It’s difficult to really grasp the position that Chris Evans found himself in when he made the decision to helm the juggernaut that is BBC’s Top Gear. For starters, he was stepping in during the height of controversy…the BBC had just summarily fired Jeremy Clarkson for punching producer Oisin Tymon over a steak, saw co-presenters James May and Richard Hammond and executive producer Andy Wilman leave, and found themselves worrying about what to do with a show that had drawn in millions of viewers from across the globe for each episode. The audience (at least, what could be seen via Internet and social media posts) were anywhere from cautious to absolutely caustic about anybody replacing Clarkson, May and Hammond, to the point that death threats were being hurled at potential candidates. Who in their right mind would go near that kind of position willingly? How about a man who was already well-ingrained with the BBC, who had been on Top Gear previously, had experience hosting a radio show, is a solid car connoisseur  and was vetted by none other than Clarkson himself?

In theory, that should have worked fine, but in practice, it just didn’t. Prior to the first episode showing, the rumor mill was churning out all sorts of pieces about how behind the scenes, the situation for the Top Gear crew with Evans at the helm was like watching the Hindenburg disaster in slow motion. Even with stories coming from British tabloids that are well-known for “spicing up” the story to their liking, it was hard to not believe that there wasn’t at least a grain of truth to the situation. Just because Evans puked after Sabine Schmitz drove a supercar at 100% at Laguna Seca doesn’t automatically mean that things are bad…maybe that Evans was queasy or shouldn’t have eaten strawberries that morning, but that’s all. But if any confirmation was needed that something truly wasn’t right with Evans’ place on Top Gear, that came when the first episode aired. Evans spent the episode screaming like P.T. Barnum after a six-pack of energy drinks while the rest of the cast seemed sedate by comparison.

With the claim by co-presenter Matt LeBlanc that he would leave the show if Evans didn’t, we’re betting that Evans decided to make the call to save the show at all costs…even including his own place on the show. While fans and critics are celebrating the move, we have to play devil’s advocate and at least acknowledge that Evans did make one hell of an effort for the show. It didn’t work out as he had hoped and fans of the show were vociferous about his performance…good, bad, or otherwise. The remainder of the presenters (LeBlanc, Schmitz, Rory Reid, Chris Harris and Eddie Jordan) will remain, but Evans will return to his radio show and per his own statement, will “remain a huge fan of the show, always have been, always will be.”