Finally caught up! Episode 3 definitely the best so far.
Integrity and honesty being key themes was really good, too, I thought.
Favourite quote:
in crisis situations you can’t be a pussy.
Also…
anyone else think that Jackie Weaver might be a plant?
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Looks like she’s one of the PMs in Episode 4 so we’re about to find out how much authority she really has 
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Bit of interesting context from my sis here on some of the stuff you didn’t see in the Episode 3 edit.
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Then they were really badly represented by bad editing. Knowing that middle ground options were predicated on such things would help explain some of the teams’ decisions.
I really like the concept of the show, but I worry it makes high level, international politics look “easy” as though there’s just binary choices for really complex issues.
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I don’t want to speak for the contestants, but I held a Twitter Space right after Episode 3 with Natalie and Verity and that certainly came up.
Most episodes were filmed over 2 to 3 days, so there was potentially up to 24 hours of footage per episode. That’s quite a lot to cut down to less than an hour per week, so I get it.
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It’s a frequent refrain from me when I’m watching the Apprentice or Bake Off or many a TV show contest where there’s clearly going to be more happening - “What didn’t we see?”
The job of the company putting the programme out is to take this raw footage and craft a narrative. What they leave out is often as important as what they put in. And is something I try to be aware of instead of just ‘shouting at the idiots on TV’, as quite often “I can’t believe they didn’t do/try/think of X” can be explained by “They did, we didn’t see it.”
And that’s before you get into more subtle manipulation where characters can be crafted as ‘villains’ or ‘heroes’ by carefully selecting what actions or reactions are shown. Person A is always grumpy, clearly a villain. Person B makes incredibly things, what a hero. But we’re not show what has provoked person A perhaps, and person B has seen their unflattering moments left on the floor to preserve the narrative.
At the end of the day, shows like this are entertainment, not rigid scientific experiments and reflections of reality.
Am reminded of how much I hatedislike the TV show Hunted, because the idea is interesting - yet the show we get is contrived beyond belief. It’s clearly popular enough that many can forgive the contrivances, but I really can’t. It’s absolutely rigged at every step to force the contestants to expose themselves and keep the hunters on track and close behind.
That said, I do look forward to catching up with this show on All4 soon (I haven’t been able to start watching it yet due to having had a fair bit too much TV on my slate).
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My sister tried really hard to tell Jackie that the whole “wear a sweater, turn down your thermostat” thing was not gonna land with the public but ultimately she said it anyway and paid the price! Don’t think it was shown but apparently there was an audible groan from the audience when she went down that path!
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See this is where I’m sort of with Jackie.
It’s 100% not the answer of course, but in all honesty if you’re cold - put on another layer first. It’s basic common sense. I was told it constantly growing up.
The public don’t like to hear things that they all ultimately either agree with, have been taught to do or actually do.
Turn your thermostat down 1 degree - another basic thing we’ve been being told for years.
I groaned when she said it too; because I knew the ever so slightly hypocritical public would take that tiny piece of advice and run with it like it was being lauded as the answer to the energy crisis and like Jackie was suggesting we let poor children freeze to death because they didn’t have a jumper to put on.
The answer was also notably what people who were able to were advised to do; I think she said something like “those of us who can help” can do so to aid nationally in reducing energy consumption.
TLDR: it’s basic common sense to grab a jumper or a little blanket when it gets cold rather than waste energy heating your whole home for it.
I think you’ve missed my point.
The fact is that the comment was not aimed at people who are in poverty, rather those who are able to afford more and have got used to simply whacking the heating on when it’s a little cold. Not freezing.
If those people - and I include myself here - didn’t use energy when not needed then collectively we can reduce our energy needs.
The issue is that people run away with the comment and blow it out of proportion to start talking about people freezing or choosing to heat over eat. They are not the people the comment is aimed at and in this show Jackie said exactly that.
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Thanks, though I think we agree on more than we disagree!
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That’s exactly why we don’t need anyone in Westminster to tell us to do it
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Anyone watch Episode 5?
I tuned in at 9pm but they changed the scheduling! I’ll catch up tonight 
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Yeah, the actual show got pushed to 10.30 yesterday for some reason, and I did hear that it was bizarrely on All4 a few hours before the TV airing.
Got to laugh at them including the clip of Truss resigning in the intro. Sneaky last minute edit by the producers Amusing to think that Boris was still the PM back when they filmed this show in the summer and we’re now 2 people down the line.
So, cat’s out of the bag then.
My sister is in the final!!! As am I. Well, in the crowd at least. Perhaps when they do the pan to the crowd shots you might spot me. I wore a funky shirt. Alastair commented on it when I met him
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That was excellent!
Will be keeping my eye out!
I did think that Natalie did exceptionally well to turn it around. I felt she would have been a goner for sure after Channel4…
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For sure, I wish they would have shown more of her 1:1 meeting with Alistair but I do remember her telling me at the time that that’s what kept her in, she really impressed him with that. With it being the semi-final as well, they had to consider performance throughout the show, and although she had some ups and downs, both Alistair and Sayeeda felt that overall she’d performed better than Rico and Danny.
Can’t wait for the final!
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Who’s ready for the final tomorrow? My sister Nat, Kelly and Holly all in the final showdown!
It’s gonna be fun to watch for sure.
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Starting now!!!
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Keen for this.
Loving how they’ve kept up with the political chaos in the opening scenes
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