S32.E11: Run On Your Tippy Toes

[luvmylabs]

Well, whoever wins, I'm anxious to see the other 2 teams squeal with glee and congratulate them for winning $1,000,000 while they who helped them along got nothing.  I'm hoping for Hung and Chee or the beards.   Anyone but Will and James.  If those 2 do win they had better have smelling salts ready .  I predict dramatic swooning.  Make alliances illegal.

Edited December 15, 2020 by luvmylabs

[Kel Varnsen]

21 minutes ago, luvmylabs said:

Make alliances illegal.

Or just cast really good really competitive teams. I mean can you imagine Colin and Christie or the Beauty Queens or Boston Rob saying they were going to work with another really good team so that both of them can make it all the way to the finals? It would make no sense.

[Skyfall]

1 hour ago, Kel Varnsen said:

Or just cast really good really competitive teams. I mean can you imagine Colin and Christie or the Beauty Queens or Boston Rob saying they were going to work with another really good team so that both of them can make it all the way to the finals? It would make no sense.

Exactly, help no one and hope one of the good teams has a bad leg.

[dgpolo]

1 hour ago, Kel Varnsen said:

2 hours ago, luvmylabs said:

Make alliances illegal.

Or just cast really good really competitive teams. I mean can you imagine Colin and Christie or the Beauty Queens or Boston Rob saying they were going to work with another really good team so that both of them can make it all the way to the finals? It would make no sense.

Colin and Christie did form an alliance

Spoiler

with Tyler and Korey. Korey mentions in an exit interview they'd had an alliance since leg two or thereabouts. Also:  "All of the Amazing Race teams decide to form an alliance for these final legs, conspicuously helping each other while leaving Nicole and Victor to their own devices. It’s a tad painful to watch." that's from here

 

 

[ByaNose]

2 hours ago, luvmylabs said:

Well, whoever wins, I'm anxious to see the other 2 teams squeal with glee and congratulate them for winning $1,000,000 while they who helped them along got nothing.  I'm hoping for Hung and Chee or the beards.   Anyone but Will and James.  If those 2 do win they had better have smelling salts ready .  I predict dramatic swooning.  Make alliances illegal.

I’m still torn if Will & James or the brothers are the winners. I think Will & James had the bigger edit along with confessionals. The brothers have been more consistent in finishing first the last few legs. Of course, some teams have never won a leg and win the whole thing so that doesn’t mean much. After, having to suffer through the BB alliance I think I will be further punished with Will & James winning TAR this season. Ugh!!!!

[Chicago Redshirt]

2 hours ago, Kel Varnsen said:

Or just cast really good really competitive teams. I mean can you imagine Colin and Christie or the Beauty Queens or Boston Rob saying they were going to work with another really good team so that both of them can make it all the way to the finals? It would make no sense.

I can't remember off the top if Boston Rob and Amber did make alliances in their previous seasons. I tend to think they at least talked about it. 

But there is no doubt that Boston Rob and Amber of Survivor fame would make alliances (and break them) if they thought it suited them. The bigger question is why anyone would conceivably trust Boston Rob & Amber to keep up their end of the deal. 

[Kel Varnsen]

28 minutes ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

I can't remember off the top if Boston Rob and Amber did make alliances in their previous seasons. I tend to think they at least talked about it. 

But there is no doubt that Boston Rob and Amber of Survivor fame would make alliances (and break them) if they thought it suited them. The bigger question is why anyone would conceivably trust Boston Rob & Amber to keep up their end of the deal. 

I can't remember for sure but I imagine that Rob would form alliances if they benefitted him. But I can't imagine that he would form an alliances early on with another top team, and then maintain that alliance all the way to the final leg. But the three teams that weren't eliminated this leg did just that.

