S01.E01: Episode 1

[Meredith Quill]

Quote

Ten pairs of florists, sculptors and garden designers face off in a friendly floral fight to see who can build the biggest, boldest garden sculptures.

 

[Omeletsmom]

Did I miss it or did they not even talk to/about the guys who made a snail during the judging?  A snail is not an insect.  They should have been disqualified for not meeting the challenge.

[iggysaurus]

They didn’t include the father and son who made the snail in the judging, and they also didn’t judge (or even introduce) at least 2 other pairs. I guess the editing chose to focus only on the top and bottom contestants, but I didn’t like that - I prefer when they at least briefly show all the competitors’ work, like they do on GBBO.  

[Just Carol]

What network is this show on, and when does it air?

[Mr. Sparkle]

It's on Netflix. 

On 5/20/2020 at 8:30 PM, Omeletsmom said:

Did I miss it or did they not even talk to/about the guys who made a snail during the judging?  A snail is not an insect.  They should have been disqualified for not meeting the challenge.

Yes, it seemed like they only showed 4 or 5 of the 10 pairs. 

[kirklandia]

Missed opportunity!

Even I, by no stretch of the imagination a plant expert, know this.  When you ask a "best-dressed" contestant in a floral design competition (who is from the Netherlands) what he is wearing under his kilt, the correct answer is "Dutchman's breeches".

Edited May 28, 2020 by kirklandia

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I had to pause the first episode to laugh because Kristen Griffith-VanderYacht sounds like a name you would make up for a romance novel (which is what makes it so perfect for a reality show!).

[meep.meep]

I've watched 3 episodes.  Of course the female host is on What We Do in the Shadows.  But the male host seems to be doing a Matt Barry vocal imitation as well which is very disconcerting.

I love how they clap enthusiastically for the guest judge who so far is someone I have never heard of.

[tljgator]

22 minutes ago, meep.meep said:

I love how they clap enthusiastically for the guest judge who so far is someone I have never heard of.

I love this part -- they show their faces and they're as lost as we are, lol. The show acts like it's a celebrity, award-winning guest judge on Top Chef, whose cookbook you own, but no one has a clue who these folks are (not that they don't seem very accomplished, with lovely photos of their work, etc.).

[Iseut]

This will be a fine diversion, not as exciting as GBBO, but fun to see the creations.  The two super artsy wacky  Dutch guys are pretty awesome. Also, Nadja!

I wonder what they will do with these huge sculptures though? At least the crew can eat the food after baking/cooking shows. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

3 hours ago, Iseut said:

I wonder what they will do with these huge sculptures though? At least the crew can eat the food after baking/cooking shows. 

When the team that added the irrigation system said that their sculpture was sustainable and could live on long afterward, I thought that's great in theory but is there anyone on the crew who wants to take home your giant bug sculpture and put it in their yard? And that made me think about how all of the flowers and plants used on this show are probably getting thrown away after each challenge. I hope there was a way to salvage some of them and donate them or at least mulch them. As much as I like seeing them make these huge creations, it seems like such a waste if everything gets thrown out a few hours later.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

S1.E1: Enormous Insects

Quote

The dome is abuzz with bees, beetles, and butterflies as the contestants craft giant but sculptures out of flowers and plants for the first challenge.

I loved The Big Allotment Challenge so I was hoping this show would be in that vein. To be honest, I like flowers but I usually don't love floral sculptures so I wasn't sure how much I would end up liking this show. On the plus side: pretty flowers + building cool stuff!

One thing I love about watching non-American shows is learning the names for things in other countries. This time I learned that impatiens are called fizzy Lizzies in the UK! And for some reason, gerbera is pronounced with a J sound in the UK?

Kristen the judge annoys me because he seems like a typical overly dramatic reality show judge which I am not here for. I hate the stupid fakeouts ("I have to say I'm quite offended and quite upset...because you told me this was going to be ugly and this is stunning!").

I have no idea who either of the hosts are but I am over all the unnecessary flower vocabulary ("Listen up, my little petals") and props (banging on a giant watering can with a spade). I hated the floral monstrosity that Natasia was wearing. It reminded me of the hideous flower print dresses from the 80s or what super conservative religious families have the girls wear (high neck, long sleeves, long skirt).

I am also not clear on how or why they chose some of these contestants. Why is there a fashion designer on a floral competition? Like I get why Sarah (wedding florist) and Jordan (her assistant) are there but some of these other people seem utterly unqualified to be here.

Ralph and Jim's snail was confusing to me. It seemed like everyone else had the metal structure for a specific insect (butterflies, dragonflies, beetles, etc) so did they just take a bunch of leftover parts? Or did they not understand how their pieces were supposed to go together? It really didn't look like a snail when it was finished either. It looked like a big lump with some purple and orange flowers on top.

