S33.E06: Say Cheese

[Whimsy]

Quote

Racers travel by private jet to Corsica, France, where they go canyoneering through the beautiful landscape of natural rockslides, waterfalls, and rivers.

Original air date 2/2/22

[Netfoot]

When I saw how Ryan & Dusty reacted to slipping down from first place, I was rather disappointed. Who in hell told them that because they started as #1 that they had any right to think that they couldn't back-slide? And WTF were they doing wrong with their cheese anyhow? Everyone else came, saw and conquered and left them still stirring without a curd in sight.

The twins waited to help the Flight Attendants... who promptly passed them by and left them in their dust. Well, that's what happens when you go on a race and fail to RACE!!!

Akbar screws the pooch but he doesn't feel that he should have been chewed out for being slow. I wonder what would have been the outcome if Sherri had done the river-run thingy. With her already having done more roadblocks than he, I understand why he went for it. But I wonder. What if? Anyway, I'm glad to see the back of Akbar. Sherri? Come again any time! I still thought they had a chance to win, because Arun & Natalia would row their kayak down river by mistake, but...

Arun & Natalia successfully navigated from one end of the leg to the other without any visible foul-ups, and surprised me (and, apparently, Phil) by keeping their promise not to be last. And they weren't even one before! They are now 4th out of 5 remaining teams!

So, the pitstart doesn't necessarily start at the foot of the steps for The Amazing Plane! Ok, well that answers some of the questions that have been circling my brain. The 15 minute start separation for two teams at a time doesn't leave much of an advantage for the racers who did well and built up a lead to finish way ahead, but hey! I guess them's the new rules, now.

Glad the donkey harnessing was properly judged -- no letting them get away with it done improperly. Those animals had to carry a load, and an improperly set harness has the potential to harm the beasts.

Corsica! Who knew how lovely the countryside looked? Not stupid me, for sure! I wonder if we get to see any urban life in Corsica next week? Dunno if there is time for that.

There are only two more eliminations to come, and I have to wonder if they are going around the world or not, because even if they have every other leg now being a NEL (to compensate for the shortened field of competitors) they have only gotten as far as the Med, and there is an awful lot of ground to cover if they are going to circumnavigate! So maybe they will be doubling back to the USA without going all the way around? Mind you, TAP could whisk them away to Japan next week, so they can still do it...

[Guest]

Dusty is...a little intense.

Raquel/Cayla continue to be chill as hell and are in the running for Team Having the Most Fun over the entire show's history.

[Starchild]

4 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

When I saw how Ryan & Dusty reacted to slipping down from first place, I was rather disappointed. Who in hell told them that because they started as #1 that they had any right to think that they couldn't back-slide? And WTF were they doing wrong with their cheese anyhow? Everyone else came, saw and conquered and left them still stirring without a curd in sight.

Dudebro teams almost always seem to be like that. All "whoo" when they're in front, but almost insulting to other teams when they dare to pass. When they low-key dissed Arun/Natalia and Sherri/Akbar for just catching up, I flipped the bird at them. I noticed they "whoo'd" extra aggressively once they caught up, like an implicit f-you. Or maybe I just don't like watching alpha-male teams dominating the race; I've always preferred balanced unpredictability, where anyone could end up in first at the end.

As for what went wrong, every time the alpha-males got their cheese soup up to 85, Dusty the experienced cheese maker said it was too hot and they had to reduce the heat. One of the other teams (Sherri?) said when they got to 85 they kept it there, and that was apparently the right move.

[xcrayon2215x]

Akbar annoyed me a lot less tonight, I think he is a good guy when things are going well. With a good leg for Arun and Natalia, I had a feeling that Akbar and Sheri would be gone. At least Sheri was not to blame for elimination tonight.

I was surprised that Ryan and Dusty finished 3rd after looking so bad to start but having a lot of physical tasks probably helped. I was surprised that there was no Speed Bump. 

 

 

[Maya]

I thought Sherri was required to do all their roadblocks? (Kidding)

This season feels like Amazing Race Lite but I’m still glad it’s back. 

