S12.E02: Biscuit Week

[Athena]

Quote

It's crunch time for the bakers as biscuit week arrives and they are asked to produce their take on filled brandy snaps, followed by a jammy childhood favourite in the technical challenge. In the showstopper, they have to come up with an interactive toy made entirely from biscuit. Noel Fielding and Matt Lucas find out who will be top cookie and who will crumble under the pressure, while Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith judge their efforts.

Original UK Airing: Tuesday, Sept 28, 2021.

[ShortyMac]

Jürgen is Star Baker again! I adore him! Giuseppe, as well.

Those shortbread cookies with buttercream and raspberry jam that Paul and Prue sampled when discussing the technical looked heavenly. 

I loved Freya’s rocking horse, George’s plane, the snooker table, and the vanity play set. So clever. 

Next is bread week...

[Aulty]

3 hours ago, ShortyMac said:

Those shortbread cookies with buttercream and raspberry jam that Paul and Prue sampled when discussing the technical looked heavenly.

I am not a fan of biscuit week, but the cookies in the technical looked so yummy. I hope they continue that theme of traditional and oldfashioned (but not ancient pond puddings!) bakes for the technical.
The show stopper in biscuit week is now the annual ginger bread construction bonanza. Its "make some 3D *insert weird topic here* from biscuits" and everyone, sensibly, defaults to ginger bread (which I loathe).
Re biscuit windmill - was it Nancy who did a giant Moulin Rouge windmill for a final showstopper a few years ago? Matt singing Snooker Loopey at the mention of Snooker - thats basically the law when Snooker is mentioned on any show that does not feature Hazel Irvine.

Hands down, the funniest thing about this episode was the Channel 4 livestream breaking down during a  dog commercial, moments before the show was about to start, and everyone loosing their sh*t on Twitter.

Edited September 29, 2021 by Aulty

[Danny Franks]

Jurgen seems like he'll be tough to beat. Organised, calm and with a great attention to detail. I guess it's not surprising that the physicist and the engineer are doing well on the technicals, when they have instructions to follow. I think he and Giuseppe are mostly likely to only come unstuck if there's a weird, gimmick week that they just can't get their heads around.

I'm not sure I've ever eaten a brandy snap but they don't seem like much more than a rigid vessel for the stuff that actually has taste. I'd happily have eaten any of them, although strong coffee in desserts isn't my thing.

Can't wait for Lizzie to leave. Her accent is like nails on a chalkboard to me. Scouse accents that strong always sound like they're being put on for effect. Meanwhile, I don't mind Freya's accent at all. Normally vocal fry gets up my nose but, paired with that Yorkshire accent it just amuses me.

The interactivity of the showstoppers was a somewhat vague stipulation, apparently allowing everything from motor-driven designs to biscuits you can... pretend to put makeup on with? Eh, the less ambitious ones generally looked better anyway. But if you have to overbake gingerbread to the point it's going black, what's the point? Biscuits are for eating.

Matt's joke at the end about Paul's philandering was very on the nose, and the fact it survived the edit underlines much more comfortable Hollywood is with two other men as hosts.

[Lois Sandborne]

 

I don't know what it is, but I'm not enthused about this season yet. Maybe it's because I've been rewatching the first few seasons; I do miss the challenges being more down to earth and more organic focus on the contestants.  I hope next week is more interesting.

Edited October 1, 2021 by Lois Sandborne

[Cetacean]

Yet again, closed captioning saved the episode for me.  SO many different accents with this group.  Lizzie's is especially difficult to the American ear.

Interactive 3D structures are just taking it too far.  I don't care if something moves or can be a game, I only want something good to eat.  Then throw in "favorite childhood toy" and it's just silly.  And I wonder if it was a deliberate move to show the showstopper disasters grouped at the end.

It was nice of Freya to jump in and help out with the Amanda's collapsing horse.

Hated to see cheerful Maggie in tears.  I think she's a hoot.

Long-haired bakers - please tie back your hair! It makes me queasy to think about stray strands in the baking.

