S33.E03: Who Has This One in the Bag?

[Haleth]

Oh, I'm sorry is Spencer and Anthony dropped out.  They were interesting and were doing so well.  Caro and Ray?  Not sorry they're gone, at least as a couple.  (They'd probably be fine with other partners.)  Rather than Arun and Natalia coming back, I hope the cops got a redo.  Oh, Taylor and Isaiah dropped out too?  Bummer.  I wonder if there was a vaccine issue with anyone?

I'm sort of surprised if Akbar and Sherie come back.  They didn't seem to be enjoying anything about the race but felt like they had to push through to make a point about perseverance.  Then it becomes a chore rather than an adventure.

I wouldn't mind it if Penn toned it down a bit, but I do enjoy their videos.  Their parodies are clever and entertaining.

The judges in both the bagpipe task and the singing task were pretty lenient.  Everyone got through playing the bagpipes on the first try (I thought they had to maintain a single note?) and as far as we were shown everyone who did the song and dance got through after a couple tries at most (except A&N).  At least we didn't have to watch everyone trying over and over.  The times we had to hear it were bad enough, I'll have that song stuck in my head all day.

 

[Whimsy]

22 hours ago, iMonrey said:

 

Bagpipes are like nails on a chalkboard to me, and I'm pretty sure they could induce a seizure in an epileptic. They must have been pretty easy to assemble though. Nobody was really stumped by them.

I would have done the song and dance detour because there really wasn't much of a dance, just stomping left and right. And at least the lyrics are in English. It looked pretty easy. I think the most time consuming part would have been changing into those costumes, although I noticed teams left still wearing them.

 

My husband is a firefighter, and unfortunately we’ve had too many deaths in our neighboring city. We have been to too many funerals and they play Amazing Grace on the bagpipes. So, for me, bagpipes just make me sad and trigger a little bit of panic because he is in such a dangerous profession. 

16 hours ago, GaT said:

Yeah, but they weren't in the US, they had to have heard about the fast growing cases all over the world, they had to have known there was a problem on the 22nd, what happened in that week that made them change their mind about running the race then? I find the fact that one of the prizes for coming in first was a trip to Cape Cod, those kind of trips are usually some place like Bali, did they think Cape Cod was safer? The whole thing is really odd.

Yeah, Cape Cod had to be directly related to Covid. In the past, the trips are always to some other part of the world. I always assumed it was because the show is about traveling around the world. I would’ve been so mad if I had gotten that trip! But that’s because I live so close to Cape Cod and I’m there all the time lol. 

15 hours ago, mojoween said:

I mean, in the clip they showed in their matching pajamas at home, he was jiggling his ass right next to his daughter’s head.

YEEEESSSSS the prancing when they got into the venue it’s just TOO MUCH.  Also, don’t argue with the professionals, you weirdo.

Not that this is any better, but that is very clearly Kim‘s ass lol. Their kids also seem fine and don’t seem to be traumatized by it. 
 

I actually appreciate Kim and Penn. They approach each task enthusiastically and with excitement to just be a part of the race, they are nice to the locals, they are nice to the other teams by wishing them good luck, they don’t fight and bicker with each other like other teams. I know that simply because they are coined as YouTubers, some people aren’t going to change their minds no matter what, but I appreciate their approach to the race over Debbie Downers, etc. 

[Taeolas]

I've watched a few Holderness videos and enjoyed them; but I can understand why being around Penn would be exhausting. As noted, Kim is the stoic/logical one that pulls Penn back and they balance quite well. 

I'd say the sing/dance task was custom made for them, but it's a pretty standard task, just one they are very suited for.  Kim and Penn's relationship was very obvious in how she handled him at the Trouser challenge. He clearly expected to ace the challenge first try and when he was caught by surprise, he had a small meltdown which she calmed him down right away.  And he seemed quite contrite about his behavior after as well.

 

Clearly K&P are having a lot of fun on the race in general and I like their energy, but it can be tiring for introverts like me. For someone as musical as Penn, going into the practice room and hearing/seeing the pipers and drummers would be quite exciting. Especially this early in the race when killer fatigue hasn't set in yet.

 

My mom is a Cape Bretoner (from Italian and German roots) and my dad was born in Scotland, so I love the bag pipes (in moderate amounts). From the challenge, all I can think of is how sorry I was for the guy who had to make sure they played (very offkey notes) through the entire song. 

 

It was really heartbreaking to see the news about the race being cancelled. I'm sure the producers had hoped to dodge around COVID back then, like they had dodged around H1N1 in previous years. (I know in late 2019 COVID was on the radar but it was still localized. We sent a developer to Korea in November 2019 to help a customer and he got back just before the COVID shutdowns started kicking in for Asian travel). But once it hit the States and was breaking into Europe, it was obvious that the rest of the race had to be stopped. 

 

Next week it's kicking off again, and it's basically a restart. They probably seriously considered trashing the original recorded eps, but figured showing an interrupted race and restart would be stronger ratings wise. Plus it means they can officially give out the prizes on the first few legs (I can't remember if there was a prize in the first leg, but this one obviously had a prize for the Holderness's)

[Chicago Redshirt]

3 hours ago, GaT said:

Yeah, but they weren't in the US, they had to have heard about the fast growing cases all over the world, they had to have known there was a problem on the 22nd, what happened in that week that made them change their mind about running the race then? I find the fact that one of the prizes for coming in first was a trip to Cape Cod, those kind of trips are usually some place like Bali, did they think Cape Cod was safer? The whole thing is really odd.

