S33.E10: No Room for Error/S33.E11: In the Hands of the Amazing Race Gods

[AncientNewbie]

I'm good with the ending. It was a very odd season and seeing the limited number of teams at the finish mat really brought that home after the final few episodes had felt familiarly "TAR-ish" to me. 

[seacliffsal]

I was a bit disappointed that not all of the pre-covid teams were at the final mat as I was looking forward to seeing them because I liked them and missed them returning to the Race.  I was rooting for the FAs but liked all three of the final teams (liked Arun and Natalia as well but didn't want them to win and was relieved when they were FINALLY and TRULY eliminated.  As long as Dusty was respectful in his interactions and comments about other teams I can give him slack for his overreactions (just like with Penn and others).  And I will say that it was a real testament to who Dusty is that he kept an active friendship with Ryan when others turned away from him.

Oh, and this will be really unpopular, but I don't need Phil to make the running of this race during covid into some kind of hugely emotionally important event (i.e. some of his questions and comments at the final mat).  I know many people think Phil can do no wrong and that this comment will receive some criticism so please know it is not my intention to hurt any feelings, etc.

[Taeolas]

21 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

Phil: "All teams are now taking a charter flight, seventeen hundred miles from Thessaloniki, Greece to Portugal, the westernmost country in Europe!"

Netfoot: "<mumble><mumble> Ireland <grumble>..."

Had to google to double check, and google maps makes it look really close. 

 

Technically Ireland does seem a hair further west, with its westernmost point at 10.51ºW and Cabo da Roca being at 9°30′2″W. So I assume Phil actually meant "Westernmost point in Continental Europe" (or was just going off of local promotional material which probably just claims "Westernmost Point in Europe" and ran with it. :) 

[ProfCrash]

 

Here ya go. The end has a clip from last night at the cast party. 

[gibasi]

Thanks for the video. It was long because they wanted to get everything in but I have to say the few Holderness videos I’ve seen are always just a bit or more than a bit too long. 

[greyhorse]

Happy for Penn and especially Kim.  Oldest winners of the race ever, which lol, they don't seem that old to me, but I guess a mom and dad running against some young kids is indeed old.  Got a little misty listening to them talk about their kids. There's an article out there that they said the key to the Amazing Race is "marriage counseling" and "stair climbing".  Ha.  Really loved their relationship.  They are respectful to each other and have a good marriage.

But I would have been happy with a flight attendant win.  They could have used the money more than Kim and Penn.  It wouldn't have surprised me if Kim and Penn offered up $100K to each of them right on the mat.

Didn't know that Kim had a huge anxiety problem.  Not sure if she talked about it during the race and I just missed it.  Seemed pretty put together to me.  

I think this might be the first memory challenge that was team specific.  Not just a picture of a boat that was rowed in Portugal, but a team's specific boat with the specific name.  Not sure why Kim and Penn couldn't remember the name of their boat, that would have seemed easy to recall.  Not just any gold coin but your specific coin, and your specific car.  I liked that.

I don't recall what season it was where it was revealed that racers took notes.  We haven't seen evidence of much note taking ever, at least what's shown on the episodes.  I think once I remember seeing a shot of a racer's notebook.  I'd have one of those Moleskin black notebooks and would be writing everything down.  Each season you learn a little more about what might be thrown at you.  This final memory task with all the details is going to turn it up a notch.  Kim drawing the greeters was awesome, but did she draw how big Napolean's hat was?  I believe it was Nat and Kat's season where the final task was the greeters, so that's when people started paying attention to that.  The level of note taking from now on is going to be ridiculously detailed for anyone who is a fan of the show.  I'd be writing things down like what bathroom stall I used and whether the toilet paper was 1-ply or 2-ply.

In the opening intro, when Phil said "7 teams came back....and now we're down to 4".  I was like, really?  After all these weeks only 3 teams got eliminated?  Ah, got to love the NEL.

