S33.E07: Gently Down the Stream

[ProfCrash]

4 minutes ago, survivinmt said:

I don't doubt that Rob and Amber were the producers favs, but the Globetrotters waited out their penalty at the Franz? thing.

 

The Globetrotters participated after Rob and Amber so there was a precedent set. Rob and Amber were the first to choose to sit out a challenge and so it was the first time we saw the penalty. Other people sat out penalties because they missed doing something or violated the rules in some way and sat out their penalty at the mat. You cannot get a clue at the roadblock without completing the task. It makes sense that whatever penalty there was for skipping the task would be incurred at the Roadblock because it was the only way to get the clue. 

6 minutes ago, grandmabegum said:

Maybe if they were moving around under water the color looked different at different angles? They also said it was murky so it could have been hard to tell. I'm color blind so I would have been at the mercy of everyone else.

I suspect that the colors looked different with camera filters then it did on the boat. I would also point out that there were different patterns as well as colors. I am not certain how easy it would be to remember the different shapes but they all had some type of unique shape on them that would have been identifiable by someone with color blindness.

[Fukui San]

I try more weird foods than most. I have no desire to try the maggoty cheese, though I'd heard about it. Surprised that "It's dry" was the main observation. I would've probably asked for more bread to bring down the maggot to bread ratio.

I loved that simply getting stuff from the trunk was shown as something that made Arun and Natalia slower. They're just not... quick at anything. Obviously it's because of Covid circumstances, but they have to be the worst team to ever make this # of teams in the show's history.

[aghst]

5 hours ago, shura said:

Some (possibly drunk) cheesemaker looked around, saw that everybody was doing mold and decided to kick it up a notch.  Apparently, the maggots digest the cheese and that adds something to the texture as well as the flavor.  I still don’t understand why anyone would choose to eat live maggots though.  Aside from being icky, they may carry some parasites that can make you sick.  For that reason, selling and buying casu marzu is actually banned in the EU (and in the US, for that matter), I am not sure how exactly TAR legally procured that particular wheel of cheese.

It didn't look like they put a lot of it on the pieces of bread.

On other reality shows, they make you consume a lot and people are chugging water and then puking.

So it could have been worse.

They probably assured the racers that the maggots wouldn't harm them, that it wasn't a lot of the cheese.

[Haleth]

20 minutes ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

so hypothetically a team finishing third could start off so far behind that they could not possibly catch up. 

 

It’s not hypothetical. Didn’t that happen at least once?  (I’m thinking the Guidos maybe?). I’m remembering one 3rd place team still somewhere in Europe and in another race a 3rd place team not reaching HI when the race ended. 

1 hour ago, BusyOctober said:

 

My 15 yo and I watch TAR together, but after I read the episode description, I told her we’d let it record until 9:40, then start it so we could FF thru the cheese thing whenever it came up.  Thankfully it was in the beginning so we didn’t miss much.  I have a very weak stomach combined with a very strong gag reflex.  My daughter isn’t usually squeamish.  Her only deal breakers are worms and caterpillars.  She knows that maggots are teeny worm looking things, so she was not going to watch any of those scenes.  I would rather jump off the world’s tallest bridge than be within 10 feet of that cheese.

 

Yeah, it was that gross. You prob wouldn’t have enjoyed it one bit. 

[Fukui San]

6 minutes ago, Haleth said:

It’s not hypothetical. Didn’t that happen at least once?  (I’m thinking the Guidos maybe?). I’m remembering one 3rd place team still somewhere in Europe and in another race a 3rd place team not reaching HI when the race ended. 

Yeah, it was that gross. You prob wouldn’t have enjoyed it one bit. 

The Guidos in season 1 and the third place team in season 4 finished far behind in their finales, not even in the continental US when the winners won. They’ve implemented bunching and simplified the air travel even before this Covid season to prevent such a lead in future seasons. 

[Chicago Redshirt]

Two other random minor comments:

It seems like most of the episode names this season are based on tasks or things that Phil has said rather than the quirky things the Racers have said. I don't know if that is a change in the naming convention or a reflection of this cast being lest quoteworthy than previous ones.

I was thinking that there was a good chance that if Akbar had been able to do the obstacle course at a normal pace, his team would have beaten Ryan and Dusty and that would have shaken things up a lot. But he couldn't, and now we're going to have them likely brag their way to the finals, if not the win. Thanks, Akbar.

[Lovecat]

12 hours ago, Leeds said:

Within seconds of The Race starting I was yelling at my TV, "RaquelCayla (don't know which is which), please put your tits away."   I have nothing against a modest amount of well-supported cleavage, but that is not what she was giving us.   And then next thing, in the car, she said something about putting the top down and I could only think, "Lady, you already did."

Raquel.  I know this now because of the cleavage/boobs, which I associate with Raquel Welch.

11 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

I kept yelling for the first group to split up the fish: One person memorizes the first two fish, second person takes the next two, etc.  It’s so much easier to memorize a small list of things on your own than to memorize a long list in tandem with other people who may remember them differently. But, apparently the long-list option worked for them. (Sounded like YouTube guy is a bit of a memory savant and carried them.) At least the second group listened to me! (Eventually.)

Yes, but of course they did it in the most convoluted way possible; I heard Natalia yell "Dad, you're 1 and 4!!" which means Arun had to remember his fish + his placement.  Too much for my pea brain, I'd want to be responsible for sequential fishies, which I'd mumble on a loop (red fish, blue fish...red fish, blue fish...red fish, blue fish...) while helping spot other fishies.  But when I saw other people's fish?  No way I'd yell out the color, because then I'd forget *my* fishies!

