BarneySays

Heh. That line is funnier and more amusing than anything in this finale. Nobody told me this was RuPaul's Charity Case! That horrible final lipsynch was the most fitting end to this train wreck. I'd love to know how the votes went. But I doubt we'll find out. Probably picked by production. I said before I had no sympathy for kennedy and her poor me! whining. Now I do, because she is going to get a lot of unfair beatdowns. It's not her fault. Good riddance.

I assume the reason was that since he said he had two immunities, he thought they would have assumed he'd use it on himself and brendon. So, the question for him was, which of the women will they choose in our stead. He didn't expect they either (a) wouldn't believe him or (b) stick with voting out brendon.

I don't think wndell was actually helping much by grabbing chris's waist. First, it didn't relieve any of the weight chris was pulling. Worse, it blocked any other person from grabbing the rope because wendell himself did not grab the rope. he fucked up with that move.

I agree with your first sentence, but believe it disqualifies your second sentence. I think his behavior has demonstrated he has no leadership skills. He has barked at people and presumed tehy would naturally accede to his wishes. He is the antithesis of a leader. The person who appears to show leadership qualities is the gym teacher. He seems to understand the people around him and how to get the best from them. That's more the mark of leader than chris's nonsense. I expect he will be eliminated by a large number when the time is right. This made me laugh. I would think just the opposite. A multiple time loser who had to have the deck stacked for him to get the gift victory. He runs his mouth a lot, but has never been good at this game.

Indeed. This is the problem when you throw every twist and turn into the mix. How can there be intrigue between the former team members when we haven't yet gotten to know which ones were previously together. Were Morgan and Angela on the same team previously and the group of them decided to agree to boot one of their own? What happened?

Wow. That episode was terribly edited. The runway was another blink and you miss it coke head's dream. And the skit was also edited down to nothing more than the bits we already saw. Where did all of the time in the episode go? Shangela should get hazard pay because the bitch has been carrying this whole season. She is the only one with anything funny to say in a talking head (with the rare exception of trixie) and her candid scenes are also a hoot. That BeBe side-eye was dead perfect. I find BeBe's grande dame shtick tiresome, but I think she's great on the runway. She does command one's attention and that's a natural gift. I can't muster a jot of sympathy for kennedy. Her whine is precisely why she doesn't attract any interest. Most of her talking heads are her whining or bitching about something or someone. (This seems to be a theme with southern queens.) She's rarely, if ever, witty. She's incredibly defensive and insecure. Her looks are very staid, repetitive, and unexciting. You're an entertainer. You need to learn to be on. To loosen up. Enjoy the moment and draw people in. The problem is not race or some injustice. The problem is your own insecurities. Stop worrying about others and learn to love yourself. Because.... Hands down to me, the single most brilliant performance in the history of this show was Newark's Little Richard. It was so clever, so on point, and so perfectly over the top. If she can channel that creativity, she'd gain a following fast. This episode was a dud. Imagine how much worse it would be if we didn't have our hostess, shangela, to get us through it.

That hasn't been the case in a looooooooooong time. The 6/4 split is actually not that bad, considering for a time there, they didn't enforce/have that rule at all anymore, or an even worse split. Judging by wikipedia, the split has been even (of course, if there are an odd number of road blocks, even would mean a 7-6, 6-5 split). The only variance in the last 15 seasons or so was when they really stretched the rule for the hideous smug father son team. In all other seasons, the road blocks were evenly split.

Again, I don't think that is correct. We have had a number of seasons where the person completing the roadblock was dictated in the clue to ensure an evening out of roadblocks between team members. That controverts the notion that the rule is a fixed 6 roadblocks. If you are referring to the Newlywed game task, that couldn't be a roadblock by definition because both members actively participated (based upon the reports). A roadblock is a task which one only team member may complete... It's also interesting that production chose to include a "who knows their team member better" task (a first, I believe) on the season when they're stunt casting dating team appears.

