MasterChef (U.S. season 3)

Season 3 of the American competitive reality TV series MasterChef had a 2-night premiere on Fox on June 4 and 5, 2012.^[1] The season concluded on September 10, 2012 with the first blind contestant Christine Hà winning the MasterChef title.^[2] Runner-up Josh Marks committed suicide on October 12, 2013, at age twenty-six.^[3] He had been diagnosed with schizophrenia the day before his death, and had already been suffering from bipolar disorder.^[4] He was also arrested for police battery before his death.^[5]

Top 18

Elimination table

     (WINNER) This cook won the competition.

     (RUNNER-UP) This cook finished in second place.

     (WIN) The cook won the individual challenge (Mystery Box Challenge or Elimination Test).

     (WIN) The cook was on the winning team in the Team Challenge and directly advanced to the next round.

     (HIGH) The cook was one of the top entries in an individual challenge but didn't win.

     (IN) The cook wasn't selected as a top or bottom entry in an individual challenge.

     (IN) The cook wasn't selected as a top or bottom entry in a Team Challenge.

     (IMM) The cook didn't have to compete in that round of the competition and was safe from elimination.

     (PT) The cook was on the losing team in the Team Challenge, competed in the Pressure Test, and advanced.

     (NPT) The cook was on the losing team in the Team Challenge, did not compete in the Pressure Test, and advanced.

     (RET) The cook won the Reinstation Challenge and returned to the competition.

     (LOW) The cook was one of the bottom entries in an individual challenge, but wasn't the last person to advance.

     (LOW) The cook was one of the bottom entries in an individual challenge, and was the last person to advance.

     (LOW) The cook was one of the bottom entries in the Team Challenge, and they were the only person from their team to advance.

     (ELIM) The cook was eliminated from Masterchef.

Guest judges

• Paula Deen - Episode 13

Episodes

Episode 1

• Original airdate: Monday June 4, 2012
• Audition 1: The people that earned a white apron today include Michael, Monti, Scott, Tali, Ryan, Josh, Samantha, Becky, Helene, and Christine.

Episode 2

• Original airdate: Tuesday June 5, 2012
• Audition 2: The people that earned a white apron today include Felix, Tanya, Mike, Anna, and Frank. Anna and her husband AJ are the first husband and wife pair to move on.

Episode 3

• Original airdate: Monday June 11, 2012
• Audition 3 and Top 36 Boot Camp: The auditions ended with Stacey and David gaining aprons. Afterwards, the top 36 contestants were tasked with cooking a ground beef dish. After inspection, the contestants were divided into three groups of twelve; two groups were called forward, with the third group remaining at their stations. Of the two groups called forward, one was eliminated, while the other, consisting of Becky, Felix, Frank, Helene, Josh, Michael, Mike, Ryan, Samantha, Scott, Stacey, and Tali, advanced. The judges then called upon the remaining twelve contestants: Anna, AJ, Bubba, Christine, Courtney, Dave, David, Monti, Nandini, Rami, Sheri, and Tanya, a group whom they were not sure about and needed to taste their final dishes. The first group to be tasted were Anna, AJ, Dave and Tanya. The judges chose Dave and Tanya to advance. Between husband and wife duo Anna and A.J., the judges decided to advance Anna, eliminating AJ. The second group consisted of Bubba, Christine, Monti and Nandini. The judges advanced Monti and Christine, eliminating Bubba and Nandini. The last group consisted of Courtney, David, Rami and Sheri. After eliminating Courtney and Sheri, the judges gave David the last spot and eliminated Rami.

Episode 4

• Original airdate: Tuesday June 12, 2012
• Mystery Box Challenge 1: The top eighteen had to cook items out of their Mystery Boxes. Ryan, Samantha, and Scott were called forward for having the worst three of the group, with the judges announcing that they had revised the rules and anyone could be eliminated at any time during the competition.
• Bottom three: Ryan Umane, Samantha De Silva and Scott Little
• Scott was the first to be sent to safety, leaving Ryan and Samantha facing elimination. Samantha was eliminated. Felix was declared the winner of the challenge.
• Eliminated: Samantha De Silva
• Challenger Winner/Immune: Felix Fang
• Elimination Test 1: Felix got to choose the subject for the first Elimination Test, the theme being the dishes that intimidate the judges the most. Felix chose the risotto. Felix was also exempt from competing in the test. Frank's and David's were deemed to be the best two dishes, making them team captains for the upcoming team challenge. Josh, Becky, Stacey, Tanya, Mike, Anna, and Michael did not have their dishes featured but advanced alongside Ryan, Scott, Monti, and Christine.
• Winners: David Martinez and Frank Mirando
• Bottom three: Dave Mack, Helene Leeds and Tali Clavijo
• Helene was declared safe as the judges named her risotto best of the worst, leaving Dave and Tali facing elimination. The judges decided that Dave had the worst dish and he was eliminated.
• Eliminated: Dave Mack