9 hours ago, Mediocre Gatsby said:

That's what I was thinking! Most people can remember 7 things (phone numbers, for example). If I'd been just a two-person team on the boat, I would have split the list in half and NOT said things out loud that could distract the other person. 

My college Psych professor taught us that people can retain "7 +/- 2" things in short-term memory (so, 5-9 things), a guideline I use to this day.

2 hours ago, shura said:

Reading about the cheese on Wikipedia, isn't this a colorful description :)?

"Because the larvae in the cheese can launch themselves for distances up to 15 centimetres (6 in) when disturbed,[4][11] diners hold their hands above the sandwich to prevent the maggots from leaping. Some who eat the cheese prefer not to ingest the maggots. Those who do not wish to eat them place the cheese in a sealed paper bag. The maggots, starved for oxygen, writhe and jump in the bag, creating a "pitter-patter" sound. [Much like when "The worm jump inside," as the greeter so cheerfully put it, and for the same reason, no doubt.] When the sounds subside, the maggots are dead and the cheese can be eaten.[12][8]"

That's like the world's most disgusting microwave popcorn.

[ProfCrash]

The fact that Penn is suppose to be strong at remembering things like this is impressive. I know my ADHD affects my short term memory. The diagnostic test that my Doctors used include things like being given a list of 3-5 things, repeating them, and then trying to remember then 5 minutes later (I am guessing on the time). I never remembered any of them. The fact that Penn is supposed to be good at remembering things is not what I would have expected. He did repeat them a lot though.

[AZChristian]

I was at a seminar where the leader taught us a quick way to memorize a list.  Make up a story that relates to the color.

They all said the first fish was purple, so the story could have started with "Barney (the PURPLE dinosaur) went shopping and bought a YELLOW pair of shoes and a GREEN SPOTTED vest . . . "  (etc. to end).

Having four people in a confined space all shouting out "that's yellow, that's yours to remember" would have made me nuts.

[aghst]

They were perspiring a lot.  The trail to the tower was uphill and they were jogging.

Then of course the run uphill to the mat in Bonifacio.

That is probably why Raquel had a low-cut top, not to attach attention.

Penn's T shirt was soaked with perspiration.  Bet he would have liked to have been wearing tank tops.

Edited February 10, 2022 by aghst

[UncleChuck]

I was surprised when they jumped into their convertibles and both racers got into the front seat, side-by-side with no camera/sound crew tagging along.  Is this the first time the racers have been in a car with no crew?  I have watched every season, but my memory of past events is very sketchy

[aemom]

3 hours ago, BusyOctober said:

As for Kim and Penn, they really are growing on me.  I hope they are in F3 with the flight attendants.  I’m sure Dusty and Ryan will be in F3, but I don’t mind for Ryan’s sake.  That guy deserves as much fun, travel, limelight as he can grab.  Not so much his racing partner.

I agree with you 100%.

I cannot believe how many times Arun and Natalia have been saved.  it would be unbelievable if they actually win.  But, other than Dusty, I really don't dislike anybody who's left and would be ok with any of them winning.

My beef with Dusty is that he seems to have such a sense of entitlement - that there is no possible reason that they should be anything less than first at all times and seems to almost lord it over the other teams.  That kind of behavior never sits well with me.

That cheese was so disgusting - I thought blue cheese was bad - yikes!  But at least they only had to eat a small portion.  The hardest food challenge that I recall (at least from my perspective) was on Amazing Race Canada where there was a Roadblock to eat 10 pieces of Muktuk - which is frozen whale skin and blubber.  It took people forever....  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muktuk

22 minutes ago, UncleChuck said:

I was surprised when they jumped into their convertibles and both racers got into the front seat, side-by-side with no camera/sound crew tagging along.  Is this the first time the racers have been in a car with no crew?  I have watched every season, but my memory of past events is very sketchy

I believe so - I think it's because the cars had built in cameras that would do that job instead.

[seacliffsal]

That cheese fails in comparison to the huge amount of cavier they had to eat in an earlier season (which is really salty).

[Netfoot]

13 hours ago, Leeds said:

Within seconds of The Race starting I was yelling at my TV, "RaquelCayla (don't know which is which), please put your tits away."   I have nothing against a modest amount of well-supported cleavage, but that is not what she was giving us.   And then next thing, in the car, she said something about putting the top down and I could only think, "Lady, you already did."

Please leave Raquel alone! Her choice of clothing is... entertaining. To some. Not me, of course...

1 hour ago, Lovecat said:

That's like the world's most disgusting microwave popcorn.

OMFG.  Are you trying to steal Cheese-Guy's thunder?

 

[aghst]

41 minutes ago, UncleChuck said:

I was surprised when they jumped into their convertibles and both racers got into the front seat, side-by-side with no camera/sound crew tagging along.  Is this the first time the racers have been in a car with no crew?  I have watched every season, but my memory of past events is very sketchy

I recall a lot of shots from outside the cars so they may have decided to have the camera crews in other vehicles.  Maybe added to the traffic congestion on those 2-lane roads.

I don't recall shots from inside the cars, like dash cams or maybe a camera in the mirror.  Certainly no shots from the back seats.

Maybe they could only get convertibles?  They seemed to be automatic transmissions so no mention of driving manual.

Now if the racers wanted to put the top up, would they have been able to?

