9.6 points, this man is the return of the king!

Remember last May, a British farmhouse reality show suddenly became popular on Station B?

Not only Douban is as high as 9.6 points.

Rotten Tomatoes also has a freshness of up to 100%.

Recently its second season aired. The evaluation is still good, and Douban is still 9.6.

However, a glance at the comment area shows that from the first season to the second season, the whole style seems to have changed a lot.

The comment area of the first season, in summary, is two words, outrageous.

And the second season?

Some people say "look and cry".

Some say "it's too hard".

Some people even say that this is a hot-blooded juvenile comic.

The same group of people, the same farm, the same reality show, how can it change so much?

First of all, we still have to recall what the first season was about.

Simply put, the first season of "Clarkson's Farm" is a funny story of a British national racing show host who goes home to open a farm.

The biggest laugh is that the old brother, as a super rich man who drives super cars every day and has a net worth of more than 100 million, obviously knows nothing about how to run a farm, and he especially likes to pretend not to understand.

So every time he said "I have a new idea", he would make a bunch of useless maneuvers.

For example, what drives a Lamborghini tractor, uses a drone to herd sheep.

Personally installed an electric fence for the sheep and was electrified.

The sheep shearing is kicked to the critical point.

After watching the entire documentary, there is a very O'Henry-style ending to you:

The grumpy old brother is a krypton gold, working the farm for a whole year, how much does he earn in the end?

£144.

Equivalent to yuan, it is just over a thousand, simply put, this year has been done in vain.

Worthy of sympathy.

But it's really funny.

In fact, before watching the second season, I also thought that the first season was already so funny, and the whole idea that could be come up with was used up, what else could be filmed in the second season?

"Fast and Furious" can directly drag into space, can't you go to the moon to plant potatoes too?

Fortunately, "Clarkson's Farm" is indeed not so outrageous, but has chosen a smarter creative direction.

From the first season to the second season, it is not pursuing a sensory level, a gimmick upgrade, but a deeper cut at the content level.

In this season, the old brother will do farm work, not make low-level mistakes, and can even be said to be a well-sighted farmer.

But does that mean his farming journey will be smooth?

Of course not.

Even, harder.

If the first season is just a newbie village, the second season is an advanced version of farm management.

As soon as the season started, the old brother came up with a new idea, he wanted to open a restaurant on the farm.

To do this, he bought a herd of cows to raise (and marveled at how much cow manure was).

He studied a hundred ways to do chili peppers (coughing into a blade's throat in the kitchen).

The whole farm is filled with the joy of breeding.

Because cows give birth to calves.

Hens also give birth to chicks.

So that you can eat beef and chicken in the restaurant (it says how I'm hungry).

Of course, he also worked on civil engineering, specifically inviting people to design and build so that diners could enjoy the beauty of the farm while eating.

Seeing this, you can't help but sigh, compared with the previous season, the old brother's style of doing things is much more reliable, right?

Except for one point.

In preparing for all this, he did not have the consent of the relevant government departments. By this time, he had already spent (in vain) two hundred and fifty thousand pounds.

You may also think that this thing is a bit ridiculous: a farmer, opening a restaurant on his own farm, should he ask the government for such a trivial matter?

Unfortunately, if you're a British farmer, the answer is YES.

What's more outrageous is that what the old brother wants to seek is not just the permission of a government department.

He wants to negotiate with the police and the traffic department, cooperate with the relevant departments to do archaeological investigations, ecological investigations, and confirm whether they meet environmental standards...

In the future, it will be found that the consent of the government is not only required.

You want to dig stones in your own mine, sorry, you have to apply for a dumping permit.

You want to open a shop on your own farm, sorry, you have to apply for permission to build a parking lot.

You want to get rid of badgers that can infect tuberculosis, sorry, badgers are protected animals and cannot be killed.

You even open a new path on your farm... The government said no.

Seeing this, I also showed the same pain mask as my brother:

Why!!!

Say that the good peasants are in charge!!!!

Is it just that hard to grow a land and raise a cow?!

Presumably, this is called bureaucracy.

Bureaucracy is not just about cumbersome processes, unpalatable officials, endless desk documents, and bureaucratic articles that shirk each other's responsibilities.

It is also reflected in the complex neighborhood relationship: the old brother's farm itself is an unwelcome existence for some villagers.

(Despite the popularity of reality shows)

From the perspective of the old brother, reality show is a living signboard, and the Internet celebrity economy has driven the development of the local consumer industry.

But for the locals, the arrival of a celebrity has shattered the quiet life and old order of the area, and he has brought attention to the villagers that they completely unwanted.

Yes, these villagers will not give any preferential treatment just because you are on TV and you are worth more than 100 million. On the contrary, they just want you to hurry back into the city and roll as far as possible.

From this, you will find that the documentary also touches on a rather serious topic.

In the matter of rural revitalization, do you choose to be a conservative or a change-maker?

Or, if you had to choose between economic development and environmental protection, would you choose the former or the latter?

If it is domestic, of course, it is to develop the economy first.

But in the UK, in the end, the local parliament rejected the old brother's request to open a restaurant for reasons such as environmental damage.

