Merneith

Well, that's a relief. Those two never seemed to figure out what the competition was at any given moment. So far, I haven't remembered a single one of these returning veterans. I intend to forget them all over again once this is finished. I sort of figured that the point of this season was to give Josh Hibbard another chance. My understanding is that Peck has a slight speech trouble and the toothpick helps him speak clearly.

Yeah, I'm uninterested in the podcasts, too. I might spend five minutes reading about a show I don't watch, like the Bachelor stuff, but I'm not going to spend 30 minutes listening to people talk about a show I'm not watching. Reading recaps have gotten me into new shows, sometimes. Heck, half the recaps are for shows that aren't even on air, any more. It's cute to do 90210 or Little House recaps, but when the retro stuff out numbers the news stuff, it's kind of sad.

Yeah, Mackenzie's dress was really heinous this round. And the side braid made her look about twenty years older than she really is. She's a beautiful woman. She doesn't need to be so desperate about it. Are we not getting recaps, this time? That's a bummer. I like these forums but I visit the site for recaps, not podcasts. I've started reading recaps over on Vulture. I'll miss them if Previously cuts back.

I was annoyed that they kept suggesting that the Queens needed to look feminine. Why? They're alien insects. Why on earth would they replicate human femininity with delicate features and smaller size? I'm starting to think they had the costumes made ahead of time and just assumed they would all be humans in bee suits. I'm still bugged by the quality level on this show but I've decided if you asked each of these people to make 1 look, they'd never finish in a week. Not sorry Al went home, but really think it should have been the Foreman, whatever her name was. I don't get why Team Twisted Six :eyeroll: can't figure out that they need to have everyone looking like they're on the same movie set.

Who wants to eat some carpet!

I wish I could give you two likes for this!

I already miss the Canvas jury. I thought it was a much better idea to let the people who just got crap tattoos get a say, even if they don't know Chris Nunes' "600 Reasons Why Your Japanese Tattoo Is Jacked".

Team Foreman Six Boobs really should have gone home. His dumb boobs were ok, actually, but his lack of leadership was egregious. Someone should have been making sure that everyone was working from the same design book and that someone is the foreman. Chest girl was the least of their problems.

I can't believe no one else in this brain trust thought to ask if multi-needle guns were acceptable. Even after they've seen DJ Whozits using them - why did no one else ask and switch over? Bunch a turkeys.

Well, that was terrible. Everyone of those makeups was awful. The judges were clearly on crack. The worst rib cage was the one on the black dude, where it was clearly just a giant rib cage parked on top of another rib cage. The wrong rib cage went home. No one questioned the one "Foreman" on why he spent all his time on six boobs. That's what I'm going to call him from now on. Six Boobs. Like Two Chains, but an even worse idea. The beta dude on the white team looked like a dopey linx. The omega dude just looked dopey. The black team looked like they made Star Trek silica monsters. The spines - as said, no one ever makes a movie about vertebra. Just sad, sad, stuff. And apparently we're going to get lots of Reality Show "Drama" this season. So we have that to look forward to.

I'm almost 50 and I've been playing video games constantly since 1976, when my Dad brought home a Pong machine, all excited because it was The Future!

Have you seen the the Da Vinci Robot surgery? It would look right at home next to the Street Fighter booth at the Arcade - http://www.davincisurgery.com/da-vinci-cardiac/da-vinci-surgical-system/ The surgeon sits and uses controls while looking through a magnified 3d image of the surgery. There are four robotic arms for the surgeon to control. It allows for great precision and microscopically small movements. Here's how the Mayo Clinic describes it: I would certainly hope that my robot surgeon was a gamer.

Aw, bugger. I have to watch this for Anthony Head, but I know it's going to give me hives.

OTOH, I choose to believe that production, who sees everything and has even more knowledge than the individuals, knew what they were doing when they showed the cast acting like a pack of middle-schoolers. As everyone says about these shows - if you're getting a "bitch" edit, it's because you said a bunch of bitchy things on camera. Whatever thing you might imagine Vanck doing, all we've actually seen is Brook being a snotty bitch about how he's not the sort of person she'd want to have dinner with. That's all on her.

I was really hard on Vanck in the first episode, but I give the two of them a lot of credit for developing a good working relationship. I like their team a lot, now, more than anyone other than Tara & Joey.

