I love watching people struggle. Maybe that’s why I love reality TV so much; it’s essentially just watching ordinary people suffer in a variety of ways, and they always hype up the drama to the point where even the purest sort is addicted to the pain and torment. Delicious.
Of course, I won’t say I’m *entirely* on board with the ethos of The Great Australian Trade-Off. People are way too nice to each other, and there’s not nearly enough animosity between the contestants. In fact…I don’t think I’ve seen any at all. Shameful. Still, the challenges are intense enough. It was Marine Week in the trade-off tent, which proved to be enough of a disaster since not a single one of the tradies had even *touched* a piece of boating equipment before. The Fix it Round had them working with a Melbourne technician for outboard motor repairs. Most rolled up their sleeves and did their best, but a couple were in tears by the end. Seriously, some of those outboard motors actually looked worse by the time they were finished, thus proving why you get a trained professional to do this stuff and not amateurs. Jeremy and Grace were the only tradies to get their motor working- for a few seconds, at least- and there was Josie at the back, crying rivers of tears at the stress of it all while the goofy comedy hosts tried to comfort her. That was probably my favourite part.
Then in the Troubleshooting Round they had to diagnose a problem with an anchor winch, which NONE of them managed. Not even Ryan, who usually nails that part. The judges tried to be nice, as per usual, but even they couldn’t hide how disappointed they were. Then came the Innovation Round, where they had to cobble together boat motors from spare parts. That was slightly better on all counts…sadly. If I had to guess, Melbourne’s highly-rated outboard motor services will be eyeing William after this episode, since he at least handled it all with a cool head and his innovation motor worked pretty well. Too much positivity, though. I really hope there’s behind-the-scenes drama to tuck into later.
-June