blackwing

I'm not surprised that Fabi died. I was only surprised that it wasn't Gwen or someone on her team who killed him. Was that Jacob Reese who was collecting the Nazi crosses in a box and then burned the box in the fire? Why?

I didn't fully follow the CIA plot. There's two CIA officers embedded as Marines who released the terrorist from Guantanamo for some undisclosed reason. One of them is caught and brought up for court martial. The other is in the wind. Then a few days later, the guy who was in the wind re-captures the terrorist. Huh? Why? I was getting so tired of the Harper/Bard drama. He's such a lump and a boring person. Seemed like he had zero personality and not a good match at all for her. I get that she changed after she was caught in the combat situation. So it's not really his fault, but still.

Happy to hear about the renewal! They could easily do a second season... just have the team track down another lost artifact, etc. This reminds me a bit of "Zoo". I'm pretty sure "Zoo" was billed as a limited series. The acting wasn't great, the special effects were awful, the dialogue was clunky, but yet it was a summer ratings hit and got renewed and even made it to a third season. So Gwen has now captured everyone she wanted so far. I thought it odd that they were handcuffed in the front... they can still easily take out someone with a good roundhouse kick. Then fall out of the plane with a parachute just like in an earlier episode. Gwen should have handcuffed them in the back and attach them with chains to a metal ring on the wall.

I enjoyed this episode, particularly the finding of the underground vault. But really, these two people are supposed to be intelligent? They were having a conversation with Father Chuck about the possible location of Cleopatra's sarcophagus on speakerphone in a crowded cafe. Without looking to see if there were any potentially suspicious people listening in. Shouldn't the blonde interpol agent be a bit more suspicious of the Italian carabinieri. He gets information, and then things happen and people die. She doesn't seem very good at her job.

I hated the vote as well... it reminds me of the season when that despicable Aaron (and Arianne) led everyone on a "Twin Hunt" to try and get the naked model twins out of the game. Like, how? Now, the show has actually given people a reason to be nice and bland and not stand out too much. One of the things that has always made TAR stand out from other reality shows is that it really is mostly all about the contestants' own merit. No worrying about making alliances or relying on other people's votes. No real worry about appearing "too strong" like in Survivor. Now it seems that has changed. The vote against the Reillys was purely personal it seems. They are not a strong team. Don't understand why others wouldn't have taken the opportunity to vote for a strong team in the hopes of eliminating one of the two strongest teams. I was OK with Rachel her first two seasons... this time she just irritated me almost the entire time. Still, what an unfortunate way to get helped to elimination. It's odd, I find myself not really caring about the teams one way or the other. Usually I have a strong favourite or two and some teams that I actively despise. This season, they're all kind of competent and they're all just kind of there. I dislike Becca and I find the Aghanimals annoying but other than that I just don't think I really care who wins.

I don't really get their appeal either. They do seem talented but I don't get how they've become a worldwide phenomenon. They don't seem any different than any of the other boybands of the past. And present. Speaking of which, the ageless Backstreet Boys released a "Reimagined" acoustic version of their signature song in celebration of its 20th anniversary. 20 years! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjCgsIx7kDI

I must have misheard. Didn't Rachel and Phil both say that with this leg, she ties the record for most legs? She said something about how this leg puts her into a tie with the Cowboys and someone else for most legs played, and she is the only woman tied for the lead. I would imagine production fed it to her and told her to talk about it. And since she didn't get eliminated this time, wouldn't she break the record on the next leg (even if she does get eliminated)?

