LEGO Masters week 6 exit interview
Posted by MeganL,
With the Olympics now over, LEGO Masters is back this week after a two week hiatus. As always, we have the interview from the team that exited the last episode (three weeks ago now). If you haven't seen the episode, spoilers are below the break, if you can't remember what the last episode was about, read below for a refresher. Pictures of the final builds are included, too.
This week's episode gave two challenges to the teams: First, they had to reconstruct a Technic model of the Lamborghini Sian from memory.
A full size LEGO Lamborghini was briefly on display as well.
Caleb and Jacob won the memory challenge, which gave them an edge in the next challenge - a demolition derby. Teams had to construct a car around an RC chassis, and build for both durability and aesthetics. The team with the best looking car earned a place in the top two, and the team that won the demolition derby would earn the other spot. The bottom two spots would be the two cars that fared the worst in the derby and would be determined by aesthetics.
Steven and Mark won the aesthetic challenge, and Richard and Dave won the demolition derby. The judges awarded Richard and Dave the win for the week, making them the first team to have two wins so far this season.
Caleb and Jacob's edge from the memory challenge was a 30 second delayed start in the derby. However, that didn't work out as they managed to drive their car off the table as soon as they started! That put them in the bottom two along with Susan and Jen. At the end of the hour, it was Susan and Jen who were sent home.
This week was a two part challenge. How did that compare to the other challenges?
Susan: I had no idea that we were going to be thrown a memory challenge, let alone a solid Technic challenge.
Jen: I hadn't built a giant Technic car before. Some of those panels were new and interesting, but I think our time management for that one was really well done. We were on it, we were rolling. Trying to do a race car from Lamborghini with such beautiful lines from memory, that was really tough, but it was fun, it was a fun challenge.
Susan: It wasn't too stressful.
Jen: Because it wasn't an elimination challenge I think the stress was off a little bit. So we kind of let loose and had a little more fun, I think, with that. There was probably a little bit more banter than what showed on the final edit.
You’ve been solidly in the middle of the pack until this week. Were you surprised this was your week to leave?
Susan: It took me by surprise. I thought we were middle of the pack. I did not think we would be in the bottom two, but I wouldn't wish this on any of the other contestants.
Jen: It was definitely a gut punch. Caleb and Jacob's build was just so phenomenal and so fun with all the little details. They didn't even highlight all the little funny details that they had. They had a cage hanging in the back on top of the wrecking ball that had a tiny little rabbit. It was weird things like that that were just hilarious. Those guys are amazing with the details. So when they got called up first. I knew that whoever got called up next was out - that they were going home. When they said our names. I was just like, “Really? This sucks.” So as soon as Jamie called our names I knew we were going home, but I wasn't expecting it. I thought that we'd held out and we were okay for this episode,
Susan: We did some damage in that episode, though.
Jen: We really did. We wrecked some cars in there.
It was clear at the end of the episode, saying goodbye was very emotional, especially for your fellow contestants. Were there any particular moments that weren’t caught on camera that you’ll always remember?
Jen: There were really too many. A lot of it wasn't shown. But when any of the contestants left, we spent a lot of time that wasn't on camera, hugging and crying, before they walked off the set.
Susan: With every single elimination we had to spend at least 10 minutes saying our goodbyes with a group hug. We weren't there when Caleb said his little bit, this was our first time seeing that. It made me cry. Everybody was crying when we left, I was sobbing. When I left, I was not ready to go home. It was very touching. That's probably the most cherished thing that I'll take from this whole experience, the relationships that we built with the other cast members.
What approach did you take with the challenges?
Susan: We usually split things up and assign different things. Jen usually did more of the Technic part for the build, and I did more detail. Jen, what do you think?
