S34.E07: It’s Simply Medieval

[Whimsy]

Quote

Teams drive to Dordogne, France, the city of 1,001 castles, where they extract walnut oil, play 3 medieval games and flex their memory muscles while rappelling down the side of a castle.

Original air date 11/2/22

[mojoween]

I hope that Glenda and Lumumba have nothing but good things in their lives.  Such darlings.

I was actually hoping that Aubrey and David DID drive to Germany because they were kind of annoying.

[dizzyd]

TG the stupid love boat sank on its maiden voyage so we don’t have to wait for TAR. Aubrey is not grace under pressure and she can be quite demeaning to her husband. 

Edited November 3, 2022 by dizzyd

[MerBearHou]

I just stumbled onto an Instagram Live Lumumba and Glenda are doing — they are as delightful as you’d think.  Cheery and real and so close and supportive.  Tons of love on Insta for them.  Glenda said she was so tired and that it’s a “young person’s race” even though they’re only 40.  They are close to their fellow racers.  

[Guest]

Glenda and Lumumba have the kind of relationship I'd like to have: I come up with funny stuff to say off the top of my head, and she laughs uncontrollably.

So many delightful people this season, that relatively lowkey drama like Aubrey and David just sticks out more. A lot of twitching in the front seat of that car.

Mattie's bemused little "there are a lot of chateaus here" while looking at the map 😆

Luis and Michelle continue to defy my ingrained, irrational inclination to dislike them. He's putting on a show, but it's so corny I can't be bothered by it, and she's so breathlessly enthusiastic I get caught up in it. And she's, y'know, cute as hell.

After the brothers checked in first, and Molly/Emily arrived next, I thought "ahhh, order has been restored" lol

[aradia22]

It was so nice to watch the show at 9pm. I was a little distracted today so I didn't take notes.

I liked having a leg where navigation made a big difference again. I was sorry to see Glenda and Lumumba go but they seemed way too far behind... and the van ran into a ditch, no matter what shenanigans the editors tried to pull showing David and Aubrey struggling with navigation.

The castle task seemed exhausting with all of the running around. The actual task didn't seem too difficult once you figured out there were 5 clues that had to go in the right order. They definitely could have made it harder by having more name plaques than needed. I was impressed with Michael and Marcus really powering through after Michael left his keys at the task. Walnuts isn't really a strength task but I think they had a slight advantage. I was surprised so many teams were put off by the games. The walnuts were an endurance task where the games had a bit of skill/luck but a better chance of getting through it faster. 

KF didn't make David/Aubrey too unlikable but I would have preferred it if Glenda and Lumumba stayed. With fewer teams, Luis is becoming a little much but not to the point of being unlikable. I just feel like they could still leave that stuff out of the edit.

[GenerationX]

We got rid of the annoying teams early, so we're left with good people having a fun time competing on the race.  As it should be.

I have become a big fan of the cheerleaders.  Calm, cool, cute, and collected.  They don't seem to get as much screen time as the other teams.  I'd call them a "quietly competent" dark horse team to win it all.

[susannot]

Love France so much!  Vive La Francais.

[aradia22]

Quote

After the brothers checked in first, and Molly/Emily arrived next, I thought "ahhh, order has been restored" lol

Same. Sorry to the other teams, but I'd still prefer if the most competent racers won.

Quote

I have become a big fan of the cheerleaders.  Calm, cool, cute, and collected.  They don't seem to get as much screen time as the other teams.  I'd call them a "quietly competent" dark horse team to win it all.

I wish there was more of Quinton but maybe he only throws off little asides to camera. The way they always seem to include it when Claire says something and then rolls her eyes to camera. 

[anniebird]

I continue to be impressed by Derek and Claire and their smart choices - she figured out that the walnuts task was going to take everybody about the same amount of time and the only way to jump over anybody was to do the other task. And then they just do it, competently and with very little drama.

[InDueTime]

57 minutes ago, aradia22 said:

KF didn't make David/Aubrey too unlikable but I would have preferred it if Glenda and Lumumba stayed. With fewer teams, Luis is becoming a little much but not to the point of being unlikable. I just feel like they could still leave that stuff out of the edit.

