MKR heats up with winter warmers Proof is in the pudding ... who will go to the sudden death round against Josh and Andi? Today's challenge, says Manu, is about depth and layers. Whoa, what was that? Has Channel 7 finally listened to the critics? Because frankly depth and layers is exactly what has been missing from this show. Hilariously, Sophia and Ashlee look at each other in confusion; they obviously prefer to stay in the shallow end. Manu explains what he means by depth and I picture him sipping port while reading Dostoyevsky. Jenna is off in tears again, while Joanna tries to maintain calm. "It's about winter warmers" he says, which I have to say is a little unexpected. Not to be deterred, I now picture him sipping port, reading Dostoyevsky while wearing a woolly jumper. In front of a fire of course. Yep, that's much better. It turns out he meant hearty dishes. Boo, hiss. Come again? ... Ashlee rarely looks surpised but then again she doesn't expect bile from anyone but Sophia. But wait, there's more. Well technically there's less, as Manu reveals the contestants have to cook those winter warmers within a ridiculously short time frame. Not only that, Pete reveals the big twist, which is less of a twist and more of a chop. "We are splitting the teams in two," he says. Yes!! Not only are we getting layers, we are also finally getting the blood and guts this show has been crying out for. I'm hoping the splitting is less of a David Copperfield trick and more of a Buffy-style execution, in particular the series finale where she memorably halved a man with an axe (Nathan Fillion, awwww). In fact, I think we should arm the contestants with axes and see what happens, who's with me? Unfortunately not the show's producers because we're back to reality (ha!) and the splitting simply means contestants have been given limits on what each team member can do in the kitchen: one person is on knife duty and the other is on stove duty. This apparently is disastrous as it means they might actually be efficient. According to meatmaster Dan, handing over the knives means "you 100 per cent have to trust your partner." His wife looks like she has a temper so I 100 per cent agree with him. It takes Jenna and Joanna approximately 10 seconds to get into a tiz, and really it's anyone's guess why, maybe because it's Tuesday? This annoys Ashlee and Sophia no end, which can only be a good thing. Jenna stops crying just long enough to throw her knife across the kitchen; Ashlee will now be sitting this one out (dream on!). Once the teams have been split, with a disappointing lack of gore, the cooking gets underway. Jenna chopped for five minutes and then had nothing left to do. She, of course, cried about it but it didn't stop her from sharing the glory. "I'm pretty proud," she says," we put a risotto up in 30 minutes." What she neglects to say is that by "we" she means "Joanna," and further, the rice is hard and the flavours taste like they came out of a Real Stock packet (meow!). Dan says they have plated "a lovely bowl of wonton soup" but I have to ask, can you really plate something if it's in a bowl? I didn't think so. That's a fail Dan. Oh, and your sugary soup sucks. In contrast, Ashlee and Sophia's cauliflower soup looks good, boooooo. Sam and Chris fail by adding thickness to their dish, but it seems a little unfair, since when was this show about personalities? Against all odds Dan and Steph win the challenge. This, Manu says, is because "you are a eunuch." I knew it!! To be fair he may have said "unit" but I doubt it. The next challenge is dessert. Determined to eschew any sort of vision, Pete and Manu announce that the key ingredient is chocolate. Sorry, wait, some breaking news is just coming in ... and .... no, it's because Lindt has sponsored this segment. Oddly the fitness freaks, who confess to knowing nothing about chocolate, decide to pick a flavoured block. That's bananas. One might almost believe they were trying to show off the Lindt range, but I'm sure that's just the paranoia talking ... right? right?? Jenna and Jo make a chocolate mess and actually believe this is a good idea. You know what rhymes with mess? Bless. Awww. They're so cute. Moronic, but definitely cute. Over to Sam and Chris and they decide to add more salt to their caramel. Why is this? Because it wasn't quite salty enough. Ask a stupid question ... Ashlee and Sophia finally look like they have made a mistake when their brownie fails to rise. They stare into the oven for a while hoping to will it with synchronised glaring, but ... nope, for once it doesn't work. Ashlee realises she needs to up the ante so she steps aside and puts her fingers to her temples. If I was a brownie, what would I do? Lo and behold, she's got it! Ashlee realises she forgot to put flour in the dish, she thought she was meant to add sour and she had plenty of that. The crisis is averted all too soon and notably not a tear was shed. The same can't be said for Jenna and Joanna, their dish is going swimmingly but Jenna can't stop crying. Her tutu appears to be cutting off her circulation and forcing bodily fluid out of her eyes. Yuck. In a desperate attempt to slow down the leaking she keeps opening the freezer, however, this heats Sophia up. I'm tempted to stop here and talk about the laws of physics but really what's the point? This reality show is about as dinky-dye as an activated nut. Sour takes on sweet as Sophia has words with Jenna - she didn't say "babe" once so we know she means business. Now I've read my fair share of fairytales and apparently so has Jenna. Princess are made of tough stuff and she responds to Sophia by saying A Very Rude Word. So rude that the MKR editors had to bleep it out. Something like "shuck toff" or "muck noff" or even "f--k off." It's hard to tell. "So she walks away," says Ashlee of Jenna, "in her tutu. That's not very princess-like. Au contraire, it is very princess-like, you just don't read about it in fairytales and we are the poorer for it. It's judgment time and it turns out the fitness freaks, mirror mirror on the wall, made the best dessert of all. They really "pulled it off," says Manu, which frankly is a little more detail than necessary. Doing his best Martin Short impression from Father of the Bride Manu says he loved Sam and Chris's chocolate "kekk." Sorry Manu, but Short did it better. We are now at the pointy end of the competition. And by this I mean Sophia and Ashlee are pointing daggers at Jenna and Jo. Who will face sudden death? Could we really be so lucky? And, yes! It's Sophia and Ashlee. Never fear, they're ready for a showdown. "Bring in the canons," says Sophia, and I'm pretty sure she meant Shakespeare and Pachelbel. You never know, this show might have some depth after all.