Lego Masters 2020 – “Cop It Brickman”

Another week of Lego building fun, one team went home after a Lego Masters first, and another team popped their way to victory.

We’re reduced to only two episodes this week, but Lego Masters continued to capture out attention and produce some amazing Lego masterpieces amongst high drama situations. Fun drama, of course. This was Week 2 of Australia’s favourite family show!

WEEK 2 RECAP

EPISODE FOUR:

Hamish announces that there will be two builds this week, but at the end of the second, one team will be going home. He and the Brickman produce a couple of hard hats, signalling the first build will be all about height. No stools are allowed either, and the teams have two hours to go as high as they can.

Everyone goes to work immediately to work on simply just building a structure that will support an extremely tall Lego build. Summer is feeling a little unwell, while Damian & Andrew decide to use a sideways technique to raise their structure. Trent & Josh work out two towers need to be built and placed on top of each other, prompting Tim & Dannii to take a real risk with a massive tower somewhat falling in the final few minutes of the challenge. Andrew & Damian go a little over 4 metres, as every other team’s just fall to pieces. Jay & Stani manage to put up a tall structure that beats well over Andrew & Damian’s, giving them the win and an hour advantage in the next challenge.

For the elimination build, teams must build off one piece of Lego hanging by a wire. The worst build means it’s time to go. Jay & Stani get their extra hour, and put it to good use. But time quickly evaporates and everyone competes for the remaining 10 hours. Andrew & Damian plan a pirate airship, while Trent & Josh consider a bird cage. Jackson & Alex want to build a flying saucer, and Jennifer & Jodie a dragon on a cloud. Tim & Dannii design an angler fish with moving fins, Jay & Stani a micro-scale city, and Summer & Iona plan a pinata. As Summer begins to feel even more unwell, she steps out to gain some fresh air, but never returns. Iona is left alone to build, and in a Lego Masters first, we’re a team of one in the Summer & Iona camp. As the Brickman criticises Trent & Josh’s technique and time usage, the boys who suffer a Lego meltdown when their cage can’t come together.

Jay & Stani’s build really start to come together, and their mini city is simply iconic. Trent & Josh finally get a cage that comes together, but make a massive decision to build two cats to hang on either side, in limited time. Iona being a woman down is really costly, but receives help from Stani and Jackson to give them a chance to progress in the competition. Damian & Andrew’s ship is extremely heavy, that it may not hang entirely. But, it does, shocking the Brickman. Tim & Dannii’s moving fins look amazing, but in only a few seconds left, one falls off.

The Brickman makes his judgements, truly in awe by what the teams have achieved. He praises Jackson & Alex and Jay & Stani’s impressive builds, as well as Jennifer & Jodie’s colour scheme and aesthetics. Tim & Dannii’s missing fin and second time with a broken piece puts them at risk of elimination, but is blown away by what they achieved. Andrew & Damian’s airship receives high praise, as does Trent & Josh’s cats and bird cage for their near perfect technique. But it’s Iona (and Summer) who are eliminated because the scale of their build just simply doesn’t compare to the others. Trent & Josh are named the winners, and even I’ll give them the edge over Jay & Stani personally.

EPISODE FIVE:

The next challenge involves the teams building a 1.2 metre tower that can withstand increasing levels of shake. The tower that survives the highest shake level will win, and if it’s a tie, the Brickman’s aesthetics judgement will decide on the winner. With 8 hours on the clock, the build is on.

Andrew & Damian design a wizard castle, and Tim & Dannii a simple but stable tower structure. Jay & Stani, the tower kings, plan some shock absorbers within a high rise. Jackson & Alex are attempting to stick to simply just filling in bricks until they reach 1.2 metres, while incorporating a prison look on the outside. Jennifer & Jodie want to build a modern art building with splashes of colour, as Trent & Josh’s technic design hopes to move with the shake plate. Jackson & Alex’s time usage is dwindling, hardly on track to finish their build on time. Jay & Stani test their shake manually, confident they can win and on aesthetics too, while Dannii suddenly has an idea to make a popcorn box and have popcorn shaking out the top.

Jennifer & Jodie hit a roadblock when their separate parts of the tower don’t align. Jay & Stani however are the first team to reach 1.2 metres, and match the criteria needed to win. Jackson & Alex finally reach the height, despite everyone doubting their ability, and Jennifer & Jodie are the last team to reach height, and their towers successfully align together. Time is up, and everyone has finished and is proud of what they have achieved. Each shake level from 1-10 will last for 10 seconds, and Trent & Josh are first up.

Their technic structure manages to reach 7, before it crumbles to an end. Jennifer & Jodie’s tower only makes it to 6 as it snaps and falls between the two towers. Jackson & Alex’s pure Lego structure, despite such a shake from it, the weight brings it to the maximum level 10. Andrew & Damian are up next, and their castle too reaches 10. Jay & Stani’s tower crumbles from the base at level 6, prompting the whole tower to fall. Tim & Dannii are ecstatic with their popcorn build, and it even manages to survive until 10 with the raining popcorn almost a simulation of a real popcorn box. There’s no doubt in my mind Tim & Dannii’s popcorn box was awesome and my favourite, and it equally was the Brickman’s with the pair winning Immunity for next episode’s elimination challenge.