I suppose they were in LA, so it made sense to have an industry type challenge.  It was fun to see the old clips again.  But I disliked the subjectivity of the judging.  This is the final leg.  Make it a task where there is a clearly defined successful completion.  I get that it was Covid, and they didn't want them running around everywhere.  Would be curious to know how long it took each team to complete.

Arun and Natalia said they were superfans.  Really?  Have we heard that mentioned once during the entire season?  If so, I didn't hear it.  I think Dusty said something once that he was a student of the show.  I suppose most racers would have had to have some experience watching if they were interested in applying.

 

[preeya]

The one thing I really liked about the shortened/altered season was the omission of airport, tickets, and taxi drama. 

I'm hoping they continue like that in future seasons.

IMO sometimes change is good.

[Corgi-ears]

I most enjoyed when the poor little baby donkey piñata was so scared of Dusty that it went ahead and shat out the clue, so much so I had to make a gif.

Edited March 3, 2022 by Corgi-ears

[ProfCrash]

Looking at the Amazing race Wiki, Kim is 45 and Penn is 47. I am biased, at 50, and I don't think that is old but it is a good deal older then the other contestants. They really are in good shape. 

Arun and Natalia both discussed watching this show when she was growing up. Clearly they were fans. I have no clue what makes a super fan but the others mentioned in podcasts that the two of them had rewatched episodes and the like, so they knew the show. Which makes the lack of navigation skills and subpar stick driving ability that much more perplexing. 

[Zonk]

1 hour ago, Netfoot said:

Phil: "All teams are now taking a charter flight, seventeen hundred miles from Thessaloniki, Greece to Portugal, the westernmost country in Europe!"

Netfoot: "<mumble><mumble> Ireland <grumble>..."

The Azores are part of portugal, so technically Phil is not wrong.

[ninjakid]

I was pretty sure Phil said that Lisbon was the westernmost city in Europe. 

[Guest]

Just now, ninjakid said:

I was pretty sure Phil said that Lisbon was the westernmost city in Europe. 

I forget the exact term he used, but he also said that Portugal was the European country that has existed in its present form the longest. (He said it was the "oldest something-something country in Europe", but that's basically what he meant).

[Taeolas]

Yeah, I appreciated the lack of Airport and Taxi drama. I don't mind the taxi drama as much, but considering how security conscious airports tend to be, it just feels wrong to have the racers running out of or into the airport. 

So flying them from point to point and restarting them calmly away from the hussle and bussle of an airport feels better. I just hope they rethink how they stagger the start times so end times matter more. 

[bunnyface]

36 minutes ago, Corgi-ears said:

I most enjoyed when the poor little baby donkey piñata was so scared of Dusty that it went ahead and shat out the clue, so much so I had to make a gif.

 

lol  We noticed that too.  I said "If somebody was beating me with a stick, I'd crap out whatever they wanted too if it would get them to stop."  

When the FAs got to the arena, I said "oh no, I wanted Kim and Pen to win."  Then when we saw it was a memory task, I said "Kim will win this.  She took notes."  In my head, if not in real life, whoever gets to the last task first always wins.  So I thought it was a done deal.  Good to know there was room for change in all the tasks this time.  

That rule about having "all your race documents" seems to come and go.  There have been penalties a few times but other times, it seems not to matter so much.  

Edited March 3, 2022 by bunnyface

[chaifan]

I totally agree with others who said this was one of the best finales, or at least in recent history.  For a while I thought the foley challenge was the final challenge, and was a bit bummed about that.  But I really liked the final memory challenge.  It was old school TAR, and had enough close call racquets to make things interesting. 

Going into the finale, I would have been happy with any of the three teams winning, but only if there were good mental challenges and it wasn't all physical.  I would have been ok with Dusty/Ryan winning if they rocked mental challenges.  I really didn't have a preference between Kim & Penn or Cayla & Raquel.  Does anyone know what the 2nd place team gets?  I'm thinking it was $100,000.  

Penn's video (posted above) is hilarious.  I wonder how much Raquel is going to kill him for the souvlaki clips!  😁  His editing and timing one of Dusty's Woo's! was genius. 

