LEGO Masters on M6: my opinion on the first season of the French version of the show

The first season of the LEGO Masters show has just ended and I take this opportunity to share with you my feelings on these four evenings which resulted in the victory of the pair made up of Sébastien "Sistebane" Mauvais (the creative) and David "Hand Solo" Aguilar (the technician).

It's hard not to recognize that the French version of the concept which has already proven its worth in many other countries is a very well produced family entertainment with a magnificent set (it is the studio that also hosts Top Chef) and very beautiful images. creations proposed by the candidates over the tests, some of which end in a very spectacular way. This is high end reality TV, no doubt about it.

The dynamics of this type of program owe a lot to the candidates in the running and on the side of the participants in this first season we were entitled to a tailor-made casting to stick to the dramaturgy of the concept: the elimination of five of the eight pairs over trials to lead to a three-way final. Whatever one might think of the result of certain events and the decisions of the duo of judges who had full powers until the final, the eliminations followed one another with a certain logic according to the level of each of the pairs in competition.

The two members of the jury Georg Schmitt and Paulina Aubey are not regulars of the exercise but their mission anyway boiled down to judging the creations of the candidates and to intervene in a very punctual manner to give out some advice and other warnings. Eric Antoine was responsible for his side to furnish and give a little relief to the show while the candidates were busy around their constructions. The contract is fulfilled even if we can discuss some of the interventions of the jury which could, depending on the situation, discourage the candidates or benefit them by providing them with clues on the objective of the test and the expectations of the two judges.

In my opinion, the problem is elsewhere and it is sizeable: I think it was not really a contest but rather a fiction with a carefully studied storytelling. This fiction was fueled by different elements all serving the objective of the program: to bring the apparently most charismatic duo of the show made up of Sébastien "Sistebane" Mauvais and David "Hand Solo" Aguilar to the final victory.

The obvious difference in level between the pairs which makes it possible to chain "logical" eliminations, the assembly highlighting certain candidates more than others, the conclusions of the judges sometimes a little too subjective or even contradictory from one test to the next. The other and the small arrangements with the rules of the competition made it possible to respect the starting script and to make this first edition the ideal promotional product for the seasons to come. It is therefore the beautiful story that wins, but it is above all the one that features the "typical" team assembled by the production. Sébastien Mauvais himself confirms this in an article by the Parisian published on January 10, 2021: "... The production saw fit to get us together but we didn't know each other better than that ..."

Writing a TV program is not a problem as long as it does not show through too blatantly in the final cut. Until the final, LEGO Masters was a very well put together program and the assembly showing us in turn candidates euphoric, in full doubt, on the verge of nervous breakdown, lacking inspiration or simply tired will have kept us in suspense by forcing us almost to change champions with each new event according to our feelings.

The father / son duo was able to provoke emotion, we saw and reviewed the presentation of "Belgian dads" with their respective children, the artists defined as "crazy" made the show and were able to stay in the race despite their tendency to be frankly scattered, the "geeks" were presented as almost annoying competitors but also very talented, etc. The different pairs were "categorized" as soon as the program was announced and their titles were followed to the letter until their elimination and the expected victory of the "technician" and the "creative". The production had imagined profiles bordering on caricature to appeal to all types of audience and everyone was able to more or less identify with one of the duos of participants, or at least find affinities with some of the competitors. in contention.

The final will have divided the viewers, each having his favorite pair among the three still in the race. Personally, I think the duo of "geeks" deserved to win over this last event, they only finished in third place behind the duo of "Belgian papas" who did not deserve it. But it is the "beautiful story" that wins: The "technician" and the "creative" were the only ones to be attributed a profile which clearly implied their ability to follow through. The pair's nickname announced the color: it was the ideal duo, complementary and competent enough to clinch victory. The others were undoubtedly too geek, too crazy, too students, too "family", too unknown or too in love.

EndemolShine and M6 must have other plans for the sequel, and I think we'll see the winning pair somehow in the next season. Winning the first season of a show like this will be enough to offer Sébastien Mauvais the legitimacy necessary to, for example, claim to be on the jury for the next season.

His activity as editor of a magazine dedicated to the passion for LEGOs will be an ideal complement of legitimacy for him to take over from Georg Schmitt with indisputable skills but who divides viewers by a certain lack of empathy while 'it is a family program with no real issue. The other member of the jury, Paulina Aubey, will not have in my opinion sufficiently imposed her presence, except perhaps to tip the scales in the side of the winning pair in the final under cover of artistic considerations, to deserve to go further with this program.

In the end, LEGO Masters France is a very good, well-produced entertainment that gave us some nice moments of emotion and suspense. Let’s hope that this rather successful first season allows talented MOCeurs who hitherto hesitated to register for the casting for fear of the treatment that would be made of their image to get started. The program is now installed with interesting audiences and acquired popularity, the second season will certainly be more open, less scripted and less caricatured than the one that has just ended.

Note: You have the right to disagree with me, but thank you in advance for being courteous in the comments.