[chaifan]

2 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

The fact that Penn is suppose to be strong at remembering things like this is impressive.

I honestly expected him to make up a song on the spot about the fishes, and use that as a memory device.  I'm sort of shocked that didn't happen.  Also hoping that maybe he has done so since, and it will show up on their podcast.  🙂

[greyhorse]

Anyone else distracted by Raquel's low cut top and her massive cleavage? 

I would have liked to see how Ryan and Dusty righted their boat and got back in.  We saw it overturned ominously as they cut to commercial.  Then when they came back, they were both in.  Hard to overturn the boat, get enough water out, and climb back in without getting more water in.

The memory task was hard because as others have said, you had to look on both sides and the water seemed hazy.  And I agree that it would have been easier to do 1+2, 3+4, 5+6 etc from the start.  Why didn't they think of that?  Natalia correctly forebode that it would obviously be the two teams duking it out at the end to not finish last since they were working together.

For both of the pairs of teams that worked together, I would have let the other team go first, because if they were wrong, then you would have a chance to pick something else.  I couldn't tell if the flight attendants and Penn agreed on which card to show, or if they did it on their own.  And when I think the pink twits got it wrong, why didn't Natalia and Arun choose a different one?  Or did they?  Will need to rewatch.

Watched the net sewing task several times and I still don't understand it or how it worked.

Such a joke that Natalia and Arun get saved again.  "We are better than this."  Uh, four(?) times now would say that you aren't.

[ByaNose]

6 hours ago, chaifan said:

Yeah, all teams got the chunk of bread with the cheese on top, slightly smushed into the bread.  I think this is why they were told to leave their packs in the car - so no chance of anyone having a water bottle on them at the challenge. 

I was the exact opposite.  I wanted Kim and Penn to keep helping the FA's.  There is strategy there.  As long as K/P and R/C are the first two, Dusty and Ryan aren't.  Kim and Penn are keeping the next strongest team in the second departure bunch by bringing Raquel and Cayla along with them.  I still really dislike this new aspect of TAR, and don't think it's necessary (for the most part), but it's part of the game, so use it to your advantage.

My problem is that at this point I am only rooting for 2 teams to be in the final 3.  Kim & Penn and Raquel & Kayla.  Nothing against Ryan & Dusty, but they're not bringing anything to the table for me from an entertainment perspective.  They're strong racers, but that's about all they've got on screen.  I really enjoy watching K&P and R&C race.  I guess I'd be ok with Lulu & Lala or Nat and Arun lucking their way into the final 3, but I hope that they would then get left in the dust and really have it be a 2 team race to the finish line.

The final leg is similar to all prior, with detours & roadblocks, but it leads the teams back home.  (Though I don't know if they will end in the EU or US on this one.)  Yes, there usually is a good bit of running to get to the final mat, but that's not the whole thing.  The final challenge used to be rather complicated and could really switch up any order of the teams, but there have been a couple of really lame ones, too.  (Let's count poker chips!  ugh.)  Most of the time it is some sort of "memory test", where you have to put flags or pictures of greeters or items from the race in some sort of order.  If you don't plan on watching full seasons, pull up the final episodes from past seasons to get an idea of what they will be in for. 

It’s funny but it didn’t even occur to me that it wouldn’t end up in the US. You may have a point though. If they wanted to keep it self contained they may have decided to end it abroad rather hauling all the teams for the finish. It will be interesting to see. Of course, they have their own chartered plane but at the time they were filming everything was more up in the air so they may stay put to finish the race just like Survivor did by announcing the winner right there in real time. 

[LBS]

2 hours ago, greyhorse said:

Anyone else distracted by Raquel's low cut top and her massive cleavage? 

When the camera had that shot of her and the clue, my husband and I (both mid-40s) yelled out ‘Boobs’ at the same time which completely debunked the theory that with age comes maturity. 🤣

This episode was kind of let down from last week but you can’t win them all (except if you are Arun and Natalia who seemingly have the Race gods on their side).

ETA: I hope I didn’t come across as being objectifying or disparaging of Raquel’s body.  It was just a funny reaction that we had at the same time.  I didn’t even notice the rest of the episode.

Edited February 10, 2022 by LBS

[iMonrey]

Quote

That (IMO) is the main obstacle the Alpha Males have to winning. They don't seem too bright and when things don't go their way, they seem to get very frustrated.

I think this is an unfair mischaracterization of them as a team. Yes, Dusty got very impatient at the cheese-making Detour and screwed that up because he thought he knew something he didn't know. Other than that I haven't witnessed any behavior on their part to suggest their frustration gets the better of them. They handled the kayak situation just fine and moved along without fighting or losing their cool. Also, they seem perfectly "bright" to me. I'm not sure what leads you to believe otherwise. Ryan finished the net mending just as fast as anyone else. That's the closest we've come to a "brain" task thus far. And they seem to have no problem with self navigation.

Quote

I try more weird foods than most. I have no desire to try the maggoty cheese, though I'd heard about it.

I'd wager few here have any desire to try maggoty cheese. But when a million dollars is on the line you'd power through.

[ProfCrash]

https://theholdernessfamily.com/ep-7-recap-the-amazing-race/?fbclid=IwAR1mn5lUsrlDWbavHsI8wMZ4Z3Z54cPep2uyRMfOpBpaqINetnjCbvWtoUY

The Kim and Penn recap is up

Kim was not happy to be camping but it turned out fine. They enjoyed the time getting to know the other teams.

Penn didn't want to drive in Corsica because the roads on the day before were dangerous so he was nervous about driving. 