Edited December 15, 2020 by Kel Varnsen

[Chicago Redshirt]

25 minutes ago, Kel Varnsen said:

I can't remember for sure but I imagine that Rob would form alliances if they benefitted him. But I can't imagine that he would form an alliances early on with another top team, and then maintain that alliance all the way to the final leg. But the three teams that weren't eliminated this leg did just that.

But that's more of a difference in degree rather than kind. The Core Alliance from this season was always useful to them, and so they kept it as long as they could. I would imagine in the finale, all bets are off. (Although if Hung randomly helps another team because she can't control herself, that will be amusing). I would think that Rob & Amber (as well as most good teams from previous seasons) would not have been as puzzled by this, although that might be the sheen of nostalgia. 

If Rob & Amber would keep the alliance as long as it was useful, and if it were useful up through the final four, that would probably what they would do.

The main difference is that if Rob was in the position of the Beard Bros from this episode, I could absolutely see him going, "Thanks for the help, suckers!" and peacing out. But that's not even necessarily good gameplay. It's more just to solidify his rep as a hardcore Jedi Master when it comes to getting people to do things against their interest. 

Edited December 15, 2020 by Chicago Redshirt

[ByaNose]

I did think it was funny last week that Phil was basically telling the Final Four to stop helping each other & they were killing the season. LOL!!! At least, 3 of the teams didn’t get the hint. Of course, I don’t think Phil or the teams knew how bad this season would come off. I don’t even think I knew. The first 2 episode were fairly normal but after that it did become obvious how helpful the teams were to each other in getting out other teams like the Leo & Alana & the blondes. I still wish there had been a third non elimination leg for the blondes because the other teams heads would have exploded. LOL!!!!!

[Kel Varnsen]

30 minutes ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

The main difference is that if Rob was in the position of the Beard Bros from this episode, I could absolutely see him going, "Thanks for the help, suckers!" and peacing out. But that's not even necessarily good gameplay. It's more just to solidify his rep as a hardcore Jedi Master when it comes to getting people to do things against their interest. 

I could see Rob helping no one, or helping Gary and D'Angelo thinking they were the weakest team. Or possibly telling some of the team's the wrong flags just to mess with them.

[Netfoot]

 

I don't really care if the alliance worked or not. I don't care if the alliance members achieved their goal.

What I care about is that since the start of episode/leg #2, this alliance has made this entire season predictable and unenjoyable to watch. That isn't good for viewership, which isn't good for TPTB. (How many long-time TAR fans have said out loud that they won't bother to watch the finale?)

The alliance was 42% of the teams (45% of the remaining teams at the time the alliance was formed). It was in effect for 83% of the episodes. This whole season (pretty much) has been about the alliance bullying and back-stabbing the other teams. I didn't "sign up" for that.

For the enjoyment of the viewers (and thereby the good of the show) alliances of this sort must be eliminated. And Phil is the man to do it - he's good at eliminating!

[SnideAsides]

21 hours ago, Cotypubby said:

Yeah, the main problems with this season stem from the airport bunching for every flight. There wouldn’t even be an alliance to begin with if the teams arrived at places and completed tasks at different times. You’re not going to wait 40 minutes for the next team to arrive to give them the answer. It’s different when they’re all there at the same time. 

Yes. And the bunching only happens because they're so beholden to the "12 legs in 21 days" thing Phil uses on Twitter that they don't have time to do anything else. I get that it's probably a budget thing, but you can't tell me it'd be too expensive to replace "everybody's on the same <2hr flight from Paris to Berlin" with "teams are now taking three overnight charter buses from Paris to Berlin". You'd get team relationships developing at a time you could film them (the reason they stopped the Eat Sleep and Mingle at the Pit Stops), they'd be too split up to bother with alliances so the actual racing would be improved, and the buses could be set to offer enough downtime for someone like DeAngelo to explore for a few hours. And yet the actual cost increase would basically be... renting the buses and an extra day or two of crew wages? You wouldn't even need to book a hotel because they're on the bus overnight? I'd call that a win.

