Long Way Up – Apple TV+ Episode 3 Recap & Review

Southern Patagonia

Episode 3 of Long Way Up begins with Ewan and Charley continuing to experience electric woes. They see how strenuous this electric venture actually is but finally find a break-through.

With the bikes finally charged , the next stop is making it to the ferry and to cross 69 miles in order to make it. With 9 minutes to go, Ewan runs out of charge while Charley pushes ahead to hold up the ferry.

With the electric car still holding some juice, the crew drive it back and drag Ewan along.

Breathing a sign of relief, the duo make it to Punta Arenas in one piece and – more importantly – without losing another day. After resting in a hotel, the pair intend to ride for 2 days through the Torres Del Paine National Park.

On the way, they’re doing their part for the environment by staying at an Eco-friendly resort. The group are generating their electricity from a nearby water source and upon plugging the bikes in, they have 7 and a half hours to kill.

This gives Ewan and Charley plenty of time to figure out the logistics of the resort and how these people are living.

Unfortunately this trip takes another turn for the worst. The bike fails to get moving and is completely dead in the morning. Taking drastic measures, the pair decide to try and use a nearby car to kickstart the power on the bike.

This seems to do the trick but the bikes are far from fully charged. With 47 miles or so worth of powere, it’s enough to push both of them to the border.

Breathing a sigh of relief, the duo make it to there but they have 100 miles still to go to make it to their destination. Unwilling to risk losing more time, they decide to push ahead despite needing to charge their bikes.

Their destination is El Calafate. With 30 minutes until sun-down, the duo head off to try and find the road. The sun drops and as it does, the temperature follows suit. It’s touch and go for a while but eventually they make it to the road and their destination.

On the back of this, Ewan and Charley decide to take the day off from the driving and the stress. And what better way to do that than checking out the glacial forest in Argentina. After that, they’re back on the road after a brief pit-stop in Tres Lagos.

With 100 miles to ride and a nasty headwind, the charging situation continues to haunt the pair. It’s so bad that they’re forced to bring the bikes inside to warm them up.

As the episode comes to a close, big question marks surround whether the pair will continue to adopt the electric bikes or revert back to easier options.

The Episode Review

With plenty of bike woes and electrical problems along the way, both Ewan McGregor and  Charley Boorman are having a hard time of it out there. Thankfully the scenery is absolutely stunning and definitely gives this reviewer the itch to venture out to South America in the future.

The establishing shots are great but there’s so much drama with the electric bikes that it almost acts as a deterrent to adopt this technology right now. The ideas are certainly there but it’s obvious this still has a long way to go yet.

Still, the series is definitely watchable and there’s plenty more countries yet to be explored. For that alone, Long Way Up is worth returning to next week.