[chaifan]

These were great challenges, but I missed not having any real travel element in an entire episode.  Seems like the vans at the beginning were supplied (no shots of anyone flagging down taxis from where ever they started).  Then the Amazing Golf Carts.  I liked the Amazing Kayaks, but no real navigation issue there, just a paddling challenge.

Everyone is concentrating so hard on Dusty & Ryan that they're forgetting about Penn & Kim as being the team to beat. 

I'd love for Kendra Raquel & Cayla to win, though, just because they're having so much fun.

ETA:  I did like the practicality of having the teams leave both their packs and the Amazing Fanny Pack in the vans.  I'm surprised Lulu & Lala were the only team to have gotten tripped up by that (read the clue!).  I wonder what would have happened if they did take their things with them in the kayak?  Would they have had to redo the challenge?  Get a time penalty? 

Edited February 3, 2022 by chaifan
Edited because I had a brain fart and turned Raquel into Kendra for some unknown reason. Can't blame that one on auto correct!

[toomuchtv]

I’m happy for Arun and Natalia but can’t help but think they only did well this week because there wasn’t any navigating to do…

 

[LBS]

My favorite part was when the FA were spoofing R&D taking off all their gear to go bear chested and the Amazing Greeter did too and then they both caught each eyes and laughed.  I thought this was a great episode all in all.  I didn’t mind Akbar and Sheri even with the bickering but they got eliminated at the right time.  They just weren’t up to it on a cardio level.  I flip flop on who I want to win.  When Arun yelled ‘I’m having so much fun’ after zip-lining, my heart melted a bit.   All the remaining teams have so much enthusiasm that I’m torn.  So I’m just team #gladtheraceisback

[North of Eden]

Dusty and Ryan's comeback is the reason I have spent the last twenty years actively rooting AGAINST young, alpha male teams. Sprinting to the finish line was a hallmark of those early seasons. They basically have too much of an  advantage due to their strength, stamina and general physicality. I don't like this and am always happy when such  a team goes home. I have no love for Ackbar but would have been happy to remove the alphas from the chessboard.

Speaking of Ackbar...he finally did a task and it was their undoing. Pretty ironic. Plus Sherri gets her revenge with the passive/agressive. "You did your best. Today it wasn't good enough but" Loved it!

Sad that the twins remembered to bring their bags back...its' been soooooo many years since Phil has gotten to say...you are the______________team to arrive BUT and then its  a mad scramble to try and have to do a do over and try to beat elimination.

Loved how the donkey task subverted expectations and was easy. And the flight attendant doing a happy dance next to a fresh pile of you know what and Kim risking getting kicked in the head by the donkey were sights to behold as was Phil doing stewardess duty welcoming the gang onto the charter flight.

The river challenge...I'd love to do that...love to. Those pools of water were so beautiful. And the bridge still standing since the Roman Empire was awe inspiring...such history!

Edited February 3, 2022 by North of Eden

[Cotypubby]

I want to do that canyon challenge! That looked so much fun. 
 

I really thought Ryan and Dusty would be out, they looked so far behind and I didn’t think there’d be much chance to pass anyone in the canyon. Ackbar was just that slow. Wow!

It looked like every time the milk got to 85° Ryan and Dusty would turn off the heat, which kept bringing the temp down and it was never able to stay hot enough to curdle. Have they never cooked anything before!? It’d be like bringing water to a boil, then putting in pasta and turning off the burner and wondering why nothing was cooking.  You’d think after seeing everyone pass them they’d realize they were doing it wrong…

Edited February 3, 2022 by Cotypubby

[choclatechip45]

It was great that it was Akbar's fault and not Sherri's fault!

[Kitty Redstone]

Corsica is beautiful.  Just absolutely breathtaking.  The shut-ins obstacle course looked fun even though I don't like water. 

I continue to enjoy all the teams, especially Kim and Penn and Raquel and Cayla.  I, too, thought it was hilarious that the greeter and R&C were laughing at Dusty and Ryan's chest baring. 

Akbar was struggling and I felt bad for him, but more so for Sherry.  She confronted her fears and came through when it mattered and that's badass in my book.

I'm so happy this show is back that I don't even care if they just hop around the Mediterranean for the rest of the season. 

