S33.E08: Souvlaki

[Whimsy]

Quote

Teams travel to Halkidiki, Greece, where they are tested on their spelling and memory skills.

Original air date 2/16/22

[Lola82]

I’m officially rooting for Penn and Kim. I love their calm, efficient approach to the race. Penn is just rocking everything - he knew French at the last leg, he easily reached the clue in the tree this leg…as someone who has a kid with ADHD, my heart dropped when he chose to do the saint quiz. I know how easily he could have spaced out with someone droning on for 15 minutes and he still managed to use the ADHD to his benefit and hyper focus instead, I love it! 

 

But what a waste of a 2nd souvlaki on someone who can’t tolerate onion. Gimme it!

[hendersonrocks]

Dusty needs to take it down about twelve notches (or just find some of his Colorado entertainment to help him chill the fuck out).

Penn and Kim are an incredibly impressive team, and fun to watch. I started the season not entirely sure about their whole vibe but I am completely on board and hope they win the whole thing.

[DEL901]

The souvlaki lady even tried to help the twins with the second souvlaki by putting the clue on the outside….I’m sure she was told to do that for anyone who did a second.   And Arun actually did well on the wrapping challenge.  

Love Penn and Kim.  No drama.  No excuses.  Supportive.  Excited but not over the top.   And really, really competent. 

[ProfCrash]

Wow did the Twins self implode. Poor navigation, poor communication, and eating two yummy sandwiches while making it look like something awful. 

Arun and Natalia just keep chugging away and looking for ways to get lost and lose things. 

Dusty and Ryan did ok. Ryan struggled a bit with the Saints, it looked like he had to do it three times. I figured he should have been fine after the first try because he knew the questions. I was hoping he would get a different quiz the second time around. 

The Flight Attendants are doing wellish. They are mentally strong and don’t seem to self destruct. They recovered beautifully from the grape leaf debacle. 

Kim and Penn are crushing the race. They do a good job of being even keeled and just taking the Race as it comes. It helps that they are normally in the front of the pack so there is less pressure. That said, Kim went and did another check on the sample and process example and realized she had made mistakes before the first check. Then she caught the plating issue and made that fix quickly. They had a good attitude at the soulvaki stand and Penn crushed the Saints challenge. 

All of the Racers seem to be pretty positive. No one is getting that upset with the clue givers and they are not being all that bad to each other. There are a fewer cross words but nothing too egregious. I was pretty impressed with how all of them handled the wrapper clue. They were all confused but didn’t get too pissy with the sandwich lady. 

And oh my god have the various actors been awesome. The Cheese dude last week was practically giddy as they ate the maggot cheese. And then the grinning, smiling Grape leaf lady. The Soulvaki lady. The Priest. All of them were great. You could see that they were having fun with their moment in the Race. 

I don’t love the bunch departures and some of the other changes but over all I am loving this season. The teams are fun, the locations gorgeous, and the local actors are great. 

[Guest]

I loved the moment when Arun and Natalia came back to the cantina after finding out how to spell souvlaki. The camera angle was looking down from the cantina lady's perspective...and suddenly Arun and Natalia pop into frame with Natalia cheerily saying "we're back!" It was like a little trolling of people who are sick of their second/third/etc. chances.

Lulu and Lala could be a little brusque with each other, but I found their interactions with the cantina lady, the priest, and the quiz-giver quite lovely and charming.

[dgpolo]

16 minutes ago, ProfCrash said:

The Cheese dude last week was practically giddy as they ate the maggot cheese. And then the grinning, smiling Grape leaf lady. The Soulvaki lady. The Priest. All of them were great. You could see that they were having fun with their moment in the Race. 

What was it the Priest said? Do not talk to the Priest! ? Cracked me up!

[mertensia]

That was sneaky of them to put the clue on the wrapper and then have Demetra be all "no clue!".  I loved it.

 

The priest was a hoot. 

 

...Did the one twin say she'd never had **onion** before!?

[Cotypubby]

Did I hear right that one of the twins said she had never had onion before!? How is that even possible? 

[RunningMarket]

I realize everyone has had different upbringings, but to have never had souvlaki before?! OR ONION?!

Dusty is definitely a bit OTT, but I did laugh at his line about knowing how to roll based on his "Colorado past time" (paraphrasing). I figured Ryan was going to bust out a fact like he read about Greek saints while in prison. Alas, just learned the mental game.

Kim and Penn are running away with this, and I'm not unhappy about that.

[QuantumMechanic]

2 minutes ago, Cotypubby said:

Did I hear right that one of the twins said she had never had onion before!? How is that even possible? 

Maybe she meant she never had *raw* onion before.

Because I can’t believe she’s never had anything with onion in it. Like never had chicken soup??

[North of Eden]

This edition will be long remembered for the two things 19th month pit stop and Raquel's tank top...well that's actually three things.

