[S26.E03: #MurphysLaw (Phuket, Thailand)]

I don't like the all-dating couples angle. I like more variety in the team relational dynamics. But they even made too many dating couples too similar. Steve and Ally seem nice but they simply do not register for me personality-wise, at all. Same thing for Ashley. I can't tell Matt and Tyler apart. Laura looks like Amy Adams and that's it.  ...

 

Reading this I realize I don't know who ANY of these people are on the Race.  Including someone named Amy Adams which I take isn't on the Race.

[S03.E01: A Death In The Family]

Previews showed during "The Returned".  Weird placement, but I'm telling no spoilers for next week because . . .  yowza!

 

Cables shows do this to lure people into continuing to watch a new show because you are waiting for the preview.

 

Thanks for the info.  And if that is what some shows do to get you to watch the next show it backfired totally on them with me.  I would never have believed they would put a sneak preview on a different show.  That kind of manipulation goes too far and irks me out enough that I'd never watch the other show ever now.  Not that I would anyway, hah.

 

But the funny thing about the manipulation was it was done so poorly.  They should have had a voice-over saying there would be a special preview of next week 's Bates Motel during the next show.  Instead I was left with the impression that with no preview they were already going to skip a week until the second episode.  They usually skip or show re-runs of other shows like say NCIS or Big Bang the following week when there are no previews at the end of their episodes. 

 

Glad I asked here.  Thanks for the replies.

 

Instead of adding another post right away.  Ganesh said:  "Additionally, wasn't there a bit of a time jump?"

 

I don't think so.  First season he was a junior in high school.  Second, it became summer vacation.  Now he is a senior in high school ... er ... home school.  I agree with you that  he is growing creepy at about the right pace too because no way this series goes on and on long term. 

 

But I kind of disagree about Emma surviving because there is no Emma around by the time the original film's time frame comes along.  I do think she will survive longer term and goes out either right before or after Norma does.  Maybe one murder triggering the other somehow with Dylan in the mix too.  Or she dies of natural causes -- her medical condition -- which triggers things into their final story arc.  Only way she survives is if she flees town at the last minute but my money is not on that alas.  Not with her medical condition being central to the show so far. 

 

Be interesting to see how they handle the ending for this series when it comes.  I wonder if the show runner had a set ending in mind -- other than Norma's murder -- or had several possibilities open for Emma and Dylan.  Well maybe not as many for Dylan.  The real person the character of Norman Bates was based on (or "inspired by") apparently had a real brother (half-brother, not sure???) who disappeared without a trace and was never found if I recall that correctly.  Which probably lead to this prequel developing said relative into a character given a ready made drama situation handed to them by history. 

[S03.E01: A Death In The Family]

I got to say the sheriff was awesome at the bar.  He should go join Ragnar on Vikings asap.

 

We'll we got our first shower prequel scene.  Our little Norman is growing up into the real Norman right before our eyes.  I like that Norman's basic defense was: "The racoon made me do it." 

 

Wonder where the Room #4 young woman's body parts ended up and what Norman will do with his brand new car he won't be able to explain away.

 

Interesting there were no previews for next week or did I somehow miss them?

[Speculation with Spoilers: We're all Seers Now]

I hope Floki goes to Iceland soon.

 

Okay, that was funny.

[S26.E03: #MurphysLaw (Phuket, Thailand)]

Regarding getting the engagement ring through customs, do the racers (and crews) get some kind of special treatment in airports? Does CBS essentially vouch for the honesty of the racers so they can just hand over their forms? Or is there a risk that someone can get pulled out of line and subjected to a random intensive search and questioning that causes someone to miss a connection and lose due to bad bureaucratic luck?

 

According to one of the Guidos, the camera crew all have to go through a long itemized checklist paperwork thing every time they enter a country.  The technical gear always gets a long look over.  Sovereign countries do not change their customs and immigration laws for a reality TV show or a American TV network.  TAR can't nullify laws.  Every Racer goes through the same procedures just like every other person.

 

I agree with a poster above that if it wasn't a fake ring then she probably just wore it on her finger going through.  The whole thing was totally staged and was hardly a surprise to her.

 

Customs has played a role before.  I think maybe the most prominent example was Rob and Amber's cameraman getting screened when they were eliminated in All-Stars?  Pretty sure I remember them claiming that afterwards.

