Suddenly Amish

“On and on it goes, with obvious setup after obvious setup. There is Esmeralda’s meltdown over being told to do without her false eyelashes (it all begins to tie in! My thesis works!), acrylic nails and bottles of skincare. There are attractions between the guests, between guests and Amish, and – unless ears, eyes and editing deceive, which of course they may well do – Emma and James, who are (we are told) third cousins once removed. Bigger reveals – such as one of the guests coming out as bisexual – are held until later episodes, and in the meantime we have hosts considering whether to banish a divorcee, a couple who hive off to a motel together, and whether James should be reprimanded for chasing one half of the immoral couple off the estate with an axe or praised for it. None of it rings true, none of it is insightful, even by accident, which actually takes some doing, and by the end you can only feel grateful that at least most of the Amish will never know what took place under their name. If they ever do, I think Bishop Vernon can expect to be shunned into oblivion.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian