But Top Gear didn’t stop there, oh no! Next up we had May trying to hit the top speed of the new Veyron Super Sport, followed by the Stig setting the fastest lap time they’ve had with it. And after that, Cameron Diaz and Tom Cruise in the reasonably-priced car, which Cruise tried his best to flip over during his lap. Clarkson ended the show with a look back at the life of the amazing F1 driver Ayrton Senna.

Overall it was one of my favourite Top Gear episodes, and easily the best one they’ve had in… three series? I’m very happy with the show right now. Too bad that this Sunday’s episode is the series finale, huh?

-Jerk

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This is what the show had been missing. Sure, they’d still review all the new supercars and stick a star in the reasonably-priced car, but it felt like the other classic Top Gear segments had been slowly fading away to be replaced with faking safety tests for their homemade electric car, or putting together a car-centric art show. I was starting to wonder if they’d run out of ideas for things to build out of cheap cars, but watching Hammond spend hours unfolding the largest motorhome ever was proof they can still come up with ridiculous challenges resulting in big ideas with even bigger design flaws. Clarkson terrified as he drove an apartment building on the highway was the highlight for me.

Now if we can just get a classic ‘car versus something-that-isn’t-a-car’ race before the end of the season I’ll be happy that Top Gear has righted itself.

-Jerk

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Well, they certainly made up for the rest of the season this week. The Bolivia Special was pretty damn amazing. First of all, I just finished watching it and my heart’s still beating a little fast. As far as Things They’ve Done That Could Kill them (and excluding Hammond’s crash), this episode handily beat out the Polar Special (in third place is Driving Through the Deep South With Homosexual/Anti-Country Music Slogans on Their Cars). Sure, there was one very dangerous part of the Polar Special, with the thin ice they drove over. But this? Literally half of the Bolivia Special was doing things that could have killed them.

Honestly, I can see how they may have wanted a break from doing crazy stuff after this, hence the lighter fare we’ve had this season, this episode was pretty insane.

-Jerk

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Top Gear has always had both types of staged events (the “this was obviously staged” kind and the Reality TV “this was staged but we’re acting like it was spontaneous” kind), and that’s always been part of the appeal. The show’s always given more comedy then useful automotive advice. But so far this season has had too much of both kinds of staging.

First off, the Reality TV-style staging has been a little too obvious in things like Random Truck hitting May’s Dacia Sandero and Geoff rolling down the hill. It almost feels as if they rushed the scripted bits this season, and as a result couldn’t get them to fit as smoothly into the episodes as they have in the past.

But this lack of stylistic cohesion is even more obvious with the obviously staged bits. The last fifteen minutes or so of this week’s episode was… kinda pointless. Sure, we got to see the boys act in slow motion, and then backwards, but there was no reason for it. Usually they’re trying to complete a challenge from the producers, or not have their cars die, or something. This time they were just goofing around, as those tests were clearly not… well, anything at all. They just did things for a bit. It was like Frankenstein Wastes a Minute of Our Time if Frankenstein was British and named Clarkson. And did it fifteen times in a row. They did kill another Stig, though.

In the past we’ve seen the boys drive to the north pole, cross a desert, almost get killed by rednecks, attempt to build a spaceship, and set a car wash on fire. They’ve raced against bikes, jets, boats, the postal service, and Japanese transit. Maybe they’re just running out of insane crap to do.

-Jerk

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I said that last bit to make this next bit have more meaning: I`ve been looking forward to the return of Top Gear for months. Quite a bit more than the other two recent returns to my schedule, Raising the Bar and True Blood. I should also add that I am in no way a car guy. Nor is a large percentage of their audience actually, they appeal to an extremely varied demographic.

Because while showing off very expensive cars is a big part of the show, it`s the hosts and the challenges that make Top Gear one of my favourite series. Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May are hilarious and have amazing chemistry as a team, even when they`re just doing normal things. But when they`re doing crazy races (such as this week`s London-to-Edinburgh race between the world`s fastest car, fastest motorcycle, and most advanced train — circa 1949), building their own limos or space shuttles, or travelling through exotic locales on cheap yet durable transportation (Oliver!) that the show really shines.

I should also mention the visuals. The directors, or cinematographers, or some combination of them I`m not sure, but they`ve put to film some of the most amazing visuals I`ve seen. Not just on television either, many of their shots rival the most beautiful I`ve seen in movies. There are examples of this in every episode, but I`d suggest checking out the Polar Special and the Vietnam Special in particular.

While this post has been mainly about Top Gear in general, I do feel the need to touch on something from last night`s episode, the revelation of the Stig`s identity. Sure it was cool and that was a good interview, but it just felt weird knowing who he is. Made him human and not some mythical creature. It was always fun to see the Stig standing stoically while the boys were being… well themselves. Knowing who he is…. euuuuugh.

Which is why the show ending with the `maybe he isn`t the Stig` bit was perfect. Can`t have a car show without a mythic man of mystery!

-Jerk

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