Twins: Don't panic

Me: Panic

Sometimes you just can't recover from getting lost like fan favorite Jon Vito and Jill and in this case they only compounded things by screwing up at the food truck and finding the mat early...too much wasted time to recover from.

I wonder how much TAR pays out for damaged cluthes and manual transmission.

Speaking of driving when I saw the father and daughter at the end driving around it the countryside aparently far from the port I was like "You've got to be kidding."

FIrst time I think I've ever Fast Fowarded through part of an episode as I have no interest in sitting through a sermon on saints...let alone mulitple times.

So has the extra task for those saved by non elimination been well....eliminated for was it just edited out for time?

Edited February 17, 2022 by North of Eden

[Lantern7]

Does anyone know how many legs are left to be run? It's not like I hate anyone, but I think this season is too weird for me.

Honestly, how many of the fifteen saints are keeping Arun & Natalia in the race? Gotta be at least ten. They're not bad people, but they are horrible Racers. They've been eliminated AND saved in two non-elimination legs. I dread the idea of those two winning, purely from the standpoint of wanting a team that was eliminated to stay eliminated*.

Damn, Lulu & Lala fucked up. Between the difficulty of downing the souvlaki, the lack of attention to the napkins and Demetra the Food Cart Lady sticking to the poker face, they had no chance. I expected the episode to end with Phil having to eliminate them himself, as they would lay belly-up, surrounded by crumbs and crumpled napkins.

Is anyone here from New York City and listens to the twins? Apparently, their show runs at night. I'm thinking they'll be greeted by a room full of souvlaki when they get to work. From one wall to the other, an endless wave of Greek gyros. Nice girls, but they blew it so hard.

Reading complaints about Ryan & Dusty . . . eh. I've seen worse dudebro/dudebrah antics on the show. They don't bother me.

Great Roadblocks. Bonus points to the Priest for seemingly telling the same story over and over, not stopping as Ryan bolted to complete the task, not getting he had to listen to the entire 15-minute spiel.

*Basically, it would feel like Chris getting voted off Survivor: Edge of Extinction, only to come back and win. Natalie almost pulled that off in Winners at War, but I would’ve been great with Erik winning. I know, sounds hypocritical of me, but I liked her.

Edited February 17, 2022 by Lantern7

[ByaNose]

Bummer for the twins. I was hoping they’d make he Final 4 with the FA. Once again, Dusty is OTT. You could still hear him at the car and the cameras weren’t even on him. It’s kind of getting annoying but not totally horrible. I knew when Arun & Natalia were driving by dry land I knew they were lost…..again. They really don’t have any navigational skills whatsoever. The editing fooled me but I guess the twins couldn’t make up time with all of their mistakes.
 

Kim and Penn are on a whole other level. I’d be shocked if they lost but it’s happened before on other seasons. Penn was doing the task and time clock was at 4 minutes and Kim already thought he was late. LOL!!!

 

Tonight’s show was good because there was a lot of switching back and forth so we (I) wasn’t sure who would win/lose. It is interesting that Ryan & Dusty have lost some of their mojo since their earlier 1st place finishes. It’s not like they’ve been in the bottom pack but they haven’t fully recovered from it. I’m curious to see how this plays out for them.

Edited February 17, 2022 by ByaNose

[Chicago Redshirt]

1 hour ago, QuantumMechanic said:

Maybe she meant she never had *raw* onion before.

Because I can’t believe she’s never had anything with onion in it. Like never had chicken soup??

Even raw onion seems highly improbable. Between hot dogs and tacos and a lot of other sandwiches, raw onion is a pretty common ingredient.

[Chicago Redshirt]

1 hour ago, RunningMarket said:

I realize everyone has had different upbringings, but to have never had souvlaki before?! OR ONION?!

I would imagine a lot of people haven't had souvlaki before. I've eaten Greek food a lot of times, and I don't think I have ever had souvlaki, though I have had numerous gyros, which are apparently slightly different.

[GaT]

1 hour ago, RunningMarket said:

I realize everyone has had different upbringings, but to have never had souvlaki before?! OR ONION?!

 

1 hour ago, QuantumMechanic said:

Maybe she meant she never had *raw* onion before.

Because I can’t believe she’s never had anything with onion in it. Like never had chicken soup??

I thought I must have misheard her, but she really never had onion before? Hasn't she ever had a fast food burger? I was amazed at how many of them didn't know how to spell souvlaki, I didn't realize it wasn't common.

1 hour ago, Lantern7 said:

Does anyone know how many legs are left to be run? It's not like I hate anyone, but I think this season is too weird for me.

Yeah, it's weird for me too, just doesn't seem like a normal season.

[aghst]

One of the twins was loving the souvlaki while the other one was forcing it down.

But I think they were stressed out because they had problems finding the cantina and was trying to rush through it.

I wonder if the street names were in the Roman alphabet.  Or what kind of maps they were using, whether it would show street names in Greek alphabet.