 

Never heard that but doesn't surprise me.  He was complaining on his first race that Uchenna & Joyce got on the final flight.  So why wouldn't he blame customs on TAR All Stars?  What a whiner.  Every team runs into problems whether it's customs or bad cabbies, bad info, flat tires whatever.  Wimp.  And he was neck-and-neck going against Mirna at the roadblock at the end.

 

In the immortal words of Mirna as she departed the post office, "See ya.  Wouldn't want to be ya."

[S26.E03: #MurphysLaw (Phuket, Thailand)]

Is it prejudiced to not like someone based on a physical characteristic?  Whether or not she can control her voice, the high pitch does make it difficult to listen to.  When she slows down, her voice is not as high, I think the annoying factor  has to do with how fast she speaks and how much she says, as much as her high voice.  

 

Yep I think it is prejudice to not like someone based on physical characteristics.  That is pretty much one of the main definitions and manifestations of prejudice.  Disliking a person because of a lisp, the color of one's skin, a gender or the register of their voice?  It's all prejudice to me.

 

Also jackhammers don't have feelings, humans do.  To me there is no excuse to ever injure the heart of another.  And it seems clear this nurse has been injured by continual behavior towards her by this doctor.  No one likes to be belittled by being ignored.  It hurts like hell.  No one wants to be made to feel they are inferior to another.  It hurts like hell.

[Speculation with Spoilers: We're all Seers Now]

Only trouble is that this Athelstan is more Team Norse Gods.  Maybe a bastard son would be more Team Christ God (tm Floki).

 

I'm sure Athelstan has been inspired by several historical characters and dead to rights Hirst must have chosen his name based on that king and some of his characteristics.  I'm totally with you there.

 

But he also used a couple of monks who had been captured by Vikings who were actually crucified like this character when they returned to England.  Something 99.99% of Christians down the centuries would consider sacrilegious too but apparently it happened at least twice for real.  In small villages off the beaten track which might explain the weird behavior of the peasants.

 

And don't know this Athelstan's fate but I don't ever see him choosing a side, just tilting one way or the other and more to Ragnar.  He seems a character written to "bridge" the two cultures for the viewers.  The Everyman trope as well since viewers could more identify with someone coming from a standard old western culture and slowly getting immersed into the Viking one.

 

Hirst seems to use characters to represent the points of view of the day.  Just like Floki and Aethewulf were created or shaped by him to have zero interest in each other's cultures and hate them outright.  And Ragnar and Ecbert are shown trying to find common ground whilst staying on their own teams.

 

So I honestly can't see Ragnar vs Athelstan down the line.  It would kind of destroy the whole construct Hirst has made. 

 

I can see Floki leaving Ragnar one day.  We know the one historical Floki I can find in wikipedia (lived maybe a generation or so in the future but, wonky timelines) sailed off with his family to actually navigate to Iceland as opposed to a handful of earlier Vikings who just accidentally stumbled upon it when blown off course etc. and brought back tales of a land of fire and ice somewhere out in the western ocean.  Thus he receives credit as being one of the greatest Viking navigators of all time and the first family to settle in Iceland.  Easy to see why Hirst latched on to him and converted him to a ship builder.  He might well use that factoid to have Floki leave Ragnar at the end of their storyline to sail off to the west with Frodo ... err ... to seek a pure, untainted Norse land free of alien gods.

[S26.E03: #MurphysLaw (Phuket, Thailand)]

^  Maybe she'd talk less if she was ever listened to in the first place.

 

And maybe she can't help she has a high voice.  Why would anyone be prejudice against how a voice sounds?  She can't control that.

[S26.E03: #MurphysLaw (Phuket, Thailand)]

Of course it's not the same. I don't think anyone is saying it is. I'm just saying I can't remember which names go with which dating couple team. That's all I'm saying. The gay teams I can keep straight because one of them is a New Kid. Lebya and C.J. were black. The lawyers I can remember (although not always their names, but I know they are the lawyers) because one is black and one is Asian (Chinese? I can't remember). Also, they showed what I thought were lawyerly tendencies early on. Haley I can remember because she won't shut up (and I hate her voice and her perkiness). Heck, it wasn't until at least halfway through last season that I could remember which one was Maya and which one was Amy. Please don't think I thought they looked alike. (The racers who do look just alike I still don't know which is which; Kami and Karli, for instance. Of course, I also don't care.)

