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onethenickel Profile
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So... Season 7.


Okay, we've all heard of season 7, right? Arguably the most disliked season of the series, and some people even say, killed Wipeout until it's return 2 years ago. But, hear me out. I can argue that season 7 wasn't that bad, and I can't even go as far to say as, season 7.. was good. Yeah, you didn't see that wrong. Season 7 is a GOOD season.

Ok, Elephant in the room. Yes. It didn't have a course B. They used one qualifier for the entire season, it didn't change, and they re-used the exact same starters. But honestly, a lot of these starters, were pretty good. The starter with the hurtles were pretty underwhelming, yes. But everything else was great, or at the very least, fine.

Pillars of Atlantis was a starter that had a lot of really cool and weird elements we never really saw before. And even an elevator, and the 3 big pillars at the top made it feel like they were falling of a whole skyscraper, it was SO high up.

Pink Slip, or Organ Grinder, depending on who you ask, was a great mud starter. It felt like a de-wintered Winter Wonderplanks. It was funny, and the themes were really cool at times.

Toilet Troubles, or Door Knockers, took one of Wipeout's most iconic starters, and gave it a new, fresh, and hilarious coat of paint. The fails on this obstacle were hilarious. the fact they didn't fly past the mud pool was get shoved headfirst into grass is beyond me.

And the one off starter, Chopper Blades, took a very simple concept and make it into an obstacle that was fresh, visually appealing, and awesome. Two turntables and a sweeper. that's as simple as an obstacle gets on Wipeout. But slap a helicopter theme on it and you've got yourself an starter that is an instant classic. One of my favorite starters in the series.

The rest of the qualifier was fairly quality, obstacles like the Playpound and the Wall of Pain are obstacles I really wouldn't mind watching over and over. and yes, everyone hates the season 7 sucker punch for it's unnecessary airbag and smackwall. But to be honest, I love the new additions. The airbag was really fun, since airbags weren't really common in Wipeout, and honestly they should've been, and the smackwall flung contestants all the way back to the start, which was pretty funny in my opinion.

Now the middle rounds. The Classic Sweeper modernized Wipeout's most iconic round 2, in a way I really enjoyed. all the colors popped and it made everything more visually appealing to watch, rather than just trussing and a red stick.

Space Race was really fun. A simple round yet the amount of parts it had to it made it feel alot more complex and jampacked than it really was.

FSPSPPB, or PPB for short, was in my opinion, a classic, textbook Wipeout round 3. Basically imagine a qualifier ender, but stretch it out and add more to it. That is what a Wipeout Round 3 usually is, and PPB absolutely nailed it.

And now, the zone. This zone is a very polarizing one, as one side regards it as one of the best zones in the series, and the other sides thinks this zone was a demon spawn from hell, and yes. I'm on the former side. I think what this zone does is take obstacles from past seasons and give them a new, menacing look.

Catastrophic Cannon was an edgier, more intimidating Bobsled Blastoff, with a lot of red and white lighting to really give the launch a "you're entering the danger zone" type of feel.

The Shredder took Season 6's Throwtisserie and give it a spiky new design. I think I prefer this over Throwtisserie simply cause the gap in the middle can give way for some, genuinely eye-wincing fails that never fail to make me look away, simple cause a man almost got himself paralyzed cause he took a small misstep.

Hell's Carousel was a more amped up, more absolutely terrifying Crazy Sweeper, that made it look like 10,000 tons of steel f@#$ you was about to crash in behind you.
Gears of fear felt like a brand new obstacle, but feeling like a more crazy Sinister Snowflake, being all about footwork and keeping balanced. This obstacle really felt like it was an "all or nothing, leap of faith" type of situation with every single run and I love it.

And yes, everyone (including me) dislikes/hates the infamous S7 Zone Rule, which basically made the zone qualifier at night, But honestly, when you watch the episodes, it's not really that big of a deal and you don't really mind it.

And not only that, a lot of the episodes were also top notch and really fun. Family, Exes, Boss An Employee, Stars and Stripes, My So Bald Life, and Tournament of Champions. TOC may just be one of my top episodes of all time. It's such a fun episode to just watch over and over again.

Overall, while not perfect, season 7 is definitely a must-watch on my list if you're a new fan wanting to get into the show, or an old fan looking to rewatch. If you made it this far, congrats! This is where I get to ramble about the show I love to people with the same interest. Hope you had a good read!

Edited by onethenickel, 28/Mar/22, 2:22 pm
28/Mar/22, 12:06 pm Link to this post    PM onethenickel
 
Brekkie Profile
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Giving the Big Balls
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Re: So... Season 7.