They had Go Pros in the car that was recording.

Kim didn't mind the cheese. 

LOL They moved the ride from Disney to Corsica for the race. 

Kim said Penn has a photographic memory. Penn said he doesn't because he hasn't earned the card for people with a photographic memory but "it is super close." Penn is color blind, the water is murky, and you didn't see anything for the first 7 minutes. Then you see all the fish in a minute time frame. 

They practiced memory challenges and Kim was big into the name something to memorize it. 

Penn hates Duke because he is a North Carolina fan and is annoyed that Duke is mentioned in two episodes in a row.

Kim skipped the roadblock because she had started her period and was wearing shorts and self conscious. And Penn was an eagle Scout who enjoyed fishing so the knots were more his thing. She was able to take care of business while he was doing the roadblock. She admits to TMI.

R/K are really fast. Kim thought they were fine but she wasn't sure. She told Penn to grab her arm and pull her up the hill because she was worried. 

They didn't see the twins or Natalia and Arun at all during the day.

It is their shortest episode because Kim was up past her bedtime and she was tired. 

 

[Andyourlittledog2]

5 hours ago, shura said:

Reading about the cheese on Wikipedia, isn't this a colorful description :)?

"Because the larvae in the cheese can launch themselves for distances up to 15 centimetres (6 in) when disturbed,[4][11] diners hold their hands above the sandwich to prevent the maggots from leaping. Some who eat the cheese prefer not to ingest the maggots. Those who do not wish to eat them place the cheese in a sealed paper bag. The maggots, starved for oxygen, writhe and jump in the bag, creating a "pitter-patter" sound. [Much like when "The worm jump inside," as the greeter so cheerfully put it, and for the same reason, no doubt.] When the sounds subside, the maggots are dead and the cheese can be eaten.[12][8]"

We really do need a vomit emoji.  😬

[blackwing]

Apart from the scenery, I thought this was a particularly boring leg.  The rowing task seemed like it could have been interesting.  I would have liked to have understood how Dusty corrected his paddling after Ryan pointed it out.  Because most people when paddling a kayak/canoe don't end up filling it with water.  The submarine seemed like a cool experience but as a viewer, looking at murky water and plastic fish, it wasn't that cool.  Maybe if there had been more real fish in the ocean to look at, yes.

The net task was thoroughly uninteresting.  One moment, every single person is struggling, the next, they are done.  OK.

 

On 2/9/2022 at 9:30 PM, Shermie said:

I think Gently Down the Stream was easier if done in pairs of two teams. I don’t think Dusty would do that; he comes across as thinking they’re superior to everyone there and deserve to win. For that, I hope they’re eliminated soon, but I fear they will win. The editors are giving us too many “oh no, Dusty and Ryan are soooo far behind, their boat flipped, they’re lost, they might be eliminated!!!” Too many fake outs, which aren’t necessary for a team that does get eliminated. So I assume they win. Blech to that. I’d be okay with any other team winning, but do like Kim & Penn and the flight attendants.

I wish there had been a rule against teams working together.  This is what happened last season when three teams decided to work together in an effort to (successfully) eliminate the football players.  I wish there could only be one team on the submarine at one time.  Don't want to wait 15 or 30 or 45 minutes?  Then go do the other task.

On 2/9/2022 at 9:45 PM, Starchild said:

I found myself super annoyed at the ex-flight attendants ("did we mention we lost our jobs?") going on and on about what a strong team they are when they accomplished nothing on their own this leg. Following another team around and switching their detour choice to avoid doing it by themselves. The twins have realized that they'll blow you off if you're not helping them out (and rightly so, it's a race after all), but I kept yelling at Kim and Penn (my faves) to just. stop. helping them.

I said the same thing during the last two at the roadblock and Nat read my mind lol.

 

On 2/9/2022 at 11:09 PM, Leeds said:

Within seconds of The Race starting I was yelling at my TV, "RaquelCayla (don't know which is which), please put your tits away."   I have nothing against a modest amount of well-supported cleavage, but that is not what she was giving us.   And then next thing, in the car, she said something about putting the top down and I could only think, "Lady, you already did."

 

On 2/10/2022 at 2:14 PM, greyhorse said:

Anyone else distracted by Raquel's low cut top and her massive cleavage?

Yep, the flight attendants were super irritating.  They have talked about girl power and how they want an all-female team to win and how sistahs are doin it for themselves and how they are going to finish in first place and whatnot... and then they spend the entire leg being propped up by Kim and Penn.  The only thing they did on their own was make the correct turn into the place that Penn didn't.

I found it irritating that they were all set to do the rowboat task and then switched once they learned that Kim and Penn were doing the other one.  They talked about how humiliating it was to lose their jobs and have to move back home at 30 years old and be dependent on others... and for all their talk about how strong and independent they are, they spent the entire time depending on Kim and Penn.

I also find them to be particularly hypocritical.  Raquel spent time the previous leg mocking Dusty and Ryan and miming taking her top off to show off her body.  Many posters here loved her for doing that.  And then yet she starts this leg practically popping out of her top.  She's not the first woman in the history of this race with large breastesses, usually however they don't shove them into viewers faces.  I don't mind her choice of attire, I just find it hypocritical after she made fun of the guys for showing off their chests.

