My review of episode 3 of The Grand Tour

"themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles" (themanwithsauce)
12/02/2016 at 02:04 • Filed to: None

I’ve never seen a show tease you with a better version of what it could be and then slap you in the face with such disrespect as this episode. I wanted an actual grand tour. Or the hammond schtick to wear off. Or james may to get clever. Or celebrity brain crash to stop....Nothing was coherent besides a dogged insistence that making fun of hammond through bad edits and an almost cartoonish level of “He’s american and dumb” would draw out laughs.

It just.......It’s like the crew *know* how to make a good show but either don’t want to, or can’t. I don’t get it. The second episode was actually pretty fun. I liked it. But it wasn’t perfect either. I hope this is just teething issues. But it was the least fun TG episode since the “budget cut” episode at the end of season 17 or 18 or whatever.

Anyways, I’m off to bed. Hope others enjoyed it more.

*EDIT/UPDATE* - After a few comments, I nailed down why I disliked this episode. There were no new jokes after the first 15 minutes of this episode. And I mean word for word. Hammond was a caricature of their view of Americans, May was uptight and dowdy, and Jeremy split the difference whenever the scene called for it. The hellcat did burnouts and drank too much fuel. The Aston was exquisite, always. The Rolls was quiet and dignified....perhaps too much so.

I was waiting for them to switch car and May rips a burnout outside of Milan in a Hellcat or for Hammond to show up in the end in a suit and the hellcat burbling in downtown Sicily with everyone loving it and Hammond playing the part of a dignified movie star or something. It was crying out for the story to be changed. And I felt like I was waiting for it the whole time. And then it never happened.

DISCUSSION (17)

OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
12/02/2016 at 02:23

Burnouts are the ‘Mercian way.

Gerry197 > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
12/02/2016 at 02:27

God help us if you think the 2nd episode was actually good. Tells me how bad this one actually could be. Which I didn’t think was possible.

Jonee > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
12/02/2016 at 02:37

It was amazingly boring. It got so repetitive, I started doing something else and glancing up every so often. 2 clunkers in a row. And the first episode was no masterpiece.

Gerry197 > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
12/02/2016 at 03:20

Not sure if we saw the same show, it was vastly better than the previous episode. Still scripted a bit too much, but nowhere near to the level of the 2nd episode.

As for Hammond, he was the one bullying the other two, especially James May (though of course it was just acting).

The Hellcat really impressed me, considering how so close it was to the much more expensive Aston Martin around the road course in Italy.

Svend > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
12/02/2016 at 03:24

I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The Brit with an American loud brash vehicle when grand tours are about smooth, refined mile eating cars was great.

Also destroying Jezza’s house was great though I expected them to draw it out a bit longer.

vondon302 > Svend
12/02/2016 at 06:53

Yup I enjoyed it too. See now I thought the second one was terrible but this one was more of what I expected of them.

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
12/02/2016 at 07:22

Best one yet, I loved the Hammond in the hellcat just being Hammond and annoying James and Jeremy. It looked to be authentic on both sides of the gimmick. My favorite were the unnecessary donuts. Perfect. Quiet, peaceful scene... and bam, you’ve got the hellcat off in the distance making tire smoke. Just perfect. It all seemed more natural.

The star bit can go, that’s crap. But the rest of it was great. Best one yet.

GTiceman > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
12/02/2016 at 08:01

I enjoyed it much more than episode 2 which I thought was totally boring and annoying. The skit would have been good in 2 once or twice but the whole episode was ridiculous.

I loved how they worked in the destruction of the house into the series as I remember reading about it and the neighbors complaining. Hammond was back to his normal fake American self, especially with that goatee. I do agree about Celebrity Brain Crash being dumb.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > GTiceman
12/02/2016 at 08:49

I hated “fake american” Hammond. Especially in this episode where it seemed forced. A part of me wnders if it’s the crew’s way of saying “We don’t like our American overlords”

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc
12/02/2016 at 08:50

Authentic? Really? I haven’t seen so many forced reactions and strained gags since the 80's hot hatch episode....It was kinda cringe worthy for me.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Gerry197
12/02/2016 at 08:56

See everything seemed scripted in this episode... But they wanted it to look like it wasn’t. I went into the second episode knowing that the rescue bit would be scripted and shot and reshot and it worked for me. They changed it up enough that it never got dull.

.....THAT’S IT! There were no new jokes after the first 15 minutes of this episode. And I mean word for word. Hammond was a caricature of their view of Americans, May was uptight and dowdy, and Jeremy split the difference whenever the scene called for it. THe hellcat did burnouts and drank too much fuel. The Aston was exquisite, always. The Rolls was quiet and dignified....perhaps too much so.

I was waiting for them to switch car and May rips a burnout outside of Milan in a Hellcat or for Hamond to show up in the end in a suit and the hellcat burbling in downtown Sicily with everyone loving it and Hammond playing the part of a dignified movie star or something. It was crying out for the story to be changed. And I felt like I was waiting for it the whole time.

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
12/02/2016 at 11:00

Really, I thought it was genuine. May seemed to be pretty over Hammond and the hellcat very quickly. It struck me as two old men’s party being crashed by a frat boy. Now the tent stuff, yeah, those are still pretty cringeworthy sets, but all in all, a better episode.

I’ve been binging the old top gears on amazon and this season is reminiscent of the first couple top gears, but hopefully they get their stride sooner rather than later.

RiceRocketeer Extraordinaire > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
12/02/2016 at 11:31

Yeah, I’m surprised at how disposable the episodes feel. I probably won’t be renewing Prime after the free 30 day trial is over.

Svend > vondon302
12/02/2016 at 13:10

I didn’t really enjoy the second episode as much as I enjoyed the first but the third episode was a great come back.

MM54 > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
12/02/2016 at 19:20

It all felt very scripted and forced (though the house bit was entertaining) with a few good one-liners in there getting a laugh. The killing off celebrities should have been killed off after the first episode.

It’s certainly not on the level of “I want my hour back” but it was nowhere near what they’ve done in the past, either.

gin-san - shitpost specialist > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
12/02/2016 at 19:55

It was better than the second episode, but only because that one was just not entertaining.

I remember in a previous episode/special they would point out Hammond’s lack of cultural knowledge in a funnier way; he went through Italy looking for a spaghetti bolognese but no one in Italy actually knew what he was talking about. He was even offered what he wanted at the time, but since Jeremy called it a ragu, he declined. It was subtle compared to the ‘LOOK AT HAMMOND, THE CLOSET AMERICAN’ schtick they kept doing.

In terms of a grand tour, they got close but could have done better by focusing on whatever great roads they could find in Italy. I think my favourite segments were moments like in Series 10 when they find the best driving road in Europe or in Series 14 (or 15) where they go to Romania to find another fantastic road. Segments like the GT-R vs. Bullet Train in Japan or the hot hatch trip to Monaco are what really belong in The Grand Tour.

Rather than try to make it like TGUK, they need to go a bit more down the American TG route in that they should cut out everything else and stick to driving adventure. The conversation bit I still enjoy, but I’d be willing to lose that for more great driving film and car commentary.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > gin-san - shitpost specialist
12/02/2016 at 21:02

THank you for being bold enough to say what was also on my mind - TG:USA seasons 3+ are what the grand tour wishes it had the sheer brass balls to be - 3 dudes on a silly adventure with cars.