They could have been in some level of denial/ignorance of how fast or broad the sweep of Covid was. From the perspective of two years later, we know the effects of a once-in-a-century pandemic have been devastating. But I don't think in late February 2020, it would have been as easy to predict how bad. Indeed, in interviews, Phil has said that some thought at the time that shutting things down was an overreaction.

They could have felt some level of corporate pressure to carry on with the Race despite the risk to the racers, because (I assume) setting things up is pretty costly, restarting might mean some of the current participants would bow out and there was a decent chance that postponing the season might mean having to scrap it entirely. And indeed, I was concerned that the powers that be might consider canceling the show altogether. 

Say Covid was running rampant in February 2020 in Countries A, B, and C. They could have thought, "Well, we're not planning to go to those countries, so that doesn't affect us." Or they could have thought, "We can just alter our plans to go to Countries D, E and F instead" before it became clear that there were no Countries D, E and F.

They could have run into their first logistical hurdles. The Racers have not had to do any real air or water travel up to this point after getting to London. Attempting to make the arrangements to get them from Glasgow to whatever the next destination was supposed to have been might have had the producers deal with the reality that there was little chance of pulling the rest of the Race off in that immediate time frame. 

As to the trips, I assume Travelocity picks the destinations, and not the Amazing Race people. I also assume that the destinations were chosen well in advance of Covid entering the public consciousness. 

[Chicago Redshirt]

15 minutes ago, Whimsy said:

Yeah, Cape Cod had to be directly related to Covid. In the past, the trips are always to some other part of the world. I always assumed it was because the show is about traveling around the world. I would’ve been so mad if I had gotten that trip! But that’s because I live so close to Cape Cod and I’m there all the time lol. 

There presumably have been some domestic trips as well. This article talks about one of the trips in the last season being to Las Vegas. I want to say that there have been trips to San Francisco and L.A. in the past but I could just be making that up. 

[ProfCrash]

6 hours ago, GaT said:

So they started filming on 2/22/20, & stopped because of the pandemic on 2/28/20? What happened? Did Phil finally watch the news during that week? "Hey guys, have you heard of this covid thing?" I mean seriously, they couldn't figure out they had a problem a week earlier & just stopped people from leaving their homes?

Italy was being hammered, absolutely hammered by COVID at this point. Areas of Northern Italy were in full lock down complete with police blocking the entrance and exits from towns. There were coffin shortages hammered.

Parts of Asia were shutting down, which would very much affect the race. Keep in mind that Asia had more recent experience with the SARs virus and their response to COVID was far more immediate and drastic then what we saw in Europe and the US. At the very least, Italy was setting off warning bells in Europe and Asia was shutting down their boarders, which was going to massively alter the planned route. 

And then things went to hell across Europe, Canada, Australia, and the US. They pulled the plug at the right time. It allowed the Racers and crew to get back to their families without delays and before they were at a greater risk of contracting COVID. 

On the Akbar front, I thought they did a much better job handling their frustration and stress this week. She didn't seem to be harping on the driving all that badly. Akbar wasn't freaking out about things badly. They were not yelling at each other or encouraging each other in a manner that did not seem to be encouraging. I was surprised that they choose the song over the whiskey but they nailed that task. And I can see them seeing the song as more Scottish then Whiskey, there is Whiskey made in the US. While Whiskey is very Scottish, the song probably felt more authentic Scottish then the whiskey. And I think that excuse was used vs the "we will totally rock the singing task" because I know that I had no idea that Akbar would crush a song task. 

Arun and Natalia were in a hard place. They were not physically in great shape and didn't seem to have an idea about how to handle the barrel task. That said, he was really bad with the song and dance. Like really bad. I thought they were going to pull a third set of kids for that one because he simply wasn't getting it. The barrel task was doable for them but it was going to take a while and neither one of them had an advantage in continuing with that task. At least in the song one Natalia had an advantage. 

On the Penn front. I have ADHD and I fear I would be very Penn like on the race. The stimuli are all there all the time and the sense of urgency really does kick in that hyper focus. And then you are at a higher likelihood of having melt downs because you are so over stimulated and focused. It really is a blessing and a curse. Penn has a bunch of videos on his ADHD, he never addresses whether he is taking medication or not but my money is on no because I know how I am when I am medicated, and Penn aint looking medicated to me. I get people not appreciating his level of enthusiasm and response to things but it really isn't an act or playing tot he cameras, it is simply an adult with serious ADHD who is way stimulated. 

I mean, I can't handle a dinner with a bunch of families with kids at a restaurant because the kids are doing too much and are too active and it just ups my stimulation level to a point that is very uncomfortable, the Race would be the death of me. On the plus side, Kim knows Penn really well and knows how to help him settle and chill. And Penn knows himself well enough to know when he has handled things badly and to listen to Kim when he is starting to struggle. They are solid in that area. And they both seem to be excited to be there and enjoying themselves. 

[seacliffsal]

The daughter of the father/daughter team also wanted to change detours in the last episode after trying the darts a few times and he talked her out of it.  So, her wanting to immediately change detours again this episode seems to be a pattern of "if I can't do it right away I want to change." The problem was that the father went along with it this time.  They needed to just watch the barrel demonstration and calm down.  It also didn't help that she wanted to help the other teams even though her father was trying to get her to stop and leave.  If they are back in the resumed race, I kind of expect this scenario to happen again (changing detours).

