[S35: Rob and Corey McArthur]

I started watching their youtube recaps. Interesting to learn that they did not have interpreters during the legs. They only had them at safety briefings and post-race interviews/talking heads... which explains things like Rob struggling to get feedback and figure out what he needed to fix at the lotus bouquet task. 

Also, Rob is only 48 and Corey is 25 so even though the race is tiring, it seems like it's more the way they push themselves than a lack of athleticism or stamina. Though they did plan ahead to have Corey try to take the brunt of the physical challenges.

[S35.E10: Everyone Loves a Comeback Story]

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I just think that it would have been a good tactic to spend a few minutes on the Roadblock. If it turned out to be quick and easy (as it was), they could have saved the XP for the Detour. If, after a few minutes they concluded that the Roadblock was arduous, they could still have whipped out the XP and moved on, hoping that the Detour was an easy challenge to complete.

Just conjecture but I wonder if past roadblocks like the lotus bouquets made the teams nervous. Basically everyone (except Ashlie, I think) commented on how they were less precious about the task after seeing Anna Leigh tear through it. You don't know how harshly it's going to be judged until people start getting checks. If I remember correctly, Rob, Ashlie, Greg, Steve, and Joel were the ones doing the lotus task on their teams. That means Ashlie and Greg were the only ones who chose to do both tasks. 

I do think it comes down to challenge design. Everyone shouldn't be completing the tasks in roughly the same amount of time. The intermediary tasks to find clues (e.g. find the violinist, go up a spiral staircase) just seem like time wasters and there isn't enough skill or chance involved in the detours and roadblocks to be all that interesting. It feels like it's been like this since they got to Europe. Maybe production thinks it makes the teams look more competitive when there's a lot of bunching but I find it dull... especially on the last leg.

[S35.E10: Everyone Loves a Comeback Story]

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I would love to be served in a restaurant [or anywhere] by John, who is a total dreamboat.

I don't think the world needs more influencers but if he somehow ended up being on camera more after this... maybe hosting educational videos or a children's program... I wouldn't hate it. 

Also, random but was the food real for the Serve task? Or was it prop food?

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Was the Greeter to be seen at several places along the route today? Or was it just me? Personally I'd have been happy with the violin player as a Greeter and I think Todd agrees with me.

I remember her at the maypole and at the mat.

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The brothers impress me the way they approach every task. They always have a plan, and never panic, even when they make a mistake like running past the sign up numbers.  They enjoy every thing, and have we ever seen them fight?

I think sometimes people go on TV conscious of how they present themselves... but then emotion gets the best of them. I don't think that's happened with Greg and John. Of course, they might be getting a favorable edit. But Greg fell in the water at the pomelo task (I think because John moved or because John didn't reach out to help steady him) and if they fought, that didn't make the edit. They might get mildly frustrated at taxi drivers but we haven't seen a bad mood linger even when they aren't at the front of the pack. It doesn't seem like they're repressing feelings but instead they manage to keep everything in perspective. It's admirable.

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I loved how everybody on the street was giving the racers wrong directions to the subway.  "It's over there", "It's that way" (in what looked like a small woodland?)

It made me not want to visit Sweden. Because apparently the subway stations are difficult to find and no one knows how to give directions.

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Question: Corey. Cuter with glasses or without? Vote now.

More handsome? Without glasses. Cuter? With glasses. But I have a Clark Kent thing so I like the glasses.

[S35.E10: Everyone Loves a Comeback Story]

Am I getting tired of the season or was this a boring episode? I don't think I'm over it because I was excited to sit down and watch. Partially it was the gloomy weather in Sweden, which the producers can't do anything about. But it also felt repetitive and like there was too much bunching so the tasks were not difficult enough or they were exactly the same amount of difficult for everyone. 

Greg and John running past the clue box even though they got their first was a bad mistake but it's impressive they still ended up second to the mat. 

I'm sure the racers had fun but skydiving was not exciting for me to watch. It's just difficult to get good footage. And it was very repetitive. The maypole was deeply awkward to me. It didn't seem that difficult to assemble the wreath and then... you know the less said about the singing and dancing, the better.

Rob and Corey bailed pretty quickly with the express pass, but aside from using it for the detour, I don't really see a good place for them to skip. Again, too much bunching. 

Credit to Anna Leigh for racing thing through the maypole roadblock so their boat got back right after Rob and Corey. I don't love the top two teams working together but I get that to some extent, it's going to feel awkward going in the same direction and being super competitive about getting there minutes before another team. When you're on foot and taking public transportation, you're not really going to get that far ahead so you might as well be nice if you're going to be following each other anyway.

Did they know the recycling signs would be in Swedish. Weird they all chose the physical task. I would have taken the Serve task with memorizing the menus and like Greg and John, I speak enough French it would have been simple enough. Also, there's the hidden advantage of being comfortable inside while the other teams are running around cold in the rain doing a physical challenge.

I didn't understand how Stromparterren was a museum from Phil's description. How did they lose track of a 16th century town within the last 50 years? 

Then we had the slow, chaotic race to the mat with a lot of pointless running around. It didn't show the Swedish metro to any advantage. Of course, working together messed up the initial top 3 and Joel and Garrett got to the mat first. No tension because I figured Todd and Ashlie would be out unless those three actually got on the wrong train and went somewhere else. 

Those departing comments at the mat from Todd about how five or six years ago they were not as secure in their marriage and "God restored our relationship" makes me think there was a lot of stuff the editors cut out. I am glad that the editors suddenly deciding we should learn Garrett's daughter didn't mean they were going home. 