Noel and Matt just get on my last nerve.  I loved Prue's statement when Matt was blathering nonsense about Paul being in Cyprus - "Matt, this is going nowhere".  I wish Matt would go somewhere - away from the show.  His jokes are so stupid that even the bakers are not laughing anymore.

[Yajmele]

My first thought on a lot of these brandy snaps is that they remind me of cannolis, until I saw the ones that looked like cups.

Freya’s and Chigs’s were the ones that on paper, I’d be chomping at the bit to try.  I can see Freya’s being a little polarizing.  Just in thinking about my husband and me in how we approach coffee. He can drink just straight black coffee, and loves strong coffee.  Me, I prefer mine milder, and occasionally indulge in a flavored drink.

So, Crystelle’s sisters are named Chantelle and Corelle.  My sisters and I were named in a similar fashion (same first initial, similar last syllable).  If it was anything like how I grew up, it was probably a mess when one parent was trying to call one of them.

Matt (giving Juergen a handshake after trying his brandy snaps):  “It means nothing from me.”

Juergen:  “It means a lot for me.” 

That was such a charming, humble exchange, which is saying something because I’m usually pretty cynical when it comes to reality TV.  Juergen continues to grow as my favorite.  And of course, the man has a science background.

Giuseppe is a close 2nd favorite for me behind Juergen.  I thought him calling Juergen “The Baking Terminator” after the technical was hilarious.

I normally find Matt annoying, but I actually thought he was funny this episode.

Jairzeno seems to be able to make some amazing flavors, but seems to struggle with the detail aspect.  That being said, I thought that Maggie was going to be going this week.  I’m glad she’s sticking around, though.  Also glad they stopped making the jokes comparing her to Prue.

Wasn’t that Juergen’s son that he called when he made the phone call to tell them he was Star Baker?  I’m pretty sure his son’s name was Benjamin, but I was thrown off by Juergen calling himself by his own first name when talking to his son.  Is there a cultural thing that I’m not aware of?

So, it’s an interesting thing to learn that the contestants have a ‘practice tent.’  I was wondering how the contestants got to practice these bakes while isolated.

Edited October 1, 2021 by Yajmele

[Mabinogia]

19 minutes ago, Yajmele said:

Matt (giving Juergen a handshake after trying his brandy snaps):  “It means nothing from me.”

Juergen:  “It means a lot for me.” 

That was such a charming, humble exchange, which is saying something because I’m usually pretty cynical when it comes to reality TV.  Juergen continues to grow as my favorite.  And of course, the man has a science background.

If Juergen weren't already hands down my favorite, that would have done it. Such a sweet moment on his part. 

I hate these over the top challenges. I miss seeing simple but beautiful work. Even the best of the showstoppers this round was just okay. it doesn't surprise me at all that the nicest ones were the simplest in structure and "moving bits"

And I really, really wish Freya didn't have that damned vocal affect because I quite like her, but that voice is worse than nails on a chalkboard for me. 

I am happy that I don't really dislike any of the bakers. That said, other than Juergen, I don't love any of them either. They are just there. I still miss what this show used to be. 

[AZChristian]

I love Matt Lucas.  I just don't think this is the right venue for him.

[Straycat80]

I’d never heard of brandy snaps, they all looked delicious, messy or not.

Add me to the list of people  who don’t  think Matt and Noel are funny. 
Poor Amanda, it’s got to be frustrating when something you try works twice at home and then fails on the show. My heart broke for Maggie when she was crying, I hope she does better next week.

Juergen and Giuseppe look like the ones to beat. 

Edited October 1, 2021 by Straycat80

[Adiba]

I’m not a huge fan of Matt in this show, butI loved it when he was asking Paul if he felt paternal towards George. Anything to ruffle Paul’s feathers is a win in my book. More of that, please.

Jurgen’s eyebrows are a mood all of their own. He does seem like a very skilled and calm baker. I am liking him so far. I don’t dislike any of the bakers, though. 
I am a fan of cookies, biscuits— whatever you all them—and all of the bakes looked pretty yummy to me. The “jammy biscuits” looked like a biscuit version of a Victoria sandwich cake.