Jen: I came into the competition with an issue with time. I will set a timer on my phone at home, or listen to music and use the music or the soundtrack as my timer to know how much time has passed because when I am building, I completely lose track of all the time. So being on the show, and being under the time constraints of that challenge time clock, we knew it was going to be an issue right from the beginning. So we decided, right after episode one when we almost got eliminated that Susan has to keep me on time. I get these moments where I get super focused but I will also get these clarity moments where I know exactly what's needed to achieve the goal that we need. That's how I came up with the core for the mega shake challenge. For this challenge, the RC chassis that we were building on had Technic lift arms screwed on to it. But if you were building with brick, they didn't match up in the middle. They were just slightly off - just a tiny bit outside of System. So I created a Technic framework with tension integrities - tensegrity - that met in the middle, where I used technic plates with the holes lined up. I rammed a Technic axle down that, so our car was fastened to our chassis. It was not coming off. I knew that if we could battle everybody to pieces that we would be the last one standing. That was the plan. We built these little threshers to go on the front and the back that would break off pretty easily, exposing the corners. I had planned to use the metal corners of the RC chassis to just obliterate and chip away at everybody's LEGO. That was the plan, but it didn't quite work out. Time management was a weakness, but also a strength. I needed Susan to balance all that out and keep me on task, that was her job.
What was your favourite challenge?
Susan: I would have to say the hero shot, for sure.
Jen: My favourite too. Looks wise, I definitely loved the spider for the hero shot and I loved Susan’s bookcases. That looked fantastic - with her stained glass window. The high point of the season for me was the make and shake challenge. After our building test, Jamie picked up a piece of my core of the building. And he said, “I've never seen this technique before.” That to me was like the ultimate compliment. What I can create when put under the time constraints of this show, being on set, having unlimited bricks, and I created something that a LEGO designer had never seen before. The only part of that that made the final edit was Jamie kept a part of my core. You can see him standing up front with Will and Amy while he's still got a piece of our building in his hand. So that was a highlight for me for this season, but I loved each one of our builds. Each one taught us something significant and important. It was just as fun, if not more fun, to see everyone else's builds. I wish they would have given us museum gawking time where we could just walk around on set and look at everybody else's builds. That was something I really really wanted more of.
What details from your builds didn’t get shown on camera?
Jen: The hero shot build - it was really hard to see on camera, the details in the bookcase on that build. It was obviously built for weakness which was different for me. The books that were just floating in there so that they could come out when it was exploded. That really wasn't seen well enough, but it was one of my favourite parts of that build. Those bookcases were amazing. Susan built in little bottles of potions. There were details all over those bookcases that were just amazing.
Was there any particular building strength that you weren’t able to demonstrate on the show?
Jen: Dude, no. It was all in from the very beginning. We were learning as we were going and improving with every episode. We were all in.
Susan: I think if I had more of a chance to do something with landscaping I would have liked to do that. But that's about it. They threw everything at us, and we took it in stride.
What was your favourite element in that entire brick wall?
Susan: There are so many. One thing that we used so many of were the Mixel ball joints. That’s a tough one.
Jen: Before I did the show, and we were asked this question, I would have said any SNOT brick. Anything that would help me build sideways was my favourite. But after the make and shake challenge I've switched my favourite element. Now it’s the one by two Technic brick with the axle hole in it. Because it's literally the strongest piece, and it’s a bridge piece between Technic and standard LEGO system parts. I've been using a lot of that piece lately.
What was it like on set with Will, Amy, and Jamie?
Susan: They were always so helpful. Not a lot of this made it onto the show, but there were a lot of little times when they gave us some advice and they would give us tips and tricks, like...
Jen: Hints.
Susan: Hints, I guess, that really helped in our builds. They’re very informal and casual but their knowledge is so expansive. It was really helpful to have them tell us, maybe don't go that far, maybe cut something back to this. They were great.
Jen: I fangirled big time when they walked up to my table every time. It was so much fun to be there and share the same creative space with Brickmaster Jamie and Brickmaster Amy. Then when Will would come up to the table, he's just so funny and quick on his feet. He's hilarious and so it was really fun to have those interactions. You didn't want them to end but at the same time,.....
