S02.E08: I Said Yes!

[Florinaldo]

Rapido? Scusi? For people that have travelled the world, they sure don't have any concept of one of our national languages. I cringed every time they pulled out their own version of French.

Sometimes, it is better to let people think you are stupid instead of opening your mouth and proving that you actually that dumb and misinformed. I suppose they might have thought that throwing random Spanish and Italian words would work instead of French since these are all Latin languages, but i don't credit them with enough intelligence to have made that connection.

 

They were also lucky that the requirement to announce the take-out dishes in French was not assessed too strictly by the bistro patrons, since they and some other contestants made a rather laughable job of it. I think language tests can be too much of a hardship anyway, even more than the physical ones, just as language learning is difficult in daily life (especially for adults). Imagine if they had to do it in a language in which intonation can also alter the meaning, it could have taken all of them longer than the Mentos challenge.

 

I did not mind the twins using the U-turn; this a a race and I don't buy the high morality speech form the hockey players for example. If you want to win, you take every means put at your disposal by the very rules of the game. They may have had a very valid reason not to trust the other team; they all saw each other behave, in and out of the racing itself (I imagine they spend some social time together at the pit stop)  for several weeks so they must know more about their true character than we do. I would have liked more explanation as to what exactly went wrong with the Mentos puzzle: color-blindness, simple mental fatigue, problems with spatial perception or something else entirely?

 

I found the proposal completely famewhorish and manipulative; this was designed a a Big Moment certain to delight the producers and to ensure more screentime to that team. He seemed to have been carrying the ring for a while, waiting for the best moment to create the most attractive visuals that the show would just lap up, and having Notre-Dame in the background was quite the money shot.

[mledawn]

Well when you're in the position the hockey players are in, you don't need to use a UTurn, so you get to be on your high horse and talk about playing the game with integrity or whatnot.

 

Rest assured, though - if it came down to a win or a loss, those Olympians would go for the julgular and use the UTurn.

[Donny Ketchum]

Yes, UTurns are part of the game, but it would have been more of a sure thing at that point to UTurn Mickey and Pete, who were nowhere to be seen, rather than Ryan and Rob who were more or less neck in neck with them. Sukhi and Jinder had better watch their backs!

While I also would've used it on Mickey & Pete, I totally understand using the U-Turn on Ryan & Rob instead.  They are a team of athletic alpha-males who could dominate physical tasks and probably outrun Sukhi & Jinder in a footrace.  And they were hindered greatly by a Speed Bump on the way.  Plus, they were in the back group of teams.  Seemed as good a time as any to try and knock them out when they were vulnerable.  It didn't work, thanks to Michel's brain fart, but it was at least worth a shot.  If Michel had been better at that Roadblock, it would've been a success.

 

There is NO other all-woman team with as many wins under their belt.  And I don't even think there's any other team, period with as many wins (I'm thinking ratio wise because TAR:C has less legs than TAR:US overall) In TAR:US, I think only one all female team has ever won the game. At this point I'm going to be shocked if the Hockey Girls get eliminated before the finale. 

At six wins, Natalie & Meaghan have officially tied the record for the women's team in all versions of TAR with the most wins with Valerie & Bodhana from TAR Ukraine (and TAR17's Nat & Kat are behind them both at five wins), but they're not the team with the most wins ever.  They're still beaten by TAR13's Nick & Starr, TAR15's Meghan & Cheyne, and TAR Asia 2's Rovilson & Marc, all of whom had seven wins (and in Rovilson & Marc's case, all seven of those were in a row, I think!).  And all of those teams are dwarfed by TAR20's Rachel & Dave, who have the record of eight wins.

Edited August 31, 2014 by Donny Ketchum

[Donny Ketchum]

I think my fav part was Rob/Ryan (sorry still don't know one from the other) and Audrey helping each other out at the Mentos challenge and leaving the twin in the dust. Amazing that the bartenders survived so many challenges!

Actually, Audrey and either Mickey or Pete helped each other.  Rob & Ryan had barely gotten there at the time.

