LEGO Masters USA – Land and Sea Challenge – S02E09 Recap

LEGO Masters U.S

Season 2 Episode 9 – Land and Sea challenge

Another day dawns in the land of LEGO Masters and the teams walk into a workroom that has a giant wall and several amazing big brick models in the back wall. The mystery of the wall is revealed by Evil Will appearing on the screen, setting the stage for the Land and Sea challenge. Each team is separated in halves and they have to build a land animal and a sea animal..and then bring them together while creating the world they live in. They have five hours for both parts.

The Builds

Zack and Wayne – Crocodile + Lionfish

Wayne wonders hows he’ll cope without having his brother to bounce off. He settles on a crocodile as a land animal, hoping it being flat on the ground would assist with some of the technical challenges. Zack settles on a lionfish which leaves the judges wondering as it’s in segments. As the table is wheeled over parts of the tail falls off. But their worries are short-lived as they come together at last to create The Lioncroc. They combine the two into a creepy creature which impresses the judges with scoring points in being an effective mashup.

Mark and Steven – Jellyfish + Giraffe

Mark sets about building a big jellyfish. Steven goes for Giraffe, but when the judges rock by he realises it’s a bit too small so needs to upsize. Combining the two gives them pause as the sizes are completely different. This proves a challenge for the two as they graft the giraffe’s head onto the top of the jellyfish.

Not feeling confident they consider the golden brick… but they hold onto it again, putting them at risk Their creature is the product of many years of evolutionary adaptation as a Giraffe combines with a Jellyfish to survive on drier earth.

Amy and Jamie pointed out that the two different scales of the builds are the biggest weakness as the end result is a Giraffe head on top of a Jellyfish leading to a somewhat vague result. Jamie loves the use of transparent elements in the kelp which helps sell the transparent effects.

Natalie and Michelle Electric Eel + Rat

These pair wonder how they’ll work separately. Michelle settles on a loveable rat for a land animal. Animals are new to her. Natalie also lands on a jellyfish. Then Will rocks up and mentions Mark has one in motion. A quick brainstorm sesh and Natalie settles on an electric eel. They combine the two to create a creature living in a world of gateau.

Amy loves how they’ve managed to combine two disproportionate creatures but find the world of yellow very dominating. Jamie would have loved to have seen a bit more volume as the model feels a bit lacking in presence and is getting lost in the environment.

Dave and Richard – Penguin + Coral

David was inspired by his son’s love of penguins while Richard considers the time available and settles on coral. This proves a bit of a challenge as it doesn’t have a face. With the duo back together they decide to punk up the penguin by giving him a mohawk turning him into a busking punk rock penguin.

The judges love the big shift from a penguin and coral being two completely different objects in scale into a new story. However, they note the coral is somewhat lacking in stature in the final build. But they love the build quality regardless.

Caleb and Jacob – Chameleon + Lobster

Inseparable twin brothers apparently have no issues being apart for the challenge. Caleb wonders how he’ll go as he prefers architectural building as Jacob is the creature maker. They find combining reasonably easy as both creatures were on the same scale. The result is a chamelobster that sits on a rock in a bog.

Amy praises their initial two builds which lent themselves to a strong mashup and Jamie comments the team have arrived in the competition with a great sense of design and build quality.

The Verdict

With the menagerie of marvellous creatures revealed and the judges go off to deliberate. The top two are Zack and Wayne and Caleb and Jacob. Zack and Wayne’s terrifying creature set it apart from the gentler beasties on display. Caleb and Jacob had two strong starting builds which were improved with the mashup.

The winner of the Land and Sea challenge is Caleb and Jacob. The bottom two are Michelle and Natalie and Dave and Richard. Jamie points out that Michelle and Natalie’s mashup lacks presence and Dave and Richard’s model was praised for the details but failed in the mashup part. The team that sadly leaves us this week is Dave and Richard.

Next week’s – The teams have to build their dream home!

Thanks for reading, if you enjoyed this please leave a comment below