So, why was Cara crying in the car when her partner had a few struggles?  I'm with her partner, that would have bothered me soooo much if I was stressed trying to shift gears and my partner was crying.  Way to add stress to an already stressful situation, especially as there isn't a better option because SHE doesn't drive!!!  He did the right thing to get out and try to cool down.  I know from personal experience that once the other person starts crying they have taken away any opportunity to explain.  

Okay, I am now officially over Kim and Penn.  Yes, yes, I know that many people love their videos, but I have never seen them so I judge on their actions on the Race.  They were showing surprise, delight, enthusiasm, etc., before they even turned the corner in the theatre.  So, what were they reacting to?  Oh, I know--the fact that the cameras were there even though they saw nothing of the task yet.  Oh, and Penn played directly to the cameras a couple of times with very specific looks through the challenge.  Oh, and admitting that one is a bit of a diva (Penn) doesn't lessen the fact that one is being a bit of a diva (no, it's not a cute "look at me, aren't I a cute diva?").  

I like the twins better this leg (so see?  I can change my opinions quite easily [I may yet learn to love Kim and Penn...]).  So, maybe they got their drama out of their systems.  

They showed the returning teams as part of the episode, so it must be okay to mention them.  I am very sorry that Anthony and Spencer aren't back as well as the married couple (Isaac and ?).  I admit it, it takes me a while to learn all of the names.  Doesn't surprise me that Cara and her partner aren't back.  Oh, and the other married couple-they were kind of just there for me so I won't miss them.

It surprised me that Akbar and Sheri even talked about quitting the leg but continuing on because of their students.  And, if that leg truly was the hardest thing Akbar had ever done in his life (per his own words during the episode), then he has had a fairly easy life.

[Netfoot]

9 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

he and Natalia went out on that Detour. It might have been easier just to cope with the cooping then perform a Bald Snark and swap tasks.

If they had watched the demo again (or watched it more carefully the first time) they would probably have been OK. It didn't look like a terribly difficult task. As a youngster, I heard tales from the old timers about cooperage so I found the task interesting to watch. But if Arun/Natalia had initially tapped the hoops up rather than down, they would have been oudda there in five minutes.

9 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

I also drove nothing but a stick for 20 years, and I’m sure I would have problems with left-handed shifting

I learned to drive on a manual car, and continued to drive a manual for the next 20-ish years. Apart from one vehicle (an Opel Kadet) all those vehicles were right-hand drive with the stick to my left hand. And to this very day I have never driven on the right-hand side of the road, and hope I never have to. Despite it being probably 20 years since I last drove a manual shift, I doubt it would take more than a minute or two to get the hang of it again, admittedly with the occasional brain-fart moments as we went along. 

I don't understand why motorists find it so difficult to learn to drive a stick-shift. Coming from an automatic, you already know how to operate brake and throttle, how to steer, speed up, slow down, change lanes, avoid running over people and all that stuff. All you now have to learn is how to coordinate the shift lever and the clutch. It's not like learning to drive from scratch on a stick-shift, where you have to learn all that stuff at once! I must admit though, that RHD vehicles are probably easier to pick up than LHD, because you use left foot and left hand. No cross-coordination required.

8 hours ago, gatopretoNYC said:

My Scottish mother has never heard of this "famous" song. I will have to check with my family there and see if they know it.

I didn't recognize it. I was quite familiar with the tune played by the pipers though (Scotland the Brave), and have marched behind a piper playing that very tune. That was quite a few years ago now.

7 hours ago, GaT said:

I mean seriously, they couldn't figure out they had a problem a week earlier & just stopped people from leaving their homes?

Don't forget the mixed messaging we all received from Our Lords And Masters. (I would give examples, but I'd immediately be kicked off the forum for talking P-word.) So, I give them some slack for not making a decision - which probably had to be made at corporate level - any sooner than they did.

Also, if they were not already invested in S33 to the tune of three episodes, might they have simply cancelled the show entirely?

7 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

When was part II of this season started? I'm guessing that even then it still might not have been "safe" to have people go to various countries maskless and talk to various strangers, as I presume they will be doing.

Notice they halted in Scotland but restarted in Switzerland. Scotland might have been considered too hot for a restart. So, yes, I'm sure their continued route has to be quite different from that originally planned.

10 hours ago, North of Eden said:

the husband was prancing and dancing just entering through the door.

I saw that and went "Ugh!"

6 hours ago, aghst said:

I think they're just really enthusiastic

I think they're really determined to put on a show.

 

[Taeolas]

Well the restart is "19 months later" after end of Feb 2020, so the restart was late October/early November 2021. That's the end of the Delta surge, with the first hints of Omicron starting to come. So the show was VERY lucky to get a full run, considering many places are shutting down again with the Omicron surge as of December/January now. 

[bunnyface]

Like the good Scottish-descended lass I am, I love bagpipe music and sang myself to sleep with "Donald Where's Your Troosers."  The cats loved it.  

I have seen some Holderness videos, not all, and I like them.  I do think Penn is probably exhausting on a regular basis.  But at least they are enjoying the Race, instead of bitching and moaning through the whole thing.  I will take (over)enthusiasm over bitchiness every time.

