Review: Clarkson's Farm
Feb. 18th, 2023 02:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
brightly_litI loved season one of Clarkson's Farm. I knew nothing about Jeremy Clarkson at the time (we looked him up and discovered he was famous for hosting Top Gear and being a driver--not things I had any particular knowledge of--and also for hosting Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, the British version--also not something I would know anything about), and I greatly enjoyed the show. I've mentioned before that I'm obsessed with all things farming, from rooftop gardens to homesteads to largescale monoculture commercial agriculture, so this show was right up my alley, especially as it's beautifully filmed and produced and aimed at the layperson, with Clarkson learning about farming from scratch right along with the viewer.
I had thus naturally been extremely excited for season two, which just came out, and which I just finished watching last night. After I read some of his comments about Meghan Markle, I wondered if I'd still be able to enjoy the show. I mean, he doesn't exactly present himself as Mr. Likable anyway. He thinks on his feet and is naturally funny. He can also be charming with effort. But he's often rude, demanding, and difficult. He relishes giving people a hard time while trying to weasel out of any kind of responsibility himself.
He's not the easiest guy to watch or root for even if you don't know about his rabid nationalism, but there are many other characters on the show and a lot more going on than just him, including his young (23 as season 2 was being filmed, 21 during the filming of the first season--!!) but mind-bogglingly experienced farmer Kaleb, his sexy farm-business manager (... I guess would be his title) Charlie Ireland, his stone-wall-builder (which I guess is a thing in rural Britain?) Gerald who is hilariously incomprehensible in nearly everything he utters--basically he's the British Boomhauer--and Clarkson's girlfriend Lisa, who came across as a doormat devoid of personality in season one but this time around was lots of fun--wry and funny.
I was glad to discover I still found it quite enjoyable to watch. Trying to understand the person behind the nasty words about Markle actually added another layer of interest to the show. Clarkson also got himself booted off Top Gear for punching a producer, calling him 'lazy' and 'Irish' as he did ... although Clarkson's girlfriend is also Irish. I read an entire article about how it's "impossible to imagine" this guy who dodders about his farm and frets deeply over slaughtering his animals punching someone. ... I didn't find it impossible.
SPOILERS AHEAD.
Clarkson is a guy who manages to shoot himself in the foot around every bend. Though he's always bragging about being a professional and excellent driver, in this season, while driving his tractor, he destroys a very expensive piece of equipment that was on loan to him, along with doing significant damage to a brand-new telegraph pole. Moving Lisa's daughter's car a few feet, he instantly manages to high-center it on a manhole cover. While talking about how dangerous using a mandoline is (something to which I can personally attest), he grabs a potato and, over Lisa's protests, hacks away at it with the mandoline until he cuts a huge chunk out of his thumb. You see him do this kind of thing enough times (subsequently beleagueredly taking the consequences--a common refrain in the show) and you begin to realize he's simply the kind of person who compulsively fucks up everything. He had a show coming out soon, so perhaps he decided that was the perfect time to publish an unnecessary, controversial opinion piece about Markle. He's made an enemy out of an astonishing number of people by the end of the season ... but I have to say, those who work with him most closely seem quite fond of him.
END SPOILERS.
All in all, even if your only feeling about Clarkson is an eagerness to see him suffer, you might enjoy the show just for that, because he does a lot of it. In season one, wonderful, competent Kaleb seemed to feel helpless to Clarkson's whims and cruelties; this season, he doesn't take a thing Clarkson says seriously, and frequently yells at him for his various fuckups (Clarkson dreads seeing him coming when he's done something stupid, knowing he's about to get another dressing down). Charlie Ireland also seems happier and more comfortable this season ... and even braver, more noble, and if possible, more decent and dutiful than in season one. I LOVE that guy! Gerald is as much a delight as ever. Clarkson isn't always a jerk; he gamely tries hard to understand Gerald, and politely responds in noncommittal way when Gerald is done talking so as not to let on that he didn't understand a word. (It's also quite cute that Kaleb seems to have no trouble understanding Gerald at all ... although they have the same last name and come from the same small town, so they might be related.)
If you were a fan of James Herriott's books (as I very much was, from childhood), there are similar feels to be found here, particularly when Clarkson's cows are giving birth, which brings a tear to everyone's eye, even the vet's. Since Herriott worked in England, and some aspects of raising farm animals haven't changed since he was a vet there, in some ways it's like seeing Herriott's books playing out on the screen. The politics of farming in England are frequently addressed, and are fascinating (and horrifying--all of his farmer neighbors are struggling to stay afloat after Brexit was set to soon greatly reduce farming subsidies there--which subsidies were the only reason Clarkson was able to make any money at all from his farm in season one, despite having a thousand acres and producing a variety of things there).