Episode 5

• Original airdate: Monday June 18, 2012
• Team Challenge 1: For the first team challenge, the remaining sixteen contestants were tasked with feeding an army of two hundred and one Marines. David and Frank captained two teams, with David getting first pick. David chose Becky, Josh, Mike, Helene, Ryan, Anna, and Monti for the Red Team, while Frank chose Felix, Scott, Stacey, Tali, Tanya and Michael, and was left with Christine for the Blue Team. Each Marine would vote for the entrée that they preferred, and the team with the most votes would win the challenge. The Red Team managed to win by sixteen votes.
• Team Challenge Winners/Immune: Anna Rossi, Becky Reams, David Martinez, Helene Leeds, Josh Marks, Mike Hill, Monti Carlo and Ryan Umane
• Pressure Test 1: The Blue Team was sent to the Pressure Test. Frank was allowed to exempt one team member from competing. Stacey took the exemption when offered. The remaining Blue Team members were then tasked with baking an apple pie. Christine, Frank, Felix and Tali advanced, with Christine and Frank baking the best pies.
• Immune: Stacey Amagrande
• Bottom three: Michael Chen, Scott Little and Tanya Noble
• Tanya was then sent to safety, as her pie was deemed best of the worst, leaving Scott and Michael as the bottom two. Michael was eliminated.
• Eliminated: Michael Chen

Episode 6

• Original airdate: Tuesday June 19, 2012
• Mystery Box Challenge 2: For the second Mystery Box Challenge, the remaining contestants each had to create a dish using offal. The top three dishes were Becky's, Ryan's, and Christine's. The judges declared Ryan the winner.
• Challenge Winner/Immune: Ryan Umane
• Elimination Test 2: Along with immunity from the upcoming Elimination Test, Ryan was rewarded with two other advantages. First, he was able to determine which item the home cooks had to cook: ahi tuna, ham, or Dungeness crab, of which he chose the crab. The judges then told him that he would also get to decide on who would be cooking with live crab and who would be using canned crab. Ryan chose to give the live crab to Christine, David, Helene, Mike, Scott, Tali, and Tanya, while Anna, Becky, Felix, Frank, Josh, Monti, and Stacey received the canned crab. The judges deemed Christine's and Josh's as the best two dishes, and the two were selected as team captains for the next Team Challenge.
• Winners: Christine Hà and Josh Marks
• Bottom four: Frank Mirando, Helene Leeds, Mike Hill and Tali Clavijo
• Frank and Mike were first to be sent to safety, leaving Helene and Tali to face elimination. Helene was deemed to have the worst dish and she was eliminated.
• Eliminated: Helene Leeds

Episode 7

• Original airdate: Monday June 25, 2012
• Team Challenge 2: For the second Team Challenge, the remaining contestants had to cook breakfast room service for an entire hotel. Christine and Josh were appointed team captains. They divided the remaining contestants into the Red Team and the Blue Team. Christine chose Felix, Scott, Tanya, Mike, Stacey, and Ryan for the Red Team. Josh chose Becky, Frank, Anna, Monti, David, and Tali for the Blue Team. The judges then told Christine that she could swap out one member of her team with one from the Blue Team. Christine relinquished Ryan and exchanged him for Becky. The teams each had ninety minutes for prep and ninety minutes to serve. With 60% of the guest preference vote, the Red Team won the challenge.
• Team Challenge Winners/Immune: Becky Reams, Christine Hà, Felix Fang, Mike Hill, Scott Little, Stacey Amagrande and Tanya Noble
• Pressure Test 2: All of the members on the Red Team were safe from elimination. The judges also rewarded David, Frank, and Monti by exempting them from the Pressure Test. Anna, Josh, Ryan, and Tali were then each tasked with baking a molten lava cake, only having four chances to get it right.
• Immune: David Martinez, Frank Mirando and Monti Carlo
• Bottom two: Ryan Umane and Tali Clavijo
• Anna and Josh advanced into the next stage of the competition. Ryan conceded that he had done the worst and accepted his elimination.
• Eliminated: Ryan Umane

