Welcome back everyone to our coverage of LEGO® Masters, season three. Episode 4 was preempted in the US because of a baseball game. Although Canadian audiences still got to see it as scheduled, American viewers had to wait till the week after. So last week was a repeat for us Canucks, hence no recap. Which honestly worked out great for me personally as I was on holiday. But I hope this isn’t the first of many delays. You may recall Season 2 had several such delays when it aired. That dragged out the season an extra month. But I’m happy we’re back on track (for now…👀). So let’s talk about the cutest episode of LEGO®️ Masters ever. Release the hounds for the Brickminster Dog Show!
Previous Episodes:
- Episode 0: Sneak Peek🫣
- Episode 1: Ready to Launch 🚀
- Episode 2: Jurass-Brick World 🦖
- Episode 3: Brick Bull Ride Rodeo 🐂
- Episode 4: Out on a Limb 🌳
So cute you’ll cry
The Brickminster Dog Show wouldn’t be complete, or possible, without dogs. So in the cutest intro ever, Will Arnett calls in his newest cohost and several adorable dogs that run into the studio. I mean, come on – what’s not to love? Remington, a golden retriever, is the first pupper to run in, followed by 9 others, each one a different breed. Wonderfully photogenic breeds at that. Everyone’s ecstatic. But none more so than Canadian Emily. She literally squeals for practically a minute straight. Then cut to her crying with joy at the thought of this challenge. Get it together girl, there’s buildin’ to do.
Put it on stephen’s Tab
This week’s challenge is all about sculpting a realistic replica of a dog. Each team got to choose one of the dog breeds based on the corresponding leash colour that it was wearing. All they had to do was calmly run to the podium and pick. Yeah….that didn’t happen. One of the Stephens tore into that podium and literally knocked it and the fencing over. Not that he was alone in the madness, but he definitely caused much of the collateral damage. He was going to get that dalmatian at all costs! In this case it’s whatever the going rate of podius are. 😂 With 11 hours on the clock, it was time to let the dogs out.
Who’s a good boy?!
The Brickminster Dog Show was a great collection of builds. The breeds on show are popular, adorable and very recognizable. Having the teams walk the aisle with their real and built model was really fun. In the safe zone this week were Liz & Erin with Maggie the puli. How hilarious is this breed? It’s just a lovable mop. And they did an awesome job recreating that distinctive coat with their ingenious technique of a strong body and all those technic looking tubes coming out on all sides. She did look like she had static electricity LOL, but it was the most logical approach.
Two other ‘safe’ teams were Dave & Emily with Tap the papillon and last week’s winners Nick & Stacey with Pippin the corgi. As I already mentioned Emily had a field day with this challenge. She built with one hand as she basically held Pippin in her lap the whole time. Should that get extra points? Pippin looked great with the use of plates to show lots of animated fur in just the right way. The tail and ears were especially great, not to mention that undercoat. Nick & Stacey’s corgi was equally cute with all the right funny proportions and best of all, a motorized butt wiggle! That face was spot-on too. Great job from both Canadian teams!
Best in Show
There was a top 3 this week on the Brickminster Dog Show. Coming in 3rd place (I assume) were Austin & Justin with Collins the springer spaniel. That face! They did a fabulous job on making those eyes and adorable expression come to life. The ears are the other standout, they got them just right, floppiness and all. Picking up the silver medal (I don’t know how dog shows work) were the Stephens and Blaze the dalmatian. And you gotta give em some major credit this episode. Destroying the podium got them the fire department mascot and they really crushed it on their build. Blaze was built doing a belly crawl, which the real dog demonstrated too. A super smart approach that made their build stand out. Amazing work.
And winning Best in Show at the Brickminster Dog Show were Brendan & Greg with their incredible build of Mikey the Boston terrier. This was paws down the best build of the evening. The textures, shaping and colours are fantastic. And look at that face, it’s so accurate and adorable. Amy and Jamie wanted to see accurate proportions, detailing and sculpting. And boy did the brothers deliver. The way Mikey is staring upwards made him all the more convincing. Congrats to Brandon & Greg on their first win.
play it safe
Before we get to the bottom 2, I need to mention Emily & Liam and their build of Tank the English bulldog. Once again this team (Liam…) wanted to go big! Tank was the biggest dog of the bunch and they tried to make him full size. They struggled with their build and didn’t even end up finishing. Smartly, they decided to play their safety net and keep themselves from elimination. It was an easy choice and the right one. No matter how much the editors wanted us to think they wouldn’t. You can’t fool me with that commercial break cliffhanger! Poor Tank broke apart pretty quickly too when they tried to walk him. If that ain’t validation on their choice, then what is?
in the dog house
Our Bottom 2 this week faced some pretty similar challenges. Our newbies Ethan & Dom really struggled with their build of Steel the dachshund. They just couldn’t get the build stable enough to pull down the field. It broke up during testing and then again right before judging. It was a heartbreaker to see. They did have 5 minutes to try and regroup but ultimately they just picked up the build and walked it. And it was really sad to see them keep losing pieces as they walked away. Really tough week after nearly winning the previous episode.
Similar to our stalwart teens, Jon & Xavier had much the same setbacks. Their build of Murph the French bulldog also broke apart during their walk and had to be carried in. They also struggled during the build, particularly on the face. The brickmasters did give them a bit of warning on that very issue but it didn’t pan out. This was their second week in a row in the bottom 2 as well. With a weaker design and failed mechanics, these two friends became the latest team eliminated from the competition.
Final Thoughts
The Brickminster Dog Show was my favourite episode so far. It was a sculpting and skills challenge with the cutest of themes. But at one point I did start laughing pretty hard. I just imagined this as an explosions challenge and I couldn’t stop giggling. I know that’s awful, but I kept hearing “Detonate the dog!!” and hilarity ensued. Thankfully we didn’t blow anything up and instead got some amazing builds. But fear not next week is the return of the kaboom. We went two whole shows without destroying something on purpose. Can’t have that.
- Amy, the jacket, tres chic as always
- Seriously, Stephen going full Hulk on the podium was pretty epic
- “If you need a big hole, I’m gonna make it” – Stephen ….. ummmmm
- Ethan & Dom’s rap is currently available on Spotify, iTunes and MySpace
- I love that Remington at one point, with zero context/explanation, was just sitting on a throne
- “Never work with dogs, children or Will Arnett”
- Loved those brick-built ribbons and microphones
- Shout out to the Stephens for getting Blaze to earn his treats with a trick
- The 5 minute dog cuddle break should be a thing in all jobs
OVERALL SCORE: 9 / 10
How did you enjoy this week’s episode? What breed would you have wanted to build? Who’s creation did you like the most? Who was the goodest boy? Please let us know your comments below and in all the usual places. Thanks for reading and until next time, keep on brickin’. 🧱
-Frank
LEGO® Masters USA airs Wednesdays at 9:00 PM ET/PT on FOX in the US, and on CTV, CTV.CA and the CTV app in Canada. Follow our full coverage here.
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