Agreed. If not for the car in the ditch, I wonder if Genda and Lumumba would have squeaked though. I'll miss them.

Honestly, the drive to the challenges seemed more of a challenge than the actual challenges did this episode.

[Jules1]

Tonight watching the Race with my daughter, it was nice to see how supportive Glenda and Lumbumba were of each other. I told her THAT’S what you look for in a life partner.

[Skooma]

3 hours ago, dizzyd said:

TG the stupid love boat sank on its maiden voyage so we don’t have to wait for TAR. Aubrey is not grace under pressure and she can be quite demeaning to her husband. 

I was surprised when I saw during a Survivor commercial break that TAR was coming on next.  Good they put it on screen since I had the commercials muted.  So the reason for the move to 9 pm is that stupid love boat garbage thing got cancelled?  Cool.

I will miss Glenda & Lumbumba.  They brought big time joy to the Race.

[Fiftyninth]

1 hour ago, Skooma said:

So the reason for the move to 9 pm is that stupid love boat garbage thing got cancelled?  Cool.

The Real Love Boat has “moved” to Paramount Plus.

[OutOfTheQuestion]

Glenda and Lumumba were my favourite team in a long time, sorry to see them eliminated.

[Brynnjk]

I really enjoyed Glenda and Lumumba on this race.  They were both like walking rays of sunshine - so much joy in what they were doing and loving & supporting each other so much.  I started to get my hopes up they would stay but being so far behind & then a car off the road was just too much to overcome.  The views were terrific this episode.  I wish though that they would make the tasks harder.  They are just so easy compared to TAR Canada's tasks or past TAR US tasks.  It just feels dumbed down a little from the early days.  Or maybe I've just watched too many international versions of TAR.  I want really hard tasks.  Come on TAR US - make them work for it.  

[Haleth]

It was painful to watch Glenda and Lumumba slog through, knowing their elimination was inevitable.  They are so sweet and good natured and just all around lovely people.  I'm so glad no one got hurt when the car fell into the ditch.

7 hours ago, InDueTime said:

Honestly, the drive to the challenges seemed more of a challenge than the actual challenges did this episode.

No kidding.  Everyone but the brothers had a problem navigating.  Normally I don't want to see the alpha male team win leg after leg (yes, I know they haven't) but clearly they have skills beyond being big and strong.  (Although forgetting the keys was dumb.)  They went from back of the pack to first because they can read a map.  Kudos.

Michelle is just adorable.  Luis is silly funny but I can see how this will wear out viewers if it goes on much longer.  Aubrey had a bad day.  The twins continue to be competent.  Everyone else is just kind of there.

The locations for this leg were breathtaking.  

Thank you, CBS, for putting TAR where it should be!

[Fukui San]

Glenda and Lumumba are actual motivational speakers.

Mattie seems to be flirting with me through the screen and I have to say I like it. It's unfortunate that they seem to just be slow getting to everywhere, since they're mostly competent in challenges.

Twins and brothers had a very good day. I'm penciling them in for the top three.

The first couple made the last game seem impossible, then two other teams did it seemingly quickly.

There was some working together during the Roadblock, so maybe it's not a rule that they can't? I thought previously in the season that there might have been a rule against it this year.

[mertensia]

I enjoyed this episode; all the driving mistakes and how Claire was right to switch tasks.

I do wish there had been more than 5 names, though. 

[iMonrey]

This was really an anticlimactic episode, especially once Glenda and Lumumba went into a ditch. It was obvious they were never going to catch up, regardless of how hard the editors tried to make us think maybe Aubrey and David would fall behind. I am sort of crushed though. G&L have to be one of the nicest, more supportive, most inspirational teams the show has ever had. Not great racers, they were usually at the back of the pack, but boy they put those so-called "motivational speakers" to shame.

Quote

Honestly, the drive to the challenges seemed more of a challenge than the actual challenges did this episode.

Agreed, the self-navigation this episode was crazy. Everyone getting lost, turning around, following the wrong teams - it was a mess. That's really been the reason for the placement shake-ups more than the challenges. 

That said, it was smart of Claire and Derek to choose the Games because they were similar to the type of corny stuff they had to do on Big Brother, and it did give them a chance to jump ahead a few places. 

