[22x00b] December 28th, 2014 [Patagonia Special, Part 2]

[22x00b] December 28th, 2014 [Patagonia Special, Part 2]


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I thought this special was just OK. Some great scenery and some cool shots of sports cars going way off road, but it felt too contrived and not all that "epic" compared to some others. It was pretty obvious they were going offroad just for the sake of going offroad, and it was generally too long. I think it's the length that's let down a couple of recent specials--James said the Source of the Nile trip was his favorite ever but it felt similar to this one, with a lot of dead time. The 75 minute specials worked better, with more action packed in.

I'm also not convinced that this is the end of Top Gear; the presenters seem to be in better moods than they were a few years ago. Jeremy has had a bounce in his step lately, and Richard is a lot more fun and outgoing than he was for several years following the crash. He doesn't just get angry and mumble anymore.
 
It's certainly no Vietnam....easily the worst of the recent specials. This was the first time I've stopped an episode (part 1) because it was simply boring, that was the same old gags they've done in the past and I could predict everything that would happen.
 
What's with you guys? Spoiled beyond belief. TG cannot reinvent television for your entertainment every year.

9/10. Fantastic TV. Loved the cars and the ending was genuinely scary.

He 100% right! This Top Gear Special was 100000x better than anything else on TV, which is car related! There where some funny gags in it ( Jeremy and James doing the fuel-refilling-dance with sexual healing in the backround) and the end was very scary indeed!
 
The Lotus surprised me, it took much more punishment than I would expect. It must've been a well cared for example. It just goes on to show that your car is proportionally reliable to how well you service it. I bet the previous owner really loved his Esprit.
 
I'll admit it I had a lump in my throat when Jeremy was talking about his dad .

Me too. At that point I sort of felt sorry for him, interesting story and a rare insight into a very misunderstood man(imho).

As for the whole special I loved the scenery(I'm from Brazil and didn't know Argentina is that beautiful) but the rest of it was on the boring side tbh...:-(

6 out of 10 for the whole special.
 
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I love Top Gear, I did not love this episode.

I am disappointed with both parties involved. Top Gear for not turning back (though not knowing fully what was waiting for them) and for the Mobs showing violence as an answer.

My biggest issue is that Top Gear put themselves into this drama. They do it again and again. Pushing local buttons till something explodes or maybe even hoping something explodes for ratings.

I don't mind them giving each other a hard time, but when they go out of there way to find trouble... It just seems low class for all the talented people that make up this show.

I gave the show a 6 for the beautiful landscapes, beautiful country and beautiful cars.

..
 
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It feels to me like the formula has gotten old somehow. Or maybe it was just this whole episode which was badly executed, I loved the cars and the scenery but the script was predictable and boring.
 
The strange thing is that the lefties/greenies in the BBC (You know who you are) will be celebrating. Thus TG soon to be cancelled?

However, the boys do seem to be a bit tired, and do not look like they are enjoying doing the show as much anymore anyway.
 
The irony is that the controversial and rather drastic ending actually saved the whole special. I probably couldn't bear another car football game, something that's been done on the show at least two times (and one car rugby, I think). From the ending, one could learn a lot about (some) Argentinians and their simple-mindedness. That's the biggest contribution of the show.
 
However, the boys do seem to be a bit tired, and do not look like they are enjoying doing the show as much anymore anyway.

The show could use some new blood, but the current dynamic trio couldn't bear an addition. Perhaps they could phase in new presenters by giving car reviews and other segments to the new blood while the three keep mainly to themselves and gradually fade out.

The other problem is discovering something new for them to do. The current format is something like ten trillion years old, they've already done quite a lot. Good new ideas aren't plentiful.
 
learn a lot about (some) Argentinians and their simple-mindedness
Some is the key word here. Even after the bad news of the mob outside the hotel, Captain Slow was filmed saying that so far, everyone in Argentina had been charming and no trouble at all.

Good new ideas aren't plentiful.
No reason to keep the bad old ones in so many shows, is it? Driving into each other, putting a cow on your roof, "adding" annoying things to each other's cars, choosing the most unsuitable route possible etc. have all been done many times before and were cringeworthy the first or second time. You simply don't need any of that to entertain and maybe even amaze people when you're driving 1600+ miles along and across the Andes - as they themselves proved with e.g. the Bolivia/Chile special. And you can get stuck in a swamp on some hillside for a few cheap laughs in the Cotswolds.
 
No reason to keep the bad old ones in so many shows, is it? Driving into each other, putting a cow on your roof, "adding" annoying things to each other's cars, choosing the most unsuitable route possible etc. have all been done many times before and were cringeworthy the first or second time. You simply don't need any of that to entertain and maybe even amaze people when you're driving 1600+ miles along and across the Andes - as they themselves proved with e.g. the Bolivia/Chile special. And you can get stuck in a swamp on some hillside for a few cheap laughs in the Cotswolds.

What's so wrong with them poking fun at themselves and being a bit self referential, Driving into each other IS funny.
 
