My Engineer Summer Trip

A closer view into the bonds between these actors!

To be honest, I'm not the biggest fan of Variety-Shows, Game-Show-Specials, where the actors have to complete some kind of silly tasks. Somehow, they take away a bit of the spirit from the main series.
When canned laughter has to be added so that the audience knows, “Oh, that’s supposed to be funny?”, the mood often shifts from genuinely funny to just ridiculous. Sometimes I get the feeling that certain series-actors are jostling for the camera just to get more airtime.

This is here different!
Why is that? I suspect it has a lot to do with the production company. In this case, everyone got roughly the same amount of airtime. They were introduced to games that always work—where there are no real losers. I’ve seen it handled very differently in countless other productions. Reality shows often aim to entertain by showcasing whoever makes a fool of themselves the most. That can be done with a certain level of class, or it can drift toward something that borders on demeaning. In this case, I feel like the cast was guided by a quality production team.

You get to see how the actors really interact with each other—not stuck rigidly in their roles or a script. You see that they’ve formed a bond, that they respect each other, they genuinely like one another, and also feel a deep sense of gratitude towards each other.

In this 3-episode series, you see them cook together, who can’t even crack eggs properly , who can entertain a group, what kinds of jokes make them laugh, and how they deal with frustration.

And I don’t mean this disrespectfully:
Every actor has to fully embody their role. That takes a certain level of self-reflection, empathy, and strength—to step out of the crowd and into the spotlight. So they are strong, but also vulnerable at the same time. Which of the circus horses is the alpha of alphas? If you pay close attention to this miniseries, you’ll see it.

The last episode is the strongest; the first one brings lots of energy and freshness; and the second one is fun and more mainstream. I think there’s something in it for everyone.

Read More