Curious if that contributed to navigation problems or they just were in a city where they could get lost whereas on Corsica, they went from town to town on highways or roads between towns and they just had to follow the signs to their destination.

They had a real good attitude when eliminated.  They also looked excited for Arun and Natalia in the previous leg when they survived an NEL.  Maybe they were a little sour later when they thought about coming in behind a team which in the previous leg had survived elimination and had survived elimination twice and also was brought back after having been eliminated.

But they showed none of that at the mat.

Penn and Kim look unbeatable.  Even when Kim decided to re-do her rolls, she still finished first, though they had arrived first.  They're just not slipping up or getting lost.

No physical tasks on this leg.  But the boys made up some ground until they lost their way navigating to the pit stop.

Four teams left so either next week is where they eliminate the last team or it's just another NEL.  They've only gone from Switzerland to Corsica to Greece so it appears they may finish in Greece or some other part of Europe, maybe the Middle East, before running the Final?

I forget now, did they go anywhere other than Europe before they stopped?

[Mediocre Gatsby]

I'm bummed that A and N got saved so many times and the twins were out just like that. 

I laughed out loud when Dusty and/or Ryan talked about how the other one was so smart, this mental challenge was ALL HIS, and then the camera showed him stretching, staring off into space, running away before the priest was done. But for some reason I, too, had it in mind that there'd be only 5. And I was memorizing their names (well, initials) in order, though I hope that I would have been able to answer some just from general knowledge and a Catholic upbringing. 

[PaperTree]

3 hours ago, ByaNose said:

I knew when Arun & Natalia were driving by dry land I knew they were lost…..again. They really don’t have any navigational skills whatsoever.

Understatement of the season:

"Navigation is not our strong point"  LOL

[30 Helens]

5 hours ago, RunningMarket said:

I realize everyone has had different upbringings, but to have never had souvlaki before?! OR ONION?!

I have never had souvlaki. I have had many, many onions.

Dusty (or is it Ryan? —the one who did the challenge) seemed very ADD. He was driving me crazy with all the impatient body language and looking away and running off every time he got to 5.  I wanted to slap him on the head and yell “Focus!” But I guess he learned one thing, don’t talk to priests. At least not while they’re telling a story.

I don’t know why the daughter doesn’t drive sometimes, and let dad navigate. Maybe that would work out better for them.

[Haleth]

That was a fun episode and another beautiful location.  Three challenges where you had to pay attention to details.  (I guess you can count all the self navigation as requiring attention to detail too.)  

Do not talk to the priest!  But do talk to the quiz master.  Had the racers known what the quiz questions would be and that they wouldn't change it might have saved time instead of trying to remember 15 minutes of facts.  

I really hope Arun and Natalia don't fumble their way to the finale in place of one of the other remaining teams.  They are just so hapless while the others are generally competent and efficient.  Lovely people but they've had more life savers than the Titanic.

5 hours ago, GaT said:

Hasn't she ever had a fast food burger?

My son has had an aversion to onion since he was a little kid.  We even had to scrape onions off his Happy Meal burger.  It was a joke that we'd call knives "McOnion scrapers."  I think the twin probably meant she hasn't eaten onions since she was a kid, not literally that she'd never eaten an onion.

3 hours ago, aghst said:

I forget now, did they go anywhere other than Europe before they stopped?

No.  They started in London and ended in Edinburgh. 

[Seelouis]

6 hours ago, ByaNose said:

 

Kim and Penn are on a whole other level. I’d be shocked if they lost but it’s happened before on other seasons.

I have been listening to their podcast recaps and it is clear they really prepared for the race. They ran up and down hills with heavy packs, took a map reading course, practiced techniques for memorizing things, learned the flags of different countries. They also are long time fans of the race, having watched every episode. And when they got picked to be on the show, Kim made a spreadsheet of every team that got eliminated and what their mistake was. That all shows up in how calm they are, like Kim redoing the dolmas. And a contrast to Arun and Natalia who clearly just stumbled into the race because they got lost in their way to somewhere else. 

[ProfCrash]

7 hours ago, ByaNose said:

Bummer for the twins. I was hoping they’d make he Final 4 with the FA. Once again, Dusty is OTT. You could still hear him at the car and the cameras weren’t even on him. It’s kind of getting annoying but not totally horrible. I knew when Arun & Natalia were driving by dry land I knew they were lost…..again. They really don’t have any navigational skills whatsoever. The editing fooled me but I guess the twins couldn’t make up time with all of their mistakes.
 

Kim and Penn are on a whole other level. I’d be shocked if they lost but it’s happened before on other seasons. Penn was doing the task and time clock was at 4 minutes and Kim already thought he was late. LOL!!!

