MasterChef

- Previously on "MasterChef"... - Whoo!

The first mystery box of the season.

One box is sweet, one spicy.

Michelle and Zach, since you won the challenge last time round,

you get to select a protein for each duo.

Julio and Rachel are tough competition, so we're gonna give them octopus.

That means they're afraid of us.

Ricky and Ashley were dealt the filet.

It doesn't need such ridiculous spice.

- Say goodbye. - Love you, guys.

Rachel and Julio, it is the delicious.

- Congratulations, Rachel and Julio. - Let's go!

This win means we have a bigger target in our back.

- Gordon: Tonight... - Whoo!

...it's sink or swim time

as the duos face their first team challenge of the season.

You will need to make a seafood dish for 101 fishermen and their families.

Rachel and Julio, since y'all won the last challenge, you'll choose your teammates.

- Yes! - No.

But when Mother Nature shows up...

- This weather is crazy! - Diners are arriving. Let's go!

- Best-laid plans... - Raw (bleep) fish.

- Do you want to go home? - Do not drop those.

- They're gonna run out. - Captains, get them organized!

- Oh, my God, I feel dizzy. - Keep cooking!

- ...descend into chaos. - Hey, we need a medic! Medic!

Medic! Medic!

- Oh, my gosh. It's our first field challenge. - You ready?

- I want to go on the boat. - Holy mackerel.

I'm back on the pier!

The seagull. The breeze of the ocean.

I go back to my old memory of owning a fishing boat.

I had two fishing boats...

Back to work today.

You think we're gonna cook on a boat?

Oh, hope not.

- Wow, now we're talking. - There we go!

I wonder where the judges are.

Whoo!

- Look! - Oh, my God!

- Yeah! - Joe and Tiffany!

- Yeah! - Joe is driving that boat?

- No way! - Whoo!

Hi, Joe! Hi, Tiffany!

- Whoo! - Hey, guys!

- Great to see you! - That's so awesome.

Oh, boy.

- Surprise, guys. - What's up, guys?

- Hey! - How are you, Joe?

Are y'all ready for today?

- We are ready for today. - So ready.

All right, come with us. Let's go.

- All right! - (whooping)

- Oh, my God. - Let's do this.

Did they go catch our challenge?

Timothy: "MasterChef" is our honeymoon,

so being by the sea, it's beautiful.

But I don't think we're gonna be on deck chairs sipping mai tais today.

- Where do you think Gordon's at? - Where is he?

- Whoa! - There he is!

- He's so cool! - Oh, my God.

- I wanna ride! - Azu: He was just...

...speeding and everything.

- Like an expert. - Hey, guys!

- (cheering) - Amazing!

- Look at you go, Gordon. - I love it.

- Sorry for the delay. Oh, my God! - What a legend.

- I want a ride. - Gordon Baywatch.

- Keeping the bay safe. - (cheering)

- Go on! - Welcome to this amazing harbor. How cool is this?

- Yeah, it's beautiful. - We couldn't think of a more fitting stunning backdrop

for your first big team challenge.

- Yes! - Yeah!

Now everywhere you look around here,

there are dozens of fishing fanatics.

All of them trying to land the catch of the day.

When they get back to shore, one thing is guaranteed--

they have reeled in a huge appetite.

- Oh, yes. - Today you will be broken

into two teams of five duos

and you will need to make a delicious seafood dish

for 101 hungry fishermen and their families.

- Ooh! - Wow.

- Wow. - That's a lot of fishermen.

You will be feeding seafood today to people

who do know a thing or two about seafood.

- Yep. - So today there is no hiding.

Now listen, if you're on the winning team today,

all five duos will be safe from elimination.

- Yes! - Got it.

But if you find yourself on the losing team today,

when we get back to the MasterChef kitchen,

you'll go head-to-head in a pressure test.

- Oh! - (groaning)

Where at least one duo will be eliminated from the competition.

- Wow. - No!

Michelle: The dreaded pressure test is back.

- We cannot believe that. - Zach: Yeah, they're the most

intense challenges on the show.

And we do not want to be in it.

So we need to be on the winning team today.

- All right, Rachel and Julio. - Yes, Chef.

Since y'all won the last challenge,

you'll get the very big advantage to choose your teammates.