 

Usually, there's another hook to remember people right off. Brothers, friends, frat brothers, models (and addicts!), parent/child, old people. These people blend. That's not necessarily awful. It means none of them are horrible enough to hate them immediately, so that's a bright side. But it means not remembering who did what and who said what without looking it up until the herd thins out a bit.

 

Also, I didn't peg her as Hispanic. She just looked tan and overly made up to me. (Although, for all I know, I supposed one of the blond girls could also be Hispanic. I don't look up more about these people than what I see on TV.)

 

Couldn't agree more.  From the two pictures posted here of the blonde and dark-haired women there is no way to tell which is the Hispanic and which isn't.  I know a number of Hispanics and some are closer to the first picture and some are closer to the second.  Looking at the dark-haired woman I would have just guessed she got a good tan too.

 

And I don't look up more about the Racers either.  Did some with the "meet the teams" way back and just ended up disappointed reading the subtext that showed so many teams were thinly disguised mactors with a "spin" trying to hide that fact.

[S26.E03: #MurphysLaw (Phuket, Thailand)]

She's Hispanic-which nobody else in the cast is.

 

But Hispanic isn't a race.  There are no hispanic-looking features that I know of.  It's a cultural/language grouping of people who either have come from or descended from people who came from Latin America.  And Hispanics are totally diverse.  They come in all shades from the darkest ebony to the lightest ivory.  Whoever this she is, she must look white to me.  And since no one uses last names on the Race who would know if a white person was Hispanic-American or Irish-American or Polish-American or Italian-American etc?  You must have read the Racer's last name but I bet 99% of viewers never read/know/want to know a Racer's last name.  And why should they.

 

Only the Asian woman and the Black man are technically racially different.  They I can recognize as well as the couple where the guy has the big beard (visual hook).  Also the two gay teams cause they are the only two all male teams.  And I can even tell them apart now cause one team dresses in bright green all the time.  See, visual clues. 

 

But the white couples, not a clue.  Nothing really stands out visually to "hook" onto during the 2 seconds of blurred motion. Only when the nurse one rips into Mr Condensation can I separate them from the milk-toast herd.  The others?  Forget it.  They all look alike to me, have no unique personality or story to tell and are all 20-something "couples".  And since they are all so uninteresting I could care less to try and figure them out.

[Speculation with Spoilers: We're all Seers Now]

Interesting theory.  But doesn't Aethelwulf historically succeed his father as king of Wessex?  He is being played up as the English fly in the ointment to peace between the two peoples/religions like he is Floki's counterpart.  Doubt they would skip him after this set-up.

 

I just looked it up on wikipedia and there is a Athelstan but he doesn't show up until about a hundred years and several kings later after Ecbert.  Ready for this?  After Ecbert it goes Aethelwulf, Aethelbald, Aethelbert, Aethelred, the famous Alfred the Great, Edward the Elder, Aelfweard, then Athelstan.  Who knew Aethel-whatever was such a popular boys name.

 

But I like your idea of having Athelstan associated with the Wessex royals.  Maybe he (cough) leaves his "seed" behind to be nurtured down the years?  Why else is Judith being brought into the drama otherwise?  Maybe that child succeeds Athelwulf directly skipping all the other endless Aethels.

 

They do play loose with the timeline choosing the more interesting characters to show.  Ecbert (referred to on wikipedia as Egbert) is about a 30 year leap into the future from Ragnar''s timeline.  So your guess is as good as mine what they are up to. 

 

But I really doubt he (our Athelstan) would fight Ragnar.  Wasn't it King Aella of Northumbria who is suppose to have done in Ragnar in the end?  The snake pit thing.  Then Bjorn and his younger half-brothers, now grown up, show Aella the blood eagle up close and in person.  I mean they showed King Aella throwing one of his lieutenants down into the snake pit in Season 1 was it?  I thought that was a set-up ... or maybe they just wanted to give Aella a chance to use his snake pit on someone and will save a more heroic death for Ragnar eventually.  Historical fiction, hard to tell what is up with it at times.

 

But interesting ideas of yours.  Hadn't really thought about it all much until your post.  Now all sorts of possibilities are popping up in my mind.  Thanks ... I think.  :-)

[S26.E03: #MurphysLaw (Phuket, Thailand)]

Actually that's a very important part in planning the whole season. it's why teams are so often spoon-fed specific flights more often than not

 

It's very rarely they spoon-feed flights outside of Leg 1 when they want to get all of the teams out of the US asap.  You don't want to start the season with a team that basically can't get off the starting line.  But after that it should be every team for themselves.

