S33.E04: Ready to Restart the Race

[Netfoot]

1 minute ago, QuantumMechanic said:

Matt Groening's pre-Simpsons comic strip Life in Hell had two fez-wearing characters named Akbar and Jeff.

Oh. Ok, thanks. Not familiar with the material, so no wonder I missed the reference.

[greyhorse]

15 minutes ago, bankerchick said:

I'm not sure if you're being serious or facetious, but I don't find it compelling to listen to someone talk about losing their grandparents.  No offense and I'm sure they loved her, but it's not like it was their sister, or even their mother.  Grandmothers are often old, and sometimes they die.  The fact it was covid-related doesn't make it any more tragic and it seemed like they spent a looonnnggg time talking about it, especially since we had no time to talk about Kim and Penn's boring life or about the couple who couldn't come back because they had a baby.

Not facetious.  It is more compelling.  Profcrash describes it more eloquently right below.

7 minutes ago, ProfCrash said:

Penn and Kim were cast because they have videos with 8 million videos, I have watched all their Peloton videos and well, pretty much everything else. They make me laugh and god knows I needed something to laugh at. And my ADHD self loves the 3 minute long chunks they post in. 

That said “We used the Pandemic to focus on growing our social media money making machine” is less likely to make the air then “Our Grandma died” because one hits the heart strings and the other reminds us that it is kind of crazy that people can make that much money from making ridiculous videos. 

 

THIS.  What makes you connect with a team more?  Seeing the pretty couple talk about how rich they are because people like watching them because they're beautiful and funny?  Or hearing the sad story of minority twins who lost their matriarch due to this terrible pandemic?  Especially when the question was, what did you do during this pandemic?  And to a lesser degree, the "we lost our jobs as flight attendants" [because nobody was flying due to pandemic] hits the heart strings more than "we took advantage of social media and made a lot of money".

[chaifan]

8 minutes ago, ProfCrash said:

Penn and Kim were cast because they have videos with 8 million videos,

I had no knowledge of them until sometime mid 2021 when one of their videos ended up on my facebook feed (I think a friend had liked it or commented on it).  By that point, they were super popular.  I get the impression their popularity really exploded during the pandemic.  But what was their status in mid/late 2019, when they were cast?  Were they anywhere near as popular then?  Did TAR just get lucky that by the time they resumed the Race, Kim & Penn had really expanded their fan base?

[PaperTree]

5 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

I just wish someone would explain this to my poor, tired brain...

I've never been in a gym! When I feel like getting in better shape, I walk around the neighborhood for an hour each day, eat keto and stop watching pr0n.

It was my senior year in High School.  They forced me.  I was always the last one picked😎. 

[greyhorse]

3 minutes ago, chaifan said:

I had no knowledge of them until sometime mid 2021 when one of their videos ended up on my facebook feed (I think a friend had liked it or commented on it).  By that point, they were super popular.  I get the impression their popularity really exploded during the pandemic.  But what was their status in mid/late 2019, when they were cast?  Were they anywhere near as popular then?  Did TAR just get lucky that by the time they resumed the Race, Kim & Penn had really expanded their fan base?

They became famous in 2012 or 2013 with "Xmas Jammies", a parody of Will Smith's "Miami" and I think was one of the clips that was shown about them when they were introduced.  18 million views on YouTube. Even if you dislike them, you got to admit that the video is well made and the two of them have talent.  

 

 

[chaifan]

Yeah, I know the Holdernesses have been around a while, but I'm just wondering what their stats were pre-pandemic.  That jammies video has 18 million views now, but where was it at 2 1/2 years ago?  I get the impression that at the time they were cast TAR knew they were established social media personalities, but they had nowhere near the popularity they have now, mostly due to the videos they created during the pandemic.  I just think TAR won the "team who can bring in new viewers" lottery with them and it wasn't expected from the get go. 

And I'm not knocking Kim & Penn on any of this.  I think their videos are hilarious, but I've watched many more of them since finding out they would be on TAR than before the cast list was released.  I'm a Holderness fan because of TAR, not the other way around.  And I think their podcast & blogs have given us more behind the scenes insight than any other team or media source.  I'd love for them to win, or at least make the final 3. 

 

 

[Starchild]

I'm the other way around. Found them in 2021 and I'm watching TAR this season for the first time in years because they're on it.

[ProfCrash]

37 minutes ago, chaifan said:

I had no knowledge of them until sometime mid 2021 when one of their videos ended up on my facebook feed (I think a friend had liked it or commented on it).  By that point, they were super popular.  I get the impression their popularity really exploded during the pandemic.  But what was their status in mid/late 2019, when they were cast?  Were they anywhere near as popular then?  Did TAR just get lucky that by the time they resumed the Race, Kim & Penn had really expanded their fan base?