Switzerland always makes for great TAR episodes! Amazing scenery. Great tasks. Bungee flying into the gorge. Then that rappelling/canyoning looked like so much fun. I thought it was refreshing that we saw the teams sitting around a table drinking beer while waiting for their train. We so rarely get to see scenes of Racers when they aren't going from here to there. However, as the episode unfolded it was obvious that the only reason we got to see it is because of the impending drama. I miss random Eat Sleep Mingle discussions and confrontations. Two of the more memorable ones to me were 1) when Reichen and Chip talked about how they are gay partners and the ultra conservative Millie the Mole looked like she wanted to crawl under the table. And 2) when Starr was screaming "who threw my SPORTS BRA off the ledge!!!!" I completely agree with this. Yes, I know they are gay males, but they have never come across as stereotypical. They always just seem like they are two friends who are competent and driven. Tonight, however, they went full on into the Flaming Gay stereotype. The comments about the climbing instructor were over the top. Maybe one comment about how he is good looking would have been ok. But they commented about him repeatedly. And then the comment about Colin's ass. I don't think it matters that they never said anything directly to the instructor... it was enough to me that they made repeated comments to the camera and somehow the editors seemed to think it was funny and left all these comments in. The double standard isn't about why a woman can comment on a man but a gay man cannot comment on a man. The double standard is that if a straight man had made comments about a woman that I don't think the editors would have left the comments in. "Holy cow, our climbing instructor was so beautiful! She had the biggest rack I have ever seen! I couldn't keep my eyes off those breasts. I got a nice view when she rappelled down!" I've watched the race since the beginning, and I don't recall any male racer ever making such lascivious comments to the camera about a woman. I think in the beginning that the Reillys had good intentions of trying to warn Nicole and Victor about Team Fun's intent to U-Turn them. But then they were like, and hmmm, why don't we get them to do our dirty work for us and U-Turn Team Fun out of spite. Does each team still only get one U-Turn? If so, I believe the Reillys had already used their U-Turn earlier and they did it on Team Fun out of spite (because Team Fun allegedly ditched them after saying they would work together). I think it was a good strategy by Rachel, I just don't fully understand the part about lying and crying and the escalation. I thought it was funny that if this had been an elimination leg that these teams were sitting there bickering. Just like when Corinne and the other one got eliminated. Seems like one constant in both of those. Why does TAR think that the world wants to continuously see Rachel Reilly? I wish both the Reillys and Nicole had been eliminated.

Really hoping for an un-cancellation! That'd be fantastic news. I agree that it would have been better if Tina had survived (and be the big bad in a hypothetical second season). Annoying that Ollerman keeps surviving. Reminds me of Damien Dahrk for a while on "Arrow", he was indestructible and unkillable. IF the show happens to get brought back, whether on ABC or Netflix, I could see them keeping Marika Dominczyk... she would naturally return as Tina's identical twin sister who has always been a CIA operative, and she would work with the team to take down Ollerman and the Trust. It was funny that we have been commenting on how nobody ever walks into the bar in New York, and then finally at episode 13, two senior citizen Trust agents did just that. Why weren't the doors ever locked? Seems like more people should be wandering in.

I think the thing that I found interesting was that all the men wore the white smock that is characteristic of Muslim dress. But it seemed to me that the women just had a head scarf wrapped around their heads, or did they also have a smock/dress and I just didn't notice? I could have sworn I saw the Reillys' neon green tops when they were giving the guy the number of steps. In past seasons of TAR I definitely remember the women putting on head scarves (I clearly remember Margarita putting on a scarf of her own volition during TAR classic) in Muslim countries but I don't recall the men ever having to put anything on. This is the first season I remember where the men had to put on the smock. Someone with a better memory can chime in if the men have in the past?

She had a good message that she wants her daughter to be a strong independent woman. However, in between her sobbing fits, Rachel really should have said... "I want to show to my daughter that she can be a strong independent woman... just like her Aunt Elissa." Elissa really was great at attempting to shut down Rachel's sad sack negativity. Elissa knew they were in last but at no point did she cry about it or refuse to give up hope. She was very positive and kept saying they could make up the time. Elissa should be the role model for being strong and independent. Rachel seems to really think that she herself by appearing on the Race is a prime example of being a strong independent woman, which.... no. She depended heavily on her husband in her first two appearances and leaned on him when she repeatedly broke down crying. This edition... not much better. Anytime anything doesn't go well she just falls apart, like with the water wheel. I do think she has a good heart... I'm just tired of watching her mood swings and I wouldn't mind if she went home soon. That said, I find her entertaining in an inexplicable train wreck sort of way. She is infinitely more interesting than Nicole and Victor, who are just boring as hell. Yes, there is something to be said about being quietly competent, but these two are a complete blank slate almost completely devoid of any personality whatsoever.