Chanelle and Raymond's dragonfly had some nice color from the yellow and purple flowers but the wings were all wrong so it ended up looking like a bee with an extra set of wings which makes me think that one of the beetles made by another team was supposed to be a bee.

Jordan and Sarah's ombre rainbow jewel beetle was the prettiest beetle I've seen. I really liked the ombre effect. Henck was super nice to give them some of their extra coconut husk for their legs. He was smart to say he was going to finish their sculpture first before giving them any. I was glad that Sarah and Jordan used the coconut husk very differently from the way that Yan and Henck used them so that they didn't just copy what they were doing for the legs. Sarah seems very knowledgable but the super enthusiastic way she speaks makes me think that she's in an SNL skit and there's about to be a punchline.

I couldn't figure out if Yan and Henck were Burning Man types or just guys who love hats and obnoxious colors. Their reluctance to try to make their sphinx moth, even after Kristen suggested it, annoyed me. If I've learned anything from watching reality shows, always listen to the judges if they make a suggestion. Thank goodness they gave in and took their advice. It ended up looking delicate (but still hairy). I liked the succulents dotted along the wings and the beautiful orchids. Their idea for a bug hotel was cool in theory but I honestly don't know if bugs like living in bamboo. I liked the white flowers at the bottom. I really want to know what's in the tiger backpack.

Monet and Steph (the youngsters) are going to keep getting the "we're the youngest ones here" interviews, aren't they? On a shallow note, I hope they get eliminated sooner rather than later because I can't stand the way Monet's name is pronounced by everyone (although I have come to expect British people to deliberately mispronounce any name or word that isn't British). I know the guest judge said that their painted lady butterfly looked blocky but I liked that there was a clear color pattern. I also liked that they used herbs and even little peppers. I was fine with the birdseed but the bottom looked really blah because of it.

Delilah and Rachel (the Brooklyn girls) might annoy me with their hipsterness. I get wanting to be ahead of the trends but ugh, that whole attitude gets on my nerves. Their monarch butterfly had lots of orange but there didn't seem to be a pattern. It looked like they just plopped in whatever orange and yellow flowers they found in any old spot.

Eoghan and Declan, the Irish landscape architects, surprised me when they took their sculpture to the welder to have it changed. I didn't even know that was an option. It was a great idea though because the tweaks they made had the exact effect they wanted. Their monarch butterfly looked like it was hovering in midair. The flowers on the wings didn't look like a monarch butterfly because there were lots of other colors, not just orange. The other issue I had was that the flowers on the wings looked really thick, heavy, and tall so it give the wings a lumpy carpet look instead of resembling wings. They said they're both competitive so hopefully they won't be jerks. I liked the idea of their drip irrigation system but when they said their plan was for their sculpture to live 15 years, I was like uhhhh, you do know that they're probably doing to take the frame apart and throw away all the plants as soon as the cameras are off, right?

Helen and Andi's hawk moth was too brown for my taste, although I really liked the base of vibrant magenta flowers at the base.

Andrew and Ryan (the photographic artist and the Canadian DJ/art curator) were another confusing team to me. They're not florists, gardeners, landscape architects, etc. so I don't know why they even thought to apply to be on this show. But their bee looked great. There was a lot of movement and I liked how the bee looked both fuzzy but flowery.

Nick and Taylor are houseplant consultants? WTF? Even though we only saw a few seconds of them, Taylor's whiny Kardashian-esque voice and stupid hat are definitely going to annoy me. Their longhorn beetle had some nice color from the red, purple, and magenta plants.

Congratulations to Yan and Henck for winning the first challenge.

I didn't think Steph and Monet had the worst creation of the week so it sucks that they were eliminated first. How was that snail not even part of the elimination conversation?

On 5/24/2020 at 12:06 PM, meep.meep said:

I love how they clap enthusiastically for the guest judge who so far is someone I have never heard of.

I learned from some behind the scenes stuff about reality shows that the contestants HAVE to clap enthusiastically for stuff like that. If they don't, they have to reset and refilm the guest judge's entrance.

Edited May 26, 2020 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Aulty]

9 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I have no idea who either of the hosts are but I am over all the unnecessary flower vocabulary ("Listen up, my little petals") and props (banging on a giant watering can with a spade).

Natasia stars in the hilarious vampire comedy 'What we do in the shadows' (based on the Kiwi movie) and I was surprised to see her host a show like that. Nice crossover.

The male judge, Kristen, is soooo Jonathan van Ness.

I am not sure how long the plants will survive on those sculptures - I prefer living arrangements that grow and change over time.

Edited May 26, 2020 by Aulty

[Nidratime]

The fact that they didn't 1) introduce every team in the first episode nor 2) judge everyone in the first episode, sucked. It made it obvious who wouldn't be either winning or going home.