I was watching their stuff before they were cast. I don’t doubt that they took off in the pandemic but they were known entities before then. They used the pandemic wisely and have really grown their thing.

[greyhorse]

19 minutes ago, chaifan said:

Yeah, I know the Holdernesses have been around a while, but I'm just wondering what their stats were pre-pandemic.  That jammies video has 18 million views now, but where was it at 2 1/2 years ago?  I get the impression that at the time they were cast TAR knew they were established social media personalities, but they had nowhere near the popularity they have now, mostly due to the videos they created during the pandemic.  I just think TAR won the "team who can bring in new viewers" lottery with them and it wasn't expected from the get go. 

And I'm not knocking Kim & Penn on any of this.  I think their videos are hilarious, but I've watched many more of them since finding out they would be on TAR than before the cast list was released.  I'm a Holderness fan because of TAR, not the other way around.  And I think their podcast & blogs have given us more behind the scenes insight than any other team or media source.  I'd love for them to win, or at least make the final 3. 

 

 

Ah, true, I'm not sure if those stats would be known to us.  Maybe somebody who works at YouTube would have knowledge of that.

I like that Kim and Penn seem very "normal".  They're not flaunting their fame, or likely explosion in wealth.  They're not constantly making comments about their social media prowess.  I have no clue how or why people can make so much money from YouTube, but has there been any estimate of how much they actually do make?  Was it Kim who said $1M could pay for her kids' college tuition? That made it sound like they're not sitting on millions of dollars. But likely they're doing well.

I discovered them because I got a Peloton and then her Peloton video really resonated in our household.  So funny.

They're personable and seem down to earth.  Thought it was funny when she made a comment like "Look at Penn running up that hill and passing everyone.  Soooo haaawwwwtt.  I'm a sure thing [tonight]."  Made me giggle. 

I'd much rather watch Kim and Penn have fun, get along, and show love to each other than Akbar and Sheri bickering, showing disdain, and a general lack of support. 

[aghst]

But are they corny, kind of like a middle-aged Donnie and Marie?

[ThisIsMe]

So glad the episodes are back but ...

It's hard to watch Akbar being so emotionally abusive to Sheri. For someone lauded for good works, he sure is coming off as flat-out mean to his own wife. 

[SVNBob]

22 hours ago, mojoween said:

At the beginning they had to get into three buses, but then all ended up in the same gondola, so what was the point of the three buses?

Social distancing had to be the only reason.   There was a maximum of 3 teams allowed on one of the buses.  But remember that each team is really 4 people; the Racers and their camera and sound people.  That means 12 people on the one bus, and 8 on each of the other 2.

I now suspect that the original plan was for 4 buses with only 2 teams on each for even greater distancing.  But TPTB cancelled one of the buses when the Husbands left, rather than have a bus with only 1 team on it.

 

20 hours ago, Jodithgrace said:

I get that the sample belt was a different story, but surely the sample would have shown if the story started at the buckle end or the holes end. The cops just seem to have randomly chosen a direction and kept going with it, without ever checking the sample to see if they were doing it correctly. Nobody seemed to have a problem with the story itself. Pretty funny that they got eliminated first, twice. 

I guess there is going to be a lot more bunching because of the chartered flights, buses, etc. But at least the tasks, and the self driving enabled some separation, so that there were clear leg winners and losers. After the roadblock I was thinking, is everybody (except Shari and Akbar) going to show up at the mat at the same time?

Unlike the poster task, they at least had some semblance of logic for the belt.  There was an ornament already at the tip of the belt, and they started from that end.  A reasonable conclusion to start working with, even if the buckle would seem to be more logical starting point.

However, if as said above it was written in the clue to start at the buckle end, then there's no excuse.  This would be yet another case of a team getting eliminated because of failure to read and comprehend the clue correctly.

20 hours ago, Taeolas said:

And I'm still mostly going for Kim and Penn. They seem so well suited to eachother, and very supportive. Last ep/a year+ ago, we saw how Kim could refocus Penn when he's about to blow up. This time we saw how Penn listened to Kim and let her take the break she needed and supported her through it. 

Granted, at that point they knew they were still at the front of the pack; there was another team with them and at least one or two other teams in the next gym over, so the pressure isn't as intense. Hopefully they remain strong and supportive, even when they inevitably have a leg where they're towards the back of the pack. 

All the teams knew they had a buffer going into the Detour.  They'd all passed Sheri at the Roadblock, and knew that she and Akbar would be at least one cable-car trip behind.  That's one other reason they were all encouraging of her at the Roadblock.  There was a tiny voice in everyone's mind saying, "well, at least we're not going to be last."

