The fourth episode of The Grand Tour is out and the Boys tackle another challenge filled adventure. This time they attempted to make a completely ‘Green’ vehicle in an episode titled “Enviro-Mental.” Was it any good? Read on in our SPOILER filled review right below:
Literally, this episode was a bit shitty. Figuratively, it was mostly good.
This one started out in Whitby, the same location where the Boys filmed the in-tent session for the third episode “Opera, Art and Donuts.” And in this one we were served once again with an hors d’oeuvres of Whitby news and general complaints, as Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May go on commenting on the topics in their hilarious perspectives. The biggest takeaway from this segment is not the jokes nor the comments, it’s that we now understand what The Grand Tour is all about: It is a good old fashion variety show, and these beginning segments are just the show’s monologue in the location’s native flavors, news and jokes.
Moving on to the meatier entrees we get treated with a Clarksonian analysis of the greatest Porsche 911 available: The 911 GT3 RS! Listening to Jezza describe the rear-engined, rear-wheel drive, four-wheel steering supercar in his usual bombastic way, you feel right at home. It felt like you were watching old Top Gear back in 2004 and listening to him complain about the 911, only this time he couldn’t stop gushing over it.
Moving on to the BMW M4 GTS we were once again treated with top notch cinematography, presentation and commentary:
“This competition between these two cars is like a boxing match between an actual boxer and someone who thinks they’re a boxer because they’re wearing satin shorts.”
That is a massive burn on the BMW M4 GTS, in case you haven’t seen the episode. Rather, this entire segment has been a 10 minute commercial for the Porsche 911 GT3 RS.


Handing the BMW over to their tame racing driver The American, we were once again treated with a fat dose of lousy stereotypes delivered by Mike Skinner, an American Stock Car Racing Driver turned Stig replacement. This is where The Grand Tour begins to taste a bit stale for non British viewers. The one-liner jokes feel as lame as the new version of British Top Gear: A bit constructed and a bit forced.
After another segment of ‘Conversation Street’ where they spoke about the new Ford GT and transgendered street lights in London, they moved on the main film of the episode, “Enviro-Mental.” Richard Hammond prefaced this episode by commenting how car manufacturers have spent a great amount of effort making environmentally friendly engines without making the rest of the car as ‘Green’. So in this challenge the Boys set out to modify their Land Rovers by stripping it of the metals and plastics and replacing it with more renewable materials.


This was another point where the show made a strange turn. James May, The Reassembler, known for his engineering prowess and meticulous fashion, was anything but in the process of constructing his Green car. There were no engineering thought, and the car was put together as if it was designed to fail. We hate to nit-pick on this point but it felt like a weak setup for a cheap joke at Captain Slow’s expense. Given that he was portrayed as someone who could rebuild driveshafts in the middle of nowhere in earlier Top Gear, it’s surprising to find that he couldn’t properly lay bricks or build a roof for The Grand Tour. (Unless a brilliant James May is a BBC character, and this whole stunt is The Grand Tour’s attempt of not getting sued by the BBC over intellectual property infringement, then our apologies)

We are then treated to a good old race around a track, as these environmentally friendly cars were matched up with traditional cars made of steel and plastic. The progression of this race was hysterical and might be the highlight of the episode. James May’s increasingly shoddy car rendered him useless the entire race as he couldn’t properly see the race track. Richard Hammond’s reliable plant-lined car was brilliant despite its uncanny ability to be set on fire. While Jeremy Clarkson’s racing was hindered by him constantly losing his “nose-tampons” and the car’s ability to breed maggots. Combine the uniquely strange cars and the typical commentary and banter, this whole film had us in stitches.


To catch the rest of our Grand Tour coverage check here and check often!
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