S34.E05: The Amazing Race of Arabia

[Haleth]

Everyone kept saying how hot it was but no one appeared to be sweating.  I would have been soaked.

I'm so glad whiny Sharik is gone, although I feel bad for her dad.  She was pretty useless for the whole race.  It's too bad, I liked them at the start.

I'm still confusing the couple that won with another one.  There's a Luis and a Michelle and a David and an Aubrey.  (I had to look up the names.)  Right now they are still interchangeable.

I recently watched a documentary about the building of the iconic structure (the treasury?) at Petra.  It was really interesting.  They carved it from the top down.

Edited October 21, 2022 by Haleth

[DEL901]

1 hour ago, Haleth said:

Everyone kept saying how hot it was but no one appeared to be sweating.  I would have been soaked.

That’s because it is so dry there that the sweat evaporates immediately.  

[blackwing]

I'm happy that Sharik has been freed from the Race.  No more Negative Nelly.  I do think most of her issues stemmed from the fact that she is out of shape.  She acknowledged on the bathmat that she used to be a cheerleader and athlete in high school and just wasn't prepared.  Not understanding why she wouldn't have done the Roadblock.  Because she had anxiety over the last one?  It seems to me that her anxiety about watching her dad was even worse.

Slide puzzle was a Detour choice?  Versus filling a big bucket of water and making multiple trips to the cistern?  Really imbalanced.  I wanted to see more of that market and the local people.  Would have liked seeing them have to travel somewhere (like five places) and collect all the pieces, before being able to do the puzzle.

On 10/19/2022 at 11:06 PM, aradia22 said:

I found it funny that everyone kept saying the location was like something "out of a movie" but they couldn't name a single movie. I wonder if that was a producer prompt. 

I am growing increasingly unamused by Derek. The woos from him and Abby were a little more annoying with nothing else going on. And he had no sympathy for Claire, joking after she fell. 

I am shocked that (unless I missed it) not one person mentioned "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade".  I get that most of these people are probably too young to have seen it when it first came out (except for Linton, Glenda and Lubumba) but have they never even heard of it?  I wanted someone to say "The Holy Grail was found inside that Treasury".  My kids are teens and have seen all the Indiana Jones movies, so it's not like these people would have never heard of it.

I have not like Derek from the start, and yes, when Claire fell, he was laughing and said something like "and down goes Claire".  I'm sure he would say he was just joking, but he came across as a huge Ass.  Like he was a color commentator.

16 hours ago, aradia22 said:

My favorites are still Marcus/Michael and Emily/Molly. If another team had to win, I'd take Quinton/Mattie. I like Glenda/Lumumba for the most part but I don't think they can win (this episode's mat chat aside). 

I don't hate anyone else but Derek is starting to annoy me a little, I don't love Abby/Will, and the other teams haven't made a big impression. I'm not actively rooting against anyone but it's the difference between a neutral outcome and a truly likable team winning.

6 hours ago, Fake Jan Brady said:

My favourite bit was seeing which teams were the most confused when Phil announced they were going to Jordan.

At least I finally know who they are now [aka not the team that came second last].

4 hours ago, Haleth said:

I'm still confusing the couple that won with another one.  There's a Luis and a Michelle and a David and an Aubrey.  (I had to look up the names.)  Right now they are still interchangeable.

Yep, the teams I like best are the twin sisters, the military brothers, and Tall/Short.

I'm glad to see that others are having the same problem that I am having.  I cannot tell the two Hispanic teams apart for the life of me.  They are completely interchangeable.  What's worse is that (unless it was the same team talking both times) I think one team owns a dance studio and the other team are dancers.  The women are completely indistinguishable to me.  The men, I think one of them is bigger and buffer, while the other one is smaller and has a more pronounced accent.  But I don't know which name goes with which, or which Dancebot they belong with.

8 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

I wish Phil had mentioned something about the Nabateans who built Petra, instead of just talking about it as a movie set. It's an empire most people have never heard of.

Yes, I would have loved more discussion about the history, instead of just how many movies were filmed there.  The fact that the teams had to find metal pieces on an "abandoned movie set"... stupid.  Would have loved something a bit more cultural, like something to do with making food.

[aghst]

Not a big fan of Sharik but did she break some huge taboo, dare to say that she's over TAR, that she's fed up with it?

Is that the cardinal sin for TAR fans, for a racer to even hint that the Race isn't all that?

She might have a valid point about how terrible the mega leg was.  While I like watching TAR, I'd never travel the way depicted on the show.