I don't know if Kim & Penn were a cold recruit, or if they applied.  For being such strong TAR fans, I'd be surprised if they hadn't applied.  But it was savvy casting - I'm sure they brought a lot more new viewers in.  They really were a great team to watch.  Most of the teams were.

I hope TAR takes the lesson in casting from this season.  Please, no teams that are there just for drama.  TAR doesn't need it, the viewers don't want it.  Give us teams to root for, not against.  I'd rather be torn as to not knowing who I want to win instead of shouting "Get Off My Screen" at teams. 

I'm so glad Penn gave the shout out to the crew.  That was classy, so well deserved.  If TAR doesn't win an Oscar for this season, something is truly wrong in the world.

 

[vousviou]

10 hours ago, Zonk said:

11 hours ago, mertensia said:

Is the first finale with self-driving?

If not the first, at least the first one since the single numbered seasons.

If I recall correctly, Season 25 had a finale with self driving and the wrestlers were eliminated mid leg when they got lost, paving the way for Amy and Maya to win.

[ninjakid]

I thought Kim and Penn were lovely and gracious winners. Penn giving Kim all the credit was great and he was also the one to to acknowledge the crew. 

[iMonrey]

Quote

I mean, Youtuber is just a job like any other these days. As long as they don't cast multiple teams in a season, I'm fine with it. They are still normal people with normal lives. You wouldn't groan about construction workers.

Buy there were multiple teams this season. Maybe not multiple YouTubers but we had two teams famous for viral videos, a reality show team, and a team they made a movie about. On top of that, Ryan is Dateline famous. There are just way too many 'celebs.' They should either cast all celebs or none IMO. Construction workers aren't "famous." Not unless they're also social media stars. 

Don't get me wrong - I don't hate Kim and Penn. They seem like really nice people and they were really good racers. But there's a certain hypocrisy when it comes to these kinds of "celebrity" teams. Half the time people complain they "mug" for the camera but the other half of the time it's OK depending on which people are doing the mugging. Maybe if half the teams weren't so media savvy we wouldn't have as much griping about it. And we wouldn't have teams there primarily to promote their brand or extend their fifteen minutes of reality fame.

[vousviou]

13 minutes ago, chaifan said:

I totally agree with others who said this was one of the best finales, or at least in recent history.  For a while I thought the foley challenge was the final challenge, and was a bit bummed about that.  But I really liked the final memory challenge.  It was old school TAR, and had enough close call racquets to make things interesting. 

I was very pleased that the foley challenge and the tennis racket challenge were both designed in ways which all teams had at least several failures. More than a few finales had puzzles which were too simple, such as lining up flags in a certain order.

For that matter, I appreciated the setup of the column counting challenge, which could be solved by brute force guessing, but as Penn showed, there was a price to pay for guessing wrong.

[ninjakid]

4 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Don't get me wrong - I don't hate Kim and Penn. They seem like really nice people and they were really good racers. But there's a certain hypocrisy when it comes to these kinds of "celebrity" teams. Half the time people complain they "mug" for the camera but the other half of the time it's OK depending on which people are doing the mugging. Maybe if half the teams weren't so media savvy we wouldn't have as much griping about it. And we wouldn't have teams there primarily to promote their brand or extend their fifteen minutes of reality fame.

The problem is that only certain people are going to be able to take a huge chunk of time out of their lives. We all used to bitch about the plethora of actor/models, now it's people who make their living from the internet. There's just a greater level of flexibility for people like Kim and Penn.

[ProfCrash]

31 minutes ago, bunnyface said:

lol  We noticed that too.  I said "If somebody was beating me with a stick, I'd crap out whatever they wanted too if it would get them to stop."  

When the FAs got to the arena, I said "oh no, I wanted Kim and Pen to win."  Then when we saw it was a memory task, I said "Kim will win this.  She took notes."  In my head, if not in real life, whoever gets to the last task first always wins.  So I thought it was a done deal.  Good to know there was room for change in all the tasks this time.  