The ending is a little rushed and forced and awkward, some plotlines are brushed off or abandoned, but damn if I don't wish this show had a hundred seasons, so I could binge them all. I've seen some great shows and YouTube channels about farming, but Clarkson's Farm is the best one I've found, so if farming, rural life in England, or anything I mentioned in my review are of interest to you, too, I highly recommend it.
I had thus naturally been extremely excited for season two, which just came out, and which I just finished watching last night. After I read some of his comments about Meghan Markle, I wondered if I'd still be able to enjoy the show. I mean, he doesn't exactly present himself as Mr. Likable anyway. He thinks on his feet and is naturally funny. He can also be charming with effort. But he's often rude, demanding, and difficult. He relishes giving people a hard time while trying to weasel out of any kind of responsibility himself.
He's not the easiest guy to watch or root for even if you don't know about his rabid nationalism, but there are many other characters on the show and a lot more going on than just him, including his young (23 as season 2 was being filmed, 21 during the filming of the first season--!!) but mind-bogglingly experienced farmer Kaleb, his sexy farm-business manager (... I guess would be his title) Charlie Ireland, his stone-wall-builder (which I guess is a thing in rural Britain?) Gerald who is hilariously incomprehensible in nearly everything he utters--basically he's the British Boomhauer--and Clarkson's girlfriend Lisa, who came across as a doormat devoid of personality in season one but this time around was lots of fun--wry and funny.
I was glad to discover I still found it quite enjoyable to watch. Trying to understand the person behind the nasty words about Markle actually added another layer of interest to the show. Clarkson also got himself booted off Top Gear for punching a producer, calling him 'lazy' and 'Irish' as he did ... although Clarkson's girlfriend is also Irish. I read an entire article about how it's "impossible to imagine" this guy who dodders about his farm and frets deeply over slaughtering his animals punching someone. ... I didn't find it impossible.
SPOILERS AHEAD.
Clarkson is a guy who manages to shoot himself in the foot around every bend. Though he's always bragging about being a professional and excellent driver, in this season, while driving his tractor, he destroys a very expensive piece of equipment that was on loan to him, along with doing significant damage to a brand-new telegraph pole. Moving Lisa's daughter's car a few feet, he instantly manages to high-center it on a manhole cover. While talking about how dangerous using a mandoline is (something to which I can personally attest), he grabs a potato and, over Lisa's protests, hacks away at it with the mandoline until he cuts a huge chunk out of his thumb. You see him do this kind of thing enough times (subsequently beleagueredly taking the consequences--a common refrain in the show) and you begin to realize he's simply the kind of person who compulsively fucks up everything. He had a show coming out soon, so perhaps he decided that was the perfect time to publish an unnecessary, controversial opinion piece about Markle. He's made an enemy out of an astonishing number of people by the end of the season ... but I have to say, those who work with him most closely seem quite fond of him.
END SPOILERS.
All in all, even if your only feeling about Clarkson is an eagerness to see him suffer, you might enjoy the show just for that, because he does a lot of it. In season one, wonderful, competent Kaleb seemed to feel helpless to Clarkson's whims and cruelties; this season, he doesn't take a thing Clarkson says seriously, and frequently yells at him for his various fuckups (Clarkson dreads seeing him coming when he's done something stupid, knowing he's about to get another dressing down). Charlie Ireland also seems happier and more comfortable this season ... and even braver, more noble, and if possible, more decent and dutiful than in season one. I LOVE that guy! Gerald is as much a delight as ever. Clarkson isn't always a jerk; he gamely tries hard to understand Gerald, and politely responds in noncommittal way when Gerald is done talking so as not to let on that he didn't understand a word. (It's also quite cute that Kaleb seems to have no trouble understanding Gerald at all ... although they have the same last name and come from the same small town, so they might be related.)
If you were a fan of James Herriott's books (as I very much was, from childhood), there are similar feels to be found here, particularly when Clarkson's cows are giving birth, which brings a tear to everyone's eye, even the vet's. Since Herriott worked in England, and some aspects of raising farm animals haven't changed since he was a vet there, in some ways it's like seeing Herriott's books playing out on the screen. The politics of farming in England are frequently addressed, and are fascinating (and horrifying--all of his farmer neighbors are struggling to stay afloat after Brexit was set to soon greatly reduce farming subsidies there--which subsidies were the only reason Clarkson was able to make any money at all from his farm in season one, despite having a thousand acres and producing a variety of things there).
The ending is a little rushed and forced and awkward, some plotlines are brushed off or abandoned, but damn if I don't wish this show had a hundred seasons, so I could binge them all. I've seen some great shows and YouTube channels about farming, but Clarkson's Farm is the best one I've found, so if farming, rural life in England, or anything I mentioned in my review are of interest to you, too, I highly recommend it.