[h2ogirl]

I love this show, but have often wondered why they need to pay TWO people to be hosts when one would be just fine. The Matt/Noel combo is almost unwatchable to me. Singularly they would be tolerable.

I did love both Mel and Sue though.

[krankydoodle]

I appreciated how, in time-honored teenage fashion, Amanda's daughter couldn't muster any enthusiasm for learning about her mom's hobby--even while being filmed for tv.

I'm so glad Maggie made it through. I thought for sure she was done after seeing her beach scene showstopper. Watching one of her little biscuits dragged along by a string to demonstrate interactivity made the contrast to a lot of the others' efforts particularly stark.

I loved Chigs's snooker table and Giuseppe's game board. It's a shame Amanda's horse fell apart because it really did look nice.

Edited October 1, 2021 by krankydoodle

[h2ogirl]

I thought Chigs' snooker table and Giuseppe's game board were both fabulous, and smart - they didn't need to worry about a base breaking while trying to support lots of weight from above. 

[iwantcookies]

I guess Jurgen is not Benjamin’s father. Guess he is the stepdad. His eyebrows are something 😂. 
 

Noel looked nice with his hair pulled back.

[Yajmele]

5 minutes ago, iwantcookies said:

 

I guess Jurgen is not Benjamin’s father. Guess he is the stepdad.

 

I had not considered this.  It would explain it.  

[mjc570]

I don't know why they added the movable/interactive component, especially so early in the competition.  It seems to me that the quality of the products really suffered as a result, none of them were really complex or refined.  

Much as I like Jurgen, I sure hope it is not a runaway.  I know that the judging starts anew each week, but if he is the star baker every week I think that will be pretty indicative.  I do think it's probably been pretty easy to decide who has to leave, although I'm glad Maggie recognizes she is at risk.

I like all the contestants, but especially Lizzie.  I like her hair, her accent and her sense of humor.   

[MisterGlass]

While Jurgen and Giuseppe are excellent and clearly in the lead, this is two weeks in a row that I thought Crystelle deserved more of a mention.  She made a vanity with a removable drawer and all the items in it.  Freya's rocking horse was very nice, and the snooker table was great.

I strongly remember having the technical challenge linzer cookies as a child, and liking them very much.  I think they were a girl scout cookie.

I was a little puzzled by all the filled brandy snaps.  That felt like they were being made into a pastry week item.

[Danny Franks]

23 minutes ago, MisterGlass said:

While Jurgen and Giuseppe are excellent and clearly in the lead, this is two weeks in a row that I thought Crystelle deserved more of a mention.  She made a vanity with a removable drawer and all the items in it.  Freya's rocking horse was very nice, and the snooker table was great.

I thought Crystelle would be in the conversation for star baker, but forgot that she was tenth (I think) in the technical. That doesn't always seem to mean much, but I guess it did this week. 

Her showstopper was neat and attractive, actually looking like something you could put on display.

[kittykat]

I think the technical carried a lot of weight this week considering how well everyone did in the signature and showstopper.  Amanda and Maggie placed 4-5 and Jairzeno was 9th.  

I've definitely liked that both technicals have had a looks easy but can be deceitfully tricky element and staying in tune with the classics and not some ridiculous trend.  The rainbow bagels from last season still annoys me.

I figured it was between Maggie and Jairzeno. Amanda was saved by flavors and did well the first too rounds. Jairzeno, like last seasons Rowan, was hopeless in time management.

[GaT]

The showstopper was exactly the kind of thing that I dislike. For what possible reason should baked goods be interactive? Why are they being judged on whether their food is interactive enough? It's just so stupid. Just let them bake, stop trying to come up with stupid things to make the challenge harder, I watch the show to see the baking, not watch someone put a motor in their cookies.

[Cherpumple]

I knew right away that Amanda's horse would fall over. The whole thing was designed to balance on a very narrow surface (the horse was basically one big vertical biscuit with two small points of contact), and once the rocker broke, there was no amount of sugar glue that would keep everything together. Freya's design was much more practical- her horse had a flat back, so the legs were separated into a sturdy table structure. It looked great!

