S33.E01: We’re Back!/S33.E02: It Can’t Be That Easy

[Zonk]

42 minutes ago, chaifan said:

I highly highly doubt there were any production shenanigans on the cake judging.  First, I think that's against reality show rules, aka actual laws against fixing results.  Second, I also saw drippage on other cakes, but it wasn't as bad, and also lighter colors.  If production is truly "judging" then it's really possible they didn't see it, or it simply wasn't as bad as the blueberry drippage. 

Pretty sure in the contracts there are clauses that they can influence tasks for production reasons, yadda, yadda and as long as it doesn't effect placement, it shouldn't be a problem. Since this was a "keep racing" and there is a bunch coming up, I don't see any legal problems that would arise from it.

[blackwing]

Regarding the cake judging, I agree that it was incredibly inconsistent.  Only one team got rejected for "drippage", no one else who had a correct cake got dinged.  Personally, I think it's crap that Penn's Germany cake was approved.  The stripes are clearly supposed to be three equal widths.  His yellow stripe was one noticeably thin line of peaches and much skinnier than the other two stripes.  Why was this given a pass?  I would have made him start over.  But that's probably because I don't like him.

[iMonrey]

Quote

That Queen lookalike was adorable.  I shudder to think some of them actually thought...no, they couldn't have, right?  Right?!?

It never occurred to me while I was watching it that any of them believed that was the real Queen, but now that you've brought it up? Ugh. It's quite possible more than one team thought that was really the Queen. And hugged her. I mean, look how many of them didn't know what a Bobby was.

Quote

the roadblocks and detours were embarrassing.  Run here and then there and then there.  What?  And these morons had difficulty with that!

I enjoyed both episodes but I have to agree the "challenges" have been dumbed down considerably. There wasn't even a language barrier for these two legs so just having to run around and find things didn't seem all that difficult. If you go back and watch some of the earlier seasons, the legs were just killers, stuffed with grueling physical tasks and puzzles and building things, all in one leg. And the clues were actual clues - you had to figure out what they meant. Now they just say "go here."

Quote

First, I think that's against reality show rules, aka actual laws against fixing results.  

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! If you think there are actual "laws" for reality shows you've apparently never watched Big Brother. You may be thinking of rules for game shows that were established back in the '50s, but it's been well-established that they don't apply to reality shows because they are defined differently. Survivor proved that over 20 years ago.

[TVbitch]

Phil has become much more loose and chatty at the pit stops. I wish he had been like that for the entire run of the show, cuz I love his personality and interactions with the racers. 

Bummed the cops went out first, especially since it kept this season's "twinnies" in. The show spoiled the non-elimination surprise by showing the last place twinnies talking about how they wouldn't bicker anymore going forward ..before they got to the pit stop.

Do they still even consider casting unknown fans who've applied for the race? I like some of the teams, but it seemed like mostly recruits, with even the non-"celebrity" teams being known for a "viral moment".  

[QuantumMechanic]

9 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

If you go back and watch some of the earlier seasons, the legs were just killers, stuffed with grueling physical tasks and puzzles and building things, all in one leg. And the clues were actual clues - you had to figure out what they meant. Now they just say "go here."

Yeah - that's one of the things that drives me nuts about "modern" TAR (we've been watching since S2, aside from the "family" season).  They almost never have to figure out what a clue means.  They don't even have anything as easy as "Fly here: <picture of a landmark>" anymore.  Just outright directions on where to go.

[TAG42481]

Hi TAR producers.  You do read message boards, right?  I miss the days when "ordinary" people were included on the race.  Let's take a look at some of the teams this season.

Kim and Penn - internet personalities

Taylor and Isaiah - married, but known from their viral video dancing at their wedding

Caro and Ray - met on Love Island (oh, cross-promoting another CBS reality show!)

Lulu and Lala - radio hosts

Ryan and Dusty - Ryan served time for a crime he didn't commit, and "“The Amazing Race” producers later reached out to Ferguson about auditioning for the show." (https://etcanada.com/news/854644/amazing-race-contestant-ryan-ferguson-served-10-years-in-jail-for-murder-he-didnt-commit/)

Anthony and Spencer - stopped a terrorist attack, participated in a movie

So MORE THAN HALF of the teams were plucked because of some sort of fame in the media?  TAR.  What happened to ORDINARY PEOPLE running the race?  You are *thisclose* to jumping the shark.  thisclose.  I'm going to seriously reconsider watching this show (and I've watched since season 7) if you don't go back to having pairs of people we've never heard of.

 

On an unrelated note, through two episodes, I'm cringing when I see Akbar and Sheridan on the screen.  He does not seem like a very supportive husband.  "You were a college athlete!"  Yes, LITERALLY half her life ago, since they're in the mid-40s.  I feel the word "abusive" is a little bit strong in this case, but I hope their relationship isn't always like this.

[Netfoot]

TAR, how I've missed you! You too, Phil! So pleased the race is back, and with a great opening episode!

I rapidly formed my opinions of the various teams, but I do that each race, and I am well open to a complete change of opinion as the race progresses (Example: Beauty Queens).

Strange start. Everyone leaves from home. Not at all sure I liked that. Is it even fair? How do they determine that each team has comparable travel times from their homes to the first cluebox? Did they even try? Or was it entirely dependent on Travel-Bunching?

