Lingo

Yep! I still wear the T-shirt.

To everyone wondering what they're doing on the plane instead of memorizing capitals: I think they're catching some much needed Z's. They don't really have much time to rest during Pit Stops, and you really don't want to end up as brain-dead zombies (like Millie and Chuck) during the legs.

I mentioned in the main thread that the weirdest thing I saw in the Bonus Clips this week is that apparently Keith and Whitney think that Shelley/Nici are lying about being mother and daughter! Whitney says, "They're not mother and daughter, I don't know what they are"! They must have felt pretty foolish when Episode 1 aired. Keith does a great Bulging Eyes Jim impression, but K&W still bug the crap out of me for some reason. Kym has been to Marrakesh before. While all the teams were waiting around for the first task to open (the show edited out the bunching there), Kym took Alli around on a personal tour. I always love watching the teams on the Mat, breathlessly talking about how fun their day had been!

Gosh, I don't know what it was about Keith and Whitney that annoyed me so much even when they were NOT arguing, but I am just so glad they're gone. Hurray! If you're talking about the first task of the day (setting up the food carts), the bonus videos show that the door was actually closed when they all got there, and they had to wait at least 40 minutes for it to open. Some of the teams spent the time watching the snake charmers. Well because it's not always true! Like last week, where they all got different flights and the Dentists had a chance to get an early flight, although Kym and Alli got an even earlier one. The Bonus Clips this week show that Shelley/Nici and Keith/Whitney had it out for each other even before the leg started. In one odd clip, we see K/W in the cab talking about how S/N have apparently been playing dirty, and lying to the other teams, from the start of the race. Apparently K/W don't believe that they are Mom/Daughter! Whitney says, "Mother and daughter...they're not mother and daughter, I don't know what they are"! And Keith mumbles "flight attendants" like he's not convinced they are actually flight attendants either. Keith then says, "They're lying to everybody, for what reason nobody knows." And then Whitney says, "They've been playing dirtier than anyone...If we get a chance to U-Turn them, I can't wait! I can't stand bad attitudes, and they've got one, for sure." So I don't know what's going on there. Meanwhile, the bonus clips for Shelley and Nici have baffling titles. One is called "Whitley and Keith", as if the Mom/Daughter were mispronouncing her name -- but W/K are not mentioned in the clip at all! And in a second clip called "They're From Survivor", Shelly and Nici mention U-Turning K/W but they don't even mention Survivor. So it's very puzzling. But in the first clip they do mention that they were never considering U-Turning Jim and Misti, not only for the strategic reasons mentioned above, but Nici also says (jokes?) that she's doing it for personal reasons: she's about to move to where Jim and Misti live, and she wants to use them as her dentist! I do think it makes sense that they didn't U-Turn the dentists, not only because the Dentists were guaranteed to survive and possibly get revenge, but also because they're not even guaranteed to end up in last place: from S/N's point of view, the Dentists could have just U-Turned another team who would have been eliminated instead. The Cyclists also said in a Bonus Clip that they were not considering U-Turning the Dentists for the same reasons. So it was probably a common attitude among the teams. But I think they'll all be much more willing to use it when it comes up a second time. I don't remember a season ever having more than 2 U-Turns, so the teams should feel pretty confident that if they U-Turn the dentists next time, the dentists won't be able to avenge themselves. But it's kind of funny that both the teams and the audience are so focused on the Dentists that they (and we) have almost all forgotten about the Surfers and their Express Pass!

hincandenza, your idea is deliciously evil. I kind of like it, but I think the producers would think it's too complicated to convey to a casual audience, unfortunately. Oh gosh, no Yields thank you. Those are boring to watch; the yielded team just sits there and bitches. If they have to have any inter-team conflict element like that, I prefer the U-Turn (though I'd be just fine with neither). The FFs on every leg were great, but that was 21 seasons ago, guys. That ship has sailed. "My teeth are just tooth-colored" -- LOL! That actually made me laugh out loud. I think you're over-estimating the importance of knowing capitals, and the ability to remember things from junior high, and under-estimating what Race stress does to your mind. But I have to admit I was surprised too. What's even sadder is, as someone else mentioned above, all the capitals of Europe were listed on that poster in a big list at the bottom. So all they had to do was just pick the three out of the list! Personally I was having trouble remembering Stockholm, but I would have been able to pick it out of the list for sure. Well they've watched enough to know the previous record, and Jim must feel he can do better because he's stronger than that guy was. Some seasons have been almost completely dominated by 2 or 3 teams (like S9).

