The Masked Singer Recap Season 4, Episode 4: NFL Star Unmasked

We’re still not sure why “The Masked Singer” is holding back Group C from us, but we’re not complaining that we got to witness Seahorse again.

She took it to another level this week by taking on one of the biggest voices and one of the biggest songs of all time. Even the show knows that at this point it’s a diva battle between Seahorse, Popcorn and The Sun.

Joel McHale was back again to offer some decent guesses, and actually the panel was mostly a little more serious with their guesses this week than they were during the first round. Even Ken seemed to be making an effort, which was appreciated.

But mostly it was about the incredible talent the show has recruited this season. Seahorse blew us away, Crocodile sounded like a whole different performer, Baby Alien rocked it out, Whatchamacallit made us all think we had swag, and Serpent laid it down so smooth we fell all over ourselves loving it.

We’re also excited that we’re only one week away now from finally meeting the rest of this season’s crop of performers when Broccoli, Jellyfish, Lips, Mushroom and Squiggly Monster take to the stage. Seriously, why did they hold these contestants back for five weeks?

Let’s jump into this week’s batch of contestants, complete with clue packages and performances. And don’t worry, before we get to the shocking unmasking, we’re going to make you power through the terrible (and occasionally good) guesses made by our illustrious panel of Robin Thicke, Jenny McCarthy, Ken Jeong and Nicole Scherzinger first. We do this because we love … to torture you.

Serpent came out with those silky, smooth vocals like he was a guest performer on this show. It was all very subdued, but masterful in his intonation. He feared no note, teasing an even greater range than the song offered. It’s the kind of voice that just screams professional singer, someone who can do this in his sleep.

Guesses: This week, we learned that Serpent definitely went through hard times trying to break through, with multiple references to $2.00 as some key figure. We also saw him cruising in a pink Cadillac when he busted psat the gatekeepers, elevating what looked like a bacon croissant into a golden trophy croissant.

His childhood clue was a baby bottle on wheels, which he said should get our wheels turning, which had Jenny wondering if the doctor in scrubs and “Got Milk” means it’s Taye Diggs? Joel followed the doctor path to “Grey’s” doctor Jesse Williams.

Nicole took an image of books to the connection that Brian McKnight named his last two albums after Books of the Bible, but Joel insists Brian is much taller than that. “If you get nominated a lot for Grammys, do you get shorter?” he asked her.

Props to the internet for finding ways to keep on the “Hamilton” train — manual labor could refer to Lin Manuel-Miranda, right? — keeping the Leslie Odom Jr. guess going. Other clues included Tyrese, Sam Smith, Jamie Fox and former winner Wayne Bradey (um, no).

Crocodile came with a whole new song this week, offering falsetto and a higher overall timbre than the first time we saw him. His stage performance was through the roof, too, proving he’s got moves up there and he’s definitely been a performer on a stage like this before. Those moves and that vocal do indeed give boy band vibes.

Guesses: This week, we learned that this show has revived a love for performing he hasn’t had since childhood, so maybe he stepped away from that particular spotlight for a long time. We also saw a house numbered 5 and an American flag flying over the skull-and-crossbones. An anchor kept the sea motif going inside his house.

His childhood clue came out as a pinata filled with little dolphins, which he said cracked the case. This vocal paired with his more rocking vibe last time had both Nicole and Robin thinking maybe it was Adam Lambert (the rainbow imagery helped).

Ken thought this falsetto might belong to Lenny Kravitz, tying the American flag to his take on “American Woman.” Joel, however, took those dolphins and Southern references to “Dolphin Tale” star Harry Connick Jr.

The internet had some love for Lambert, but also tossed out Justin Guarini, but mostly they’re convinced (or trying to manifest it into reality) that this is Nick Carter.

Baby Alien has a pleasant tone to his voice, but it’s not one that sounds practiced. While he had no problem staying in tune and delivering another strong performance, it was definitely not the kind of voice that makes us think he’s a professional singer, or even a seasoned one. He just has some ability in this area.

Guesses: His newest clues leaned heavily into “Baywatch,” with a sandhorse on the beach, a hot dog stand (mustard and ketchup, please) and even sharks. He appeared to get a crown from the sun and talked about having been roasted before (Comedy Central?).

Wait, is this David Hasselhoff? We bet the Germans would know instantly! They love themselves some singing Hoff.

His childhood clue came out, a toy firetruck, but he also told Joel, “You’re hot on my trail.” Robin joked that it was someone who’d taken over for McHale, leading him to jokingly guess this was Daniel Tosh. Or was the joke when he said Tom Brady jumped into his head?

Instead, he thought maybe it was Eric Bana, based on their work together, while Nicole thought his Eastern European (fake) accent could mean it’s Sacha Baron Cohen. Ken thought the Hoff might be a misdirect, so threw out Taylor Lautner and immediately added, “Let me finish,” because he knew it was a terrible guess.

His reason was that Taylor is the baby of the cast, and he got his break playing Shark-Boy — seriously, even Baby Alien was wanting him to wrap this up, looking to Nick for support. FInally, Jenny used a giant hook to pull him off the stage.

The Twittersphere wasn’t doing much better, with almost as many guesses as there were people making guesses. Seriously, we’ve seen everything from Terry Fator to Kenan Thompson, Seth Green, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Segel, and “Critical Role’s” Sam Riegel.