A little disappointed at the lack of knowledge about common things British. Boris Johnson, Big Ben, Bobbys, Brexit, Nosh... I've lived in Britain for a while, so perhaps I'm asking too much of folks who haven't, but I don't really think these things were all that exotic!

Never saw an episode with two legs ending in a NEL. Gotta admit it. Phil and the editors did a good fake-out on the bus, and nothing suspicious caught my eye.

Cakes: Were there actually more than two flags for EU countries? I admit my knowledge of the 27 EU countries and their flags is not great but the only ones I recognized were France & Germany, which are the ones that every team chose in order to win.

The two idiots finding the Mail Rail

clue and spending 30 minutes searching for... what exactly? Wow!

Teams of note:

Kim & Penn: Rubbing me the wrong way right out of the gate. I want to see racers racing, not performers performing. Goofy maybe, but I ain't seen any funny yet...

Connie & Sam: Running slow. Hope that doesn't become a thing. This is looking like a high-density team.

Raquel & Cayla: Don't know what the Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben's home) looks like and they don't know what a Bobby is. I hope nobody offers them a fag! Oh, and the huggin' and kissin' is going to come to an abrupt halt very soon, I suspect. Brexit, baby! Brexit!

Michael & Armonde Mo: I'm predisposed to like this team just because of Mo! But come on guys! Yes, there is rhyme and reason to the poster. Use yore brainz!

Akbar & Sheri:  Akbar, give the wife a break! He is just nag, nag, nag, she says. It isn't a good look for him. Much more and I might nickname him J*n*th*n.

Caro & Ray: Professional Reality Show Competitors. She is fast organizing the poster/puzzle and he is dis-organizing it just as fast! How long before she just rrrips his nuts off and holds them ransom?

Lulu & Lala: Didn't immediately dislike this team, but was rooting for them to lose in the first leg, because I didn't want Mo to be eliminated. By the end of leg two, I was ready to see them go home.

Ryan & Dusty: "He's like a raccoon in a dumpster!" <snicker>

Taylor & Isaiah: On their way to Likester Square...

12 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I'm also really disappointed and perplexed by this show's insistence on casting interchangeable twins or otherwise look-alikes you can't tell apart with names like Lulu and Lala. We get one of these teams every season and I don't understand why. 

Don't worry. I doubt it will be a problem for long!

12 hours ago, mertensia said:

I like that both Arjun and Sam calmly helped Natalia and Connie throw darts better.

Makes sense for the weaker thrower to go first. So you don't have the second racer throw if the first one already wipes out.

10 hours ago, Leeds said:

Just when I was was allowing myself to be happy that almost everyone pronounced Buckingham correctly, Phil spoiled it with Glaz-gow (rhymes with cow).

So I bet you just loved Likester Square...

5 hours ago, Haleth said:

Yet other teams had drippage and he let them slide.

But their drippage was massive, from top to bottom, twice. Not just a little dribble like the others.

Again, I'm thrilled TAR is back, and this opening episode was great (except for losing Mo!). I must say I'm looking forward to the next episode where athletes foot strikes, and how that is handled by production.

Also, curious to find out which teams are unable to return, and how they fairly inject replacements who have not run the two London legs, plus what ever else happens in Scotland.

[Hpmec]

Who came up with the find the clue in the bottom of the bin task? Way too easy. Even two contestants thought so, which was ridiculously dumb of them. The TAR I know and love would have put the clue inside an envelope in one of the envelopes inside one of the large packages stuffed with envelopes. Come on, TAR. Make it a challenge! Is cluelessness a requirement for coming on this show these days? Few knew what a Bobby is or who Boris Johnson is. Teams seemingly had an easier time identifying DigiBen than Big Ben. The husband and wife who earn a living making and posting stupid videos of themselves are a perfect example of what's wrong with this country. Too much idiocy. Not enough brainpower. And what's with the start from all the different cities? Planes could not possibly have all landed at the same time, giving some teams a time advantage at the beginning. Have to assume teams all met up at the airport and we're given the go signal from there. All in all...meh . Hoping the show will eventually be able to film new seasons and producers will go back to casting ordinary people. 

Edited January 6, 2022 by Hpmec

[AncientNewbie]

I'm not always a fan of stunt casting, but I can understand the attraction for production. You're starting with people who have been on camera, for whatever their original notoriety is, plus however many local (or national) interviews. I mean, I'd love to run TAR, but I also clam up under pressure and am not demonstrative at all and would be a complete snooze to watch. 

My biggest beef this episode was the excessive celebration from the train guys and the out of prison guy(s)....they were just so overboard. 

[BarneySays]

Some points on the UK stuff:

1.  Boris notoriously rode his bike to work and was often photographed with his big head in that bike helmet.  It was a playful jab at his “character.”

2.  Brexit was a long drawn out process.  The referendum was in June 2016, with a long period-which was extended twice (if I recall correctly)- and then resulted in a snap election- before the final exit in January 2020, complete with a ceremony of them removing the UK flag from EC building.  (As an interesting side note, there was discussion of removing English as an official EC language upon exit because it is not a language of any member state.  Since English is the universal language of the EC- and world- this seems to have gone nowhere.)

it’s odd to me that those not very familiar with brexit would assume the UK had not left because the default position from 2016 on was that the UK would be leaving.  It seems likely that this pack of idiots knew nothing more than the word brexit and had no idea of it’s actual meaning.