I had nothing against Lizzie going into this, but I was really turned off when she told Noel that she watched Harry Potter instead of doing her practice bakes the day before. It just felt really disrespectful, to both the contestants and crew members who are working hard to produce this show in extraordinary circumstances, and also to all the bakers who tried out and didn't make the final cut.

[blueray]

10 hours ago, mjc570 said:

.Much as I like Jurgen, I sure hope it is not a runaway.  I know that the judging starts anew each week, but if he is the star baker every week I think that will be pretty indicative.  I do think it's probably been pretty easy to decide who has to leave, although I'm glad Maggie recognizes she is at risk.

I like Jurgen a lot and he does seem to be the most talented. But the Italian guy is pretty good as well. I think it'll start to get closer as the season goes on (and there are less of them). 

Edited October 2, 2021 by blueray
spoiled a earlier season for no reason really...

[blueray]

6 hours ago, Cherpumple said:

I had nothing against Lizzie going into this, but I was really turned off when she told Noel that she watched Harry Potter instead of doing her practice bakes the day before. It just felt really disrespectful, to both the contestants and crew members who are working hard to produce this show in extraordinary circumstances, and also to all the bakers who tried out and didn't make the final cut.

I had the polar opposite reaction. That is so relatable and made me like her even more.  I love HP and totally have gotten sucked into the movies when I should be doing something else (homework in the past and cleaning now). But if I was her I wouldn't have even turned on the TV and would have been focusing on the competition. 

[iwantcookies]

Lizzie is a lovable clumsy gal! I’d like to be friends with someone like her. And her doggy Prue is adorable!

[Rickster]

6 hours ago, Cherpumple said:

I knew right away that Amanda's horse would fall over. The whole thing was designed to balance on a very narrow surface (the horse was basically one big vertical biscuit with two small points of contact), and once the rocker broke, there was no amount of sugar glue that would keep everything together. Freya's design was much more practical- her horse had a flat back, so the legs were separated into a sturdy table structure. It looked great!

Also, as Paul pointed out, Amanda used much too delicate a biscuit to support all that weight. There’s a reason everyone uses gingerbread for these.

Jurgen doing well reminds of a quote I saw years ago, that cooking is an art, and baking is for chemists.

I’ve checked out midway through the last couple of seasons, I think mostly due to my dislike of the post BBC hosts, but so far I’m more interested in this one.

[TVbitch]

Who wants to eat cookies that have been handled and played with?!

Sometimes on Bake Off The Professionals they have them put a moving element into their showstoppers to give them more of a wow factor, but that is in the part that is just for display.  

[Danny Franks]

8 hours ago, Cherpumple said:

I had nothing against Lizzie going into this, but I was really turned off when she told Noel that she watched Harry Potter instead of doing her practice bakes the day before. It just felt really disrespectful, to both the contestants and crew members who are working hard to produce this show in extraordinary circumstances, and also to all the bakers who tried out and didn't make the final cut.

It also might help explain why her showstopper was so rough looking, despite not having any of the intricate interactive elements that the others did.

[Ohiopirate02]

13 hours ago, mjc570 said:

Much as I like Jurgen, I sure hope it is not a runaway.  I know that the judging starts anew each week, but if he is the star baker every week I think that will be pretty indicative.  I do think it's probably been pretty easy to decide who has to leave, although I'm glad Maggie recognizes she is at risk.

Jurgen's simplicity will most likely stop a runaway.  Both of his showstoppers were well-executed because they were so simple.  At some point it's going to read as boring.

[kittykat]

I think my one issue with the "build a 3D biscuit whatever" is that it's always going to be gingerbread.  Any time someone goes outside the gingerbread it rarely works out.  The season 3 showstopper was nice because it was make a gingerbread building not build one and make it fly.  John's Colosseum and Candice's tavern is still iconic because of the simple brief of the challenge.  Build, decorate, don't let it fall over.

I wish we would go back to season 6 bake a bunch of biscuits and build a box.  I feel like the showstopper doesn't have to always be structure it could be: make 3 variations of sandwich biscuits using different doughs and fillings for each one.  You'd still get some pretty biscuits and it's an exercise in time management.