Edited February 3, 2022 by Kitty Redstone

[mertensia]

I enjoyed Arun and Natalia - and Akbarr and Sheri - just breezing through the cheese making while Dusty and Ryan silently fumed.

That was kind of diabolical making them blow the kayaks up. Do that some more.

[Artsda]

Wow Ryan was amazing coming from the back to pass on the canyon challenge, switching tasks and making it to 3rd was great.

[katalizt]

1 hour ago, tracyscott76 said:

Raquel/Cayla continue to be chill as hell and are in the running for Team Having the Most Fun over the entire show's history.

I love how much fun they're having.

I loved the canyon task. Having most tasks outdoors has worked out specially well for the roadblocks so far.

Kim & Penn have turned out to be very efficient and are up there with Ryan & Dusty, who I'm sure will be back to the front of the pack after a rough task today.

[sara416]

Dusty thought he knew how to make cheese better than the actual directions. Just follow the instructions dude. 

Emmy nomination: the greeter at the mat. His interaction with the girls when Dusty and Ryan started taking their lifejackets off was perfect. Apparently 6 pack abs translate to any language.

[Lantern7]

Two inept teams down, one to go. I'm sure Akbar isn't a horrible person, I'm sure he and Sherri get along in "real life" . . .but damn, their elimination was a mercy. All that's left is for Arun & Natalia to go down one final time, and then we can have a decent race.

I'm glad the show's back, but it still feels off. I'll probably count this season, but I don't think the intensity is there. Or maybe I was disappointed the mules didn't make a fuss. Maybe the horse side of them mellows out the donkey part. And yeah, I had to go online to find the difference because donkeys and mules.

Ryan & Dusty don't bother me much . . . though I wouldn't be too shocked if they got money "under the table" for sticking with the cheese task as long as they did. I'm thinking that they thought dealing with mules would be more difficult than making cheese. They were wrong.

[Netfoot]

17 minutes ago, mertensia said:

That was kind of diabolical making them blow the kayaks up.

What would have been diabolical would be making them milk the goats as part of the Detour.

1 hour ago, chaifan said:

I'd love for Kendra & Cayla to win, though, just because they're having so much fun.

I'm really liking Raquel & Kayla too, but also the twins. With Akbar gone, I don't actually dislike anyone remaining on the race, but I'm hoping for Raquel & Cayla, or Lala & Lulu to take home the win. R&C in particular are having one hell of a ball, so in a sense, they are winners already!

[Cotypubby]

14 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

though I wouldn't be too shocked if they got money "under the table" for sticking with the cheese task as long as they did.

What a strange thing to say. 

[Lantern7]

Just now, Cotypubby said:

What a strange thing to say. 

That’s just me joking about being suspicious. @North of Eden made a good point about alpha teams. With the field as sparse as it is, Ryan & Dusty shouldn’t have fallen behind like they did.

[ByaNose]

Had Ryan & Dusty switched earlier they might have come in first. Kim & Penn are so compatible. They balance each other out perfectly. They are in my the Top 3 for sure with the Ryan & Dusty and the two other girl teams. I think next week I’ll have a better idea of the girl teams who is the leader. When Ryan & Dusty starting taking their vests off it looked like greater was happier with talking with the girls and the girls looked like they were laughing. They were a little OTT with their studness but they really did overcame all odds to come in third. I was pretty shocked by that. Akbar……has to do the task and they are eliminated. I’m happy with that. I like all of the remaining teams now. 

Corsica looks beautiful and has the beautiful Mountain views.  I think it might be on my bucket list of trips to take.

Edited February 3, 2022 by ByaNose

[CraftyHazel]

I normally dislike alpha males in general, but I can’t hate on anything Ryan does.  I live in Missouri and remember when he was fighting for his freedom.  He seems like just a genuinely good guy.  That said, I still love Penn and Kim and loved seeing them so far ahead.

[Mediocre Gatsby]

I'm glad to see so many teams not just paying lip service to enjoying the race, but actually trying to do it. I loved hearing Arun say that he was having fun. 

I would have been worried about the mules, too, but they were lambs. 

[Chicago Redshirt]

I came here not to praise Akbar, but to bury him. 