Edited February 11, 2022 by blackwing

[dgpolo]

30 minutes ago, LBS said:

When the camera had that shot of her and the clue, my husband and I (both mid-40s) yelled out ‘Boobs’ at the same time which completely debunked the theory that with age comes maturity. 🤣

I think I only noticed her boobs once, it really didn't bother me and I find, as a woman, that most of the time I don't really think about my boobs, I choose clothes according to the weather and how comfortable I am (with a nod to local decency laws) but really I'm not thinking, do they stick out too much, bounce too much, it's a non-issue, it's been part of my life since about age 12-13 and unless something actually hurts me it's not something I give a thought to, same with my hair. I don't remember if it was TAR or a different forum I was in but someone was complaining about someones hair not being tied back. I used to have really long hair and again, not something I think about, usually I can see through it enough even when a lot of it is in my face so there's no reason for me to tie it back unless I'm afraid it will get dirty. Both my boobs and my hair are a part of my like my arm or my knee, they are there. That's really all.

BUT! I was wondering when Ryan was sitting on the deck sewing his net with his legs spread wide open I did wonder if they were going to have to blur out something!

[Netfoot]

44 minutes ago, LBS said:

When the camera had that shot of her and the clue, my husband and I (both mid-40s) yelled out ‘Boobs’ at the same time

Fast-forwarding now.  Where exactly?!??

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, blackwing said:

I also find them to be particularly hypocritical.  Raquel spent time the previous leg mocking Dusty and Ryan and miming taking her top off to show off her body.  Many posters here loved her for doing that.  And then yet she starts this leg practically popping out of her top.  She's not the first woman in the history of this race with large breastesses, usually however they don't shove them into viewers faces.  I don't mind her choice of attire, I just find it hypocritical after she made fun of the guys for showing off their chests.

The difference is that Ryan and Dusty made a point of dramatically whipping off their life vests at the mat to reveal their shirtlessness, while also (at least in Dusty's case) whooping and hollering about their comeback. That's what Raquel and Cayla were teasing them about. Raquel's tank-top was just a sartorial choice without any big production.

Plus, there's a big difference between her mildly teasing a guy who she is otherwise perfectly friendly with, and the shaming of a woman for wearing a comfortable top in hot weather, which seems to be what's going on here (by some parties, anyway).

And so what if they relied on another team for this leg? That shouldn't completely discount what they said about wanting to be independent in their real life. It's making mountains out of molehills in my opinion.

[Leeds]

37 minutes ago, ProfCrash said:

https://theholdernessfamily.com/ep-7-recap-the-amazing-race/?fbclid=IwAR1mn5lUsrlDWbavHsI8wMZ4Z3Z54cPep2uyRMfOpBpaqINetnjCbvWtoUY

The Kim and Penn recap is up

Thanks for posting this.  Like many others here I was predisposed to dislike them but have come to like and appreciate them.  That said, when I started to watch their UTube thing, I quickly found it becoming tiresome so checked the time.  It's an hour long!  How can a recap of something that's an hour be an hour?  Not my cup of tea, I guess!

[Zonk]

4 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Yes but he was allowed to take it there at the RB rather than proceed to the mat and wait as was the precedent. This ensured he was able to wait around for another team and talk them into also taking the penalty, so he would remain ahead of at least one other team. (CBS had the fix in for Rob and Amber that season because of their upcoming wedding special.)

I'm pretty sure you always had to take a penalty at the task you wanted to skip. Taking it at the mat was only a thing if you screwed up.

4 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

It doesn't matter how teams did in the final leg of the race, generally. Back in the day, racers had to make their own flight arrangements and had more staggered starts, so hypothetically a team finishing third could start off so far behind that they could not possibly catch up. 

I mean in the first few seasons. By season 5 production had gotten good enough at bunching the teams that it basically never happened.

Though a team still being in another country while the first team crossed the finish line had its own charm.

3 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

The fact that Penn is suppose to be strong at remembering things like this is impressive. I know my ADHD affects my short term memory. The diagnostic test that my Doctors used include things like being given a list of 3-5 things, repeating them, and then trying to remember then 5 minutes later (I am guessing on the time). I never remembered any of them. The fact that Penn is supposed to be good at remembering things is not what I would have expected. He did repeat them a lot though.

Same for me and most other people with ADHD. I can't remember anything short term. But some people develop some impressive coping strategies that can help in situations like these.

2 hours ago, aghst said:

I recall a lot of shots from outside the cars so they may have decided to have the camera crews in other vehicles.  Maybe added to the traffic congestion on those 2-lane roads.

95% of the shots were from dashcam mounted cameras pointed at the racers, 5% were shots from behind from another car following them.

1 hour ago, greyhorse said:

I would have liked to see how Ryan and Dusty righted their boat and got back in.  We saw it overturned ominously as they cut to commercial.  Then when they came back, they were both in.  Hard to overturn the boat, get enough water out, and climb back in without getting more water in.

They showed how they did it in detail. Something must have cut out for you there.

1 hour ago, greyhorse said:

Anyone else distracted by Raquel's low cut top and her massive cleavage? 

I'm so gay I never even noticed. Women just dont enter my mind in a sexual context at all. Has actually gotten me in slight trouble once or twice.

 

14 minutes ago, Leeds said:

Thanks for posting this.  Like many others here I was predisposed to dislike them but have come to like and appreciate them.  That said, when I started to watch their UTube thing, I quickly found it becoming tiresome so checked the time.  It's an hour long!  How can a recap of something that's an hour be an hour?  Not my cup of tea, I guess!

It's 47 minutes, not an hour and has a lot of behind the scenes information. Of course it takes a while.

