In this week’s “Inside LEGO Masters” article, Maria shares her thoughts on what it means to have a LEGO Masters family, get through tearful eliminations, and survive earthquakes. Each week we will bring you insight from the builders themselves as they share what it was like building under pressure, handling the challenges, and any behind-the-scenes secrets they discovered along the way.

This is your official spoiler warning for Episode 3 of LEGO Masters US Season 2.

From Foes to Family

One of our greatest takeaways from filming LEGO Masters Season 2 was gaining 22 new family members. Yes, it’s a winner-takes-all competition show. And yes, each of the 12 teams wants to win. But what brings us together is bigger than a cash prize. Twenty-four people came together from twelve different states—we all have different backgrounds, beliefs, and stories, but when separated from everything familiar, we instantly bonded over the LEGO brick.

LEGO Masters Con

One of the most exciting ways that we bonded was holding our own LEGO Masters Convention. As AFOLs, we almost all love attending LEGO conventions to share what we’ve been working on and to get to know other fans of LEGO. Before we headed to Atlanta for filming, we were tasked with bringing a personal build that represented us as a team.

Since we were some of the only LEGO fans in the country who could have a convention, we decided to gather in the hotel conference room to show off our build to each other in an impromptu convention. We set up tables to display our builds and shared our stories with each other. We also shared a table full of sushi and a lot of laughs. It was a really special moment because it came before filming Episode 2 where we experienced our first elimination.

Fond Farewells

I recall watching Season 1 of the show and seeing those tearful eliminations. I didn’t understand one aspect—how could a group of competitors who had just met be so sad when a team was eliminated? Well, I’m here to tell you that the tears are real. We were put together under incredibly unique and challenging circumstances. We spent many of our waking hours together, we saw only each other’s faces, and we were all united in a single purpose—to create amazing builds.

At the end of Episode 2, I remember standing in our riser positions, anxiously waiting for the Brickmasters to call down the bottom two teams. With no elimination in the first episode, we knew one of the two teams called to the front would go home. When they called down Jack & Dawn and Tim & Zach, I looked up at Philip and we both felt broken-hearted. We shared a special bond with our friends from Michigan and we couldn’t bear to see either of them go. After Brickmaster Amy announced with tears in her eyes that Jack & Dawn had been eliminated, I think the cast spent fully ten minutes giving hugs and saying goodbye.

For Episode 3, Philip and I were stationed next to Tim & Zach. We already had gotten to know them pretty well and we had so much fun bantering back and forth with them throughout this challenge. Their relationship as father and son was such a pleasure to see. They had an admirable balance of respect and teasing, sincerity and humor. We loved hearing them yell across the build room at each other asking for pieces.

Sharing in Our Joys

The tearful goodbyes may be difficult, but we love celebrating each other’s accomplishments as well. Every team went further on the scale than we could have expected. We never imagined we would make it to Level 10 on the “Brickter Scale.” And then three teams surpassed us and made it all the way to Level 11!

Each build was so uniquely different both in technique and in aesthetics. It really highlighted the differences in each of the teams, but also the diverse abilities of the LEGO brick. It was exciting and fascinating to watch the towers shake apart on the moving plate. In the end, we all shared in our sorrows and rejoiced in our triumphs.

Shaking Things Up

When we brought our builds up to be judged and shaken, none of us knew what would happen. Like the explosions in Episode 2, things can happen in ways that you aren’t able to predict. A beautiful build may not be as strong, and you need a balance of both to win this challenge. When the earthquakes subsided and the bottom three teams stood in front of the judges for elimination we all felt the weight of their decision.

As a viewer at home, it can be easy to make a decision about who were your favorites. But when you have worked side-by-side with these wonderful people and shared in their sweat and tears, it’s an impossible decision. Saying goodbye isn’t any easier.

What brought us together was our shared love of LEGO. What bonded us was our shared experience —we lived together, tested together, ate together, and spent our free time together. We had to form a community to survive, to adjust to the circumstances, and to provide support to each other. That community has lasted well past filming and exists to this day.

The highs and lows, the exhaustion, the stress, the triumphs, and the thrill of building with five million bricks all add up to a shared experience that is deeper than friendship. Even though this is a competition at the end of the day, we all want to put in our best effort and have the best of that best come out on top. We are family.

Can you feel from the episodes that the cast is a family? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

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