‘The Great British Baking Show’ Set Jürgen Up to Fail During “German Week”

From the moment The Great British Baking Show hosts Noel Fielding and Matt Lucas introduced this week’s theme — “German Week” — I stupidly had the sense that it was going to be Jürgen’s week to lose. After all, the German baker has been racking up wins in the tent since the series began. His familiarity with the Teutonic bakes coupled with his intense technical skill had to give him an advantage, right?

On the contrary, I think The Great British Baking Show “German Week” was unfair to Jürgen, who was bombarded with overwhelming pressure from the hosts, judges, and bakers, to the point where Prue Leith admitted she and Paul Hollywood were judging him more harshly than other bakers. Justice for Jürgen, people!

The Great British Baking Show always kicks off its new seasons with a triumvirate of traditional challenges: Biscuits, Breads, and Cakes. After these opening rounds, the competition heats up with more difficult theme weeks, which usually include classics like Patisserie and Chocolate. However in recent years, Paul and Prue have thrown more challenging briefs at the bakers, with Vegan, Elizabethan, and 1920s-themed weeks. More fun, though, are the international weeks. We’ve seen the bakers tackle French, Italian, and Danish weeks in the past, but this year the producers cooked up “German Week.” We may never know if the powers that be decided on “German Week” before or after they cast Jürgen Krauss, but we do know the show put the weight of the whole German nation on Jürgen’s shoulders.

It started when Noel Fielding cheekily announced that Jürgen was the week’s Star Baker before the first competition began and kept on throughout the episode. A visibly embarrassed Jürgen had to deal with the incessant jokes that he was already the winner, putting pressure on the sweet baker who literally said he was afraid to lose that week because he didn’t want to leave all the people he met in the tent!!! Jürgen also went out of his way to be a good sport, correcting the bakers’ German and reportedly helping them all in the practice tent. When he got a Hollywood Handshake for his biscuits, the man looked relieved. He was living up to whole show’s lofty expectations for him!

Later, though, Jürgen showed signs of fight. During the Showstopper Challenge — a tiered yeast-leavened cake — Jürgen pointed out that the whole concept of the challenge was ridiculous. He compared layering yeast-leavened cakes to layering a crumble. It was simply not done in Germany and a complete bastardization of the bake for dramatic stakes. Paul cheekily admitted they had “anglicized” it, but Jürgen was right! This isn’t the first time this season that the judges have played loosey-goosey with the rules of a bake to make things more challenging for the bakers.

Jürgen’s Showstopper was apparently not as impressive as his Hollywood Handshake-winning biscuits, though. Prue and Paul nitpicked it, leaving Jürgen looking crestfallen. However, behind-the-scenes, Prue made a point to explain to Matt and Noel that Jürgen’s Showstopper was actually one of the best (?!?). She admitted they are purposely harder on Jürgen because he’s so talented.

I’m honestly furious about the way Jürgen was treated this week. First, the playful teasing that he had an advantage went a little too far for my taste, creating a pressure cooker for the baker’s nerves. Second, if the judges are admitting they are judging Jürgen more harshly, that casts all of their judging in doubt. Are they kinder to bakers they deem less experienced? Harder on the better ones? Simply singling out Jürgen?!?

The Great British Baking Show took such pains pointing out how much of an advantage Jürgen had in “German Week,” they turned it into a massive disadvantage.

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