Edited October 21, 2022 by aghst

[fishcakes]

10 minutes ago, aghst said:

Not a big fan of Sharik but did she break some huge taboo, dare to say that she's over TAR, that she's fed up with it?

Is that the cardinal sin for TAR fans, for a racer to even hint that the Race isn't all that?

TAR fans are pretty intense, not that there's anything (necessarily *cough*) wrong with that. Way back in season 3, when we were all posting on TWoP, I dared to say after the second or third episode that I was finding the season a little boring compared to the first two seasons. It was just a throwaway comment and not a real criticism. I continued to watch and post, but one of the other posters, every single week, would respond to my posts with some version of, "oh still watching? Guess it's not so BORING after all." Yeah, good times.

The camels were so cute and chill waiting for their feeding stations, but they're not normally so docile. If the racers are still in Jordan next week, I hope we see a challenge where they have to ride a camel or get it to pull a cart or something. Racers + big stubborn animals is always so great.

[J-Man]

14 hours ago, eel21788 said:

Is that why they kept referring to it as "The Kingdom of Jordan" rather than The Country of Jordan?

Its actual name is "The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan," which is how Phil referred to it the second time he mentioned the name of the country.

[North of Eden]

1 hour ago, blackwing said:

I'm glad to see that others are having the same problem that I am having.  I cannot tell the two Hispanic teams apart for the life of me.  They are completely interchangeable.  What's worse is that (unless it was the same team talking both times) I think one team owns a dance studio and the other team are dancers.  The women are completely indistinguishable to me.  The men, I think one of them is bigger and buffer, while the other one is smaller and has a more pronounced accent.  But I don't know which name goes with which, or which Dancebot they belong with.

I know right?! At this point I still don't even know their names and who is who.

Abby I do know her name but what I don't know is how she and Will make the casting cut. Other than him having a man-bun there is nothing remarkable about them...they are just so...ordinary which is fine in real life but on a reality show that translates to bland.

Edited October 21, 2022 by North of Eden

[Guest]

18 minutes ago, North of Eden said:

Abby I do know her name but what I don't know is how she and Will make the casting cut. Other than him having a man-bun there is nothing remarkable about them...they are just so...ordinary which is fine in real life but on a reality show that translates to bland.

I know they don't show Abby and Will a lot so it's hard for some to get a read on them, but when they do show them, I enjoy them a lot and don't think they're bland. They're just not as energetic or frenetic as some of the other couples. She still has some of that giddy excitement about the Race that she showed at the beginning, and he often has a charming befuddlement about him. Just the little bit of her stressing quietly over the metal detecting and him empathizing on the side was enjoyable to me. I like having lowkey, pleasant teams like that on the race. I like Glenda/Lumumba and Luis/Michelle, for the most part, but I wouldn't want a season full of teams as "on" as they are. And honestly, I don't think Abby and Will are any more "bland" than the sisters, or even the brothers (who I also like, for the record). They're just not on camera as much because they're usually in the middle of the pack, and they have the disadvantage of being cast with a lot of other couples.

Edited October 21, 2022 by tracyscott76

[aradia22]

Quote

Slide puzzle was a Detour choice?  Versus filling a big bucket of water and making multiple trips to the cistern?  Really imbalanced.  I wanted to see more of that market and the local people.  Would have liked seeing them have to travel somewhere (like five places) and collect all the pieces, before being able to do the puzzle.

Having to find pieces before you started the puzzle would have been a great additional challenge. And we would have gotten to see more of the location (though as a big tourist spot, I wonder if there was a limit to the area they could section off)

[mertensia]

6 hours ago, DEL901 said:

That’s because it is so dry there that the sweat evaporates immediately.  

Yep. I live in Tucson. No sweating when it's 112 and no humidity.

[eel21788]

16 minutes ago, mertensia said:

Yep. I live in Tucson. No sweating when it's 112 and no humidity.

On the previously mentioned trip through Death Valley, I found a small tree with a tiny bit of shade to park my car under. I walked two blocks to a motel swimming pool and got in it up to my neck, which felt sooo good. When I got out my clothes were totally soaked; however, by the time I had done the ten-minute walk back to my car, I was completely dry.

[Quilt Fairy]

I might be the only one to (sort of) dislike the military bros.  They're perfectly nice - mostly - but I cannot stand their presumption that if they don't come in first place the galaxy is out of alignment. 

[vousviou]

I finally caught up on this season, having forgotten it wasn't a midseason show.