3.  Norway is not an EU member state, but it is an EEA and EFTA member, which gives it equivalent economic rights to the EC member states.

4.  In February, sunset is still early in the UK.  It would be fully dark by 6 pm.  It was likely not as late as it seemed to the viewer.

5.  Did they fly into Gatwick? 

6.  It appears they were prohibited from taking the tube.  I wonder why that was.  It could have added some interest to the tedious digi-whatever detour.  Cabs in London are a pain in the ass due to traffic patterns, and quite expensive.  It appears they were given limitless money- which would be another dumbing down move.

it’s very odd that these clods did not ask anyone what the Bobby is.  There are always some tourists by Big Ben taking pictures.  Someone would have known.

ETA:

*represent the old timers!  At age 47? My, how far we’ve fallen.  I always enjoyed the competent older teams- Meredith and ? (I see her vividly and hear her say, oh, Meredith, but can’t recall her name.), Fran and Barry, etc.  they’re no older than the guidos (ugh) who were not considered “old” on the show.
* the darts challenge would have been  better if they had to go through the board- hitting 1, then 2, etc., ending with a bullseye.

*I would think that flying from home would disadvantage the west coast players, given that an 8 hour jet lag is harder to overcome.  I wonder how long they sat in London before starting.  This appears to be a cost cutting move.  Boo.

Edited January 6, 2022 by BarneySays

[iMonrey]

Quote

Who came up with the find the clue in the bottom of the bin task? Way too easy. 

Yeah - I'm not willing to give the show the benefit of the doubt on this. Some have suggested maybe it was a "trick" to fool the racers into thinking it couldn't be that easy. Given how simplified the challenges have gotten lately, I think it was just a very badly designed challenge that turned out to be way too easy. 

The problem is that most of the challenges nowadays seemed designed for the audience rather than the racers. That's why we have so many zipline "challenges" or hot air balloon "challenges" and the like. They are visually interesting to us watching at home but not particularly challenging for the racers. I think the mail challenge was simply designed around them finding and showing off that cute little mail train, like "Oh, look, here is an interesting thing we can use." They're more interested in how it looks than anything else.

[aghst]

12 minutes ago, TAG42481 said:

Hi TAR producers.  You do read message boards, right?  I miss the days when "ordinary" people were included on the race.  Let's take a look at some of the teams this season.

Kim and Penn - internet personalities

Taylor and Isaiah - married, but known from their viral video dancing at their wedding

Caro and Ray - met on Love Island (oh, cross-promoting another CBS reality show!)

Lulu and Lala - radio hosts

Ryan and Dusty - Ryan served time for a crime he didn't commit, and "“The Amazing Race” producers later reached out to Ferguson about auditioning for the show." (https://etcanada.com/news/854644/amazing-race-contestant-ryan-ferguson-served-10-years-in-jail-for-murder-he-didnt-commit/)

Anthony and Spencer - stopped a terrorist attack, participated in a movie

So MORE THAN HALF of the teams were plucked because of some sort of fame in the media?  TAR.  What happened to ORDINARY PEOPLE running the race?  You are *thisclose* to jumping the shark.  thisclose.  I'm going to seriously reconsider watching this show (and I've watched since season 7) if you don't go back to having pairs of people we've never heard of.

 

On an unrelated note, through two episodes, I'm cringing when I see Akbar and Sheridan on the screen.  He does not seem like a very supportive husband.  "You were a college athlete!"  Yes, LITERALLY half her life ago, since they're in the mid-40s.  I feel the word "abusive" is a little bit strong in this case, but I hope their relationship isn't always like this.

For all we know, it's CBS pushing this, not the producers.

Whatever it takes to keep the show on the air.

I'm not a big Youtube viewer and I'm skeptical of most Youtube reviewers (product placement) but I think there's some resentment because some of them are making very good or outrageous amounts of money.

I don't see Youtube personalities or other social media influencers being any better or worse than "normal" racers.  I was more offended by former Big Brother winners trying to extend their 15 minutes and grab more reality show loot.

[blackwing]

One thing that we noticed was how rude these racers overall were to the people who gave them clues.  There were many times where we just hear "do you have a clue" and then hardly anyone even said thank you.  It's no wonder why the rest of the world thinks that Americans as a whole are a rude people.

17 minutes ago, TAG42481 said:

On an unrelated note, through two episodes, I'm cringing when I see Akbar and Sheridan on the screen.  He does not seem like a very supportive husband.  "You were a college athlete!"  Yes, LITERALLY half her life ago, since they're in the mid-40s.  I feel the word "abusive" is a little bit strong in this case, but I hope their relationship isn't always like this.

I think he thinks he is motivating her by treating like one of his students, who needs a little push to get motivated.  They've been married for 20 or so years, you would think he knows her.  Also, if he was complaining she was so slow, why didn't he carry her bag?  He looks big and strong and fit, it seems the weight of the bag would be less for him to bear than her.

17 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

Never saw an episode with two legs ending in a NEL. Gotta admit it. Phil and the editors did a good fake-out on the bus, and nothing suspicious caught my eye.

Cakes: Were there actually more than two flags for EU countries? I admit my knowledge of the 27 EU countries and their flags is not great but the only ones I recognized were France & Germany, which are the ones that every team chose in order to win.

NEL:  The twins were way too happy during their mid-episode interview, they said they wouldn't argue going forward, the team that checked in weren't told they were the "winners of this leg" or given a prize.  Definitely telegraphed the NEL or TBC.