[S35.E09: In the Belly of the Earth]

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I think they're entertaining. I mean, I like how much they appreciate the experience and how well they get along. They're doing so well it's hard to say how they'd be behaving if they were at the back of the pack instead of the front, but they never seem to lose their cool and they get along so well. I also get a kick out of them going "It's what we do!" every time they finish something. When John finished the first Roadblock and came back, Greg said "It's what you do!" Switching it up!

I think they've been more entertaining at other points of the race... singing little songs and that sort of thing, but they were pretty focused this leg. I find them naturally charismatic.

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The fact that we didn't get any other reality show crossover teams or social media celebs feels like an anomaly lately.

Todd seems the closest to wanting to be famous. Maybe it's just class clown energy but I find his humor lame (and not in the cute dad joke way like the beards). It's all referential like how he was talking about 2 Chainz and whatnot while Ashlie wanted him to hurry up with the task. He's done it before like in the other episode with mattresses... "Pivot" from Friends in the staircase. Unless it grates on you, I feel like it goes unnoticed because it's not very funny, but I do get the vibe that he's trying to play up to the camera. I do get some influencer vibes from Corey as well but I think it's very muted because he's racing with his dad. 

[S35.E09: In the Belly of the Earth]

I was having TV issues (DVR didn't record the parade) so it's possible I would have enjoyed this episode more had I watched when I'd planned to yesterday afternoon. But it also seemed pretty cloudy the day they were filming and there was very little mystery about who was going home this episode so maybe this one just didn't need to be 90 minutes. 

The roadblock with arranging the 12 utensils didn't seem that difficult. John breezed right through it and most everyone else didn't really struggle though they were forced to be cautious. Only a few of them dropped items and Chelsea was the only one who did it wrong and had to go back. Credit to Anna Leigh for making up some time there. 

I thought it was cute how Greg signaled he was talking about Steve and Anna Leigh with a "howdy"

Going into the caves was a cool visual. I'm not sure how difficult it was. Corey mentioned it was chilly but a lot of them left sweating. It might have been the distance or the effort of assembling the dragon. I think I might have felt a bit claustrophobic getting that deep into the caves, especially with the tight tunnels. It didn't seem like anyone struggled with the assembly that much. Again, Greg and John aced it. Todd and Ashlie had a tough time but I think they were just bickering at that point after missing the exit and driving an extra 30km and I don't think it really set them back that much. 

Robbin tried to be more positive this episode but ended up... being Robbin again. I feel like they gave them a bit of a nicer edit since they were already going home. 

Credit to Steve and Anna Leigh for getting up to 3rd place heading into the fish farm task. Swap Out seemed like the better task if you're good in a kayak. Scrape Off seemed like the physical task if you don't trust yourself in a kayak. They started off the day fresh but I'm going to assume there's just KF at this point in the race or they were scrambling because things were so tight because it seemed like there were just dumb mistakes. Greg and John were in perfect formation and easily secured first place. I don't know if it was in the clue that if they removed a buoy, they had to swap out that one and couldn't just find another but Rob and Corey went about that task crazily. By the time Rob was thinking about getting in the water, they should have switched. Todd and Ashlie similarly made a challenge for themselves by not grabbing the chains to start off with.

I appreciated Joel and Garrett's likable dad energy this episode. I hope they continue to stick around to have fun on the race. I was happy they managed to rise to second place just getting things done and not getting lost.

I don't have any strong feelings about teams helping/not helping each other this leg. I did appreciate the suns out, guns out from Greg and John. 😏

Without Morgan and Lena, Todd and Ashlie and Robbin and Chelsea brought the bickering and dysfunction but there wasn't much worth commenting on. I hope there are some fun tasks to come because with five teams left, 90 minute episodes are going to be tough if there's this much bunching. 

[S35.E08: A Planes, Trains and Automobiles Day]

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No he wasn't. She was complaining how hard it was, and he asked if she wanted to turn around and she said yeah. Then he said "Don't get mad." And she said "I am mad! Because we missed it!" And he said "I missed it?" And she said "We missed it! I said we!" Then Todd said "You're just mad at yourself. Because you missed it." He didn't say it was all her fault, he was just saying she was mad at herself because she missed the marked path. 

I guess we interpret that completely differently because to me it's very clear he's diminishing his responsibility and shifting blame to her. She wasn't mad at herself. She was mad they had wasted time. But he wanted her to only be mad at herself. 

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Ashlie: We would have been done.
Todd: Don't get mad.
Ashlie: I am mad!
Todd: You're mad at yourself.
Ashlie: Why?
Todd: Because you missed it.

(Right back at the bottom)
Ashlie: Where do we go now?
Todd: You watch that attitude, please.

And then he didn't want her to have any (justified) feelings about it at all

[S35.E08: A Planes, Trains and Automobiles Day]

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When you get an edit like that (personal and usually sentimental stuff) early in an episode about a team it means 9 times out of 10 that team is going to be eliminated that leg. 

TAR (and Survivor) have had the same, crummy, ham-fisted, give-away edits like this for years and it annoys the crap out of me.  I hate that they almost always spoil me.

Again, I'm not asking for more backstory. But I would prefer the American Idol approach where you know the basics upfront and learn a little more over time. This is not information that should be introduced in episode 8. I'd compare it to Robbin who got to talk about her personal tragedy in episode 1... but then barely had it mentioned (maybe once or twice) since then while the editors decided to give her something of a villain edit. And Liam and Yeremi who kept getting to talk about their relationship as brothers because they'd cry on camera. Like, I truly don't understand what the editors are doing sometimes. The point of the backstories is to manipulate audience sympathies. It'd be like The Bachelor knowing one of the contestants has a dead relative/partner and only bringing it up mid-season after a villain edit and expecting the audience to care. That's not how it works. Also, if it was information we knew the whole time, it wouldn't be such a giveaway they were going home when they talked about it again.

