[04x04] Dec 17th, 2021 - Carnage A Trois

jack_christie

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On a road trip, the trio dish up a hair-raising mountain climb, bomb defusals, propeller powered cars, helicopter stunts and the most thrilling race of their lives before reaching the English Channel for a jaw dropping medieval climax.


 
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Does anybody get the feeling they're just re-treading stuff they did a decade and a half ago?

Since about series 14. 13 I felt was the last really good one with new and interesting bits, 17, 18, 21, 22 I felt were decent. Ever since leaving the BBC though, it's been a rudderless ship. No "producers" telling them what they can and cannot do, but it's like your favorite band that can't play the hit singles.
 
This is the Christmas special? Fuck me.
It does feel like a leftover dvd.
 
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This is the Christmas special? Fuck me.
It does feel like a leftover dvd.

Not the Christmas special dvd, more run of the mill old TG, but worse than current TG
 
I liked it, but you had to be on the right mindset for it. If you go in looking for a more serious, "Meets the neighbors" sort of affair, it won't work. Nor will it work if you expect a roadtrip film like Lochdown. I was rather surprised to see the roadtrip bits amounted to nothing and were completely incidental.

It's more of a series of vignettes, a standard GT episode with all of the studio segments taken out. It rather seems like this was the episode that was more affected by the pandemic than Lochdown. But as a series of vignettes, they aren't as cringy as some of the mid-run TG seasons or TGT S1. Serviceable. It's still rather amusing to me that all of them are now so enjoyable to watch on their individual shows that it's actually rather surprising when they are together.
 
May mentioning how the Renault 4 has different wheel bases on each side, finishing with "Why? I don't know!"
It's because of the torsion bar rear suspesion. I don't buy for a second that May of all people don't know this, they just did it for the "french cars are weird" lulz.

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There's one hour and eight minutes of my life that I'm never getting back. I hope that The Grand Tour presenters and crew plan to hang it up after this. The tv content that the three presenters have been creating outside of The Grand Tour has been some quality stuff. It's time to let this die.
 
Another reason not to watch it, Richard Porter turns up.
I'm out of the loop, what's the problem with that in particular? Granted it wasn't a great special, but his role in it seemed quite small from the outside looking in. Is he the person responsible for so much of the cocking around and Top Gear Comedy? I haven't read his book.
 
I'm out of the loop, what's the problem with that in particular? Granted it wasn't a great special, but his role in it seemed quite small from the outside looking in. Is he the person responsible for so much of the cocking around and Top Gear Comedy? I haven't read his book.
He isn't solely responsible but many of the ideas are his. I've forgiven him now because he's funny and likeable as himself, when he's with Jonny Smith, and he thought the old Sweeney segment was stupid too. His book is a good read.
 
He isn't solely responsible but many of the ideas are his. I've forgiven him now because he's funny and likeable as himself, when he's with Jonny Smith, and he thought the old Sweeney segment was stupid too. His book is a good read.
The sweeney, when the trio were wedding limo guys, India special, series 15/16, radio DJ stuff… just a few. :D
 
I have harbored some similar sentients about Porter in the past, and even posted a diatribe in a thread on here. Clarkson then had a Twitter post referring to my posts in that thread. All I can say is that we all want our three car presenter heroes to be incapable of writing poor television. This was years ago, but my feelings from then were that it's a collaborative, group effort, and that Clarkson, the other two, and Wilman ultimately decide what gets shown.
 
Yes absolutely and honestly, they're having fun still and that's good. They enjoy what they're doing.
 
Yeah, and at the end of the day, they're trying to entertain. Just because I personally may not like a segment, doesn't mean that others don't find it worth watching. Life's too short to pick entertainment apart too much. I probably won't revisit certain episodes that I didn't find too great, but for every person like me there are other people who love those episodes and cherish the moments in them. To each their own I suppose. That being said, I didn't have that attitude a few years ago, so it probably is time to give certain episodes another shot. Maybe sitting with some friends and having a drink so that I don't take the show too seriously.
 
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