That rule about having "all your race documents" seems to come and go.  There have been penalties a few times but other times, it seems not to matter so much.  

I am not sure a lost map counts as a race document, that seems to be what was missing. Maybe there was more but all we heard them mentioning was the map.

2 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Buy there were multiple teams this season. Maybe not multiple YouTubers but we had two teams famous for viral videos, a reality show team, and a team they made a movie about. On top of that, Ryan is Dateline famous. There are just way too many 'celebs.' They should either cast all celebs or none IMO. Construction workers aren't "famous." Not unless they're also social media stars. 

Don't get me wrong - I don't hate Kim and Penn. They seem like really nice people and they were really good racers. But there's a certain hypocrisy when it comes to these kinds of "celebrity" teams. Half the time people complain they "mug" for the camera but the other half of the time it's OK depending on which people are doing the mugging. Maybe if half the teams weren't so media savvy we wouldn't have as much griping about it. And we wouldn't have teams there primarily to promote their brand or extend their fifteen minutes of reality fame.

I had no clue who Akbar and Sheri or Ryan were before the race started. I knew who Spencer and Anthony were but they are not that well known. I wouldn't be able to pick them out of a crowd. No clue who the singing cops were or the wedding singers were. I mean, we are talking about E list celebs for the most part. 

More importantly, they all seemed to respect the Race and be there more to run the race then promote their whatevers. Even Kim and Penn were not actively promoting their videos, there were a few comments about what they do for a living but they were not shouting out hastags or websites or YouTube channels or anything. 

For the most part, this group feels more like some people who have been noticed for a specific reason and recognized for good deeds but who are not out there trying to market themselves. The singing Cops are cops. Spencer and Anthony have jobs and one is working on a Masters. Sheri and Akbar run their charity and he is still a Principal. I am not sure how much more real world jobs/people you can get then this cast. 

Ryan has a good amount of money because he was falsely imprisoned by a corrupt Prosecutor. Kim and Penn are probably the most easily recognized and even with that they are pretty chill people. 

The first set of internet folks were awful but the ones from this season were so night and day different that I struggle to see why people are that annoyed with them. They were good people, who ran the Race. They were respectful to each other, to other teams, and to the people they interacted with. There was not a ton of promotion. Akbar spent more time on being D1 athletes then his charity. The cops mentioned it when they were asked, I suspect a lot like Cayla and Raquel and their desire to be the fourth all female team to win the race. 

Heck, I forgot that Lulu and Lala and they are the ones who have a freaking radio show. 

So yeah, I get that we see it differently. I just don't see how the Race was worse off with this cast. 

[proserpina65]

12 hours ago, iMonrey said:

kind of a lackluster season overall

I thought it was a terrific season, much better than the last several.

11 hours ago, Zonk said:

I mean, Youtuber is just a job like any other these days. As long as they don't cast multiple teams in a season, I'm fine with it. They are still normal people with normal lifes. You wouldn't groan about contruction workers.

And it's not like Penn & Kim don't have other jobs; they work in video production.

2 hours ago, Netfoot said:

Phil: "All teams are now taking a charter flight, seventeen hundred miles from Thessaloniki, Greece to Portugal, the westernmost country in Europe!"

Netfoot: "<mumble><mumble> Ireland <grumble>..."

If the Irish are anything like the English, they don't consider themselves to be part of Europe because they're not on the mainland.  But yeah.

11 hours ago, Zonk said:

I thought that was increadibly unfair. Either all doorknobs need to get painted or none do.

I'd agree IF the cans/doors had been assigned to the teams but they all chose which one to do, so I think it was perfectly fair.  They had to pay closer attention to the details.

11 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

I didn't recognize the pie-throwing and the "bulls,"

I remember the "bulls" although I couldn't tell which AR it was, but not the pie throwing.

 

[dgpolo]

24 minutes ago, ProfCrash said:

I am not sure a lost map counts as a race document, that seems to be what was missing. Maybe there was more but all we heard them mentioning was the map.

