The Great British Bake Off: The Final
November 1, 2017 6:24 AM - Season 8, Episode 10 - Subscribe

Twelve bakers started, just three remain. Who will succeed with the demanding final challenges, including a high-end patisserie showstopper, to be crowned winner of The Great British Bake Off 2017? (Channel 4 description.)
posted by PearlRose (8 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. The postfix was so goddamn adorable. I just want to hug all of 'em.
posted by Kyol at 6:32 AM on November 1, 2017


And, having gotten that out of my system, what a hell of a finale - they were more or less evenly matched going in to the showstopper. Sophie was a steady 2nd place in both the signature and technical, while Kate and Steven swapped 1st and 3rd respectively. So it was more or less all down to the showstopper. Both Kate and Sophie's looked incredible, and I felt so bad that Steven's just didn't quite come off because the intent looked like it would've been beautiful although not quite as tall, which seemed like it would've been points against him in the end anyway.
posted by Kyol at 6:49 AM on November 1, 2017


Deeply satisfying result. I really appreciated that the challenges were quite focused, so that the bakers could legitimately put forth their best. Of course I sobbed at the end (which is my custom). Even though I was 99% sure that they were going to give it to Sophie as the more consistently excellent baker, I had a moment of doubt when Kate nailed the final challenge so thoroughly.

In terms of minutiae, Kate's dad was SO PROUD of her (and doesn't look nearly old enough to be her dad WTF). I loved Noel's meditation on Steven's honeycomb--I will really and truly miss that delightful weirdo. And Sandi's tenderhearted tears (twice in one episode!) have finally brought me around on her.

I'm just so grateful that the move to C4 didn't harm this most beloved show. I'm looking forward to re-watching the whole season now that it's complete!
posted by merriment at 9:05 AM on November 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


Why didn’t Steven and Sophie hug Kate in the tent? The winner seemed inevitable (and I was only cheering for Kate) but the odd hug dynamics still took me by surprise.
posted by carbide at 12:05 PM on November 1, 2017


Carbide, I just checked and it looked like the hugs we got shown were Steven and Sophie, then each contestant hugging both presenters, both presenters hugging each other, then a big three person hug initiated by Kate. Are you wondering why we weren't shown Kate hugging the other two contestants individually in the tent? The "Where are they now?" at the end did say that Steven and Sophie are now close friends, so showing that hug reinforces that narrative. I didn't presume there was anything unpleasant going on in terms of their relationship with Kate--just the usual filming shorthand.
posted by merriment at 12:57 PM on November 1, 2017


merriment - that might be it, and that's the pattern I saw too. I think I just wanted to be sure Kate was ok!

The sad sight of Steven's layers mushing together with blue dripping down through was heartbreaking.
posted by carbide at 3:18 AM on November 2, 2017


What a lovely finale! The seasons had it's up and downs a bit, and I felt terrible for Steven when his big gamble didn't quite pay off, but all in all, everyone brought their best game to the finale, and it was incredibly enjoyable to watch.

I too, worried about my favorite show moving over to Channel 4, with 3/4-ths of a new cast and the potential for way too much drama of the manufactured kind. But it turned out pretty okay. I have some quibbles with some of the challenges (did we really need a board game made out of biscuits), but overall, I'll be tuning in again next time.

Sophie! I'm really glad she managed to pull it off. I had high hopes for her when I saw her champagne bucket illusion cake in episode one. Her quiet confidence and military precision proved steady. When they mentioned in the finale that she really hated making bread, I'd forgotten that she wobbled a bit in bread week, because she recovered from it well.

As for all the pieces, though, I think I wanted to eat Kate's the most. It looked so pretty and yuzu sounds so delicious. I'm glad she managed to bring her best out in the finale.
posted by PearlRose at 7:43 AM on November 4, 2017 [2 favorites]


One good thing about the move to Channel 4 -- the version that makes it to US Netflix no longer cuts out the historical and the end of season catch-up segments! I'm always upset when I watch the finales of the earlier seasons and the updates are missing.
posted by rewil at 4:18 PM on September 2, 2018 [3 favorites]


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