As I have written about before, I am a big fan of the genre of TV shows I call ‘cozy competitions’, such as Sugar Rush, the original The Great British Bake Off (with Mel and Sue), and Crazy Delicious. I don’t like the ones that are designed to make the contestants look mean or hate each other. I liked the first three seasons of Blown Away, a Netflix original about glass blowers. The host, Nick Uhas, was one of the least-cringeworthy out there (I have had a contiunal issue with the shows that they hire comedians as the emcees and have them say very insipid and sometimes wince-inducing lines).
Netflix sent me the notice for the fourth season, and I frowned as I watched the intro to the first episode (which is also the trailer, apparently. I have included it below). The voice was not the same as before, but I recognized it. It turned out to be Hunter March, who was the host for Sugar Rush. Which might possibly be my favorite of the shows–but he did have a few really bad lines he had to say on the show. His teeth are so white. So. White. But he’s a handsome lad, and from some pics of him I saw on his FB when I Googled all this just now, he has abs for day.
The trailer had a vibe to it I didn’t like. One thing I liked about the show wsa that it was very technical, but also low-key. This trailer had that PUMP IT UP! feel to it that I did not appreciate. The word epic was uttered. I don’t want epic. I want the work to speak for itself. I liked the show because it was nerdy and geeked out about blowing glass. I know nothing about glass-blowing, but I could appreciate a good geek-out.
Plus, and this is something that I will always notie about the show I’m watching–the contestants were much more homogeneous than before. In prenvious seasons, there were Asian people, queer people, nonbinary people, and other visible minorities. In this season, there was one black guy. That was it. It felt like a deliberate choice, by the way. The decision to make it less diverse.
In the first few episodes, there was so much harping on how everything was going to be EXTREME!!!! This was the biggest season ever!!!!! And, yes, there was a heavy emphasis on size. The prize was the biggest ever, too, and every day, there was a really good prize given away to the first place winner (of the day).
I was disappointed that Hunter March was the new host for two reasons. One, I liked Nick and thought he did well on the show. Not to say that Hunter wouldn’t because as I said, he had hosted my favorite show in this genre. But that was the other reason I was disappointed–this probably meant no more Sugar Rush. I mean, there was no sign it was coming back, and it’s been three-and-a-half years, but I was holding out hope.
I did not like the season from the start. As I said, they kept emphasizing how EXTREME this season was going to be, and the contestants didn’t feel as authentic as they had been in the past seasons. There was more, “I didn’t come here to lose”, “I’m the one to beat” triteness that Ididn’t expect from this show. I’m just surprised no one said they weren’t here to make friends. It’s funny because one article I read about why Nick was no longer hosting (they didn’t know for sure and the show runner was being tight-lipped about it) was that they wanted to move away from the science aspect and focus more on the personal stories and artistry. Which, I’m sorry, but the fomer is what made the show. And it felt like they were trying to force the personality angle too much.
What do I mean by that? In the past seasons, the blowers shared who they were as people, but it felt pretty natural. In this season, it felt much more forced. Like, Morgan was the weird one who liked death (like me! Plus that’s my absolute favorite name of all time). She mentioned being weird almost every episode. And it was framed as the core part of her personality. Then there was the snooty emo guy (can’t even remember his name) who thought he was better than everyone else and made pointed comments about it all the time (he was clearly meant to be the heel). And Ryan….some initial (there was two Ryans) who was The Dad. Oh, and Karen WHO WAS MOTHER EARTH AND ALL ABOUT NATURE with a really perky exterior, but who was aggravating under it all and kinda mean to anyone she considered her subordinate.
Around episode four or five, I wasn’t sure I was going to finish it (I mean, I knew I would, but I really wasn’t into it). It felt lie a hollow imitation of itself. The work was as incredible as ever, if not more so, but it just felt soulless. It really felt as if they were trying to be one of those other generic shows that are more angst-filled and less about the work itself. In the past, they were very collaborative and supportive of each other. There was less of that in this season, though not much outright antagonism.
In trying to pump up the drama and the EXTREMEness of the show, I feel that they did the opposite. I talked about it with K because she had liked the show in the past as well, and she said that this season did not grab her as much, either. Basically, they took what was different and enjoyabble about the show, and they chucked it away. They made it blander, more homogeneous, but arguably more EXTREME (seriously, they said extreme so often during the show), and lost the heart of what made it a hit.
Will people watch this version? Sure. I did. Did more people watch it? Probably. Will I watch another season? Eh. If there’s nothing else, maybe. But not with much enthusiasm.