 

13 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

Some people just have a terrible sense of direction, even with a map.

Here!  I have absolutely no internal sense of direction.  However, I'm decent with paper maps and can read a compass, so I think I'd be ok for TAR.

 

12 hours ago, aghst said:

Can people with fear of heights go on cable cars or peer over the railings from an observation deck at 8000 feet above sea level?

Depends on the severity of the individual's acrophobia.  I've got some fear of heights, so I'd have difficulties (but not impossibilities) peering over railings at altitude.  But I've ridden thrill rides and ski lifts before so I don't think the cable car would be that bad for me.  I think part of it has to do with a sense of enclosure implying safety.

 

11 hours ago, Roccos Brother said:

A bit ironic that it came down to the two eliminated teams at the back of the pack, and that they were in direct competition as the only ones that chose the belt detour.

Even more ironic as they were on the same bus at the start of the leg, and without any other team.  So they were inadvertently or subconsciously highlighting their "second chance" status throughout the entire leg.

 

11 hours ago, iMonrey said:

This is just a guess on my part, but maybe the reason the show didn't address why four teams couldn't return was in deference to Caro and Ray and/or Taylor and Isaiah. It's easy enough to explain why Spencer and Anthony couldn't return (new job, couldn't get time off) or why Connie and Sam couldn't return (preggers). But if you addressed Caro and Ray, you'd have to say "Well, they broke up last summer and don't want to race together anymore." It's not a good look. And the circumstances under which Taylor and Isaiah bailed are just sad. (That said, they didn't shy away from a returning team's Dead Grandma sob story.)

But the twins offered up their deceased relative story.  And from the flashback to the original start of this Race, we were shown her seeing them off the first time.  So the audience knew of her, and there was a connection to be made.

Taylor and Isaiah didn't give that permission to TPTB when they left.  But I'm sure the rest of the Racers were told off-camera before the restart why a team that was about to restart wasn't.  And as for the other teams that didn't come back, the Racers may have been told about them as well, or knew through the grapevine.

 

11 hours ago, greyhorse said:

Yes, this.  If you were planning to go on the race again, then make some time in your life to train.  At least just a bit. 

She should have taken an hour or 2 to finally get a decent support undergarment.  That might have helped in the long run.  Could have made breathing at altitude a bit easier.

Edited January 21, 2022 by SVNBob

[Tdoc72]

14 hours ago, PaperTree said:

Mom was one of those people.  She got us terribly lost in Hawaii, Dad threw the map to 7 year old me and I promptly got us where we wanted to go.  Mom was pissed😎.  I've always been a map nerd.

One of my fav 7th grade assignments was for social studies. Everyone got a map of a different state and she gave us two cities and we had to explain how to get there (roads and distances). 37 or so years later,  I don’t remember where I started from but I had to get to Schenectady, NY. 

[ProfCrash]

I think that the Teams were talking to each other during the downtime and knew who was going to be back and who wasn't and why. 

[bearcatfan]

35 minutes ago, ProfCrash said:

I think that the Teams were talking to each other during the downtime and knew who was going to be back and who wasn't and why. 

Kim mentioned in the latest podcast that the teams had some down time in Scotland while TAR worked to get them back to the US. They exchanged numbers and kept in touch during the break. She believes that the teams are closer this season because of this during the race. In the past, that only seemed to happen after they were eliminated as you don’t have much time to get to know each other while racing. 

[ProfCrash]

2 minutes ago, bearcatfan said:

Kim mentioned in the latest podcast that the teams had some down time in Scotland while TAR worked to get them back to the US. They exchanged numbers and kept in touch during the break. She believes that the teams are closer this season because of this during the race. In the past, that only seemed to happen after they were eliminated as you don’t have much time to get to know each other while racing. 

Yup. And traveling in a private plane meant that the Teams were sitting with each other so they could talk and get to know each other. 

[greyhorse]

5 hours ago, SVNBob said:

However, if as said above it was written in the clue to start at the buckle end, then there's no excuse.  This would be yet another case of a team getting eliminated because of failure to read and comprehend the clue correctly.

All the teams knew they had a buffer going into the Detour.  They'd all passed Sheri at the Roadblock, and knew that she and Akbar would be at least one cable-car trip behind.  That's one other reason they were all encouraging of her at the Roadblock.  There was a tiny voice in everyone's mind saying, "well, at least we're not going to be last."

 

Wasn't it mentioned above that there was another part of the clue and that the cops lost it at some point and never went back?  I'm not really sure why there would be two parts, doesn't it just come on the card?  But if they lost the description of the challenge, then yeah, they were at a disadvantage.  Again though, any observant cop would notice the detail of the sample.  And if there was one already placed on the belt towards the non-buckle end, then where was that as part of the story?  Wouldn't it have been easy to know that was the end?  I'm amazed they got the order of the symbols right in the first place.  That seems harder than figuring out what side to start them on.

