The 2024 season of The Great British Baking Show, also known as The Great British Baking Show Collection 14 on Netflix, ended on an appropriately chaotic moment. After awarding one baker with the ceremonial cakestand, Paul Hollywood forced them to roll down a hill. Yes, this is a thing that really happened on The Great British Baking Show, and why wouldn’t it? How else would a season that contained theft, pratfalls, quitters, and non-stop hijinks possibly end than with the dark horse winner rolling down a hill?
**Spoilers for The Great British Baking Show 2024 finale, now streaming on Netflix**
The Great British Baking Show fully leaned into its most manic tendencies this year, crescendoing with Paul Hollywood calling out ultimate winner Georgie Grasso on a joke she made during the final.
Earlier in the episode, Paul himself pointed out to Georgie that she still had a chance to win the whole thing. How would she feel if that happened?
“I’d fall to the floor,” she replied, “and roll down the hill.”
Prue Leith merely chuckles, but Paul says, “You better do that. I want to see that.” And eventually Paul got his wish!
Georgie Grasso won The Great British Baking Show handily with her gorgeous Showstopper cake. The summer garden-inspired hanging cake showcased her exquisite decorating techniques, but more importantly, it highlighted what a perfect classical baker she was. While Christiaan de Vries shot himself in the foot with overly complex flavors and Dylan Bachelet basically imploded in real time, Georgie was able to present her best work yet in the final. She simply had to win. And win, Georgie did.
It was honestly so touching to see the way the final three bakers rallied around each other this season. Both Christiaan and Dylan seemed honestly proud of Georgie, with Dylan paying homage to that incredible cake. After being pummeled with love by her fellow bakers, husband, and children, Georgie only had one thing left to do. That was roll down a hill.
Paul pulls Georgie from the crowd and says, “Come on! Come on! You promised me you’d roll down the hill. Remember?” He leads her past the crowd of picnickers and beyond the ornate carousel that’s been erected outside the tent. They pause at a little ridge, where Georgie lays down, preparing for her roll. (Thankfully Paul held on to her cake stand — like, I was a tad bit worried about the glass breaking.)
“Go on, then! Go on, then!” Paul urges, using the cake stand like a conductor’s baton. A giggling Georgie begins to roll and then falls out of sight. She has rolled down a hill.
Paul laughs heartily and walks away, leaving The Great British Baking Show winner to seemingly prop herself up.
Of course, there was still slightly more Great British Baking Show after that. We got a beautiful montage updating us on where all the bakers are now. Naturally, they’re still besties, with Andy and Nelly holidaying together and Mike hosting a reunion at his farm. The final shot of the series is technically an in memoriam for 2022 baker Dawn Hollyoak-Bailey, who passed earlier this year. But when it comes to the narrative of the show, the last shot we are left with is a baker stuck in a lurch after rolling down a hill.
While last season was a quiet return to The Great British Baking Show‘s basics, this season often felt like being caught in a whirlwind. This batch of bakers happily played along with Noel Fielding and Alison Hammond’s antics, emphasis on the word “played.” Even as I sometimes found the mania unfolding to be a bit too sensational for a such lowkey franchise like “Bake Off,” I couldn’t help but laugh along. This cast of bakers truly embraced the fun and it made the season shine ever so brighter for me.
The bakers embraced the fun by chasing the laughter and, even, it seems, by rolling down hills.