I wish that the Amazing Editors looped in the criticisms he dished out to Sherri on previous legs and played it while he was struggling with the obstacle course. I suppose Sherri was perhaps passive-aggressive in saying that Akbar did his best, but it wasn't good enough. But I would have rather had her unearth all the Division I trash-talk she could muster.

[Mediocre Gatsby]

Sheri didn't even say that Akbar's best wasn't good enough -- she implied that he didn't do his best! Saying she was sure he thought he did his best, and she wasn't going to say he didn't. Cold. 

Edited February 3, 2022 by Mediocre Gatsby

[30 Helens]

Was I the only one hoping someone would get a broken mule? But then it turned out to be not that kind of task. Bummer.

The flight attendants are growing on me. I would have been right with them, making fun of Dusty and Ryan for taking off their shirts on the mat. Muscles gotta breathe, bro!

So Akbar and Sherri make their own roux for macaroni and cheese? Me too! I melt the butter, add the milk, then stir in the orange powder. Delicious!

[aghst]

Every leg since the restart has had a physical challenge of some kind which at least one member had to do.

Not too physical, all the racers are able to finish but fitness obviously helps some racers do it faster than others.

I'm trying to remember if previous seasons had similar number of physical challenges, in particular something that required endurance as often as these 3 legs have been.

I think that is why the two guys have done well, though they did well in the navigation in the previous leg to go up those stairs more times than other teams and still win the leg.

In previous seasons, there is usually one or two detours or road blocks where upper body strength helps as well as just the ability to run a couple of miles.  The kayaks could have been that if several teams were racing at the same time to inflate, then carry the kayak up to the dam and then paddle upstream to the pitstop.

But it seems the downfall of all-female teams is often one of these tasks in which upper body strength is needed.

 

Maybe for the restart, these endurance challenges where they're probably hiking/running/climbing a couple of kilometers were the easiest to set up and they couldn't do more of the things like singing in Scotland.

[Mediocre Gatsby]

4 hours ago, chaifan said:

I wonder what would have happened if they did take their things with them in the kayak?  Would they have had to redo the challenge?  Get a time penalty? 

It looked to me like the inflatable kayaks might not have been able to hold the weight of heavy packs, though the twins do seem to have packed lightly (Akbar's pack, in particular, looks huge to me). 

[Zonk]

Ugh Dusty is the type of guy I wouldn't want to spend 5 minutes with. As soon as there is some slight preassure he turns very unpleasent and I assume we didn't even see the half of it, since they are getting a very good edit. Even when they were on the amazing bathmat and save, his demeanor wasn't a good look.

Ryan on the other hand handled this whole thing extremely well. Hard to believe those two are friends.

Nice to see some other teams pass those two for a change. Gives you hope, that while they are most certainly in the finale, unless something catastrophic happens, somebody else might actually win this race.

[Tdoc72]

3 minutes ago, Zonk said:

Ugh Dusty is the type of guy I wouldn't want to spend 5 minutes with. As soon as there is some slight preassure he turns very unpleasent and I assume we didn't even see the half of it, since they are getting a very good edit. Even when they were on the amazing bathmat and save, his demeanor wasn't a good look.

Ryan on the other hand handled this whole thing extremely well. Hard to believe those two are friends.

Nice to see some other teams pass those two for a change. Gives you hope, that while they are most certainly in the finale, unless something catastrophic happens, somebody else might actually win this race.

You said it well about Dusty. It’s like I couldn’t put it into words why, but he was making me uncomfortable. Ryan was fine. 
I am not sporty at all but that water obstacle course looked like so much fun. 

[Zonk]

6 hours ago, Netfoot said:

The twins waited to help the Flight Attendants... who promptly passed them by and left them in their dust. Well, that's what happens when you go on a race and fail to RACE!!!

Also as far as I understood it, the agreement was that they would stick together to look for the clue. Which is a good idea, since missing it and having to do the whole thing over would have been catastrophic and a guaranteed philimination. But after they had the clue, all bets were off. So I don't even think the flight attendants "betrayed" them. That was really a masterclass in whining over nothing.

6 hours ago, Netfoot said:

Arun & Natalia successfully navigated from one end of the leg to the other without any visible foul-ups, and surprised me (and, apparently, Phil) by keeping their promise not to be last. And they weren't even one before! They are now 4th out of 5 remaining teams!