 

Tonight’s show was good because there was a lot of switching back and forth so we (I) wasn’t sure who would win/lose. It is interesting that Ryan & Dusty have lost some of their mojo since their earlier 1st place finishes. It’s not like they’ve been in the bottom pack but they haven’t fully recovered from it. I’m curious to see how this plays out for them.

Dusty is OTT but it seems to be his general personality and he doesn't seem to be an asshole, just one of those loud people who is very demonstrative. They have been good to the people that they have met and the greaters. They are not fighting with each other and they are not being nasty to other racers. And they seem to have lost some of their arrogance. They can crush the physical tasks but they are not as hot at the mental tasks and they might be having some issues with the driving/navigation.

Dusty said in one of the podcasts that Ryan has a ton of sports cars and loves to drive stick but that Dusty is so bad with navigation that Dusty is the driver. Ryan is kind of salty about that decision but his Dad used to take him on trips where all they would use are paper maps because he thought it was an important skill. Ryan's Dad was his first choice to race with but he was not in shape to do so, some hospitalizations and the like, so Dusty got to go.

8 hours ago, RunningMarket said:

I realize everyone has had different upbringings, but to have never had souvlaki before?! OR ONION?!

My husband and I's first date was at an amazing Greek place. We love Greek food, I have not heard of souvlaki before tonight. (shrugs)

Onions, well they are in most of our dishes and raw onions are in a bunch of the food that we made. It looks like one of the Twins has a very sensitive palate and is unfortunately going through life not getting to experience some amazing foods. But I know a few people like her. 

Kim and Penn seem to be the complete package. They make their mistakes but they seem to learn from them. They are handling the tasks methodically and well. They are taking their time and fixing things pretty quickly. I am impressed. and yes, the amount of research they did in preparation for this is crazy. For all the folks who are not thrilled with their notoriety, which is why they were cast, they prepared liked there us no tomorrow for this race. They are not going to win a foot race but they are not going to lose that race by much. But they have the driving, navigation, task management, and the like down. And they are not assholes. 

I laughed at the "Love you" to Kim that the FA doing the task happily replied back "Love you too Penn." The Teams seem to be getting along wonderfully and seem to know when it is a good time to work with another team, keeping someone in sight and trickier tasks, and when it is fine to blow past them. 

I do wish that they could have had a rule added that if a previously eliminated team arrives at a NEL, then it becomes an elimination and the next leg is a NEL. Arun and Natalia are fine people but I do think that it is bogus that a team that has been eliminated has gotten lucky enough to hit 2 NEL and been saved and that Lulu and Lala hit the elimination mat and are gone. I don't think putting in a rule that allows for a swap of legs is egregious. Or that each team is only allowed on NEL a race. I like Arun and Natalia but I just think it sucks that they are still running while Arun and Natalia are out. 

Then again, I didn't feel that when when Sheri and Akbar were eliminated but that is because I didn't like their Team dynamic and the two of them had been sucking the entire race.  

[Taeolas]

A&N probably did have to do an extra task but it was cut for time; but it also took them out into the country where we saw them later. I think that sort of thing happened in Switzerland as well, when they were deep in the woods apparently far from everyone else, and it was due to them having to do the speedbump task that wasn't shown. 

Kim and Penn are by far the frontrunners and possibly one of the best racers TAR has ever seen. As noted, they balance eachother out perfectly, with one supporting and encouraging the other as needed to help them through the tasks. Win or lose, I hope they get invited back for an All-Stars run in the future when the race is more normal. 

With the Saint's task, I appreciate too Penn's reaction to finishing the task. He let out a cheer, but remembered where he was an apologized for his loud exuberance. Granted being outside the church isn't as solemn as being inside, but it was a nice touch. 

[ProfCrash]

I suspect that Penn is used to apologizing for impulsive and loud behavior but yes that was cute. Although, outside a Church is totally fine to be loud. Unless there is a service outside or something going on that demands respect, which was not the case here. 

I have watched the Race since day 1, love it. Kim and Penn's videos made me laugh through the Pandemic. Their videos hit on many of the things that were driving me crazy and were a nice release. I just like them. And I normally don't like the social influencer types, I mean, just look at my comments from this last Dancing With Stars the season. Normally the social media folks annoy the crap out of me, probably because they see themselves as being far more important then they are and they are just too into the camera. I don't get that vibe from Kim and Penn and I don't think they are playing to the camera. (shrugs) I know they are not everyone's cup of tea but I am enjoying their Race.

[AncientNewbie]

That was unfair of the Race to make me hungry for souvlaki right before my bedtime. Even if I usually order without onions, which I'd recommend to that twin...

Kim and Penn are winning me over. I knew very little of them other than "make videos" but they have been calm with each other and clever in their asides to the camera. My declaration of support for them probably means they're next to go. I don't have a good track record.  

[ProfCrash]

5 minutes ago, AncientNewbie said:

That was unfair of the Race to make me hungry for souvlaki right before my bedtime. Even if I usually order without onions, which I'd recommend to that twin...

