BradyB66

And he actually has a matching fade in his eyebrows. It's hilarious! I think the real problem with this season is that they should have put the pastry skill week sooner and the gimmick weeks like Mexican and Halloween later. That would have weeded it out the less rounded bakers first. The majority of these bakers don't seem to have basic skills that a contestant needs. They seem really good at cakes, but clueless on custard, pastry, and have we even seen choux this year? They have to be fans of the show and they didn't realize they'd need to make more than cakes and biscuits?

Bread lion Paul was already on a holiday special. It’s available on Netflix. And he was still lovely and still had amazing artistry.

Next week is “Free From Week”, right? Not Vegan Week? That opens it up to a bit more variety. The last time they did that week the signature was sugar-free, the technical was gluten-free, and the showstopper was dairy free.

This week seemed underwhelming to me. The same ingredient as the focus of all three rounds? Kinda boring. At least when it's pastry week they can do puff, hot water, choux, etc. Bread week can have a wide variety of breads and techniques. Same with desserts and cakes and biscuits. Even vegan week, German week, and spice week offers some variety. But caramel week? How many times did we have to see the bakers hunched over the pan waiting for the sugar to melt and go amber? It's the same way I feel about chocolate week. I just feel like the focus is too narrow when the week is based around a single ingredient. The sugar dome seemed like an attempt to offer up something other than caramel-based drama. Poor George, I think he could have gotten a handshake for his showstopper and still gone home after that disastrous first day. I didn't realize how much I love Giuseppe until they were criticizing his showstopper and I could feel my mama bear defensive instincts rising in me. I think that's the worst he's done this season.

And really, how else do you instruct a baking amateur on how to get the most filling possible in a donut without using the word "hole"? Okay, you could say "opening" but they still would have sniggered.

Love Amanda‘s steam punk look! Is that Lottie and Priya?

They definitely used to have a microwave. Season 5’s Nancy proved her bread dough in it and gave Paul a case of the vapors.

Actually, he didn't get a handshake for the lion. He got a round of applause right before Star Baker was named. He was the only one who ever got that, though. But yes, he got one for his soda bread in that episode. That season is my favorite I've seen every episode about 25 times.

Ruby and Rahul got showstopper handshakes in Season 9. And I believe Steven got one during the Holiday Bakeoff.

"I feel like the fryer's gonna hit me and I'm gonna buuuuuuuurn!" I need that as my ringtone. I adore Lizzie more every week. Aside from the rampant innuendo this episode it had a lot of sweet moments from Paul. When Lizzie was nervously frying and Paul asked her if her elbows were sweating, when he quietly gave George the tip for opening his tongs, and his fakeout to Crystelle to bring her up for a handshake were all endearing. I wish he'd stop trying to live up to his reputation as the Simon Cowell of this show and be himself. Loved that Giuseppe didn't pack enough shirts because he didn't think he'd still be in the competition so he has to keep buying more.

I grew up among a lot of Dutch immigrants in NJ. I know a lot of college age young men who are 6’4” to 6’7”. Send your niece here and I’ll introduce her. :-)

I hear you. I’m Dutch and everyone immediately goes to drugs and prostitutes. Not Hitler levels, but annoyingly stereotypical. I loved the clip in the beginning of Giuseppe putting his hairband in. I had been wondering how he was keeping those curly locks out of his face.

So much this! The fact that it killed her to send somebody home made me love her more than I already did.

The seven children in my family. I started coloring my hair at 24. My brothers were all completely gray by the time they turned 30. And yet, they didn't look older than their age.

As much as I hated "The Great American Baking Show" - Jeff Foxworthy was a charming host. Just aw, shucks and homespun enough with gentle humor. And he kept a fork in his pocket so he could try the contestant's bakes. I loved Noel when he was with Sandy (except the short jokes, which got old). But Matt seems to have written his jokes beforehand, shoves them in wherever, then waits for a laugh. Tom Allen was the same on Extra Slice. It's so much more charming if it's just a natural reaction to interactions with the baker. I want Freya to stay around because she's an interesting and talented baker, but if she could never, ever, ever say cappuccinaaaaaeh again, I'd appreciate it. She, Lizzie, and Rochica all have a tendency of dragging out the final syllable of every word in this flat way that grates on my ears. Did anyone else catch them saying that Chiggs is forty!? Wow, I would have said thirty, maybe.

Reminds me of the champion from my favorite season. Nadiya tanked on technicals in the beginning and then all of a sudden turned it around and became a juggernaut. I thought Giuseppe's response to the handshake was so sweet, actually tearing up. Loving him. I really don't dislike any of the contestants, but man, there are a lot of inherently whiny sounding accents among the females. Freya and Lizzie definitely, but even Rochica a bit.

I’ve watched all seven episodes twice already. I find this so delightful - reminds me a lot of his Man Lab and Toy Stories. Him breaking the fourth wall and talking back to the camera people and the producers, and his Nikki in the closet all work for me. Not that I think this should in any way take Amazon off the hook for not releasing The Grand Tour’s Madagascar special yet.

I’m not a fan of Noel and his creepy innuendo this season, but this smacks of producer interference to me. Paul and Prue have just said Hermine’s bake was inedible and Laura’s was delicious but messy? Let’s have Noel play devil’s advocate and remind them that Laura’s been in trouble before to keep the viewers guessing about who will be eliminated. That’s how I read it. I don’t see him truly trying to influence the judges against Laura.

I so sympathize with Laura. I’m a bit clumsy too, and when I’m under pressure and rushing, it often results in stupid disasters. I hope she can put the social media trolls in perspective. I got such a kick out of Noel doing his damndest to distract Dave with his humor, and Dave calmly ignoring him and getting on with his work.

Canada to the rescue! Oh, THANK YOU!

I can’t watch the intro. There’s a hole on the cake where one more raspberry should go and it wreaks havoc with my OCD. The missing raspberry is all I can see. Yes, I have issues.

Jeff Foxworthy has his own fork in his pocket in the American version, so yeah, I agree. I was really put off by their "humor" this week. Noel saying that Mr. Spoon wanted to see Peter naked was so off-putting to me, then he followed it up with the comment about how his jelly creation would be of a naked Paul...ugh. He was never that skeevy with Sandi.

Paul was totally joking about not liking passion fruit. He was just teasing Hermine. Prue called him on it. I feel like the signature and the technical had absolutely no bearing on the outcome this week. It was all down to the showstopper. By the end of the first day, it really seemed like Laura would be star baker and Peter would be leaving. Then in the showstopper, Marc's was awful in every way and Hermine's was sublime in every way, and two who were relatively middle of the pack at the end of day 1 move to the bottom and the top respectively. I feel like Hermine has hit her stride and is starting to pull away. Especially with next week being patisserie week. I'll miss Marc. Like Laura, I thought he was a 'gent'.

My first job was at Carvel in 1982 and I spent the entire summer making ice cream cakes because EVERYONE was using them for parties. I did wedding cakes, shower cakes, birthday cakes, you name it. So I was not surprised that ice cream cake was the showstopper. Never heard of finger donuts, though. I was so disappointed that no one made the joke about how real men do eat quiche, but maybe the book didn't make it to the UK.

Oh, that makes me so sad. He was a lovely man. I'll never forget his amazing St. George and the Dragon Biscuit Display. I think that makes him only the second contestant to pass away. The first being sweet Mark the bus driver from Season 1 who cried when Paul eviscerated his cake.