When I think back to what was going on at that time, I had just had major surgery at the beginning of February and then my partner ended up in the hospital a week later and was in hospital/rehab until the middle of March.  I was sitting in the hospital every day, watching the news of what was going on the world, but of course, never dreaming of how it would really impact us.  My partner's doctor in the hospital was an Infectious Disease doctor because he had some weird infection in his leg that became systemic.  So we saw ID every day.  Partner was in rehab for maybe two weeks before they shut all visitation down as a precaution.  So then he was trapped in his room, by himself every day, with no visitors.  He was miserable.  The ID doctor was on the news every day with local updates and I swear he aged 20 years in that next year.  He retired a few months ago and looked absolutely beaten.  (I'm in the heart of "we don't need no stinkin' masks" country.  It is exhausting.)

Edited January 13, 2022 by bunnyface

[chaifan]

2 hours ago, Taeolas said:

Clearly K&P are having a lot of fun on the race in general and I like their energy, but it can be tiring for introverts like me. For someone as musical as Penn, going into the practice room and hearing/seeing the pipers and drummers would be quite exciting. Especially this early in the race when killer fatigue hasn't set in yet.

Kim & Penn have been posting videos and blogs about their TAR experience, and they have said many times that it was extremely hard, both mentally and physically.  I first saw their videos sometime last year, can't say I "followed" them in any way, but every now and again a video would show up on my Facebook feed, and they always made me laugh.  So I was happy to see them on the show, and even more happy when I learned that they are actual TAR fans from the beginning.  Even in just the few things they've posted so far I think I've gotten more insight into the behind the scenes going-ons than in the last 20 years combined. 

I am really enjoying Raquel and Cayla.  They are another good team - no bickering, they get down to work, they can laugh at themselves.  And, unlike the two Alpha male teams, they aren't relying on others to get them through the Race!  I hope they are one of the final teams.  My dream final 3 at this point would be Raquel/Cayal, Kim/Penn and Dusty/Ryan. 

I was so sad when Sheri & Akbar made it to the mat before Nat and Arun, but in the end it doesn't matter, so yeah!  Sheri was rolling her eyes something fierce when Akbar was talking in the bench interviews.  They are the team I'm most interested in seeing in the next leg, just to see if they've learned anything and changed over all this time. 

I'm no language expert, but I do know that some languages don't use contractions.  I wonder if Arun's native language isn't English and if not, if contractions exist in his native language.  Because he was getting caught up with "don't".  He kept saying "does not", which then got him off beat. 

I give Ray a lot of credit for pulling over, but damn, Caro, read the room!  He got out of the car and you just follow him and smother him, when he's saying he needs space.  jeez. 

And I have to say, everyone rocked those kilts!  I really hope they get to keep them. 

 

[Lovecat]

FINALLY, an Amazing Race task that I would have SMOKED.  I played the bagpipes in high school, y'all, and as one of the first 2 girls in the previously all-male pipe corps, I had to reassemble my pipes on more than one occasion before I learned to hide them from the little misogynists-in-training, who would take them apart for shits and giggles (and so I would be late getting to the field for practice in the morning, earning the band director's ire).  You for sure want to put the bag cover on before you put the drones on, otherwise it's like trying to dress an octopus.  The hardest part is actually tying the cords so they support the drones just right, but the racers' seemed to be pre-tied so they just had to stick the drones in.  That judge was indeed very forgiving as they "played a note"...which was not a 100% accurate description of what they were doing.  They just had to keep their drones going, and barely at that.  There are 2 steps to firing up pipes:  first you "kick in" the drones, which means the bag is full of air and you are putting sufficient, constant pressure on the bag to get the drone reeds to sound their distinctive "whooaaammmmmmmmmmmmm" sound (the racers' drones were sort of going "whoaaaEEEErrrrmEEEEooooaaaaahhhhhhm..." all over the place); then you squeeze a little harder to get the chanter reed to speak, and that is what plays the melody.  Good thing they didn't have to do that second part at all; none of them had enough air in the bag to coax a peep from the chanter.

I too was a little emotional at the "19 Months Later" card.  Phew.  What a long strange trip we've all been on.  

I think I'll go ask our cat where her troooosers are :)

Quote

 

And I have to say, everyone rocked those kilts!  I really hope they get to keep them. 

 

I was wondering that, too!  Those would be some nice souvenirs; good, authentic kilts made in Scotland are not cheap.  I loved the husbands topping off their traditional Highland dress with their beanies.

Edited January 13, 2022 by Lovecat

[AZChristian]

I'm a bit ADHD myself, and I was fully behind Penn when he complained that no one had told him about a "rest" in the music between verses, thus making them go back and re-rehearse their song.  If there had been multiple teams ready for their performance, Penn and his wife would have had to go to the end of a long line before they could re-do their song.

When I see them (him all energetic and "on" all the time, her calmer and keeping the reins on him), I think of Chip and Joanna Gaines ("Fixer Upper").  They have a similar relationship.

[MrAtoz]

11 minutes ago, AZChristian said:

I'm a bit ADHD myself, and I was fully behind Penn when he complained that no one had told him about a "rest" in the music between verses, thus making them go back and re-rehearse their song. 

I'm not ADHD, but I do sing a lot in community theater, and that would have annoyed me too.  If there's a measure-long rest in the vocal line, let me know that!  Especially if he'd been rehearsing it without the rest, and the teacher didn't tell him that it was wrong.

[RunningMarket]

12 hours ago, Netfoot said:

They were hammering the hoops down onto the barrel, rather than up off of the barrel. They were never going to succeed like that. And honestly, they displayed some pretty awful navigation skills during the episode. So, while I didn't want them to go, they really did deserve the last place.