Cakes:  I believe France and Germany were the only 2 EU flags.  I think the only other European flags were UK and Norway.  Other flags I noticed were South Africa, Jamaica, and one with horizontal stripes in strange colours that may or may not be an actual country.

31 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! If you think there are actual "laws" for reality shows you've apparently never watched Big Brother. You may be thinking of rules for game shows that were established back in the '50s, but it's been well-established that they don't apply to reality shows because they are defined differently. Survivor proved that over 20 years ago.

Agreed.  I always find it interesting how people always cite "FCC rules and regulations" and "1950s Quiz Show scandal" whenever there is a discussion about fixing or manipulating results.  This isn't a game show.  I think there is producer manipulation on every reality show.  Look at Jeff Probst... he's been trying to manipulate the outcome of votes for years with the way he asks pointed questions and reveals information.    Don't even get me started on that brand new fire-making challenge they inserted into the game to save their beloved Ben the Marine.  Or leading him to immunity idol after immunity idol.

Edited January 6, 2022 by blackwing

[aghst]

5 minutes ago, BarneySays said:

 

6.  It appears they were prohibited from taking the tube.  I wonder why that was.  It could have added some interest to the tedious digi-whatever detour.  Cabs in London are a pain in the ass due to traffic patterns, and quite expensive.  It appears they were given limitless money- which would be another dumbing down move.

Maybe the TFL didn't agree to let them film inside stations and on trains.

By contrast, those taxis have a lot of space for camera crews to get in with the racers in the back.

 

[Hera]

19 minutes ago, BarneySays said:

6.  It appears they were prohibited from taking the tube.  I wonder why that was.  It could have added some interest to the tedious digi-whatever detour.  Cabs in London are a pain in the ass due to traffic patterns, and quite expensive.  It appears they were given limitless money- which would be another dumbing down move.

My guess is that it's easier for the camera operators, since cabs will always have space to allow them to film the teams, while the Tube might not. Plus, they like to have teams give talking head interviews while they're en route somewhere, but on public transport, you're not only forcing unsuspecting locals to listen to those interviews, but you might have to contend with background noise (for instance, if someone else nearby in the metro car is having a conversation) that makes it hard to hear what the teams are saying. In recent seasons when racers are filmed on mass transit of any kind, it's noticeably empty.

19 minutes ago, BarneySays said:

it’s very odd that these clods did not ask anyone what the Bobby is.

The flight attendants did—one of them hugged the woman who told them.

[Blergh]

I think any contestant who didn't know what a bobby was in the UK might have believed it was possible that Her Majesty and Prime Minister Johnson would have eaten together in a regular restaurant to be approached by any passerby with NO security whatsoever (and no attempts in the clues   to go over protocol re royals). But would any of them actually admit it afterwards?

[Hpmec]

2 hours ago, Blergh said:

I think any contestant who didn't know what a bobby was in the UK might have believed it was possible that Her Majesty and Prime Minister Johnson would have eaten together in a regular restaurant to be approached by any passerby with NO security whatsoever (and no attempts in the clues   to go over protocol re royals). But would any of them actually admit it afterwards?

That is if they even knew who Boris Johnson is, which apparently they didn't. And I think they'd have no problem admitting they thought those two were the real thing. The producers seemingly get a perverse pleasure out of casting gullible people who don't follow the news (didn't the flight attendant proudly state the same) and lack critical thinking skills. 

Edited January 6, 2022 by Hpmec

[Zonk]

33 minutes ago, Hpmec said:

Teams seemingly had an easier time identifying DigiBen than Big Ben.

To be shlightly fair, Big Ben was totally covered in scaffolding. I don't know if I would have been able to identify it in that state.

34 minutes ago, BarneySays said:

6.  It appears they were prohibited from taking the tube.  I wonder why that was.  It could have added some interest to the tedious digi-whatever detour.  Cabs in London are a pain in the ass due to traffic patterns, and quite expensive.  It appears they were given limitless money- which would be another dumbing down move.

I doubt they got limitless money. But probably a generous amount, to be able to afford the cabs. At one point teams had the choice to drive or walk and a team commented that they decided to pay for the cab, since it seemed too far. So they could have saved some money for later legs, it seems.

You are right, the tube and buses would have been more fun. I have two possible explainations:

1. It seemed like were trying to wrap up that episode fast, so they could get everybody to bed and start the next leg early in the morning. That is of course assuming they didn't put in a day off.

2. There would have been some news about Covid spreading already at the time and maybe production didn't want to risk sending them through public transport.

If 2 is true, public transport may have even been the original plan, which would have made this episode much more fun. But can't really blame them for wanting to keep people safe.

 

 

[Katy M]

14 hours ago, Giuseppe said:

I didn’t love how they all started at home (no start line??) and there was no mad rush to the airport and jockeying for flights, but I’ll let it go because I mainly enjoyed the rest of it.

What I was wondering is did they really all start at the same time?  I hope not, or the east coast people would have an advantage over the west coast.  I only watched the first 15 minutes. I'll hopefully watch the rest later.  I can't watch at night because oddly enough watching the race gives me an adrenaline rush.

[RunningMarket]

Our recording jumped a bunch of times, so following it and learning bits and bobs about the teams was tough ("why are these guys talking about a train attack?"), but Mr. Market and I are ecstatic TAR is BACK! I can't wait to see the transition between leg 3 and the rest.