Kim and Penn are winning me over. I knew very little of them other than "make videos" but they have been calm with each other and clever in their asides to the camera. My declaration of support for them probably means they're next to go. I don't have a good track record.  

There should be another NEL next week.

I am watching the bonus clips on YouTube and the matt talks are fun. 

There is a bonus clip with Penn and Kim discussing the driving. They arrived and didn't know where they were, they figured out Greece because the signs are only in Greek. There were no road signs in English, which would make navigation harder. 

And there was discussion of how being in a fraternity did not help read the road signs. 

Dusty pointed tot he watermelons at the Soulvaki stand and talked about the slingshot challenge. 

[Chicago Redshirt]

I feel like this episode justified my suspicion that doing mental challenges would be tough for Ryan and Dusty. 

Jumping into the quiz after five saints was an obvious mental error. Arguably understandable, but an error nevertheless.

But it should have worked to his advantage. Once he jumped prematurely to the quiz, he should have realized, "I have no idea what the answers are to any of these questions. There must be more to these readings than just the first five people." He could have then paid attention to the stories looking for the precise details needed to beat the quiz. 

On his second go-around, though, he was about to make the same mistake and leave after five. He probably would have if Kayla hadn't been there and the priest didn't continue talking to her. 

Throughout that task, he looked like he was being tortured. And he's the more mentally adept half of the team.

[Zonk]

I was wondering for a while now if they still had separate sound guys. That always seemed super unwieldy and mics really have gotten good enough that camera mounted ones should suffice. This episode we saw quite a few camera men but no sound guys and I think I saw mics mouted on the cameras, so I'm leaning towards no seperate sound guy anymore.

If you'd asked me to spell souvlaki, I would have done it just like this. But then I think that's a bit closer to how a german would write it than a native english speaker. Of course with the vendors accent I'm not quite sure if I had recognised the word.

I love how Kim and Penn fit together. Kim: "Oh, did we eat the clue?", that sparks something in Penn that connects the eating to the paper (a leap that actually gets easier with ADHD) he screams "Oh!" and digs through the trash.

The souvlaki vendor was a fun character. I wish they had more judges with a bit of swagger.

The second roadblock clearly had a "the other partner, from the one who did the first roadblock this leg, must do the this one" disclaimer that wasn't shown. It did look impossible at first, but was clearly designed to be done on the second try. Since the required saints didn't change you knew what you were looking for. I think Penn was really impressive getting it the first time. Hyperfocus has never worked for me like that. Yes, it's a thing, but you can't control it. You just focus on stuff you find interesting and that is usually super interesting but useless stuff, like all the possible explainations for the fermi paradox. Although being extremely stimulated due to being on the Amazing Race might do the trick, not sure.

I know some people don't like those two (although I think a lot have come around) but I like that there is some ADHD-visibility out there finally (although the race show it in a touch too positve light for my liking, but oh well).

It was pretty clear that the twins would come in last by the shadows on the ground and the tint of the sun. Although I didn't completely dismiss the possibility that Arun and Natalia might just drive all the way to Norway instead of getting to the pitstop.

 

 

[AZChristian]

Is this the first time in TAR history when the first team at the mat was also the last team at the mat?

What we can't figure out - and we've already deleted the episode so we can't rewatch it - is how the twins ended up where Phil was so early.  They hadn't found the souvlaki truck, which then gave them the clue to the church, which then sent them to Phil.  

Fun episode.  "Don't talk to the priest."

[ProfCrash]

The Twins just got unlucky. They stopped where they saw the race colors but it was the pit stop.

Watching the bonus clips, the Souvlaki thing really screwed up teams. Lulu and Lana took forever to spell the word, they were all really lost with finding the clue. It was a giant mess. Far more of a time suck then we saw.

[ProfCrash]

12 minutes ago, Zonk said:

I was wondering for a while now if they still had separate sound guys. That always seemed super unwieldy and mics really have gotten good enough that camera mounted ones should suffice. This episode we saw quite a few camera men but no sound guys and I think I saw mics mouted on the cameras, so I'm leaning towards no seperate sound guy anymore.

If you'd asked me to spell souvlaki, I would have done it just like this. But then I think that's a bit closer to how a german would write it than a native english speaker. Of course with the vendors accent I'm not quite sure if I had recognised the word.

I love how Kim and Penn fit together. Kim: "Oh, did we eat the clue?", that sparks something in Penn that connects the eating to the paper (a leap that actually gets easier with ADHD) he screams "Oh!" and digs through the trash.

The souvlaki vendor was a fun character. I wish they had more judges with a bit of swagger.