Susan: You had things to do!
Jen: I can't talk and build at the same time. I was either doing an interview or I was building, and I couldn't do both, sadly.
Jen’s life-sized Wonder Woman was featured on the show. What were your most epic builds prior to being on the show and did they influence your builds?
Susan: Most of what I was building beforehand were city and train. I would build these grand train curves with hills and mountains and bridges and anything I could come up with.I would usually alternate them about once a year and change the build up. It's hard to pick, but I had one tunnel train build that was just my favourite. It was epic sprawling across three tables.
Jen: My favourite build before this was my life-size Wonder Woman. I built it just to see if I could. That’s the same reason I went on LEGO Masters, just to see what I could do. Wonder Woman was a fun build for me and took about three months to finish. It was a challenge and it was fun. It looks great and I've had fun taking her out places and showing her off and sharing her like at Comic Con and that sort of thing. It was really cool that it got to be on the show. When you're building something that big, you have to figure out how to stabilize it. I built it in three parts that break apart. That was something that helped us on the show, making things modular and putting things together. I used metal threaded bar with two plates, above the legs to pinch it together and make it stronger using tension. That was something that was key in some of our builds, including the make and shake challenge. We definitely brought all of it to the show. All of our experiences not only building but moms communication, everything. We were fully all in. So it was a lot of fun.
Did you ever go through a Dark Age?
Susan: The whole first 35 years of my life were Dark Ages. I never played with Lego as a child, so when I had my own children, that's when I started.
Jen: She's made up for lost time.
Susan: I do have a number of bricks.
Jen: I got LEGO sets when I was younger. I got my first one when I was six; I've always played with them. I never had a dark ages, where I thought it wasn't cool. I always kept them. I always loved them, but they had a timeout, while I was being a parent, adulting. But I would pull them out as soon as my kids were old enough to play, just because it was one of my favourite toys when I was younger.
Did your cool mom index go up by being on LEGO Masters?
Susan: I definitely think so. My daughter's friends would watch it. Especially when my daughter was featured in the one hanging brick episode - you got to see her on national television. She thought that was pretty cool.
Jen: I would answer your question with a resounding yes, definitely. It's kind of fun when your kids think that you're awesome, especially when they're teenagers. Teenagers don't generally think their moms are awesome. Being on the show was just so much fun. It's a toy brick that everybody can relate with. And we're doing amazing adult things with these kids’ toys. It’s really bridging both worlds and so it's a lot of fun for everybody that's watching.
What next for you in your LEGO building world?
Susan: Conventions!
Jen: Conventions are the next big thing, definitely. We're both still building and hanging out together and doing all kinds of fun stuff. This is just the beginning.
Susan: Yes, we can't wait to see our fellow contestants at the some of the conventions
Jen: Reunions!!
If you could go back then to your pre LEGO masters self and give yourself some advice, what would that be?
Susan: That's a good question. I would tell myself to practice Technic which I knew, and I did, but I was building Technic sets. So the advice I would have given myself is build off the sets. I hadn't made that step - I hadn't come off the instructions and said, “If I want something to move like this and figure that out, how do I do that?”. That was a missing piece that I wish I had had before I was on the show.
Jen: I would say skip some of the details and build bigger.
Susan: Good advice, very good advice.
What life lesson did you take away from LEGO Masters?
Jen: I build faster.
Susan: I build bigger.
Here are the final builds from last week:
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19 comments on this article
I was so entertained by this one and there really weren’t any super weak builds in the creativity department. I always wish they showed more building processes though, and hopefully that changes as there are fewer competitors towards the end.
Also, what an awful network decision. Can’t believe there was that big of a gap in between episodes. I almost forgot about the series and I imagine a lot of people have at this point.
@chrisotopher94 I had the opposite problem: I kept telling my 5-year old, "Guess what tonight is? Lego Masters!" only to have to apologize week after week, "Sorry, I don't know why it's not on."
