Get the latest gossip
Culinary Class Wars Revolutionizes the Cooking Show
The K-reality series smashes conventions of the genre and pokes holes in the distinction between fine dining and street food.
Name slips continue throughout the series and deflate the tension each time, but there are perfect-for-TV counter-moments as well: Judge Anh Sung-jae initially doesn’t recognize or remember former employee One Two Three, a Black Spoon who spoke frankly in his talking-head interview about how intimidating it was to work for the chef. The episodes’ pacing forces viewers to pay attention; instead of following a traditional three-act structure, climactic eliminations or judging decisions come 20 or 40 minutes in or even serve as cliffhangers before the series’ Challengers-esque score blares over the closing credits. To give us a little bit of transparency in contrast to the series’ other, more spontaneous decisions, the judges’ handwritten notes for dishes are blown up and shared onscreen, their immediate impressions on taste and technique providing us with more insight into competitors’ skills.
Or read this on VULTURE