The second roadblock clearly had a "the other partner, from the one who did the first roadblock this leg, must do the this one" disclaimer that wasn't shown. It did look impossible at first, but was clearly designed to be done on the second try. Since the required saints didn't change you knew what you were looking for. I think Penn was really impressive getting it the first time. Hyperfocus has never worked for me like that. Yes, it's a thing, but you can't control it. You just focus on stuff you find interesting and that is usually super interesting but useless stuff, like all the possible explainations for the fermi paradox. Although being extremely stimulated due to being on the Amazing Race might do the trick, not sure.

I know some people don't like those two (although I think a lot have come around) but I like that there is some ADHD-visibility out there finally (although the race show it in a touch too positve light for my liking, but oh well).

It was pretty clear that the twins would come in last by the shadows on the ground and the tint of the sun. Although I didn't completely dismiss the possibility that Arun and Natalia might just drive all the way to Norway instead of getting to the pitstop.

 

 

And one of the Saints was set off to the side, he almost missed that. It wasn't just the saints on the main table. It was a well designed challenge that was meant to take 2-3 tries with lots of opportunities to miss small things.

[lilysmom]

6 hours ago, Mediocre Gatsby said:

I'm bummed that A and N got saved so many times and the twins were out just like that. 

I laughed out loud when Dusty and/or Ryan talked about how the other one was so smart, this mental challenge was ALL HIS, and then the camera showed him stretching, staring off into space, running away before the priest was done. But for some reason I, too, had it in mind that there'd be only 5. And I was memorizing their names (well, initials) in order, though I hope that I would have been able to answer some just from general knowledge and a Catholic upbringing. 

I LOVE your name!!!

[Zonk]

10 hours ago, QuantumMechanic said:

10 hours ago, Cotypubby said:

Did I hear right that one of the twins said she had never had onion before!? How is that even possible? 

Maybe she meant she never had *raw* onion before.

I mean, same question: How is that even possible? They go raw in salads, on Döner Kebab, on Souvlaki, on Mettbrötchen, on Burger etc.

9 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Reading complaints about Ryan & Dusty . . . eh. I've seen worse dudebro/dudebrah antics on the show. They don't bother me.

Dusty is at a 13 and I really need him to take it down to at least an 8. He gets way too hyper when things go well and too frustrated when they don't. I always have to remind myself that the race is a very high stress environment, otherwise I'd think drugs or mental illness.

8 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

Even raw onion seems highly improbable. Between hot dogs

I mean hot dogs really need roasted onion. If you put raw onions on a hot dog you've clearly lost control of your life.

 

[TAG42481]

2 hours ago, Seelouis said:

And when they got picked to be on the show, Kim made a spreadsheet of every team that got eliminated and what their mistake was.

And when Penn was doing his task, they showed Kim writing notes.  That jives with the spreadsheet comment.  TAR is SO GOOD at showing little moments like this, and that's a team effort - the cameramen SHOOTING the scenes AND the editors SHOWING them in the episode.  I don't see how they won't win.  I say that for two reasons: first, the one I just outlined.  The second I DON'T THINK counts as a spoiler, because it came out in official TAR media.  Anyway, just to be safe ...

Spoiler

The TAR Facebook page had a video before the season began asking Phil about what makes a winning team.  Phil listed several attributes, and one of them was good communication between two teammates.  AS HE SAID "good communication", the video showed Kim and Penn.  I'm pretty sure every team they showed in his video was a team that had won it all, not simply "been good."

 

 

Quote

FIrst time I think I've ever Fast Fowarded through part of an episode as I have no interest in sitting through a sermon on saints...let alone mulitple times.

@North of Eden, this was the second episode I was fast forwarding through.  I only care about Kim/Penn and the flight attendants.  We've had a million Alpha Male teams - don't care.  The twins - whatever.  Arun and Natalia - nice people who are completely inept at the race.  I'm trying to tell myself that the teams that couldn't return were going to be the interesting ones on the race.  I don't like being "blah" about 2 of the 4 final teams.

And whoa, there are a LOT of people on this board who are very passionate about onion.

[bunnyface]

I've never had souvlaki.  I've heard of it and I can spell it, but I've never had it.  And I absolutely do not eat raw onions.  I can eat them cooked in something, if I don't notice real hard, but not raw.  I'm told it's a sensory/texture issue, but whatever, I'm not doing it.  Even thinking about it squicks me out.  Hard no. I wouldn't have handled that challenge near as well as whichever twin that was.  

I wasn't the twins biggest fan, but I do like that they went out with grace.   I'm only disappointed that they left Arun and Natalie in the race.  That was their biggest mistake in my eyes.

[Netfoot]

So, the twin that munched down maggot cheese up-chucked onions?!?? And, after taking a single bite, couldn't the other twin have then eaten the lion's share, sparing the philistine onion hater?

Ryan was being such an dick at the lecture, looking away, not listening attentively, and making me hope he got eliminated. And I think he would be, if not for Cayla. The priest ("Don't talk to the priest!") wouldn't have continued the lecture if it weren't for her, and he's still be there, acting like a petulant rasshole.