I'm still pretty meh on Luis and Michelle - I don't dislike them, per se, but I don't find them very interesting either. And David and Aubrey are really starting to bug. I really wouldn't want either of these two teams in the final three. I like everyone else.

[chaifan]

7 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

This was really an anticlimactic episode, especially once Glenda and Lumumba went into a ditch. It was obvious they were never going to catch up, regardless of how hard the editors tried to make us think maybe Aubrey and David would fall behind.

This is why I think it was a mistake for TAR to make such a big deal of "no NEL's", both to the racers and to the viewers.  In prior seasons, by now most of us would have been thinking "oh, they haven't had an NEL yet, G&L are going to be saved.  Maybe? Hopefully?"  Instead, by 1/2 way through the episode we pretty much know who will be eliminated, which, at least for me, makes it rather anti-climatic to watch through the end.  I would have rather gotten to the end of the season and been all "what?  no NEL's?  Damn, TAR, that was shrewd."

Other than that, fantastic scenery!  I loved the castle challenge, but thought it was weird that there was no "challenge" part to the rappelling.  One racer commented that he thought there would be clues on the wall, and I thought the same thing. 

I'm also glad pure, self navigation is back.  The racers and a map.  Very little chance to pull over and ask locals for directions, use someone's phone, etc.  I want to see more of this, in this season and in all future seasons.

[SHD]

Those medieval games got co-opted by Survivor!

[Fretful]

5 hours ago, Brynnjk said:

  I wish though that they would make the tasks harder.  They are just so easy compared to TAR Canada's tasks or past TAR US tasks.  It just feels dumbed down a little from the early days.  Or maybe I've just watched too many international versions of TAR.  I want really hard tasks.  Come on TAR US - make them work for it.  

100% this.  I understand that the travel element has changed and we can't have cab or airport drama at the moment, so let's compensate somewhere else.  Each of the tasks to MAYBE 30 minutes to complete.   Plus a few hours of driving. Done by noon.

TAR Canada and Australia each stay in their own country and without the cultural/language barriers have to adjust to make the race compelling.  One way they do that is by making the challenges difficult and unique.  TAR USA needs to find a way to do this.  Right now, it's a snooze-fest. Casting saved this season.

Edited November 3, 2022 by Fretful

[DEL901]

5 minutes ago, Fretful said:

100% this.  I understand that the travel element has changed and we can't have cab or airport drama at the moment, so let's compensate somewhere else.  Each of the tasks to MAYBE 30 minutes to complete.   Plus a few hours of driving. Done by noon.

TAR Canada and Australia each stay in their own country and without the cultural/language barriers have to adjust to make the race compelling.  One way they do that is by making the challenges difficult and unique.  TAR USA needs to find a way to do this.  Right now, it's a snooze-fest. Casting saved this season.

Actually, for TAR Canada, there are language barriers at times since we are a bilingual country, but not all citizens, myself included, are bilingual.  Last season, one challenge was in French which challenged some contestants. 

[proserpina65]

14 hours ago, aradia22 said:

I was surprised so many teams were put off by the games. The walnuts were an endurance task where the games had a bit of skill/luck but a better chance of getting through it faster. 

Maybe they figured some of those games would involve being good at aiming?  That would've made me choose the walnut task since I have terrible aim.

57 minutes ago, chaifan said:

but thought it was weird that there was no "challenge" part to the rappelling.  One racer commented that he thought there would be clues on the wall, and I thought the same thing. 

For those of us with a fear of heights, the rappelling was challenge enough all by itself.  Apparently no one still in the Race this time is particularly acrophobic, though.

[Gregg247]

I was sorry to see Glenda and Lumumba get eliminated, and it seemed clear that Phil was disappointed as well.

Phil is always gracious at the mat with the last team to arrive, but sometimes you can tell if he likes or dislikes a particular team.  This time, he looked truly sorry G&L were leaving and he seemed to be genuinely sharing a big laugh with them as they joked about their time on the race.  Of course Phil has favorites; I think G&L are definitely one of those teams.