The amazing camera person got a shot of the map and right under it was a Route Info envelope. Maybe it was empty? maybe they only need the actual clues and not the Route Info? but yes, I thought they would get a penalty for not having it too.

6 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

I remember the "bulls" although I couldn't tell which AR it was, but not the pie throwing.

It was one of the ones with Brendan and Rachel and the Cowboys. I remember Rachel saying something about the 'bulls' being mean to her because she's a girl!

I agree the cheese rolling would have been better than the pies. And I cringed everytime they showed Claire getting hit by the melon. (and laughed when they blurred out Colin saying 'This is bulls**t!  told my daughter 'literally!')

[bunnyface]

6 minutes ago, dgpolo said:

I agree the cheese rolling would have been better than the pies. And I cringed everytime they showed Claire getting hit by the melon. (and laughed when they blurred out Colin saying 'This is bulls**t!  told my daughter 'literally!')

After watching Colin yell several times, my mother (not a TAR watcher) finally asked me what that was about.  I got to explain the whole situation to her.  My parents are ranchers, so they had an idea of what was supposed to be happening, just not why he was so upset.  It was great fun.

[Tango64]

I thought the counting columns challenge was great, but I kept shouting "Why are you choosing odd numbers?!! The columns are almost certainly identical on each side! Just count one side and double it."

[proserpina65]

1 hour ago, bunnyface said:

That rule about having "all your race documents" seems to come and go.  There have been penalties a few times but other times, it seems not to matter so much.  

Was the map one of their race documents or something that Raquel & Cayla bought?

1 hour ago, chaifan said:

I hope TAR takes the lesson in casting from this season.  Please, no teams that are there just for drama.  TAR doesn't need it, the viewers don't want it.  Give us teams to root for, not against.  I'd rather be torn as to not knowing who I want to win instead of shouting "Get Off My Screen" at teams. 

I whole-heartedly agree.  There's plenty of drama inherent in the tasks, I don't need it in the teams.

33 minutes ago, dgpolo said:

I agree the cheese rolling would have been better than the pies.

I think so too, but maybe the producers didn't think that one would have a good enough sound effect?

 

[ProfCrash]

Yeah, I think the thing was that they had to have an easy sound to use and I am not sure cheese rolling would have had a special enough sound. Pies to the face do and the Foley folks would already know how to replicate that sound.

[ProfCrash]

22 minutes ago, Tango64 said:

I thought the counting columns challenge was great, but I kept shouting "Why are you choosing odd numbers?!! The columns are almost certainly identical on each side! Just count one side and double it."

Agreed. Heck I was wondering why they just didn't take the estimate and just run laps route. Start with 100 then go up by two each lap. I am not so certain that the counting was going to get that much more accurate when you are staring at the columns. 1/2 a mile is a 7 minute walk and a faster jog. Three laps would land you at 106.

But then again, my ass was planted on a couch without killer fatigue and a beer so it is easy for me to come up with a brilliant strategy. 

[Tango64]

1 minute ago, ProfCrash said:

Agreed. Heck I was wondering why they just didn't take the estimate and just run laps route. Start with 100 then go up by two each lap. I am not so certain that the counting was going to get that much more accurate when you are staring at the columns. 1/2 a mile is a 7 minute walk and a faster jog. Three laps would land you at 106.

But then again, my ass was planted on a couch without killer fatigue and a beer so it is easy for me to come up with a brilliant strategy. 

Had the same thought. Once you know you're close, try other answers by two until you find it. But yes, easier from my couch.

 

Edited March 3, 2022 by Tango64
Forgot to write something

[HurricaneVal]

The broken ox!  The watermelon!  The hay bales!  I'll admit it.  I squee'd when I saw them.  I vaguely remember the pies and the bulls, but how...tell me how....could they have skipped pole vaulting over the canal?  That one's got a *thunk**doingggg" and a *splat* just built for nascent Foley artists!