[Vermicious Knid]

And even when they used two planes there still wasn't a significant separation. I think that was twice this season, one set of flights was 15 minutes apart, and the other was half an hour. Which amounted to nothing.

[ByaNose]

I agree that the alliance took the fun out of the season. Obviously, the show had to make it a storyline because so many teams were involved. I’m guessing the show would have been presented the same if Gary & DeAngelo had squeezed their way in to the Final 3. At least, by this episode or the one before the season might still have been edited the same. I still can’t believe they had three songs/flags right. We were sooooo close. It still kills me. They might have died when they saw it, too. 

[doodlebug]

8 hours ago, ByaNose said:

I agree that the alliance took the fun out of the season. Obviously, the show had to make it a storyline because so many teams were involved. I’m guessing the show would have been presented the same if Gary & DeAngelo had squeezed their way in to the Final 3. At least, by this episode or the one before the season might still have been edited the same. I still can’t believe they had three songs/flags right. We were sooooo close. It still kills me. They might have died when they saw it, too. 

If nothing else, they should institute a time penalty for teams that work together and share the answer to a challenge.  If two teams work together, then the time they spend on that activity should be doubled.  Three teams, triple it.  If they knew that there was a price to pay for giving away the answers, teams might think twice before doing it.

I realize that, even if their times had been tripled, the other teams would've probably beaten Gary and DeAngelo anyway.  However, they didn't know that when they agreed to share the answer.  Anything that would make teams think twice would discourage this kind of alliance.

Just as the teammate who is on the sidelines isn't allowed to coach the one doing the task, there should be rules against teams coaching one another in substantive ways.  I don't care if they point and tell another team that the clue box is 'over there' since that might not be true; but giving the answers to solve a puzzle once a team has finished the task is over the line, IMO.

Edited December 16, 2020 by doodlebug

[BarneySays]

On 12/14/2020 at 10:32 PM, Cotypubby said:

Yeah, the main problems with this season stem from the airport bunching for every flight. There wouldn’t even be an alliance to begin with if the teams arrived at places and completed tasks at different times.

I agree.  One other problem is that the tasks were generally banal and too many of them involved visual/perceptive skills- decorating a truck, identifying portraits, the virtual people, the bracelets, the movie scene, the binary numbers,   There were very few physical or building challenges that involved anything more than follow the numbers.  

As for Rob, he's a perfect example of the debasing of a good show by unsportsmanlike conduct.  He may single-handedly be responsible for rules changes.  Not only did he try to interfere with other racers by telling travel agents, etc. not to help the other teams (even bribing a bus driver to withhold opening the back door to delay exit), he commandeered people in a number of cities (including, I believe, the original Fern) to shepherd them around.  Yes, he was playing his character, but if that conduct would have been allowed to fester in subsequent seasons, the show would be a vague memory.

An apt analogy to this alliance nonsense is professional tennis.  There is no rule that prohibits serving an underhand lob, but all players know that if they used this shot, it would detract from the game and ultimately destroy it.  So, there is a sports(wo)man's agreement not to engage in this conduct.  The argument that it's permissible under the rules so players should use it is rejected out of respect for the sport and a desire to maintain its integrity.  If only these alleged fans had the same respect for TAR.  Just because you can DO something does not make it the good or ethical thing to do.    

 

[Kel Varnsen]

1 hour ago, BarneySays said:

agree.  One other problem is that the tasks were generally banal and too many of them involved visual/perceptive skills- decorating a truck, identifying portraits, the virtual people, the bracelets, the movie scene, the binary numbers,   There were very few physical or building challenges that involved anything more than follow the numbers.  

It seems like most of the tasks this season (especially this episode)would take about the same amount of time no matter your background. Based on that I think there are two ways to fix the show. The easy way is to make it a penalty if you help another team. The hard way is to do a fundamental redesign of how the game works. That means casting more competitive teams, who aren't going to help someone on the 2nd to last leg. It also means redesigning the challenges so that they require a variety of different skills. Make some of them physically grueling and overall just make them harder. That way if someone has the skills to do it fast they can get way ahead. Along with that eliminate the planned flights/airport bunching. That way if a team does finish a hard task fast, their advantage can carry over across more then one leg.

