MasterChef recap:

With Darrsh gone for not being French enough, there are only five fans left, all of whom live with the terrifying knowledge that just one small rejection could see them eliminated, unless they happen to be Nat. “You've all grown a lot since you walked through these doors,” says Sofia, worried about the contestants' hormonal imbalance. But have they grown enough to win immunity tonight? And does this question make sense?

It's the final immunity challenge of the season, and requires fans to open a small wooden box. Unfortunately, though, that's not the whole challenge: after opening the box, they have to burst into tears. The fan who cries the most wins immunity.

Wait, no, actually, the show goes on. Inside each box is a photograph of a family member of the contestant. They're the people fans named as their foodie inspiration. After the fans and judges talk about their foodie heroes in a way so heartfelt and moving that I find it annoyingly impossible to make fun of them, the challenge is presented: 75 minutes to cook a dish inspired by the person who visited them to inspire on your gastronomic journey. The best dish wins immunity. simple

Both Harry and Mimi go straight for the shrimp, following the old adage, “When in doubt, go for an invertebrate,” as true in food as it is in politics. Mimi is trying to recreate the flavor profile she remembers from her grandmother's cooking, so she begins researching to find out what a “flavor profile” is – an eternal mystery. Is a flavor profile the same as “how does it taste”? No one knows, but Mimi's ability to find out will be crucial.

The judges visit Sav, who is as overcome by the excitement of the occasion as she is
spins involuntarily in slow motion. Sav tells them that he is cooking a chicken breast. “Why chicken breast?” Poh asks. Sav has no answer. “Why chicken breast?” is one of those unanswered questions, like “what is truth?” or “It is Neighbours still on TV?” Sav can't say why chicken breast, he just knows what chicken breast to make. That's the foundation of Zen.

Nat pays tribute to her mother's amazing ability to make delicious dishes from leftovers, which is quite a challenge as it requires her to cook several meals, eat most of them, and then gather the leftovers to cook- nor another At only 75 minutes this will be difficult, and the fact that, like Sav, it has started to go into slow motion will make it even more difficult.

Poh and Sofia visit Josh. Josh is cooking a venison belt. Sofia reflects that the most important thing when cooking meat will be how it is cooked. Josh finds this impossible to deny. Poh tells Josh that cooking venison is incredibly difficult, who the hell is he to challenge the gods like that? If Bambi taught us anything, it's that when you put too much heat on deer, it never ends well.

Andy, angry that Poh is assuming his traditional role of undermining everyone's trust, redoubles his efforts by visiting Harry to tell him that his idea is weird and stupid. Harry is making prawn toast. “A tostada is like a cookie,” he says, as he fills the dough with gunpowder. I've never made toast shells before, so this is a fitting tribute to Nonna, who was just making things she'd never made before.

'Why chicken breast?' is one of those unanswerable questions, like “what is truth?” or 'Are the neighbors still on TV?'

Andy walks over to Mimi and tells her that he loves her idea, presumably just to make Harry feel even more insecure. Andy's mind games are getting more and more fiendishly complicated. The judges gather to find out who Andy thinks is most likely to be humbled. Sofia informs everyone that tonight is the last immunity of the season and whoever wins goes straight into finals week. They all already knew, but they pretend to be surprised so as not to hurt Sofia's feelings.

With eight minutes to go, Andy yells, “You're doing it for the people in these photos,” a helpful reminder that any fan who cooks badly today will shame their entire family forever.

Speaking of which, Josh expresses doubt about how his deer will turn out, but when he opens it up, it looks great, even though we really only have his deer.
word for it: I don't know what the hell the deer is supposed to look like. He's sure his Nanna would be proud of him, though again, we only have her word for that.

Meanwhile, Nat makes the pertinent observation that there's nothing pretty about bone marrow. An important point that none of us should ever forget.

What's nice is Mimi's noodles. They're the most beautiful noodles he's ever seen, and it takes a lot of persuasion to keep him from asking for a drink. Mimi hopes she made an umami bomb, which I think is like a flavor profile. Tasting his broth, he discovers that it is, at best, an umami feast, and frantically tries to fix it.

Time is up, and now the fans have to serve their dishes and cry some more for the judges' amusement. Josh goes first, with his Nanna Marg-inspired deerstalker. Josh admits the meat wouldn't be leathery enough for Nanna's taste, but luckily the judges don't prefer to eat leather, and think it's great. Jean-Christophe compliments Josh on how well he made the dish despite his huge fingers, making sure Josh's self-esteem doesn't get too high.

Next up is Mimi, with her grandma-inspired spicy pork and shrimp noodles. “You're like the umami queen,” Poh says, cryptically, but seems to think that's a good thing. “Well done,” Jean-Christophe says with aplomb. Andy thinks the dish could have had more bounce, but since that doesn't mean anything, that's not too bad.

Sav brings out his mother-inspired chicken curry. “If my mom saw that she'd be like, 'that's not curry chicken,'” says Sav, which doesn't sound like a good start, but all the judges agree that Sav's mom is wrong: it's technically chicken curry. “This is by no means a bad dish,” says Sofia, and aren't those the words every cook longs to hear? In the nicest way possible, they tell Sav that her dish is bad and she should feel bad.

Next, Nat and her mother's inspired roasted bone marrow with a bunch of other stuff around the place. It's a big weird mess, but with his refined palate, the judges can tell that the dish was made by Nat and is therefore wonderful.

Finally, the Harry's Nonna inspired shrimp toast. Sofia could hear his brain crunching, which she loves, even though it could mean she needs medical attention. Andy waves his hands gleefully and declares that this is a “different side of you” – a slightly different way of serving shrimp.

The two best dishes were Josh's and Nat's. It is something close, but after taking care
consideration, the judges have decided that Nat's dish was cooked by him. Josh,
unfortunately, she missed this essential element, and so Nat wins immunity and her mom is officially proud of her.

Tune in on Sunday, when everyone is upset.