Well, there was no self-driving. They are reasonably competent in the challanges. Their downfall is navigation. As soon as there is self-driving again, they will be last. You can rely on that.

4 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

I'm glad the show's back, but it still feels off. I'll probably count this season, but I don't think the intensity is there. Or maybe I was disappointed the mules didn't make a fuss. Maybe the horse side of them mellows out the donkey part. And yeah, I had to go online to find the difference because donkeys and mules.

Even though there is a saying about mules being stubborn, they are actually very chill animals. Smarter than horses, not as stubborn as donkeys.

4 hours ago, Netfoot said:

5 hours ago, mertensia said:

That was kind of diabolical making them blow the kayaks up. Do that some more.

What would have been diabolical would be making them milk the goats as part of the Detour.

Or blow the Kayaks up with their mouths. Just having them pump for a bit really wasn't anywhere close to diabolical.

[Netfoot]

10 minutes ago, Zonk said:

As soon as there is self-driving again, they will be last. You can rely on that.

Regretfully, you are probably right.

[ProfCrash]

That was a fun episode. I liked the tasks and the scenery was gorgeous. I so want to do that canyon course, it looked amazing.

I am glad that Akbar and Sheri are out. They were not any where near to being in shape enough for the race. Not when it originally started and not at the reboot. They are out of shape and over weight, neither of which helps you win the million dollars. Toss in Akbar’s ridiculous “We are athletes!” Every freaking episode. OK, not this episode. When he was sucking at the road block. I didn’t hear him say how hw was an athlete and reference D1 Basketball. That is only for when Sheri is doing a task and struggling. When Akbar is struggling it is big feet and I am not sure what other reasons he gave for not doing well on the Canyon task. 

Kim and Penn crushed the leg. They made the right call on the Mules. Not only where they well behaved, the walk was like 10 feet. The tricky part was the saddle. The canyon was no big deal and the kayak was a breeze. Kim is focusing on enjoying herself and finding a way to embrace the lack of control. They seem to be in a good place, having a good time, and doing really, really well.

The Flight Attendants are great. They are having a blast, seem to have a decent strategy, and are working well together. I don’t remember if their sticking together thing with Lulu and Lala was the whole way or to the clue, I can understand why she powered ahead but I can see why the twin was miffed. 

Dusty and Ryan. OK, so Dusty falls to crap when stressed. He wanted to give up on the flags and was the reason why they switched tasks on this leg. He was also the reason they failed miserably with the cheese task. Everyone else followed the instructions they were given and had no issues. Dusty kept playing with the temperature on the pot and screwed up their process. Ryan seems to understand Dusty in panic mode and just goes with it. I wonder if that is because trying to talk Dusty out of panic mode is as ugly as I think it would be. They crushed the rest of the tasks and landed in third. Dusty was way too congratulatory to his team for my liking. Yes, you beasted through the physical crap but you sucked at an easy task that you didn’t need to suck at. They are screwed if there are two mental tasks back to back. 

Lulu and Lala were fine. They work well together and completed everything with little drama. Not to worried about the “she left me” stuff. It is a race for a million dollars, if the lesson learned is run your own race then good. They are competent but I don’t see them beating Dusty and Ryan or Kim and Penn. 

Arun and Natalia were spot on but they didn’t have to drive. Or sing and dance. They have very loud and clear problem areas that will leave them out of the race. But they are having fun and not sniping at each other. Good people who are enjoying themselves.

  

[Haleth]

That water course looked like so much fun!  I'd have "forgotten" the clue just so I could do it all again.  Corsica is breathtakingly beautiful.

Dusty and Rusty Ryan are monsters.  They not only caught up but passed a couple of pokey teams even though they were 40 minutes behind.  It seemed like the show was foreshadowing their elimination early on, which would have been fun to watch and leveled out the playing field a bit.  Hubris, guys.  And yes, the giggling at their expense at the mat was funny.

The mules were surprisingly cooperative.  Maybe that can be used by Corsican tourism - ours mules are cooperative!

Did anyone else think Arun and Natalia would kayak in the wrong direction?  (I don't know how they could have, but I figured it was a possibility anyway.)

