Alright...since I am the bitter, cynical smug bastard that I am, I have to throw down this challenge, especially for the so called fanboys:
I dare you to call ANY Top Gear episode made after this perfect, worth a 10 out of 10 score. I dare you to look back to the first 4 episodes of this season and if you still think they are perfect and deserving of the highest of ratings ?
I have been moaning, bitching, complaining and whining about the downfall of Top Gear for the past 3 seasons now and I had lost all hope. Just last week I mentioned this to frankiess; that I can not be bothered about the show anymore. It had gotten so bad that I actually turned off the wedding car episode before it was finished. And then came episode 5 of season 15....
I mean....damn. This was, and I am freighteningly honest here, what Top Gear does best. And not best as in great show. I mean best as in one of if not THE best episode of all time. Now what is up fof debate, but what is clearly not is that my faith has been restored. Just this single episode showed that the Top Gear team is still capable of making a genuinely wonderful entertainment show about cars, instead of just happening ot have cars in it. I don't know where to start, I am actually lost for words on this one.
The first segment with Hammond vs. snowmobiles - while the idea was a rerun yes, it has been a while since Hammond has done a silly challenge in something over the top versus "teenagers". And that is actually one of the few running gags which I find has actually worked, since it hasn't been overused and has always been made entertaining. And today was no exception. While nothing spectacular, it was a very good and soli piece with great cinematography BUT without the overly complicated music video styling which I have grown tired of AND on top it had little, tiny hints of Driving God'iness in it. I liked it, eventhough it was clearly set up in many places etc. It felt nice and not like a forced joke.
The news were fantastic, it has been a while since we have seen this boy'ish bickering and arguing among the trio, felt very genuine. May's joke seemed to actually be funny and something that was just made funny. See what I mean ?
Okay the pedal-Porsche was a bit...well, silly, but it was such a small clip and they, thank goodness, DID NOT make a huge deal out of it. Quick, painfree, out of the way. Next !
Now the Veyron....I was a bit scared beforehand because the Veyron has been on the show sooo many times and while I knew what this was about, I didn't think they could do anything special with it. Oh boy was I in for a surprise. They kept building up the hype with May's introduction, it had some actual information with the friction of the air stuff and also some ever so slight, yet funny comedic elements, like the endurance of the tires. It was very....well...James May. It was serious, yet lighthearted. Very entertaining, yet absolutely fulfilling. And dear lord the speed of the thing !! To see that speedo climb, it was never going to stop !! 200....250...300..350....when will it end ? It just kept going, and fast !! It is just mindboggling. And all this was again made very elegantly, the let the actual content of the film do the talking instead of some fancyass tricks. 414km/h.....woah....And it went to the top of the lapboard which I never in a million years thought could happen.
During the intro I had to collect my jaw from the floor twice, once for Diaz and once for Cruise. And they were funny !! They were actually funny, who the hell would have thought that two, perhaps the biggest starts the show has ever had, hollywood A-listers plugging a movie could be genuinely entertaining guests ? And yes, I also fell in love with Cameron Diaz, as lame as that is, she was gorgeous. I do question the laptimes a bit, but I was just in too good a mood by that stage already, that I simply could not give a rat's ass. To see Tom Cruise's childlike enthusiasm when talking about bikes and WWII fighter planes was simply wonderful.
Now by this point the show had already gone way beyond of what it had been since season 12. I was already satisfied with I had seen. But it was time to see the bit I was looking forward the most. I have seen Clarkson's documentaries before, his piece on "The Greatest Raid Of All Time" is perhaps the greatest, the most beautiful war documentary I have ever seen. I knew that he was capable of epic pieces when he really set his mind and, more importantly, heart into it. Just to make sure I had my expectations high, I am an avid F1 fan and consider Ayrton Senna to be the most complete racing driver ever to have lived.
And what followed can only be described in one very, VERY overused word.
EPIC.
Now who everthehell it was who said "Never heard of the guy".....you should be run over with a bulldozer. But this....my god. I would have been satisfied with "just" Jeremy doing his usual wonderful piece, think the Aston Martin V12 Vantage. But no....he got former racing drivers, current racing drivers, former world champions to give their takes on the matter. Martin Brundle's analysis was just wonderful and so genuine. But the most important thing for me was that this really was real. You could hear from Jeremy's voiceover, his tone and how he set his words echoed a real, genuine love for Formula 1, a real respect for Ayrton Senna and his mindboggling natural skill. And the ending....no jokes, no recap....nothing...just a simple good night. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how we do that.
This is what has been missing from Top Gear for two years now. For me this was more than just an excellent episode. For me this was a reassurance that the production team still have that flair, that spark which originally made the show great. This episode showed me that good things can still come from this poky motoring show from BBC Two. This is classic TG. This is what made the show great. This - for me at least, is what Top Gear, real, true, classic Top Gear which I love - should always remain. I was grinning from ear to ear the whole episode, this made me feel good. I felt like kid again. This was damn near moving. So much this means to me. Laugh all you want, make jokes, but you guys who gave the earlier episodes 10's.....you have no idea what you are talking about. Passion and soul are such overused words, in motoring especially. This had passion and soul in spades.
This was beautiful.
Thank you Top Gear. From the bottom of my heart. I thank you.
). And all you fags saying Cameron is ugly need to hand over your man cards, NOW! 