Loved the pick the right boat named for a Portuguese explorer challenge and the paint the door to match a sardine can challenge.  Those were excellent examples of TAR challenges right there.  For the boats, a little knowledge of history or pop culture or rowing skills could advance a clever team while bad picking could hold back an athletic team.  There was opportunity there for movement.  The sardine can doors was also inspired, and it involved choosing wisely in addition to attention to detail.  'Da boyz thought their can would be simple because it only had three colors, but they did not take the rather complex pattern into account.  Theirs was the last one I'd pick.  The FAs with their simple clean lines of the stylized sunset and water with the boat is the one I would have chosen.  It looked complicated, but I think in the end was the easiest to do.  All you had to do was color within the lines, there was little intertwining of colors or shading like the others had. 

The issue of the doorknob, however, is completely separate.  I didn't see where the others had to paint their doorknobs, so what made their door/can so special?  Was it because their doorknob was in the center of the door, and thus in the center of the design?  That's the only difference I could think of.  All the other doorknobs were off to the side, and not interfering with the design.

Counting the columns was diabolical.  The sun in your eyes, the drawing shadows, long perspective making it difficult to see the distant columns.  They could have provided them low power kids binoculars to make it slightly easier, but I also think that would have made it hard to keep your place in the count, so use of the binocs--penalized by maybe a longer path back to the monk--might not have been the advantage it would have seemed.  One thing I noticed, because the racers ran past it each time they returned from seeing the monk, was that information board presumably describing the location for tourists.  I wonder if the number of columns was included in that description on that information board, and if the racers were allowed to stop and read it, touch base at the painted square, and then immediately return to the monk with the answer. 

I absolutely loved the return to the old-school finale memory challenge.   I also loved the familiar tri-sectioned structure keeping each team from peeking at answers.  Not that peeking would have helped with the customized solutions.  I also loved the twist they had on it, where multiple possibilities of the same thing were presented, like Napoleon with the different hats and the coins, and personalizing the Portuguese boats and Corsican cars.  You didn't just have to remember you took a boat, you had to remember your boat.   For teams in a rush or not as detailed oriented I could see where that could get you in trouble really quickly.  Or second guess yourself, like Kim and Penn did.

What I did not like was once a team had their solution, they advanced straight to the elevated finale platform.  And since they were all working together at the same place due to my beloved tri-sectioned walled kiosk, the FA team left behind clearly knew they had lost and were completely disheartened.  If there were a final "drive yourself to this destination which is slightly obscure and will require you to figure out exactly where you need to be and then navigate yourself there" that could give hope to the lagging team and hold out the possibility that they still could win.

All in all, I was happy.  I would have preferred if 'Da Boyz hadn't fallen so far behind to have made it more of a race at the final challenge, but they really struggled with the elevators.

[Netfoot]

3 hours ago, Zonk said:

The Azores are part of portugal, so technically Phil is not wrong.

I stand corrected.

 

[Door County Cherry]

2 hours ago, ninjakid said:

I thought Kim and Penn were lovely and gracious winners. Penn giving Kim all the credit was great and he was also the one to to acknowledge the crew. 

I loved that.  And I loved how after all the compliments, when you'd expect her to deflect or reciprocate,  she says "you're welcome. "

That mix of sincerity and playful sarcasm is my couple goals.

[lilysmom]

I didn't catch the doorknob detail, but I think that is what I love about this race. Different tasks are easier for different styled racers. The boys excelled in the physical challenges and they were much more difficult for other teams. Some challenges are more difficult for shorter people, taller people, less physically strong people, or people not inclined to notice details. The tasks that involve some luck (turning over 5000 stones to find a coin) are the great leveler. Anyone of them could have turned over the first stone and found a coin. No one was favored in that challenge. 

That's what makes this race  AMAZING!  That and the chance to learn little bits of other cultures. Of course, the scenery doesn't hurt either!!