Maybe it's just because I'm a cynic, but I thought their "encouragement" was outwardly "you can do this!" but on the inside they're all thinking "glad I'm not in your position".  Way easier to encourage somebody to do better when you know they have no chance to beat you.

[ProfCrash]

I can believe that all the racers are happy to have a buffer and also believe that they see someone struggling and offer encouragement. I wouldn't expect anyone to stay there and help Sheri out but words of encouragement are easy enough to do. 

Unlike Survivor, there is less likely to be any benefit from being kind. I Survivor, players have an incentive to try and manipulate jury votes through their actions. That is not really the case in the Amazing Race. 

I also think that most of these teams stayed in contact during the Pandemic break and they actually know each other better and are more likely to be outwardly supportive because they see each others as friends as well as competitors. 

Penn and Kim had no real reason for telling Ryan and Dusty good work and giving fist bumps when they finished the flags. Kim and Penn were still working on the task. But they did. Why? Because it doesn't cost much to be kind and a good sport. And yes, they knew that there were others behind them so there might not be as much pressure, but I doubt that would have prevented a quick good job and some dap. 

[smartymarty]

Husband and I are confused about the "classes to learn to read a map." We just read the map. We don't understand what possibly could be taught.

Enjoyed seeing the Swiss Alps. Part of the reason I watch TAR is for the country p0rn. So beautiful.

I wish we'd been told the difference in amount of time teams took for the flag detour versus Arun and Natilie (?) on the belt task, to know whether a longer time on the belts is what caused the belt teams to come in last.

Had an aversion to Penn and Kim originally, but warmed to them after listening to their podcast about the show where they come off much humbler than they do on TV. Don't have time for the time-sap of watching their videos, though.

[Rootbeer]

10 minutes ago, smartymarty said:

Husband and I are confused about the "classes to learn to read a map." We just read the map. We don't understand what possibly could be taught.

Enjoyed seeing the Swiss Alps. Part of the reason I watch TAR is for the country p0rn. So beautiful.

I wish we'd been told the difference in amount of time teams took for the flag detour versus Arun and Natilie (?) on the belt task, to know whether a longer time on the belts is what caused the belt teams to come in last.

Had an aversion to Penn and Kim originally, but warmed to them after listening to their podcast about the show where they come off much humbler than they do on TV. Don't have time for the time-sap of watching their videos, though.

As noted upthread, both of the teams who were brought back for the restart had to do a speedbump that wasn't shown and this is probably the reason they were behind the flag task racers.  
I suspect the reason that they don't show us the amount of time that teams take at the various tasks is because it would lead to questions when the show edits out significant portions of the competition like they did here.

[SG429]

4 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

I think that the Teams were talking to each other during the downtime and knew who was going to be back and who wasn't and why. 

With all the precautions and expense of chartering The Amazing Jet I'd also be surprised if the players didn't know what was up, long before the "big reveal" at the starting line.

[chaifan]

Kim & Penn had Mike & Moe on their Episode 4 recap podcast.  Mike took up bodybuilding during the break and really bulked up, and has bulked up even more since.  So he was talking about weight limits for some of the challenges.  He said there was a 250 lb weight limit for some challenges, they knew this in advance, so he made sure to be under 250.

Given that info, I'm back to the Sheri/Akbar mountain climbing issue.  I'm inclined (no pun intended) to go with Sheri's statement that Akbar was "too big" for the challenge, as in, exceeded the weight limit.  So I think Akbar's "I should have done this" was mere musing, and not based in his actual ability (based on TAR rules) to do the challenge. 

I get being busy and lives upended during the pandemic, but given how winded both of them got just running down the street in London (Sheri more so than Akbar, but he was also struggling some) I don't understand how they weren't in at least a little better shape with the second start.  They knew then what their competition was, that they were the least fit, among the oldest, and that it would be a disadvantage for them.  I didn't expect them to become fitness models, but damn, even losing a few lbs a month would have helped both of them.  If competing on TAR isn't an inspiration to get in shape, man, nothing would be. 

[Netfoot]

1 hour ago, smartymarty said:

Husband and I are confused about the "classes to learn to read a map." We just read the map. We don't understand what possibly could be taught.

I was a member of the school Cadet Corps as a lad, and one of the many things they taught was map reading. I don't think it would take a lot of smarts to figure out much of what was taught on your own, if you took the time to examine a map carefully. Many people when confronted with a map simply throw their hands in the air and give up. Such things as contour lines, as well as the various items in the key (churches, schools, post offices, etc) are lost upon them.

