S32.E04: Ole, Ole

[shura]

5 hours ago, AZChristian said:

But it's difficult to use the brain power, the synergy, of two people working together when one of the people doesn't know what the other's ideas are.  If they are TEAMS racing around the world, that infers that they should be working together . . . which requires two-way verbal communication.  

You sound like Mr. AZC.  He, too, tends to want to quietly think things through . . . but he's thinking of HIS way to deal with it.  To be honest, I'd be happy to hear him say, "Hmmm . . . let's see how best WE can deal with this current situation."  Keeping quiet infers a desire to control without communicating that the other person may have a valid point of view.  That leaves the verbal person at the quiet person's mercy when it comes to trying to accomplish a joint task.  

When they do those tasks that have to be done without input from the other team member, that's a different thing.

Yes and no. Yes, I suppose wanting to do something your own way is about control (both for the quiet person and for the person who wants him to share his every thought in real time).  But no, I don’t think it necessarily implies discounting the other person’s ideas, although I can see how it can be taken that way.

Think of it like this.  Let me think things through, come up with some ideas, weigh their pros and cons, and not bother you with those that I think are no good.  Then we discuss your ideas, and if you happen to suggest one of those that came to me too, I will be ready with the pros and cons.  If you didn’t even think of an idea that I filtered out, then there probably was no point in discussing it in the first place.  I think it accomplishes the same thing, there is an exchange of ideas, it just happens on a different schedule.

Anyway, back to the episode, I don’t think Hung’s issue was that she felt Chee was shutting her out and thinking of his way of doing the task as opposed of their way.  She seemed to simply want to hear his instructions and was not offering ideas of her own, there really was no two-way communication there.  If anything, her bugging him just messed up his process and made solving the task harder.  

Edited November 6, 2020 by shura

[30 Helens]

12 hours ago, HurricaneVal said:

I realize they're in that alliance I hate, but I really hated that they printed out those maps to give to their alliance mates--and got DeAngelo to slip them to the other teams.  That just seemed extra shady to me.  Yeah, yeah, yeah...all within the rules, nothing illegal, but in my mind it runs counter to the whole concept of TAR.

Exactly. I don’t mind the occasional assist from one team to another, but when you have half the contestants working together... At some point, it stops being a race around the world and just becomes a group tour with activities.
 

15 hours ago, AZChristian said:

I have been married for 56 years to the person on earth I love more than anything.  But this describes him exactly. 

He is quiet, and I get that.  But if we're working together on a project, he's more likely to just start working on it without discussing his thought process, plan, etc.  ....The end result is wonderful, but I have repeatedly said things to him like, "Why are you pulling that out without talking about the end plan?" and "Please respond if you understand and agree."

Oh, great. First a pandemic, and now I find out my husband is in another (identical) marriage. 2020 sucks.

[Sheikh Yerbouti]

Lots of teams swapping places this episode, which I love. This shows that the tasks require skill, not just first in, first out.

Buns help bottles.

I sympathized with Chee during the watermelon task. I'm an introverted thinker, and I know I can fall into the uncommunicative category when I'm trying to puzzle through a difficult task. I gravitate toward jobs that allow me to work alone in deep thought. I've had to teach myself to think out loud when working in teams. I probably would have flipped at Hung screeching at me to TALK while I was trying to count watermelons and figure out a pattern to keep them stable. But I can also see her perspective of dude seemingly just standing there while time was bleeding away.

"Put it in the hole and then twist it" should have been the episode title, because I'm 12.

I don't hate any teams, but Will & James and Kaylynn & Hayley are the two teams I feel the least affinity toward. Two teams I liked went out during the past two weeks, so I'm kind of bummed that the NEL occurred this week. Count me in as one who thinks the first leg or two should be NEL so we can get to know the teams better.

[Haleth]

With all the election stress I forgot to watch TAR Wed night.  GAH!

