I wanted to like it, but episode 9 was enough
I watched episode 9 of The Grand Tour last night. I have finally come to a conclusion.
Clarkson is tedious
Whenever he used to rant about cyclists, the nanny state, the Greens, or whatever, it was done in a way that allowed him to take the piss, but also acknowledged that, even among car enthusiasts, his views were not in anyway representative of anyone. We could all have a little laugh and see that the world is a complex and diverse place, and that these controversial topics are something that normal people discuss with each other, not take side over.
That's because the Top Gear producers did a good job of allowing Clarkson to be himself, while not allowing his ideas to take over the show.
That perspective seems lost. There's no longer anyone there to tell him when he's being full of BS. It's no longer funny. It no longer invites discussion. And it's not even offensive. It's just boring.
Clarkson, Hammond, and May are not actors
Some of my favourite moments in Top Gear was the chemistry between these three people. That's why everyone was so excited to watch The Grand Tour, even if it wasn't going to be anything like Top Gear.
Their banter and predicaments never seemed scripted. Although I'm sure they and the producers did push situations to go a certain direction more often than they'd like us to believe, it still felt improvised and genuine. And the times there was an obvious set-up, it was always done with a bit of a wink.
Now, they're just playing caricatures of themselves. And they're doing it poorly.
The idea, the result, with no actual content in between
Watch the last segments in episode 9; the homemade sports SUV, generating electricity (lets ignore the bad science for now), the bug-out vehicle. Aside from the acting problem, there's not much interesting content in any of those segments. Yet, I imagined them being fun for the first minute (by episode 9, I should have known better).
Also, there's no real point or conclusion to any of it. Which would be fine if there was some decent content somewhere. Unless you count Michael Bay effects as a conclusion, I guess.
Give credit where credit is due
A lot of people gave Top Gear *beep* when they decided to carry on without the old trio. They kinda deserved it. Chris Evans was a mistake. That aside, the show was still good in other ways and could have been a decent show if it had the right presenters (more of Chris Harris and Sabine Schmitz).
The rest of the Top Gear team were just as important as Clarkson, Hammond, and May in making the old Top Gear what it was and what The Grand Tour is not.
Hopefully Top Gear will promote Chris Harris. Hopefully The Grand Tour produces will find a clue. Because why can't it be possible to have two good shows?