37 minutes ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

Jurgen's simplicity will most likely stop a runaway.  Both of his showstoppers were well-executed because they were so simple.  At some point it's going to read as boring.

My one gripe with Jurgen's windmill was lack of decoration or icing. I know flavor wins over style but my first impression when he presented it was that there could have been a little piping.  I don't foresee Jurgen running away with it, there's a very high standard this season and I could A few hitting their stride.

[akr]

48 minutes ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

Jurgen's simplicity will most likely stop a runaway.  Both of his showstoppers were well-executed because they were so simple.  At some point it's going to read as boring.

His didn't strike me as simple at all. Maybe more streamlined than others in their aesthetic (not a lot of delicate icing details), but technically very challenging, and I thought both of them were among the most aesthetically pleasing of the bunch, and that adding icing frills or something would have detracted. It's not as though he just ran out of time and didn't decorate; he spent the time on meticulous construction and polish. I suppose he could have added more icing to the windmill but I preferred it as it was. Most of the others in both weeks were quite messy and amateurish looking. 

(I'm one of those who would prefer that they don't ask them to do construction projects. It's gotten beyond silly. It was one thing when they asked that of the celebrities, who mostly can't bake, but can awkwardly construct something out of cake or sugar cookies and spin a story about it, but when you have people who can bake, I'd prefer that they let them do that. ) 

[J-Man]

I kept wondering about the lack of brandy in the brandy snaps--but apparently the name has nothing to do with the beverage. It comes from "branded," as in "burnt" (like in branding cattle.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandy_snaps

An interesting coincidence that the first two people to depart are the first two in this group picture (reading from left to right and top to bottom. 

Edited October 2, 2021 by J-Man

[Kiddvideo]

I'm curious how Jurgen and Giuseppe will handle the savory bakes.

ETA: I think Amanda, Lizzie, and Maggie will be the next off barring disaster(s).

Amanda and Lizzie are hot messes, and I wonder how they even qualified to get on the show. Frankly, they annoy me because I feel they're wasting time and prolonging the final 2 weeks.

I'd bet Maggie's an excellent home baker, but I don't think she has the creativity or experience with unusual flavors to compete at this level.

Edited October 2, 2021 by Kiddvideo

[TimothyQ]

It's always interesting to me how those with scientific, math, or engineering backgrounds seem to consistently do well on this show, but I guess the precision that baking requires really highlights that.

Current picks for my final three are Jurgen, Giuseppe, and Maggie (who I think will kick it up a notch after this poor week).

[WatchrTina]

I have mixed feelings about this episode.  On the one hand I agree with those who say it's a bit mean to ask bakers to do construction.  On the other hand, the tasks have to be challenging or else there would be little visual drama.  Seeing the failure of one rocking horse makes us appreciate the skill behind the other rocking horse all the more.  And putting this task at the beginning when there are more contestants (and thus more variety in skill level) virtually ensures that SOMEONE is going to crash and burn . . . which makes for good TV. 

[Rammchick]

Crystelle, Chantelle and Corelle...oh hell!

We call those brandy snaps "lace cookies" here in the States, although they aren't rolled, and usually just have caramel or chocolate inside.  We call that jammy biscuit a "Linzer tart."

I kind of thought it was rather crappy of Paul to say to Maggie, "Needs to do better." He didn't say anything like that to Jairzeno, and his showstopper was a mess.

 

Edited October 2, 2021 by Rammchick

[theatremouse]

I think the technical was soemthing different than Linzer - those don't usually include buttercream as far as I've ever encountered.

I also suspect the idea for all the moving parts was from contestants in previous seasons doing it voluntarily when it wasn't needed. So now it's an official challenge.

[Rickster]

36 minutes ago, Rammchick said:

 

We call those brandy snaps "lace cookies" here in the States, although they aren't rolled, and usually just have caramel or chocolate inside.  We call that jammy biscuit a "Linzer tart."