One thing I was taught that I might never have thought how to do on my own (because I'm dumb) is to orient the map to the terrain, so North on your map is actually pointing North IRL. Not sure how useful that is generally, but remember, when I was taught this stuff I  was in uniform and had a military rifle slung over my shoulder. So maybe it's more useful to soldiers on maneuvers?

[Chicago Redshirt]

1 hour ago, ProfCrash said:

Unlike Survivor, there is less likely to be any benefit from being kind. I Survivor, players have an incentive to try and manipulate jury votes through their actions. That is not really the case in the Amazing Race. 

There's still likely to be some benefit from being kind, or at least, not being seen as unkind.

For instance, teams have often made decisions on U-Turning teams based not on strategy but just because they thought the other team were dicks.

There's a decent chance for "help me out with this task and I'll help you with a future one." Thankfully, most seasons have not had full-fledged Survivor-style alliances like the last one, but that is always a possibility.

[proserpina65]

19 hours ago, bearcatfan said:

Penn and Kim’s recap just dropped and while I haven’t listened yet, they did have a brief post with it. Caro and Ray intended to return but Caro was having visa issues as she’s not a US citizen. Also Taylor and Isaiah were actually there to restart the race when they got the call that Taylor’s brother had died. 
 

ETA - they have Mike and Moe on the podcast if you care to listen. 

I'd read that about Taylor & Isaiah but didn't know about Caro's visa issues.  Thanks for the info.

18 hours ago, Hera said:

but I was surprised that Cayla/Raquel and Ryan/Dusty went for the flags too.

It sounded like Ryan & Dusty thought it was something involving throwing balls, although they could've been joking about that.

15 hours ago, greyhorse said:

I think Phil didn't spend time on why the other teams weren't back because he's showing respect to the ones that did make it back.  So it makes sense to spend time learning about what's new in the racers lives who are on the show, and to heck with the ones that didn't come back.  We can all google as to why they didn't.

Exactly.  Phil and/or the producers chose to make that moment about the teams who could return, which is fine.

 

14 hours ago, chaifan said:

(And, as someone noted above, one of the guys got married in the interim.  We didn't see Phil ask him how his wife felt about him leaving.

I don't think he got married during the break.  He is married, and his wife had a baby in early 2021.  I suppose Phil could've asked about the baby, but he either chose not to or he did and it was edited out.  I'm okay with that.  Heck, we may hear about it later in the race if Dusty and Ryan continue to do well.  So far we've heard more about Ryan's life because he has a more dramatic backstory.

14 hours ago, PaperTree said:

It was my senior year in High School.  They forced me.  I was always the last one picked😎. 

I got lucky - my school district only insisted on one year of phys ed in high school, so once I scraped by with the minimum passing grade as a freshman, I never had to take gym again.  Well, I did in college, but bowling and ballroom dance covered my phys ed credits then.

[watch2much]

21 minutes ago, chaifan said:

Kim & Penn had Mike & Moe on their Episode 4 recap podcast.  Mike took up bodybuilding during the break and really bulked up, and has bulked up even more since.  So he was talking about weight limits for some of the challenges.  He said there was a 250 lb weight limit for some challenges, they knew this in advance, so he made sure to be under 250.

Given that info, I'm back to the Sheri/Akbar mountain climbing issue.  I'm inclined (no pun intended) to go with Sheri's statement that Akbar was "too big" for the challenge, as in, exceeded the weight limit.  So I think Akbar's "I should have done this" was mere musing, and not based in his actual ability (based on TAR rules) to do the challenge. 

I get being busy and lives upended during the pandemic, but given how winded both of them got just running down the street in London (Sheri more so than Akbar, but he was also struggling some) I don't understand how they weren't in at least a little better shape with the second start.  They knew then what their competition was, that they were the least fit, among the oldest, and that it would be a disadvantage for them.  I didn't expect them to become fitness models, but damn, even losing a few lbs a month would have helped both of them.  If competing on TAR isn't an inspiration to get in shape, man, nothing would be. 

totally agree. they knew that was a major problem for them in the race.  they were both former athletes so should know how to work out to get the most benefit.  even if the whole family just used  a youtube 30 min. walking video everyday it would have helped.

[proserpina65]

1 hour ago, ProfCrash said:

I can believe that all the racers are happy to have a buffer and also believe that they see someone struggling and offer encouragement. I wouldn't expect anyone to stay there and help Sheri out but words of encouragement are easy enough to do. 

Yeah, I'm sure there were elements of both in their encouragement.  Doesn't excuse Akbar's lack thereof.

23 minutes ago, chaifan said:

I don't understand how they weren't in at least a little better shape with the second start. 

