10.33am: The final night of Derren Brown's The Event. This week, this bearded mind-bender plans to destroy a casino by predicting the course of roulette and winning £175,000 to a lucky viewer. An exaggerated claim, but never in short supply in this series.
A few years ago, in the series "Mind Control," he won a large sum of money by showing how to count cards in blackjack and is still banned from casinos. And let's not forget last year's show, "The System," in which he offered viewers six consecutive horse racing bets (in a truly brilliant turn of events, it was revealed that he started this process with over 7,000 participants and eliminated the losers each time until only one remained).
Which leads us to the big question about the series. Does "The Events" live up to the hype and the standards set by his past shows, from the early days of "Mind Control" in 2000, to the harrowing specials like "Russian Roulette" and "The Heist," to the "Trick or Treat" I have followed Brown for a long time. I've seen him live twice, read several of his books, and consider myself a bit of a fan, but I have to say I'm a little disappointed in this series.
This is partly due to the advertising claims. The series is billed as "the most incredible feat of all time," and given his previous form, that was always going to be a big challenge, but even so, I felt a little underwhelmed throughout. But maybe it's just getting harder to surprise these days. Regardless, I'm hoping for an eye-opening show tonight and a big last reveal that will make me want to come back here again to honor Derren Brown as our savior.
What's great about this series is that it has encouraged healthy debate and discussion. Tonight at 9:00 we will discuss the final episode on C4, but in the meantime, we welcome your thoughts and comments about the next episode and the series as a whole. See you all at 9:00 p.m.
8:57pm: Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready for an hour of mind-blowing television. Delenn is on.
9.01pm: Derren Brown is in a van in front of a casino in a secret European location; an hour later, he bets £5,000 of viewers' money on roulette. Apparently the viewers still don't know he took their money, because they don't have £5,000.
9:04 p.m.: In the studio-cum-theater, a woman is spraying paint on Derren's face. He is obviously not influencing the order in which she chooses the paint, but he is clearly influencing the order in which she chooses the paint. Hmmm.
I've been trying to figure out what really goes wrong with this setup, and as GonePostal pointed out, the back and forth between the stage and the studio floor is like a "really crappy episode" of Top of The Pops. Or, as Dano79 put it, "like Derren Brown doing Top Gear". Love the comments section.
9.10pm: I'm learning from someone who knows a lot about these things (but I missed his name, sorry) about possible ways to beat the casinos. Very interesting. It is next to impossible to beat roulette without a computer.
The person who gave Delenn the 5,000 pounds said he was happy to give it to her, but he doesn't remember giving it to her. Outstanding.
9:15 p.m.: How does Derren know that the person he rolled up 5,000 pounds with is actually watching the show? It's all very strange.
Derren is calling from somewhere in Europe on a terrible phone line. On the screen, next to a picture of his head, is a map stolen from Eurovision in 1974. He will call someone shortly.
Back in the studio (which was pre-recorded, giving the whole show a very dodgy editorial feel), it's another trick with mybetinfo.com.
I have no idea what it is.
9:23 a.m.: Time to learn how to spin the roulette wheel. Inexplicably, it involves a speed camera and Tim Westwood, the Big Dog's pensioner DJ on the highway bridge. Westwood's job seems to be picking out cars. Is he having a hard time with his job?
Derren can tell exactly to the nearest mile how fast they were going without even looking. Truly impressive, but kind of funny.
9.27pm: Eurovision Deren is making the call. Oops. He must be sweating in the control room right now.
A man called Ben is on the phone and seems very confused. Ben is looking at him because Delenn told him to. Ben assures me that he has never met Delenn.
Ben is very calm.
9:31 p.m.: Ben is walked around the block to a very elaborate track. After a break, Delenn tries to show him how he took the money.
Many would argue that Ben is a pawn, but that's not funny. Anyway, it doesn't matter where Delenn got the money from, the really interesting part is whether he can use his speed detection skills to guess the roulette.
9.35pm: I have decided that Ben does not deserve the £175,000. This is because he had £5,000 to give to Derren, but he is unaware that it is no longer in his bank account. In my opinion, he is very undeserving. And his hair looks ridiculous.
So how did Derren do it? He followed Ben, instantly put him in a trance (I know he can do that because he did it to me), then had him go to the bank and get the 5,000 pounds.
Derren erases all memory of meeting Ben and goes on his way with the money. It's all very simple and all very creepy.
9.41pm: So, do you believe this is real? I want to believe it so badly, but this show depends on so many factors to come together. That Ben doesn't remember what happened, that he is watching the show tonight, that he doesn't realize there is a big truck outside his house. In a way, Ben is unconvincing.
But it's a good show.
9.45pm: Derren is heading to the casino to put Ben's money on the roulette wheel. Otherwise, this would be the worst ending in the history of the series.
Much has been made about the importance of not revealing the identity of the casino, its location, or the faces of the people there. Does anyone know the reason for this? Surely the casinos would gladly accept this in exchange for free publicity.
9.51pm: The problem with hour-long excitement is that when the climax comes, it is often disappointing.
9.53pm: Okay, here's the thing. If Derren Brown has come up with a technique to predict the course of the roulette by measuring the speed of the ball and predicting where it will fall, that's obviously brilliant. And he should demonstrate it without any ambiguity as to where he is or if it is real. He is a smart guy.
It makes people wonder if hidden cameras and secret locations are just tricks. Because I think he is better than that.
9:59 p.m.: Now, things get interesting. At the casino, Derren is out of one piece and has lost Ben's money. And the show ends. Well, folks, here's the twist. I love it. It's a good laugh.
10.02pm: I don't know what to think. Say what you will about Derren Brown, but he gets a nasty surprise at the end of the day. Maybe it's just that sometimes you can't beat the system, but it was worth it just to see the look on Ben's face when he realized that the 175,000 pounds had not been added to his bank account.
I'm glad Ben didn't get the money. Does that make me a bad person? Go to the comments section to hear what everyone has to say.
10.09pm: Well, that's it for The Event. I know a lot of people will disagree with me (please don't throw things), but the last five minutes of this show made it all worth it. I said earlier that it would be the worst ending in the history of the series, and I was wrong. Losing was a risky strategy, but it was brilliant. Delenn, by your usual standards this was a poor series, but you are still the master of surprises and I salute you.
Thank you all for your many comments over the past few weeks. It has been great to read your thoughts and theories. Have a great weekend. Don't forget to check back tomorrow for Carrie's strictly live blog. Good night Hx.
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