I was very glad in this episode there was no sign of the team up from  Florence. I really hate alliances -- they're a bad strategy in this show -- and I can write it off as hopefully a one time thing on a really gruelling day.

I wonder if the producers explained what the pitfalls are, or if these teams just are more savvy. They seem less needy than some of the previous seasons, which in my opinion seems to fuel that kind of thinking. The couple of teams this season which had a needy member also seemed to be balanced by a more focused person.

As other people have noted, the challenge design was very basic this episode. I realize logistics and other factors sometimes come into play, but I do think this would have been a good opportunity to maybe pare back the time on metal detectors and show some more interactions between teams, such as on the train. It would have helped to clarify some of the personalities, who may be more interesting than we've seen.

I caught up this season on the cbs.com website. Has anyone else found it to be much more user friendly than in the past? It used to be just miserable for watching previous episodes, but after years it finally seems pretty seamless.

[luvmylabs]

6 hours ago, mertensia said:

Yep. I live in Tucson. No sweating when it's 112 and no humidity.

Yeah I live in Tucson too and don't sweat when its 112 because I don't go outside!  Dry heat is still darn hot, especially with you're in the blazing sun.

[etexlady]

Yep, TAR needs to up their tasks and challenges.  I understand the need to have more control re transporting but that was a big part of how teams could gain or lose standing.  I enjoyed watching teams using ingenuity to figure out the fastest way to the next destination - take a later flight because it’s direct, use a route through a different city, etc.  I miss individual teams leaving at staggered times.  I miss teams being given X dollars to pay cab drivers, etc.  Do they even use cabs anymore?   I’ve not found any of the teams very compelling but I do like the twin sisters and their backstory.  And, please, no more contestants who have been on other competition shows.  They all seem to be fame hogs and not interesting IMO.

[Meowwww]

Thank goodness the spoiled little princess is gone.  She's so unlikeable and what a wasted spot.  It could have been someone who actually wanted to be there.

[bankerchick]

On 10/19/2022 at 11:12 PM, GenerationX said:

A slide puzzle in the Detour?  Is TAR borrowing challenge designers from Survivor?

I laughed because as almost everyone picked the puzzle, all I could think about is the complaining on the Survivor boards about all the puzzles.

I am so glad Shakira is gone.  I hope when she watches the show she is embarrassed by how juvenile and whiny she is.  And I noticed in one scene at the metal detector task that Kevin Hart's wife is standing away from the two women who seemed to know all about how to do a task that they passed on performing.  I like to think she didn't want any part of the bitchfest going on and distanced herself because she really does seem nice.

Edited October 22, 2022 by bankerchick

[Lantern7]

Great scenery poor tasks. Was this because of pandemic precautions? Government restrictions?

ROADBLOCK: "Here's an alien crash site. Find your next clue with these metal detectors."

DETOUR: "Your choices are to transport water for thirsty camels . . . or a slide puzzle. We're not gonna tell you it's based on the ruins that are right in front of you."

Thinking about it, a U-Turn would have fit here. Imagine taking ten minutes on the puzzle, patting yourselves on the back for picking the simpler task . . . only to find out that you'll have to lug water around. And heaven help you if it was Wednesday, because commercials have told me camels love that day of the week. At least bring in Jeff Probst to yell at the Racers working on the puzzle.

Good that another negative person was eliminated . . . though I wonder if the show veering away from casting assholes costs it viewership. I mean, it's preferable to see that instead of young guys doing everything short of humping the cameras on Survivori (re: Sami, Cody), or the usual gang of jagoffs on The Challenge.

Has The Real Love Boat been doing good, ratings-wise? I just want CBS to dump it and push TAR to 9 p.m., where it belongs.

[Vermicious Knid]

Quote

"We're not gonna tell you it's based on the ruins that are right in front of you."

Gotta love the Amazing Editors panning to the building when the one team complained they didn't have any references. Accompanied by the Tinkling of Doom.

[chaifan]

On 10/20/2022 at 12:06 AM, aradia22 said:

Marcus and Michael made the big mistake of so many athletic teams in always picking the physical challenge. I know TAR has presented tough puzzles in the past but I hope they didn't wear themselves out too bad just to avoid a slide puzzle. I like them and even if they don't win, I don't want them to burn themselves out early. Also, I appreciated that they seemed like the only team to learn "thank you" in the native language.

Chances are, they spent some time in Afghanistan or surrounding regions while in the military, and picked up a bit of Arabic. 