They actually could've been in slightly better shape for the restart and still have struggled due to the altitude difference between the UK and Switzerland.  Admittedly, not much better shape, but still, maybe a little.  Altitude can really kick you ass if you're not used to it.  Dusty or Ryan said something to that effect, and Dusty lives in Colorado so he knows a bit about altitude.

 

[KittyMom4]

On 1/20/2022 at 10:38 AM, greyhorse said:

The physical issue is that the wife is probably one of the most out of shape racers in the history of the show.  If I knew I was coming back on the race at some point, I would have used quarantine time to at least improve my fitness if I knew that was a problem.  The wrongly prisoned guy and his buddy talked about how they did a lot of mountain hiking to train.  Doesn't seem like this woman even rode a stationary bike.

I am very late to game here, I just watched it last night so I'm catching up. This was my thought as well! At least do some brisk walks and a little bit of strength training. She does look like she may have lost some weight but this is a physical game and they had the benefit of 18-19 months to do something. I think she is the sweetest person and am rooting for her!  

On 1/20/2022 at 10:50 AM, bunnyface said:

At what point was she supposed to magically produce an extra 12 hours a day to train and the $$$ to leave home and go mountain climbing and hire someone else to run her life?

You don't need 12 hours and $$$, from the first episode it looks like they live in a nice subdivision with sidewalks. Doing 30 minutes of walking at a brisk pace can produce significant benefits, even if she didn't lose a pound her stamina and breathing would improve immensely. 

I'm in the minority here, I like Kim and Penn. I had no problem with Penn passing other players on the hill, it's a competition, and if his safety person thought it was risky I'm sure it wouldn't have been allowed. 

 

[Netfoot]

55 minutes ago, BexKeps said:

You don't need 12 hours and $$$, from the first episode it looks like they live in a nice subdivision with sidewalks. Doing 30 minutes of walking at a brisk pace can produce significant benefits, even if she didn't lose a pound her stamina and breathing would improve immensely.

Absolutely. And a minimum of careful eating would have resulted in at least some weight loss. Less poundage to lug up the side of a mountain and more breath to do it with. Win/win.

[ProfCrash]

2 hours ago, smartymarty said:

Husband and I are confused about the "classes to learn to read a map." We just read the map. We don't understand what possibly could be taught.

REI teaches map reading for hikers, backpackers, and people in the wilderness. It includes using a compass, how to navigate in areas without many visual references, and using topographic maps. Probably more then what you need in the race but they are useful skills for people to have and would easily translate to reading a map.

Listening the the Amazing Race clip with Akbar and Sheri and Akbar could have done the roadblock. Sheri took it because she is less scared of heights then Akbar is, he was freaked out in the gondola. 

[blackwing]

I'm kind of surprised they would cut out a Speed Bump task... I guess it's because those two teams were already the last two teams, and they remained the last two teams?  Would have been nice to have seen it.  I had been wondering about how lucky they were to have gotten to come back with no consequences, because other teams had to drop out.  So I guess there were consequences, they were treated as if they had finished last in the previous NEL and had to do a Speed Bump.

Seeing the Speed Bump would also have explained why they seemed to be so much further behind.  I remember thinking the light was completely different, and didn't think they could lose that much time in getting lost.  Would rather have seen the Speed Bump than the minutes spent on showing both teams getting lost and asking for directions.

[Netfoot]

They had to do the entire restart thing, along with an entire leg. Perhaps two Speed Bumps would simply have taken too long. And if they had little or no effect on the finish order...

[greyhorse]

48 minutes ago, blackwing said:

I'm kind of surprised they would cut out a Speed Bump task... I guess it's because those two teams were already the last two teams, and they remained the last two teams?  Would have been nice to have seen it.  I had been wondering about how lucky they were to have gotten to come back with no consequences, because other teams had to drop out.  So I guess there were consequences, they were treated as if they had finished last in the previous NEL and had to do a Speed Bump.

Seeing the Speed Bump would also have explained why they seemed to be so much further behind.  I remember thinking the light was completely different, and didn't think they could lose that much time in getting lost.  Would rather have seen the Speed Bump than the minutes spent on showing both teams getting lost and asking for directions.

I think had it not been edited out, we surely would have seen Phil say on the restart after the two teams came hollering out like some crazy teenagers that they would be required to do a speed bump as a penalty for finishing last in the first two legs.

As they didn't show the speed bump, we had no idea why they were so far behind and we were just left to assume that they're both in last again because both teams suck as racers.  What exactly was the speed bump and how much time did it take up?

