My thoughts, full disclosure is that I've been very down on this show through production, but:
- Chris Evans is not Jeremy Clarkson, he's much closer to Richard actually. Very ambivalent about him currently. He's super goofy, not in a charming way, and I don't feel like any of his jokes landed, but he was good in his matter-of-fact speaking parts.
- Sabine wasn't very entertaining, and the way that segment was shot didn't really show off her driving prowess well, which is probably the best thing she brings to the show.
- The entire Viper vs. Corvette section segment sucked. Wasn't very tense, wasn't very entertaining, I feel like the cinematography, which is one of the show's strengths, was not up to par, except for that one shot with the Corvette peering through the hangar doors and some of the shots of the base in general.
- The road trip segment was decent-to-bad. So much fake/unconvincing camaraderie and chemistry between Chris and Matt. This is one of those things you can't say if it'll truly improve later on or not, but the bar is set really, really low for banter right now and I feel like them all coming from such disparate backgrounds can't help. Second half was better and more kinetic.
- New studio looks kind of.. devoid of charm. The big screen is helpful, but sitting around the TV really gave you the feel that you were part of the family and it really shows in the SIARPC segment where the camera is on the big TV as much as it is on the guests. Also the new SIARPC kind of misses the reasonably priced car point? The dirt section is a cool spin, but I have a heavy nostalgia for the old track. Wish they had kept it because it's so integral to Top Gear, but this is one thing I can see being a good change over time. Evans was an okay host for this.
- Confirming the LaFerrari Spyder on the new Top Gear was odd because it felt super, super, staged, but it was cool I guess.
- Matt's Nomad segment was the best part of the show and felt the closest to what I love about Top Gear, from the humour to the cinematography to the commentary, etc. If there was hope in this episode, it's here.
- 2 host set up is weird; is it going to stay like this or will they rotate? It seemed more like an Evans show with Matt (and Sabine) where necessary. And Chris Harris is going to be relegated to Extra Gear too? WTF?
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Overally, it doesn't give me much hope, but definitely has space to improve. I still feel like I am watching out of obligation than enjoyment. Since segments are all shot in a different order (I presume), I don't know if we'll see them improve their chemistry much by the end of the season, but it just seems like a clash of humour styles, whereas Clarkson/Hammond/May all had a similar one which allowed them to have good banter and make their relationship seem more genuine, and all of these factors are reflected in the quality of the actual segments. I want to give them the benefit of the doubt because they're just starting this, but they also had an established, expected and desired blueprint to emulate with and they've missed the mark in places.