Well, the lead female character is supposed to be Egyptian (even if the actress is Hispanic... I think). And Alicia Coppola, although Italian American, is playing a Hispanic character. But I agree... of COURSE the show has to have the prettyboy blonde white guy be the lead actor. Even if his acting skills are deficient. "The Code" is suffering from the same issue... the blonde white guy is the lead actor and surrounded by various minorities as his sidekicks (Asian female as his direct report, black male as his good friend and opposing counsel, Middle Eastern male as his secretary). Come to think of it, more than a few shows seem to have this casting framework. Lead male is a white guy, lead or supporting females are minorities - "Elementary", "Agents of SHIELD", "Smallville", the "Dynasty" reboot... I'm sure there are more. Are there any good examples of shows where the lead male is a minority and the lead female and/or supporting males are white? Just curious. I do agree that Matt Barr is part of the problem with this show... he's just not a very good actor. Were it not for his blonde hair and blue eyes, I doubt he would get many roles. He just doesn't seem very natural, everything seems forced. Like he's trying too hard.

Yes, I'm pretty sure Rachel and her sister were still there. When they finished and left I believe one of them said "love you" or something like that to Janelle's partner. Janelle was so clueless... didn't the clue itself say something about how they would have to cook something? Then they had to go to some guy and get a list of ingredients. None of the other teams seemed to have trouble with this understanding. I agree that the Head to Head should have been at a different place during the leg. It just seems really poor to have it right before the Pit Stop. I actually quite enjoyed Phil's announcing. Just like when he announced the cheese race in Belgium some seasons back. He is informative without being obtrusive. He's like a tennis or golf commentator and he is the polar opposite of Jeff Probst. Jeff always makes everything about him. He's blustery and overly excited and loves to criticise those that he thinks are sucking. If Jeff were to have announced this head to head we certainly would have heard comments like "And RACHEL just can NOT figure out what to do with the blue drum! LEO is just FLYING by her while she sits there FROZEN! LEO wins! Sending RACHEL to await the next team to arrive!!!!" and "FLOYD CANNOT get the drum on the pole! He just can NOT make it happen! What a DISASTER for Floyd! As BECCA looks on and angrily berates him!!!!" Jeff sucks. Phil rocks.

Ok, I don't disagree that he would have won anyways. Ken's only argument was that "I was the provider" and "I have a daughter". Hannah was a complete joke... she seemed to think she was this mastermind player who completely controlled the game whereas it looked like (to this viewer at least) that she did absolutely nothing and she was brought along as the do-nothing goat. However, I think his "my mom is dying" sob story definitely helped to solidify the unanimous vote. Same with Jeremy Collins getting the unanimous vote after his "my wife is pregnant" sob story. I don't disagree that these two played better than their competition in the final tribal, but it's been said before that they are among the elite group who won Survivor unanimously, and I would definitely asterisk the unanimous vote aspect. It was just so unnecessary. I guess in the end, I just have a lot of dislike for this guy. I hated him from the start when he immediately adopted the Survivor Announcer role and the hate only deepened the more he kept ugly crying about his mom. If he knew his mom was that sick, he could have deferred his position for a season or two. Yes it was their dream for him to be on Survivor, but certainly that dream could have kept. I wouldn't be at all surprised if "my dying mom wants to see me on Survivor" was what got him on the show in the first place. I have lots of hate for this massive tool. I hope he gets voted out first and I hope he real cries about it.

I normally don’t mind Rachel, even when she’s at her whiniest, but she was working my last nerve when she was sobbing in the cab. Just STFU already. I knew that Janelle and the other one were going to go home when they talked about being moms. The reveal of new personal information by the editors is usually a death knell on a reality show. I despise Becca and her “fun” meter definitely only works when they are doing well. When Floyd failed at his first drum race, she snapped at him something like “learn how to put the things on the pole next time!” Ok so the Ugandan government apparently doesn’t like gay people. That said, I don’t get why Corey and Tyler were sobbing about it. “The people were SO accepting and welcoming.” I’m like, well, yeah, it’s not like they have “I AM GAY” stamped on their foreheads, so as long as they are friendly to people, of course people will smile back. I’m sure the camera crews don’t hurt either. Also, if it’s so courageous for Tyler and Corey to be in horrible Uganda, how come neither Brett nor Floyd commented about being gay and in Uganda? I have a hard time believing that their camera crews wouldn’t have tried to elicit some talk.