I don't dislike any of the teams left in the race, but my favorites are the twins.  I remember, many years ago, they had a twin team who were young women originally from India.  They were kind of air-headed and always shouted "Twinnie Power!" to each other as a sign of support.  They became one of my all-time favorite teams.  Anyway, every time I see the twins appear this season, I shout "Twinnie Power!" at my TV screen to try to boost their chances.  LOL

[survivinmt]

I thought order was restored in my universe when Amazing Race was on after Survivor and not later. 😊

[Yogisbooboo64]

I believe TRLB has been banished to CBS+.

Sighs….farewell, lovely Glenda and Lumumba!  God how I wish they would have been able to scoot past David and Aubrey, they put in a great fight to the end and remained loving and respectful towards each other.  I was wishing that Phil would have made an exception and kept them in for one more week.

If I were David I would have stopped the car and told Aubrey to either drive or STFU!  Her screaming at him was unacceptable and I’m no longer rooting for them.

I couldn't stop giggling at the nuts being crushed and juiced....sighs, I'll never grow up!!

Yay to Derek/Claire (though Claire had me yelling 'cause she wanted to do the puzzles....what if they hadn't finished?!), Emily/Molly, Quinton/Mattie remaining.  While I love how Luis is with Michelle, he’s too cocky for me, just not as bad as Michael/Marcus, whom I cannot stand.

Edited November 3, 2022 by Yogisbooboo64

[anniebird]

It's too bad TAR doesn't do a fan favorite - G&L would win for sure.

[shura]

3 hours ago, chaifan said:

I'm also glad pure, self navigation is back.  The racers and a map.  Very little chance to pull over and ask locals for directions, use someone's phone, etc.

Someone’s phone? A team was able to use someone’s tractor! That lady was so nice (and ready!) to just come and pull them out of the ditch in no time. It probably happens often enough on that road.

3 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

17 hours ago, aradia22 said:

I was surprised so many teams were put off by the games. The walnuts were an endurance task where the games had a bit of skill/luck but a better chance of getting through it faster. 

Maybe they figured some of those games would involve being good at aiming?  That would've made me choose the walnut task since I have terrible aim.

Did they know in advance what the games were going to be? I guess they may have been able to see them. Yes, the game where you had to toss a bag onto a high platform was essentially basketball, wasn’t it. Once people figured out they had to use basketball (or shot putt, I suppose) mechanics, they got it done reasonably easily.

I would have hesitated to pick the walnut side of the Detour because I would have no idea how many walnuts it takes to squeeze any significant amount of oil. My guess would be - a lot? But it turns out, if the numbers I’ve found are accurate and if my math is correct, it’s not too bad - only about a hundred walnuts to make 3-4 ounces of walnut oil. Now I know. Also, you can use walnut oil and walnut shells for pretty much anything, from cosmetics to woodworking to oil well drilling, apparently.

What was with the brothers not finding a walnut grove while standing in the said grove? Not seeing the forest for the trees, literally.

[proserpina65]

9 minutes ago, shura said:

Did they know in advance what the games were going to be? I guess they may have been able to see them. Yes, the game where you had to toss a bag onto a high platform was essentially basketball, wasn’t it. Once people figured out they had to use basketball (or shot putt, I suppose) mechanics, they got it done reasonably easily.

I would've sucked at that.

[chaifan]

40 minutes ago, shura said:

Yes, the game where you had to toss a bag onto a high platform was essentially basketball, wasn’t it. Once people figured out they had to use basketball (or shot putt, I suppose) mechanics, they got it done reasonably easily.

They only way I could have completed that challenge (since each racer had to get one up there) would be to sit on the shoulders of my partner.  Then, maybe, I could muster up enough upper body strength to get that bag of whatever on that platform.   I hate it when there are tasks that rely so much on upper body strength, as I feel it really disadvantages many of the women.  The two women who completed that task were tall and/or had shot putt experience.  How would the twins have done?  They could easily have had three non-strength games, similar to the other two.

Seriously, though, I wonder how explicit the instructions were.  Could they have pulled a table over to stand on, or used something as a ladder or platform?  (I'm starting to look at TAR clues/instructions the way I do TaskMaster instructions - looking for the loopholes that make a seemingly impossible task do-able.)

[Haleth]

18 hours ago, anniebird said:

I continue to be impressed by Derek and Claire and their smart choices - she figured out that the walnuts task was going to take everybody about the same amount of time and the only way to jump over anybody was to do the other task.