[HistoryGirl]

This has to be the case.  They have been so systematic and methodical in their tasks that I can't believe he just couldn't go line by line.  I was hoping to get some clarification when I saw the rerun of their Canada AM interview, but no, all they were asked about was "the drama" of the U-turn.  You'd think the interviewer would ask why the hell they couldn't do that challenge in under 7 hours.  

 

I agree.  I definitely think he was colour blind, or the least slightly colour blind.  I'd say maybe it was undiagnosed but doesn't he wear glasses? I would assume that a colour blind test is a rather standard test at the optometrist (especially for boys) and clearly the twins have visited one before. 

[Nijntje]

Yes, UTurns are part of the game, but it would have been more of a sure thing at that point to UTurn Mickey and Pete, who were nowhere to be seen, rather than Ryan and Rob who were more or less neck in neck with them. Sukhi and Jinder had better watch their backs!

 

Weren't Mickey and Pete on the first train to Paris? Maybe Sukhi and Jinder assumed that the reason M/P were nowhere to be seen is because they had long finished the challenge. Sometimes it is better to u-turn a team that you know is behind you, especially when you think you are the last 2 teams.

 

 

No, on TAR:US it's kept in a box too.  Maybe earlier on they had it in their fannypack. But there was definitely a box . I remember them searching through it for their faces.

 

Now it's computer touch screen.  

 

I do remember there being a photo being kept in the fannypack. There was discussion when the blind u-turn was first introduced that this would now allow teams to use the u-turn twice - once using the photo of themselves in their fannypack, and once with no photo needed.

 

[UsernameFatigue]

Actually, Audrey and either Mickey or Pete helped each other.  Rob & Ryan had barely gotten there at the time.

 

Right you are - and that would have been Pete from what I remember. Just read another interesting interview with the Muskoka boys. They have been friends since they were two years old. Along with Mickey having an accounting degree, Pete is finishing up a four year uni degree in tourism and hotel management.

 

Regarding the twin(s) possibly being colour blind - does TARC do any screening of teams for such things, if it is something that might impede being able to complete a task?





Edited September 1, 2014 by UsernameFatigue

[Rusun]

They used it to skip the Rock Song Roadblock at Whiskey Dix in Leg 6 (because the song was in English).

 

Makes one wonder if Michel would've been better off just slogging through it - given Rex's poor showing - and thus saving the EP for the Mentos RB.

Edited September 1, 2014 by Rusun

[anonymiss]

I find the Hockey Olympians boring too. I know what I'm going to get from them: total execution, next to no personality quirks. Their only interesting time was when they struggled with the hockey challenge but that was because it was unexpected, not because of their personalities.

[In Pog Form]

... the mime didn't say anything. :)

That's just what he wants you to think. Don't fall for his trap.

Never. Trust. A. Mime.

[Pepper the Cat]

I was just re-watching this and it occurred to me. It must be very hard on the judges to have to fail someone over and over again. Esp when you see a team trying so hard.

[satrunrose]

As a Canadian French teacher I am so, so, soooooo embarrassed by Suki and Jinder. Why do they keep speaking Spanish and Italian in Paris. Whyyyyyyyyy? 

[Sharpie66]

I was just rewatching the ep, concentrating on the finish times for the Mentos challenge. Team Canada totally smoked it, finishing in 1:40. Rob came in second, in 2:28, with Sukhi in 3:10ish and Audry in 3:40 (or maybe that's reversed?), and Team Dude didn't have a finish time listed but it couldn't have been much more than that.

[Kel Varnsen]

I was just rewatching the ep, concentrating on the finish times for the Mentos challenge. Team Canada totally smoked it, finishing in 1:40. Rob came in second, in 2:28, with Sukhi in 3:10ish and Audry in 3:40 (or maybe that's reversed?), and Team Dude didn't have a finish time listed but it couldn't have been much more than that.

What's crazy is that if the brothers had just walked up to it, skipped it and taken the 4 hour penalty, they probably wouldn't have come in last. Which is why I am not so sure it is an issue of being colourblind. 

[Sharpie66]

If Michel was colorblind and told the producers before the show, which he would have been required to do I'm sure, there was no way they would have set up that challenge in the first place. I know that if I ever got my sister to join me in doing the US race, we would have to tell the producers that we both have had bariatric surgery, so they would have to get rid of any eat-lots-of-food challenges to accommodate us.