[eel21788]

6 hours ago, Netfoot said:

Phil: "All teams are now taking a charter flight, seventeen hundred miles from Thessaloniki, Greece to Portugal, the westernmost country in Europe!"

Netfoot: "<mumble><mumble> Ireland <grumble>..."

Iceland, or Denmark when you consider that Denmark owns Greenland.

[eel21788]

2 hours ago, Tango64 said:

I thought the counting columns challenge was great, but I kept shouting "Why are you choosing odd numbers?!! The columns are almost certainly identical on each side! Just count one side and double it."

Also, each arch had two columns. If they counted the arches instead of the columns on one side then multiplied by four, that would have covered the entire task. 

[chaifan]

Celebs vs. "normal" people debate...  I don't really care where racers come from, but at this point in the show I'd like there to be at least a semi-basic TAR history quiz for all applicants that they have to pass to move on in the application phase.  Kim & Penn were self described super fans, having watched TAR from Season 1.  I think Arun was, too, and Natalie to some extent.  I agree that with the time demands of the Race, few "normal" people have the ability to take off from work & life responsibilities (without much of an explanation), so that's why we get a lot of young Racers, and internet/celebs.  The only category I truly hate are the reality tv show hoppers.  ugh.  I've never liked anyone on this show that appeared on another reality show first. 

Personally, I'd love to see a season comprised only of super fans.  Have at least one challenge per episode involve some sort of memory test of a prior season.  (Choose a boat with a prior Racer's name, for example.)  Recreate some of the classic challenges (which I know they've done already).  And construct the hardest finale memory challenge TAR has ever seen!

 

 

[survivinmt]

Except that 106 is not divisible by 4.

[eel21788]

16 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Bottom line, kind of a lackluster season overall with winners I'm mostly ambivalent about.

You're still way ahead of me: a disappointing ending to a disappointing season.

When you consider that two of the teams eliminated post-covid were also eliminated pre-covid, they really only eliminated two more teams during the post-covid portion of the show.

[aghst]

2 minutes ago, eel21788 said:

Also, each arch had two columns. If they counted the arches instead of the columns on one side then multiplied by four, that would have covered the entire task. 

106 isn't evenly divisible by 4.

Just now, chaifan said:

Celebs vs. "normal" people debate...  I don't really care where racers come from, but at this point in the show I'd like there to be at least a semi-basic TAR history quiz for all applicants that they have to pass to move on in the application phase.  Kim & Penn were self described super fans, having watched TAR from Season 1.  I think Arun was, too, and Natalie to some extent.  I agree that with the time demands of the Race, few "normal" people have the ability to take off from work & life responsibilities (without much of an explanation), so that's why we get a lot of young Racers, and internet/celebs.  The only category I truly hate are the reality tv show hoppers.  ugh.  I've never liked anyone on this show that appeared on another reality show first. 

I get the sense that it's not easy for them to find people wanting to do the TAR, which may be why they're prompting people to go to the website if you're interested in being on the show.

So they may be beggars, not choosers, when it comes to finding good racers -- good in the sense of good on TV, not that they're good at playing the game.

[survivinmt]

D/R doorknob. The other doorknobs were not painted and I am not sure why they should have had to do theirs. 

The things that shone through for me with K/P were:

- They were considerate of everyone, including each other. 

- When they couldn't figure out a task the normal way - counting columns - they resorted to a different way. Didn't just stand around griping about how impossible it was.

- Figuring out on the last one to put up everything they were quite sure about and only changing out the unsure ones. I am sure in the moment its tempting to rethink everything, but your first instinct on MOST things is almost always the correct one. (LIke the boat, Kim picked the right one first and then rethought it.)

- They were self-aware and seemed to always be kid-aware, as in: How will I feel when my kids see this? Can you imagine Nichole and Travis from a few seasons back watching with their kids and seeing their dad so disappointed and vocal about it with their mom? Kim and Penn have nothing like that to be worried about.

I have been watching older episodes and shouting out to the camera team was way overdue. I am finally noticing the camera people in the shots and the one I saw had them running behind their team but ducking behind trees and bushes to stay out of sight of other cameras. They are truly the AMAZING ones!

