Season 15's "Cake Week" is Illusionary on 'The Great British Baking Show'

The Great British Baking Show is back! The series returned to Channel 4 earlier this week and then rolled right over to Netflix for the weekend. Outside, climate change is producing hurricanes of ludicrous proportions; contentious elections are on, and war seems to be spreading. But here in the tent, there's nothing but flour, sugar, cream, butter, and eggs, and outside the tent, Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding delightfully dressed as Barbies. (Can we note that Alison's American accent is spot-on, a genuine rarity for English performers who don't regularly appear in superhero movies? (And sometimes not even then? Looking at you, Benedict Cumberbatch.) Of course, Paul Hollywood plays Ken, proving yet again that your average man totally missed the film's point, but I genuinely enjoyed Prue Leith's Weird Barbie Get Up. Alison may not have solved all the show's issues, but her arrival has improved Prue's lot in these openings.

But though Paul Hollywood thinks he is the show's star, the real stars—the bakers—are what we are here for. We've got people terrified of the tent, people comparing getting on the show to getting Eras Tour tickets, and at least one young man whose mother ordered him not to cry looks like he's ready to weep with excitement. I'm also here for the man threatening to carjack Paul's vehicle if he gets sent home. I can already see the spin-off, Top Gear: Baking Show Castoffs. I feel like Jeremy Clarkson would be here to host a show where the competitors destroy the cars of celebrities who are better liked than he is.

But it's Cake Week, so let's stop loafing around and let the bakers get loafing.