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I just don't see Todd in such a negative light. Both of them missed the marked path to the stairs, and I didn't see him blame her at any point. Maybe I missed something, but when they finally found the stairs, he simply asked whether or not she could do it. She waffled instead of just answering. I can see how that's annoying but he never lost patience with her, he just asked for an answer. Now if that had been Morgan and Lena . . .

He was also trying to help her on the ski slope and she just kept whimpering and complaining. I know he isn't exactly touchy-feely or lovey-dovey in these moments but neither is he unkind nor does he raise his voice. His is simply very direct in trying to help her and tell her how to do it. 

I think the fact that Ashlie starts to whine is what makes people think Todd is somehow responsible but I think it's unfair to blame her behavior on him. He's clearly used to it and he just doesn't coddle her. 

I know you do rewatches so I'd pay particular attention to what Todd was saying when they finally found the stairs. I think it was around the time they quit to let Rob and Corey take it. He was definitely pushing all the blame on her. Also, there's a difference between not coddling and always giving "shake it off" kind of advice. It's like when she thought she broke her finger during the mattresses and he said he's broken his finger many times and she was fine. He wasn't slowing down for her or helping her until later. It is unkind not to offer someone any sympathy when they're struggling and he has a habit of letting her drag herself along being him when they could easily race together. 

Of course, having Rob & Corey and Greg & John on the race does put the others in a bad light. I hope one of them wins. They're two of the more likable teams we've had in a long time. 

[S35.E08: A Planes, Trains and Automobiles Day]

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Yeah, at least she pushes, while she non-stop whines. The worst type is a Flo, who whines all the time and then refuses to move.

It's definitely possible that I wouldn't feel as kindly towards Anna Leigh if we hadn't experienced Sharik and Linton last season and her increasing frustration when asked to do anything culminating in a total meltdown in Italy.

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That was a bit weird to me. Are they really so removed from nature that they don't know they are allergic to grass? They know hay is mostly dried grass, right?

As someone with non-specific allergies, I get it. I'm just assuming I'm allergic to pollen because of seasonal spikes but I have no problem with flowers and it could be dust or any number of things. It's not severe enough for me to get tested. The hay task was like diving into the deep end of exposure. Like someone who wasn't consciously avoiding nuts but never ate enough to notice a reaction suddenly being asked to eat as many nuts as the number of bugs Morgan and Lena had to eat in episode 1. I get that it was about the express pass, but I did feel bad remembering them doing that only to see them get eliminated later in the episode. I can't feel too bad though because they got in their own way with bickering and poor navigation.

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At least they used to. Not sure if that's still a thing. But yeah, they went through all the tasks, the other racers had to do, with camera people behind them. Just with the cameras off.

I don't know if that would be worse for Morgan and Lena or their camera person. I would hope they could just get directions at that point instead of driving around arguing.

[S35.E07: Like Two Cats Fighting in a Car]

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Not having locals accompany teams is quite a bit of loss of local flavour, in my opinion. I'd like to see locals interact with the teams for more than 5 seconds.

I feel like this could be better incorporated into the race design. For instance, make something like the shopping for groceries task mandatory. And we don't always see it, but choreography tasks involve interacting with locals rather than just doing tasks and then getting judged. They're very different shows so I don't expect identical challenges, but they could also take a page from Taskmaster. Getting certain pieces of information from someone who can only speak/write in their native language would be interesting. 

[S35.E08: A Planes, Trains and Automobiles Day]

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I love TAR but they need to re-think the editing and for some time too.  The very blatant edit of "we are out of the race" that the blue-blouse team had about the niece in the first 10 minutes kind of ruined the level I could enjoy this leg with.

And they do it every freaking leg for years now.  I'd like to see a leg where the editors stop spoiling me.

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I don’t understand how the sisters lost so much time after the roadblock. They were well ahead of AL/Steve who then messed up by going for the taken express pass before the detour that should have put them further behind. Editing didn’t show any significant issues for the sisters besides what looked like a minor navigational error but nothing big enough to erase a whole EP worth of time. 

I think these are both fair criticisms but the latter bothers me more. There's a way to pace things and draw focus so there is some suspense. But TAR likes the races to the mat and the talking heads. Making the episodes 90 minutes only amplifies the problems. Why not show me Morgan and Lena getting lost for longer? 

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I was feeling a mega leg up until the very end, so it was a pleasant surprise when the episode ended with an actual elimination. It feels like they have been brutal and very demanding legs of late.

The sound of “Lena!” yelled over and over again might be seared into my brain for a while, but I still liked the sisters. It’s funny how of the remaining teams I have a VERY strong preference for the 3 all male teams.

I kept checking the time towards the end of the episode. That's part of the pacing issue but also a bit of a race design flaw. Rather than tasks that challenged the teams and slowed them down, it was another leg with a lot of self-navigation and also some random stuff to tire them out. 

With Morgan and Lena gone, my preference tips heavily towards the 3 all male teams. I mean, Ashlie is fine; I just don't like Todd. I still find Steve and Anna Leigh tolerable but they're not going to win so they should just be allowed to go home. And Robbin and Chelsea can leave yesterday.

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I can't imagine what their relationship was like before if they think the Amazing Race improved it.

I hope they can enjoy their downtime wherever TAR sends the racers until the finale. For what it's worth, I feel like Morgan forgets the awful way she talked to Lena in between legs. Whereas Steve and Anna Leigh clearly hold onto resentment and it's wearing on them. 

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Part of me thinks that if the 3 breakaway teams would've managed their train roulette correctly, they still would've ran into a hours of operation bunch up at the glider challenge once they made it to Slovenia.