Regarding the cans in the sand...  I just assumed they were planted there by production as red herrings.  I have to believe that production fully swept the area before planting the clues.  I could be wrong, though.

Petra is on the top of my bucket list for places to go to.  I am fascinated by the history and architecture, but I also think it's stunningly beautiful.  The heat would be my downfall, but I've found I can do almost anything if I can go at my own pace.  (Which is why I wouldn't last long on TAR.)

On 10/20/2022 at 11:13 AM, PaperTree said:

Enough time spent in the Arab world.  Kids were throwing rocks at our tour bus.

Seriously?  If that's enough for you to write off a whole region of the world, don't leave your living room.  I spent two weeks in Morocco and would happily return. 

[PaperTree]

3 hours ago, chaifan said:

Seriously?  If that's enough for you to write off a whole region of the world, don't leave your living room.  I spent two weeks in Morocco and would happily return. 

There was more.  I'll just leave it at that.

Glad you had a good experience.😎

[aemom]

On 10/20/2022 at 1:01 AM, Jodithgrace said:

I am so glad to see Sharik and her Dad go I can’t believe she wouldn’t do that Roadblock. I don’t think they know what the task is before they decide who does it, but if they were going to last on the race she was going to have to start doing them, whatever the task  And then she just sat there and criticized! Ugh

You don't.  That's why sometimes you have the team-member who's afraid of heights having to bungee jump, or the one who doesn't know how to drive a manual-transmission car having to drive, etc.  You're trying to guess based on the description, who is best suited to the task.

[mertensia]

9 hours ago, chaifan said:

Chances are, they spent some time in Afghanistan or surrounding regions while in the military, and picked up a bit of Arabic. 

Regarding the cans in the sand...  I just assumed they were planted there by production as red herrings.  I have to believe that production fully swept the area before planting the clues.  I could be wrong, though.

Petra is on the top of my bucket list for places to go to.  I am fascinated by the history and architecture, but I also think it's stunningly beautiful.  The heat would be my downfall, but I've found I can do almost anything if I can go at my own pace.  (Which is why I wouldn't last long on TAR.)

Seriously?  If that's enough for you to write off a whole region of the world, don't leave your living room.  I spent two weeks in Morocco and would happily return. 

I doubt they picked up much Arabic in Afghanistan; they don't speak Arabic there.

[curbcrusher]

So while re-watching the last episode with my wife, she noticed that at check-in the yellow couple had a phone while talking to Phil.

[Lamb18]

Sharik mentioned playing in sports but I wonder how many she quit 

Also, the camel detour, I wish both involved camels and one was called "I'd walk a mile for a Camel."

Edited October 28, 2022 by Lamb18

[Whimsy]

It's important to be respectful of other countries and the citizens in those countries.  It's also important to be mindful about how we refer to those citizens.  Some posts have been removed due to a reference that could be construed as inappropriate and the quoting of said reference.  If your post is missing, that's why. 

[Tim McD]

On 10/21/2022 at 10:52 AM, aghst said:

Is that the cardinal sin for TAR fans, for a racer to even hint that the Race isn't all that?

Wasn't there a team from last season (I think they were ex-football players?) where one of them, in his exit interview after being eliminated, said that he thought the whole thing had been a waste of time and that he regretted doing TAR?

[Leeds]

On 10/20/2022 at 9:59 PM, Skooma said:

Urban women in air conditioned offices in Jordan aren't all covered up with long sleeves.  And shorts I grant you is a bad look almost anywhere outside of the west.  But who wants to wear shorts when traveling the world anyway.

I would have thought an air-conditioned space is the one place you'd want to wear long sleeves.

Lots of people wear shorts when travelling.  I'm not sure why they wouldn't (unless it's cultural consideration or medical necessity).

On 10/20/2022 at 11:20 PM, Vermicious Knid said:

I wish Phil had mentioned something about the Nabateans who built Petra, instead of just talking about it as a movie set. It's an empire most people have never heard of.

I'm always sad when they miss an opportunity to give even a thirty second snippet of historical or cultural information.

On 10/23/2022 at 8:53 AM, chaifan said:

Petra is on the top of my bucket list for places to go to.  I am fascinated by the history and architecture, but I also think it's stunningly beautiful.  The heat would be my downfall, but I've found I can do almost anything if I can go at my own pace.  (Which is why I wouldn't last long on TAR.)

I'd love to visit Petra too.  Maybe we can meet up there once the pandemic is over and I've won the lottery!