- Yes! - (squealing)

- Yes! - Wow.

Think about this decision strategically

because you will be picking who you will be cooking with.

But the only issue there is if you happen to fall short today,

you've got to go up against those very same teammates

in the dreaded pressure test.

Rachel, Julio, come over here, please.

- All right. - Yes, guys!

- Whoo! - Love you, Julio.

- Love you, guys. - Both you are gonna be in the Red Team, right?

Adam: Julio and Rachel got the advantage to pick the teams.

I don't know how this is gonna work.

If they're gonna see us as threats or not.

- You guys look good in red. - I do, too.

I want to be on their team

because they're some pretty high caliber cooks.

- So we're hoping that we get called. - Now take a moment.

Discuss together how you're gonna strategize this pick.

Yes, Chef. Okay, mi amor, what do you think?

- We cooked fish twice and it was both good, so... - Yeah.

The strategy here is to pick only the best cooks in this competition.

Because today we have to keep our enemies close

'cause they have to help us win.

The duo we're picking first, they've been

in the top three already-- Joel and Adam.

- Gordon: Wow. Joel and Adam. Come over, guys. - Let's do it.

- Welcome. Yes, let's do it. - Let's go get 'em.

The second duo we wanted to pick,

they won an apron with a fish dish,

- Aivan and Tina. - (cheering)

Thank you!

- Right, next pairing. - All right, the third duo

we're gonna have on our team today,

they have big personalities

and they're gonna be great in our team.

- Jessica and Jesse. - Gordon: Wow.

- Oh! - Go, Boston!

Being on their team is an amazing feeling.

- My only concern is are there too many big egos? - Too many strong voices.

Yeah, and then also, if for some reason we don't win,

now we're all in the pressure test against each other.

It's the worst pressure test of all time.

So we need to win this or else we're gonna be in a tough spot.

- Right, last two. - We're picking Michelle and Zach today.

Gordon: Wow. Wow.

- Welcome. - We have the four strongest duos

in this competition in our opinion.

We got all the leaders, and the other team

has no leadership at all.

That means we got Timothy and Athena, Tonna and Cait,

Ryan Kate and Kayla, Azu and Javier, and Darce and Courtney.

You make up the Blue Team.

- Whoo! - Yay.

Rachel and Julio have definitely come to play.

They let us know that they don't see us as competition,

and we're here to prove them wrong.

Right, ladies, you didn't look too happy. What happened?

Well, you know, if we want to talk about who has experience with seafood,

I would say I'm pretty well-versed.

So I'm happy to share the wealth on this team

and give it all we got.

That's the right attitude, by the way.

Now as you know, every great ship needs a captain.

And because this is the season of duos, we need duo captains.

So have a conflab together and come back to us with who you're nominating.

Hurry up.

- Whoo! - Red Team, give us the captain duo.

- Who is it? - Julio and Rachel.

- Chef. - They put trust in us.

We're putting our trust in them.

- Okay, love that. Blue Team? - It's gonna be us, Chef.

- Gordon: Wow. Okay. - Wow! I didn't see that one coming.

- Okay. - Gordon: No.

Timothy: We feel like we can lead this team.

We've both worked in food service. We've both managed.

We're definitely gonna be managing some strong personalities.

But as long as everyone's willing to listen to our direction,

we can definitely lead this team to victory.

Right. Tiffany and I will be in the kitchen watching how you all work,

and Joe will be overseeing the dining room.

Diners will be tasting both dishes-- one from the Blue Team, one from the Red Team.

From there, they'll be casting their votes.

And everyone is gonna be on dry land to eat in about an hour from now.

So we'd like to see sample plates in just under 30 minutes from now.

- Yes, Chef. - Red Team, Blue Team, are we ready?

- Yes, Chef! - Your time starts now. Off you go.

- Whoo! - Let's go!

- What an interesting pick. - Oh, my God.

Oh, my goodness. Well, I'm gonna get out of these shorts and get changed

and get ready for an exciting fish cooking.

- Let's go! - Whoo! Red Team!

- Blue Team! - Let's go! Let's go!

Rachel: Okay, what are we thinking?

What do you guys think about miso? Bass? Something like that?

- Oh, miso bass? - No, we go for a cod.