Actually the later a team arrived the longer it would take to gather enough walnuts. The early teams grabbed all the close ones. 

[iMonrey]

Quote

  I wish though that they would make the tasks harder.  They are just so easy compared to TAR Canada's tasks or past TAR US tasks.  It just feels dumbed down a little from the early days.

I think most fans have noticed how much easier the race has gotten over the past several years. If you go back and watch the first few seasons, each leg could be particularly grueling, and clues were actual clues that teams had to figure out - not simply instructions telling them "go here." 

I don't know why though. Maybe when the show went from being once a summer to twice a year they didn't have enough time to really plan more elaborate tasks. Or maybe some network exec decided it was too hard and wanted to dumb it down. Maybe both.

I thought the Roadblock and both Detour options this leg were fairly easy. As someone pointed out above, the Roadblock could have been much harder if they'd thrown in more names than they needed to use.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, proserpina65 said:

1 hour ago, shura said:

Did they know in advance what the games were going to be? I guess they may have been able to see them. Yes, the game where you had to toss a bag onto a high platform was essentially basketball, wasn’t it. Once people figured out they had to use basketball (or shot putt, I suppose) mechanics, they got it done reasonably easily.

I would've sucked at that.

Me at that challenge:

*fails several dozen times*

*sees someone do it successfully*

"Oh, I see, you have to throw it overhand like a basketball!"

*fails several dozen times*

[aradia22]

Quote

TAR Canada and Australia each stay in their own country and without the cultural/language barriers have to adjust to make the race compelling.

Are these available on any streaming service in the US?

Quote

 (I'm starting to look at TAR clues/instructions the way I do TaskMaster instructions - looking for the loopholes that make a seemingly impossible task do-able.)

That reminds me... I definitely need to hunt down TaskMaster after this season of TAR is over. 

[Skooma]

On 11/3/2022 at 10:50 AM, Fukui San said:

Glenda and Lumumba are actual motivational speakers.

Mattie seems to be flirting with me through the screen and I have to say I like it. It's unfortunate that they seem to just be slow getting to everywhere, since they're mostly competent in challenges.

Twins and brothers had a very good day. I'm penciling them in for the top three.

The first couple made the last game seem impossible, then two other teams did it seemingly quickly.

There was some working together during the Roadblock, so maybe it's not a rule that they can't? I thought previously in the season that there might have been a rule against it this year.

Roadblock racers can work together as much as they want.  It is their partners that can't help them.

On 11/3/2022 at 12:54 PM, Gregg247 said:

I don't dislike any of the teams left in the race, but my favorites are the twins.  I remember, many years ago, they had a twin team who were young women originally from India.  They were kind of air-headed and always shouted "Twinnie Power!" to each other as a sign of support.  They became one of my all-time favorite teams.  Anyway, every time I see the twins appear this season, I shout "Twinnie Power!" at my TV screen to try to boost their chances.  LOL

Close but actually they were from from Sri Lanka originally.  And they were recruited for Survivor when there was a "pairs" themed season.  One was out the very first episode but the other got revenge and went on to win the whole season and a million dollars ... which hopefully she gave some to her sister.

Edited November 6, 2022 by Skooma

[Netfoot]

1 hour ago, chaifan said:

I hate it when there are tasks that rely so much on upper body strength, as I feel it really disadvantages many of the women.

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

I think most fans have noticed how much easier the race has gotten over the past several years. If you go back and watch the first few seasons, each leg could be particularly grueling, and clues were actual clues that teams had to figure out - not simply instructions telling them "go here." 

On the one hand, there are those who want the game tasks to be difficult - a real challenge. It's a million dollars! It shouldn't be easy.

On the other hand, there are those who feel that this challenge or that challenge or the next challenge was too hard. Not fair to people who don't have experience with SCUBA or never played basketball.

I personally think that if you sign up for TAR you should expect TPTB to grind your bones to make their bread. If you can't handle that, stay at home. 

(Memories of Charla carrying a side of beef... and Snarla as well.)

I enjoyed this episode. There were actual challenges, actual navigation, actual unforced errors with actual consequences. Everyone is sorry that Lumumba and Glenda were eliminated. I am sorry to see them go, but no more so than I would have been for anyone else. We seem to be graced with a number of likable teams and no unlikable ones. KF is starting to be a thing, so at some point Dr Jekyll may become Mr Hyde; I hope not.