Well, crashing is funny when they drive cheap scrapyard crocks bought locally but it is really sad to see nice cars being smashed. How I hated the destruction in India or Uganda.

My opinion on this special:

to me it felt quite unhappy, it missed what Bolivia had. They were 'actors' in a 'film' this time, they did professional job, it had wonderful scennery but in Bolivia it was them in a 'documentary' about their cocking about, passionate and enjoying it, they didn't take it seriously. Perhaps it would be better if it was shorter, I don't know.
 
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Just finished part 2, and it was even a bit weaker than part 1. Some remarks:

Obviously they had a serious amount of tools and manpower available during this journey. They did a number of substatial repairs on their cars, even welding. But they do not have a bolt cutter to cut open a locked gate, and they also don't want to force it open to be polite to the landlord? So they plan to walk 12 miles (and presumably 12 miles back) to the next town to buy a bolt cutter? Then they decide to ride horses which just happen to be there. After James' injury, Jeremy and Richard decide to go on their own, so they walk (instead of taking the horses or their cars). Why?

A-Team workshop fucking up the cars again - why?

Suddenly James' car has different wheels on, no explanation of that whatsoever. I assume they are the wheels that are shown for a second during the shopping segment, but that's it. Why?

Jeremy hacking the still loaded pallet with a pick axe like an idiot. Why?

Eating beaver, then wearing beaver hats and beaver gloves. Seriously, why?

Assuming it was real, the angry mob was quite scary. However, after escaping I'd have wished to see how the guys go home, not a movie-like ending with more stupid jokes.

Overall a 3/10 for me. This special could have been epic if they hadn't tried to make it a comedy adventure movie.
 
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Given that the episode was meant to have a game of car football with an Argentinian team, surely HGD 986 would have been a better choice for one of the car numberplates. Then again, that might have caused just as much controversy.

All said, the episode wasn't bad, it just didn't have much that was memorable. Aside from Jeremy trying to show that he's different from his public persona of a loudmouthed idiot. His story of the Porsche 928 and his father did more to humanise him than almost the entire run of new Top Gear.
 

Fact as present by whom the naughty boys whose childish prank back fired? or any one who watch TG for a while and know Jeremy likes to make himself self feel terribly clever by sneaking in these jokes. Do you think that TG would say "well yes, we saw the car with that number plate and thought it would be hilariously funny for one of the locals bits and it nearly got us mobbed". No its deny deny deny because that way without an admission of guilt there can only be accusation because only only proof pf motive is in the persons head would bought the car. Also I was born 1982 and I know about the war its not forgotten in the UK by any means after all it was the last invasion to happen on British sovereignty.

Take this as an example, of some one desperate to be clever and then tucking tail when caught.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/27/schwarzenegger-sends-lawm_n_336319.html

I know the difference between proof and probability. But this isn't a caught of law its it quacks like a duck..
 
What's so wrong with them poking fun at themselves and being a bit self referential,
No problem with that, really, unless you keep referring to the same few things over and over again.

Driving into each other IS funny.
For a limited amount of time, perhaps. :may: said in the Bolivia special (IIRC) that the joke hadn't been very funny "three series ago" - he was right. Yobs with Astras can drive into each other, what I love to see on TG is stuff that I can't do. They do deliver that in spades and I thank and applaud them for it, but the dumb humour does put a fly in the ointment.
 
:confused:
After James' injury, Jeremy and Richard decide to go on their own, so they walk (instead of taking the horses or their cars). Why?

A-Team workshop fucking up the cars again - why?

Suddenly James' car has different wheels on, no explanation of that whatsoever. I assume they are the wheels that are shown for a second during the shopping segment, but that's it. Why?

Jeremy hacking the still loaded pallet with a pick axe like an idiot. Why?

Eating beaver, then wearing beaver hats and beaver gloves. Seriously, why?

Assuming it was real, the angry mob was quite scary. However, after escaping I'd have wished to see how the guys go home, not a movie-like ending with more stupid jokes.

It's a show about stupid, middle-aged men and their love of cars. If you want a documentary that follows common-sense, sound logic, mastery of physics and "best-practice", you came to the wrong place.

I also noticed the Lotus wheels changing at the end of part one (in the part two preview). Higher profile=nicer ride. As someone else suggested a page or two back, also most likely because the rally style offroad tyres weren't available for the larger wheels. Most rally car tyres follow this convention; the bigger wheels are used for tarmac stages.
The replacement wheels were also factory Lotus Esprit fitment, so they were correct in that sense. But IIRC they're from the four cylinder version of the car.

If anyone still doubts the plate thing, you can query H982FKL as a search here:
https://www.vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk/

If you still believe the car was selected because of the plate, Wilman sets that straight too:
http://transmission.blogs.topgear.com/2014/10/10/top-gear-in-argentina-what-really-happened/

Bloody conspiracy theorists!
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Have they ever done a special where they didn't do the whole "There is no way he can fix that car" then drive off and 20 minutes later "oh my word I don't believe it"?

Some of the gags or whatever you want to call them are stale, but that one is beyond dead already.
 
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