Yeah, I know they said it's old TAR but I'm suspicious about whether tasks would be ready if any of the racers happened to get a big advantage with flights. 

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I should have guessed it would be them, though, since they got the "back home we have a sad thing" backstory.

Another thing... I have a hard time believing this is the first time Morgan and Lena have talked about their cousin. Not that I want more backstory but the editors are not doing a great job of sprinkling that stuff in naturally which you might expect with 90 minute episodes. Hopefully, if they continue with this episode length, they'll figure out the pacing as they go along. 

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Obviously he could do it, so I don't think AL "made" him do anything. 

That was a lot as a response to one word. iirc AL was the one who decided to go for the Express Pass. 🤷‍♀️

[S35.E08: A Planes, Trains and Automobiles Day]

The episode started with travel drama but it was really boring travel drama since the top 3 teams ended up losing their 8 hour lead through delays and transfers and so none of it amounted to anything and they ended up bunched up again. I get why they showed it to us because they wanted to build suspense (and the rest of tasks this episode were also boring) but meh. This was definitely an episode that didn't seem like it needed to be 90 minutes.

The express pass led to a lot of mistakes this episode. First Todd just charging ahead not looking for a marked path and then spending a good chunk of the time until the hay detour blaming Ashlie and being entirely unsympathetic to her skiing struggles. Really remembered why I don't like him in this episode. 

I could have used more clumsy skiing but it seemed like most of that ended up on the cutting room and it didn't slow anyone down nearly as much as the navigation. 

I felt bad for Greg and John and Corey (and maybe some of the others) for their hay allergies. Seeing how things worked out, it made no sense to choose the bee house assembly/painting task. But I wonder if they had any plans in place other than forcing people to choose the other detour. Especially since it seemed like most of them didn't know they had hay allergies until they did the task.

Joel and Garrett need to stop leaving things behind at tasks. They've managed to recover but they can't be lucky forever, especially as the pack is thinning out.

Happy that Greg and John won the foot race for first. And that Chelsea and Robbin weren't able to follow them and had to self-navigate though if I had my way, they'd be out instead of Morgan and Lena. 

While I did like Morgan and Lena as racers, I'm not shocked they left this episode. I'm more shocked that Morgan was so nice to Anna Leigh and yet continued to bicker with and criticize Lena. Just no sympathy throughout the skiing and probably even more navigation drama than what we saw. 

Oof. I was worried for Steve this episode. I hate stairs. And I was certainly sympathetic to Rob and his good natured complaint when they had to climb the spiral staircase. But Anna Leigh not seeing the sign and making him climb all those stairs... without an express pass as a reward? I kind of want them to go home next episode just to put them out of their misery. 

[Theatre Talk: In Our Own Little Corner]

Saw Here Lies Love tonight. I might have more thoughts in the coming days but I wanted to get some thoughts down right now while it's fresh in my mind. First of all, I thought it was a great show for a $35 rush ticket and I would recommend it. I wanted to be in the standing area (orchestra) but the mezz was not bad. I do have binoculars but they actually made smart use of the screens to make up for the audience's distance from the actors. They also make smart use of levels. It reminded me of both KPOP and Great Comet. 

I was highly impressed with the talent of the entire cast, especially on a two-show day. Conrad was out but his understudy (Aaron Alcaraz) was fantastic (and I imagine is the superior vocalist) but Arielle Jacobs really impressed me as Imelda. I've heard some criticisms of how she wasn't able to bridge the gaps in the narrative and the transition from country girl to dictator's wife but I don't lay the blame at her feet. For what the show asks of her, she fully commits and gives a fantastic performance. They really make use of her Disney princess energy and there's a slyness to her as her personal mythologizing is counteracted by Estrella. A lot of Evita comparisons but I thought it was smart to not simply have a "Che" in Ninoy but also bring back Estrella as a recurring voice. And Why Don't You Love Me felt much more impactful than a Don't Cry For Me Argentina. I do think it goes for a Cabaret indictment of the audience move but it's also very forgiving because it encourages audience participation throughout. You can also just... choose not to participate when it asks you to stand up and clap for other problematic leaders. I did miss a few words here and there but not much. I liked the use of screens and platforms, locating the cast in different areas of the theater though I think walking around in the orchestra could get tiresome. 

I understand that they didn't want to be Evita (with an all-male creative team) but I do think they were a little too sympathetic and facile with the storytelling. The emphasis on love at the beginning makes it seem like Imelda was just broken-hearted when Ninoy broke up with her for being too tall and was desperate to please her husband and then became addicted to pills and girl bossed too close to the sun. It's better than the entirely calculating and mercenary version of Eva Peron but it does try a little too hard to sand off the rough edges and make her more sympathetic. I wasn't deeply offended, but I can understand the criticism.

Costuming was solid. Not standout but there were moments and I appreciated the quick changes and the things the clothes were communicating. Choreography was distinctly... fine. Serviceable. 

Maybe I should have led with this, but I felt like I met the show where it was. I felt this way about KPOP too but even more so about Here Lies Love. I think a lot of criticisms are coming from people who wanted the show to be something else rather than accepting what it is. I knew it was going to be 90 minutes (I think it actually ran a little longer but I'm never entirely clear when shows start because I turn off my phone and don't wear a watch.) From very early on, I interpreted the show as an exploration of propaganda. It feels like a mix between a historical pageant and a political rally. While I referenced a bunch of other shows, it's not trying to be a traditional musical. There are some more traditional musical theater style numbers. But most of the time, it feels like it's directly speaking to the audience, persuading, entertaining, cajoling, instructing, etc. Asking for more depth in character relationships or book scenes is missing what the show is. And while there are things they could have hammered harder, I can read quickly so I didn't miss anything on the screens. And I liked that they were more subtle. They could have just had Ninoy yelling at her like her Che. But they slid in Estrella during key moments to counteract even her interpretation of events. I feel like if you thought the show was telling you a story, you missed the point. This felt like a jumble of competing narratives and in the way it was communicated with that heavy sense of propaganda in the air, I really enjoyed going on that journey. Also, a bunch of the songs were catchy and the cast sang the hell out of them. 

