Men in Kilts Finale Recap: On a Swing and a Prayer — Plus, Grade It!
Even though it feels like we just climbed back into the camper with Graham and Sam, Men in Kilts’ Season 2 finale is upon us! In a moment, we’ll want to know what you thought about the second season. But first, a quick recap:
The guys kick off the excursions with a visit to Hellsgate in Rotorua, a series of sulphuric hot springs. After stopping by (but not going in) one with a temperature over 200 degrees Farenheit, they frolic in a mud pool, then clean up and drive to the next activity: Zorbing.
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Zorbing is hopping into a giant, inflatable ball and rolling down a hill. Sam seems really interested in whether they should be lubed up before they get into the orbs — two separate staffers tell him there’s no need — and then they climb in and go! It looks fun, if anticlimactic (they just kinda roll down the hill), but the visual of Sam being birthed out of the ball at the bottom is worth the price of admission.
Back in the camper, Sam and Graham reminisce about all of the New Zealand wildlife they’ve seen on their trip. We’re treated to a montage of them experiencing penguins, falcons, lizards… wait, they filmed all of this but didn’t really do anything with the footage? Was it not zany enough? Weird. Anyway, on to Miramar, for a visit to Weta FX, the special effects studio behind The Hobbit and a lot more movies. “Basically, if you have a massive franchise,” Sam says, “you call Weta to bring it to life.”
Weta founder Richard Taylor greets the guys when they arrive, and we’re treated to a show-and-tell of the prosthetics Graham wore in The Hobbit movies — including some awesome yet cumbersome-looking full hand-arm pieces — before Graham and Sam sit and let the artists pop them into some latex facial pieces, just for fun. They’re made up in separate areas, so they won’t see each other before the big reveal, and they taunt each other from opposite sides of the mirror. Graham gives Sam a Hobbit name: Groin. Sam says that his new, bulbous nose reminds him of Graham.
Revelation time! Though both of the guys are wearing wigs and lots of prosthetics, Sam is a lot more done-up — and a LOT more in character as Groin. Graham can’t stop laughing. “I think definitely Jamie Fraser Season 7,” he says, gasping for breath, as he takes in Sam’s bushy, reddish wig and beard. “It’s been a hard time on the Ridge,” Sam says in a booming voice he’s developed for his new character.
The pair round out the episode, and the series, by reflecting on their time together in New Zealand (including some stuff we never saw, like dune-buggying?). But Sam’s got one more death-defying task to close out their trip: a go on the Nevis Swing in Queenstown, aka the world’s biggest and fastest bungee swing featuring a 230-foot freefall that gets up to 75 miles an hour and goes backwards. “You should fear less and live more,” Sam says, patting his agitated co-star on the shoulder as they walk out to their fate. Good GOD even the walk out to this thing looks horrifyingly high, and I can’t believe that Graham got that far. Then they get strapped in, Sam grinning like a madman, and they drop. The velocity is so strong that their legs at one point are over their heads! By the time they level off, Graham is crying I think? And I a) don’t blame him and b) am kind of touched by how Sam keeps telling him he did a good job.
When they get back to the platform, both shaking from the adrenaline rush, Sam pulls out a flask so they can have their traditional end-of-episode tipple. “To your very good health,” Graham toasts, before taking several swigs — and can you blame him?
Now it’s your turn. What did you think of the finale? Grade it, as well as Season 2 as whole, via the polls below, then hit the comments with your thoughts!
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