Episode 8

• Original airdate: Tuesday June 26, 2012
• Mystery Box Challenge 3: For the third Mystery Box challenge, the remaining contestants found a T-bone steak among other ingredients inside their mystery boxes. The best three dishes were Frank's, Tanya's, and Becky's. Tanya was declared the winner.
• Challenge Winner/Immune: Tanya Noble
• Elimination Test 3: The theme for this Elimination Test was the judges' favorite desserts. Along with immunity from elimination, Tanya got to choose who was to make which dessert. Tanya gave the trifle to Becky, Josh, Monti, and Stacey; the strawberry shortcake to Christine, Mike, Scott, and Tali; and the tiramisu to Anna, David, Felix, and Frank. Stacey's trifle was the best dessert of the night.
• Winner: Stacey Amagrande
• Bottom three: Becky Reams, Felix Fang and Scott Little
• Becky was the first to be sent to safety, leaving Felix and Scott to face elimination. Scott was eliminated.
• Eliminated: Scott Little

Episode 9

• Original airdate: Monday July 2, 2012
• Team Challenge 3: This challenge consisted of three teams - Red, Yellow, and Blue. Stacey was given the task of forming the teams. Stacey led the Red Team herself, selecting Tali, Frank, and Becky. Stacey then selected Anna and Tanya to join Monti and David on the Yellow Team, leaving Christine, Felix, Josh, and Mike as the Blue Team by default. The Yellow Team elected Anna as their leader, and Josh volunteered to lead the Blue Team. The teams' task was to each operate a food truck at Venice Beach, with the Red Team selling Mexican cuisine, the Yellow Team selling American cuisine, and the Blue Team selling Indian cuisine. All profits from the challenge would go to charity. The team that earned the least amount of money would face the Pressure Test. The Red Team won the challenge with $798 in sales, with the Blue Team claiming second place with $756, leaving the four members of the Yellow Team to face the Pressure Test after earning only $602.
• Team Challenge Winners/Immune: Becky Reams, Frank Mirando, Stacey Amagrande and Tali Clavijo
• Immune: Christine Hà, Felix Fang, Josh Marks and Mike Hill
• Pressure Test 3: The task was for each of the Yellow Team members to make their own tortellinis from scratch. David's was good enough and Monti's tortellinis were also good enough.
• Bottom two: Anna Rossi and Tanya Noble
• Anna was eliminated.
• Eliminated: Anna Rossi

Episode 10

• Original airdate: Tuesday July 3, 2012
• Mystery Box Challenge 4: In this Mystery Box Challenge, the remaining contestants were tasked with cooking with ingredients that included a rabbit leg and forbidden rice. The best three dishes were Frank's, Mike's, and Becky's. Becky was the winner of the Mystery Box.
• Challenge Winner: Becky Reams
• Elimination Test 4: Becky was not granted immunity from elimination. Instead, she was able to choose which piece of equipment she would use to cook her dish and what her competitors would work with. Becky chose the deep fryer for herself and the pizza stone for the rest of the contestants. Monti was declared as the winner of this elimination challenge.
• Winner: Monti Carlo
• Bottom three: David Martinez, Mike Hill and Tanya Noble
• Tali was safe. Mike was consequently eliminated. The judges then announced that there would be a double elimination. The judges decided to send home Tanya.
• Eliminated: Mike Hill and Tanya Noble

Episode 11

• Original airdate: Monday July 9, 2012
• Mystery Box Challenge 5: In this Mystery Box, the remaining contestants were each tasked with creating a dish using a live sea urchin, or uni. After a demonstration from Gordon on how to humanely dispatch an uni and properly remove its corals, the contestants were given sixty minutes to prepare their dishes. The best three dishes were Felix's, Josh's, and Stacey's. The judges declared Felix as the winner of the Mystery Box.
• Challenge Winner: Felix Fang
• Elimination Test 5: Felix was presented with nine different types of fish and was able to decide who was to cook which fish. With no immunity from elimination, Felix selected the halibut for herself. She then chose the rock fish for Becky, the salmon for Christine, the yellowtail for David, the catfish for Frank, the sardines for Josh, the John Dory for Monti, the striped bass for Stacey, and the Arctic char for Tali. Frank's and Monti's were the best two dishes, and both were selected as the team captains for the next Team Challenge.
• Winners: Frank Mirando and Monti Carlo
• Bottom three: Christine Hà, David Martinez and Tali Clavijo
• Christine was declared safe leaving David and Tali facing elimination. Tali was eliminated.
• Eliminated: Tali Clavijo