I have to say, I was really surprised that there wasn't more complaining about the Save after Episode 1, because it was obvious to me at least that it was going to be implemented in this completely boring, strategy-free manner. I guess other posters had more faith in the producers. I get that they wanted to introduce some new game element to the show for this 25th "anniversary" season of the Race, but I hope it ends up just being a one-season gimmick (like that time that the team who won the first leg could win TWO million bucks for winning the whole race). As someone else said, I wish there had been some element of real risk in going for the Save in the first leg -- much like the Fast Forwards of the early seasons. In fact, I had that same wish when the Express Pass was originally introduced, as it's already a powerful gimmick. It looks like the producers actually considered that this season, by making Adam and Bethany choose between going for the Pass or heading straight for the pit stop. But I was dismayed that the Pass was actually so easy to find that A&B didn't even lose first place! They didn't even make A&B actually search the pub to find the pass! As for the Pass's implementation, I'm sure the producers have a provisional NEL planned for after the 9th leg, the last leg the Save can be used. If the Dentists end up having to use the Save, then that late NEL will be changed to an elimination. Otherwise, it will be an NEL. That makes the Save trivial to implement -- no next-to-last-team-eliminations or double-eliminations necessary. As for the Speed Bump, even in recent seasons there have been multiple cases that last-place saved teams have not had to do a Speed Bump (or at least that the Speed Bump was edited out of the episode for time). So maybe the Dentists won't need to do one, but it's no big deal. I think the Speed Bump has always meant to be exactly like its literal referent: A tiny bump in the road, and nothing more. I don't think we've ever seen a Speed Bump that was designed to take more than 10 minutes to complete, and that's on purpose. You don't want Speed Bumps to be so onerous that the last-place team on an NEL is almost always the one that comes last on the next leg. Heck, the first 4 seasons didn't even have a punishment for NEL teams. I'm fine with the Speed Bumps as they are, even if they occasionally go missing.

Man, if you *really* want to be mad at Shelley (the mom) this leg, you can watch the bonus clips on the website. She seemed just completely uncooperative and passive-aggressive from the very start of the leg, and what's worse, she insisted on stopping their race progress and finishing (i.e. winning) the argument before moving on. And on the mat Phil tries very hard to have a counseling session, which Shelley seemed totally insincere about. I get that Nici is maybe freaking out too much but you gotta meet her halfway. It's a real shame because up to this point, she was perhaps my favorite racer. I just love her sense of humor. Forgive me if this sounds dumb, but I felt like Wanda Sykes was on TAR. I found it hilarious when at the Roadblock, Jim goes, "This is a nightmare!" and Shelley cracks up and is all, "Telllllll me about it!" She was probably thinking, "Why are YOU worried, you've got the Save?! If WE blow this task, we're out!" And speaking of Jim and Misti, I just can't dislike them yet. I think it's really unfair to judge them on what we EXPECT them to be doing (arguing, him abusing her) based on prejudice and then accuse them of doing it "when the cameras are off." Even after such a horrible leg, they've had almost nothing negative to say to each other*, which I have to admire because I'd be doing a lot worse, and we've seen many other teams (especially Shelley/Nici and Keith/Whitney) act much worse toward each other. They're doing great! It's true that they, especially Jim, could be more verbally supportive; they're not really openly encouraging and complimentary and lovey-dovey like Adam and Bethany are, for example. But they're doing fine. I do think that they're especially self-conscious on camera because their business depends on their reputations. But I also think that they've been married so long that they know how to communicate and deal with stress effectively. Jim was quiet at the RB, and in the pit stop interview, because he was beat down. And anyone with eyes as bright and skin as dark as his is going to look like he's glaring all the time. (But yeah, I do wish the Save had been burned. It's like a really dumbed-down Express Pass). *If anything, the bonus clips show Misti scolding Jim a little for losing his concentration and getting lost on the way to Sweden, because he was so frustrated at having wasted $50 on a Denmark guidebook. (They had to sell the guidebook in Sweden to a stranger in order to have enough money to pay the tolls for the road back to Denmark. Just a poor leg all-around for the Dentists.) But even then she's not really throwing blame, she's just getting him to focus on the here and now. I'm happy the bikers got first place, but a large reason for that is because they got a 2-4 hour lead on the other teams on a flight that the Dentists somehow missed. (I would be surprised if that flight was actually full when the Dentists got their tickets, and then seats opened up in the intervening 12+ hours on the ferry.) They're doing pretty well, but Kym's memory was not that great!