Plus removing the airport bunching gets rid of more opportunities for the team's to plan to work together. They got rid of the eat/sleep/mingle so the teams wouldn't become friends, but a 14 hour intercontinental flight will do the same thing.

[Fretful]

Didn't Romber work with a couple of teams to pay a bus to take off?  Then they got him to let them off the front and keep the rear doors closed (or something like that).  An example of forming an alliance for as long as it's helpful.

[chaifan]

4 hours ago, Kel Varnsen said:

Plus removing the airport bunching gets rid of more opportunities for the team's to plan to work together. They got rid of the eat/sleep/mingle so the teams wouldn't become friends, but a 14 hour intercontinental flight will do the same thing.

That's a really good point.  The forced bunching with almost every leg/airport gave these teams a lot more time together than they would have had.  It also makes me wonder about how they're doing seat assignments on pre-fed flights - are the teams all sitting together, which gives them more time to mingle?  If not, who gets the seats closest to the door?  (Not that that makes much of a difference when you still have to wait for your camera crew to get through customs.) 

[Kel Varnsen]

11 minutes ago, chaifan said:

That's a really good point.  The forced bunching with almost every leg/airport gave these teams a lot more time together than they would have had.  It also makes me wonder about how they're doing seat assignments on pre-fed flights - are the teams all sitting together, which gives them more time to mingle?  If not, who gets the seats closest to the door?  (Not that that makes much of a difference when you still have to wait for your camera crew to get through customs.) 

Plus with the forced bunching I think just not coming in last becomes more important. There aren't the same opportunities to take big risks to get way ahead on your own (because even if you get to the airport first you are all going to be on the same next flight anyway). So working together on tasks to make sure you don't come in last becomes a bigger thing.

Edited December 16, 2020 by Kel Varnsen

[Netfoot]

6 hours ago, BarneySays said:

he commandeered people in a number of cities (including, I believe, the original Fern) to shepherd them around.

The original Fern assisted Danny & Oswald in Bankok, in TAR 2 Episode 5. They met her on a tram/bus and persuaded her to come spend the say day with them and help them.

I seem to remember a task in Liechtenstein, back in TAR 18 (Unfinished Business), there was a Roadblock which required one racer to drive from one end of the country to the other on a moped, measuring the distance. I seem to recall they were specifically prohibited from sharing their answers. Can anybody confirm?

Actually, all this talk of earlier seasons and I am now feeling motivated to begin a Grand Rewatch. I'll start with S01E01 right after tonight's finale! Anyone else interested in a rewatch?

32 minutes ago, Kel Varnsen said:

Plus with the forced bunching I think just not coming in last becomes more important. There aren't the same opportunities to take big risks to get way ahead on your own (because you are all going to be on the same next flight anyway).

As has been said before, coming first actually penalizes you. You have to get up early and rush to the airport where you sit and wait, and don't get proper rest. Meanwhile the back-of-the-pack teams sleep late and meet you at the airport just in time to jump on the same flight, fresh as a daisy. Why not let them all get up at the same time, bus them to the airport, and upon arrival at the next country, stagger the teams leaving the airport in accordance with their check-in times at the previous pitstop? That way, single-flight economies and safety issues are met, but there is no actual bunching and the incentive to get ahead is increased. (And no. Comparatively, the leg prize on it's own isn't really much of an incentive, in my opinion.)

If there is a need to prevent the 1st vs. last teams from being too widely separated, they can introduce an HOO bunch now and again, as necessary. Or one of those number-pulls they use to split the racers into smaller groups to take helicopters (or something) 15 minutes apart.