 

I really think it was just a matter of him not settling down and going through the puzzle line by line to see what his mistakes were. Which proves that he isn't a proofreader or a cross-stitcher--I would have done exactly what Sukhi did and gone line by line given my experience in both of those fields.

[Kel Varnsen]

If Michel was colorblind and told the producers before the show, which he would have been required to do I'm sure, there was no way they would have set up that challenge in the first place. I know that if I ever got my sister to join me in doing the US race, we would have to tell the producers that we both have had bariatric surgery, so they would have to get rid of any eat-lots-of-food challenges to accommodate us.

 

I am not so sure about that. My understanding is that for the most part the people who set up the challenges are a completely different team then the people who cast the racers. Plus at least for the US race when the seasons where Margie and Luke were on there was at least one challenge I can remember where you needed to be able to hear to do the challenge. If he was colourblind and it was known, I think at the very least they would have just put a note that Michel's brother would have to do the challenge.

 

As for your example, I am not sure the producers would have to change anything. They could if they wanted to, or they could just say anyone who couldn't complete the challenge would be forced to take the penalty, or they just wouldn't cast someone with stomach issues.

[UsernameFatigue]

Team Dude

 

Love the name! I hope you don't mind if I borrow it for future posts!

[Sharpie66]

Go for it!

[lynny]

If Michel was colorblind and told the producers before the show, which he would have been required to do I'm sure, there was no way they would have set up that challenge in the first place. I know that if I ever got my sister to join me in doing the US race, we would have to tell the producers that we both have had bariatric surgery, so they would have to get rid of any eat-lots-of-food challenges to accommodate us.

 

I really think it was just a matter of him not settling down and going through the puzzle line by line to see what his mistakes were. Which proves that he isn't a proofreader or a cross-stitcher--I would have done exactly what Sukhi did and gone line by line given my experience in both of those fields.

 

I would be 100% shocked if Michel was colour blind. If he was, he just wouldn't have done that challenge, he could have passed it to his brother. And, if they're both colour blind, I'd imagine they'd just have to take the penalty. 

 

I can't see the challenge creators altering the tasks to take into account one team's specific issues. Like mentioned above, one of the challenges Luke & Margie did required hearing. There was a challenge last season that I'm pretty sure that the brother with the steel legs couldn't do. I think that if they had contestants who couldn't eat a bunch of food, they either wouldn't cast them or make them take the penalty. It's not like workplace accommodation rules apply to the challenges.

[mtlchick]

This show had it all; harder than it looks detour complete with overturned coffee cup icon, difficult speed bump, a tough roadblock that successfully blends in a sponsor, every language but French from one team, U Turn deception, "Quebec blows up!" (she has been on our roads), a great comeback and a proposal.

 

Damn TAR USA, you're slacking.

[Blackie]

The funniest part form this episode was when after the "proposal", John told Audrey and Alain to go enjoy romatic Paris and then right after the voice over said "for more extra footage and deleted scenes go to the website", like they were going to show pictures of A&A "doing it" in Paris.

[TV Anonymous]

Should this discussion not be in the players - instead of the episode - thread?

[radishcake]

Should this discussion not be in the players - instead of the episode - thread?

Yes! And those posts have been moved to the Golden Girls topic. :D

[Camera One]

I don't like U-turns but this was a tense episode.  Karma really hit the twins badly, not necessarily because they used the U-turn but because they were so gleeful about it.  I still can't believe they spent so long on that task.  

 

The coffee spilling for careless teams was good, though the dress-making task seemed way more difficult and time-consuming.  There really needs to be a bit more balance in detours.  

 

I didn't like Jinder and Sukhi for their gleeful U-turning, but I still laugh at their dumb comments.  "No problemo" in France?  Really?  Sukhi using that ridiculous mnemonic device and Jinder trying to make her stop was kind of funny as well.

 

I'm surprised the two friends caught up after a 2-hour journey to Place Des Canada.  I didn't know there was a square for Canada.  Would've gone to see it when I visited Paris had I known.

Edited September 11, 2014 by Camera One