Tango64

Agree. It’s all so elemental if they wanted to solve the mystery. That’s why I think they just got called off and told to go away. The producers told Nev, “They’re not budging and getting pretty hostile. We’ll have to leave and let legal take it from here.”

I almost get the feeling that the mom or someone else told the producers to break it off, that’s all you’re getting. In the pre-Nev investigation the producers might have gotten the whole story, but then the people refused to go through with it on camera and left it with, “So sue me.”

I was confused by the whole thing because I thought surely she's been in the water already by this point in the game. But maybe not? At first I thought she was concerned because her muscles were so wasted from the exertion that she wouldn't be able to swim. But then she doesn't want to swim back to the boat. And then she swims back to boat looking pretty strong. Wierd. What went wrong with screening this season's contestants?

The show's promising concept is ruined by sticking to a strict, never wavering formula. We can all recite it ourselves and we know what scene is coming up next as we watch. I'm sure the formula makes production and editing very efficient but it makes every episode feel like the last one. Just change the names, force some emotion from the owners and staff, and move on to the remodel and new menu. End with Gordon outside summarizing and walking off as he mutters about something he couldn't beleive. Throw in what we now know is a lot of fakery, and you've wasted a good premise for the sake of churning out episodes. I guess they're counting on us to hang on in hopes of seeing something genuine.

The unresolved story with "Boulevard" was odd. I thought the producers already sussed out the real culprits and story line before Nev played catch-up for the cameras. Surprising they would go ahead with a story that has no payoff.

Amen. I suspect the producers feel like they need to show some of the gritty, bad parts of life in that era lest they be accused of just glorifying super rich white people. So they create a separate plot line that feels like a different show entirely, and just tiptoe around the ugly parts. Not necessary.

Re concerns over self-navigation creating too much of a lag between teams and telegraphing who will be eliminated, I've never seen that as a concern and I doubt Phil does either. Sure, it can be exciting to see who ekes out the win or barely escapes elimination, but that's not the only appeal of TAR. I find the navigation or clue foul-ups to be highly entertaining because that's the realistic nature of doing a race like this. Otherwise, you put them all on a shuttlebus like during Covid, they arrive together, and they might as well be doing the tasks in a Hollywood studio.

Marion and the actress are much more successful as a supporting character rather than the subject of the main plot line.

Love the show but alas, it can be a bit heavy handed sometimes. They showed a shot of the restaurant door for no reason as Peggy and the guy were eating, and I said, “Someone’s going to burst through that door soon.” Sure enough, 10 seconds later and here come the racist white men. in the previous episode where Peggy knocked on his door one morning, I said, “He’s going to be shirtless when he answers.” And yep, he was. The hay loft scene did a disservice to what it must have been like in that terrifying situation. I doubt many black people went from “Oh my God, we’re going to be lynched and burned alive!” to romantic first kiss and embrace within 60 seconds.

I wondered why they pulled up mussels in a net bag, looking ready for market, rather than the ropes they showed them growing on. Maybe some regulation about who can harvest the farm grown mussels? (Didn’t matter, just a detail I noticed.)

Jeff just needs to stop.

This Georgia boy thought the same thing. If her parents retained strong Southern accents she might have certain words she pronounced like she heard from them and maybe a soft lilt of the South, but she likely would not sound like she grew up way down yonder. Someone should have suggested the actress dial it back a bit. (A Charleston accent is probably my favorite. 🙂)

I agree, though when Jack's opportunity is discussed it seems we talk of him as if he's in a lowly, dirty job just scraping by in the big city. He's a servant and certainly the upper class he serves looks down on that lot in life, but compared to other men his age in New York at the time he has a quite comfortable, stable, clean, safe job. He dresses and eats well, lives and works in a beautiful, opulent home, though of course his accomodations there are modest. Nothing wrong with wanting to move up, but it's not like he's shoveling coal down at the docks and is desperate for improvement. All that said, I still like the clock storyline and hope his immigrant family name is something Timmexius or Casioman. Perhaps his big revelation will be to strap a leather band to that clock and put it on his wrist.

A chest tattoo of the name of someone you haven't even met? That reeks of desperation and neediness. But she didn't look like someone with a history of good decisions. That giggling, smiling, "aw shucks I don't know what to say!" is perhaps the most maddening response from a catfish. Worse than the ones who are just flat out unrepentant. (Alternate comment: Did they know each other, Lillian is from a past girlfriend, and they faked it all? Have to be so suspicious these days.)

I thought the same thing. At this point I’m convinced they each have a dressing room trailer off camera where every morning they shower, brush their teeth, shave, use the toilet, take any maintenance meds, and pick out a couple outfits for the day. Then it’s back to set to try to ‘survive.’

I thought he was the butler. At first a shy footman questioned her, and then the butler(?) at the last moment. At first I thought it was very unrealistic to think she could change the seating and take the most prestigious spot next to the guest of honor without causing a huge scene. It would have been a brazen violation of the social rules. But then I realized she waited until the last minute when any further questioning would have caused a big scene that was worse than what she was doing. And as someone above noted, I'm sure everyone at the table noticed and was talking about it for the rest of the night. But Bertha got what she wanted.

Ho hum. Same formula, scene by scene. Same unanswered questions, same superficial fixes, same suspicions about fakery. GR: "What you're lacking... (dramatic pause)...is love." 🙄

I liked how as Bruce was getting ready to slowly go look for the money, he was wearing a nicely pressed, clean, collared shirt and putting on pure white sneakers that looked like they just came out of the box.

That was a ridiculous challenge. I couldn't even keep track of what was going on as the viewer, and to expect one person to do all those dishes at once was crazy. The guy who butchered his filet should have gone home. My pet peeve is a restaurant serving me a sliced steak (unless it's fajitas). Do not cut my mf'ing steak. I don't want a cold, dried out ribeye. I want to cut it as I like, savoring the different portions as I want. But doing that to a filet mignon is a violation several magnitudes higher.

Just good to know going forward that the entire episode may be fake, even by reality tv standards. Not good for your brand, Gordon.

With the Zack episode, at least it seemed like a legit Catfish scenario. An actual innocent guy suckered by a couple despicable people. That's unlike some recent episodes that seemed not so legit and just manufactured for the show.

Watching the race for the Fast Forward, I was wondering what would happen if another team managed to catch up to Rob and Corey. Greg and John seemed like they at least had a shot at catching up. If they had, how would they pass Rob and Corey? The stairway looked narrow, so much so that the racers were spreading both arms out to the railings to help themselves up. If Rob and Corey were in that position, would Greg and John just forcibly push them out of the way? Are they allowed to? Scoot underneath the arms, which would seem to require some real physical interaction? Or would Rob and Corey just maintain their climb with their arms out and the other team would have to be right behind them and therefore second to arrive? My reasoning is that the "arms out" position is valid in that scenario, as you're using the railings to help pull yourself up. If they did it purely to block another team, I could see that being different.

Sure, but production could call it off instead of blatantly lying to viewers.

They do that??

Me too. I understood the zipline to be a sort of reward for getting the pass, so I expected they would have to climb back down the stairs. Going downstairs for that distance isn't all easy, especially when your legs are jelly already. I may be revealing a personality trait, but I love it when a team screws up like that and has to pay the consequences. Constant success isn't as interesting to watch.