Karma hits Akbar in the butt by getting them eliminated due to his pokeyness, not hers.  And Sheri graciously (through gritted teeth) comforts him by saying he did his best.  She probably let him have it in private.  As she should.

5 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

So Akbar and Sherri make their own roux for macaroni and cheese? Me too! I melt the butter, add the milk, then stir in the orange powder. Delicious!

Ha!  Making roux is not like making cheese, Akbar.  Cheese Louise.

[Lady Calypso]

I will say, I was half rooting for Ryan/Dusty to just be slightly too far behind to catch up, and it was nice to see them completely falter, BUT I also really like Ryan and I would have hated to see him get eliminated. Dusty? Eh, don't have much love for Dusty, but Ryan seems cool. I will say this, if Ryan/Sheri could have split off from their partners and become a team, I would have loved that. I mean, obviously Ryan was wrong in wanting to stick to the cheese task, but Dusty went panic mode, and definitely caused his attitude to shift. Unfortunately, I get it. I go into panic mode and probably would react similar to him, which doesn't really bode well for me if I ever did get on the Race. Still, I think it was him obnoxiously cheering and shouting and I can't really blame Raquel/Cayla for mocking them a little bit.

It was fantastic to see Kim/Penn do so well and also be so far ahead. All the other teams checked in within a couple of minutes of each other (besides Akbar/Sheri) while Kim/Penn were at LEAST 15-20 minutes ahead of everyone else.

I actually figured the mule task might be easier, just because the making cheese aspect takes precision and, if you get it wrong, you're done for (as we almost saw with Ryan/Dusty). While, yes, the mule task could go wrong if you get a grumpy mule, but knowing that they were walking a short distance to where the cheese task was, plus the only difficult part was matching the demo mule I think I might have gone for that one instead.

 Nice little challenge to get to the pitstop, too. It does give other teams a chance to catch up a bit and shift the order.

Now, I do like Lulu/Lala, but one of the twins complaining about how one of Raquel/Cayla totally ditched them after getting their clue? Well, yeah, girls. It's a raaaaaaaaace. It's not holding hands and skipping to the end together. You help each other out to an extent, not all the way. 

I did really like the moment at the end when the racers were getting to the pit stop and the other teams already there were telling them their placements. 

I can't say I feel bad for Akbar/Sheri getting eliminated. See how, when it's Akbar's fault, he goes all pouty and "aww, shucks, this was just such a hard task!" But if Sheri had done it, he would have been berating her. So good on her for being a little passive aggressive at the mat. It was their time to go. I'll miss Sheri, though. She was one of my favourites this season. 

[sugarbaker design]

I'm praying that Dusty and Penn fall into a volcano, and Ryan and Kim team up for the win!

[AZChristian]

I wasn't in the mood to watch it before the show started here in Arizona.  Just out of curiosity, I looked through the Live Chat.  As soon as I saw that Akbar was going to be eliminated, I tuned in.  Sorry to see Sheri go . . . but not him.

The whole time he was huffing and puffing, I was yelling, "But you're an ATHLETE, Akbar.  Stop whining, dig deep, and just DO IT!!!!"  Sheri was much kinder to him than I would have been.

[chaifan]

6 hours ago, Mediocre Gatsby said:

It looked to me like the inflatable kayaks might not have been able to hold the weight of heavy packs, though the twins do seem to have packed lightly (Akbar's pack, in particular, looks huge to me). 

My guess is that it's more practical - if the kayaks flipped, then there's the potential for losing a racer's pack, or the inconvenience of everything being wet, including their passports. 

[Brynnjk]

Another absolutely beautiful place.  I now want to go to Corsica and take that water challenge.  It looked like so much fun.  I join almost everyone in being happy that Akbar has finally exited stage left.  He is such a downer in what is essentially a feel good bunch of racers.  I mean I enjoy a good villain edit as much as the next person.  I enjoy seeing teams I thoroughly dislike ending their race (remembering Season 12 and Jennifer & her boyfriend's).  BUT, I also enjoy racers who are fun to watch.  Not in a ganging up together to win way (remembering Mary & the Godwin brothers - argh!) so I'm happy the girls are realizing they need to focus on their own team first.  But these teams are all super nice.  I like Ryan and Dusty and I don't blame them for getting frustrated a little.  So I'm happy with all the teams.  Truthfully, I'm just sooooooooooooo happy to have the race back!!!!!

