Lingo

I have to admit I was disappointed in Jim when he hissed in anger at Bethany in that travel agency about the flights. It was just a little bit of rudeness that he'd been so good at refraining from up to now. Though he did apparently apologize for it later (according to Adam in a bonus clip).

You can see in the bonus videos of the Surfers and/or the Cyclists, at least one of them say that Adam got it on his second try. Regarding the clue, what happened was that the Dentists and Surfers knew that they were 40 minutes behind, so none of them even looked at the FF clue and got back on the boat to the city. (That island is about as far as you can get from the city and still be in Singapore.) Then they decided to look at the clue and found that it involved a "Wave House", so they went for it. The Wave House, near as I can tell, is on the other side of Singapore from where they were (Sentosa versus Pulau Ubin), so they'd have had to take the ferry back no matter what.

nightwaves4, thanks for the perspective! The way you describe it, the skin abrasion sounds something like forest-clearing, i.e. letting a forest fire burn everything to the ground so that it can all regenerate! LOL. I don't know how painful it usually is or how long it usually lasts, but it can be seen in the bonus videos that all the teams that underwent it (including Brooke) reacted violently to being touched on the back afterwards -- kinda like someone who'd been out in the sun all day without sunscreen! They also all showed their bruises to Phil and they looked pretty nasty.

Because it actually happened?? I don't see a compelling reason to edit it out. (Plus, imagine how fans would react if Racers revealed in post-show interviews that the Dentists had this gimmick device that could save them from being eliminated.) Let's not overstate things. If a team that wins the Save in Leg 1 comes in last on Leg 2 (and it's not an NEL), then they're just as vulnerable to elimination on the remaining legs as anyone else. Also, let's be clear, there's going to be just as many NELs on this Race as any other 12-leg season. The Save, whether or not it would be used, would merely affect the timing of the NELs, not the number. I can at least agree on getting rid of the Save altogether. If it has to persist, I would simply make it less powerful by forcing it to be used in the first 6 legs, max. They didn't know for sure that it'd be a surfing task till they got there, though. Initially they had no idea, just the clue "Wave House", which they found out was a dance club and (you can see in a bonus video) initially hoped that it would be some kind of dancing task. Then they looked up the place on the cabbie's cell phone and found out about the standing wave pool, but still weren't sure. (They were probably like half the people on this forum thinking, "Nah, they wouldn't use a challenge that favored one team so heavily!") Plus it's useful to have another team on your itinerary if your flight gets delayed for some reason and you end up tied for last.

The bonus videos on CBS's website/Youtube page show one or two teams saying they've had deep-tissue massages before, but not as rough as that one. In fact, I think Brooke was one of them.

1. Adam IS a "big strong guy", which is a pretty sexist reason to get rid of a team. (I can't remember many challenges where arm muscles have made much of a difference.) 2. The cyclists and surfers are MUCH better racers than the wrestlers. 3. Sure, u-turning the wrestlers is pretty much a sure thing that your u-turn will land on someone -- but not a guarantee that the wrestlers would be eliminated, considering how far back the FF loser may have been. 4. If you're a slow team (with that injured leg) like the scientists, an even "surer" thing (sure to prevent your own elimination, that is) would be to U-turn the team that is last, which they could pretty much guarantee would happen if they could count on the Wrestlers. 5. The wrestlers had been ranting for a long time about how much they disliked and wanted to u-turn the cyclists, AND they even came up with the U-turn plan themselves. Plus, the teams had discussed the plan multiple times during this leg. The scientists were shocked the wrestlers didn't do it. I was shocked! I was so shocked my mouth fell open and didn't shut for like a minute after it happened! 6. Plus, no previous season has had more than 2 u-turns, so there was no real reason not to use it, unless you think this season may be different for some reason. Granted, these reality shows tweak their formulas every season so you never know. In sum, the scientists had IMO a sound plan and every reason to expect the wrestlers to follow through on that plan.

In a bonus clip at the pit stop with Phil, they do indeed talk about framing it and hanging it up in their offices!

Doing some rewatching now, and I'm reminded that the cyclists purposely told the scientists about the better flight, because (ironic foreshadowing!) "we beat them every time." If the cyclists didn't do that, the scientists might not have realized they could get that earlier flight, and then they'd probably have been eliminated for sure (because the wrestlers may not have u-turned the cyclists even in that situation)! And the cyclists didn't know the scientists were conspiring against them.

But that wouldn't be fair, because only one team even saw the Crab-man. (Yes, my name is Earl!)

I had a deep tissue massage in Malaysia. I did not enjoy it, it left me sore. Though they didn't do that skin abrasion thing to me. Haven't we seen the thing with the cups on the back on this show before, or am I thinking of TAR Australia? Honestly, why did any of the teams go for the massage? Even if you didn't know it would be painful, you had to figure it'd probably take longer than the crab shelling, because there's no way they'd make one detour option slow and challenging (crabs) and one detour quick and relaxing (massage).

Say, were they counting on the Surfers going for and getting the FF? I'm not sure what their reasoning was for U-turning them because I couldn't hear the dialogue well, so paradoxically I don' t know if they would have u-turned the surfers if they'd seen them at the Detour or RB. If the surfers had shown up and nobody was u-turned, then the scientists probably would have been eliminated after all.