[S35.E07: Like Two Cats Fighting in a Car]

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Except you also add in the adrenaline pumping which makes it way harder to calm down and think logically.  That every second added could cost your team the race and you are letting down your partner and your body is so pumped up coupled with killer fatigue and yes not eating since the meal on the plane and the stress factor simply cannot be duplicated while sitting on one's couch.

Eh... We can make all the excuses in the world. Corey and Morgan flew through it. There's no reason they'd be less tired than the others. And remember how much they struggled at the word puzzle in episode 1? I think some of them just aren't very bright. When @PurpleTentacle wrote out the conversion, I did it in my head. And I'm not particularly good at math. I figured out how many witten = 1 groschen and then multiplied by 5. The only "difficult" math is 24/4 =6. Then you divide by 2 to get 3 witten. 3 x 5 = 15

[S35.E07: Like Two Cats Fighting in a Car]

I feel like that's a problem though. Production can't keep counting on someone having a fear of heights. It's not really a challenge for the racers and it's boring for viewers to watch. (Also, personally, I don't like seeing someone struggle with a phobia. That's not really drama I'm into.) I struggle to think of a really compelling challenge that involved heights. They sort of tried with that task (maybe in France?) where they had to look at the coat of arms and also rappel and I think if you failed the memory task you had to do it again. And there was one of those rope tasks that involved a flag recently but I think that also ended up being boring. I think there's just too much safety stuff involved to have these heights tasks be something they repeat over and over to complete. And when it's a rope walk, they can't be hanging out there for too long. Could they maybe find a safe way to do rock climbing? Something that's an actual physical challenge? Or, if they want it to be psychological, maybe go to one of those places that's high up that has a glass floor. And then have something they have to look at through the floor to challenge any fear of heights. 

Also, Greg is the only one left that I remember having a fear of heights and John was the one who did the task.

[S35.E07: Like Two Cats Fighting in a Car]

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Robbin and Chelsea - quite possibly never spoke another word to each other after the race.

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Morgan & Lena are such a mess, I love it. "Slow downnnn!" as she's running after Morgan on the big horse bike 😆

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You heard it here first, folks. Even Steve thinks Anna Leigh has a "smart-ass mouth." His words, not mine.

Full disclosure, I wasn't watching the episode all that carefully and if people were bickering and I missed it, I didn't rewind. I think Robbin got a more positive edit in that they mentioned more of her backstory stuff but she was still snapping at Chelsea. Morgan and Lena cannot hide their dysfunction but I missed most of it during the driving. I totally missed most of the Steve/Anna Leigh stuff until he finally told her to stop talking to him like that. But honestly, with Andrea and Malaina gone, I think I'll like all of the racers fine if/when Robbin and Chelsea leave. I mean, I don't want Steve and Anna Leigh to win but they can hang around a while as long as the editors focus on the likable teams.

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I'm not usually one for rooting for a guy/guy team but Greg & John, Rob & Corey and Joel & Garrett are my preferred final three.

As dysfunctional as they are, I wouldn't mind Morgan & Lena pushing Joel & Garrett out but yeah, those are the most likable teams left. Todd & Ashlie are okay but I don't want them to win.

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That’s quite a paradoxical definition of smart - refusing to do mental work in favor of brute-forcing it through the challenge. Good thing she only needed to pay 15 coins and not 115.

Yeah, I really hated that. And after she bragged about puzzles during the tile task.

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It was weird to me how few managed to get out even a Danke, which is surely one of the easiest thank yous out there, and one I thought most Americans know.  Normally many of them make an attempt to get something vaguely local out, but it was as if they were so relieved to get back to "civilization" and recognizable cars, etc., that their brains just flopped back to middle America.

Agreed, especially when three of them have lived in Germany. Not just vacationed, but lived there. 

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I cannot for the life of me understand why teams don't take the divide and conquer approach for task such as the mustard tasting - you have 9 flavours: one of you learns four and one of you learns five, instead of both of you trying to learn 9 each.  Doh!

They didn't really show it but I assume both team members could taste each flavor at first and then during the actual task. I get why it would be good to have someone back you up on what things tasted like. If only one person could taste each mustard while guessing, it makes sense not to divide things up because you don't know the order. Either way, I think this time it made sense for a task they were doing together because they could help each other. It wasn't purely about memory.

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Everybody keeps hating on Ana Leigh, while I'm over here watching the older of the two sisters in horror. She hates, no loathes her little sister with a passion. It literally drips off her every time she belittles her.

I don't think she loathes her at all but I wonder if Morgan talks to everyone that way or just Lena. From episode one, I've found her shockingly mean and dismissive. It's like when she gets stressed, that's the only way she can process it. 

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Hey TAR, could we have an All Stars season of fun, positive, loving teams?  I'd watch the hell out of that.

A bunch of nice people having a good time? Sounds great. tbf, they got pretty close this season

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Chelsea and Robbin act like someone forced them at gunpoint to do this race. There is no joy. Especially from Chelsea. I thought she was rude at the castle when she said “I don’t know. You tell me” to the guy collecting her coins who asked “what’s the right amount?”  He’s just playing his role, Chelsea. Maybe stop and enjoy it. She looks so dour even in their talking heads that I am convinced every leg that they got eliminated. 

And this is why everyone who didn't U-turn Steve and Anna Leigh picked them instead.