Fun episode.  Between Michelle being geography challenged (Uruguay in Africa, saying "merci" to the clue handler) and the wide eyed shocked looks the blondes kept giving I laughed several times.  Loved how DeAngelo flew through the cello challenge but too bad they fell back with the melons.  (I kept yelling at them to tip the melons down toward the center.  Bet Eswar, as an engineer, could have instructed the melon builders on how to do it. Ha!)

I'm not a fan of Will and James but if they can get other teams to help them, more power to them.  It never hurts to ask for help.  The worst that can happen is the other team will refuse.  This early in the race who wouldn't want an alliance with the top racers?

It was tricky of the producers to set up a clue box that didn't look like the standard clue box at the garbage dump.

I'm still ok with all the teams, although I do like some more than others.

Dear Hung and Chee, take it from someone who has been married a long time; do not do projects together if you get frustrated over lack of communication.  Mr Haleth and I discovered long ago that it's easier to work apart.  (Which is one of many reasons we'd never apply to this show.)

 

 

 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

18 hours ago, springbarb said:

I thought the blondes were at the cello for 4 hours, too--so the two were pretty equal there. I am curious how far ahead the football players were; they had cleared the mat by the time the blondes arrived, so it obviously wasn't super close.

 

18 hours ago, aghst said:

Can't tell which task took longer, the cello assembly for the blonds or the watermelon stacking for the football players.

I went back and checked. The screen said "time elapsed: 3 hrs, 57 minutes" just before the blonde sister took her cello in to get checked. It was still light outside when they left the orchestra task, but it was dark when they arrived at the clue box and started the dance task. The screen said "time elapsed: 3 hours, 47 minutes" when the football players asked for the final check on their watermelon pyramid. When they were in the cab on the way to the pit stop, they said that Hung and Chee had left about two and a half hours earlier.

17 hours ago, blackwing said:

So Will and James took the time to make sure they printed out maps of Asuncion and then distributed to their alliance. 

What both cracked me up was when they proudly said that they had printed maps of Paraguay. I thought really? You printed maps of the entire country?

17 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I didn't notice until someone pointed it out, but the watermelons all had to be facing one way on one side and the other way on the other side. Did any of the teams figure that out?

Hung pointed it out to Chee!

17 hours ago, HurricaneVal said:

I realize they're in that alliance I hate, but I really hated that they printed out those maps to give to their alliance mates--and got DeAngelo to slip them to the other teams.  That just seemed extra shady to me. 

From what we saw, DeAngelo was the one who offered. He said, "If you fold [the map] up, I can pass it to [Chee and Hung]." The boyfriends later said that Maddison and Gary were distracting the blondes so that they wouldn't know the alliance members had maps.

I loved that production got the trombone player to play the wah wah waaaaaah.

[Netfoot]

12 hours ago, chaifan said:

Also, those two mug for the camera worse than BJ and Tyler.

Yep! They sure do think very highly of themselves! 

[AZChristian]

2 hours ago, Haleth said:

Dear Hung and Chee, take it from someone who has been married a long time; do not do projects together if you get frustrated over lack of communication.  Mr Haleth and I discovered long ago that it's easier to work apart.  (Which is one of many reasons we'd never apply to this show.)

That and the fact that Mr. AZC could not follow choreography, and we'd absolutely be last on any leg requiring both of us to dance.  LOL.

Regarding the "working apart" comment . . . so you don't buy from Ikea?  LOL.

[lh25]

I'm a software engineer, and for me that means sitting in front of a computer designing web pages, reports and such.  And then writing the code.  I also played violin from 4-12 grades.  Neither of which would have led me to believe I had much advantage building that cello!

Did I see teams carrying a big gold colored drum to that task, that was never used?

[blackwing]

3 minutes ago, lh25 said:

Did I see teams carrying a big gold colored drum to that task, that was never used?