We noticed that too. And it looked like Natalia was barely giving it an effort. Even the physically strong people were really whacking them to get them off.

My husband and I mentioned our "troo-surs" many times while getting ready this morning. I noticed the swapped the two kids out each new team. That tasks was born for Kim and Penn. I realize MMV, but I enjoy them and how much fun they had with that task.

[ProfCrash]

1 minute ago, RunningMarket said:

We noticed that too. And it looked like Natalia was barely giving it an effort. Even the physically strong people were really whacking them to get them off.

My husband and I mentioned our "troo-surs" many times while getting ready this morning. I noticed the swapped the two kids out each new team. That tasks was born for Kim and Penn. I realize MMV, but I enjoy them and how much fun they had with that task.

It looked like there were at least 3 teams that completed that on their first or second try, Kim and Penn, the wedding dancers, and Akbar and Sheri. Only one team seemed to struggle with it, which was unusual for a task like this. 

[vousviou]

I don't want this info now, but I would be very interested after the season is over in knowing how they dealt with the restart. What places were scratched and what were the replacements? What kind of safety measures did they put in place, such as putting in a lot more self driving and moving challenges outside. Did they have vax and mask requirements, and did they require a lot more turn taking rather than simultaneous challenges?

I don't think it would possible to read this now without a lot of spoilers, but it would be fascinating once it's all played.

[Lovecat]

11 minutes ago, RunningMarket said:

We noticed that too. And it looked like Natalia was barely giving it an effort. Even the physically strong people were really whacking them to get them off.

Heh-heh-heh-heh...

Sorry.  Apparently I'm twelve.

But yes, physics is not Team Daddy/Daughter's strong suit.  I yelled at the teevee "Well you're hitting it the WRONG DIRECTION, idiots!"  They did not listen.

Edited January 13, 2022 by Lovecat

[Welshman in Ca]

13 hours ago, iMonrey said:

 

I learned to drive on a stick shift and drove nothing but for more than 15 years, but that was a long time ago (I'm old). And if I got into a car today and the stick shift was on my left instead of on my right I'm pretty sure it would throw me. I wonder if the pedals are reversed too.

 

 

The pedals are the same & it's not as difficult as people think to change driving sides if you've driven a manual (stick shift) for years. Now driving a manual for the first time if you've driven an auto all your life must be a nightmare as it's all about the clutch control and matching the engine speed with the point at which the clutch bites & every car is different.

[aghst]

2 hours ago, Taeolas said:

Well the restart is "19 months later" after end of Feb 2020, so the restart was late October/early November 2021. That's the end of the Delta surge, with the first hints of Omicron starting to come. So the show was VERY lucky to get a full run, considering many places are shutting down again with the Omicron surge as of December/January now. 

That would be very busy schedule, to do like 8 or 9 legs from that time frame and then getting the show edited and ready for airing by early January.

They must have powered through the legs in no more than a month then.

 

Arun and Natalia say they've watch TAR all these years.  So they must have thought it's a better strategy to bail early on difficult detours, to avoid getting bogged down on something they don't think they can do.

 

 

[aghst]

15 minutes ago, Welshman in Ca said:

The pedals are the same & it's not as difficult as people think to change driving sides if you've driven a manual (stick shift) for years. Now driving a manual for the first time if you've driven an auto all your life must be a nightmare as it's all about the clutch control and matching the engine speed with the point at which the clutch bites & every car is different.

I just rent automatics.

I've driven in New Zealand and Australia.  For the most part I was okay but once I pulled out of a parking lot after lunch and instinctively went to the right lane.  Most of that trip, I had been okay, including going through roundabouts and on the highways.

What I found tricky was backing out of a slanted parking space in a lot.  Looking over my left instead of right shoulder and then looking at mirrors felt really awkward.

I would also repeatedly use a stalk on the right side of the steering wheel to use the turn signals.  Well they're on the left side in cars with the driver's seat on the right.  So I was turning on the high beams instead.

Edited January 13, 2022 by aghst

[ProfCrash]

47 minutes ago, vousviou said:

I don't want this info now, but I would be very interested after the season is over in knowing how they dealt with the restart. What places were scratched and what were the replacements? What kind of safety measures did they put in place, such as putting in a lot more self driving and moving challenges outside. Did they have vax and mask requirements, and did they require a lot more turn taking rather than simultaneous challenges?

I don't think it would possible to read this now without a lot of spoilers, but it would be fascinating once it's all played.

I suspect it will pretty evident how things change. That is a guess on my part but I know that there are parts of the world that were not open when they restarted and entire countries were you have to show a phone app that tracks your health status (this is very common in Asian countries and has been at least partially adopted in some places in Europe.) Imagining that any place requiring the phone app clearance and the closed borders and the route had to pretty massively affected. 

[Netfoot]

7 minutes ago, aghst said:

For the most part I was okay but once I pulled out of a parking lot after lunch and instinctively went to the right lane.

This is my fear of driving on the right. I'd be fine on the straight parts, but every turn onto a new road and I would instinctively find myself driving up the left hand lane. Like sensible people do.

8 minutes ago, aghst said:

I would also repeatedly use a stalk on the right side of the steering wheel to use the turn signals.  Well they're on the left side in cars with the driver's seat on the right.