2 hours ago, Fretful said:

Didn't Romber work with a couple of teams to pay a bus to take off?

Didn't they persuade an airliner to return to the JetBridge so they could catch the same flight that Uchenna & Joyce were on? Or am I remembering that wrong?

Edited December 16, 2020 by Netfoot

[dgpolo]

29 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

I seem to remember a task in Liechtenstein, back in TAR 18 (Unfinished Business), there was a Roadblock which required one racer to drive from one end of the country to the other on a moped, measuring the distance. I seem to recall they were specifically prohibited from sharing their answers. Can anybody confirm?

I actually think teams did share info on that one and they left the Cowboys out (just as they had at the flags).

29 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

Didn't they persuade an airliner to return to the JetBridge so they could catch the same flight that Uchenna & Joyce were on? Or am I remembering that wrong?

Other way round.

[Netfoot]

6 minutes ago, dgpolo said:

Other way round.

Ah! Ok, thanks.

I'll catch that on my rewatch.  (Actually looking forward to Wil and the iceball!)

[HateTAR32]

Will and James may be more annoying than Colton Cumbie from survivor, and that’s saying something

[Bill1978]

Ok, I confessed I caved last week and spoiled myself for who got booted in this episode but even knowing that D&G got booted didn't help make that ending more bearable.

Firstly, I do love the concept of the city sprint. It's one of the few changes created that I would happily have occur during every season. I could see it working rally well say in the middle of the race. It also allows for a 'smaller' country to be experienced by the viewer better as they don't need to find something crazy for Detours and Roadblocks. It's pretty much just run around and visit places.

I even enjoyed the concept of the last task, it wasn't until Phil was explaining the task that I noticed how much music was played during tasks. I do remember being curious about the music in France and thought it was a bit of an overkill but now it all makes sense.

What I didn't like was the whole 'We don't want to work with anyone attitude' the Unholy 3 gave G&D and then they didn't even try to be subtle about alliance working together. I totally understand DeAngelo get so deflated about the race. As much as I would love to be on the race, I feel as soon as Hung & Chee let I too would have taken the 2 hour penalty. I really think the show needs to regroup and look at how to deal with sharing information to COMPLETE tasks. From memory most alliances in the past has been about assisting getting from one place to another etc but not actually solving puzzles together. I really felt DeAngelo's pain when he told Phil he didn't enjoy the race.

Will has annoyed me since the first episode but this episode really cemented by dislike for him. Firstly with him berating his driver for missing the policeman and secondly the rudeness of saying 'Good!' when Phil said one team was still to arrive.

And OMG to the way the 3 teams were gushing and crying and hugging each other about making the Top 3. I so hope the finale shows them all backstabbing and throwing shade and being bitchy to each other. Cause I like to watch a race not an arrogant kumbaya circle.

I guess I want Hung & Chee to win, they haven't really annoyed me that much compared to the other 2 teams in the Unholy 3. But really I'm on the board the Anyone But The Boyfriends train. Time to watch the finale, which I am dreading more than the finales involving The Hippies & FloZach combined.

 

[watchingtvaddict]

On 12/10/2020 at 11:37 PM, Spunkygal said:

 

Edited January 23, 2021 by watchingtvaddict
I sound bitter like DeAngelo.

[BluBarbi98]

Ohh! That was rough to watch. I really liked the episode up until the music challenge (that was a great one and I'm curious what they'll use as a memory challenge in the finale) but once DeAngelo & Gary missed their first guess by one flag and didn't employ any sort of strategy (that was shown) in their guesses I knew they were goners. I knew that once the true alliance got a taste of how hard it was they would band together so I fast-forwarded to the end as soon as they suggested working together. 

I had previously liked all of these teams but having the alliance in play this late in the season (even last episode) was a disappointing. 

DeAngelo didn't come off looking good either. I know he's bitter because that was a bitter thing that happened to him but I hope he can appreciate the race once the heat of the moment passed.