: 30 seconds of safety before they enter the derby. So. How’d that go for them? *cough*…read on folks.
Built Tough: LEGO® Tough!
After completing their Lamborghini builds, the teams moved on to the 2nd and main challenge. Each team was given a remote-controlled chassis to build a demolition derby car on. They had 6 hours to finish. Judging for this challenge was done in two phases. Each build would get a moment to shine before the rally and the best looking vehicle would secure 1 of 2 top spots. The second top spot would go to the car that survived longest in the arena. I am really happy they added this extra component. Way too often we don’t get a chance to focus on a build before it’s obliterated. Rewarding both artistry and construction separately is a smart move in my wee humble opinion.
There were quite a few fun builds this week. Each vehicle had a very unique personality and no two were alike. That helps a lot when you’re watching them fall to pieces while zipping around. Last week’s winners Mark & Steven won the design portion of the judging with their ‘Toxic Titan’ design. They also kept the golden brick for another week, much to the chagrin of Wayne, who really wants it back. It was a smart call which allows them another chance to stave off a potential elimination. Now let’s drive some cars into each other!
Thelma & Louise Would Be Proud
The Demolition Derby was a pretty fun time. There was plenty of crashing and breaking with laughs all around. Then came time for Caleb & Jacob’s wickedly fun looking car to enter the fray after their 30 second safe advantage. And just as quickly as they entered it, they also exited it. In literally the funniest moment of the season, Caleb drove his derby car into the arena and then DROVE OFF THE END OF THE TABLE! It was poetry folks, something worthy of Wile E. Coyote but twice as funny. Like a lemming but motorized. I laughed so very hard. But, laughter aside, it was a tough thing to see because this automatically landed the twins in the bottom 2. Joining them were Susan & Jen thanks to their derby car’s design and poorer performance.
Like a Wrecking Ball
Dave & Richard secured the other Top 2 position with their ‘Red Devil’ build. They managed to outlast the others but it was neck-and-neck with Zack & Wayne’s ‘Purple Punisher’ low-rider muscle car. Wayne & Zack really came into both challenges with quite a bit of confidence, and it almost got them the wins. The judges ultimately awarded the top spot to Dave & Richard which secured them their second win of the season. I’m definitely happy with the result, these two have been one of my top pics since episode 1 and I’m thrilled to see them excel again. Kudos to Mark & Steven for another solid showing this week, and a super fun design.
Joining Caleb & Jacob in the bottom 2 were Susan & Jen. I think their farm-inspired ‘muscle tractor’ had some great design elements. And their build name was so good: ‘Muscle Sprouts’! Gold. While the judges also enjoyed some elements, they did have reservations and critiques on strength and finishing touches. Their struggles with time management were highlighted throughout the episode. That definitely gave us some hints at what was coming. The twins easily won on aesthetics however, creating a superb vehicle complete with wrecking ball. And despite a spectacular swan dive off the field (I still can’t 🤣), their build kept them safe and the moms from Utah were the latest team to leave the competition.
Final Thoughts
This was a decent episode. I enjoyed the builds and there were some really good designs that came out of the derby challenge. I can’t say I enjoyed the first build-from-memory challenge quite as much though. It was a fun twist but everyone making the same model doesn’t have me going wild with anticipation. I was really happy to see Dave & Richard score another win and take the lead with challenge victories. The bottom 2 were less predictable this week but it was still tough to see either team up for elimination. Hat’s off to Susan and Jen on their great run. And an even bigger thank-you to Caleb for giving us the funniest challenge fail in LEGO® Masters history!
- Will calling the Lamborghini model his ‘mid-life crisis’ car was decent funny
- Wayne flexing about driving the same Lamborghini ‘a lot’ didn’t really help out much did it?
- Still on Wayne, did anyone else catch him aggressively clapping at Zack to hurry during the challenge? Guess we know who’s in charge 😬
- “I can hear from here! Which is not normal!” Lauren to the judges ‘secretly deliberating’
- Jen using her teeth to separate 2 pieces was savage beauty. We’ve all been there
- Natalie was rocking the recent Adidas ZX 8000
- Sweet Caleb tried some more trash talking. Keep trying buddy, you’ll get there
- Caleb’s amazing driving skills made me laugh so hard, I awarded this episode a whole extra point
- Michelle & Natalie in tears laughing at the memory of Caleb’s driving also got another point
OVERALL SCORE: 7.5 / 10
What did you think about this week’s episode? Did you enjoy the challenges? Are you rooting for anyone or starting to feel some brick-built burn-out? Did Caleb’s expert driving skills impress you as much as they did me? Comment below and as always, keep on brickin’.
-Frank
LEGO® Masters USA airs Tuesdays at 8:00 PM ET/PT on FOX in the US, and on CTV, CTV.CA and the CTV app in Canada.
NOTE: LEGO Masters will be taking a 2 WEEK HIATUS during the Summer Olympics. We’ll see you again on August 10th for more recaps and reviews.
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Liked this episode
It was a lot of fun for sure!