[ProfCrash]

The speed bump was rolling cabbages to knock down hay bales…. At least that is what it sounded like from the RHAP Recap. I need to get more info. Apparently it wasn’t something easy to do and explains how Akbar and Sheri went from way in the back to 5th place.

[iMonrey]

Quote

The expressions on the racers' faces when Indian dad and daughter and the cops came whooping and hollering out seemed to indicate that they weren't pleased that the two teams returned.  Kudos to imprisoned guy and Kim for diplomatically welcoming them back.  I don't think any of them were excited to see them back.

Oh, I don't know, I don't think you can read anything into that. For one thing, they most likely already knew those two teams were coming back, hence the lack of surprise on their part. For another, it was probably something of a comfort to know there was a buffer between the five non-eliminated teams left and the two returning teams. Their chances of being eliminated went from 1 in 5 to 1 in 7. I don't know about you, but I'd be pretty happy about that - especially since those two teams had already proven to be pretty weak.

Quote

It sounded like Ryan & Dusty thought it was something involving throwing balls, although they could've been joking about that.

Yes, it was "Toss It" so they probably figured it was something physically active, which they excel at.

Quote

I don't think he got married during the break.  He is married, and his wife had a baby in early 2021.

Didn't Ryan say "He got married!" when Phil prompted them to say what they'd been up to? Maybe he said "He had a baby?" He said something.

[illdoc]

If you follow TAR on FB, they just dropped a video which has the non-returning teams stating themselves why they didn't continue (well, Spencer speaks for Anthony, but you get to see Sam & Connie's baby). Ray and Caro speak separately (both mentioning the citizenship issue).

Edited January 21, 2022 by illdoc

[proserpina65]

52 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Didn't Ryan say "He got married!" when Phil prompted them to say what they'd been up to? Maybe he said "He had a baby?" He said something.

Now I'm gonna have to go back and watch.

[tinkerbell]

18 hours ago, chaifan said:

also thought it was rather cringy of Phil to ask Natalia how her husband felt about her "leaving him" to return to the race.  This isn't 1952, Phil.  (And, as someone noted above, one of the guys got married in the interim.  We didn't see Phil ask him how his wife felt about him leaving.) 

I agree.  She goes on the race with her father just before getting married.   Then resumes the race after the wedding.   How is she supposed to answer this question?  "Oh, the house will be a mess, and he'll have to order in food every day, because I"m not there to cook and clean!"  

Do better, Phil!

[tinkerbell]

5 hours ago, smartymarty said:

Husband and I are confused about the "classes to learn to read a map." We just read the map. We don't understand what possibly could be taught.

There are classes on orienteering - using a compass and a topographical map - a map of the landscape, not  google maps with roads,  but the ability to find your way across a landscape with no roads.    It's a fairly complex skill, that can be a lot of fun to learn.  (Mom of 2 Eagle Scouts here)   

[SuburbanHangSuite]

On 1/20/2022 at 4:10 PM, greyhorse said:

Disagree.  The girls kept talking about "all girl" team winning all the time.  It's annoying.  It'd be one thing if they just mentioned it once.  But there have been multiple comments from them about only women winning.

I just had a chance to watch and catch up.  Sigh.  This obsession with having girl winners on these shows wears. on. my. last. nerve.  It's bad enough that I just endured that narrative with Survivor (and I still suspect some of the Jury voted for gender and NOT the best game) but now I have to hear it again with TAR.  I've never really felt that Survivor or TAR were weighted towards men winning over women.  Now I thought Tough as Nails was biased towards brute strength in a lot of tasks until the women cast this past season kicked ASS.  If the "Girl Power" chatter keeps up, I'm going to find myself actively cheering against them.

I was happy to see the two eliminated teams get a chance to return and its helpful to hear that they had extra tasks that we didn't see.  I thought both teams were just hapless.

I know I'm in the tiniest of minorities with my opinion of Akbar and Sheri but I kind of feel that Akbar is a kindred spirit to me.  There are those of us who have a competitive drive that borders on insane.  It's not something that we're proud of and it's uncontrollable.  It's what makes us smash tennis racquets (been there, done that) harangue a teammate who doesn't appear to be giving it their all (done that too) and usually, we feel quite contrite and ashamed of our behavior when we're no longer in the heat of the competition.  The people that know and love us just deal with our insanity.  I suspect that's what's happening with Sheri and Akbar.  I really don't think he means to be abusive or demeaning but it comes off that way especially with a camera capturing all his bad behavior.  I think Sheri has been with him long enough to tune out his craziness.  And so proud of her for completing that task.  Both tasks, in fact.  I was kind of cringing when she kept dragging the Swiss flag on the floor with that leg pass. LOL.