[zapper]

1 hour ago, greyhorse said:

I would have liked to see how Ryan and Dusty righted their boat and got back in.  We saw it overturned ominously as they cut to commercial.  Then when they came back, they were both in.  Hard to overturn the boat, get enough water out, and climb back in without getting more water in.

I saw them sink and get out in the water before the commercial break. After the break I saw how they flipped the boat, got under it and flipped it up and over to right it without water in it. Took them at least two tries to get it done without water still being in the boat, but pretty impressive show of strength. then they got back in, reclaimed the paddles floating away and carried on.

As for how they "fixed" the paddling skills of the one filling the boat as he paddled .... he just stopped paddling and rested his paddle on the gunnels. No paddle == no filling.

[Netfoot]

7 minutes ago, Zonk said:

It's 47 minutes, not an hour and has a lot of behind the scenes information.

And with adverts removed, the episode itself is 42:49 including previouslies, intro, end-credits and next week's previews. Or about 41:00 of actual episode.

[Hera]

On 2/10/2022 at 3:06 AM, Netfoot said:

And why not 1+2, 3+4, etc?  Instead of 1+5, 3+8, 2+7....

I wondered the same thing and it bothered me way more than it should have. Since the fish alternated sides of the boat, I could see an argument for 1/3, 2/4, 5/7, 6/8, but yeah—I don't know how they decided on the system they did.

On 2/10/2022 at 9:06 PM, iMonrey said:

Also, [Ryan and Dusty] seem perfectly "bright" to me. I'm not sure what leads you to believe otherwise.

I think Ryan/Dusty and Kim/Penn are the two teams to beat this season. I'd give Ryan/Dusty the edge on physical tasks and Kim/Penn the edge on mental ones, but I agree that Ryan and Dusty aren't dumb just like Kim and Penn aren't weak and out of shape by any means. My speculation is that the finale will come down to how far Ryan/Dusty are ahead of Kim/Penn (if they are at all) going into the final roadblock. Of course, that assumes that the final roadblock is more difficult than it was last season, when all the teams seemed to take a similar amount of time on it. Honestly, last season's final leg was a lot like the leg we just watched in this episode: very little opportunity for teams to get ahead of one another, though some of that is because of this

On 2/10/2022 at 2:25 PM, chaifan said:

I wanted Kim and Penn to keep helping the FA's.  There is strategy there.  As long as K/P and R/C are the first two, Dusty and Ryan aren't.  Kim and Penn are keeping the next strongest team in the second departure bunch by bringing Raquel and Cayla along with them.

It made perfect sense for both Kim/Penn and Raquel/Cayla to work together this episode—and probably next episode, too, if it means boxing Ryan/Dusty out of first or second place. Incidentally, Raquel and Cayla are my pick to round out the Final 3. They've actually been pretty consistently finishing in the top half of the pack (except for their 6th place finish in Leg 3—but even that isn't really that bad a showing). Things would definitely need to break the right way for them in the finale, but I wouldn't be outraged if they won it.

Edited February 11, 2022 by Hera
Fixing a typo

[Leeds]

55 minutes ago, Zonk said:

 

 

It's 47 minutes, not an hour and has a lot of behind the scenes information. Of course it takes a while.

Fair enough.  Like I said, it wasn't my cup of tea.  I'm an NPR junkie, so if I have some free time maybe I should just listen to their broadcast with no visual.  As I said, thanks for posting the link, as I would never have sought it out myself.

[RunningMarket]

2 hours ago, greyhorse said:

I would have liked to see how Ryan and Dusty righted their boat and got back in.  We saw it overturned ominously as they cut to commercial.  Then when they came back, they were both in.  Hard to overturn the boat, get enough water out, and climb back in without getting more water in.

They showed it. They tried a couple of times to kinda flip it on its side, then realized they had to get fully underneath it while it was upside down on top of them, push it up with pure arm strength, then flip it over so it was right side up again, then jump in. They mentioned (rightly) that getting fully underneath and pushing it up would have been difficult for the less physically strong teams.

Edited February 10, 2022 by RunningMarket

[Chicago Redshirt]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

I think this is an unfair mischaracterization of them as a team. Yes, Dusty got very impatient at the cheese-making Detour and screwed that up because he thought he knew something he didn't know. Other than that I haven't witnessed any behavior on their part to suggest their frustration gets the better of them. They handled the kayak situation just fine and moved along without fighting or losing their cool. Also, they seem perfectly "bright" to me. I'm not sure what leads you to believe otherwise. Ryan finished the net mending just as fast as anyone else. That's the closest we've come to a "brain" task thus far. And they seem to have no problem with self navigation.

It may have been self-deprecating humor, but there was a talking head or two where they said basically "anything that involves physical tasks we can do; mental tasks, not so much." 

I think that how they failed the cheesemaking task which strikes me as straightforward and posed no problem for any other team showed at minimum some cluelessness. Was that a one-time thing? We'll see. 

The net-minding task isn't what I would consider a mental challenge (i.e. ones where codebreaking, memorization, math, puzzle-solving) are at the forefront. Ryan and Dusty have seemingly been avoiding doing such roadblocks like a vampire avoids sunlight. Maybe they will be surprisingly good at them. 

[Darian]

Nothing but admiration for anyone who ate the maggot cheese. I don't think I could. Call me a coward, but only after you to remove them from a homeless patient's gangrenous wound (actually, maggots and leeches both have legitimate medical uses and debriding wounds is one for maggots, but in this case, we had to remove them) and then eat maggot cheese. People can bring experiences to things that make those things harder. 