 

... Blocking out a number of seats on specific flights ensures that the racers don't arrive within a space of DAYS of each other, rather than hours.

 

I confess to being confused as to why they stop at travel agencies in some cities, but go to the airport in others . . . at least during normal business hours.  And (as we saw this week), airport counters close down, too.  I assume their directions make it okay or not okay to stop at travel agencies.

 

But blocking out pre-arranged seats destroys totally the whole premise of The Amazing Race.  Airport navigation has always been central to the race and I love it.  I detest spoon-fed flights on the other hand.  I understand it in Leg 1 to throw them out of the country quickly but after that, except for very small chartered planes to rural areas, I don't  think they should ever spoon-feed any flights.  Hey I'm old school TAR and I loved it when the race was harder.

 

Going to a travel agent vs the airport is one of the choices you make on how you race.  Another important element in TAR.  Who can forget one of the most famous episodes in TAR history ever in Season 2 when Danny & Oswald went to the concierge at a four star hotel to ask which travel agency they should try.  The hotel hooked them up with theirs and they got the best flight from Hong Kong to Sydney and a free, chauffeured limo to the airport.  In the meantime they got to go shopping while awaiting the limo's departure time.  Meanwhile the other Racers were all at the airport screaming at each other and the poor counter people there whilst ending up on the later flight. 

 

It's what TAR is all about.  Multiple choices, not a tourist group planned itinerary.  Imagine if Charla & Mirna didn't sneak off and change their itinerary during a connection because TPTB gave them a spoon fed flight.  They wouldn't have made the riding around the Great Pyramids detour during the hours of operation which was an awesome visual moment.  And we wouldn't have Colin's mad airport skillz getting him to Egypt even earlier.  Nor the drama of if the Bowling Moms could catch up or be stranded in the snows of Russia.  Another classic episode.

 

Now there are times when their clue does tell them they HAVE to get tickets at a travel agency.  In Vietnam in TAR3 it was required because, at that time anyway, you couldn't buy tickets at the Hanoi airport itself.  Happened other times too in other countries.  But usually it's the team's call.  You want teams making decisions and not just along for the ride.  It's their amazing race.  Stand back and let them run.

[S26.E03: #MurphysLaw (Phuket, Thailand)]

Harley & Jonathan: Most times, NELs frustrate me because they save teams who come in last from their own mistakes and screw-ups and thus don't deserve the save.  But this is one time I'll be okay with it, because these two came in last through no real fault of their own.

 

I usually agree with the stuff you say but not here.  The airport was closed overnight.  They had tons of downtime.  They weren't arriving from a task in last place.  They simply chose to go to the airport later than the others to end up last in line.  Why would anyone do that when being early at an airport is practically everything on TAR?  But they didn't bother to do that.  So yeah I'd say it was totally their fault.

[S03.E03: Warrior's Fate]

Plus he brought her a brand spankin' new plow.  What girl doesn't like to get shiny new toys?

 

I think Ragnar was right to berate Bjorn.  If he wasn't forceful enough to convince Porunn to stay out of the battle for the sake of their baby, all he had to do was tell Ragnar (yeah, tattling) who would have forbade her from participating.  In as much as Bjorn caved, they were risking three lives: Porunn's in the heat of battle, the baby's (ditto battle), and Bjorn's as he was distracted by keeping an eye on Porunn.  

 

I hope the show isn't going there with the Wanderer being a magical figure with a healing touch while sacrificing other children.  I'm as much a fantasy fan as anyone (thus using an obscure Tolkien character for an avatar), but I like this show to be grounded in reality and history, not myth and legend.  The Wanderer gave me a Rasputin vibe too.

 

Ha!  Love it!

 

I agree with the first bold part.  Ragnar convinced Lagertha to stay home during the first raid.  He used logic - the kids, fears of the Earl taking over the farm with both of them away.  He used humor - you lead the raid and I'll stay home with the kids knowing full well both knew his crew wouldn't accept that set-up.  He didn't get upset when Lagertha nearly killed him showing him her shield maiden stuff until young Bjorn intervened.  Bjorn should have learned and found a way to protect Porunn from her need to prove herself because a baby is also involved.  And not only did that put all three at risk but Bjorn was distracted from the bigger aspects of the battle and could well have let comrades die by running off to Porunn's side.

