lilysmom

I think they didn't take the 2 hour penalty right away because everyone was struggling the same way. It was truly anyone"s game at that point, and until the beards shared the correct answer with the other two teams and De and Gary had their epiphany, it was too late.

I can't speak for where his thoughts came from, but I would imagine part of it was resentment at the realization that he and Gary had not been part of the final alliance and that people he trusted had turned on them. Again, the two of them were just not paying attention to what was going on around them. Rationally, each alliance member had to realize that as the numbers dwindled, SOMEONE had to go. Gary and Deangelo thought that after the alliance ended, it was every team for itself. So I imagine De's reaction was partly aimed at himself.

So, they give penalties for a partner offering help, but throughout this whole race, the alliance gave each other help and advice and sometimes actual answers and nothing happened!

I think she was right about the laughing! Probably not for the reasons she thought!

I also wanted De and Gary to u turn the boyfriends or Hung and Chee, but I think at that point, they thought they were still in an alliance with them. If they weren't able to figure out that one of the five had to go (and that originally it was them) they just aren't paying attention!

I think I most dislike the fact that the boyfriends (who practiced various roadblocks before the race--smart!) is the fact that they obviously thought out the idea of an alliance long before the race began. Grab enough teams to work together from the very beginning of the race to get rid of those who aren't fortunate enough to join. (And has been mentioned before, it seems like it was luck that brought them together.) Use the alliance members to help you go forward in a pack and then, when it gets down to 5, pick off the two underdogs. I don't think they could have thought all that through while on the run. I have to give them credit, though, the alliance never fell apart until this week. Good strategy, bad TV and bad racing!

I felt bad when Deangelo and Gary U -turned Aparna and Eswar, but I think they did it for the reason a U turn was placed in the game. However, when the bearded boys U -turned Deangelo and Gary,(knowing they were ahead of them already) they just did it out of meanness so that Aparna and Eswar wouldn't be able to U -turn any of their new and improved alliance. So, as I see it, they are the real villians here. (Was really hoping they would U turn the boyfriends!) I think so much of this race has not been a race as the "alliance" just kept working to eliminate anyone not in the alliance. All five of the teams felt pretty protected up to this point. Now Aparna and Eswar realize they are not part of the final 3 alliance. I hope Deangelo and Gary aren;'t the next ones to find that out! Not a fan of U turns as they are now done.

Or, even better, a hot dog with mustard!!

Thank you for your insight!

Quick question, hoping someone will know the answer: Is threatening suicide/committing suicide a cultural thing in this part of the world? I'm not being callous, just wondering. It seems to me there was some talk that Sumit had either threatened this or tried before so his parents would give him money for his divorce. (I hope I just didn't make that up.) Or could it be a family thing/threat?

And I think it really works if you want your spouse to have EXACTLY the same ideas, thoughts, philosophy of child rearing, earning power, housing, religious beliefs, language, family structure/ties as you have, to stick with someone who shares those things with you. My guess would be that it would be difficult for me to move half way around the world and find someone who shares those things with me. If we are both willing to adapt and compromise, it may work. It doesn't seem like any of the couples are willing or can do that, especially the US citizens.

As a directionally challenged person, myself, I can relate to their issues! When I allow my instincts to kick in, I INSTINCTLY go in the wrong direction. It hasn't happened once or twice, it has happened a million times over the past 70 years!! Thankfully, my husband is just the opposite and it seems he is always able to get us where we are supposed to go. Thank goodness for Onstar and Google maps!

I thought something very similar to this. When you give an answer to a puzzle outright, (i.e. Sauerkrautgate) you should be penalized time wise. Bet the teams would think twice before they did it again, or even once! I think it is more grating this time because from the very beginning, a few teams were purposely left out of any help like that. And I think you are absolutely correct about the remaining teams, the "race" is about to begin!

I still think that if I were that against my son/daughter marrying someone as much as Sumit's parents are, I would not borrow money from my relatives, banks, and even friends to finance his divorce from wife #1. I guess the difference would be if I were responsible for the original marriage, but no, even then...

Haven't seen anything so convincing since my 3 year old granddaughter was having a hissy fit in the living room and we all got up and went into the family room. She stopped crying, got up, came in the family room, threw herself back down on the floor and continued with the fit!!

Just to be clear, this was not my post that you quoted. I had commented on the post above it (which appears here as mine). My comment was about the fact that Deangelo had told Hung to look for the letters on the way down and I feel that she would not have looked for them if he hadn't.

I'm afraid that ship has sailed!

You are absolutely right! They don't care which of the last two teams would be eliminated. I think it was personal, led by the boyfriends. They have had it in for them since the very beginning. I think the other teams just followed suit. There was no particular reason, except the boyfriends wanted them out! (And they weren't empathetic enough on the ramp!)

But on the other hand, would Hung have known to even look for the letters the first time if Deangelo hadn't mentioned it? I don't think giving answers to each other should ever be allowed. Notice how many of them were given the answers by their alliance. I have always thought there should be a penalty for the teams who do that.

Or maybe Mama Ari brought a washer/dryer with her from the US, along with the fancy stroller, crib, car, and everything else Ari will need!

It's not that I disagree with what you've said. I think that Bini's sisters may be being hard on the wrong person here. He picked her and this wasn't the first time he had a child with an American. The sisters lived through this nightmare before and now they are reliving it. I think they don't want to lose another nephew. Maybe they aren't approaching it correctly from an American point of view. Different cultures express feelings and react differently to many things. It appears that in Ethiopia, the problems are caused by the women and the men are held in higher esteem, so it would only be natural for the sisters to take their brother's side. I do see Bini's embarrassment as he tries to impress her family and even Ari. He found not 1, but 2 apartments before she even came to Ethiopia, (Are you listening Jahoon?) Neither of them were good enough. He is working his butt off (no pun intended) but maybe a little precaution after this happened once, would have changed this whole outcome.

See, I knew someone would remember more of the details than I did! Thanks!!

Didn't Ari's mother already say that they would be willing to help finance a better apartment, but not forever? Of course, that is not the same as raising Avi.

You are correct, Auntie A, but we must also remember, Ari was ALSO raised by Areola's parents! I'm not sure they did such a hot shot job during round one!

I have often thought that the producers purposely plan "catch up" times so the teams aren't in different countries/continents at the same time or get too far behind the other teams. .Catch up includes having the first team arriving at 2:00 am to a museum that doesn't open until 9:00 am, or having only 2 flights to pick from that arrive within a short amount of time at the next destination, If I recall correctly, (which I may be totally wrong about because it was so long ago) the first season had a few teams that were a whole day ahead of the others at the finale. I don't remember the exact details, but I'm know some of you have amazing recall concerning earlier episodes and perhaps remember this. From that time on, it just seems these kinds of delays appear often enough to clump the contestants back together.