The demolition derby looked nice in the promos, but I was disappointed when the contestants were all handed an indestructible metal box with wheels as their base. Not much technical skill required this way, it made the challenge a lot less interesting.
I kept worrying my TiVo wasn't recording Lego Masters and had to check each week to make sure I wasn't actually missing an episode. I hate all the gaps between episodes this season. I hope the rest of the episodes don't have any breaks until the end.
I understand the Olympics (which I don't watch) taking precedence over LEGO Masters, but I agree. I kept looking forward to the new episode only to have to wait a week, then wait two weeks...at this point I don't really care anymore. Oh well..
As for this episode, a lot of creativity there. I remember slapping my forehead when I saw them drive the car off immediately...that's a shame. But I guess we will see what the future holds for the teams.
I kinda want to see that core design, now.
@christopher94:
It’s been Olympics for the last 17 days, and broadcast networks especially don’t like to pit new programming against that because NBC tends to eat their lunch when they do. So, they do reruns, and people who tune out for the Olympics don’t miss anything, while people who avoid the Olympics maybe sample some of the reruns and find something they like but never heard of, or never bothered with as long as other shows were running new episodes.
I’ve been behind on my television lately, so it makes me sorta glad that I didn’t actually miss any LEGO Masters. However, all these episode gaps are weird, and I would prefer that there were none.
The two super nerdy guys immediately driving their car off the field was the funniest moment of the entire series. Could not stop laughing.
I am still confused by the timing of Season 2's production vs. the release of the Sian. Did anyone figure out why none of the contestants were familiar with a set that had been on shelves for months prior to production?
@ForestMenOfEndor said:
"I am still confused by the timing of Season 2's production vs. the release of the Sian. Did anyone figure out why none of the contestants were familiar with a set that had been on shelves for months prior to production?"
Maybe they just pretended they didn't know it? Not every team would necessarily be familiar with every Lego set released, but yeah I'd think at least one of them would be. Though unless you've actually built it before, it wouldn't really help, right? Still have to build it off memory of what it looks like.
@Nexonight553:
I’ve also gotten behind on recordings, so I had to purge some low-priority stuff to make room for the Olympics. I record all the broadcast stuff and watch most of it over the course of about three weeks. Some time is saved by fast forwarding through the stuff I don’t care about, like soccer. Because, I mean...soccer.
So, I don’t particularly mind the break since it means I don’t have to worry about spoilers. Mostly. I’ll have to pause catching up to watch it live tomorrow.
@illennium:
I was laughing so hard I was having a hard time breathing. I mean, you don’t hope for them to fail (especially not that bad), but it was certainly memorable, and I’m wondering if Jen left a clue as to why it happened. That part really confused me. I can see four possibilities. One is that their controls were faulty. Two is that whoever was driving just didn’t know how to operate the controls. Three is “heat of the moment” causing him to forget there was a gap directly opposite their protected cage. And four is that it was intentional.
If, as Jen said, they were pretty much safe from elimination due to the aesthetics component, and winning doesn’t carry any special benefit, why not do something crazy? I doubt it was the first one, or they should have mentioned it and given them a full pass, but I’d hate to come up with Vegas odds on which of the other three is the truth.
@ForestMenOfEndor:
I don’t know, but the only thing that could have beat driving off the table is if one of the contestants requested a chair and footstool, saying, “My partner already built this and has eidetic memory.”
@JasonBall34:
Reality shows definitely stage the reaction shots. You can’t have half of the crowd looking at their phones and the other half look nonplussed when a celebrity climbs out of a limo that just pulled up, so they’ll reshoot it as many times as it takes to get a good take. My LUG helped out with an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition several years ago, and they kept reshooting the limo with the family pulling up until the workers had finished up any last-second work, and the producers had confirmed that the entire house was clear.
