Apple try to do a Grand Tour and fail. Miserably.
If you like motorbikes, this show barely mentions them. If you like travel, but think that travelling just means shouting cool or brilliant as you drive through cultures and landscapes you don't understand, then this is the show for you.
The wit and camaraderie between the two ageing protagonists makes the scripted dialogue on Top Gear seem Wildean (as in Oscar). As for the crew, the two producers Russ and Dave, no wonder they had their own car each.
So, if you insist on watching this, try my bingo game to make it more interesting for you. Give yourself a point when:
1. Charlie nearly crashes or does actually crash, look out for the times when he pulls out in front of a truck, nearly runs over a woman on a bicycle and overtakes directly into the path of a pickup truck as he tries to pass a bus.
2. Give yourself a point if you can work out when, where and why the Mercedes Sprinter with solar panels and a generator disappeared from the show
3. Work out how come the Rivians disappeared in Mexico, only to reappear with Russ and Dave driving them once they were in the US (what....???)
4. Give yourself a point for "cool", "brilliant" or "mate"
5. Watch out for the part where Ewan speaks openly and honestly about the break up of his 22 year old marriage and why he ran off with a woman described as "a piece of trash" by Ewan's own daughter. It should be in the show, but - spoiler alert - it isn't. Neither is any reflection on any issue of interest, from two guys who have really seen some life and probably have some stories to tell - wait for the book, that must be it.
Now, the electric bit. The bikes, after the initially very dull sequences when they looked for juice, were eventually charged by the continuity fairies. Seriously, they drove to Juarez, 95kms and then did 50 kms or so to get paperwork sorted and then continued on, to....erm California.
The stars of the show? Well there were several, in first place the Rivian trucks that made the lumpy, unreliable Harley's look like they were from a different era, and in second place, the guys from Rivian who could reverse engineer a crashed UFO and make it fly better. It wouldn't be fair not to mention the impressive female engineers from Harley who worked magic to keep these prototypes on the road. Last, the great people from Unicef who seem to do incredible things in places you would not want to go.
Verdict: Yawn (even Ewan said this trip, whilst shorter than the others, feels longer, I can only agree), but I really, really want a Rivian. And if I go on a big trip, I'll still take the petrol KTM, thank you.
If you like motorbikes, this show barely mentions them. If you like travel, but think that travelling just means shouting cool or brilliant as you drive through cultures and landscapes you don't understand, then this is the show for you.
The wit and camaraderie between the two ageing protagonists makes the scripted dialogue on Top Gear seem Wildean (as in Oscar). As for the crew, the two producers Russ and Dave, no wonder they had their own car each.
So, if you insist on watching this, try my bingo game to make it more interesting for you. Give yourself a point when:
1. Charlie nearly crashes or does actually crash, look out for the times when he pulls out in front of a truck, nearly runs over a woman on a bicycle and overtakes directly into the path of a pickup truck as he tries to pass a bus.
2. Give yourself a point if you can work out when, where and why the Mercedes Sprinter with solar panels and a generator disappeared from the show
3. Work out how come the Rivians disappeared in Mexico, only to reappear with Russ and Dave driving them once they were in the US (what....???)
4. Give yourself a point for "cool", "brilliant" or "mate"
5. Watch out for the part where Ewan speaks openly and honestly about the break up of his 22 year old marriage and why he ran off with a woman described as "a piece of trash" by Ewan's own daughter. It should be in the show, but - spoiler alert - it isn't. Neither is any reflection on any issue of interest, from two guys who have really seen some life and probably have some stories to tell - wait for the book, that must be it.
Now, the electric bit. The bikes, after the initially very dull sequences when they looked for juice, were eventually charged by the continuity fairies. Seriously, they drove to Juarez, 95kms and then did 50 kms or so to get paperwork sorted and then continued on, to....erm California.
The stars of the show? Well there were several, in first place the Rivian trucks that made the lumpy, unreliable Harley's look like they were from a different era, and in second place, the guys from Rivian who could reverse engineer a crashed UFO and make it fly better. It wouldn't be fair not to mention the impressive female engineers from Harley who worked magic to keep these prototypes on the road. Last, the great people from Unicef who seem to do incredible things in places you would not want to go.
Verdict: Yawn (even Ewan said this trip, whilst shorter than the others, feels longer, I can only agree), but I really, really want a Rivian. And if I go on a big trip, I'll still take the petrol KTM, thank you.