S25: Adam & Bethany

[Camera One]

but Adam and Bethany are scary in how laid back they are.

 

Adam is definitely very laid back.  Though we've seen Bethany get a bit flustered at the parklet task.  They relate to each other really well though and I don't remember seeing them argue once so far.

Edited October 28, 2014 by Camera One

[Tahitigirl]

Bethany was raised in Hawaii....can't be more laid back than that! Adam was raised in a small town in the Midwest; again, no big city "rush rush" mentality. Plus, they're genuinely nice people. I'm glad to see them doing so well.

[choclatechip45]

I loved at the detour two episodes ago when Adam was easily distracted by T & T when they asked him a question and Bethany told him to concentrate it was a nice real moment.

[Donny Ketchum]

They could've gotten frustrated with the goats, but didn't.  They kept up their Detour choice, finished it, and Bethany took a Roadblock that she rocked out, finding an excellent way around having only her one arm.  Amazing job!

[Rick Kitchen]

I saw Bethany in a commercial yesterday, but I can't remember what the product was.

[aradia22]

Yay! Loving this team. They're not adorable enough for me to really enthusiastically root for them but they're nice without being bland. I don't know if that makes any sense. But sometimes there are inoffensive couples who are competent but are just so bland that they make no impression on you. This team isn't bursting with personality but I still like them. Anyway, they did a nice job again this week. I liked that they raced smart, sort of helping out other teams when they were asked but not going so far as to hold their hands. They're not idiots. They told people to get taxis or pointed them in the right direction but they didn't go out of their way and mess up their own race to help. Also, I would have guessed that Adam would have taken on the roadblock and in spite of the safety line I was a little nervous about how Bethany would handle it. She probably has good balance as a surfer but if that thing is moving about with every breeze and you only have one arm and some poorly placed planks to balance on it's going to be pretty tricked. But she rocked it out. I didn't anticipate the puzzle being a challenge in my ignorance but again, she adapted really quickly. I wonder how much she's had to rely on using her feet. Probably not as much as someone who had lost the use of both hands or arms but I don't think this is the first time she's thought to use her feet to help her out so she must have learned to adapt by using her feet to some extent. 

[Tahitigirl]

I saw Bethany in a commercial yesterday, but I can't remember what the product was.

Cosamin....a supplement for joint health (I think).

[Lingo]

Also, I would have guessed that Adam would have taken on the roadblock

 

Jim and Misti assumed so too (in a bonus clip).

[TudorQueen]

I don't think anyone knew exactly what the Roadblock entailed (though I might have missed something in the Reading of the Clue). Bethany did a great job, either way. I just love watching her in action, not because she has one arm but because she does everything with such warmth and energy. I love Adam, too, because it's so clear how gone he is on her, and he shares her predisposition to be kind and even helpful. I loved it when Phil told the Greeter "They're in love."

[Lingo]

I remember the RB clue being something along the lines of, "Who's good at putting things together?"

[KnitsWithRaceCars]

I saw Bethany in a commercial yesterday, but I can't remember what the product was.

 

 

Cosamin....a supplement for joint health (I think).

 

 

I saw her in a commercial when I was in a Dr. office waiting room on Tuesday, and it's been bugging me because I couldn't remember what the ad was for.  I'm glad you knew, TahitiGirl!  I wonder if it's a new commercial that's being aired now to coincide with her TAR appearance.

 

Still loving this team and I hope they continue to do well!

[elychari]

Bethany is impressive as a racer but she irritates me with her uptalk.  It seems like she always ends her sentences in a question mark.

[Donny Ketchum]

Adam did fine with the Roadblock, I guess.  But he and Bethany seemed to get really caught up at the Painters Detour, which seemed to be even harder due to Bethany only having one arm.  I actually think they might've benefited better from doing Posers, or maybe even using their Express Pass.

 

Still, they avoided last, so good for them.

[Lingo]

For a moment I was worried they'd be eliminated with the Express Pass in their pocket.

[RedheadZombie]

Bethany is impressive as a racer but she irritates me with her uptalk.  It seems like she always ends her sentences in a question mark.