We also wondered about the home start and the potential advantage some would have other others, not just for time zones but also availability of flights.

My guess on Tube vs. taxis is also potentially needing waivers signed for all who show up on camera. The Tube can be very, very crowded so that could be a logistical nightmare for producers.

[HurricaneVal]

Squeee, my show is back!  Sigh, what a pack of idiots....

Other than the massive alliance and the game bullying that happened because of it, I kind of liked everyone last season.  Some grated on my nerves, but there wasn't anyone I took a real dislike to, not from the get-go.  Last night however....  Yeah, there are a couple of people I'm none too fond of, just based on first impressions.  But no whole teams, just one half of a team.  Eh, Lulu and Lala aren't a favorite, but as said upthread, I don't think I'll have to worry about disliking them for long.

I liked Akbar and Sheri's backstory.  I thought wow, this is a power couple who is going to make this race shine.  Instead, Akbar turned out to be kind of a jerk and not very kind to Sheri.  He's on my watch list.  I'm going to give him a break because it might have just been the stress of the start of the race causing him to lash out because he was out of his comfort zone, but he's on thin ice with me.

OK.  The Blind Side couple.  Initially I thought I liked their backstory too.  But then.....I noticed football coach Sam seemed quite obsessed with his football savante bonus son and I got strong Stage Mom (except with football) vibes rolling off him.  Then when he got to London and just flat out didn't listen to his wife and went on his own bombastic way while she ran on his his wake trying to fix things behind him.  I have an idea that's how a lot of their life goes, since Connie seemed so good spirited and joking about it.  He's on my watch list as well. 

As for the flight attendants, I was liking them until one half started bragging on how she doesn't watch (or heaven forfend read) the news and makes it a point to be ill-informed.  That just made her dead to me right there.  It is one thing to not obsess over the news, especially these last six years, but it is entirely another to be willfully ignorant of what is going in the larger world around you.  I liked that her partner kind of rolled her eyes and said something like she tries to know what's going on with current events.

I didn't get a close look at all the sample cakes in the cake challenge, but I have to say if the available flags were indeed South Africa, Jamaica, Norway, Germany, France, the UK, and some made up flag with purple (!), then that was really kind of unfair.  With official Brexit so recent in time, that was a bit mean.  Yeah, it was all over the news, but official Brexit was only, what, a month old by the time the race started?  I could see that was an easy red herring mistake to make.  Norway not being a part of the EU is also a bit obscure to the casual European politics observer.  Thankfully nobody put up the South African or Jamaican or fake flag.  At least none of the racers were that dumb!

But......still......the choice of cakes, if the list above truly was the totality of the flags available, was unfair.  If you look at it psychologically, I could see how hurried and flustered racers could easily make the mistakes they made.  I think there may have been some subconscious manipulations at work.  If you eliminate the South African, Jamaican, and fake flags you're left with Norway, France, Germany, and the UK.  All solidly European countries.  The flag of Norway looks like a good, solid, flag.  It look generically European.  I can see why that was an attractive and perceived to be a "safe" choice.  I can also see team choosing the UK flag because it is so familiar--hell, they've been seeing it all day, and those doing to street art detour have it abstractly seared into their brains.  I can also see them choosing the UK flag out of unconscious politeness, this is their current host country after all!  I can also see why racers wouldn't automatically gravitate toward the German flag.  The German flag is made up of scary colors: black, red, and orange.  It looks formidable, so I could seen them unconsciously shying away from that cake and gravitating to the safe and true "red, white, and blue."   On the other hand, the German  and French flags are simple with the three wide color stripes, so why wouldn't racers immediately gravitate toward making them rather than the more complicated UK and Norway flags?  The choice of flags was a little unfair, but the simplicity of the correct flags was entirely fair.

I can't wait for next week.  I'm extremely curious to find out how the long COVID break in filming has affected the race and racers.  I want to know if there's been reflection, growth, and strategizing now that they've got a couple of (easy, English speaking) legs under their belt, or if they'll just continue as they were.

[Rabbittron]

1 hour ago, TAG42481 said:

Hi TAR producers.  You do read message boards, right?  I miss the days when "ordinary" people were included on the race.  Let's take a look at some of the teams this season.

Kim and Penn - internet personalities

Taylor and Isaiah - married, but known from their viral video dancing at their wedding

Caro and Ray - met on Love Island (oh, cross-promoting another CBS reality show!)

Lulu and Lala - radio hosts

Ryan and Dusty - Ryan served time for a crime he didn't commit, and "“The Amazing Race” producers later reached out to Ferguson about auditioning for the show." (https://etcanada.com/news/854644/amazing-race-contestant-ryan-ferguson-served-10-years-in-jail-for-murder-he-didnt-commit/)

Anthony and Spencer - stopped a terrorist attack, participated in a movie

So MORE THAN HALF of the teams were plucked because of some sort of fame in the media?  TAR.  What happened to ORDINARY PEOPLE running the race?  You are *thisclose* to jumping the shark.  thisclose.  I'm going to seriously reconsider watching this show (and I've watched since season 7) if you don't go back to having pairs of people we've never heard of.

 

 

This season has jumped the shark for me. Very dumbed down clues telling teams where to go and not having the teams figure out the clues. 

