‘The Great British Baking Show’ Is Not Guilty in “Biscuit Week”
We'll forgive the "American style" biscuits on 'The Great British Baking Show' since everything else has improved so much.
We’re back in the tent for the traditional second episode of The Great British Baking Show, Biscuit Week. No cold open this week, just diving into what’s in store, including something that will cause alarms to start going off for long-time viewers of the series: an “American-Style” challenge.
We love Baking Show, but I think almost everyone who watches this series has realized that the title isn’t just a description of the show; it’s the mandate for all challenges. They need to be British (or French for the hardest rounds), not because of some nationalistic impulse or anything, but because the production (and Paul Hollywood specifically) doesn’t understand other cultures. Just because the U.K. and the U.S. are two countries divided by a common language does not mean our bakes are the same.
But before we peek through our fingers to see what’s coming out of the oven, a quick note. A reader asked me about pronouns, as both Danni and Gabe were introduced in the Channel 4 press release using “they/them,” a first for the series. However, in last week’s premiere, Danni was referred to as “her” and Gabe as “him” at various points. A quick dig into the contestants’ history found that they actually are “they/she” and “they/he,” respectively, so no one is being misgendered.