REVIEW

This was another fun week of Lego Masters, as one would expect. I definitely think Hamish and the Brickman are the winning formula for the show, the touch of comedy and friendship between them really make the show what it is. The builds can, at times, grow a little tiresome, but Hamish saves the day. It breaks the episode up so I’m always enticed into what is happening. I commend Nine and these two for bringing that element to the program. This show works so well in the Reality market.

I enjoyed all three challenges, especially the two that weren’t solely on aesthetics to win, and were more technical in design that would solidify a win. Once again, it breaks the competition up a bit so we’re not just watching the same thing over and over again. This is a great format, in my opinion, more enjoyable than the first. That’s also a tribute to the cast, which I’ll get to now.

Summer & Iona, ugh, it sucked watching them go down like that. They probably weren’t the strongest team, but they were fun to watch. It’s good to hear that Summer is okay. But damn, Iona did A LOT in the time she was given by herself. The pinata looked incredible! I wonder why the show didn’t have an emergency response in operation for a situation like this. From memory, The Block once had a contestant that couldn’t participate in the program for medical reasons. A former contestant came and stepped in to his shoes, and I think we should have had a temporary stand-in for Summer to finish off the challenge and at least give the girls a chance of progressing forward. Summer comes back all good next episode and it’s no harm done. We know Jordan was around there somewhere, it could have been a good opportunity to have him in there under Iona’s direction just so she could have a fighting chance. Just an idea, and maybe something that will happen in the future if a similar situation occurs. But it sucks they went home because of this. I thought they were good Lego builders. Come back for All-Stars, lol!

Damn Andrew & Damian are the team to beat in my eyes. They haven’t won every challenge but I think they’re absolutely killing it with consistency all season. They constantly nail briefs and bring out some epic designs. And they’re not afraid to keep their helper bricks in their pocket as the numbers dwindle down. They’re smart, they know their Lego, I think they’re the best team to call to win. Of course, anything can happen. One disaster build and it all might change. But these guys have been the central focus of all the teams this season, and I am constantly amazed with what they design and put forward. I expect them to come back bigger and better next week. They’re in solid form.

One of my personal favourite teams is Jay & Stani, I just love what they create and their dynamic is fun to watch. Their city build in Episode 4 was just really cool. I love what they come up with, and they definitely work with more colour and making their Lego designs look really cool and satisfying. I could see them also going all the way to the end and winning, and I’d love that for these guys. Trent & Josh escaped elimination last week but they came back this week with an awesome bird cage that really was something to look at. They defied expectations, they were just on form in Episode 4 and I enjoy their dedication to the competition and them getting a little stressed at the same time. It shows how much they care, and I think they’re a great team that could be a force to be reckoned with going forward. Tough call. We’ve seen something great, and something that’s been close to elimination. Where to go from here? I don’t know.

Tim & Dannii are another really personal favourite team of mine. Dannii’s popcorn idea, absolutely a stroke of genius. They work really hard and have a good mix of skills that could see them last until the end. They’d be a great team to watch as the season continues, I think they’re a little underestimated but maybe we’ll see something really incredible from them as we continue. They’re in the top five, that’s a great achievement. I hope they can beat a couple of more teams at least, they’re just really fun to watch. Dannii is a real delight on screen, she’s got great energy and her ideas are really something. Tim’s got a couple of quirks that make him just a super enjoyable contender on a show like this, purely putting the Lego aside and looking at the teams, they’d be my favourite. But when you add the Lego, it’s a tough call. Everyone comes up with some amazing designs. Jennifer & Jodie were a little under edited again this week, although they have yet to make a big impact on the competition. I fear they’re gone next, and it’ll be another demolition of the all-female teams. Here’s hoping that’s not true. I love watching them, they have cool ideas, their dynamic is enjoyable. We just simply haven’t seen enough. But I really like them. Who doesn’t love an underdog? Maybe they can win. I don’t think so, but I’d love to see it.

Loving Jackson & Alex, they’re really fun and their antics in Episode 5 against the Brickman were bloody hilarious. I think they’ve got some great ideas and produce some real great Lego masterpieces. I just have a vibe, I don’t know what it is, but I see them with a great big downfall soon. Maybe in 4th place and missing the finale? I think they could be a real threat to win, but there are some amazing teams up here this season, for some reason I don’t think Jackson & Alex will quite cut it. I don’t like saying that, because they do some great Lego building and are a real threat in the competition. Next week will be telling if they survive it, I think I had them pegged as the winners back when I was doing my pre-season assessment, maybe I’ll return them there. But for now, I love watching them and forsee one big mistake incoming.

A really good week in Lego Masters Australia, glad all these teams were selected to compete this season and it’s certainly a winner for Nine. This is really fun!

---

Lego Masters Australia continues on Channel Nine at 7:00pm on Sunday, and at 7:30pm on Monday!

---

COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER UNDER SECTION 41 OF THE COPYRIGHT ACT 1968

The author claims no ownership to any copyright protected works which are referenced, linked or shown in this blog and the author claims fair dealing for purpose of criticism or review and as such does not constitute an infringement of the copyright in the works. The author gains no profit from publishing this content.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author only and same claims no affiliation or collaboration with any of the proprietors of any work referenced, linked or shown in this blog.

If you have a complaint about something or find that your content is being used incorrectly, please contact the author of the blog prior to making a copyright claim. Any infringement will not have been done on purpose and will be rectified to the satisfaction of all parties involved.