I'm actually rooting for Derek & Claire. My reason is a silly one: I came into the show with a very low opinion of BB (which I still have) and expecting them to be awful. Instead they impressed me as being pretty decent people, so they are my team right now. 

[chaifan]

30 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

On the one hand, there are those who want the game tasks to be difficult - a real challenge. It's a million dollars! It shouldn't be easy.

On the other hand, there are those who feel that this challenge or that challenge or the next challenge was too hard. Not fair to people who don't have experience with SCUBA or never played basketball.

I'm fine with tasks being hard.  And you're right, they should be for a million $ prize.  But upper body strength is, by and large, a trait that favors men over women.  Yes, there are exceptions, but generally speaking, men have significantly greater upper body strength than women.  Having a task that relies solely on upper body strength, with no other way to compensate, I think unfairly disadvantages the women.  Comparing this to racers having experience with scuba or basketball is apples & oranges, as anyone can potentially have those same experiences and there's no gender bias there, just as anyone can learn to swim or drive stick.  And, there's never been a TAR challenge that would be significantly more difficult to complete if a racer didn't have previous experience in X, Y or Z. 

It would be the same if there was a challenge that was much easier to complete for people with small feet, or who weighed less - those would unfairly disadvantage the men (again, generally speaking).  TAR has had plenty of difficult challenges that haven't universally given an advantage or disadvantage based on gender.  That's why this one stood out for me.

ETA: @Netfoot I totally agree with you about Claire and Derek.  I was fully prepared to hate them as a former BB team, but damn, they've proven me wrong on that.  I really like them, and would be fine with them winning.  (I am rooting for the twins, though.)

Edited November 3, 2022 by chaifan

[Netfoot]

42 minutes ago, chaifan said:

Having a task that relies solely on upper body strength, with no other way to compensate, I think unfairly disadvantages the women.

I agree with pretty much all you say. However, I don't think it is reasonable to expect that each task be crafted so that there is no possibility of bias toward one group or another.

Yes, there are 6'5" tall women who are lumberjacks. But females are generally smaller than their male counterparts with less upper body strength. I don't see that we could run a race if we had to avoid any challenge that favoured taller, stronger people so as not to disadvantage females. Instead I rather hope that each challenge has it's own character, favouring different strengths and abilities from racers, and so what each racer loses on the swings, they regain on the roundabout. 

And this doesn't only apply to male/female. I remember a while back complaints being raised because an Asian couple in a far eastern country, were advantaged by the fact that they spoke the local language. It was suggested that the challenge was not fair to everyone else for that reason. But if our cast is diverse in the skills and abilities each racer has (as I for one always hope it is), it becomes very difficult to devise a series of challenges in which nobody is advantaged and none disadvantaged.

So again, I hold that each competitor approach each challenge and do the best they can. And if they don't do well because of some skill or ability (natural or learned) which they don't have, well, fingers crossed that they excel at the next challenge, due to some skill or ability which they do.

[dgpolo]

5 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

I remember a while back complaints being raised because an Asian couple in a far eastern country, were advantaged by the fact that they spoke the local language. It was suggested that the challenge was not fair to everyone else for that reason.

Not quite a 'couple' unless being literal, brother and sister, and one of the Hippies spoke Japanese which was unexpected but as you say diverse skills. It always comes up when a specific challenge meets a specific contestant, surfing and Bethany, lassoing and Cowboys. the complainers never seem to take in the fact that the teams have to actually make it to the challenge that seems to favor them.

I watch with my daughter the next day so I try to avoid spoilers if I can but I did see a pic of the brothers looking way too happy so I figured they won the leg. They had to have done some great navigating to catch up from where they started, but Michael (?) really needs to stop overthinking things.

[toodywoody]

23 hours ago, mojoween said:

I hope that Glenda and Lumumba have nothing but good things in their lives.  Such darlings.

I was actually hoping that Aubrey and David DID drive to Germany because they were kind of annoying.