[Cotypubby]

25 minutes ago, Katy M said:

What I was wondering is did they really all start at the same time?  I hope not, or the east coast people would have an advantage over the west coast.  I only watched the first 15 minutes. I'll hopefully watch the rest later.  I can't watch at night because oddly enough watching the race gives me an adrenaline rush.

 

5 minutes ago, RunningMarket said:

Our recording jumped a bunch of times, so following it and learning bits and bobs about the teams was tough ("why are these guys talking about a train attack?"), but Mr. Market and I are ecstatic TAR is BACK! I can't wait to see the transition between leg 3 and the rest.

We also wondered about the home start and the potential advantage some would have other others, not just for time zones but also availability of flights.

My guess on Tube vs. taxis is also potentially needing waivers signed for all who show up on camera. The Tube can be very, very crowded so that could be a logistical nightmare for producers.

They all left the London airport at the same time, it didn't matter what flight they took or when it arrived. Anyone who got there earlier would just wait around for the later flights to arrive before they all started the actual leg.

[blackwing]

19 minutes ago, Katy M said:

What I was wondering is did they really all start at the same time?  I hope not, or the east coast people would have an advantage over the west coast.  I only watched the first 15 minutes. I'll hopefully watch the rest later.  I can't watch at night because oddly enough watching the race gives me an adrenaline rush.

It seems clear that teams were given the flight arrangements.  There were only four cities from which all of the teams departed.  I know that the father/daughter from Detroit were on the Chicago flight.  So I would imagine each team was told exactly what flights and connecting flights they would be taking.

45 minutes ago, Zonk said:

To be shlightly fair, Big Ben was totally covered in scaffolding. I don't know if I would have been able to identify it in that state.

Yes... but at least you know what Big Ben is.  It's perhaps the most iconic symbol of London, I would have thought everyone knows what Big Ben is.  Connie's husband kept insisting that Westminster Abbey was Big Ben.

[RunningMarket]

4 minutes ago, Cotypubby said:

They all left the London airport at the same time, it didn't matter what flight they took or when it arrived. Anyone who got there earlier would just wait around for the later flights to arrive before they all started the actual leg.

A ha. This would be a detail that our recording decided to skip. Thanks.

[Riplet68]

Have they always known what the 2 tasks on a detour were before they picked them?  I thought they just got a clever name, had to pick from that, than got told what the task was when they got to it.  Led to people choosing really bad tasks cause they didn’t have a clue what they would be doing.

[chaifan]

24 minutes ago, Cotypubby said:

They all left the London airport at the same time, it didn't matter what flight they took or when it arrived. Anyone who got there earlier would just wait around for the later flights to arrive before they all started the actual leg.

Yeah, from the way all the Racers were running for their taxis at the same time it was clear it made no difference when their flights arrived, they were held until everyone was there.  The whole opening sequence of them leaving their families was a waste of air time, in my opinion.  As was the "oh, let's pretend we just got notice from Phil that we're leaving NOW" and totally not random running into other teams at the airport where, instantly, their "hooks" were discussed. 

Way too much fluff for me, and also either assumes the audience is incredibly stupid to think any of this is "real", or just assumes we care about any of that.  I wish they just used that air time on the actual Race. 

 

Edited January 6, 2022 by chaifan

[Netfoot]

I don't know how, but I didn't know about the attack on the Paris train, and certainly didn't know when the teams were announced that one of the teams of racers were involved in that.

I've just watched Clint Eastwood's movie The 15:17 to Paris and while I can't say it was the best film I've ever seen, I will say that I'm glad to have watched it, and doubly so since I am a TAR fan. It's an interesting look at team Anthony & Spencer from behind the scenes (so to speak). 

[eel21788]

2 hours ago, blackwing said:

Cakes:  I believe France and Germany were the only 2 EU flags.  I think the only other European flags were UK and Norway.  Other flags I noticed were South Africa, Jamaica, and one with horizontal stripes in strange colours that may or may not be an actual country.

I saw Brazil, too.

[Hera]

19 hours ago, chaifan said:

And I really liked Akbar's background story, that's the type of person I want to see winning TAR, so I was so disappointed as soon as he started harping on Sheridan. 

Totally agree. I thought it was mean of him to bring up the fact that she used to be an athlete. I don't believe for a moment that he didn't know what her current athletic ability was and didn't understand why it had atrophied (for good reason) in the intervening decades. I also get the sense that he's focussed on being an example of perseverance (and whatever else) to his students. That's great, but it's not the kind of racer I tend to enjoy watching, even when I think their cause or moral crusade is worthy, as I do with him. The teams I like best aren't necessarily paragons of humanity, but people who seem to enjoy and appreciate being on the race and the places that they get to go. To that end, I liked the flight attendants just fine—they seemed to be having fun and had a sense of humor about themselves. They're also off to a surprisingly strong start. We'll see if they can sustain it.

I didn't enjoy the twins at all and wished that they had been the first boot instead of Michael and Moe, though the cops certainly earned their elimination fair and square.

I agree that the detours were imbalanced time-wise. If the producers had wanted to, they probably could have evened up the Ben detour by making everyone go to Piccadilly station on foot instead of giving them the option to go back cab, which—predictably—everyone took. As for the darts one, each of the teams that did it had one person who could reliably hit the bullseye early on, so I wonder if that made it seem faster than it actually would have been for a team where both members were totally new to throwing darts.

