That Was the Most Stressful ‘The Great British Baking Show’ Semi-Final Yet

The Great British Baking Show Semi-Finals are usually the most tense episodes in any season. Traditionally, the judges ask the bakers to make classical French patisserie this week, meaning the bakers are tasked with making the most fiddly and complex bakes of the competition in the same week that determines who gets to move on to the all-important Final. So nerves are high, the pressure is on, and there’s usually at least one baker who spazzes out in the Technical Challenge.

Still, like everything else this season, The Great British Baking Show leaned into the drama a wee bit more than usual this week. From start to finish, The Great British Baking Show, “Patisserie Week” felt like a celebration of stress. I personally felt my anxiety spike watching this week’s episode, which has never happened before when I’ve watched the show (and I have some theories why). It seems the once cozy and relaxing show wants to become yet another crucible of tension in the reality landscape.

The Great British Baking Show Semi-Finals are arguably the most nerve-wrecking week for bakers in the tent. Sure, there are first week jitters, but those are balanced by the bakers’ sheer excitement to be in the tent. The Great British Baking Show‘s penultimate episode digs deep into the bakers’ psyches, though. At this point, they all know the Finals are within grasp, and they’ve all become close friends. However, one of them will have to go. This decision will likely come down to who made the worst mistakes so the heat is on like never before for them to not f*ck it all up.

Naturally, the bakers were feeling the pressure this week. As always, four-time star baker Steph Blackwell channeled her stress into grimaces and laser focus. Ironically, she seemed to have found new ways to conquer her nerves, repeatedly telling herself it was okay and “whatevs.” Rosie Brandreth-Poynter is also one of the more tense bakers in the tent, but this week, she just about burst into tears when her choux pastry. Even Alice Fevronia was on the verge of mental collapse. Although she told host Sandi Toksvig she’s always anxious in the tent, Sandi countered that it was the first time she ever had to calm Alice down. David Atherton ironically seemed chill throughout the episode, cracking jokes about “Shoe People,” but in confessionals, he let his stress and ambition to win the whole thing peek out from behind his cool facade.

It would all be fine, even par for the course, if this was all we saw. However, host Noel Fielding actually twisted the knife in some cases. We know that Noel is fond of a chatty bit, but in a couple of early interviews with the bakers, he questioned their talent. Alice shrugged it off, as she does. However, when Noel told Rosie if she doesn’t make it to the Finals, her animal patients will mock her for it for the rest of her life…she didn’t take it all too kind. “I don’t think I like you anymore,” is specifically what she said.

It seemed like the show wanted to up the tension for the bakers. Rather than calm them down with reassuring pep talks, Noel negged the bakers, distracted them, and he and Sandi even indulged in some heady gags. Like, if you’re stressed and need to stay focused, do you want to hear a toy snake explode from a can? Do you want anything exploding? I thought not.

Since for the first time ever, Americans are watching The Great British Baking Show weekly, it is possible that all Semi-Final weeks are this stressed. Maybe I’m just personally feeling the anxiety more because I’m watching it isolated from the rest of the season. So I went back to last season‘s Patisserie-themed Semi-Final. There, too, the bakers spoke about being nervous. Hands shook and bakers teared up in despair. The basic plot beats were the same, right down to Kim-Joy almost giving up on her technical. However, there were some marked differences in the tone of last year’s Semi-Final. Namely, all four bakers kept their spirits up, and were cracking jokes throughout. When Kim-Joy wobbled, Noel gave her a comforting pep talk and fellow bakers Briony and Ruby asked if she was okay. Most notably, though, the soundtrack was different.

It might not seem all that important, but when Rosie broke down during this week’s technical challenge, the music bottomed out. There was no music, just silence buoying Rosie’s panicked voice. When the music came back, we heard a typical Great British Baking Show theme, but it was slightly different to what they played when Kim-Joy was rallying from her Technical hiccup last year. There, they gave a pulsing percussive beat to Kim-Joy’s moment of panic and the music itself was more upbeat. The soundtrack last season was more propulsive, which leant the bakers’ nervousness a sort of eager excitement. This year, there was something more downbeat to the score, which in turn just made the stress in the tent feel more dreadful. It feels, like a lot of other tweaks this season, sadly intentional.

The Great British Baking Show first dazzled American viewers with its sweet sincerity. It was not a reality competition that championed cruelty, drama, or cattiness. Rather, it was a celebration of hard work and kindness. While the bakers themselves are still as sweet as ever, this season’s push towards melodrama and twists has made the show feel sour.

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