What's funny is I told my mom, who knows someone could get lost and find they are in Germany and then I was wishing it was them because she wouldn't stop the bitching. Then I said I hope he just pulls over and gets out. He did but I was wishing he would have told her to drive and I'll give you directions 

[vousviou]

10 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Quote

Honestly, the drive to the challenges seemed more of a challenge than the actual challenges did this episode.

Agreed, the self-navigation this episode was crazy. Everyone getting lost, turning around, following the wrong teams - it was a mess. That's really been the reason for the placement shake-ups more than the challenges. 

I'm glad it was challenging for the racers, but I would have loved to have seen an onscreen map at some point showing everyone's route. It was especially mystifying to me while watching how the brothers zoomed into first.

[vousviou]

23 hours ago, aradia22 said:

The castle task seemed exhausting with all of the running around. The actual task didn't seem too difficult once you figured out there were 5 clues that had to go in the right order. They definitely could have made it harder by having more name plaques than needed.

I agree it could have been a bit harder, but overall I was OK with it. When I learned at first it was a rapelling task I feared it was another simple one where everyone lines up and goes down one by one with zero chance to scramble the order.

There are too many bungie jumping style challenges which are just a waste of screen time.

And of course the brothers made an unexpected dumb mistake, although it didn't hurt them in the end.

[North of Eden]

Can't say I was thrilled to be going to France this episode...I wanted the racers to keep moving further away from Europe.

Still this was a great episode for self navigation fails. The blind leading the blind. The dangers of following others. And the foray into the ditch? We'll never know how close it was but I wonder if that was the difference between them beating the hispanic couple.

The knight in the chainmail was making me think of Sir Friendzone from Game of Thrones.

The elminated seemed like thoroughly pleasant people that you'd like to have cocktails wtih.

Closing out with a deep dive into the shallow end of the pool but Michelle's booty in those red lycra shorts is a national treasure.

[iMonrey]

Quote

I'm actually rooting for Derek & Claire. My reason is a silly one: I came into the show with a very low opinion of BB (which I still have) and expecting them to be awful. Instead they impressed me as being pretty decent people, so they are my team right now. 

Yes, I object to Big Brother teams on principle, but if they must have one, Derek and Claire are at least decent people. The worst thing I could say about them was they might have been a bit naive on Big Brother in not recognizing the alliance that would eventually screw both of them over. But they were both nice people.

Quote

On the one hand, there are those who want the game tasks to be difficult - a real challenge. It's a million dollars! It shouldn't be easy.

On the other hand, there are those who feel that this challenge or that challenge or the next challenge was too hard. Not fair to people who don't have experience with SCUBA or never played basketball.

I think at some point the producers decided the tasks had to be managed so that they could be finished within a certain time frame, rather than something that might take someone all day to do or potentially never finish. I remember way back in one of the first seasons a team that was an entire DAY LATE getting to the finish mat. The shoe is probably trying to insure that each leg is completed by all teams within by a certain time. (Although, with all the self-navigation it's quite possible someone might have driven all the way to Germany and back! I wonder, if that were they case, if the producers would simply radio the camera man and tell him to steer the team back to France.)

Edited November 4, 2022 by iMonrey

[proserpina65]

19 hours ago, chaifan said:

I hate it when there are tasks that rely so much on upper body strength, as I feel it really disadvantages many of the women.  The two women who completed that task were tall and/or had shot putt experience.  How would the twins have done?  They could easily have had three non-strength games, similar to the other two.

Well, since it was a detour task, not a roadblock, it didn't really matter.  The other detour did not rely on upper body strength.

[TVbitch]

Nooooo! Damn. Those two were my favorites, by far.

[30 Helens]

As a BB watcher, I already knew Derek and Claire are nice people and was rooting for them from the start. But then I fell in love with Glenda and Lumumba, who have to be the nicest, most supportive couple to ever appear on this show. 

Jeopardy recently had a Second Chance tournament for contestants who played really well, yet just missed the mark on their first appearances. I vote for a TAR Second Chance season, and I nominate Glenda and Lumumba to lead the pack. 

[TVbitch]

I was thinking the same thing @30 Helens! They've certainly brought people back before, and Phil clearly adored them. But the couple really wants to have a baby ASAP, so it might be a long while before they could commit to it again. Maybe when Boom Boom is in high school!