I do kind of miss some of the scrambling for transportation, but other things are making up for it. It's still the show I love. 

[jabRI]

4 hours ago, seacliffsal said:

That cheese fails in comparison to the huge amount of cavier they had to eat in an earlier season (which is really salty).

I remember the mounds of horseradish in Germany one year? Yikes

[Starchild]

2 hours ago, blackwing said:

Yep, the flight attendants were super irritating.  They have talked about girl power and how they want an all-female team to win and how sistahs are doin it for themselves and how they are going to finish in first place and whatnot... and then they spend the entire leg being propped up by Kim and Penn.  The only thing they did on their own was make the correct turn into the place that Penn didn't.

I also find them to be particularly hypocritical.  Raquel spent time the previous leg mocking Dusty and Ryan and miming taking her top off to show off her body.  Many posters here loved her for doing that.  And then yet she starts this leg practically popping out of her top.  She's not the first woman in the history of this race with large breastesses, usually however they don't shove them into viewers faces.  I don't mind her choice of attire, I just find it hypocritical after she made fun of the guys for showing off their chests.

On the first point, Kim mentioned on their podcast that the ex-flight attendants caught the turn because Penn missed it and Kim pointed to it. The girls were close enough to see that. So even that was something they didn't do on their own.

As for the mega-skin, to be fair, Penn said it was a super hot day, the hottest they'd experienced to that point in the race.

By the way, I noticed for the first time that, in place of a wedding ring, Penn has Kim's name tattooed on his finger. That's...pretty romantic.

[illdoc]

2 hours ago, Zonk said:

'm pretty sure you always had to take a penalty at the task you wanted to skip. Taking it at the mat was only a thing if you screwed up.

I believe "not completing a roadblock" is a 4 hour penalty (several teams have done it---"eat the meat", "the Kafka phones" for 2 examples) which is taken at the roadblock and you're given the next clue once it's passed and "not completing either detour half" is a 24-hour penalty (the poker girls couldn't do either half) generally eliminating you immediately. Screwing up (ie taking a cab when the clue says walk for example) results in a penalty (20 or 30 min, don't remember which) at the mat (can't be checked in until penalty has passed).

[Roccos Brother]

- I'm always so impressed by the camerawork on this show, during the drive to the lighthouse for example. It looks like they had the camera and audio guys follow behind in separate stealthy black cars without making it too obvious. TAR really deserves whatever technical awards they get.

- I usually don't thirst after the alpha jock teams, I'm classier than that. But Ryan in those hot pink shorts felt like he was gay-baiting me!

- I know this is a family show, but they're really gonna waste the opportunity to use the obvious "who feels knotty?" line for the roadblock clue??

[ByaNose]

28 minutes ago, Roccos Brother said:

- I'm always so impressed by the camerawork on this show, during the drive to the lighthouse for example. It looks like they had the camera and audio guys follow behind in separate stealthy black cars without making it too obvious. TAR really deserves whatever technical awards they get.

- I usually don't thirst after the alpha jock teams, I'm classier than that. But Ryan in those hot pink shorts felt like he was gay-baiting me!

- I know this is a family show, but they're really gonna waste the opportunity to use the obvious "who feels knotty?" line for the roadblock clue??

And, they used GoPro’s in all the cars because the camera and audio people couldn’t hide. LOL!! Penn said without them in the car that you sort of forgot you were being filmed and talked a little more freely. They drove for a while so I wonder if anything was left on the editing room floor that wasn’t family friendly?!? It did look cool with the roof down in such a beautiful location. I swear I’m going to Corsica some day. 

[Zonk]

30 minutes ago, Roccos Brother said:

- I usually don't thirst after the alpha jock teams, I'm classier than that. But Ryan in those hot pink shorts felt like he was gay-baiting me!

Helps that he's also pretty likeable, as opposed to the guy he's running the race with. Usually with the alpha male teams their personality is a big turnoff for me. With Ryan, not so much.

Those legs did look really good in those shorts and once they got wet... dat ass... Chest could be a bit hairier though to make that package pefect. Maybe that will come with age.

[Roccos Brother]

1 hour ago, Zonk said:

Those legs did look really good in those shorts and once they got wet... dat ass... Chest could be a bit hairier though to make that package pefect. Maybe that will come with age.

Oh lawdy staaahhppp! *fanning self*

[North of Eden]

Hey if SURVIVOR won't due gross food challenges....bless THE AMAZING RACE for picking up the baton.

It was a given the father/daughter and twins would bumble their way through the memory challenge.

Meanwhile of course perfect Penn has to be savant when it comes to memory...of course. (rolls eyes)

The camera loves the flight attendant's black tank top.

The three cars racing around twist roads from above...nice homage to one of the all time great comedies IT'S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD.

[Roccos Brother]

19 minutes ago, North of Eden said:

The three cars racing around twist roads from above...nice homage to one of the all time great comedies IT'S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD.

Oh my gosh, what I wouldn't give for them to cast an Ethel Merman mother-in-law type! And the final challenge would be for them to all find the hidden treasure and dig for it!

[North of Eden]

1 hour ago, Roccos Brother said:

Oh my gosh, what I wouldn't give for them to cast an Ethel Merman mother-in-law type! And the final challenge would be for them to all find the hidden treasure and dig for it!

Yes and the father and daughter would be stumbling around under the Big W without a clue.