 

She also baby talks.  For whatever reason, I don't love this team and I feel alone in this.

[Lingo]

I'll admit I'm not a fan of the voice, but there's not really anything she can do about it so I hate mentioning it.  Also, they are so mellow it is a little boring.

[NurseGiGi]

I like this team and think they might be my favorite.  I hated last seasons alliances and nasty sniping so it's refreshing to see a genuinely likable pair.  It also doesn't hurt that they're extremely competent racers.

[Mreid]

I really like Adam and Bethany a lot and really want them to win.  Not only does Bethany inspire me with her positive attitude its also nice to see a guy like Adam to see the good personality that Bethany has and be able to look past the fact that she is missing an arm.  I just love being around positive people.

[TudorQueen]

I'm not 100% sure he's 'looking past' her missing arm as much as it is a general attitude of "This is all part and parcel of the remarkable woman I love." i.e., he doesn't love her less - or more - for the missing arm, but the way she deals with it is just one more demonstration of the character she shows in their life together.

[theschnauzers]

I've compared these two as being the closest team to Kris and Jon (TAR 6) since, well, Kris and Jon. Their attitudes about the experience, how they sort out the tasks, and the way they deal with each other has so much of that vibe, it is really amazing to watch. Will they manage to do one place better than Kris/Jon? Don't know, but I 'm hoping they do.

[riley702]

I've seen more than a few newlyweds struggle with their differences at first, and it may take a while to smooth down the rough edges for them to really click into an easy partnership. I'm very impressed that these two seem to already be there in a little over a year since their marriage.

Edited November 18, 2014 by riley702

[Donny Ketchum]

Loved how they didn't get frustrated with delivering their trays of wine.  They just cleaned up, picked up, and moved on.  Bethany killed that rappelling/swimming Roadblock, too, and they wisely used their Express Pass when they needed to so they could win their second leg!  Great job to them!

 

But PLEASE stop the "Bethany is awesome!" stuff.  WE GET IT!  She is awesome!

[TudorQueen]

I love these two more and more. Bethany's slight disappointment at not getting to try 'Flag' was adorable. But I agree that the producers need to stop pushing the "Bethany is awesome!" trope because she doesn't need it. She simply is.

[Pickles]

I like this couple, but does her voice bother anyone? Sometimes she sounds so spacey.

[Donny Ketchum]

I like this couple, but does her voice bother anyone? Sometimes she sounds so spacey.

Adam's voice actually bothers me way more than Bethany's.  He sounds stoned.  Actually, it's almost as droning as Andie's voice in TAR17.

[riley702]

Is it because they're from Hawaii, or because they're surfers? ;)   Actually, accents don't bother me much. I'd hate for everyone to sound like news anchors!

Edited November 23, 2014 by riley702

[Donny Ketchum]

Is it because they're from Hawaii, or because they're surfers? ;)   Actually, accents don't bother me much. I'd hate for everyone to sound like news anchors!

Adam's actually from the Midwest, so his accent comes from there.  He just happens to live in Hawaii with Bethany.

[riley702]

FWIW,  I'm from the Midwest, and his accent doesn't scream "Midwest" to me. Then again, other Midwesterners haven't always been able to place my accent (Indiana), so maybe I'm not the best judge on that. How long has he lived in Hawaii? Long enough to get a blended accent?

Edited November 23, 2014 by riley702

[Tahitigirl]

He's from Kansas...been in Hawaii around 3 years, I think.

[Lingo]

But PLEASE stop the "Bethany is awesome!" stuff.  WE GET IT!  She is awesome!

 

You know, that stuff in the show, in which other teams talk about how impressed they are with her, doesn't bother me at all.  But if you think that's bad, you should see the bonus clip of Phil on the Mat with the Dentists, chatting them up about Bethany and awkwardly congratulating himself on how they're not talking about how she's disabled or whatever.

[Babalu]

I don't hear anything Hawai'ian in either Adam's and Bethany's speech. I really like them, but Bethany's accent does grate a little sometimes. I think she was born and raised on Kaua'i but was home-schooled so maybe she picked up the speech patterns of her surfer parents? (Speculation only; I have no idea how her parents talk, of course.)