Arun & Natalia lost again. But were able to recover and avoided elimination. Sorry to see the twins go, but they lost that leg with no help from A&N.

Logic would suggest that next week (#9) will be another NEL, then an elimination in #10 and the final three race to the mat in #11.

Souvlaki! I want one two!

[Zonk]

6 minutes ago, bunnyface said:

And I absolutely do not eat raw onions.

Same for me with cucumber. Can't stand the taste. Always have to be carefull to specify to put that not on my food, like when I order a Döner. One bite and I'll be close to retching. But I still had them before. Her saying she never had raw onion before was just weird.

Edited February 17, 2022 by Zonk

[bunnyface]

2 minutes ago, Zonk said:

Same for me with cucumber. Can't stand the taste. When I order Döner then always without. But I still had them before. Her saying she never had raw onion before was just weird.

I was probably living my own private Vietnam right then, because I didn't hear her say she'd never had onion.  I thought (assumed) she said she didn't like it.  Because I'm on that boat and was probably assigning her a seat instead of listening well.      

[Michichick]

I zoned out for part of the episode and missed how the twins finally found the souvlaki wrapper clue. Did the counter woman have to wave it in their face?

[ProfCrash]

2 minutes ago, Michichick said:

I zoned out for part of the episode and missed how the twins finally found the souvlaki wrapper clue. Did the counter woman have to wave it in their face?

Nope, I am not really sure how they pieced it together. But the bonus videos show the FA struggling with that as well. Not so badly as to eat a second. Heck, I am half surprised Ryan and Dusty or Kim and Penn didn't do it a second time just for the meal and because it looked yummy. 

[shura]

57 minutes ago, Zonk said:

If you'd asked me to spell souvlaki, I would have done it just like this. But then I think that's a bit closer to how a german would write it than a native english speaker. Of course with the vendors accent I'm not quite sure if I had recognised the word.

I wish they had to spell it in Greek to make it at all challenging.  Even then, you could find someone with a smartphone and google it, apparently.  The same about the accent - the vendor did pronounce it more like "shoe-vlaki" and it could trip someone who had never heard of souvlaki before, but Google helpfully suggests "souvlaki" if you type "shuvlaki" or even "shoevlaki."

Maybe "I've never eaten onion in my life" meant "I never eat onion" (did she actually say "have" there?), kind of like "I've never eaten it if I had a choice, and I usually have had a choice," rather than "I've never tried it."  

The funny thing about Kim and Penn is that they are billed as "internet personalities," and that usually turns me off a bit because I prefer real-life personalities.  There is just usually not enough in an "internet personality" to make them interesting to me.  I suppose, most of those other "internet personalities" are so young that they simply have not had time or reason to try other things and become anything more.  But these two are legit.

1 hour ago, Zonk said:

I was wondering for a while now if they still had separate sound guys. That always seemed super unwieldy and mics really have gotten good enough that camera mounted ones should suffice. This episode we saw quite a few camera men but no sound guys and I think I saw mics mouted on the cameras, so I'm leaning towards no seperate sound guy anymore.

There was a shot of someone leaning forward and you could see a mic sticking out from under their shirt on the back, too. 

[Taeolas]

1 hour ago, Netfoot said:

So, the twin that munched down maggot cheese up-chucked onions?!?? And, after taking a single bite, couldn't the other twin have then eaten the lion's share, sparing the philistine onion hater?

Ryan was being such an dick at the lecture, looking away, not listening attentively, and making me hope he got eliminated. And I think he would be, if not for Cayla. The priest ("Don't talk to the priest!") wouldn't have continued the lecture if it weren't for her, and he's still be there, acting like a petulant rasshole.

Souvlaki! I want one two!

It's hard to tell with Ryan's reactions; it may have seemed a bit impolite (and he certainly misread the situation by bailing after 5 saints); but his actions may have just been his way of processing the information and memorizing it. Penn was fidgeting quite a bit during his lecture on the saints as well, but he also explained it in a talking head about his ADHD and his methods for memorizing the details; so for Penn his movements were parts of how he hyperfocuses and how he memorizes the details. 

 

I come from the land of Donair, Doner's little brother and a cousin of Souvlaki, so spelling and knowing what it is would not have been difficult for me. We have a greek restaurant or two in my city and a popular greek vendor at the weekend farmer's markets, and the Souvlaki always looks extra yummy. 

[Chicago Redshirt]

1 hour ago, Zonk said:

I mean hot dogs really need roasted onion. If you put raw onions on a hot dog you've clearly lost control of your life.

 

Huh. Here in the states, I've seen only raw onions and sauteed onions offered with hot dogs/sausages. Never roasted. 

[dgpolo]

4 hours ago, Haleth said:

Lovely people but they've had more life savers than the Titanic.

I don't think the Titanic is known for having a lot of life savers.

1 hour ago, bunnyface said:

And I absolutely do not eat raw onions.  I can eat them cooked in something, if I don't notice real hard, but not raw. 

