What’s in a name?
MAY 31ST, 2016 — POST 148
After the protracted tabloid fuel that was Jeremy Clarkson’s firing from the BBC, for a fracas as notable for who Clarkson punched as the fact that literally everyone was saying “fracas”, Top Gear is back. In place of Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May — all of whom will be reappearing in The Grand Tour for Amazon’s Prime service — are a bigger cast of hosts, with Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc taking lead roles in the new season’s episode. Whilst it is still a little early, my prediction is that the mid-midlife-crisis Ned Flanders of Evans will be the only constant with the rest of the cast rotating in the formation of pairs with the bespectacled host. As irritating as Evans was by the episode’s end, the new-look Top Gear is kinda sorta not bad.
There is some sense in which the first episode feels like an attempt by the producers to trick the viewer into thinking this is exactly the same Top Gear you left off at the conclusion of the series’ twenty-second season. The thin veneer of “wackiness” injected into each segment — from an American supercar shootout at an airforce base, to a “drag” race that involved the picking up of literal drag queens in Blackpool — is a little cracked and dog-eared in places. The trip up to Blackpool, taken by Evans and LeBlanc in 3-wheeled Reliants adorned with either nation’s flag, seems motivated only by the fact there is a show to make, the pair just showing up outside the BBC and having the cars there waiting.
Evans himself, whether in imitation of Clarkson or fed by the same writing team that fed Clarkson, doesn’t really stick the landing on lines like “this is as close you get to a race car without having to wear fireproof knickers and a wrist band with your blood type on it” in reference to a new Dodge Viper. LeBlanc too falls prey to this impulse, failing at the correct inflexions on the “Some say…” lines in introduction of The Stig. As much as mimicry might be strived for in places, without the same team of hosts, the new Top Gear doesn’t stand a chance.
That’s why it’s best when they seem to ignore those twenty-two preceding seasons. Setting LeBlanc loose in the new Arial Nomad, a track toy for the desert, offers up some truly stunning moments. LeBlanc seems entirely at home ripping the guts of this machine in clouds of orange dust, offering insight into his passion for cars and what they enable, as well as his unarguable skills as a driver. The revamped Star In A Reasonably Priced Car now sees celebrities, in this debut episode Gordon Ramsey and Jesse Eisenberg, get their hands on a rally version of a Mini Cooper along a partly off-road variation of the Top Gear test track. The competitiveness, especially from soon-to-be-dual LaFerrari owner (the pride of Ferrari’s fleet) Ramsey, is palpable and offers exactly the kinds of moments that mark the best the segment has to offer. In its most promising sections, the new Top Gear is recognisable yet distinct.
Judging from the few hot takes I’ve read since the debut episode aired, the reaction is on the negative side of mixed. Evans even took to Twitter to defend the episode, exclaiming “FACT” after his every announcement of viewing figures and rating like the schoolyard nerd he is. All said and done, the series is in much better shape than I would have anticipated. The Top Gear team still prove to include some of the most formidable technicians. The production is irrefutably world class and, if nothing else, that alone should ensure the series is able to preserve a fair bit of runway whilst the nuances of voice and delivery are worked out.
The rotating cast that I anticipate should prove to be one of its strengths, banishing reliance on a constant threesome to be likeable week-in-week-out. If the series has hopes to compete culturally (BBC already seems to have the financial competition on lock) when Clarkson-Hammond-May’s The Grand Tour premieres later this year, it will require deeper reflection on the essence of greatness the original Top Gear was able to bottle for so long. Transport is a grind, infrastructure is a fucking mess in almost all of the world’s global cities. But the car can still astound, can still illustrate humanities deep identity with movement and technology. LeBlanc in the Nomad hints at this. To last, the new Top Gear will have to more than just drop hints.