Not necessarily so.  Here is a snapshot of my controls:

The stalk on the left is wiper and washer controls (front and rear). The one on the right is lights off/park/on, headlight full/dip/flash and turn signals. I think the left/right positioning of the stalks depends on make and model, not country of origin. The driver's seat is located on the right, and we drive on the left.

Off topic: My motoring navigator / photographer's assistant:

13 minutes ago, ProfCrash said:

I suspect it will pretty evident how things change.

TPTB may try to minimize the degree of change so we feel more comfortable with the show as we knew it to be. So stuff like presentation of vaccine documents, taking of tests, and so forth may be edited out deliberately. Mask wearing, social distancing etc will probably seem normal to us after 19+ months. On the other hand, TPTB may chose to emphasize the virus-related procedures to ramp up the draaama!

One way or the other, we will inevitably see considerable changes. For instance, that Holderness woman won't be grabbing everyone and demanding a hug anything like as often...

[eel21788]

13 hours ago, Tdoc72 said:

I keep singing it to my cat (Phoebe, where’s your troosers?).  I am highly amused and she is not. 

 

2 hours ago, Lovecat said:

I think I'll go ask our cat where her troooosers are :)

Are they tuxedo cats?

Edited January 13, 2022 by eel21788

[LizBug]

The decision to put the race on hold, not knowing when or if it would be resumed, was highly emotional.  This is the first time that I've noticed Phil's accent.  

Just hope the racers who came back are prepared mentally as well as physically.  

[30 Helens]

13 hours ago, DB in CMH said:

I assumed that when the Race originally shut down, that was it for the show. Especially given that they only filmed 3 episodes before everything went to hell. I think it showed a lot of faith on CBS's part to ramp production back up, 19 months later, and work within the parameters of the pandemic. There was even a commercial about casting tonight - I'm more optimistic for the future of the show than I've been in many seasons.

I read a few articles about the changes they had to make to finish the season. I won’t give details because they might be considered spoilery, but suffice it to say that the intense planning and consideration that went into getting this season back up and running will provide a template for future seasons, as well. We’ve yet to see how these changes will impact our enjoyment, but I don’t think there’s any reason to think the show can’t continue for many years. And who knows? Maybe a revamped TAR will be a better TAR.

3 hours ago, Lovecat said:

otherwise it's like trying to dress an octopus.

Now, THIS is a Detour I’d like to see!

[Haleth]

I read the spoilery (mechanics only) articles about how they proceeded in the age of Covid. Talk about a roadblock and a detour!

Edited January 13, 2022 by Haleth

[dgpolo]

 

14 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Bagpipe construction? Kinky! You could have Racers trying to march and play, but assembling the instruments was an inspired choice.

I think another season did have them play (and march) with a bagpipe, same episode had them having to deliver whiskey barrels as one half of a Detour. It was the season with the Hockey brothers I think.

 

15 hours ago, Netfoot said:

15 hours ago, xcrayon2215x said:

The switch from Arun/Natalia did them in for sure.

They were hammering the hoops down onto the barrel, rather than up off of the barrel. They were never going to succeed like that. And honestly, they displayed some pretty awful navigation skills during the episode. So, while I didn't want them to go, they really did deserve the last place.

Yes, I think Natalia was expecting a little too much from 'karma' to overcome them getting lost everytime they got in the car and doing the task wrong (did they not watch the demonstration? or even look around to see what the others were doing?)

[aghst]

7 minutes ago, dgpolo said:

Yes, I think Natalia was expecting a little too much from 'karma' to overcome them getting lost everytime they got in the car and doing the task wrong (did they not watch the demonstration? or even look around to see what the others were doing?)

Well if as speculated she comes back, then she did receive good karma after all.

Interesting though, she was about to get married and she still chose to come back?  Maybe because Arun felt bad that she wanted to try it one more time with him?

[HurricaneVal]

After the last season where we were overjoyed when the show went back to some TAR favorites for the comps, this season is kind of repeating that with the "needle in the haystack," "memorize and perform a song and dance," "build this thing just right" types of comps, but they are incredibly dumbed down it seems.  "Donald, where's your trooosers" was not at all a difficult song or choreography.  The whiskey barrel was not at all an "assemble a windmill" kind of complexity.  The find a clue in a pile of letters was absolutely nothing like find a clue in a literal haystack spread out over an entire field level of difficulty.  "Decorate these cakes to look like simple flags, but you can watch everyone else do theirs at the same time so you know what is successful" is absolutely nothing like the incredibly detailed decorating a bedouin's tent or a tuk-tuk to specification.

In more positive news, I'm liking all the teams more this week.  The flight attendants are clearly also having a blast, so I forgive them (or at least the one) for being willfully ignorant.  The Blind Side couple were barely featured at all, so we didn't get to see if he continued to be an ignorant asshole.  Akbar was humbled.  The La-Lu twins buckled down.  So everything that bugged me last week went away.  Paradise Island had a meltdown, but honestly?  I was expecting that.  They're just there to extend their 15 minutes of fame, and have no real investment in the race.  I think Caro was crying because she couldn't (doesn't?) drive so that was all going to fall on her partner and she was feeling guilty, and I think her partner thought she was crying because he was doing do badly, and that car was so filled with stress I could feel it.

I have to say that I was completely charmed when team 15:17 to Paris was all "Ooooh, whiskey!" at the barrel challenge.  And they were still all "Oooooh, whiskey!" at the mat.  I wonder if they stopped for a sample along the way.  Phil seemed extremely amused.