(Although it is very tragic, I have to say that the program effect is full again, congratulations)

Throughout the first and second seasons of "Clarkson's Farm", in fact, the overall structure is the same, that is, "plan - realize".

The old brother proposed a beautiful plan, and then implemented it to the ground.

By highlighting the gap between ideals and reality, it creates great laughter and drama.

But the difference between the two seasons lies precisely in the specific content of the "plan".

The plan of the first season itself is unrealistic, so the dilemma faced by the protagonist is basically various objective conditions and the force majeure of nature.

For example, all kinds of extreme weather, torrential rain not seen in decades, drought not seen in 40 years, and the new crown epidemic that has not been seen in a century.

Behind this is the fantasy of an urban person about an idyllic life, and the breaking of this illusion by reality.

It tells you how people adapt to their environment and how they live peacefully with nature, which is not only beautiful, but also quite painful.

But that's life itself. There are good and bad, sunny and rainy. "Back to nature" isn't just a slogan, you really need to understand what nature means.

In the second season, the plan itself was not unreasonable, but in the end it still could not be realized.

Because this failed process itself has a deeper practical significance.

The reality behind this is a more complex reality, a reality full of rules, rivalries, and entangled interests.

On the surface, the story is spit on the villagers and the district council, but in fact, the real subtext is how we deal with our relationship with society, with the times, and with international politics.

The sad story of the old brother will tell you that even on a remote farm, even if you try hard to live a self-sufficient life ...

You still have to have a deep connection with human society, or do you have to be shackled by the world situation.

After 98, the little brother Kelab can say that he has not seen 007 and does not know what NASA is.

But his life will definitely be affected by Brexit, the Russian-Ukrainian war and the coronavirus pandemic.

In this era, no matter how rich you are, no matter how far away you are, the life of idle cranes and paradise does not exist. You can't find an island, you can't escape the wheel of the times.

It's brutal.

This is also a reality that we need to face.

So, why exactly do we like this documentary so much?

Perhaps what really fascinates people is never just the main story, not only the farmer's fight, but also a lot of trivial and seemingly insignificant little things.

For example, greeting a puppy under the scorching sun and watching it open its belly to you.

For example, walking into the early morning pasture blends in with the milky morning mist.

Another example is the rare sentimental moment in the play, when the cow that has been raised for a winter is brought to slaughter.

Before sending the cows to the truck, the brother and Kelab will hesitate.

The camera lingers in the clear eyes of the cow, and you wonder if it already knows its dying fate, but still behaves so meekly.

And before that, they also welcomed the birth of a baby cow with great joy.

New life is supposed to be celebrated, but death and exploitation are inevitable. At that moment, I suddenly realized that many of us have never experienced slaughter education in the true sense.

During this season, the farm's character group portraits have also done a better job.

Charlie, the farm consultant, used to take a cold character and was responsible for pouring cold water on the boss.

Now, in the face of many difficulties from government departments, he is no longer a robot for completing KPIs, but has gradually blackened.

He began to side with his boss and even learned to play sideways and navigate some gray areas.

(The hairline has also become higher)

The popular post-98s brother Kelab, who was a spirit guy last season, has become a father this season.

Many people talk about his "omnipotence" and "ignorance."

He drives tractors, repairs all kinds of machinery, and is proficient in all things agricultural. But he had never been on a train, never on a plane, not even Gandhi.

Kelab will show you that the world is so big, there are always people who live a different life than you, and even the so-called most basic "common sense" is very different.

But so what?

We need to understand the cognitive differences between people. Let go of prejudices and live. This way, you'll understand that everyone has a lovely and respectable side.

So, what else is there to say about our C-ranking protagonist, the septuagenarian man, billionaire, Jeremy Clarkson?

Actually, there may not be much more to say.

After all, he is the soul of this show, and he is also the one who is really changed.

In the final analysis, from the first season of this reality show to the second season, the overall style of painting will change so much, it is also because of him.

In fact, he can also continue to work, continue to mess around, continue to do some flower work.

But it is precisely because he really loves the farm and falls in love with this kind of life that he wants to seriously run the farm well, and will really deeply understand the many dilemmas behind this. He really got his heart out of mind.

Throughout the whole drama, the most touching thing is actually what the old brother said inadvertently when he was ploughing the land.

"I've had so many adventures in my life, but now I just want to do it."

Back to basics, do not forget the original intention, how to say it.

At the end of the day, what exactly is love?

Perhaps it is also after accepting the worst side that you are still willing to believe in the best side.

It is to face the problem and solve the problem. It is to bravely bear the consequences after every choice made.

After all, being born as a human being, making any choice, is ultimately accompanied by pain. And the peace we can really seek is the peace of accepting all giving and giving after making choices.

Looking back at this series, the first season became popular in China last May, when we were in a difficult time of the epidemic and needed to borrow some distant scenery and jokes (?) to seek inner solace.

And now, spring has finally arrived.

The road ahead may not be easy, and new problems will be encountered at any time, just like the old man's ups and downs and twists and turns of the farm story.

But I'll still look forward to the next chapter.