Ah, my bad. Yes, that show is even cheaper to produce- as cheap and tawdry as the contestants they attract. It's the one show on TV that seems real low life reality whores. Even the bachelor type shows seem better. I admit I don't watch any of them, but have seen random bits and pieces over the years. As for sponsorships, I assume BB has them. I know survivor does- movies, frito lay and other food companies, and occasionally a fast food chain like TGIF. They all try to squeeze some extra revenue out of the programming, I believe. Yes, of course, you may pick the wrong piece to start with and then you're screwed for that attempt. I did not mean to imply there was a way to get the correct result without trial and error, but that there is a logical way to approach the trial and error. If one piece had no duplicates that one piece would be correct. But you'd still have to go through the trial and error for the remaining five pieces. Unless I'm missing something. There were 12 legs this season. If one piece only had one sticker, that means that at least one other piece would have three. That adds an interesting twist.

Yes, there is. One would start with one piece (eg, the propeller) and then eliminate any pieces that contained the image(s) on the propeller from contention and then select another piece and do the same. Once you had no viable pieces (before completion) you would know you made the wrong choice. Then go back to the last spot where you had to make a random choice and try that one. Then go back further one step, etc. You can do this by simply moving them around on the ground and then assembling when you have the right combination. There were only 64 possible random combinations. This number would be cut down by the exclusions of duplicates. I was surprised it took them so much time, he says from the comfort of his couch. I imagine adrenaline, jet lag, and anxiety probably played a significant role in their thought processes. ETA: I would imagine TAR is far more expensive to produce than survivor. Hell, it appears on that show they have simply put up a set in a tropical setting and film there each season. The logistics of TAR must be as challenging as that last puzzle. Trying to avoid huge gaps between teams, without eliminating the excitement of the race by constant bunching must be quite a challenge- along with possible last minute airline schedule changes. Survivor probably costs $20 plus Jeff's rider to put on.

Actually, there were only 504 possibilities. Zero would be excluded, so the options were 9 x 8 x 7. So, it would have taken just less than 17 minutes. However, if they each tried different combinations at the same time, it would have been 8 1/2 minutes. Personally, I think that approach should have been disallowed for this very reason.

I don't think that is the correct rule. It has been that each team member had to complete an equal number of road blocks entering the final leg. Someone may think it was "no more than 6" because there are usually 11 roadblocks on the race. They instituted the "must split the road blocks" rule to avoid precisely what we witnessed this season- couples teams where the man does most the work and the woman gets carried along (to the win in the case of the insufferable flo and now the execrable jessica). The only other time the even split rule was not enforced was when the sanctimonious father-son team were allowed to go 8-5 to try to ensure, like in the present season, that a preferred team would make it to the final.

I don't think she actually did this. She "crowed' about their intelligence and resourcefulness, but I would guarantee she doesn't attribute those to yale. It's the other way around- their talents are what got them into yale; yale didn't bestow those qualities on them.

According to wiki, this season had the fewest roadblocks since they instituted the split rule. In the only other season with 10 roadblocks they were split 5-5. Of course, there was the other rigged season where the nasty father son team split roadblocks 8-5. This ranks in the gutter with that season.

Those were two great episodes. The final task was a variation on the props final task in season 13 (I think). Well done. But I'm pissed that they did not have the usual number of roadblocks so that jessica could be carried to the end. Fuck production for that. Frankly, I'm fine if they cancel the show if they're going to engage in this level of manipulation. And I love the amazing race. It's a bitter pill considering the final legs were the best in a very long time. The one thing i will give jessica is that she asked for a check after each change, which was the smart move. If Henry had done the same, he would have won. Also, didn't like the in-crowd bullshit, which was worse than the Cho Pack. The latter at least were eliminated relatively early. Jessica's black soul will rot her from the inside. Couldn't happen to a better person .

The last few seasons have been so long that I lose interest and couldn't care who wins. This episode was my threshold this season. Enjoy.

