Episode was off to a slow start, but the race is their best since the Norwegian ferry vs. SLR. All the niggling little bits that I'm nitpicking about were nullified by how epic that race was. 10/10 for me, and I'll definitely watch it again.
The news, frankly, sucked. It's starting to feel more scripted than the rest of the show: "JC's Internet bit, May's Good News! bit, Hammond introduces road sign campaign, random politicking".
That said, I agree with everything JC said about the Alfa 8C. I'm sad that it drives like a glorified Mustang and is utter crap, apparently, but I wouldn't give a damn about the pizza-bagel-sized cubbyhole and the airplane carry-on bin when it looks like that. The filming definitely seemed like they were playing with a grab bag full of new shiny effects, though, and I can see how people would complain about the MTV music video style. Whatever, the opening with the subtle coloring was pretty stunning.
Fiona Bruce is a classy dame.
Are newsreaders as influential in Britain as they are in America? We've made heroes out of Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, and Peter Jennings, and an entire generation listened to those three men tell us about the fall of the Berlin Wall, Princess Di's death, etc. I'd imagine if Katie Couric slapped JC's ass the pundits would be set for life afterwards.
Check out that sah-weet Fairlady 300ZX at 32:06!
Still manages to look more handsome than the angry, pissed-off GTR. The Japan race definitely reminded me of when I was there, I kept thinking Richard should have just picked up a bento box for lunch or something.