Episode 12

• Original airdate: Monday July 16, 2012
• Team Challenge 4: The remaining contestants were tasked with feeding 101 cowboys and cowgirls. Frank and Monti were the captains of the challenge and formed their teams. Frank, the captain of the Red Team, chose Becky, Josh, and Felix. Monti, the captain of the Blue Team, selected Stacey, David, and Christine. However, Frank and Monti were forced to switch teams. Each cowboy and cowgirl would vote for the dish that he or she preferred, and the first team to 51 votes would win the challenge. The Blue Team was able to secure the win, sending the Red Team into the Pressure Test.
• Team Challenge Winners/Immune: Christine Hà, David Martinez, Frank Mirando and Stacey Amagrande
• Pressure Test 4: The judges announced that one contestant would be permitted to sit out, and asked the team to come to a consensus on who it should be. The decision effectively fell to Monti and she selected Felix. This Pressure Test revolved around cooking eggs four different ways at once.
• Immune: Felix Fang
• Bottom two: Becky Reams and Josh Marks
• Monti was deemed safe. Josh was eliminated.
• Eliminated: Josh Marks

Episode 13

• Original airdate: Tuesday July 17, 2012
• Mystery Box Challenge 6: The remaining contestants entered the kitchen to find a huge mystery box, inside of which was Paula Deen, who would serve as a guest judge. For this Mystery Box Challenge, the contestants would be working with ingredients for southern cuisine. The three best dishes were Becky's, Frank's, and David's. The judges and Paula declared Frank as the winner of the Mystery Box.
• Challenge Winner/Immune: Frank Mirando
• Elimination Test 6: Frank was shown a sampler of Japanese cuisine. After awarding Frank with immunity, the judges revealed that the other six contestants would be divided into three tag teams, each tasked with replicating the sampler; one team member would cook while the other would direct, and the two would swap roles every fifteen minutes until the challenge was over. Frank was able to form the teams. Frank paired Becky with David, Felix with Monti, and by default, Christine and Stacey became the third team. Felix and Monti were declared the winners of the challenge. Christine and Stacey's sampler was deemed to be the worst.
• Winners: Felix Fang and Monti Carlo
• Bottom two: Christine Hà and Stacey Amagrande
• Stacey was eliminated.
• Eliminated: Stacey Amagrande

Episode 14

• Original airdate: Monday July 23, 2012
• Special Mystery Box Challenge: As the episode started, the final six were surprised by being told that they would not have to cook anything this episode, and that instead the previous eight eliminated contestants (Stacey, Josh, Tali, Tanya, Mike, Anna, Scott, and Ryan) would return for a Mystery Box challenge, with the top two getting the opportunity to win back their place in the competition. Tali, Tanya, Anna and Scott were judged to not have perform good enough to keep them in, sending them home once again. Mike was then sent home, followed by Stacey, leaving Josh and Ryan to advance.
• Special Pressure Test: Josh and Ryan's task was to each create a fruit tart which would be sampled by the six contestants still in the competition in a blind taste test. Whoever had the best tart would be reinstated. Josh scored a clean sweep with all six contestants voting for him to return to the competition.
• Reinstated: Josh Marks

Episode 15

• Original airdate: Tuesday July 24, 2012
• Mystery Box Challenge 7: The final seven were asked to make a dish featuring prawns, which they would have to fish out of an aquarium they each got. The three best dishes were Becky's, Christine's, and David's. David was declared the winner of the Mystery Box challenge and would receive an advantage in the elimination challenge.
• Challenge Winner: David Martinez
• Elimination Test 7: The theme of the elimination challenge was dessert. However, the three possible ingredients of choice were savory options. David chose the corn as the ingredient that he and the other contestants would have to cook with to create a dessert dish. He was also shown three examples of corn desserts in order to give him ideas. These desserts were a Corn Panna Cotta, a Corn and Strawberry Shortcake, and finally, a Corn Rice Pudding. The judges decided the two best dishes were Becky's and Frank's, making them team captains for the next team challenge.
• Winners: Becky Reams and Frank Mirando
• Bottom three: David Martinez, Felix Fang and Josh Marks
• Josh was the first of the bottom three to be sent back to safety. The judges decided to send Felix home.
• Eliminated: Felix Fang