Yes, it recently reaired in the UK and was the first time I watched it in full. The stupid Wipeout Zone rules casts a dark shadow over what is otherwise a rather good series. Won't repost my thoughts but they're here.


In reply to your thoughts though I don't think just having one course was really a problem. In fact I often said in earlier years sometimes they had two courses for the sake of it and I think common elements tying the two together - I think they could have got away with using the same zone across both courses in earlier years for example.


One thing I will say though is I'm not as big a fan of the Purple People Beater round after my rewatch. It kind of felt a bit too routine really and the people throwing things dressed up as various characters were more of an afterthought than central to the theming each week. It probably could have done with another element as part of the course really. Space Race though is one of my favourite middle rounds of all the series.


It could have done with one more qualifier starter really. I agree the doors were redressed and slightly tweaked quite nicely in such a way it didn't matter they were an old obstacle. Compare to the cheap ugly remake of them in the TBS version which is very much a downgrade rather than an upcycling.

The only thing I didn't like was the Baseball Bash smackwall as it literally was just a picture on a wall with a square pop out - such a downgrade on the similarly themed Batter Up from just two years earlier which was the same idea but designed specifically to the theme, rather than just a picture on the wall.

Edited by Brekkie, 28/Mar/22, 6:11 pm


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"It's a bit like water boarding. It's got water in it... and I'm bored!"
Charlie Brooker on Total Wipeout
28/Mar/22, 2:36 pm Link to this post    PM Brekkie
 
Messup434 Profile
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Re: So... Season 7.


I agree that season 7 was probably seen as worse than it deserved at the time. At that point, most Keshi-heads (and I suspect much of the general audience) were just out of energy for the show after years of smackwalls and lack of variation.

Then this was the final straw with one course, smackwalls galore in the Qualifier, still limited variation and other disappointments. It’s too bad as the variety in the latter part of the Qualifier was actually passable for season 3 and they did well there. In addition to the variety, these obstacles were also fairish. If it’d come earlier this course probably wouldn’t be hated so much.

I do disagree a bit with the Sweepee. Make it look as cheap as possible, whatever you gotta do, just give it some VARIETY!!

I thought Space Race was good and didn’t mind Purple People Beater. I kind of appreciated that the theming felt more shoehorned - it felt a bit more honest just calling it the PPB every week rather than changing the whole title. Sure, it was probably done more out of budget than honestly, but it worked. The season could’ve done with losing a slide though.

I didn’t mind the Zone, I think everyone’s only real issue was the skipping. Although the Zone may have been a bit too hard to not skip. Actually maybe not, I imagine the obstacles at their full speed cos that’s all we saw, but they could’ve just progressively slowed them like they did for all others.

It was really the change in tone and seriousness (though it was still actually funny looking back) plus Zone that ruined it for me since I had put up with smackwalls so long. By then I was used to their smackwall obsession anyway!

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28/Mar/22, 8:30 pm Link to this post    PM Messup434
 
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Giving the Big Balls
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Re: So... Season 7.


Yes, the tone was a problem especially in the first episode. It was there throughout but not the issue I remember.

The zone certainly was passable - individual obstacles were certainly completed and I think one or two across the series completed it, so it's fair to assume with second or third attempts and things getting progressively slower it would have been possible to complete.


I wasn't a fan of the clunkier Sweeper design at the time but looking again a few years on it's not that bad really whilst the original looks quite bareboned and basic now. The bigger issue was the "Classic Sweeper" was a classic because they varied it up each week, and this time they did nothing and the new design didn't really allow for modifications. I did think though it worked really well though in the pairs episodes as the final round before the Wipeout Zone, with the last person standing progressing to the Zone.

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"It's a bit like water boarding. It's got water in it... and I'm bored!"
Charlie Brooker on Total Wipeout
28/Mar/22, 10:19 pm Link to this post    PM Brekkie
 
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Re: So... Season 7.


Quote:

The zone certainly was passable - individual obstacles were certainly completed and I think one or two across the series completed it, so it's fair to assume with second or third attempts and things getting progressively slower it would have been possible to complete.



Definitely no one completed the whole Zone, if that’s what you’re saying. I believe there were one or two who cleared two of the three though. I think The Shredder had the most, then He’ll’s Carousel and Gears of Fear only like one or two each. But yes, it could definitely work as a normal Zone (I used to think they added the rule after finding out it was too difficult, but this doesn’t make much sense thinking about it). Though the final jump would probably have to be shortened a bit!

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Keshi Heads
29/Mar/22, 7:03 am Link to this post    PM Messup434
 


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