I so badly wanted to like, let alone love, this show. Unfortunately, it's grown increasingly painful to watch.
First, let's just get this out of the way: Aaron's mechanical skills and automotive genius are undeniable and, as the grounded counterpart to Richard on GMG, his personality balanced out the show's otherwise unfettered chaos of "get you some of that" and "whooooos." So, yes, Aaron's great. Nothing but love for the guy.
Second, and unfortunately, while GMG has soldiered on with other "characters" (I hate that term since we're talking about real people) who balance Richard's personality, (Actually, I've found that Richard has come off a bit more balanced himself this season. Is it just me?) and also bring suitable knowledge and expertise to the show, Aaron's new show lacks any excitement or personality. In fact, it lacks...anything. It's just kind of there...like watching oil changes at a Jiffy Lube.
I've struggled to make it through the first episodes. I've reached the point that I don't hit reverse when I accidentally fast forward a little too far beyond the commercials on my DVR.
The show has done nothing to develop our knowledge or "relationship" with any of Aaron's team -- who, apparently, do all of the work. They're unknown personalities to me. I'm sure they're all great guys but the production team doesn't give them the right kind of screen time. So, whereas we feel like we know the "monkeys," we have no idea who these guys are personality-wise. They're just presumably knowledgeable and undoubtedly dedicated and hardworking worker bees; at least as they're portrayed on the show.
It's also unclear what Aaron's shop actually does, other than build him vehicles under intense deadlines (something he allegedly detested while he was at GMG -- I guess bad habits are hard to break?) to check off items on his personal bucket list. They built him a truck to take to the desert (and it broke) so he could race in the desert because...well...race truck? I don't know. Then they built him a semi truck to race and it felt like more of the same pointless building by a team of people we still don't know. I got so bored watching the 2nd part that I fell asleep and opted to delete the episode rather than watch what I missed.
For what it's worth, I love shows like Wheeler Dealers (really, currently one of my favorites, actually). I even love the pace of the show, the cast (love Mike and Ant and I loved Edd) and the lack of glitz and chaos. So, before people start criticizing and dismiss my review as someone who just prefers a show with more puff (e.g., GMG) than a show about real mechanics like Aaron, that's just untrue. And, I'd also argue that there's more actual "mechanic" content in GMG and, certainly, Misfit Garage than this snoozer.
What it comes down to is that this show was poorly developed. From the opening credits (which pretend to be deep and badass, but somehow come off as cheesy and lazy) to the earlier of the end or the point in which I fall asleep each episode, it lacks excitement, motivation, interest, or character. It lacks purpose.