Like you, I don't tolerate excessive heat well.  What works for me is to do the outdoor stuff as early in the day as possible, starting with the stuff that doesn't have opening hours.  Then move on to the museums.  Then go back to my room and take a nap!  Unfortunately, that wouldn't work on TAR.

[Leeds]

2 hours ago, Tim McD said:

Wasn't there a team from last season (I think they were ex-football players?) where one of them, in his exit interview after being eliminated, said that he thought the whole thing had been a waste of time and that he regretted doing TAR?

I think that's commonly called sour grapes.

[Skooma]

4 hours ago, Tim McD said:

Wasn't there a team from last season (I think they were ex-football players?) where one of them, in his exit interview after being eliminated, said that he thought the whole thing had been a waste of time and that he regretted doing TAR?

No one last season said anything like that.

[dgpolo]

9 minutes ago, Skooma said:

4 hours ago, Tim McD said:

Wasn't there a team from last season (I think they were ex-football players?) where one of them, in his exit interview after being eliminated, said that he thought the whole thing had been a waste of time and that he regretted doing TAR?

No one last season said anything like that.

It was season 32 DeAngelo Williams

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/deangelo-williams-the-amazing-race-elimination/s7f8bibyuufm16nky33b0lgjn

[Netfoot]

41 minutes ago, dgpolo said:

It was season 32 DeAngelo Williams

The guy is an idiot.

Quote

When the teams were presented with a musical puzzle, "DeAngelo and Gary" were left out while volleyball stars Riley and Maddison, married parents Hung and Chee and boyfriends Will and James collaborated on the solution so they could check in with Phil Keoghan at the pit stop before the retired football players.

Yeah, if you are genius enough to be a part of the "Mine Five" alliance, in the full knowledge that only three teams can race to the finish, you shouldn't be so surprised when your alliance-mates kick your ass out of the race. No amount of bitter posturing will make you look any less stupid.

[Hanahope]

I remember seeing Petra before it became famous with Indiana Jones, there was hardly anyone there, we had to ride donkeys from quite some distance to get there, and no souvenir stands and camels hanging around.  

Times sure have changed.  Still great for TAR to finally go there.  

nice to see some change up in orders, Derek was great running with the metal detector to hear the beep instead of walking slowly.  People you aren’t looking for change.  Some really over thought the task,

the animal task was fairly easy for a change, they didn’t have to lead the animal anywhere it really did not want to go.

 

[SVNBob]

12 hours ago, Tim McD said:

Wasn't there a team from last season (I think they were ex-football players?) where one of them, in his exit interview after being eliminated, said that he thought the whole thing had been a waste of time and that he regretted doing TAR?

7 hours ago, dgpolo said:

It was season 32 DeAngelo Williams

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/deangelo-williams-the-amazing-race-elimination/s7f8bibyuufm16nky33b0lgjn

And to be fair to him, he wasn't upset about the Race proper (as in, what ends up on our screens), but the lack of any activity in the downtime between legs.  He thought that they'd have a chance to explore some of the locations they were in, but were instead taken to the hotels and practically locked in their rooms until the start of the next leg.

[Hanahope]

But i think that was because of Covid.  The race used to let the racers have more free time when not on camera.

[dgpolo]

2 hours ago, Hanahope said:

But i think that was because of Covid

No, that season was before Covid.

[b4pjoe]

On 10/24/2022 at 7:05 AM, curbcrusher said:

So while re-watching the last episode with my wife, she noticed that at check-in the yellow couple had a phone while talking to Phil.

Wondering about that also. I guess they are allowed to have phones while running the race??????

[vousviou]

7 hours ago, b4pjoe said:

Wondering about that also. I guess they are allowed to have phones while running the race??????

My guess is it's a crew member's phone, and there's a procedure for family to get in touch in case of something important. I'd be interested if anyone knows more, but I would expect they'd rather not have a team drop out at the last minute because someone's sister was due to give birth and they wanted to know how things were going.

[InDueTime]

At last! The race leaves Europe for a bit.

Well, it looked like Sharik finally got her wish. I did feel bad for Linton, however.

I'm not a slide puzzle person at all. Camel Detour it would've been for me.

Edited October 27, 2022 by InDueTime

[tkc]

On 10/21/2022 at 8:23 AM, blackwing said:

Slide puzzle was a Detour choice?  Versus filling a big bucket of water and making multiple trips to the cistern?  Really imbalanced.

[Vermicious Knid]

National Geographic channel will be showing a repeat of Lost Cities with Albert Lim focused on Petra Sunday, November 13 at 7pm. For those interested in learning more.