[RemoteControlFreak]

Bethany's uptalking baby talk is very noticeable and very annoying.  It also reminds me of the way the golfer Michelle Wie, another young athlete from Hawaii, speaks.  I don't know if it's an Hawaii thing or connected to the fact that both Bethany and Michelle grew up in a very sheltered environment that may have kept them from developing mature speech patterns.

Edited November 23, 2014 by remotecontrolfreak

[Lingo]

It's not "baby talk" and it's not immature.  That's just how some people talk.

[auntlada]

I read this article from BBC News about uptalk recently and found it interesting.

[riley702]

It's not "baby talk" and it's not immature.  That's just how some people talk.

Seriously, what a boring world this would be if we were all alike. I've never "gotten" this whole need for everyone to be just alike and talk alike.

[Donny Ketchum]

Honestly, that was a huge risk they took, going for the Fast Forward when they were in the back group.  But they were lucky that Kym & Alli faltered so much at it.  A risk that paid off, and another decisive win for them!

 

Good work, guys!

[outtosee]

She also baby talks.  For whatever reason, I don't love this team and I feel alone in this.

 

I really don't like them either, and everyone is pretty much their BFFLs on this board. We can go be anti in a corner together lol. "Bebbehhhhhh!" 

Edited November 29, 2014 by outtosee

[Donny Ketchum]

I really don't like them either, and everyone is pretty much their BFFLs on this board. We can go be anti in a corner together lol. "Bebbehhhhhh!" 

I do like them, though I'll admit tonight showed a not-so-nice moment from them.  I get being happy over getting the Fast Forward, but openly celebrating getting it in front of the team who might be screwed by it wasn't pleasant.  I didn't like Tim & Te Jay celebrating knocking Amy & Maya out of that ceiling painting Detour in front of Amy & Maya themselves, and I didn't like Adam & Bethany doing the same to Kym & Alli.

[KnitsWithRaceCars]

I haven't noticed any uptalk from Bethany, and she definitely does not "baby talk."  I paid extra attention the past couple of episodes in case I was missing something.  Her sentence structure, word usage, and grammar are fine, and I don't hear her sounding like every sentence is a question.  I think she just has a higher pitched voice that, at the same time, is very mellow, and she speaks slowly.  As Lingo said, it's not immature or "baby talk," and as Riley702 said, it's just the way she talks and people do not all talk the same way.

 

Adam sounds pretty "generic Midwest America" to me, even though I consider Kansas to be more a part of the Great Plains than the Midwest.  The speech in the 2 regions is very similar, though.  I don't pick up on Adam having some of the idiosyncrasies of the Upper Midwest speech like I know I have (I've lived in IL and WI all but 3 years of my 40+ years), but he sounds pretty much like the people I've been around most of my life.

[TudorQueen]

I was holding my breath for the length of the entire fast forward. Didn't they hesitate before taking it, which allowed the Cyclists to get there first? Also, I figured it would take straight-up surfing skills and therefore be a no-brainer, but Adam failed the first time and both mentioned that it wasn't quite like surfing.

 

Still love them, for some of the very qualities some people find boring or 'precious'. I would not be upset with anyone left winning (and how short this marvelous season has been!) except, perhaps, the wrestlers.

[Tahitigirl]

When deciding whether or not to go for the Fast Forward, it was clear that Bethany was familiar with it and said that it is hard to do. Of course she had an advantage due to her experience surfing but it took both of them to complete it to win. Adam is not a pro surfer and has only been surfing for a few years (3?) and with their busy travel schedule who knows how much surfing he actually gets to do. If he hadn't completed the task, they would probably have lost the leg. So despite their "advantage" I think it was still very risky to go for it. In fact, their best advantage was probably knowing that it was hard and that the cyclists would most likely struggle with it.

