The ending to season two of Clarkson's Farm was full of good vibes as Jeremy launched his new Diddly Squat restaurant.
But the start to the brand new third outing of the show on Amazon Prime Video has been anything but positivity, with one segment about Pepper's fate leaving fans all asking similar questions.
Season three starts where the second season ended, with the farm restaurant the focus for Jeremy Clarkson and his team. Sadly for him, the restaurant shutters were slammed shut by West Oxfordshire District Council in-between filming for the two seasons.
The council issued six demands when ordering Jezza to shut down the eatery; some of which left him completely baffled.
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Outrage on social media has been that vehement that the council has been forced to issue a new statement as Clarkson focuses on ways to diversify the farm's income.
After launching the third season with the closure of the restaurant, viewers were left sucker-punched after finding out about the fate of the most-loved 'cast members'.
We're talking about poor old Pepper, who was sent to the abattoir alongside 12 other cows.
With the restaurant now closed and beef only needed for the on-site burger van, Clarkson made the decision to reduce his herd of cattle from 25 to 12.
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Clarkson said: "I'm finding today really quite sad because for the last year I've been opening the windows, open the curtains in the morning, and there are the cows. I love that. It just cheers my heart every morning to see them."
On Pepper's fate, Jeremy asks farm agronomist Charlie Ireland: "Can I just ask, Pepper is going obviously. What do you think will become of her?"
Responding, Charlie said: "I wouldn't ask too many questions about Pepper. Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answer to."
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"Oh, Christ," Jeremy says.
But it's a moment in the show that has left viewers conflicted given how season two ended.
The finale to the second outing showed Jeremy tell his partner, Lisa Hogan, Pepper was being kept as a 'pet cow'.
Earlier in the second season, Jeremy was asked to take care of Pepper by the five-year-old daughter of the cattle breeder he bought the cow from.
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With her struggling to get pregnant in the second season, her fate looked consigned to the abattoir only for Clarkson to go against farming common sense.
It's this situation that has left people scratching their head over why she was sent away to be turned into food at this stage, given he'd gone against logic when it came to this decision - and the fact she was now an actual pet.
On Reddit, one person said: "So let me get this straight. Clarkson was keeping Pepper not to eat or breed or milk but as a pet. Clarkson got rid of Pepper because the council wouldn't let him have a restaurant to sell meat but would allow him a shop to sell meat.
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"Something doesn't add up. The restaurant being approved or not would have no bearing on their ability to keep Pepper.
"Rather she had served her usefulness as a form of entertainment for season two."
Responding, another Reddit user tried to apply logic saying: "He got rid of the breeding cows, who would’ve been consistent companions for her.
"The ones he’s kept I believe are meat cows and once they’re gone, he’s done with cows."
But another contradicted that logic, saying: 'I just binge watched season three. He kept the babies to 'fatten up'; he is still running meat through the food truck and said he would be 'royally screwed' if they didn’t allow the food truck to proceed so I would suspect he isn’t planning on getting rid of the cows in perpetuity with the current plan.
"Season two finale he said he would keep pepper as a pet. Im saddened he got rid of Pepper."
A fourth was more hopeful, saying: "The people who picked up the cows were the ones who originally sold them. Way back when he bought them their daughter asked him to look after Pepper so I imagine in my idealistic little mind they’re going to end up keeping her."
Topics: Amazon, Amazon Prime, Animals, Clarkson's Farm, Jeremy Clarkson, TV, TV and Film
Tom Earnshaw