[Guest]

43 minutes ago, eel21788 said:

Also, each arch had two columns. If they counted the arches instead of the columns on one side then multiplied by four, that would have covered the entire task. 

Each arch had two columns, but they also shared columns.

1 arch = 2 columns

2 arches = 3 columns

3 arches = 4 columns and so on.

I'm sure there's a mathematical formula for it, but I can't even come up with it now, let alone at the end of a grueling day of racing.

ETA: I guess you'd count the arches on one side, add one to account for the last column, then multiply by 2 to get the total?

So if there were 52 arches on one side, 52 +1 = 53 columns on one side, 53 x 2 = 106 columns total.

I dunno.

Edited March 3, 2022 by tracyscott76

[dgpolo]

1 hour ago, tracyscott76 said:

So if there were 52 arches on one side

I really thought one side was shorter than the other, was it just me? looking down towards the end I thought the one on the left had less columns than the right hand one.

[Guest]

Just now, dgpolo said:

I really thought one side was shorter than the other, was it just me? looking down towards the end I thought the one on the left had less columns than the right hand one.

Could be. The good news is, we don't really have to worry about it! 😆

[Netfoot]

1 hour ago, eel21788 said:

Iceland, or Denmark when you consider that Denmark owns Greenland.

Or Britain, if you take the US (a British client state) into consideration....

[eel21788]

1 hour ago, survivinmt said:

D/R doorknob. The other doorknobs were not painted and I am not sure why they should have had to do theirs. 

Their doorknob was in the middle of the door and therefore in the middle of the picture. All the other teams had their doorknobs placed in the usual spot, so it was off to the side of the artwork.

[eel21788]

7 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

Or Britain, if you take the US (a British client state) into consideration....

Now you've left Europe.

[dgpolo]

44 minutes ago, eel21788 said:

2 hours ago, survivinmt said:

D/R doorknob. The other doorknobs were not painted and I am not sure why they should have had to do theirs. 

Their doorknob was in the middle of the door and therefore in the middle of the picture. All the other teams had their doorknobs placed in the usual spot, so it was off to the side of the artwork.

I just checked my DVR and Raquel and Cayla's doorknob was in the middle of their door in a section painted green, just under the fishes head. So maybe because Dusty and Ryan's was actually part of the fish? idk doesn't seem fair that the others didn't have to paint their doorknobs (even the one's on the side were painted around it, blue for Kim and Penn)

The columns on the left started (stopped??) at the forward line of their 'box' the ones on the right continued past the 'box'

[eskimo]

6 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

I am not sure a lost map counts as a race document, that seems to be what was missing. Maybe there was more but all we heard them mentioning was the map.

When the girls were talking about the map, they showed a clip of the map left at the door painting task and the Route Info envelope was with it.  

[fishcakes]

8 hours ago, Corgi-ears said:

I most enjoyed when the poor little baby donkey piñata was so scared of Dusty that it went ahead and shat out the clue, so much so I had to make a gif.

Oh this is great! I didn't notice it during the show.

Now could someone make a GIF of Kim and Penn pretending to be finish line applauders? Penn's face during that was killing me.

[Taeolas]

3 hours ago, tracyscott76 said:

Each arch had two columns, but they also shared columns.

1 arch = 2 columns

2 arches = 3 columns

3 arches = 4 columns and so on.

I'm sure there's a mathematical formula for it, but I can't even come up with it now, let alone at the end of a grueling day of racing.

ETA: I guess you'd count the arches on one side, add one to account for the last column, then multiply by 2 to get the total?

So if there were 52 arches on one side, 52 +1 = 53 columns on one side, 53 x 2 = 106 columns total.

I dunno.

Yeah that's basically what you might try to do. Count the number of arches and add an extra. 

Looking at it, I was thinking of counting the "window" spaces above the arches, since they may be more visible, but you would also have to count the negative space where windows weren't but arches were.