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Rob and Corey are having a ball, and they seem to work well together to get the tasks completed. I hope they go far, not because I want them to win, but because I want them to enjoy this experience together for as long as possible. I must say I thought they were crazy to choose footie-darts. I've played lots of darts and getting the exact score is harder than it might sound. I've also played footie and that only convinces me that it would have been even more difficult. 

They both kind of seem like jocks (Rob's a football coach) and maybe they were worried about communicating at the mustard task or just didn't want to eat mustard. They seem inclined towards physical tasks. I hope they would have switched if they were really struggling but it didn't seem to take them that long to figure it out given their placement at the mat.

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Loved this episode, but I don't like how much they relied on asking people to use their cellphones. I know it's nothing new, but it still seems to take away from the spirit of the task. If they had asked passersby, "Hey, do you know of a cologne from here whose name is a four-digit number?" that would have been better. It would have taken more time probably, but just using someone's cell phone is an easy out and not much fun to watch.

But then again, I guess if you ask people, they're just going to whip out their phones anyway. So maybe it's better not to have a clue that relies on internet research.

I think it would be nice to have another mini puzzle, especially since there were four digits. Give them something that adds up to 4711 or let them guess each digit individually from a different clue. Or at least have like a sign somewhere along the bridge that they need to locate to find the answer. But with something like that, finding someone with a phone really is the fastest way to get through it.

[S35.E07: Like Two Cats Fighting in a Car]

This was a bit of a boring episode. The tasks weren't that great and weren't very visually interesting to watch either and as much as the editors tried to hide it, it was pretty damn obvious that Andrea and Malaina were going home from very early on. Joel and Garrett were very lucky.

The ferry was not exciting at all but I guess it provided some drama in shaking up the placement after they'd bunched up on the flight. But navigation woes did that throughout the episode. I'm not sure production really thought it was going to be that big of a deal though actually finding the man with the bag of coins should have been a clue to Andrea and Malaina. I was expecting the worst from the money conversion task after the scramble puzzle in episode one. But Corey has always seemed good at math, Morgan aced it, and most of the others didn't struggle too much. Chelsea was just embarrassing though. I guess there was only one type of coin if she could just keep returning with different amounts. They should have made it more difficult (like having to use the three types of coins on the board to make proper change). 

Greg and John seemed good with navigation this episode and that really helped them secure first. I did not like Robbin and Chelsea tailing them (especially since they're bad at navigation and haven't wanted to help other teams). 

The carnival task didn't seem to affect placement at all. The challenge seemed to just be finding the location. No one really struggled with pedaling but I guess it broke up the boredom of watching them do the other tasks. There was a certain style to the carnival packing up and going home before Andrea and Malaina got there. Those poor actors/musicians. I hope production was in communication when racers were getting close so they could just be on break the rest of the time. 

Production was nice to them in making the locks big and obvious compared to the regular locks on the bridge. I was a little confused at how much the early teams were struggling if all 7 locks were attached to the bridge at the start. Surely it should get more difficult over time? Nice to see Ashlie help Rob with the combination. I have no idea how they planned to get around that if he'd been unable to ask someone with a cell phone for help. Would there be an ASL translator to intervene and ask a passerby for him?

Robb and Corey were very cute talking about darts. It's like they both rolled super high on charisma.

Todd picking the soccer task was bananas. But luckily they switched early and still ended up in third. 

The mustard task seemed reasonably difficult. You had to be good at identifying the flavors as well as keeping the memory task part in mind. Obviously it was preferable to soccer unless you had soccer skills but I can see how you'd struggle.

Greg and John continue to prove themselves very likable and competent racers. It took them two tries at the mustard and there weren't any big struggles this episode. 

[S35.E06: Driving Head on Into Scooters]

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If production is trying to prompt ill will or rivalries they aren't getting it from any other team. Nobody else is looking down their nose at other teams.

Robbin is

[S35.E06: Driving Head on Into Scooters]

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Anna Leigh sniffing out who voted for them and holding grudges 🥰

Haha, she's ridiculous. I don't know why it doesn't bother me but this and being mad at Chelsea for the tile task just seems like silly pettiness that takes over in between actually doing the tasks. She's competent and not annoying during the actual racing. 

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Tune in next week to see Anna Leigh extract horrible revenge for being U-turned by...doing what exactly? The same as she's been doing?

This might also be why she doesn't bother me. All bark, no bite.

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Sad to see the brothers go, but they were a bit to easy going, not really rushing. Their driver didn't help.

I wrote down the race order from last episode. I think they were too close to the bottom of the pack and the slow driving (and apparently getting lost?) didn't help them keep their place or make up any ground. I enjoyed how easy going (and yes, fine, attractive) they were but they couldn't hang on forever. 

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Anna-Leigh did not come off well at all, but I was surprised no one voted for Greg &John. 

I think everyone likes them too much. 😅

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Anna Leigh does not bug me like she bugs others here.  Honestly, I think she's getting extra criticism because she's young and attractive.  What would be seen as a "take charge" attitude in a guy is "bossy" for her.  And, yes, there are sour grapes over the U-turn, but that seems to be the norm through the history of TAR.  She's a tough racer, and certainly carries her weight and more in that team. [...] Malenia is grating on my last nerve.  The "out of towners" bit is horrible.  First, what's the chance anyone around them understands what they're saying?  Second, what's the chance anyone cares?  Being an "out of towner" is not a free pass for running into traffic or wanting to push past people.  I wish them gone for this alone.