[seacliffsal]

I believe that Ryan has stated that Dusty stayed by his side the entire time of his trial and incarceration.  Therefore, I don't think he will ever be angry or upset by Dusty's changes of attitude.

Akbar sure berated Sherri when she couldn't keep up with him or the other racers (which may have led to him thinking he was in good shape), but as soon as it was just him and the other racers his tune sure changed.  He may have had the idea that if it weren't for Sherri he would be finishing in the top each time.  I am so glad that he finally had to face the reality of his own performance even though he did try to justify it (oh, I have big feet [I would wager that Penn also has large feet as he is also tall], oh it's my weight...), well, the thing is he seems to have forgotten that he was a college athlete at a Division 1 school... I hope that Sherri has this episode playing on a continuous loop at their home (yes, I am evil like that).

I am so glad that Arun had a good time as I don't think he will be enjoying the race for much longer.  I also wish the teams had driven themselves and don't understand why they were driven the whole time unless production didn't have time to accommodate racers getting lost.  Oh, and I did notice production had someone in a kayak to show the racers which way to go once they got in the water (probably so they wouldn't paddle over the dam).

[ProfCrash]

11 hours ago, chaifan said:

ETA:  I did like the practicality of having the teams leave both their packs and the Amazing Fanny Pack in the vans.  I'm surprised Lulu & Lala were the only team to have gotten tripped up by that (read the clue!).  I wonder what would have happened if they did take their things with them in the kayak?  Would they have had to redo the challenge?  Get a time penalty? 

 

7 hours ago, Mediocre Gatsby said:

It looked to me like the inflatable kayaks might not have been able to hold the weight of heavy packs, though the twins do seem to have packed lightly (Akbar's pack, in particular, looks huge to me). 

 

33 minutes ago, chaifan said:

My guess is that it's more practical - if the kayaks flipped, then there's the potential for losing a racer's pack, or the inconvenience of everything being wet, including their passports. 

Those inflatable kayaks are being used in a lot of places. I see them advertised and used by backpackers. Some brands are very rugged. I don't know this particular brand so I can't speak to it but people are using similar designs to go through rapids on trips. We are talking about people carrying 20-50 pounds, the kayaks would have handled the packs just fine. I would be surprised if anyone is running with a pack close to 20 pounds. They look bigger then they are because of the way the packs are structure to carry weight.

I agree with Chaifan who said it was more a practical move then anything. They were looking to protect passports and documents. They could have done that by providing waterproof bags  that could have been clipped to the kayaks, there has to be a clipping point somewhere on the things, but having a Producer collect the bags from the cars would be easier and cost less. 

 

[blackwing]

I think Ryan and Dusty might be the only team left that I truly like.  Kim and Penn annoy me with their "look at me" videos, the twins are twits, the "we want an all girl team to win" flight attendants annoy me, and Arun and Natalia are just hapless.  Dusty is really intense.  His "I'll be so pissed if we go home" outburst is probably the same thing all the teams feel every leg, so it wasn't unwarranted per se, but it was odd that he said it in front of every other team.  None of them want to go home.  But after hearing him talk about his father who died during the interracedom and the birth of his first child, I felt for him.

I think this leg was poorly designed and Ryan and Dusty should thank the producers for the poor leg design.  It would have been more interesting if the people who did the mules didn't have to deliver them to the same exact area as the cheesemaking.  If Ryan and Dusty hadn't seen the other teams passing them by, they possibly wouldn't have switched.  They would have assumed the mules would likely take an equal amount of time.

I don't blame them for doing the cheese.  General race rule seems to be that if there is a choice to avoid an animal task, avoid it, since animals are unpredictable.  Their issue seemed to be that they thought the temperature had to remain constant at 85 degrees.  They were saying "we're cooking it" and turned the heat down, because I think they thought the cheese would burn or something.  They didn't understand that the temperature had to get to at least 85 before the cheese would curdle.  I think this is definitely a case where they read the clue too literally.   

