The Grand Tour Episode 3 Review: A Return to the Classics

The naysayers and doubters who rose up following The Grand Tour’s somewhat shaky Episode 2 have now been silenced all at once by the majesty that was Episode 3. From start to finish this week’s episode of The Grand Tour was everything we love about Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond & James May. This one, folks, will go down as a classic.

Episode 3 of The Grand Tour features the boys on a title adventure, a grand tour, through the European countryside with a series of beautiful stops along the way. Cars featured in the episode included an Aston Martin DB11, a Rolls Royce Dawn, and a Dodge Hellcat.

The episode also featured classic Top Gear-esque pranks, speed boats, race tracks, and Jeremy’s house being blown to smithereens! I fail to see how they could have done much better.

The show begins with the boys each selecting their aforementioned grand touring cars for the coming trip. James being the refined one of the group is driving the Rolls Royce. Jeremy chooses the Aston, an artful balance of power and style. Hammond being Hammond, chooses the delightfully tacky but, oh so powerful American Dodge Challenger Hellcat.

The three hosts exchange the classic jabs at one another we’ve come to know and love during their time on Top Gear hitting us right in the nostalgia. The trio sets off on their Italian Grand Tour from the scenic city of Siena to the timeless location of Florence and ending in the City of Water, Venice.

Along the way we get to see more of the trio doing what they love, and what we love watching, which includes May developing a twitch, Jeremy being pompous, and Hammond acting like an idiot. The three tourers head to the beautiful racetrack known as Mugello Circuit in Tuscany, Italy. While there the classy James May take an absence to practice his watercolors while Clarkson and Hammond duke it out on the circuit to see who’s car is the fastest ’round.

At this point, we come to the midpoint of the show where we are treated once again to the running segment Conversation Street. The segment which obviously is a replacement for the news segment on Top Gear has received mixed reviews up to this point and I don’t expect that to change anytime this season.

The trio discusses driving trends in the U.K.,local politics, precious gems, and of course cars. Jeremy also shows up Google in a surprise unveiling of his newest invention, a self driving car, so be sure and keep and eye out for it, or is poke your eyes out when you see it? You can be the judge of that. All around it’s an enjoyable segment with some good laughs, especially for those who appreciate a bit of British humor.

After wrapping up in the studio, we start back up on the grand tour following a narrow victory (you’ll have to watch to see who’s) at the track. Clarkson, Hammond, and May leave the circuit along with several of Hammond’s tires and travel to the Vicenza main square where Clarkson & May attempt to ditch Hammond with a cleverly thought out social media post.

Leaving their friend behind the hosts head to their final destination of Venice, Italy. Unfortunately for them, they aren’t the only host who makes it to this point and they get a bit wet finding out the hard way.

After finishing their grand tour the boys are back in the studio and we are once again graced with the Celebrity Brain Crash segment. I for one am a fan of this segment, but it seems audiences are split on it at the moment, and I don’t know if I can confidently say we will see it continue on into another season. This episode’s celebrity guest is Simon Pegg who meets with a bit of bad luck as is the usual for the show’s guests. Let’s just say his unfortunate end involves ice cream, seagulls, a bridge, and well, you’ll see soon enough if you haven’t already.

Episode 3 really ends with a bang. No seriously, a huge bang. There’s a massive explosion and it’s set off by none other than Mr. Boring, Captain Slow, James May! You may remember a certain bet from Episode 1 that an overconfident Jeremy Clarkson made with Richard Hammond and James May and in Episode 3 the terms of the bet come to fruition in this delightful show of fire. It’s the perfect way to end a perfect episode of The Grand Tour. I think it may have left the BBC shaking as they prepare the next season of Top Gear.

And on that terrible disappointment…