Agreed. Malaina and Robbin annoy me much more. Like, who cares if Anna Leigh puts on makeup? A lot of women on TAR have worn makeup. They're still on TV. There have been hints at "ugly American" behavior/attitudes from Malaina and Robbin and that always puts me off. Anna Leigh can be brusque but she always seems relatively polite to the judges and though I don't think she slows down enough to enjoy the scenery that much, the worst she freaked out was at the eels. She's generally game and a tough racer and that wins her points for me. 

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Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not my beautiful Disney Princes! I know they were never going to win but I just wanted to be able to look at their beautiful faces for a least a few more weeks. My interest in this season has dropped by about 50%.

And they'd still be there if just one more team had voted to U-Turn Robbin and Chelsea instead of Anna Leigh and Steve. It really made no sense to vote for the latter, they had a full hour head start over every other team.

I'm irrationally upset with the racers for not u-turning Robbin and Chelsea and getting them eliminated so we'd have another week with Liam and Yeremi. Though no one could have predicted Robbin and Chelsea's navigation struggles. I do see the argument that some teams thought they were racing for first but it's very short term thinking as the "prizes" for winning a leg don't seem as valuable as knocking a team out. 

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So much of the talking head stuff is producer driven. 

Yup. All of this. The repeated stuff from their bios can be a drag, but sometimes I swear they will even replay the same soundbites (presumably if they couldn't coax them into talking about it all again). Yeah, Yeremi and Liam's personal history is not that unique but it's meaningful to them and I'm sure the producers are prodding to get the tears. So Anna Leigh and Steve complaining... especially in the talking heads rather than fighting with others teams... it doesn't bother me. 

[S35.E05: Yessir, the Pink City]

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It could be the "villain edit", but I'm not feeling Robbin and Chelsea's vibe. There's something about Robbin that feels very Karen-esque.

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It seems like Robbin/Chelsea may be rubbing a lot of people the wrong way. Now, I think they have the right idea in that they need to focus on the race and not other teams. Help yourself first, other teams can figure it out themselves. That being said, it sounds like the way they're approaching the "race for themselves" tactic is turning off other teams entirely. And although I agree with their thought process, their execution seems to be noticed by others, and this is why they're in the running to be the U-Turned team. And it's why, as small as the social game is in a show like this, it still matters on how you treat other teams. 

I wonder if they're pushing a few bad moments in the edit or actually being generous and leaving things out. Given her backstory, it's surprising Robbin is getting the villain edit. She seems to dislike animals, some of the locations, the other racers... Everyone is going to have their moments but she seems particularly grumpy and that's a tough personality to like on a season when everyone is generally upbeat and enthusiastic. And she doesn't even snark or make jokes like Joe and Ian did. It's just.. unpleasant.

[S35.E05: Yessir, the Pink City]

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I don't really know which one is Lena and which one is Morgan, but the way they, as a collective unit, "accidentally" almost throw eels in each other's faces and/or "accidentally" almost stab those faces with needles* is hilarious. I can't wait for the next facial near-accident. 

* after which the editors cut to the scene of the monkeys fighting, just as "accidentally"

Morgan is the older one who tends to make mean, unhelpful comments. Lena is the younger one who gets stressed out. Funnily enough, Morgan got the eels and the needle in her face though she's the one provoking a lot of the fights 😄 Maybe Lena retaliates in her own way. 

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Oh yes, Morgan was totally wrong to be leaning in like that. Their team set-up in the first episode was about Morgan learning to see Lena as an adult friend instead of a kid sister, and this episode showed that Morgan has a long way to go, what with the gratuitous geography quiz and sewing micro-managing.

Agreed. I'm sure they're dealing with other stuff like navigation but mostly it seems like they get in their own ways sniping at each other. The vinyl task is one of the few where I remember them not arguing and Morgan being supportive. 

[S35.E06: Driving Head on Into Scooters]

This episode started off great for me. Yeremi with his hair down and Corey in his glasses looking like a young Clark Kent? Also, then the editors got to be cute and include clips of every animal Greg and John listed off.

The telescopic monocular didn't seem that tough for anyone but it was a cute touch. Pushing the rickshaws didn't seem to be that difficult of a task but it certainly got harder with fewer cars to choose from.

Steve and Anna Leigh being u-turned wasn't a surprise but it's interesting how close it was and only between two teams. I think people just don't like Robbin and Chelsea. Though arguably, it was also strategic because they could have been knocked out entirely. The vote was 5 for Steve and Anna Leigh (Robbin & Chelsea, Andrea & Malaina, Rob & Corey, Joel & Garrett, Greg & John) and 4 for Robbin and Chelsea (Morgan & Lena, Todd & Ashlie, Liam & Yeremi, Steve & Anna Leigh). 

The detour was tricky. I feel like Bundles with the flowers sounds way easier but they threw off a lot of teams by telling them they had to go to two locations. So many teams opted for Bricks doing the more physical task and it didn't seem that much easier to find those locations. 

I continue to find Malaina annoying.

This episode did not end up being a great advertisement for the pink taxis with female drivers.

I enjoyed the block printing roadblock that forced the teams to slow down. Use 4 colors and make 9 peacocks. John was great at it and Rob struggled but it didn't seem like it slowed any of the teams down crazily. When we got down to the last two, it made me realize how much I wanted Robbin & Chelsea to be eliminated and Liam & Yeremi to stay. The brothers were never going to win but they were nice to have around. We can definitely afford to lose more people though. I'd happily cut everyone below top three in this episode (1. Greg & John, 2. Corey & Rob, 3. Joel & Garrett with maybe Morgan & Lena or Steve & Anna Leigh as the wild card). But if anyone outside of that top three gets eliminated... I don't think I'll care that much. 

[S35.E05: Yessir, the Pink City]

Late to this one so I'll try to keep it quick.

It was sad to lose Ian and Joe just as we were really starting to see their personalities. They were cute and funny and fairly competent racers aside from a bit of bickering. I think they were just too far behind with the dancing and didn't make up any time at the detour.