I was wondering the same thing.  Madison was the first to arrive and I am positive he picked up this long barrel/container about 2 or 3 feet long.  But then it was never used.  The cellos had much smaller cylinders at the bottom.  I was waiting to see if teams had cut the long cylinders down to size but never saw any of them using a saw to cut.  So what happened to the long cylinders?  And did they also pick up these smaller ones?

I'm assuming it was just show for the cameras... maybe they pick up the long ones and then production gave them smaller ones when it came time to actually putting the cello together.

[Guest]

Just now, blackwing said:

I was wondering the same thing.  Madison was the first to arrive and I am positive he picked up this long barrel/container about 2 or 3 feet long.  But then it was never used.  The cellos had much smaller cylinders at the bottom.  I was waiting to see if teams had cut the long cylinders down to size but never saw any of them using a saw to cut.  So what happened to the long cylinders?  And did they also pick up these smaller ones?

I'm assuming it was just show for the cameras... maybe they pick up the long ones and then production gave them smaller ones when it came time to actually putting the cello together.

I'm guessing there's 3 steps to the process: 1. gather trash, 2. clean it up/cut it/get it ready, and 3. assemble it. For the purposes of the race task, they eliminated the second step. So I think you're right that they had them pick up the "raw" trash that would ordinarily be used, but then gave them "finished" trash to actually build with.

[HurricaneVal]

45 minutes ago, lh25 said:

Did I see teams carrying a big gold colored drum to that task, that was never used?

 

31 minutes ago, tracyscott76 said:

I'm guessing there's 3 steps to the process: 1. gather trash, 2. clean it up/cut it/get it ready, and 3. assemble it. For the purposes of the race task, they eliminated the second step. So I think you're right that they had them pick up the "raw" trash that would ordinarily be used, but then gave them "finished" trash to actually build with.

Yeah, that's got to be it.  Though, the "trash" they picked seemed to be unusually clean and relatively easy to find in that convenient trash heap.  But they probably didn't want to hide the actual materials, because I'm sure more work has to go into prepping them for assembly than there is time for in the race.  I thought it was an interesting challenge though--unusual and it give the viewers a sense of place that is a little different from the usual "go to the biggest tourist destination closest to the largest town, do some vaguely culturally significant thing there, then get your clue to go to the biggest downtown park and look for Phil with some colorful greeter person."  Was anyone else hoping that after they made their cello, they would have to sit with the orchestra and play a tune until the conductor is pleased with their performance?  I'm sure those cellos weren't tuned up at all, so when the child took their instrument to "play" they just went through the motions.

I did notice several team members carrying around thin metal or maybe cardboard violin shapes, but those never came into play.  Were they given to them as souvenirs, or was there maybe another purpose to them?  They never came up again that I could see.  Another TAR mystery....

[Gregg247]

Each season, there's at least one episode where neither of the challenges look like fun at all.  This episode was it for me.  Did you see how hot and sweaty everyone was?  It must have been miserable out there!  The watermelon challenge was pure grunt work and would be incredibly frustrating to try and get right.  The dancing challenge seemed to be shorter to do, but required such precise detail work that I would have gone crazy trying to complete it.  I'll bet the contestants all considered that a LONG day on the Race!

I did enjoy the cello building challenge though. 

I'm not a fan of alliances on TAR unless they're more of an informal type of "helping out your friends" kind of thing.  Although there are 5 teams in this seasons alliance, it looks like Will & James are the only ones taking it REALLY seriously.  The rest seem to be of the opinion of "Yes, we're working together.  Let's help each other out.  Oh, maybe that team over there could use some help, too."

[Tango64]

I want to see them driving! Some of the best TAR experiences are when they have to drive themselves in a manual transmission, diesel car in an unfamiliar country. They bicker, they get lost and frustrated, they put gasoline in their diesel engine, they struggle with the manual transmission, they break down. That's some good TAR watching!

When it's all of them getting on the same flight, then to waiting taxis, it's like someone said up above -- "a group tour with activities." Let's see them get themselves from one place to another. That's where the racing really comes in.