I am glad that Akbar recognised that he lost them the leg.  He was constantly berating Sheri for being out of shape, but apparently he is out of shape as well.  No other team struggled with that course like he did.  Granted, no one weighs as much as he did either, but still.  Isn't he a Division 1 athlete?

[blackwing]

I don't like the new race design.  I get why they all have to be on the same charter plane but I don't like how now the teams only are spaced 15 minutes apart.  I know that airport bunching has always equalised everyone.  But I am curious if they stay in the same country, if teams will still be leaving in groups 15 minutes apart or if teams can keep their lead.  If the first place team finished two hours ahead of the last place team, in the past they know they have a 2 hour buffer but now it's potentially only 15 minutes.

11 hours ago, North of Eden said:

Dusty and Ryan's comeback is the reason I have spent the last twenty years actively rooting AGAINST young, alpha male teams. Sprinting to the finish line was a hallmark of those early seasons. They basically have too much of an  advantage due to their strength, stamina and general physicality. I don't like this and am always happy when such  a team goes home. I have no love for Ackbar but would have been happy to remove the alphas from the chessboard.

I don't agree... as I mentioned in a previous week's thread, the last team of alpha males to win was Bates and Anthony, the hockey brothers, and that was maybe like 12 seasons ago.  I think the producers do a decent job of making the race balanced.  Yes, there are challenges where strength is important, but there are also challenges where memory and brains are important.  Like what happened with the football players at the music challenge that got them eliminated (that and collusion amongst the others).  As far as physical fitness, I would think that every team that wants to be on the race should know that they should be in good shape.  Akbar and Sheri were perhaps the most un-fit team in recent history.  I am sure they were physically stronger than Lulu and Lala but Lulu and Lala are in much better shape.

[WahooLAH99]

9 hours ago, ByaNose said:

Had Ryan & Dusty switched earlier they might have come in first. Kim & Penn are so compatible. They balance each other out perfectly. They are in my the Top 3 for sure with the Ryan & Dusty and the two other girl teams. I think next week I’ll have a better idea of the girl teams who is the leader. When Ryan & Dusty starting taking their vests off it looked like greater was happier with talking with the girls and the girls looked like they were laughing. They were a little OTT with their studness but they really did overcame all odds to come in third. I was pretty shocked by that. Akbar……has to do the task and they are eliminated. I’m happy with that. I like all of the remaining teams now. 

Corsica looks beautiful and has the beautiful Mountain views.  I think it might be on my bucket list of trips to take.

I was in Corsica in October! Ajaccio, which is where Napoleon is from. I never saw any of those mountains! I feel like I missed out because I was not really impressed at all.

Is Dusty the one that was in jail? I still have no idea who is who.  Bye Akbar, I don’t think I will miss you. I also was thinking Arun and daughter were going to paddle the wrong way down the river! And did they not have to do a Speed Bump!

[toodywoody]

The guys need to chill. I realize they were in last for like 5 minutes but good Lord. 

I had to laugh at Akbar messing it all up by being slow. I just wished Shari would have been giving it to him for being so slow.

[Sarahsmile416]

11 hours ago, choclatechip45 said:

It was great that it was Akbar's fault and not Sherri's fault!

Karma is a b*tch Akbar… all I have to say…

[Haleth]

Weren’t the twins helped out by Natalia during the bagpipe challenge?  They didn’t wait for Nat to finish so they have little room to complain that Raquel didn’t wait.

Every time Akbar bragged about being Div 1 athletes I’d remind him that was 20 years ago.

I think the design of this leg was good since it allowed some shuffling. 

[Lovecat]

28 minutes ago, WahooLAH99 said:

Is Dusty the one that was in jail? I still have no idea who is who.  

That was Ryan.

Arun and Natalia didn't get lost in a vehicle this week, but when Arun was taking off for the canyon course I swear he tried to go the wrong way--I saw someone shove him in the other direction and yell "THAT way!" and he responded "OH!" before toddling off in the right direction.  Aye.

[meep.meep]

At first I figured they were leaving their backpacks and race packs because they had to take a camera person in the kayak, but that wasn't the case.

And I am very happy that Akbar finally had to do a difficult/scary task, so he could tell what Sherry went through.