REVIEW: The Great Escapists, Series 1 Episode Three 'Ahoy There!'

 REVIEW: The Great Escapists, Series 1 Episode Three 'Ahoy There!'

After the previous episode of The Great Escapists, it seemed like things had turned around for the series, following its disastrous first episode. The comedy was toned down, and there was a much greater emphasis on the constructions. Sadly, however, episode three of the Amazon Prime show was a return to the trappings of its debut episode.

From the start the outlook for the next forty two minutes looked bleak, as we see Tory Belleci waxing hysterical about spotting boats through his binoculars. I think this was supposed to be funny, but instead it just comes across as pathetic. Tory Belleci is so over the top and melodramatic in his delivery that you find yourself laughing at this show rather than with it.

But that's not even the worst of the 'humour' in this episode. We're also treated to the cheapest of all gags within the confines of comedic material: toilet humour. There's a scene where Tory Belleci is apparently noting down the frequency of the ships he has claimed to have spotted in his notebook, and the 'joke' is that he...did his business in a mental canister? Later on Tory tells us he has done a number two in his pants, and I can't believe somebody read this script and thought that was funny. Who even wrote this material: a five year old?

The contraptions are not even that interesting here, which is something that the first episode at least had going for it. When the past two decades of television have had everything from amphibious cars (Top Gear) to an entire bridge constructed by amateurs (Top Gear, The Bridge), you have to do better than two men building rafts whilst pretending unconvincingly that they are trapped on a desert island.

And what was that bi-sea-cle joke even about? It's not even a funny pun! It's just cringe-inducing watching Richard Hammond trying to make it work, and falls about as flat as you would expect. I bet even Jeremy Clarkson would think that's a stupid name.

The best contraption of this episode is probably the steam boat. It at least looks visually impressive, even if it ends in predictable jokes about Richard Hammond overloading the boiler, which were signposted so clearly that you'd have to be Joey Essex not to understand what was going to happen. The steam boat is quite clever, and does seem to get the pair a decent way across the large stretch of water.

The ending gag, that Tory Belleci hadn't seen any boats after all, and his notebook was just full of delirious ramblings about wanting to escape from the island, is just childish and inane, and just serves to make one of our leads immensely unlikeable. Why should we wish for someone to be rescued who knowingly puts his supposed friend in danger? It's hard to root for someone who has just doomed another human being to potential starvation, and all because of his own flights of fancy.

Overall, this episode somehow managed to be worse than the terrible series opener, with more cringe-inducing 'jokes' and spoof material that falls flat upon delivery. Even the constructions this time are not that interesting, with the steam boat being the best of a bad bunch.

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What are your thoughts on The Great Escapists' third episode? Let me know in the comments.