And phooey on alliances. Race, damn you, race!

[Giuseppe]

1 hour ago, Tango64 said:

I want to see them driving! Some of the best TAR experiences are when they have to drive themselves in a manual transmission, diesel car in an unfamiliar country. They bicker, they get lost and frustrated, they put gasoline in their diesel engine, they struggle with the manual transmission, they break down. That's some good TAR watching!

When it's all of them getting on the same flight, then to waiting taxis, it's like someone said up above -- "a group tour with activities." Let's see them get themselves from one place to another. That's where the racing really comes in.

We'll see what happens in future episodes, but it seems like they've taken out showing the actual 'travel' part of the show.  We see them at the airport, then running out of the airport, and then a little taxi footage. I hope to see some self-driving, too, and other forms of transportation. Maybe they're waiting for fewer teams.

Speaking of running out of the airports, though, it even seems as if they're holding up all the teams at customs or something, and then releasing them once everyone is cleared because I think in every leg so far, we've seen all the teams running out of the airport doors at once. I can't recall that ever happening before. Maybe there's a reason for it, but it almost feels like the producers decided that this frantic rush of 100 people running out of the airport at once makes for a cool shot.

[Hera]

2 hours ago, Tango64 said:

I want to see them driving! Some of the best TAR experiences are when they have to drive themselves in a manual transmission, diesel car in an unfamiliar country. They bicker, they get lost and frustrated, they put gasoline in their diesel engine, they struggle with the manual transmission, they break down. That's some good TAR watching!

When it's all of them getting on the same flight, then to waiting taxis, it's like someone said up above -- "a group tour with activities." Let's see them get themselves from one place to another. That's where the racing really comes in.

54 minutes ago, Giuseppe said:

We'll see what happens in future episodes, but it seems like they've taken out showing the actual 'travel' part of the show.  We see them at the airport, then running out of the airport, and then a little taxi footage. I hope to see some self-driving, too, and other forms of transportation. Maybe they're waiting for fewer teams.

This has been an on-going complaint of mine as well. Someone pointed out in one of the other threads that airlines have gotten too efficient at planning and scheduling their routes that it's unlikely anyone will have enough empty seats for teams to jump on at the last minute (never mind that teams need to buy tickets for the crew as well, so instead of two tickets per team, you need four). One or two teams might pull it off, but the others will be hosed. It might get a little better when they get to Europe, where there are more short-haul flights to choose from. I would also love it if teams had to use local infrastructure more, but I think the practicalities of filming on a potentially crowded bus, train, or metro probably makes it a non-starter. The times teams have been on trains in the last few seasons, they've all been fairly empty, so it's clear the show deliberately timed the leg so that teams would use off-peak services.

Of course, none of this explains why teams haven't been made to drive themselves anywhere so far. I think it might be because in order to ensure everyone gets on the spoon-fed flights, they don't want anyone losing half a day driving in the wrong direction and back. Even if multiple teams do this, it's still a hassle for production, especially if the route to the new location has only one flight per day. Having one set of teams be that far ahead of another set of teams is not only a logistical problem (places need to be rented out for longer, judges and instructors need to be paid for more of their time), but it's bad TV: either the time difference means that the teams at the back should have no way of catching up with the teams at the front, so the show lacks tension until the last of the trailing teams is eliminated, or there is an equalizer (or set of equalizers) that neutralizes/substantially reduces a 24 hour advantage, which is deeply unsatisfying/unfair.

[HurricaneVal]

At least even with reserved blocks of taxis, there is still the taxi-driver randomizing factor!  🤣😂🤣😂 

Edited November 6, 2020 by HurricaneVal
make words more better

[judyjudyjudy]

On 11/4/2020 at 11:05 PM, Corgi-ears said:

The blondes seem to think that Paraguayan villages are by default dangerous slums.

