The Grand Tour, A Review: What Happens When Your Pets Must Share Their Toys.

            What does a spaniel, a hamster, and an orangutan have in common? Well, nothing really except, at times, each animal has been used to describe one of the characters on Amazon’s recreation of the BBC’s Top Gear, The Grand Tour. For the most part, this has not bothered animal right activist. And, though, at times, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and or James May might resist such associations, these cuddly connections help define and endear them to their fans. Clarkson turns into a relatable baboon instead of an obnoxious loudmouth. Hammond becomes a cute pet to keep in a cage, and James, well, James just pees all over everything but still deserves a treat. And while it might be hard to teach an old dog or, for that matter, a hamster or orangutan new tricks, The Grand Tour appears to have learned a few and might even be worth watching and “on that bombshell”, to quote Clarkson, I begin my review.

            The first season started off bold and brash. A new location each week, a couple dead celebrities, a unique home track, and even an American so the audience could see the cars go fast (ha ha). And there might have been a few kinks or niggles to work out, but The Grand Tour appeared to be taking off right where Top Gear, at least a Top Gear that included Clarkson, Hammond, and May, had ended so unceremoniously.

            Then came season two. And while the show still had life it felt as though somebody had taken the show’s spirit. The show became reactionary bending to a degree to the audience’s will and maybe even struggling to find a place for itself within Amazon’s will. The natural artistic instincts of the three seemed to be set aside in parts.

            Season three, then, has been about the rediscovery of their natural artistic instincts. The show has developed a better sense of a global place, a global tour. Regaining the loss of setting from season one. The new driver from season two, Abbie Eaton, has started to develop as a character in the show. Even Mike Skinner from season one makes a fun appearance. And while one might complain that most of the shows seemed very similar to older shows the three had done, a person should also remember that the tv show Seinfeld made it nine seasons basically repeating the same joke. A good story can be retold and retold without need to apologize. And here, in the mutual hate of friendship, The Grand Tour, has captured an old voice for new listeners, I think.

            And while the setting provided by the BBC, unadulterated by advertising, is going to be hard to overcome in the mass commercialism of Amazon, the show is just starting to feel, I guess, for lack of a better term, authentic, and authenticity, scripted or not, has always been what made the show these three put on any good. Maybe, in a way, Clarkson, Hammond, and May have each begun to embody their “spirit” animals and I am excited to seen what comes next.