jfarwellpromo I loved the show overall, but I couldn't agree more with the reviewer who mentioned that Troy was being a complete bully and was then rewarded for his behavior as the judges turned a blind eye. As the parents of a young child, my husband and I were appalled by the decision and action of the judges in this instance and it really left a terrible taste in our mouths (pun semi-intended). It's not an instance where the judges didn't know what was going on, as Chef Gordon was in the kitchen witnessing the bullying himself. Huge thumbs down for this terrible judgement call, and a big disappointment for the viewers. I hope that if the show continues with further seasons that they will be more diligent with upholding the standards of human decency that we should expect of our country's children as a whole.

vsersch15 In the day and age we're in, facing a huge problem with bullying, I think last nights show was terrible. Troy bullied that little girl almost the whole time they were in the kitchen and he gets kudos for it. I know no one patted him on the back for it but the underlying message is that it's OK to have bullying, even in a working situation and it's NOT. Parents have a hard enough time trying to teach their kids the right way to treat people and last nights episode fell right through the cracks. I've worked in kitchens and that is just not acceptable! Kids have a hard enough time growing up as it is now. They are forced to be small adults before they're even ready too. To be accepting of that kind of behavior is wrong. There's enough bullying in school, on the playgrounds, and sadly in jobs to be allowing it to happen on a kids based show. I do agree that kids should learn; age appropriately, that there will be winners and losers and at some point you will be on each end of it. I do not however believe we should be promoting a winner as someone who treats people like Troy did, I don't care how good the kid cooks - teach the lessons parents are stressing to teach their children!!

roarkstata I think MasterChef Junior is a wonderful show! The kids are absolutely amazing and talented! They are great cooks and are super adorable! It's so sad to see any of them go- they're all so amazing, even if they do have their flaws. After all, they are like 10 years old! I do think the judges are really easy on the kids and put on a super nice act for them because they are kids. I also see a bit of favoritism towards Alexander and Sarah but not a lot.I wish they would only eliminate 1 person per episode. I get that they don't want to single out just 1 person but it seems like the season is going by realllllllllly quickly. Maybe eliminate 2 people every other episode? Did anyone else notice how all of the contestants are from California, New York, or New Jersey?

TragicBloom Being a fan of Masterchef, I felt compelled to share my thoughts after watching episode 1 of Junior Masterchef:The first thing that hit me was how obnoxious all 3 judges have become! I mean GOOD GOD, why are they trying to be so playful and cute here? It's like this show is the tinytoons of MasterChef. And when they're not acting ridiculously cartoonish, they're coming off just plain awkward, or even intimidating in some cases! Ramsey playing with the Asian girl's stupid bow, or him playing cupid - inquiring a 12 year old about her love life (wth was that about?), or Graham's stone-faced "WHY ARE YOU CRYING?". The commentary is smack you in the face pandering (their repeated murmurings of disbelief about how challenging the task is for kids so young, or how "this is CRAZY", or asking "So you've never worked in ITALY?" or "Do you wear that shirt when you're gambling?"). The notion that these are normal kids picked out from a street campaign is also ridiculous. Of course I'm just assuming this is how they were selected because the who, where, and how part of this abortion was skipped altogether. One thing is clear though, these are NOT normal kids. It was like they were conditioned from birth to perform - all of them. One girl said how she really didn't like cooking with organs, another said that she started working with homemade pasta at 4! In what kind of a privileged, silver-spooned world do 4 year olds dabble in homemade pasta? Are these kids Brad n Angelina's - are they a Trump?? Even with a privileged upbringing assumed, their skill is still too unrealistically high. We have 7-12 year olds here; each one of them finished the challenge with a respectable dish, one I'd feel lucky to eat ... it's clear they've had, and ARE currently receiving, plenty of guidance from JMC personnel.So senseless. This is a high-pressured environment, a cooking contest, where even professionals can get sloppy and make mistakes, yet we have 7-12 year olds handling knives and full-blown boiling water, and there's large equipment tucked away on high shelves with no stepping stools anywhere in sight (except at the cooking stations). All the while, the parents gawk on from above like jack-assed, pastel wearing goons. It's commendable how much importance the judges place on protecting the kids' feelings, too bad it's done with no grace. They give the slightest hint of a suggestion of a critique, making the viewer and kid think there's nothing to be alarmed of, then they immediately counter it with a very unconvincing, almost sarcastically upbeat "great job :)!!" - making it clear just how dissatisfying they actually find the dish to be. It was soon clear that this was the judges' "tell" whenever they dropped the axe on an innocent.Yes, after all this clumsy care for the kid's emotional welfare, they throw it all out the window by inexplicably and somewhat arbitrarily sending half of them home. 12/24 little lambs were slaughtered in a blink of Ramsay's eye! And for what Ramsay .. FOR WHAT??! Well, for the trophy of course, that hunk of plastic that's designed to bring these bright-eyed children to each other's throats. A couple of observations: 1) Alexander is the ringer, a 30 year old executive chef planted within JMC. 2) Jack is the coolest, that kid says what he feels. 3) You have the BALLS to send Nathan home Ramsay? Dude's 7 years old, he could barely pick up the food processor he was required to use, and STILL put out a dish that was restaurant quality. 4) I hope there are elimination rounds coming up ... (shrug).