 

I think that's what bothered me so much about them in the cab...they seemed to think they were going to get jumped when the cab driver got out of the car.  They were terrified.  Just because it's a poor village doesn't mean that it's dangerous.  Their attitude was very elitist.

[jemklb]

On 11/5/2020 at 9:36 AM, eel21788 said:

Also, the "this is the hardest thing I have ever had to do" crap. Honey, if that's true, you've lead a pretty privileged life. Learning how to do a little work, that really isn't hard labor, might do your entitled ass some good.

You may have taken that comment too literally. In the moment during the race, yeah I imagine it could feel that way and especially after the day they'd had.  I doubt she seriously meant it. They don't seem entitled to me  at all frankly. I don't understand the hate they get.

[jemklb]

On 11/5/2020 at 4:27 PM, Hera said:

 And anyway, this one is less annoying than the Cho brothers' "back pack" alliance in season 10, since no one is stopping and waiting for anyone.

I agree with you. That alliance was ridiculous and frustrating.

[Jobiska]

Here's what I don't get--would the blonde sisters have preferred their driver keep going rather than get out and ask a local (within full view of the cab, mind you) for help?  I think the Olympians would have preferred a more proactive cabbie the other episode!

I can't totally hate Will and James because more than once they've been appreciative of their surroundings/the countries.  

[Vermicious Knid]

I believe the preview for the next episode, which we originally should have also seen, includes Driving Drama.

[Brookside]

On 11/5/2020 at 9:46 AM, iMonrey said:

 I just wish the show could break itself of the habit of casting nearly identical babes every season with names like Kaylynn and Haley or Kimmie and Kammie or Hayleigh and Kayleigh or Kelly and Cady. I never end up being able to tell which one is which. 

Why do families think it's cute to match all the children with, for example, rhyming names, all "K" names, or whatever.

 

On 11/6/2020 at 12:38 AM, Sheikh Yerbouti said:

 

"Put it in the hole and then twist it" should have been the episode title, because I'm 12.

 

You may or may not want to watch this about how pigs reproduce.

https://www.straightdope.com/21341237/does-a-pig-have-a-corkscrew-shaped-penis

[viajero]

On 11/6/2020 at 4:46 PM, judyjudyjudy said:

I think that's what bothered me so much about them in the cab...they seemed to think they were going to get jumped when the cab driver got out of the car.  They were terrified.  Just because it's a poor village doesn't mean that it's dangerous.  Their attitude was very elitist.

I don't know Asunción all that well, but the neighborhoods around garbage dumps do tend to be very dangerous places in many Latin American cities, whether day or night.  From the glimpses we got in the episode, that did not look like the greatest of neighborhoods.

A quick google search reveals that on Oct 10 of this year, the municipality ordered that the Cautera sanitary landfill be permanently closed.  The reasons mentioned in the various news articles include:

(1) The poor management of the site that leads to significant pollution which has very negative social impacts on the nearby residents by reinforcing their conditions of poverty,

(2) That the landfill was frequented by "undesirable elements" (i.e. street gangs) who have repeatedly started fires that have threatened nearby homes, and are blamed for the high crime rates in the area.

So perhaps the blondes' instincts weren't so far off.

[Omeletsmom]

On 11/4/2020 at 8:31 PM, dgpolo said:

I was wondering if it was really glass? at one point one of the bottles broke when it came off of Hung's (I think) head came in contact with her arm, it didn't seem to be with enough force to break a bottle.

I'm pretty sure they were sugar bottles.  One couple (Alanna and Leo, I think?) broke bottles over their heads when they were done.  I seriously doubt that they could get insurance for that task if the bottles were real glass. 

[AncientNewbie]

I don't want to cut the blondes any slack, because it was not a good look, but I think I'll point at production a bit too. They clearly wanted dramatic reactions from "orchestra" and then riding out of the westernized city center into more stark areas, and then with the driver being lost the blondes just sort of lost it. At first I took them more as a "leaving us here" in the sense of "middle of nowhere" but then it turned a bit darker. Or appeared to, as my quarantine rewatch of Survivor has made me suspicious of anything said on a show.