The crowd of fans outside was basically just set dressing that reacted to cue cards. I wasn’t inside to see the filming, so I have no idea if the family’s reaction shots to the interior were reshot or if they were authentic one-and-done takes, but I wouldn’t be shocked if they had to reshoot some of those when people forget themselves and get a little blue with their language.
Regardless of the timing, some contestants could have had an unfair advantage on the memory challenge, beyond just being better at the challenge itself. If it had been released when they started production, one or more could have built it already. If it had been unveiled, they could have spent a lot of time looking at the photos beforehand. And even if it was still secret when they were sequestered, the car itself wasn’t. Someone could have spent time looking at photos of the real car, or even built a MOC based on it.
@ForestMenOfEndor said:
"I am still confused by the timing of Season 2's production vs. the release of the Sian. Did anyone figure out why none of the contestants were familiar with a set that had been on shelves for months prior to production?"
As I understand it, this entire season was filmed in 2020 (I seem to recall other contestants mentioning COVID-related safety issues and limited access outside of the studio and hotel), so it may have been before the release of the Lamborghini Sian set.
No, it was taped in 2021. The Lego page where the entry form was posted told the filming schedule (7ish weeks in Feb/Mar/Apr). During that time, the contestants had to stay in the hotel during the evenings (for the most part) and I think all of them had to stay the entire 7 weeks. Staying the entire time is consistent with season 1. The staying in the hotel is COVID related.
@cflyg said:
" @ForestMenOfEndor said:
"I am still confused by the timing of Season 2's production vs. the release of the Sian. Did anyone figure out why none of the contestants were familiar with a set that had been on shelves for months prior to production?"
As I understand it, this entire season was filmed in 2020 (I seem to recall other contestants mentioning COVID-related safety issues and limited access outside of the studio and hotel), so it may have been before the release of the Lamborghini Sian set."
As @ryan_c_byrd notes, Season 2 was filmed in spring 2021, and the Sian was released in summer 2020. Hence my confusion! I would have thought that at least one of the "LEGO Masters" would be familiar with the set. I recall seeing it all over Brickset and the usual LEGO sites, and it was on display last year in our local LEGO store.
@ryan_c_byrd:
Having to stay sequestered is consistent with most pre-recorded reality shows of this type. If you let people go home as soon as they get the boot, it reveals the exit order before the show has even started airing. If you let them go home after you’ve shown them leaving, it relies too much on former contestants to keep their mouths shut (and all it takes is one of them with loose lips, or who talks in their sleep, to unravel all the secrecy). So, I know on Survivor, they rent space in a nearby hotel and just put the contestants up until filming concludes (it also makes it easier to bring them all back together for any post-exit appearances, like the final jury on Survivor). Once the whole thing is over, you can release everyone at the same time without spoiling the results.
@PurpleDave
True. Plus, for Lego Masters (and i am sure most shows), they all had to sign a strict NDA that imposes a fine if they leak any details. And I am sure the winner would also forfeit their prize. Even the test builders for the show are under a strict NDA. They were not even allowed to talk to the contestants about the show during taping.
@FoerstMenOfEndor
I am not surprised if none of them were familiar with the Sian. But that is only because many of the teams had previously stated that they were not that familiar with Technic (or were not regular Technic builders). Odds are that most (if not all) of the teams had never built the set. However, I see your point. It seems to follow that with a show about Lego masters, that some of them would be familiar with it. I have come to find out that every team has good skills, but not total familiarity with everything.
I thought the vehicle challenges were fun to watch. The Technic challenge I could relate to, as I don't build technic sets. I am a Lamborghini fan though, so I am familiar with the set & liked seeing the full sized Lambo. It was so sad & yet funny too when Caleb & Jacob's vehicle drove off the table.
I was sorry to see Jen & Susan be eliminated. They are the team that I identity with the most.
I never build with technic, but I recall seeing a few pictures of that car when it was released thanks to Brickset/Eurobricks. But I can't say I looked at the pictures that much since the large technic cars don't interest me. So I would have been lost in that challenge.