 

[ProfCrash]

I am glad that they posted the videos. I didn't know Caro was a German Citizen. One would think she could have raced in Europe on a German passport but I guess she wouldn't have been able to come into the US for the last legs, assuming that they end in the US. Like they always do. Speculating here.....

I still think they are covering up the fact that Caro and Ray are no longer dating but the German Passport makes logistical sense. 

[aghst]

For a time, US was not allowing UK or EU citizens to come to the US.

They had to go spend 2 weeks in Mexico or something.

So depending on when they filmed, it may have been the case that she wouldn't be able to come to the US.

I think they lifted that in early November or something like that.

[bearcatfan]

2 hours ago, tinkerbell said:

There are classes on orienteering - using a compass and a topographical map - a map of the landscape, not  google maps with roads,  but the ability to find your way across a landscape with no roads.    It's a fairly complex skill, that can be a lot of fun to learn.  (Mom of 2 Eagle Scouts here)   

Kim mentioned also something about using time to estimate distance. In last weeks episode you can see her holding a compass with the map and she says something about 10 minutes. Kim is a planner.

[Guest]

 

22 hours ago, chaifan said:

Yeah, I know the Holdernesses have been around a while, but I'm just wondering what their stats were pre-pandemic.  That jammies video has 18 million views now, but where was it at 2 1/2 years ago?  I get the impression that at the time they were cast TAR knew they were established social media personalities, but they had nowhere near the popularity they have now, mostly due to the videos they created during the pandemic.  I just think TAR won the "team who can bring in new viewers" lottery with them and it wasn't expected from the get go. 

 

SNL parodied the Christmas Jammies video in 2014 so they were already one of the more popular YouTube channels before covid. The jammies video was at 17 million 4 years ago. Whatever Happened To The Xmas Jammies Family?

[Haleth]

I would rather have seen the extra roadblock than listen to the returning teams talk about what they did during the break.  Rolling cabbages?  That makes me think about the runaway cheese wheels.  Still one of the funniest things on tv ever.

So did all the teams fly to Switzerland from the US on the charter?  What about the two eliminated teams?  If they flew commercially did they all have to quarantine (together?) before the race restarted?  It makes sense that there might have been visa issues for Caro and her German passport, but wasn't she in the US during the break?  (The suspension of the race was before EU passport holders were denied entry, right?  There would be no problem with her being admitted into the US if she was already here.  Going elsewhere could be a problem though.)

[ProfCrash]

1 hour ago, Haleth said:

I would rather have seen the extra roadblock than listen to the returning teams talk about what they did during the break.  Rolling cabbages?  That makes me think about the runaway cheese wheels.  Still one of the funniest things on tv ever.

So did all the teams fly to Switzerland from the US on the charter?  What about the two eliminated teams?  If they flew commercially did they all have to quarantine (together?) before the race restarted?  It makes sense that there might have been visa issues for Caro and her German passport, but wasn't she in the US during the break?  (The suspension of the race was before EU passport holders were denied entry, right?  There would be no problem with her being admitted into the US if she was already here.  Going elsewhere could be a problem though.)

She wouldn’t have been able to return to the US with a German passport. The last leg of the race is normally in the US, so she wouldn’t have been able to finish the race.

[Thalia]

22 hours ago, blackwing said:

I'm kind of surprised they would cut out a Speed Bump task... I guess it's because those two teams were already the last two teams, and they remained the last two teams?  Would have been nice to have seen it. 

There have been times in the past when there didn't seem to be a speed bump for non eliminated teams, and I was surprised.  For example, did they show the twins doing a speed bump in episode 3 of this season?  Maybe this explains why.  There was a speed bump, but it got edited out for whatever reason. 

[KittyQ]

On 1/20/2022 at 6:50 AM, Lady Calypso said:

That being said, I was getting frustrated with HOW many times he kept saying how he should have done it, how he regretted letting Sherri do it, how he wished he was doing it, etc. It just makes it seem like he doesn't trust his own wife and I wouldn't be saying that if he hadn't also criticized her in earlier legs.

Added bolding to part of this comment. 

At first, I thought he regretted letting her do it because he knew how scared she is of heights, but then I wondered if he regretted it because her fright kept her from making good time, and they were in last place at that point. 

I hope he sees himself on TV and realizes how poorly he seems to treat his wife under the guise of "encouraging" her.

[SVNBob]

31 minutes ago, Thalia said:

For example, did they show the twins doing a speed bump in episode 3 of this season? 

That wasn't a NEL; it was a KOR - Keep On Racing.  No Speed Bumps in the middle of a double leg.

That said, there was apparently a task edited out of the Glasgow leg.  But it was one all teams had to do.

[Haleth]

4 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

She wouldn’t have been able to return to the US with a German passport.

In Feb 2020?