Brooke is disgusting. I wouldn't invite her to have dinner with my dog. Granted, I don't know what Vanck's done to piss everyone else off, but I pretty much hate everyone of these contestants, except for Tara & Joey. I think I'm going to hit the spoilers thread and then I'm done with this bunch.

Honestly, I thought George's wing was the single cleverest thing on the stage. Just a big slab of something sort of vaguely curved to suggest motion is exactly what a deconstructed gargoyle should have. Admittedly, that gold horn did slay me. Everything else was both too predictable and still fell short. The Russian gargoyle looked all wonky. The Deco eagle with the curved, fluffy, feathers wasn't geometrical. The "Victorian" gargoyle was just your basic garden variety gargoyle. Finales are always my least favorite part of any reality show. Everyone feels so burned out by this point. No real complaints about the three finalists but it really was anyone's game.

I just want to be on record - I don't like you, Redmond. Or the Wuss. Or Becca, although I'm still rooting for Team Fun because Floyd is terrific. Seth & Olive - I said last week that we're going need to see some hustle. This would have been the place for it. I'll miss you, rational adults that you are, even though your reputation as a strong team was overrated. Can we get Butterfly to be Sara's new partner? He looks like a way better Racer than Shamir.

I loved Sad Turtle!

I agree with that. Airport drama is even less interesting than taxi drama, which is at least good for something pretty to look at. I want to watch the racers doing things. I'd be just as happy if they booked everyone on the same flight and then staggered the start times according to yesterday's finish. Teams going out because of the travel guide's typing speed is boring to watch.

1. Vanck and Ashton deserve a lot of credit for this leg. 2. So do Michael & Liz - Band geek power! 3. Team Fun - band geeks Forever! A rock climber could win this whole thing. 4. I have no problem with Sara's shadiness towards the Swole Sisters, given that the marked bicycle was literally two feet away and desperately trying to peddle slower the whole time. 5. I have no real problem with Redmond and the other guy's shadiness over the coin flip, which was dumb. 6. Chick with the busted elbow - busted elbows are a misery but it was your own damn fault for spazzing out, sister. 7. Scott - way to face your fears! 8. Shamir deserved a penalty for breaking that window. I'm comforted by knowing that his friends will be playing, "Ow! My Balls!" for him everywhere he goes. 9. Olive & Seth - gonna need more hustle.

Credit where it's due - Vanck & Ashton really delivered this week.

Found Vanck's Mom! (j/k!)

All-guy teams are not automatically better at everything than mixed-gender teams. If they were, all guy teams would win every year. This race really rewards well-rounded teams and partners who can balance each others' abilities. And also, not to stereotype, but - I can't help wondering if some of the guys didn't pick women for partners just to take the whole potential homophobia "problem" off the table. (Scare quotes because while homophobia is a thing, the actual "problem" is the homophobe, not the homosexual.) I am more surprised that none of the women who could choose, chose Jesse, although she did come awfully try-hard, out of the gate. I like the Jessie and Francesca team. I hope they go far.

I like this season, so far, as long as Phil doesn't try to make it all about Blind Dates again. I think they have a good mix of people. I don't mind the lack of older contestants, in this instance, since with a couple glaring exceptions, everyone else seems reasonably competitive. Team Fun - I don't dislike them but they will be easier to take once Killer Fatigue arrives. Team Boys - I would have picked Redmond, too, if I were choosing a partner from that lot (and then immediately doomed him, because of course, I'm not anything close to Race material.) A fit Marine who's not going to do any whining is a strong candidate. The other guy's the X games snowboarder, right? Strong team. Team Olive and that other guy - Olive was the other top pick, I think. The other guy is good but didn't really stand out to me. Still, together, I think it was smart of him to choose Olive, so they'd have a range of strengths and sizes. Team Swole Sisters - also kind of a lot to take, but they have potential. Team Vanck, Vanck's Ego, and the Blonde he thought was hot - Sorry, lady. You seem cool but there was too much load in that boat. Team Butcher and whoever else that was - yeah. He's annoying but she's was useless. Team Lolo - too much competition to be the showgirl, here. Team Longhair - they earned that penalty fair and square. That's all I remember. So happy to have the race back!