Episode 16

• Original airdate: Tuesday August 14, 2012
• Team Challenge 5: The cooks were brought to Hatfield's restaurant and told that they would be running the kitchen that night, with Gordon expediting, Graham as sous chef and Joe as the head waiter. The Red Team was led by Becky with Christine and Monti, and the Blue Team was led by Frank with David and was left with Josh. The contestants would be taught how to make the restaurant's menu from the owners, who would also be diners for the service. The judges declared the women the winners based on the overall feedback.
• Team Challenge Winners/Immune: Becky Reams, Christine Hà and Monti Carlo
• Pressure Test 5: Frank was given a choice of exempting someone and chose to save himself. This pressure test revolved around cooking filet mignon steaks to three different temperatures: one rare, one medium-rare, and one well done.
• Immune: Frank Mirando
• The judges gave the victory to Josh, meaning that David was eliminated.
• Eliminated: David Martinez

Episode 17

• Original airdate: Tuesday August 21, 2012
• Mystery Box Challenge 8: The home cooks were allowed to fill a Mystery Box with up to fifteen ingredients of their choosing. Gordon Ramsay then asked them to give their ingredients to the cook in front of them. Thus, Christine wound up with Becky's ingredients, Monti ended up with Christine's Asian ingredients, Frank wound up with Monti's dessert box, Josh ended up with Frank's Italian ingredients, and Becky received Josh's southern-cuisine ingredients. The three best dishes were Josh's, Monti's, and Christine's. Josh was declared as the winner of the Mystery Box.
• Challenge Winner: Josh Marks
• Elimination Test 8: Josh's advantage was to choose which dish he and the other contestants would have to replicate which were made by Graham Elliot. Josh chose the white tuna dish and was given a basket containing all the necessary ingredients. Graham Elliot told the contestants that they may improve upon his dish if they deemed it necessary. Christine's dish was announced as the winner.
• Winner: Christine Hâ
• Bottom three: Becky Reams, Josh Marks and Monti Carlo
• Becky was sent to safety. Monti's dish led to an elimination.
• Eliminated: Monti Carlo

Episode 18

• Original airdate: Tuesday August 28, 2012
• Team Challenge 6: The home cooks were asked to prepare a three course meal for Graham Elliot, Joe Bastianich, Gordon Ramsay, plus French chefs Guy Savoy, Daniel Boulud, and Alain Ducasse. The home cooks will be split into teams of two. Christine gets to pick her teammate but if her team loses she will have to compete against her teammate in the pressure test. Christine chose Becky as her teammate forming the Red Team, leaving Frank and Josh on the other Blue Team. The judges opted for the Red Team's appetizer, the Blue Team's entrée, and finally the Red Team's dessert. This led to Becky and Christine being declared the winners.
• Team Challenge Winners/Immune: Becky Reams and Christine Hà
• Pressure Test 6: Frank and Josh had to make three soufflés in only an hour.
• Frank was eliminated from the competition.
• Eliminated: Frank Mirando

Episode 19

• Original airdate: Tuesday September 4, 2012
• Mystery Box Challenge 9: For the final Mystery Box Challenge of the season, the home cooks were tasked to cook a signature entree they could see being included in their cookbook in 60 minutes. Christine's was named as the winning dish.
• Challenge Winner: Christine Hà
• Elimination Test 9: This test revolved around cooking one of three legs of meat. Christine got the first pick and took the chicken legs; the second pick went to Josh, and he chose the lamb legs, leaving Becky with frog's legs. Josh's dish was the best and he was the first finalist.
• Winner: Josh Marks
• Bottom two: Becky Reams and Christine Hà
• Becky was eliminated.
• Eliminated: Becky Reams

Episode 20

• Original airdate: Monday September 10, 2012
• Season Final: Christine and Josh were given two hours to create a three-course menu of their choosing.
• Appetizer: Josh's is Butter Poached Lobster with Grits and Sweet Potato Purée; Christine's is Thai Papaya Salad with Crab and Mixed Vegetables.
• Entree: Josh's is Rack of Lamb with Green Curry Sauce, Spring Peas, Carrots, and Parsnip Puree; Christine's is Braised Pork Belly with Rice, Crispy Kale and Maitake Mushrooms.
• Dessert: Josh's is Bacon Crusted Pecan Pie with Vanilla Bean and Cinnamon Ice Cream; Christine's is Coconut Lime Sorbet with a Ginger Tuile.
• Final Two: Christine Hà and Josh Marks
• Winner Revealed: Christine Hà was pronounced the winner of the competition, taking away $250,000 and the MasterChef title, and a cookbook deal. In addition, she became the first blind and Asian contestant to win the title.^[6]
• MasterChef Winner: Christine Hà

References