 

As to the second point. Sometimes myth and legend ARE history and reality.  Not even everyone today accepts modern day western historical methods.  It is just the latest craze as to what is true or not linked to this "modern era" only so far.  Maybe craze is going to far.  But maybe not too.  We forget sometimes we might not know true reality either.  We use our 5 senses and the mind and technical instruments that simulate the same and leave reality just at that level "scientifically" speaking.  But is that all that is real?

 

Not so much back then.  Back then the reality may well be what skeptics in the modern era think of as legend and myth.  But who is to say what reality is in the long run.  Perhaps it is simply what we perceive in any culture and time frame and we are no different then anyone else in that our perceptions of what is real may be changed radically by future generations too.

 

Michael Hirst, the creator of this series, from the get go has taken us to live back in their era, not ours.  To see the world through their eyes, not ours.  Both Viking and English.  I really respect that he did this show this way.  So I accept totally their reality then.  As a result I think of it as valid a reality as we have now.  Just different than ours.

[S26.E03: #MurphysLaw (Phuket, Thailand)]

I would have been furious if this had been an elimination round because it was so poorly planned. The producers should know whether there are enough available flights and/or seats for all the teams without leaving one stranded behind an entire day.

 

Why?  This is part of what TAR is all about.  The whole point of the show is to turn the Racers loose on the world and let them figure stuff out as much as production can possibly allow.

 

A race around the world (not some level playing field, high school track or something) with all the problems that come with that.  Airplanes being full, bad cabbies, bad advice on directions from a passing stranger.  This is the nuts and bolts of TAR.  Always has been.  Hope it always will be.

 

There have been lots and LOTS of teams stranded in the past.  In most cases had they been there earlier or paid attention to things better they could have avoided this.  Some of the exceptions the Racers can't control have been delays, mechanical problems, miscommunication with ticket sellers, strong headwinds causing a missed connection (Gutsy Grannies on TAR2) and, in one case, an airline flat out lying to two Racers (The Clowns from TAR4). 

 

The team here was left behind because they were last in line.  No excuse not to have gotten to the airport earlier to line-up.  It's on them totally.  And, unlike many a team stranded, they were lucky to get bailed out with Hours of Operation bringing them closer to the pack and a non-elim leg to save them.  They were one lucky team.

[S26.E03: #MurphysLaw (Phuket, Thailand)]

Yuck.  Proposal was corny and contrived.  I guess we know why that boring couple was cast.  Their "pick us for the show" application contained a promise to do just this.  Corny and totally cringe-worthy.  I don't care about their little luuuuv life.  And I assume that was a fake glass prop ring because, like someone else posted, the customs on that thing would have been horrific in both Japan and Thailand.

 

Still can't tell all the endless bland white couples apart except the one with the "told you so" woman who finally got her revenge on the snotty, smug man she has been stuck with this whole time.  And I can only tell them apart when she goes off on the twit.

 

Being in Phuket reminded me of other races. Especially Season 1.  Instead of "look! men dressed up in drag!  isn't this hysterical! (not) stuff we got the real funny with "real men walk with tigers" (Kevin & Drew, we miss ya).

 

I missed having the roadblock.   I miss The REAL Amazing Race.

[S03.E03: Warrior's Fate]

^ No it was an older brother, not her younger brother, Prince Wimpy, here.

[S03.E03: Warrior's Fate]

Based on my viewing of HBO's "Rome", the practice of animal sacrifice was not only well known to the Romans it was practiced with even more flair than demonstrated by the Vikings in this episode.  I distinctly recall a bull's throat being cut and the blood gushing down through a platform to drench the noble Roman lady who stood below (as played by the indomitable Polly Walker.)  Of course it was HBO so who knows if that was accurate or just dramatic license.  The thing that I think is interesting is, why did Christians get out of the habit of making blood sacrifices?  I'm a firm believer that the practice existed from time immemorial as a way for priests and priestesses to make a living (you know that bull in Rome was slaughtered and sold).  Early Christian priests needed to eat too, yet somehow the sacrifice of live animals fell out of favor in that church.  I wonder why.

