[02x06] January 12, 2018 - Jaaaaaaaags

[02x06] January 12, 2018 - Jaaaaaaaags


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Ripplin

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Rate away!
 
Yup, 10/10. That was totally awesome, notably the fast downhill slalom bit. And it was the best bit of flamboyant Jag (and particularly XJS) since that memorable cheap-coupes-that-are-not-porsches episode.
 
Given the events in Switzerland, I thought the James-going-over-the-cliff scene was in poor taste. Other than that, this was an absolutely hilarious episode. I even enjoyed the celebrity bit. Gee, I wonder why?:D
 
The first half of the Jaguar film deserves a 9/10. It was probably the closest they got to old Top Gear on GT so far, IMO. I was actually laughing out loud when Hammond's car broke down and then his replacement car also broke down! But then in the second half the jokes started to get too much, such as James miraculously surviving that crash (why did they have to destroy that XK8? just why?) and then all three stealing stuff (although some of their attempts were hilarious). But thankfully that was made up by the final downhill skiing which was exciting and enjoyable. Conversation Street and Celebrity FO were also good this time. So overall, I'll give it an 8.
 
"Red natives," Jeremy? More of that 'casual racism' you're known for? I guess rather than taking a second to think 'they're natives, and we're in America, therefore, they're Native Americans,' he automatically goes to color and blurts out 'red natives.' And, of course, they chose to leave it in the episode. (and him calling Richard racist later on...and then Richard saying "aha, slopes" brought back certain memories)

The race was fun...and the swap afterwards. In the drag race, I had a feeling James was going over as soon as he said it was in limp mode...and they actually did it! His voiceover was funny. The cartipede part was a decent twist on ye olde 'taking cars into the snow' idea.

The part about the fire brigade was interesting. Makes them seem incredibly stupid (how nice...), but if they really are doing it repeatedly for no good reason other than maybe an abuse of power or giddy about using a new toy, then it is right to address it that way on an international basis.

Overall, quite good, I thought. I'll give it an 8.

Also, I couldn't resist...

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This was definitely the best episode of Grand Tour so far.

Several laugh out loud moments and nothing really cringe worthy. But the stealing was the worst bits.
 
Great episode, I liked this one start to finish.

JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAG. 9/10
 
I REALLY enjoyed this episode pretty much all the way through. It could be because I finally had a relatable area, and there was a real possibility that I was within 10-50 miles of them when they were filming the first segment in Colorado. I spent a bunch of time in that area last spring running rivers (the brown river they were driving along is the Dolores River...a very sad ecological story if you ever want to hear it). I've spent a bunch of time in Telluride working too. Pretty cool to see stuff I recognize finally. I think it was funny that a lot of the background was just "good ole boys" hanging out watching the antics and the guy in the suburban that made fun of Richard was funny too (and not out of character for people in that region or the Mountains of Colorado in general.

I liked the celebrity guests too. Guys I recognize, they had great raport with each other and Jeremy and it was cool seeing Keifer thrash the course. Considering Luke Evans pedigree as a FF guy I thought he would have done better but I guess he's just an actor not a driver.

I really wish more episodes were like this one...its hard to put a finger on what it was exactly but it was just a lot more fun. It kind of makes me wonder if Richard's accident threw a wrench in things and that is why. I'm 90% sure that this was filmed before the accident (not the tent stuff obviously). The main reason I say that is if there was snow in Colorado there would be in Switzerland too.
 
I think I put my finger on what I didn't like about this episode.

The boys have all admitted they're not actors. What they also have to admit is that they're not very good comedy writers unless a car is directly involved. We don't need scenes of them trying to be Jaaaaaaag cads because they don't have the sense of timing (or the creative ability to set up) needed to pull such stuff off.

The Jag convertible going over the cliff somehow reminded me of Adam Ferrara trying to make a Mustang fly for some reason. Why I really wonder though, is: how bad is the depreciation on a Jaguar that they could afford to wreck a convertible that is the contemporary to a Pierce Brosnan Bond car?
 
I enjoyed it immensely. It is troubling how many jokes were references to things they've done in the past or just straight up rehashing. I guess you can only do so many challenges, but 0-100-0 was like the SUVs in the last episode of Top Gear, the skiing was very entertaining, but I couldn't help but think of them driving down the giant dune at the end of the South America challenge, and even the dirt course in the beginning reminded me of the third episode of Top Gear USA, when they crashed the Coupe Deville. I still enjoyed the episode immensely, but I guess I wish they would try more new things. And that they would talk about the cars a bit more and save me the trouble of reading about them after the show on Wikipedia. The stuff in the episode that wasn't that funny could have easily been cut to explain at least how much poweeeeer the cars had. The Lucas Electronics refrigerator joke and the gradient/slope joke did make me laugh though, but only big car people and big Top Gear fans would have found those jokes funny.
 
I want to be a gangster now, so I can drive that Jag 420 in style. Awesome car.

A lot of good stuff in this Top Gear Grand Tour episode.
 
TopGearNorthAmerica;n3544087 said:
The boys have all admitted they're not actors. What they also have to admit is that they're not very good comedy writers unless a car is directly involved. We don't need scenes of them trying to be Jaaaaaaag cads because they don't have the sense of timing (or the creative ability to set up) needed to pull such stuff off.
Agreed. I like most British comedy, but CHM don't always pull it off. Then again, they are targeting people who feel like 9-year-olds. I feel more like 11, so that might explain the different threshold for phony acting.
 
Urgh, that was painful. I seem to be alone in this, but I didn't think this ep was funny. Predictable scripted "humor", the hotel stealing stuff was painful to watch, the skiing..........bah.
This was Top Gear for 12 year olds. This season started so well, but this one was for the gutter.
 
8/10. My wife and I were thoroughly entertained up until they did the second car swap. The celebrity F off was better this week only because of the caliber of the guests were better, though Jeremy didn't focus on Kiefer enough. The skiing seemed like fun but only left me with the thought (which I asked my wife) of how many takes did it take to get that footage without any mishaps. I know they had to of spun at least a few times each down the final slope. Maybe I'm nitpicking but then again maybe the meet of the old TG UK spoiled us all rotten--you know the times before they started going over the top cocking about. Stuff like the SLR race or Ford GT films or the first Africa special were golden. The " we need more explosions and crashes" thing is getting old.

Do you think they've forgotten how to properly do an episode without all of the over-the-top cocking about?
 
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D-Fence;n3544101 said:
Urgh, that was painful. I seem to be alone in this, but I didn't think this ep was funny. Predictable scripted "humor", the hotel stealing stuff was painful to watch, the skiing..........bah.
This was Top Gear for 12 year olds. This season started so well, but this one was for the gutter.

You are not alone. I was simply too unimpressed to even start a thread this time around.
 
If someone gave this ep a 3, they should log out. Good lord.
 
+
  • Jaaagggg segment was good enough. (Poor Jag 420G)
  • C.Street liked too, and they have a point on the firemen. it happens here in my country as well. Really dumb people.
+-
  • CFO(Celebrity Face Off)
-

PS: Reasonably good episode.

R: 7/10
 
This was a great episode, the boys and crew deserve accolades. I still don't like the celebrity bit, but fast forwarding is no big deal. Very well done, 9/10.
 
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