[GenerationX]

Random thoughts on episode 7 - "Take 5":

• One team member memorizes the first five fish, the other team member the last five fish.  Don't even look at the other fish.
• How can four "racers" not memorize 10 items (only 2-3 each!)?  It's like going on Survivor with no idea how to make fire or suck up to Probst.
• My favorite character is Raquel's Amazing Tank Top, which is clearly the Amazing Cameraman's favorite character, as well.

As to the maggoty cheese fest, many random thoughts came to me, such as:

1. how well all the teams did above-and-beyond simply not vomiting
2. how disappointed the show was that no one vomited
3. if you vomit something that already smells like vomit, do the odors cancel each other out?
4. why the greatest reality game show ever, Hurl!, never used maggoty cheese (which would definitely have induced epic 5 bucket blowouts!)
5. how with no ice water available, I would have been doomed on this challenge.  There are so many foods I can't stand.  If I had to eat some terrible food for a reality show, I'd pull the strategy I learned as a kid from reading Encyclopedia Brown: temporarily deaden my taste buds by sucking on ice.

[SVNBob]

On 2/9/2022 at 9:40 PM, iMonrey said:

I understand they have to have non-elimination legs, and more than usual this season. The problem is all the bunching. Which, I understand, is necessary to some extent. But this leg was a total wash because of the bunched start times. No shake-ups in placements. A no-brainer for teams to work in pairs on the "gently down the stream" detour, especially for the first two teams. And I have to believe that really benefited Raquel and Cayla more than Penn and Kim. 

Also, self navigation wasn't a problem when three teams are all leaving together and two of them can just follow the team in front.

If there's a U-Turn (and I assume there will be) I'll be calling BS if there's no real chance to pass anyone because of the bunched start times.

I'm all for classic "gross food challenges," classic TAR. Who can forget the live baby octopi or the spicy soup? But it didn't look like they had to eat much of the cheese, and I noticed toward the end the cheese was on top of a chunk of bread. So there wasn't actually that much cheese, and it was the bread that they were commenting on being so dry.

The Roadblock looked tricky on the surface but didn't really stump anyone in the end.

In all, I'd have to give this episode a poor grade because you could essentially skip right over it and never even notice.

 

1. A minor shake-up.  Top 3 stayed the same, but 4th and 5th swapped.  (The twins finished 5th and Arun/Natalia 4th in the previous leg).
2. I'm assuming there won't be a U-Turn, mainly because we haven't seen one by now.  They've seemingly abandoned Speed Bumps (aside from the un-aired one that the eliminated teams had to do after getting un-eliminated), so dropping the U-Turn also isn't too much of a stretch.

12 hours ago, aghst said:

I recall a lot of shots from outside the cars so they may have decided to have the camera crews in other vehicles.  Maybe added to the traffic congestion on those 2-lane roads.

I don't recall shots from inside the cars, like dash cams or maybe a camera in the mirror.  Certainly no shots from the back seats.

Maybe they could only get convertibles?  They seemed to be automatic transmissions so no mention of driving manual.

Now if the racers wanted to put the top up, would they have been able to?

I distinctly recall at least one shot of the back of Kim and Penn's heads and their headrests, so there were cameras in the backseat facing forward.

6 hours ago, Roccos Brother said:

- I'm always so impressed by the camerawork on this show, during the drive to the lighthouse for example. It looks like they had the camera and audio guys follow behind in separate stealthy black cars without making it too obvious. TAR really deserves whatever technical awards they get.

- I usually don't thirst after the alpha jock teams, I'm classier than that. But Ryan in those hot pink shorts felt like he was gay-baiting me!

- I know this is a family show, but they're really gonna waste the opportunity to use the obvious "who feels knotty?" line for the roadblock clue??

1. Well, black SUVs at least.  And they weren't all that stealthy, since I noticed them.  There was one with each departure group, and they were more visible in the shots of the team convoys.
2. TBF, "Who's feeling knotted up?" is a better/funnier question to ask after that cheese.

[MsJamieDornan]

13 hours ago, aemom said:

My beef with Dusty is that he seems to have such a sense of entitlement

This is JMO but Dusty doesn't get the fact that no one cares he is even there. Ryan is the reason they are on the show and that's who most people are interested in. But, Dusty does 75% of the talking and we never really get to hear what Ryan thinks.

Also, Dusty has screwed up at least 2 challenges. The cheese making and this weeks rowing/paddling. He got water in the boat and didnt listen the first time Ryan told him he was getting water in the boat. He just kept doing it until the boat went down. I'm not as nice as Ryan, I would have hit him in the head with the paddle.

[Fukui San]

The cast was actually a lot less whiny about the cheese than I expected.

I really don't understand why after the restart they have teams go out in groups as opposed to one a time, maybe 10 minutes apart separately. Having them go out together encourages grouped navigation which then leads to working together for tasks.

Another thing I've seen this season is that I'm surprised that teams had so little experience kayaking. In the previous kayaking task it was obvious that almost no one knew the basics of the kayak stroke which takes five minutes to teach. And then there was Ryan and Dusty today capsizing, though remounting the kayak is actually impressive. I certainly couldn't do that. Is recreational kayaking a lot less popular of an activity than I thought?  

[Lamb18]

19 hours ago, Haleth said:

It’s not hypothetical. Didn’t that happen at least once?  (I’m thinking the Guidos maybe?). I’m remembering one 3rd place team still somewhere in Europe and in another race a 3rd place team not reaching HI when the race ended. 

Guidos were still in Alaska on a dog sled when the first place team crossed the finish line - Rob and Brennan.