I think Amazon did them dirty a little. They clearly weren't given much creative direction in the earlier episodes, and it shows with how structured things were. Amazon definitely thought The Grand Tour's earlier seasons had the potential to draw in audiences, but the whole subscription service thing just caused a huge barrier that nobody wanted to cross. For most, Prime Video wasn't worth it for one show, and the frequency of those episodes didn't help either.

The specials got better and better though, the last two were great and felt much more like the original series. Still a little too controlled and without the same level of challenge and humour. But they did what the could with a more limited budget. A lot of having to shoot in more remote locations because of the cost of shooting permits in and around Europe.

James May's shows on Prime have been great, as has Clarkson's Farm. I do hope the two continue to create little shows here and there about their interests. Even watching May cook was fun. The travel show (especially the Japan one) was really entertaining.