It's worthwhile to mention that Adam and Bethany got two of their wins by skipping tasks (via Express Pass and FF), while Jim and Misti won all of theirs the hard way. Back when I had a spreadsheet of all the races, I would rank them by calculating something like the average percentage of teams they would beat to the mat, which makes a 2nd-place win on Leg 1 worth a lot more than making 2nd on Leg 12. But it rarely made much of a difference.

Well no, surely Bethany and Adam would have been eliminated. They were U-turned after all.

So, Kym and Alli's video recap of this episode finally appeared on their Youtube channel today, and they've got a couple of interesting insights into this episode. First of all, they're irritated about being called anti-social. They point out that just before they got on that ferry, they had basically been forced to sit around with the other teams for the entire day: they got their clue in Sicily at 7 am that morning, took a 4-hour bus ride to the ferry point with the other teams, and then spent like 10 hours sitting in a restaurant waiting for the evening ferry, during which they were stuck with the other teams (though they did get to go to the beach nearby). And the ferry itself was only 2 hours long, so they just wanted to take a short nap. And they were surprised upon watching the episode that the other teams took that opportunity to conspire against them. Another point was made about the taxi-canceling. Firstly, they had a cab because they were smart enough to make their cab driver wait (unlike the Wrestlers, who really should have learned that lesson by now, they note). Second, they reveal that during the previous leg in Sicily, as Kym and Jim were racing the go-carts, the Dentists' cabbie had dumped their bags and taken off, so Misti asked Alli if their cabbie could call another cabbie for the Dentists. And nice-girl Alli agreed, which Kym was pissed about later. And that might have been the difference between first and second place that leg. So Kym was not about to let Alli do that again on this leg. They also verify that Alli couldn't go for the red flag after getting the yellow one.

For the record I don't have a problem with the Wrestlers lying to the Food Scientists. Though it seems unwise, considering it could have saved the Cyclists (or hypothetically the Surfers) from elimination.

Speaking of international editions, I remember that high-wire RB under the Marina Bay Sands from TAR Australia, which is the only international version I've had the chance to see. That's the first time I remember seeing the MBS and was instantly fascinated by it!

You'll have to explain to me how it was not to their advantage to U-turn the cyclists, since I missed that part (and in my opinion, it clearly was). Also, do they have to be so snotty about it?

As I said last week, I was in Singapore in September, so I was psyched to see it this week. Alas, I didn't recognize any of the locations except I think Canning Park(?) (which is where the U-Turn board was I think) and Marina Bay Sands Casino/Hotel, which I went to the top of. Then again, I really only had one full day to look around the city. Now I want to go back through all the seasons and watch every Singapore episode. I vaguely remember Carol and Brandy's elimination, but I don't remember any of the locations from that one.

I don't remember anything like that! Maybe in an international edition?

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK. Goddamnit. I didn't want either lady team to lose, but definitely not the cyclists. Hope they're invited back on the next All-Stars. At least they weren't eliminated due to a U-Turn, it was their risk that did them in. Probably an unwise risk considering the surfers were only 40 minutes behind them. Speaking of the U-Turn, I CANNOT BELIVE THE G-D- WRESTLERS DIDN'T UTURN THEM AFTER ALL THEIR SMACK TALK!!!!!! I couldn't hear the dialogue very well, but what the hell was their reasoning for not doing it??? Do they think there might be a 3rd U-Turn later? God, what idiots. I really hope the girls beat them somehow. Why????? The Teeth would have stayed in the race, and that might have even saved the Cyclists, which the Candy Girls definitely would not want to save. At this point, any other team eliminated is a victory for them.

Actually, if Reed and Alec really had intended to go along with the plan, then goading Keith or Wes into playing the idol would have been the best outcome: it flushes the idol out, and with 4 votes apiece for Keith and 3 for Wes, one of them would have gone home no matter who played it. It would have been worse if Wes had decided to keep the idol and not play it, because he'd still have it after Keith was voted out.

WOW. Wow, Keith. Has there ever been a bigger verbal blunder than that at Tribal Council in the history of this game? I knew he was stupid, but I didn't think he was THAT stupid. Here I was thinking he might actually somehow win. I guess anything's still possible, but no. He lost his idol and his son with one mistake. I don't know if it's possible to screw yourself over harder without getting voted out. I don't blame Reed. He was trying to fool the other alliance with his talk of Keith. Keith should have known that. And I'm not surprised Natalie warned Jon. She said that Reed was the bigger threat, but I think that she was also afraid that if Jon was voted out, next TC it will be 4 vs. 4 and Keith would still have his idol. Actually, this TC ended up better than Natalie was expecting, because she wasn't expecting Jon to lose his idol tonight. Now it'll be that much easier to vote out Jon when she wants to. I do wish Jon had been booted, because he looks like the probable winner now, but you can't have everything.

It's not "baby talk" and it's not immature. That's just how some people talk.

So are they the obvious next team to go? On the one hand, I would at first think that the upcoming U-turn would improve their chances of staying, since they'd be unlikely targets, considering everyone's talking about U-turning the Cyclists. On the other hand, if I were the Cyclists and found out that I just got U-turned and had a chance to U-turn another team, I'd probably choose the Food Scientists, since the Cyclists are highly likely to beat them, especially with Amy's bad leg.

"Molar" and "Cuspid": that's the most likeable thing they've done so far on the Race. It's not hard to see why they're more popular than the cyclists.