[bankerchick]

16 hours ago, Ananayel said:

I did want to see Scotland, but I'm not a Penn Holderness fan. He's local to me, and was a local tv news anchor for a bit. I've always found him to be somewhat insufferable.

I've watched a lot of their videos mocking Hallmark movies and always thought they were funny, but that shit's gonna get old fast, I can tell.

Here in Canada (Ontario anyway,) everything shut down on Mon Mar. 16.  I was at a funeral on the Saturday and everyone laughed about going home afterwards to isolate.  At the bar on our regular trivia Monday night, I remember thinking it was a shame that the next day (St. Patricks Day) would normally be one of the biggest days of the year for the bar, but they were closing.

Edited January 13, 2022 by bankerchick

[Thalia]

3 hours ago, vousviou said:

I don't want this info now, but I would be very interested after the season is over in knowing how they dealt with the restart. What places were scratched and what were the replacements? What kind of safety measures did they put in place, such as putting in a lot more self driving and moving challenges outside. Did they have vax and mask requirements, and did they require a lot more turn taking rather than simultaneous challenges?

I saw here last week that Penn and Kim are talking about the Amazing Race on a podcast as an episode airs.  I didn't listen last week, but I just looked around for one on last night's episode.  If they've done one, it hasn't yet dropped.  I'm interested in some insight on how Phil, the crew, and the teams reacted behind the scenes in Feb 2020 and what it was like during the break as they all waited to see what was going to happen.  

[Hera]

5 hours ago, bunnyface said:

I have seen some Holderness videos, not all, and I like them.  I do think Penn is probably exhausting on a regular basis.  But at least they are enjoying the Race, instead of bitching and moaning through the whole thing.  I will take (over)enthusiasm over bitchiness every time.

Same, though so far I've found Penn entertaining. He seems pretty self-aware about his less-than-stellar moments and also seems to have a sense of humor about them. In contrast, I really want to like Akbar and Sheri, but like @Haleth said, their (and especially Akbar's) approach to the race treats it more like a chore rather than an adventure. They've been at the back of the pack since the start, so I get that they probably haven't had as many opportunities as a team like Kim and Penn have had to just sit back and enjoy the race, but I really hope they let go of the idea that they need to do the race to set an example for their students. For one thing, that's too much pressure, and for another, it sounds like their students have way bigger challenges in their lives than whether or not there are contestants on The Amazing Race that they can identify with. Just admit that you're doing the Race because you wanted to (and for the money), you know?

I thought that performance task would definitely be the faster, though for the young, strong men, it probably would have been about even between the barrels and the song. I felt really bad for Arun and agree that he and Natalia probably shouldn't have switched detours. He seemed so miserable when they were getting directions to the pit stop. I really liked him and Natalia and felt so sorry for both of them in that moment.

If the two eliminated teams are allowed back to make up for teams that couldn't return, I'll be both satisfied with that as a solution and also happy because I liked both of the eliminated teams. It'll be interesting to see if anyone used the 19 month hiatus to improve their fitness and navigation skills—I was glad to see the latter at play this episode, even if navigation was overshadowed by the problems teams had driving a standard transmission.

[ProfCrash]

Hopefully they learned how to drive stick shift

[Haleth]

I wonder if the long hiatus made them think they would never be called back. Maybe that’s why Sam and um, Connie(?) decided to have a baby. 

[Taeolas]

As for the challenges, I suspect the earlier challenges tend to be simpler because they need to be done more often (more teams) and there will be less time to show them on the air (due to more people doing them). Also remember that unless a detour is specifically limited in the number of teams per side, each side of a detour needs to be able to handle all the active teams; early on that means around 10 sets of equipment and costumes and everything else needed to run it, even if they won't be used. So more complicated challenges mean more costs. 

 

As the race runs and teams are eliminated, they have fewer teams and can focus more time on the challenges, so the difficulty can be ramped up (with the hope they get more drama from the fewer teams for more camera footage)

[meatball77]

12 hours ago, GaT said:

Yeah, but they weren't in the US, they had to have heard about the fast growing cases all over the world, they had to have known there was a problem on the 22nd, what happened in that week that made them change their mind about running the race then? I find the fact that one of the prizes for coming in first was a trip to Cape Cod, those kind of trips are usually some place like Bali, did they think Cape Cod was safer? The whole thing is really odd.

When I heard they'd started filming (which at the time I thought was crazy) I figured they'd just skip Asia things were fairly contained for a white.  Then it exploded.

[aghst]

Most of Asia is closed to Americans.  Would be surprising if they were allowed into Asia.

 

[threebluestars]

I loved the Donald Where's Your Troosers challenge. I was familiar with the Irish Rovers version. And yep, day later, still in my head.

 

 

[eel21788]

2 hours ago, Hera said:

If the two eliminated teams are allowed back to make up for teams that couldn't return, I'll be both satisfied with that as a solution and also happy because I liked both of the eliminated teams. 

Maybe I'm just too cynical, but I wouldn't want to see either of them win. It would be de ja vu, like watching Drew Dreschel win American Mutant Ninja Warriors on a do-over all over again.

[meep.meep]

Drechsel - I don't know why I have to be so pedantic about this. And may he never participate in the Amazing Race.

Looking forward to next week's episode so we can see how people have changed and maybe get the stories on why the teams that left did so.

[TVbitch]

I know it's wrong, but I laughed when both the husbands turned into divas as soon as the music started and jumped in front  of those little kids. The kids did not look too happy about it.  

