The show, which had been selected as the “Most Loved Program by Koreans” (as announced by Gallup Korea), has seen its once sky-high popularity plummet suddenly.
The cause of this drastic change in sentiment lies in the recent episodes. The blunt reactions from viewers can be seen in the comments section of Netflix’s YouTube channel, particularly under the video featuring unreleased footage of Ahn Yu-seong.
In episodes 8~10, released on October 1, the third round “Black vs. White Team Match“, the consolation round, the fourth round “Black and White Mixed Team Match” and the semi-final’s first mission were aired. However, several of the missions faced heavy criticism. In the fourth round, the chefs from both the black spoon and white spoon teams were mixed to form new teams and tasked with operating a restaurant for mukbang creators. Each team had a leader, and suddenly, a notice was given that the teams must vote to expel the least helpful participant. Three participants were voted off and later formed their own team but ultimately recorded the lowest sales and were all eliminated.
Many viewers found this twist unfair. The sudden elimination seemed overly harsh given the disadvantageous circumstances like the shortage of manpower and time. Additionally, Ahn Yu-seong’s elimination by vote from Choi Hyun-seok’s team felt awkward and out of place. The mission was also criticized for conflicting with the show’s original premise of competing solely based on culinary skill, regardless of class status.
Furthermore, viewers expressed disappointment over the lack of screen time for participants like Lee Young-suk and Master of School Meals. Despite Netflix releasing some of the unreleased footage after public demand, negative reactions persisted.
Criticism also targeted the evaluation criteria, which were based solely on sales, without considering crucial factors like profit and customer retention. Some viewers believed the program should have revealed that mukbang stars were given a budget for their orders, which influenced their reviews.
On the video of Ahn Yu-seong, numerous negative comments reflected viewer dissatisfaction, “How is this a cooking competition?”, “The production team should experience the same treatment, getting eliminated for not contributing to the company”, “If the show is about cooking, then why is a master chef eliminated due to some political maneuvering? Explain that”, “I came to see a cooking competition, not a restaurant business contest”, “Why did the production team give such unfair conditions to the eliminated team when they even blindfolded people in earlier rounds to ensure fairness?”…
The remaining episodes, including the second semi-final mission and the grand finale, will be released on October 8.
Source: Wikitree