The Bhavanian foot dance was a fun roadblock because it combined choreo with balancing and there was no way to just fly through it. You had to get it right. Even if they'd been so inclined, the judge couldn't let you go through because it was obvious if the pots fell off your head. Credit to Anna Leigh for getting out of there first with 3 attempts and John and Morgan with 2 attempts. John actually seemed decent at it. Same with Andrea who took 6 attempts but looked graceful. The worst dancers were probably Yeremi and Corey (15 attempts!) who looked stiff and awkward even when they succeeded. Also, I kept thinking to myself that having my teammate yelling encouragement during the task would be distracting and incredibly annoying. 

I liked the balance between the two detours. I would have picked the dolls because I liked crafting but it also ended up being the much easier task. Maybe they were scared off by the "performance" part but everyone seemed to just shake the dolls for a minute before getting the clue. Mimicking the painting wasn't impossible but they're being very tricky with memory tasks lately and it involved a lot of running around. 

Interestingly, Anna Leigh & Steve and Greg & John seemed far ahead. Then Joel & Garrett, Andrea & Malaina, Todd & Ashlie, and Corey & Robb all bunched up at the mat. So there was some room to shake up the order but the tasks didn't seem to take that long. Then we had Robin & Chelsea and Liam & Yeremi, and Morgan & Lena and Joe & Ian at the end. Finally, the editors had a genuine race to the finish to work with. Honestly, Morgan & Lena worked quick for switching detours. I think they just bicker way too much. They're relatively competent racers who waste a lot of time arguing and stressing each other out.

[Theatre Talk: In Our Own Little Corner]

I went to Lea Michele's solo debut at Carnegie Hall last night. More thoughts to come... maybe? No setlist in the program so I think it was up in the air for a while but I can work to recall the setlist if that interests anyone. I wouldn't call it uneven exactly, but it felt like a bit of a marathon so while she was fine throughout, there were definitely moments she seemed to be saving her voice for and places where she really shone. Also, maybe it's just me but I felt like her upper register was a little shaky and she seemed more comfortable in her mezzo belting range. While she was holding back a bit, the vocals were still fairly flawless. I do think she was slightly overamplified but that's been a problem at Carnegie Hall before. Jonathan Groff was an expected but very welcome guest. I wasn't thrilled when Darren Criss appeared but he held his own. Unlike in the past concert I saw where he was replacing someone and sang songs that were way beyond him, they picked songs that were not big challenges and he held his own. No outfit changes. I have some feelings about the patter that I might dig into more. In a way, it was a performance of gratitude and (not entirely sincere) humility. No real acknowledgement of wrongdoing, but that wasn't obligated on a big night for her, but it did seem... like a carefully spun narrative. That said, she's more charismatic than I expected as a performer and surprisingly funny. I can see how she would have done okay in Funny Girl. It's definitely practiced, but it's not as awkward as she was when she was playing Rachel Berry trying to be funny as Fanny Brice. It was the likable, amusing patter you'd expect from a competent cabaret performer. She did manage to make it feel surprisingly intimate even in a bigger venue. The crowd was a little rowdy (nothing crazy) but you had to forgive people cheering, talking a bit, and the guy behind me humming a little. 

[Theatre Talk: In Our Own Little Corner]

I don't know if this will interest anyone but I saw my first show of the fall. It was the 92Y tribute to Howard Ashman. I enjoyed it for what it was, but it was also a bit of a disappointment. It ran under 80 minutes with no intermission (I turn my phone off so I can't give a more exact time). It was advertised with Christian Borle's name but he did not narrate or perform. His directing was completely behind the scenes. So the most notable names for the evening were John Cariani and Manu Narayan. Heather Ayers was the other adult. Nadina Hassan and Khadija Sankoh appeared fresh out of college. 

It was like a good cruise ship performance (I think cruise ship performers are terrible) or like a more intimate show at a Disney theme park (since they often call in Broadway talent). The script found some nice little moments but I guess I expected more humor from Christian Borle and it was missing the magic of lyrics & lyricists which is hearing from the actual composer or lyricist or a close collaborator or someone who has intimately studied their work. It felt a little like a pleasant but not terribly informed youtube video essay. There are definitely better shows I could have rushed for almost $40. I still cried but Howard Ashman/Disney stuff is a weakness of mine.

There were some familiar songs that were highlights like Poor Unfortunate Souls, Proud of Your Boy, and Mean Green Mother From Outer Space. Overall, though, it was a bit lackluster with the Disney songs and Suddenly Seymour. No major insights into Howard's life or work and the actors just sort of presented together, but they did spent a good chunk of time on the deep cuts from Smile and Babe and there was one song from Rosewater that was performed in a really lovely way. It always makes me sad thinking of what Howard would have done artistically if his life hadn't been cut short. He was at the height of his powers. Who else might he have collaborated with? In the non-Disney work there's a thread of cynicism that only really works well in Little Shop of Horrors. The time he was working was definitely not my favorite period of musical theater. I hear more Maltby and Shire and Marvin Hamlisch than Kander and Ebb and Sondheim. Partially it's the sound of the time. It's the mix of the proto-contemporary musical theater sound and the vaguely folksy saccharine mush of 70s music. (And I like the Carpenters.) Partially I think it's that these adult stories concern quiet characters with complex issues but Howard really thrived on simple stories with passionate, earnest characters. To me, that's what ties Little Shop and the Disney stuff together. And then the cynicism and commentary is kind of layered on top. Also, why is there a song for the beauty pageant photographer? It was an okay night out but the train ride back with all the Halloween costumed characters was not fun. Why are the subways so hot at the end of October?