But on the other hand, I don't necessarily think detour tasks need to take the same amount of time. I think as long as both sides of the detour see a few teams (at least when it's this early in the race), I'm happy. I don't like it when there's side of the detour that gets one team or is ignored altogether. I think it's interesting to see which task teams think will be faster for them. For the first detour in particular, I imagine that it wouldn't have been clear to the racers that the Ben task would be faster than the art one. I don't think the art task mentioned that racers would essentially have to solve a puzzle before attaching the pieces to the wall, and I doubt the Ben task said how far apart the different checkpoints were or that taking a cab to one of them would be an option.

4 hours ago, iMonrey said:

The problem is that most of the challenges nowadays seemed designed for the audience rather than the racers. That's why we have so many zipline "challenges" or hot air balloon "challenges" and the like. They are visually interesting to us watching at home but not particularly challenging for the racers. I think the mail challenge was simply designed around them finding and showing off that cute little mail train, like "Oh, look, here is an interesting thing we can use." They're more interested in how it looks than anything else.

I totally agree with this. At minimum, I wish the clue had been harder to find (maybe sealed in an envelope with a name and address given to the racer at the start of the task?). While it was painful watching Penn and Taylor overthink it (and not believe Anthony when he told them they were done), it's also hard for me to blame them because tasks on The Amazing Race generally are not and shouldn't be able to be completed that quickly. It reminded me of season 29, when Tara and Joey were doing a needle in a haystack challenge in a kayak in Norway and found the clue in the second place they looked and Tara struggled to believe that it was over that fast, but at least that was due to pure dumb luck. In this case, all of the clues were at the bottom of the mail sacks, so anyone who pursued a strategy of dumping out all the mail was going to complete the task really fast. But really, I wish the train had been a necessary part of the task—maybe something like forcing the racers to a specific (or set of letters) and deliver it to specific stops on the train's route.

Edited January 6, 2022 by Hera

[eel21788]

6 hours ago, Zonk said:

I actually didn't know little Ben but I can drive stick. Not sure if I can drive automatic though, never tried. :D 

You don't know what to do with your extra hand and foot. It makes the whole driving experience too simple.

[eel21788]

6 hours ago, seacliffsal said:

 Very interesting that they received French citizenship for their actions (and if they go to France I wonder if there would be any advantage for them [speculation only]).

In France, it would definitely get them through customs faster. The citizen line always moves faster than the foreign travelers' line. I don't know if it would be the same for other EU countries.

[eel21788]

2 hours ago, BarneySays said:

*represent the old timers!  At age 47? My, how far we’ve fallen.  I always enjoyed the competent older teams- Meredith and ? (I see her vividly and hear her say, oh, Meredith, but can’t recall her name.), 

Gretchen

[Hera]

5 minutes ago, eel21788 said:

6 hours ago, seacliffsal said:

Very interesting that they received French citizenship for their actions (and if they go to France I wonder if there would be any advantage for them [speculation only]).

In France, it would definitely get them through customs faster. The citizen line always moves faster than the foreign travelers' line. I don't know if it would be the same for other EU countries.

This is interesting because if they do go to France, Anthony and Spencer will need to enter on their French passports—countries always require their citizens to enter (and leave) on the passport of that country, even if they have other nationalities. This is an advantage they have over other teams that the producers of the show can do nothing about (except by making renunciation of their French citizenship a requirement of being cast, which they clearly didn't do). However, I don't know if that holds for the whole of the EU—that a citizen of an EU country cannot travel to a different EU country on a non-EU passport. They'd be smart to keep using their French passports within the EU, unless the show intervenes and insists that they travel on their US passports when they're not in France.

[SG429]

50 minutes ago, Cotypubby said:

They all left the London airport at the same time, it didn't matter what flight they took or when it arrived. Anyone who got there earlier would just wait around for the later flights to arrive before they all started the actual leg.

Traditionally most eastbound flights leave US late afternoon/evening and arrive London early AM. Very few daytime services operate to London, even before covid. Yet by the time they arrived to the first task it was well into nighttime, sunset around 5:30 then. LA flight would be last to arrive, early afternoon. Customs, tech check, organizing/orientation, etc they probably got released after 3 or 4. Bummer for the east coast flights.

[chaifan]

16 minutes ago, eel21788 said:

In France, it would definitely get them through customs faster. The citizen line always moves faster than the foreign travelers' line. I don't know if it would be the same for other EU countries.

Ah, but you forget the #1 rule of the Race:  A team is only as fast as their camera/sound crew.  😁

If their assigned crew doesn't have French passports, then they'd have to wait for them to get through the regular line. 

 

 

[illdoc]

1 hour ago, Riplet68 said:

Have they always known what the 2 tasks on a detour were before they picked them?  I thought they just got a clever name, had to pick from that, than got told what the task was when they got to it.  Led to people choosing really bad tasks cause they didn’t have a clue what they would be doing.

Yes, they are (usually) told, but what they are told can be misleading. For example, one part of the detour indicated that they had to "eat a local dish". It wasn't until they got there that they discovered it was live baby octopus (at least live until the chef chopped it up and handed it to them. some of the tentacles were trying to climb off the plate!).

[raeb23]

Glad to have Phil & TAR back.

7 hours ago, seacliffsal said:

The flight attendants bother me-especially when they showed great pride in NEVER watching/ paying attention to the news.  

