Best thing I streamed this week? ‘GBBO’ is back and better than ever
Best thing I streamed this week? ‘GBBO’ is back and better than ever
‘The Great British Baking Show’ Collection 13 is the deep breath I’ve been needing this week.
Some weeks really get to you. Every week is a hard one in this workaday world, but some just come at you without relent, whether it’s because of things going on at home, things happening in the news, or just a combination of all the things at one time. During those weeks, having an old favorite TV series to fall back on is great — especially when they have new episodes coming out.
This week was one of those weeks, to be sure. It was just a non-stop onslaught of tasks, bad news, and more for me, and I was so glad to have “The Great British Baking Show” to fall back on. It’s my favorite stream of the week, and it’s easy to say why.
“The Great British Baking Show” released its Collection 13 on Netflix starting Friday, Sept. 5. The show streams on Netflix, with new episodes coming out each week on Fridays. This season is labeled as Series 16 in Britain, confusing things even further for a series that can’t be called “Great British Bake Off” (its English name) in the United States for copyright reasons.
From start to finish, everything about “The Great British Baking Show” is calming to me. The opening credits sequence is so soothing, with its plucky instrumental tune and its scenes of baked goods going into and coming out of ovens. Even some questionably funny opening bits featuring the show’s judges or hosts can’t do anything to shake the feeling of comfort.
With apologies to my editor, Matt, I really enjoy the goofy antics of co-host Noel Fielding. This may be one of those scenarios where I’m best off not meeting my hero, but I appreciate that Fielding brings a little edge to his humor, and his sweaters are always so fascinating to look at. Fellow co-host Alison Hammond brings a little more warmth to the proceedings, and I love how she connects with the bakers on a personal level.
The show always manages to find bakers that are easy to root for, like my hero of Episode 2, Carol “Pui Man” Li. Pui Man had a miserable second week of the show, stumbling badly in the first two challenges before bouncing back in a big way in the final competition of the week, the intimidating Showstopper challenge. She did enough to save herself by constructing an incredible structure out of biscuit (the British word for cookie, as we know it), and while she may not have a long-term future on the series, it was so wonderful to watch her triumph in a situation that affords plenty of room for self-doubt.
It’s not any easier to avoid that type of doubt when standing across from judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood. Although the series has a reputation for being kinder than American reality shows, Hollywood and Leith have their own ways of humbling competitors — and delighting them when they’ve earned genuine praise. One of the most fun traditions as a viewer of the show is tracking how many “Hollywood Handshakes” get handed out every year to bakers who go above and beyond, in Paul’s view.
There’s nothing new or groundbreaking about “The Great British Baking Show” Collection 13. It does the same thing it always has, and that’s exactly what I want from the series. It always delivers comforting settings, delicious-looking treats, and British humor aplenty, all wrapped up in a delightful gingham sheet.
Netflix
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