I did not opine that they were being mean to the Yale team, nor did I take any other views that it appears you are ascribing to me. I merely stated that i think jen is being juvenile and disingenuous. She said they were not excluded because they went to an ivy and were not excluded because the other group were jocks. They were excluded because evan wasn't friendly enough to them early in the race and she didn't realize she was dealing with emotional beings. When evan came around it was too late for the group. That is puerile IMO and she undermines her own assertion of innocence. I suspect the only reason she brings any of this up is because she must be getting heat for her treatment of the yale team. For me, she had been one of my favorite players among all the seasons- pleasant, kind, no drama, enjoying the race. She probably should have just kept her mouth shut because her blog post made me think she's fake. As a side note, I thought she was a lot older. I would have more easily believed the blonde was 42 and she was 36.

For me, Shangela is the entire show. She has been an hysterical narrator and has consistently delivered the best lines. I expect she will be the runner-up because her reward is all of the camera time she is getting. It has certainly made me a big fan. I am having my full of ben dela creme, with his twee personality and those damned curls. Enough already. She is certainly very witty and quick on her heels, but just can't warm up to her. I think she will be another runner-up because I imagine the judges will become as tired of her repetitive looks and performances as I have done. And she's getting the winner edit too heavily. I thought Paul Lynde was a lazy cheat, especially when compared to Kennedy's Little Richard, which I think was the best snatch game performance of all time. She brought out the drag queen that is richard and worked it to the hilt. It was the perfect combination of mimicking him and caricaturing him at the same time. Ben's Paul Lynde was simply a mimic. Kennedy's turn here was simply terrible. And I always bristle at these queens who take it all so seriously and personally. It seems to be a tendency of the southern queens. I am not finding this season to be a star turn for any of these queens, except ben and shangela. The rest have been truly lackluster. I never got trixie's drag- there's too much hiding behind that mask- her look is too impenetrable. She'd have to add a real high-energy zaniness (an over the top personality) to go with that over the top face. But she ain't got it. I did think her runway look was the best thing I've seen her do. it had a lovely gilles et george style quality to it. With Chi Chi it appears she smoothed out the rough edges and was left with only a flat surface. She needs to bring some more personality into her drag again. She was flat and dull this entire season. I wonder if it was production that encouraged her to do that. It didn't make sense any other way and her explanation was daft.

This seems to be a case of "you made me do it." That is, that we're not nice to the yale team because they weren't friendly enough with us. That seems juvenile. Jennifer's blog bit posted above seems awfully defensive and frankly unconvincing. She is a grown woman. She should just own up to her behavior. Evan wasn't warm enough to her so she and the others decided to isolate her. That's their prerogative (and I bet evan wouldn't care): Just own it. I think her comment that by the time evan decided to be friendlier with them it was too late seems churlish in light of, as you point out, evan always seemed pleasant and polite to the others. I think this is belied by jennifer's statement about it being too late for evan to get friendly. That indicates that she had made a decision not to befriend evan. Again, that's her prerogative.

I doubt that. Once you leave high school, you leave that kind of nonsense behind, especially in the path they have chosen- top tier school, moving into the professional class. Of course, some people stay in that mentality, but I think it's more likely that they simply move in different circles than the rest of the teams and neither group relates easily to the other because of that difference. The notion that they are somehow defensive around the rest of them seems laughable to me.