[ByaNose]

While we saw Adam fall one it could have happened a lot more & it wasn't shown. They did show the girls falling more so it's anyone's guess (until their exit interview) how close it was between the 2 teams. I was a little confused when they did the Wave. Because I thought when they were on the boat going back with Jim & Misti they had already picked their Road Block?! Didn't they say something like "since we already open the envelope let's see what the Fast Forward is" or something to that affect?!

[jjj]

Yes, but they all still had to go back to the city for the RB or FF, so everyone went back on the boat. 

[Lingo]

While we saw Adam fall one it could have happened a lot more & it wasn't shown. They did show the girls falling more so it's anyone's guess (until their exit interview) how close it was between the 2 teams. I was a little confused when they did the Wave. Because I thought when they were on the boat going back with Jim & Misti they had already picked their Road Block?! Didn't they say something like "since we already open the envelope let's see what the Fast Forward is" or something to that affect?!

 

You can see in the bonus videos of the Surfers and/or the Cyclists, at least one of them say that Adam got it on his second try.

 

Regarding the clue, what happened was that the Dentists and Surfers knew that they were 40 minutes behind, so none of them even looked at the FF clue and got back on the boat to the city.  (That island is about as far as you can get from the city and still be in Singapore.)  Then they decided to look at the clue and found that it involved a "Wave House", so they went for it.  The Wave House, near as I can tell, is on the other side of Singapore from where they were (Sentosa versus Pulau Ubin), so they'd have had to take the ferry back no matter what.

[Camera One]

Could Adam and Bethany have used their Express Pass this leg if it hadn't already been used?  If so, that would have given them some padding even if the Cyclists had completed the Fast Forward and if then U-Turned.  I wonder if they could have survived this leg if that had been the case.  As it were, they took a huge gamble and I'm so glad it paid off for them.

Edited November 30, 2014 by Camera One

[Babalu]

No, last leg was the last time they could have used it - which is why they did.

Having the Wave task coincide with Adam's & Bethany's strengths doesn't make them any less rootable for me. First, I agree with those who don't think it was planned and was just coincidentally lucky for them. The only time I thought circumstances were really unfair was when Victor/Tammy were in China for 3 weeks, though I'm sure that was coincidental as well. Even so, I still liked Victor/Tammy and was rooting them in the finale, just as I'll be rooting for Adam/Bethany if they make it to the finale.

[Mreid]

Well we all have our opinions but I dont know how anyone could not like Adam/Bethany I think they are one of the nicest couples we have seen on TAR they remind me of Kris and Jon from TAR 6  great communication, so positive and we havent even seen them argue yet. Im so rooting for them in the finale and im glad they won that fast forward 

[Jac]

As a disabled person, I don't like the fact that the praise about Bethany is necessary, but if it acts as a stepping stone towards it no longer being necessary, I'm okay with it happening.

 

As a disabled person I completely agree with this statement. 

[Jac]

No, last leg was the last time they could have used it - which is why they did.

Having the Wave task coincide with Adam's & Bethany's strengths doesn't make them any less rootable for me. First, I agree with those who don't think it was planned and was just coincidentally lucky for them. The only time I thought circumstances were really unfair was when Victor/Tammy were in China for 3 weeks, though I'm sure that was coincidental as well. Even so, I still liked Victor/Tammy and was rooting them in the finale, just as I'll be rooting for Adam/Bethany if they make it to the finale.

 

I think they would have almost certainly lost the leg if they hadn't have completed the FF successfully. They were already 40 minutes behind, it would have taken another hour+ to travel to Sentosa and then back to Marina Bay Sands (I'm a regular Singapore visitor, it is a small island but traffic can get congested and speed limits are low, Google Maps informs me it is a minimum 20 minute trip at 9pm.) Travel times alone would have likely done them in. 

[Camera One]

Yeah, it was a big risk for them to do the FF.  And doing the leg would also have been a risk.  Both the Wrestlers and the Scientists had a 40 minute head-start, and the Surfers were racing for last place against the Dentists, who is a strong team, plus there was a U-Turn at play.  Looking at the tasks, there wasn't much room to get ahead of a team.  So I suppose they were facing the choice between two big risks.