“Each table is immaculately arranged, as is usual after the crew cleans them at the end of the day, before the bakers will return in the early morning to dirty every surface imaginable with dustings of flour and gobs of dough. Now every stand mixer is perfectly aligned with the next, each carefully arranged colander of baking utensils on display. It’s an optimistic scene of pastel colors and light woods. One that lends itself well to the show’s folksy niceness.”

Betsy enters the tent in the prologue to check on the camera equipment during the storm. She comments on the “folksy” ambiance of the show’s set design and how neat and organized the set is for the next day’s filming. While the show appears to be a show focused on friendly, authentic competition, it is highly structured and mediated—the authenticity is the result of attention to production value.

“But they try so hard, they want so desperately to be perfect, to win, so you have to give them that.”

Betsy adopts a condescending view of the contestants, indicating that she sees herself as different—better—than they are. She has achieved fame and success, while their lot is to strive for it. Still, in her role as “America’s Grandmother,” Betsy knows that she has to at least appear sympathetic and supportive.

“Fun is just fleeting, a momentary pleasure. It comes in on a cloud and evaporates before you can even recognize it for what it is. Success is different. It is something you can hold on to, something you can count and that goes with you everywhere like a designer handbag.”

As Hannah prepares to depart for the competition, she ponders her boyfriend’s suggestion that she focus on having fun. The 21-year-old Hannah reveals herself to be a shrewd observer of what it takes to succeed. Throughout the competition, she struggles to adjust her definition of success despite the danger her obsession leads her into through her inappropriate relationship with Archie Morris, a judge in the competition.