The math looked extremely basic, which is probably why she responded with why? Even from my couch I knew that the problem had to be the measurements, in particular that restless leg of their model (she should get something for that restless leg syndrome). Which, in fact, it turned out to be. I would have had the same reaction as she. I believe the only person who said she wears the pants was- surprise!- the retrograde "in everyone else's bbb woman. Of course, she would view them from her very limited (testicles? really, dumbasss?) prism. I would think that henry is well aware of her personality and tendencies, since they were debate partners before dating. I think their experience debating probably impacts a lot of their behavior on the race. They clearly are focused on the competition aspect. Sitting apart from your competition at a tournament is a common thing (until they are waiting for the final results). It's probably done more so at the college level. The other smart people you mention were much older than 22 and just out of college. Those first five years out of college make a big difference IMO. If anything, they are probably overthinking a bit too much. For me, this was a frustrating episode(s). The editing seemed particularly bad. There were so many changes in position, but we saw little of the why and they didn't use these changes for dramatic effect. The order just seemed so random. The ocean spray story was boring. The pots task did not play well on TV. Milking as a roadblock has run its course. The log dragging was okay, but would have been better earlier in the race where using the scale would have required more strategy. Even the scorpion eating was rather bland. Perhaps the downside of the lack of drama in hte teams (except BB) is the lack of drama on the screen. However, the elephants were, as always, spectacular. Must. Do. Elephant. Detour. And to be rewarded with a ride! The editing seemed to turn against Yale. BB continues to get a winner's edit (did we really need to see the idiot buying sneakers?). This is one season where it does appear it could be anyone's game in the end. Hat Tip to the poster who identified Peri Gilpin as Jennifer's look-alike. Now I can sleep again! She remains one of my favorite racers of all time. Above all else, she has great energy.

Actually, Betty Boop is a reflection of the Vargas look, very popular at the time. Also, her look was not "pedo" or juvenile. It was a popular look. I suggest you google a picture of toby wing, a berkeley girl. Her face is very close to betty. It's odd to think of a cartoon with such a voluptuous figure as "juvenile womanhood." Her character is also very Mae West- no one could ever call Mae West juvenile.

I would highly recommend you watch the pre-code betty boop cartoons. They are funny and racy and often include music by great jazz/blues legends. They're pretty phenomenal.

That and- it just dawned on me- they are probably the only two racers left who have a college education. I think that might be a first for TAR. There may be a sense of otherness at play, too.

It might be perfectly reasonable to expect help from someone she helped during the race, but unreasonable to expect another competitor to save her from her inabilty to complete the task. In the context of the race, it would be completely irrational to expect another team to come along and save you solely for your personal benefit. Entitled and solipsistic is how I would describe that. I don't think any contestant on the race has ever articulated the argument, I helped team B so team C (whom I've never helped) should feel obligated to help ME. Personally, I dislike when teams help each other. The globetrotters were carried through many tasks (not Kafka, of course) because other teams gave them answers. I'd rather watch each team rise or fall on their merits. There may be good strategy in helping a weak team in order to minimize competition, but that yields the beekman boys, the most undeserving winners in the history of the show IMO. I don't think anyone is giving evan "credit" for not helping them, as that is standard practice in the race, especially when you think you might be in last place. As evan and the twin entered the space, the two dummies said immediately "this is hard, do you want to work together?" They clearly were not looking to work together, but to be saved. evan responded, we'll see, we're going to try it first. Which is what I would expect any racing team to say. She didn't say it with an attitude. They were ambushed before they even had a chance to see what they needed to do. They would be morons to agree to work together before they knew whether they needed to work together with the dummies. I don't agree that this was dangling anything and then snatching it away. Quite rationally, they wanted to determine for themselves if it would be to their advantage to work with the dummies before agreeing. I think you would have a point if she said yes, but let us try it once first and then ran off after completing it. I think they did what any other person would have done in that situation. I can't recall a situation in the history of the race where a team agreed to work with a struggling team before knowing what needed to be done. Some of the TAR scholars however may recall an incident. Recall that Brittany was also able to complete the task in one try. So it wasn't as hard as they claimed. I don't think asking for help is hypocritical. It's complaining about someone not helping you, when you withheld information (albeit for a short time) when you agreed to work with others. Also, they had just done the swap with the twins and had an extra task to complete, so it's not surprising the twins gave them some information (just as indy did to bb). Also, you'll recall that evan worked with another team at the phones. But that was for their mutual benefit. There was no benefit to evan and the twin in rescuing the other two from their own inability to complete a task.