I know it's doing more poorly in the ratings, but I'm enjoying the switch to Fridays, because I can watch the episode on the website after midnight (I don't watch it live) and then immediately take another hour to watch the bonus clips without worrying about having to get up early the next morning. And due to the clips, I'm enjoying the season so much more than normal. This week's clips were especially delightful. It's a shame they didn't have time to show more of the Puffin Man at the pit stop, because he was consistently cracking Phil up and it's pretty funny. Bethany was all, "Phil's crying!" You also get to see some teams' reaction to being told that they "get to" (had to) camp out on the beach overnight. My favorite clip shows all the teams on the beach, trying to assemble their tents in the wind and discovering they had to cook their own food over a campfire. Of course some teams (Adam and Bethany) were really into it while others (Tim and TeJay) hated it. I'm still enjoying almost all the teams. I even don't personally mind the Dentists. Yes, it's annoying that Jim is obsessed with being first, but unlike so many other odious dominant teams from previous seasons, they are so far unfailingly polite with the other teams and with each other. And they are not shit-talking the other teams behind their backs either. Jim is super-confident but so far that hasn't translated to bad behavior. He's not yelling at Misty (yet), and Misty, while a little quiet, is also tackling every challenge with enthusiasm and cheerfulness. So I just can't hate them yet. That being said, I still kind of resent the fact that they were cast, because a team like this who comes out and says they will dominate the race usually does, unfortunately, and it's just so BORING to watch a team like this dominate the race. Especially a team like these two who, while not rude, are still pretty boring to begin with. So I'm still rooting for their elimination. But my biggest ire is saved for Keith and Whitney, who besides being unrelentingly generic (WHY were they cast???) are also constantly bickering. I guess it wasn't so bad in this episode, since none of you are complaining about them, but they get so many long bonus clips, and almost all of them are about how they're constantly sniping with each other (like we saw on the beach in episode 1). It's apparently so bad that Phil has taken to incredulously quizzing the other teams about K&W's drama at every pitstop. So I want those two to be gone immediately. Unfortunately they're just the sort of bland, just-athletic-enough just-smart-enough generic bickering couple that makes it to the end of almost every race! All in all, though, a great episode.

That's the idea, yes. There is (1) the pain of having to compete against your loved one, and knowing that your actions did or may have contributed to their ouster. And, well, I was going to list a second point, but really it all boils down to that. Which sounds cheesy and manipulative, which it is, but it really did work in the first BvW season, and led to some surprising strategy decisions. In this case it probably does increase Natalie's chances, because the others are more likely to target someone who still has a partner. In other cases, a group may vote out a particular member just to inflict emotional pain on a threat on the opposite tribe in the hopes that it will knock them off their game. Then after the merge, there comes the possibility that you may feel you have to vote out your loved one in order to give yourself a real chance of winning (which, SPOILER, actually happened). Then of course we can always hope to see if a pair can actually make it to the end as the final two (or 2 of the final 3), which I don't think will happen in a million seasons, but then again I never thought a winner would win again! With the previous season, with Redemption Island, there was even more potential for loved-one drama, because (1) you would actually witness the Redemption Island Duel that eliminated your loved one, which always led to tears, and (2) there was the possibility that you would be in the duel with your loved one and eliminate them yourself, which leads to even more tears.

Count me in as a big Twinnies fan on The Amazing Race. Sure they're loud, and they argued with each other a lot, but their arguing was always good-natured, and I just admired how they tackled every physical challenge with fearlessness and enthusiasm. I wanted them to win both seasons and was very disappointed when they lost first in the all-star edition. And I'm also disappointed that Nadiya went off first here. As for her calling Josh a 'girl', that was very disappointing. I've heard many gay guys call themselves girls, basically in jest.... and that's as far as I'm going to try to defend her there. I'll remain a fan of Natalie until she says something equally ignorant. U-Turning and even money-stealing doesn't bother me at all, it's just part of TAR, where alliances don't make much sense anyway. If Dale has a problem with them, then I have no use for him. I think he said the Twinnies were, um, "distrustful" (??) in a camera interview, which would seem to indicate that's his real opinion of them, not just some excuse he gave to the men to vote her off first. I also don't think Dale has the idol, just a piece of a clue to its location. In every previous season, the actual idol came with some sort of note saying "This is the idol, these are the idol rules" -- even the ones that were disguised as ordinary objects. They can always change the rules, but I don't think they'd change that rule. Plus I thought I read that the idols this season would be buried so they'd be harder to find. PLUS, if it actually were the idol, the soundtrack would probably have given us a hint (probably something comically plunky to indicate that Dale is an idiot). The "random" selection of teams WAS probably staged, but I'm guessing it was a recreation of a real random selection they did prior to filming. The producers have pre-selected the teams in prior seasons before (e.g. the first 4 seasons!) without staging a fake on-camera tribal selection, so it doesn't make sense for them to start faking it now. I think for some reason they wanted it to be random again, but they also felt it important to be wearing their tribe colors, to make it easier for the viewers -- who have to learn 18 new faces (originally 20!) as well as all the relationships -- to get to know everyone more quickly. Josh's vote seems really dumb to me. He's trying not to alienate anyone, but if they figure out how he voted he'll probably alienate everybody (especially Baylor). Nobody likes a floater. I know this is a dumb thing to say, and maybe also offensive, but did it strike anyone else that Reed and Josh look like a thirty-years-younger Joe and Bill (team Guido from TAR 1)? Especially Josh? Just me then? I thought I had more to say but now I can't remember. Oh well!