Every time there's a Detour/Yield Drama, I tire of it before it happens. Yes, someone used the rules of the game to their advantage...that's what everyone should be doing. W&J are a little too smug and mugging, but L&A need to stop with dish best served cold thing.

[Balmafula]

They should've just gone to the other -guay and had Switchbacks of the beef-carrying and the foam disco party.

[Dobian]

This is so weird, I had been watching season 20 on Amazon while watching this new season, and saw the watermelon/bottle dance episode just a couple of days before.  So when I saw the description on the DVR I thought, I saw this already!!

Watermelon/bottle dance is one of the most brutal detours ever, because there is no right choice on which one to do, they're both bad.  No wonder they brought it back.

[BarneySays]

On 11/5/2020 at 5:24 PM, TVbitch said:

I don't mind Will & James. They are obviously huge fans of the show

I wouldn't be so sure.  They are attention whores- like many who have been cast in the past.  I think it's more likely they watched old seasons as research and, obviously, practiced some of the tasks.  I don't think we've heard them aver to being huge fans, which could be editing (although they usually leave those comments in the edit).  From past seasons, it appears that many of the people with public profiles who are cast are not actually fans, but see it as an opportunity.

I like both sets of sisters, although Victoria grates with her haplessness.  I don't think there was anything amiss with the blondes' reaction to being driven to a seemingly rundown part of the city, particularly because the driver didn't seem to know where she was going.  Having lived on their own since their teen years, I expect they have developed a keen awareness of when danger may be lurking, aka street smarts (something the provincial suburban set typically lack).  It was wise to be wary.  They did not screech- get me out of here- or anything of that sort.  They rolled with it, but their antennae went up.  A survival skill.

 

[BarneySays]

On 11/5/2020 at 11:36 AM, eel21788 said:

Also, the "this is the hardest thing I have ever had to do" crap. Honey, if that's true, you've lead a pretty privileged life. Learning how to do a little work, that really isn't hard labor, might do your entitled ass some good.

I happen to be watching the season with the Olympic skier/bobsledder team.  The medaled skier said, regarding having to sing a 1 minute long ditty in German- that is the hardest thing I have ever had to do.  Clearly, she was not being literal, given the work and pain of reaching the athletic heights she has done.  it's an expression, nothing more. 

[dgpolo]

1 hour ago, BarneySays said:

I wouldn't be so sure.  They are attention whores- like many who have been cast in the past.  I think it's more likely they watched old seasons as research and, obviously, practiced some of the tasks.  I don't think we've heard them aver to being huge fans, which could be editing (although they usually leave those comments in the edit).  From past seasons, it appears that many of the people with public profiles who are cast are not actually fans, but see it as an opportunity.

They said so in their profiles, and I'm pretty sure they mentioned it in the first leg too.

From their profile on CBS: What is the accomplishment you are most proud of?
Living out my dream of competing on The Amazing Race! When I was 12 years old, I remember
watching episode one of the first season and saying to myself "I’m going to race one day." Fast
forward 19 years and nine casting applications later (including Family Edition and various
teammates), I’m gearing up for Season 32 with the love of my life. I couldn’t be more proud of
my persistence in accomplishing this childhood dream… and I can’t wait to hear Phil say
the words, "The world is waiting…"! #SUPERFAN

Spoiler tagged because next episode is mentioned.

Spoiler

I also find it fascinating how people perceive other people, while I find Will & James irritating, I'm not seeing them as 'evil'. I'm sure James was asked by his cameraman what he thought about Leo's 'help', just as I am sure Leo was asked about Will & James just before they walked into the Art challenge. Production would've know and could've communicated when they were arriving, a few pointed questions and -voila!- a perfect reaction shot. Yes, I am that cynical.

 

Edited November 13, 2020 by dgpolo
to really add the spoiler tag, sorry