#masterchef s5

The 2-hour finale for this season of Masterchef was incredible. [SPOILERS]

In every season of Masterchef I watch it always seems like there's that one person who's really annoying and you don't want them to win. In this season there were a lot of people who kind of got on my nerves. Ahran really gave off that irritating teen girl vibe. I don't think Cutter should have gotten as far as he did, and he's so resistant to criticism. But it was really Courtney who I really thought needed to get cut down. She seemed smug and conniving and a little stuck up.

But as the season progressed, I found that I grew to like all of them more and more. Ahran showed a lot of maturity reconciling with Leslie. Even though I was surprised Cutter got into the Top 4, I was also surprised by how much he seemed to have improved over the course of the competition, cooking all sorts of things I wouldn't have imagined, and you got the impression that although he was proud he was still taking what the judges said to heart.

And as for Courtney, I kept expecting her to do something really nasty, or start acting really spoiled at some point during the competition. But.... it didn't really happen. Although she kept giving off the air of someone who thinks too highly of herself, it felt like it wasn't really that intentional. And above all that, she was a really good cook. A lot of people tried to take her out with Mystery Box advantages and the like, but she proved herself again and again. I honestly started to feel sorry for her. Whenever the judges asked who they thought would win, nobody picked her. I thought she deserved at least some credit.

Elisabeth was being portrayed as a hero who was going to "take Courtney down," and I like Elisabeth. She seemed like a nice person. But I felt like Courtney didn't really deserve it. She seemed like she had a bit of a rough time, and like she had a lot more to lose than Elisabeth. And I really felt like she deserved to win.

Usually by the finale the douche is eliminated and I'm not all that invested, but in this case I was really, really happy that Courtney won. The silence in the air right before Gordon said the winner was like the moment right before confessing to a crush. And when he said her name I had to replay it a few times in my head to make sure I had heard right. I was sure that the Meringue and Gordon's opinion of the cherry would bring her down, but luckily Joe seemed to be on Courtney's side (especially after Elisabeth's rare lamb.) Joe Bastianich is truly a force to be reckoned with. When Courtney messed up with the Meringue, she didn't try to give only one of the judges a mediocre dish either, she made all three the same.

I mean look at them they so cute