 

These jammy biscuits had a ring of buttercream surrounding the jam. All the linzer tarts/cookies I’ve seen are just filled with jam. Plus the dough usually has ground almonds or hazelnuts in it.

[meep.meep]

22 hours ago, iwantcookies said:

I guess Jurgen is not Benjamin’s father. Guess he is the stepdad. His eyebrows are something 😂. 
 

Noel looked nice with his hair pulled back.

Some parents prefer to have their children call them by their first names.  I've known several couples who did that.

Giuseppe's show stopper was the game I know as Othello.

And they don't always use gingerbread for construction.  One of the money shots in the introduction used to be of a tower supported by shortbread biscuits and macarons.

[zibnchy]

On 10/1/2021 at 4:02 PM, h2ogirl said:

I love this show, but have often wondered why they need to pay TWO people to be hosts when one would be just fine. The Matt/Noel combo is almost unwatchable to me. Singularly they would be tolerable.

I did love both Mel and Sue though.

If I recall correctly Mel and Sue had worked together for years pre-BakeOff and so they knew how to play off each other. Also they were compatible types so their comedy meshed. Noel and Matt are what happens when you just throw two random people together and tell them to be funny. I recall when Noel was first hired. I'd only ever seen him in IT Club and I was shocked they'd hired Richmond for Bake Off. But I really like Noel. Also I think he really cares about the bakers and how they're doing. Matt still seems like that one kid from school who always does weird shit just for attention.

Honestly I think if they'd fire Matt and keep Noel alone it would be fine and way less irritating.

[caitmcg]

3 hours ago, Rickster said:

These jammy biscuits had a ring of buttercream surrounding the jam. All the linzer tarts/cookies I’ve seen are just filled with jam. Plus the dough usually has ground almonds or hazelnuts in it.

This is how I view it, linzer cookies being based on the German/Swiss linzertorte, which is made with either or both ground almonds and hazelnuts and a bit of spice. I have seen recipes that use a shortbread-type dough called linzer cookies when they have the characteristic cutout on the top cookie. Only filled with jam, though.

[TVbitch]

1 hour ago, zibnchy said:

I recall when Noel was first hired. I'd only ever seen him in IT Club and I was shocked they'd hired Richmond for Bake Off. But I really like Noel.

Me too, I was like, what?! Richmond's out of his room!

Noel is capable of humorous, natural repartee, whereas so far most of Matt's moments seem like he plans them out ahead of time. 

[Spunkygal]

I just hope they don’t bring Mr. Spoon back. That was beyond cringeworthy. But, yeah, get rid of Matt.

[Aulty]

15 hours ago, caitmcg said:

This is how I view it, linzer cookies being based on the German/Swiss linzertorte

Austrian, actually. Linz is a city in Austria

There are two types of what is known as Linzer shortcrust in traditional Austrian baking: brown Linzer dough, which contains nuts and spices, and white Linzer dough, which is very similar to shortbread dough. Both are used in a number of cookie recipes.
The Linzer torte uses something similar to, but not the same as, brown Linzer dough. (I think its just a creamier version with more eggs).

In Austria, Linzer cookies are known as Linzer Augen (Linzer eyes) or just Linzer. They are a Christmas baking staple and larger version traditionally come with 3 holes in the top.
To us, its a Jammie Dodger.

Edited October 3, 2021 by Aulty

[PaulaO]

I like Noel, I like Matt, but this show is not right for either.  Unless Matt does Vicky Pollard.  I believe Nancy and Bob the Builder both did windmills for their showstopper in the finale, but Bob’s fell apart.  Why can I not remember his name?  He was my fave that series.  I like Lizzie and her accent.  When she said she watched a movie with a wizard, I said yeah The Wizard of Oz.  Guess I’m old.  Juergen and Guiseppie will be in the final 3, with a female wildcard.

[Mabinogia]

13 hours ago, TVbitch said:

Noel is capable of humorous, natural repartee, whereas so far most of Matt's moments seem like he plans them out ahead of time. 

That's it! I feel that Mel and Sue were very good at this, at being spontaneously funny while interacting with the bakers. Noel can do it as well. But yes, everything about Matt seems planned, forced and fairly shallow (as far as getting to know the bakers in their interactions). 