Me neither. I always order fast food w/o onion. For Gyros (I've never had souvlaki) since they are usually in the sauce, I end up pulling them out of the sandwich. I absolutely do not like when onions are the only crunchy bit in a food. I am much more likely to eat them on something like a patty melt than on a hot dog.

[preeya]

Of all the recipes I've read about souvlaki, none show the use of onions in the actual preparation.  They do show red onion and tomato on the side. 

The souvlaki shown on TAR was served in pita bread and I'm guessing the "chef" did add onion to the mix. However, I'm 99.99% certain it wasn't raw onion based on how she presented it to the racers.

[iMonrey]

I'm really frustrated with the bunched start times. Especially with so few teams left. It's making it too easy for the first group to stay out front and too hard for the trailing groups to catch up. 

Compounding that problem is the relative ease of the Roadblocks. Yes, the Souvlaki tripped up a couple of teams, but the Saint memorization was more of a time filler than anything else. When every team leaves a Roadblock in the same order they arrived at it, that's a poorly designed Roadblock, IMO. They might as well have teams show up somewhere, set an egg timer for fifteen minutes, then leave again. 

Kim and Penn are running away with this. I don't dislike them, and they are good racers, but the dumbed-down format this season is definitely helping them and taking a lot of the suspense out of the race.

For example, they could have hidden the clues in the olive trees better. That was a wasted opportunity for a needle in the haystack challenge. Maybe they didn't want teams messing up the trees but if that's the case they should have picked some other location. Nobody had a problem finding the clue and nobody was left behind. Pointless time filler.

Quote

Ryan was being such an dick at the lecture, looking away, not listening attentively, and making me hope he got eliminated.

He definitely seemed distracted and kept looking down and away and didn't seem to be paying attention. I don't think that makes him a dick though. He was second to arrive at the Roadblock and second to leave. He was also the only one (I think) to have to try it more than once. Otherwise I think he and Dusty could have moved up to 2nd place. Whatever his process, he got the job done.

Dusty is definitely loud and it's kind of obnoxious but I was impressed with his attention to detail at the grape leaf Roadblock. He was the only one who got it right on the first try. He's allowed to celebrate. He seems like a typical OTT sports nut. He probably goes to football games with his face and chest painted blue.

The Souvlaki lady must have been a local actress. She was really cracking me up.

Edited February 17, 2022 by iMonrey

[proserpina65]

That first roadblock was made for me.  I've made dolmades multiple time.  The only downside would've been the tendency to think I knew what to do without carefully watching the demonstration.  I'd like to think I'd pay attention but who knows.

And eating souvlaki?  Yes, please.  I noticed they had the fries inside the pita as well.  That's apparently a Greek thing; the gyros I had in Crete came with the fries inside.  I did feel sorry for whichever twin it was who didn't like onions.  I like them but they tend to give me heartburn anymore, so I avoid them whenever possible.  Having to eat them when you hate them is really tough.  Although it was the twins' own dumb mistake which resulted in their having to eat two souvlakia.

Using the wrapper for the souvlaki clue was diabolical.  I think most people would've tossed it out the way Penn & Kim did.

The saints task was killer.  I probably would've taken three or four tries to get them right, so good for Penn doing it the first time.  And I think I would've done what Ryan did, assume that I only had to listen to 5 saints.

Arun & Natalia survived a leg which included self-driving AND a stick shift!  Without any help!  Who'd a thunk it?

[greyhorse]

13 hours ago, RunningMarket said:

I realize everyone has had different upbringings, but to have never had souvlaki before?! OR ONION?!

I imagine a lot of America has never had souvlaki.  Not sure where you're from or where you grew up, but it's not like there's a Greek diner or fast food on every single block like a McDonald's.  Not that hard to imagine.

I can spell souvlaki, but I've been to Greece.  I'm sure I've had it before, although I just don't like Greek food.  I think it's the sauces that turn me off.  If the twins had never heard of it, I can see why it would have taken them a long time to spell it.

Why were there two roadblocks and no detour?  Covid related and just no time to prepare one?

I thought the 15 minute story was excessive.  And it certainly looked like Nathalia and maybe skinny flight attendant arrived in the middle of the story.  So if you missed the beginning, you would have to wait for the guy to start over?  Ryan leaving after the first five saints was hilarious, and he was about to do it again along with skinny FA when the priest quickly interjected "And next" or something like that.  If I were the priest, I would have let them run off again.  Very difficult challenge it seems, to have to remember 10 pictures, a ton of facts, and sitting through 15 minutes.  Impressed with Penn who apparently nailed it.  Never knew that ADHD can make you hyperfocused and give you photographic memory.

Raquel letting the girls say hello again during the wrapping challenge.

Arun and Nathalia continue to give the "fake it til you make it" vibe.  They do not deserve to be in the final.