 

OT:  Blood sacrifices were indeed part of not only Roman but Greek, Hebrew, Egyptian, Meso-American etc rituals.  It was a way to re-new life and was pretty universal in ancient times as far as I know except I don't believe it was part of ancient Hinduism except in a couple of rogue off-shoot cults.  But in the "West" it was pretty universal.  So it would have happened whether money was made or not.  And was.  But money could be made in most cultures too and I'm sure the priests were happy about that.  But the real money was selling live animals before they were sacrificed because a lot of these sacrifices were done for individuals. 

 

It never was in favor in Christianity.  Jesus overturned the moneychangers in the temple who were involved with the selling of live animals for sacrifice saying they had made it a den of thieves or something like that I think it was.  Christianity from the beginning embraced blood sacrifice in it's importance but not in the ongoing practice.  The core belief was that Jesus was the one and only blood sacrifice needed thus none other was ever needed and no ritual killings ever went on from the get go.  Just a communion ritual to remember the blood sacrifice that was made in the form of drinking wine as opposed to blood.  People hung up on modern Christianity's flaws tend to forget just how totally revolutionary it was in the West originally.

[S03.E03: Warrior's Fate]

Ragnar was harsh with Bjorn. I doubt he could've kept Lagerha home if she wanted to go raiding.

 

But Ragnar did just that in Season 1.  Lagertha wanted to come on the first raid to the west and he asked her who was going to look after the kids if they were both away.  Also Earl Harldson had his eye on their farm.  And though he and Lagertha had a "discussion" that caused a young Bjorn to rush in and tell them to stop trying to kill each other already, Lagertha agreed at the end.

 

No way is the Wanderer a secret Christian.  He is anything but.  What his agenda is may remain a mystery but whatever it is centers around the Norse gods, not Christian theology.  (Floki would love his stories). 

 

This episode really showed the continuing parallel storylines of Ragnar and Ecbert down to both having to lecture their lieutenants (Floki and the Wessex nobles) to leave aside the religious differences for now and consider the long term benefits.  Ecbert for leading Wessex to grow and expand via a puppet ruler in Mecia to one day become the future united England.  Ragnar for his people to finally have rich land that can support their growing population and give their children a brighter future. 

 

Of course the slow learners under them are never going to understand.  They never do in history.  The emotional sphere always raises it's nasty head to overwhelm reason time and time again down the ages.  We humans seem to only learn after way too much blood has flowed then we promptly forget the lesson and repeat the same mistake when the next time this same identical problem arises.  Sometimes I think we are a "special needs" species.

 

As for both mens' "emotional sphere."  Well Ecbert was clearly having a better hair day then Ragnar.  Nothing like showing off his favorite place on earth (his bath) to Lagertha and reaping instant rewards as he did his bit for plowing and seeding.

 

Ragnar, on the other hand, loses a close companion, has to deal with Floki going all self-righteous on him and then has to deal with Bjorn screwing up royally by not protecting his wife and future child.  (Season 1, Episode 1:  Ragnar - "What does a man do."  Young Bjorn - "He protects his family."  Adult Bjorn sure forgot that lesson).  Then to cap it all off not only does he have to save the untrustworthy, weak and wishy-washy brother of the Princess but then he has to forgive him for getting Thorstein killed basically.  At least he got a good head butt in.

 

Meanwhile since when has Rollo the Jerk from past seasons become Rollo the Wise this season?  Getting Ragnar and Floki to work together going into the battle, counseling Bjorn afterwards and even helping Thorstein make a good death of it.

 

Also this episode marks the first mention this season of Paris.  It sure won't be the last.

[S30.E02: It Will Be My Revenge]

It's Hali who's the law student, not Jenn.  I think Jenn was shown as being pretty insensitive, but Hali was just more nonplussed at the difficulty of communicating.  I don't have any problem with Hali so far.

 

 

Okay thanks.  I stand corrected.  I think Hali too could have behaved better but I agree she wasn't quite as bad as Jenn.  Jenn however is definitely Ms Smug of 2015.  A totally painful person to watch.  Why did Will miss his chance to be in the ruling alliance, keep the tribe strong for challenges AND get this twit off our screen all at the same time?  It would have been win-win -win for us all!

[S30.E02: It Will Be My Revenge]

I just don't like Jenn. I can't put a reason to it yet, but she irks.