The casting call for a presumed next season was awesome to see! 

[Netfoot]

1 hour ago, eel21788 said:

Maybe I'm just too cynical, but I wouldn't want to see either of them win.

Both early-out teams showed poor racing skills, so I won't be surprised if they are early-out again, come the restart. But maybe they learned something during the interregnum, and came back stronger. If they run a good race and cross the finish line first, I won't begrudge them a win.

[ByaNose]

27 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

Both early-out teams showed poor racing skills, so I won't be surprised if they are early-out again, come the restart. But maybe they learned something during the interregnum, and came back stronger. If they run a good race and cross the finish line first, I won't begrudge them a win.

That’s what I’m most curious about. Did the first two teams learn from their mistakes & did the already stronger teams know the ins & outs of the race to become even stronger?! I guess we’ll know by the end of next week’s episode. That said, they all had the same break time so who knows what the outcome will be. I’m excited. 

[perkie1968]

8 hours ago, aghst said:

Well the restart is "19 months later" after end of Feb 2020, so the restart was late October/early November 2021.

Phil said in the first episode that they restarted at the end of September (which would be 19 months from February 2020) so a few months to get it shot and edited and ready to air.  

[Grizzly]

Never in a million years would I have pegged Akbar as a song and dance man. If he had shown that much enthusiasm on the first leg, he'd have a lot more fans.

[ProfCrash]

5 hours ago, Thalia said:

I saw here last week that Penn and Kim are talking about the Amazing Race on a podcast as an episode airs.  I didn't listen last week, but I just looked around for one on last night's episode.  If they've done one, it hasn't yet dropped.  I'm interested in some insight on how Phil, the crew, and the teams reacted behind the scenes in Feb 2020 and what it was like during the break as they all waited to see what was going to happen.  

It has dropped. Listening now. Apparently CBS was not happy with some of what they said because they hint at an extra task, they show a picture of them that was used in a Production release and basically imply that at first they had to complete that task and then go to the clue box that we saw. But they couldn't say anything about it. Which makes me think that CBS called them out on talking about the task that was cut last week. 

They are more careful in the stories that they tell.

And they will be interviewing friends on the show starting next week but they have to wait for next reasons for reasons we will discover next week. ie They cannot discuss who returns and who doesn't, even though we already know who comes back and who doesn't. 

[bearcatfan]

13 minutes ago, ProfCrash said:

It has dropped. Listening now. Apparently CBS was not happy with some of what they said because they hint at an extra task, they show a picture of them that was used in a Production release and basically imply that at first they had to complete that task and then go to the clue box that we saw. But they couldn't say anything about it. Which makes me think that CBS called them out on talking about the task that was cut last week. 

They are more careful in the stories that they tell.

And they will be interviewing friends on the show starting next week but they have to wait for next reasons for reasons we will discover next week. ie They cannot discuss who returns and who doesn't, even though we already know who comes back and who doesn't. 

I’m listening as well. Kim said that in order to check if the bagpipe was put together correctly, they had to blow into it. Which means then the racers had to blow into it after the guy checking. They didn’t think anything of it at the time.  

[GenerationX]

Semi-random thoughts on episode 3 - "Piper, Cooper, and Trouper":

• The bagpipe judge graded on quite the curve (any random honking got a pass)
• Both detour tasks looked like they'd be fun to do, which is another reason I love this show
• Arun is a trooper.  Not much of a racer, but definitely a trooper.

So, at least five of the teams (and Phil) got into their stick-shift, switched-sides DeLoreans and went 19 months into the future?  Cool.

[Zonk]

10 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

On the Penn front. I have ADHD and I fear I would be very Penn like on the race. The stimuli are all there all the time and the sense of urgency really does kick in that hyper focus. And then you are at a higher likelihood of having melt downs because you are so over stimulated and focused. It really is a blessing and a curse. Penn has a bunch of videos on his ADHD, he never addresses whether he is taking medication or not but my money is on no because I know how I am when I am medicated, and Penn aint looking medicated to me. I get people not appreciating his level of enthusiasm and response to things but it really isn't an act or playing tot he cameras, it is simply an adult with serious ADHD who is way stimulated. 

He might be one of the 30% unlucky people for whom medication does not work.

For me medication works a bit against emotional dysregulation but not any other aspects of ADHD.

9 hours ago, chaifan said:

I'm no language expert, but I do know that some languages don't use contractions.  I wonder if Arun's native language isn't English and if not, if contractions exist in his native language.  Because he was getting caught up with "don't".  He kept saying "does not", which then got him off beat. 

Most languages don't have contractions. German has very few predefined ones (for example: vom = von dem), but that's it. That doesn't mean that we can't learn them, though.

1 hour ago, ProfCrash said:

And they will be interviewing friends on the show starting next week but they have to wait for next reasons for reasons we will discover next week. ie They cannot discuss who returns and who doesn't, even though we already know who comes back and who doesn't. 

That's really weird, since they showed who's returning in their own preview. Or were we not supposed to be able to identify these very distincitve looking teams from behind?

I think if you show it in the preview, a podcast should be able to talk about it.

1 hour ago, GenerationX said:

The bagpipe judge graded on quite the curve (any random honking got a pass)

Well, they only had to hold one note, not one specific not, or only that one note. So seems fair.

I assume it might not be super easy to keep the sack full of air for the whole song. It's jsut that all teams made it through fine by chance.