That was when Raquel lost me. Why would you boast about this? And so many contestants didn't know 'bobby', Boris Johnson, Big Ben, country flags or EU members. One of the reasons I watch this show is that I've always been curious about other people and places, so it galls me when contestants show barely any interest in the wider world. I hope the break in racing gave teams the opportunity to better prepare. 

[Browncoat]

The flight attendants lost me with their extreme vocal fry when they first opened their mouths.  

I liked that they had random flags on the cakes.  I feel like it made the task more challenging that it would have been if all the flags had been of EU countries.  Including the UK flag was a little tricksy, but the race should be at least a little tricksy.

I do always feel bad for the first racers to be eliminated.  Maybe they should have the first leg as an uber-leg, and have the first elimination after the second instead of the way it worked last night.  Especially if they're staying in the same city for the first two legs.

 

[Stardancer Supreme]

18 hours ago, chaifan said:

I liked all of the teams out of the gate, but by the middle of the first episode I just wanted both Akbar and Sam off the screen.  They were just bumbling around, with Sheridan and Connie sort of dragging along behind them, getting yelled at for no reason.  I don't want an entire season of that.  I'm hoping they either get eliminated fast or turn that shit around.  And I really liked Akbar's background story, that's the type of person I want to see winning TAR, so I was so disappointed as soon as he started harping on Sheridan. 

Agreed. Akbar, sir; you did not get this great opportunity to go to another country to be a dick to your wife. It cheapens how we look at you!

[QuantumMechanic]

Kim and Penn have posted their ep 1&2 recap:

 

[Netfoot]

2 hours ago, Hera said:

I wish the clue had been harder to find (maybe sealed in an envelope with a name and address given to the racer at the start of the task?).

This was ostensibly a Needle-in-a-Haystack task. Find the envelope in a large bin full of mail. However, most of the bin was full of large packages, and the envelope was marked with a huge TAR sign. This made it into a Needle-in-a-Pincushion task. And the needle was pretty huge to begin with. As far as time spent by racers, it would have been a mere blip on the scope. Except for two dummies who seemed to want to stay there all day.....

Better would have been a bin full of letters only, and the clue concealed inside a normal envelope with a TAR stamp on it. 

[SG429]

2 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

Better would have been a bin full of letters only, and the clue concealed inside a normal envelope with a TAR stamp on it. 

Imagine the poor task coordinator charged with creating bins full of decoy letters.

[Zonk]

2 hours ago, HurricaneVal said:

The German flag is made up of scary colors: black, red, and orange. 

It's black, red and gold, thank you very much. 😜

2 hours ago, Riplet68 said:

Have they always known what the 2 tasks on a detour were before they picked them?

I think there are always some small descriptions, but they can be vague or misleading.

1 hour ago, Hera said:

 They'd be smart to keep using their French passports within the EU, unless the show intervenes and insists that they travel on their US passports when they're not in France.

As soon as they are in the EU (they currently aren't) or Switzerland and Norway they won't have to use their passports at all. There are no passport checks at the borders of countries in the schengen zone.

1 hour ago, SG429 said:

Yet by the time they arrived to the first task it was well into nighttime, sunset around 5:30 then.

When they came running out of the airport the sun was setting. So it probably was around 5:30 exactly. That and judging from the amount of people on the street I think they ran into the evening and not even close to late night. These few tasks couldn't have made for a very long leg.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

Interesting.  In Kim & Penn's recap they said the clue for the mail roadblock had a name and postal code on it. 

https://youtu.be/MZmvfBvNww8?t=1818

 

[Chicago Redshirt]

6 hours ago, meep.meep said:

So far no one but Akbar and the pink twins are getting on my nerves.  Penn took an awful fall onto pavement for an "older" guy.

Why show two episodes at once?  They may have this season filmed but it'll be a while before another season can take place.  Stretch this season out as long as possible.

HBO ran the movie about the train attack yesterday afternoon and I watched it.  So when TAR started and they were cruising through the teams, I recognized the two of them.

Is the movie any good?

[QuantumMechanic]

According to the Holdernesses a task was cut out of the broadcast -- teams had to go up and down the Orbit Slide.  The plans was originally to have teams slide down but it was too wet and they were told to just go back down the stairs or whatever.

[lilysmom]

6 hours ago, chaifan said:

 

I highly highly doubt there were any production shenanigans on the cake judging.  First, I think that's against reality show rules, aka actual laws against fixing results.  Second, I also saw drippage on other cakes, but it wasn't as bad, and also lighter colors.  If production is truly "judging" then it's really possible they didn't see it, or it simply wasn't as bad as the blueberry drippage. 

 

It has always seemed to me that when a challenge that requires judging takes place, the judges usually seem to be more exact about the requirements on the first couple of contestants. As the challenge continues, it seems like they become somewhat more lax. It may just be that the editing makes it seem that way, or maybe production wants to speed up the process so team #9 is not a whole day behind team #1. Or maybe they don't want to spend a whole hour showing the same challenge over and over. Since the judging is usually subjective, it could be any number of things and those would be hard to prove. I also don't think that the time differences are easy to determine (how far behind team a is from team b.) Just my opinion! I LOVE this show!!

[meep.meep]

10 minutes ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

Is the movie any good?

Average.

But cool to make it with the actual guys who managed to stop the terrorist.

 

[chitowngirl]

This would be a double leg, not a NEL, yes? Phil usually mentions to the last team that it’s NEL and they’ll have an extra task to do.