When No Collar loses again.I think Nina is next to go. She may be a bit annoying, but she committed the ultimate unforgivable crime of being over 25. Same thing for Dan on Blue. Why does Survivor even bother to cast "older" contestants? Probst's BS line about bringing together people "from all walks of life" made my eyes roll out of my head and under the couch.

 

Jenn showed in her private confessionals that she indeed did treat Nina like crap.  And she thought Nina must be used to "being cuddled' at home?!? No, Jenn, she was probably treated like a member of the human race.  A person who has worth and value just like everyone else.

 

Jenn is a law student who wants to work for the underdogs of society?  I don't think so.  If so it is in the abstract.  She will end up as a smug lawyer who will only patronize the downtrodden but never see them as her equals.  Then she will become disillusioned when she isn't properly "cuddled" and go off and join a big corporate firm and co-mingle with her fellow "masters of the universe."  She should have been on White Collars tribe from the get go.

 

Nina might not know how to play the game with Will but her radar was right on in what she picked up from Jenn.  And yes each and every season Survivor teaches America that ageism is not just right but totally cool.

 

Say what you want about Vince but he at lest treated Nina as a fellow human.  He was also entertaining.  Him being booted and Jenn staying was a total downer.  Season just got a lot more boring now.

[S26.E02: I Got The Smartest Dude]

You have a choice between the prize package or the cash value of the prize package. Yes, you have to pay taxes on them.

 

Is that an actual fact as in part of the contract the contestants sigh ?  Cause I never heard of that before.  I'd think people would take the cash every time if that is true because the game show prize winnings luxery tax or whatever they call it is what?  Around 45% of the total value? 

 

You could go broke winning those first place finish prizes unless you could transfer-sell a few off to other people.  So if they are allowed the cash equivalent that would be really great news.  But I remember Racers in the past posting about how they gave away one trip to their parents and took one etc etc so I've always wondered about that.

 

As far as the Fit Bit prize, I'd rather have the stupid Kodak digital cameras from Season 3 instead.  Why would I ever want to count my steps?  I get up and go somewhere.  However many steps I take, I take.  End of story.

[S03.E02: The Wanderer]

I'm numb to hacking and severed heads but the killing of innocents gets me, children, villagers. I know it's the show's mo. I also wish the battles were plot devices rather than superhero fodder, Vikings are undefeated. That's just stupid. I wish important characters would die and plot would take twists through battles won and lost.

 

I don't think it is the show's mo as it is history's mo.

 

And we had some major characters go down so far.  King Horik and all his family except his son, Erlander.  Jarl Borg.  Earl Harldson (sp?) and his daughter.  Ragnar's daughter.  Several of Ragnar's closest companions from his early raids on as in One Eye and the guy who volunteered to sacrifice himself at Uppsala (Leif was it?).  And it isn't looking too good for poor Torstein right now.  But let us not kill off real historic people before their time because there is fiction in this for sure but also some very very real history as well.  There are real historical characters here who have to do some real historical stuff yet.  So the plot is driven by real history which I love.

 

And what Bongo Fury said about the biggest battle they fought so far where Horik/Ragnar lost to Ecbert/Aella with a shout-out to Julius Caesar's tactics.  Also the first battle of Kattegat was lost to Jarl Borg with Rollo, Siggy and Aslaug and her brood all hoofing it out of Dodge.  King Horik's troops got routed when Ragnar sailed off to reclaim Kattegat which was when Athelstan was captured.  And the first battle with Jarl Borg (opens Season 2) was a stand-off until Rollo decided he couldn't fight his brother after all and Ragnar preached a compromise on the spot while Floki lay wounded and One Eye lay dead.

[Small Talk: Behind The Shield Wall]

Hi and greetings, I am just getting to the end of season 2 of this great show and looking around for a forum to share my theory of where this could go, hopefully I found it.

Dz

 

Welcome aboard.  It's friendly behind ye olde shield wall.

[S03.E02: The Wanderer]

Heimdall is the god who guards the Bifrost (the rainbow bridge between Asgard and Midgard) and is always keeping an eye out for attacks of the giants on Asgard.  He carried the Gjallarhorn which he will sound at Ragnarök.  There is a legend that Heimdall went out amongs humans and slept with various women and created various social classes in Norse society.  He did cliam one of the boys as his son who became a great warrior.

 

Thanks for that info.  Especially the legend about sleeping with various women.  That would kind of fit especially if one of the offspring is said future great warrior.