Whatchamacallit really surprised us this week, with a much stronger delivery and stage presence than we saw from him the last time he performed. He had confidence and swag like a seasoned rapper who’s definitely done this before … well, probably not this, exactly!

Guesses: We couldn’t help but think of 50 Cent when five dimes showed up in his package. He also said that his mom isn’t doing well right now, but pushed him to fight on. Other clues included a ride on balloons a la “Up,” as well as a golden staircase/bridge, multiple homes and what looked like a musical bar on a cutting board.

His childhood clue came out as a storybook by Doodad Doohickey. “I love a bedtime story and I’m an open book, so Ken, you should know exactly who I am,” he said, calling out the panel’s worst guesser. Is this someone Ken knows? Athlete (he’s quite the sports fan)?

Jenny thought the panther in last week’s package could mean it’s Cam Newton, but Robin quickly told her he’s a Patriot now as in he’s playing football right now (during filming). Robin thinks it’s Terrell Owens, with his “Dancing with the Stars” pedigree and the fact he’s written a children’s book.

Ken, feeling the pressure, somehow going from NBA star Kyrie Irving to Armie Hammer and then spewing a bunch of nonsense to try and justify it. It did not work.

As for Twitter, they also saw the five dimes, but shifted over to Nelly from the same era. As we were listenign to him rap, we were kind of getting Nelly vibes, too, and it’s totally possible he flimed this before jumping over to “Dancing with the Stars” — keeping his quarantine self busy!

But we saw lots of guesses here still, including Donald Glover, Terry Crews, Mark Ballas and even Pharrell Williams, due to several visuals from his clue package clearly inspired by “The Lorax.”

Seahorse set a new standard on the night, and possibly the season, with an incredible performance of Celine Dion’s biggest hit. And that is not a song just anyone can sing. She didn’t just sing it, she sang it, she slayed it, she practically owned it. This has to be one of the biggest voices in music, or one of Hollywood’s biggest kept secrets.

Guesses: With Daisy Dukes and talk of trying so hard at a young age only to be branded a “Fake,” we quickly thought of Jessica Simpson, who was never taken as seriously or as successful as her fellow blonde pop bombshells at the time. Even “chicken of the sea” is a reference to her most infamous reality TV moment. But can she sing like that?

We also saw a bunch of flying, crying clocks at nine o’clock, a reference to “thousand years” and the “Cinderella” song “A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes.” Her childhood clue came out inside a giant blue balloon filled with colored feathers.

“Light as a feather, heavy on clues,” she said. Robin rattled off JoJo, Jessie J, but couldn’t stop thinking of “American Idol.” Nicole offered up Pia Toscano, but that show has had quite a few powerhouse singers over the years.

Robin, though, is sticking by Bebe Rexha — despite Nicole saying she got more curves than Seahorse — while Jenny took those five clocks to Fifth Harmony and thinks maybe it’s Camilla Cabello.

Joel was feeling what we’re feeling, also picking Jessica Simpsons, having gone through a rough divorce and hailing from Texas, thus all the western references. But Twitter is still feeling confident that this is Tori Kelly, and that she can absolutely sing like that!

That said, though, even many of those who’ve been so sure it was Tori are also now considering Stacie Orrico as another possibility. A few others are starting to pick up on Jessica Simpson, reviving the debate as to how good of a singer she really.

Just remember what Monster aka T-Pain proved in Season 1 to all his haters and doubters!

At this point, it seemed pretty obvious who the weakest links among these five performers was. Baby Alien may not have had the strongest vocal on the night, but he might just be the cutest, while we think Whatchamacallit’s flow was stronger, but his character’s personality doesn’t pop as much.

Mainly what we’re saying is Seahorse was incredible, Serpent was great and Crocodile impressed with a whole new vocal approach. None of those three should be in any danger based on vocals. We think Baby Alien gets the edge over Whatchamacallit on costume and overall personality.

And yet, Whatchamacallit survived to rap another day, which is just a reminder you should never underestimate the hip-hop fan base. That meant it was the end of the road for Baby Alien, who was the only contestant who didn’t sound like a professional vocalist, so we can’t be too mad about it.

That meant it was also time for everyone’s final guesses, and once again it was almost a total crapshoot as to who could be inside that rocket.

• Robin Thicke: first impression (Triumph the Insult Comic Dog), final guess (Jason Biggs)
• Jenny McCarthy: first impression (Ralph Macchio), final guess (Nick Kroll)
• Ken Jeong: first impression (Matt LeBlanc), final guess (Freddie Prinze Jr.)
• Nicole Scherzinger: first impression (David Schwimmer), final guess (Jeff Dunham)
• Joel McHale: final guess (Eric Bana)

Once again, no one was even close on this one. They went comedian and the reality was former NFL quarterback and sports commentator Mark Sanchez. Sure, no one got this right, but for a huge swath of “Masked” fans, they still didn’t know who it was.

A Fox Sports commentator for college football and a former NFL quarterback, most notably with the New York Jets, Sanchez is not hugely known outside of the sports-sphere, which made his reveal a bit of a head-scratcher for many fans.

“The Masked Singer” finally unleashes Group C next Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.

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