The Great Pottery Throw Down: Naked Raku & a Floral Challenge

February 1, 2021 11:19 AM - Season 4, Episode 4

It's naked raku week and the remaining potters throw, burnish and fire a pair of vases, and are set a floral challenge by guest judge and flower-making expert Rita Floyd.
posted by ellieBOA (6 comments total)

That was a nice episode, though I didn't think the winner really deserved it. I'm not clear what happened that they paused for one week -- surely they didn't pause in the middle of judging?
posted by jeather at 7:47 PM on February 1, 2021

I imagine someone in the crew tested positive for Covid so they had to isolate for the incubation period then test negative to return to set, but I’m sure the judging was decided over video but filmed a week later.
posted by ellieBOA at 9:41 PM on February 1, 2021

I know a lot of the timing on this show is fudged because of the way pottery actually works, so I'm curious about how it happened -- the way it was presented on the show is bizarre, though no doubt it was carefully done etc.
posted by jeather at 6:34 AM on February 2, 2021

I'm also getting a little tired of this "this one special time, no one leaves" now that every show seems to do it once a season but presents it as an unprecedented big deal. (Even though I agree with no one going home this week -- but also, the way it was worded makes me think that the pause had more of an effect on the timing of the episode than we saw.)
posted by jeather at 6:36 AM on February 2, 2021

I was really happy that Alon's gamble this week actually paid off, after his ambitious designs failing in the last couple of weeks. I always find myself rooting for the contestants that try weird things...
posted by Law of Demeter at 12:48 PM on February 3, 2021 [1 favorite]

Also glad to see one of Alon's reaches work out. I thought he had the win with both the daring finish and the interesting inverted lip, but the "ghost feather" was pretty cool too (though now I can't remember if that was intentional?)

A few days ago I would have been unreservedly psyched to see Dolly in the preview, but now it's just 🤏 a wee bit tainted.
posted by supercres at 4:23 PM on February 4, 2021