I am rewatching the first season of Netflix's "Beginnings" series and the main thing I'm noticing a huge difference in the energy they bring. This may end up sounding a bit sexist and it isn't but Mel and Sue brought a more supportive motherly vibe. Lots of "you've got this" Mel just took a trembling contestants hands and helped calm her breathing. Noel and Matt bring more of a silly frat boy energy. They are still somewhat supportive but in a more buck up and get it done way. I don't 100% blame them. I think the producers want a "younger, hipper" vibe for the show now it's on 4 instead of BBC. 

I am apparently an old lady now because I do prefer Mel and Sue's gentler more supportive role to Noel and Matt's more attention seeking, look how fun and silly we are vibe. 

I would also have liked to see Prue and Mary as co-judges. I don't care how blue his eyes are, I just don't care for Paul at all. Probably why I'm still bitter about the change. Of the original four Paul Hollywood was the only one I wouldn't have minded seeing go away and he's the only one who stayed. That's pretty much how my life works. lol

[Ms Lark]

13 hours ago, TVbitch said:

Me too, I was like, what?! Richmond's out of his room!

Noel is capable of humorous, natural repartee, whereas so far most of Matt's moments seem like he plans them out ahead of time. 

Agree. I love Noel, mostly from IT Crowd (one of my all time favorite comedy series). I've liked Matt in other roles he's taken, but I don't think he's a good fit here. It's just not working. Given Covid, they may not have had the time nor resources to replace him this season. Wish we could bring in Richard Ayoade, that would be fun!

[Cetacean]

37 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

This may end up sounding a bit sexist and it isn't but Mel and Sue brought a more supportive motherly vibe. Lots of "you've got this" Mel just took a trembling contestants hands and helped calm her breathing. Noel and Matt bring more of a silly frat boy energy. They are still somewhat supportive but in a more buck up and get it done way.

Spot on!  And when the Twit Twins are intervening it seems more like they are using the distress to do some sort of stand up comedy bits for cheap laughs.  Mel and Sue sincerely made it about the contestant, not themselves.  And the interactions with Mel and Sue were short and didn't waste time.  The whole giraffe (or was it an ostrich?) story in the last episode just dragged on and on when time was tight.

If I were stressed and the clock was running I'd tell the both of them to take a hike.

[Mabinogia]

14 minutes ago, Cetacean said:

If I were stressed and the clock was running I'd tell the both of them to take a hike.

The only good thing about having them on the show is playing the game of trying to read the faces of the bakers to figure out which ones are screaming exactly that in their heads while they smile politely. 

 

44 minutes ago, Ms Lark said:

Wish we could bring in Richard Ayoade, that would be fun!

That would be EPIC! I loved him on IT Crowd, love his travel show, love him on any talk show I've seen him on. He has a lower key energy which is what I liked about Mel and Sue and the show in general. It was just a lovely, warm hug of a show.

Between the addition of a pair of attention seeking hosts and more difficult challenges which result in less impressive results and more disasters, the warmth of the show has gone down drastically, almost gone completely. Prue is great but she's not warm granda Mary, I do like Noel and Matt in other things but in this they are just annoying and intrusive (I wonder if that, too is on purpose to try to curry more "good tv" disasters), and the difficult challenges like this one have taken away that sweet village festival vibe. Basically, all the things I liked. 

None of these bakers have really grabbed me yet, so I'm watching an old season and will maybe check this one out if I find out someone does a great, amazing bake rather than manages to not make a total disaster of an over ambitious challenge. 

[Cetacean]

7 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

...the difficult challenges like this one have taken away that sweet village festival vibe. Basically, all the things I liked. 

So true!  While there were difficult recipes and some I would never try, they were still within the realm of possiblity for me.  Or at least something I might like to do for a special occasion.  But a mechanical cake is just nonsensical. 

It changes a delightful, charming program into one of those horrible idiotic Food Network shows where they have to make an entree out of gummy bears, beef tongue, and kumquats.