S35.E07: Like Two Cats Fighting in a Car

[PaperTree]

2 hours ago, Cotypubby said:

It’s like some people see the word “math” and their brains turn to goo.

I know people like that, it's just what you have a knack for.

I'm pretty good at math (Chem major), but my brain turns to goo with literature - titles, plots, characters, etc.  Eyes glaze over.

[Guest]

51 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

Having said this, I do believe Anna Leigh should have been less snippy with him because he is, after all, her father. respect is due. Make your point, sure. But hold back that attitude.

Maybe she should have been less snippy, but she extended an olive branch first by apologizing, and he came back with basically "I'm sorry you're such a brat." There's also respect due to your children, especially when they make the first step toward reconciliation. And yeah...lean over and look out the window, man!

Someone else lumped Anna Leigh in with Robbin & Chelsea as someone who wasn't enjoying the race, and I heartily disagree. She (along with Steve) is often laughing, whooing, having a big smile on her face, etc. She's clearly having a ball overall.

[Tango64]

Loved this episode, but I don't like how much they relied on asking people to use their cellphones. I know it's nothing new, but it still seems to take away from the spirit of the task. If they had asked passersby, "Hey, do you know of a cologne from here whose name is a four-digit number?" that would have been better. It would have taken more time probably, but just using someone's cell phone is an easy out and not much fun to watch.

But then again, I guess if you ask people, they're just going to whip out their phones anyway. So maybe it's better not to have a clue that relies on internet research.

[Ancaster]

20 hours ago, Tango64 said:

Loved this episode, but I don't like how much they relied on asking people to use their cellphones. I know it's nothing new, but it still seems to take away from the spirit of the task. If they had asked passersby, "Hey, do you know of a cologne from here whose name is a four-digit number?" that would have been better. It would have taken more time probably, but just using someone's cell phone is an easy out and not much fun to watch.

But then again, I guess if you ask people, they're just going to whip out their phones anyway. So maybe it's better not to have a clue that relies on internet research.

I agree, I hate this (relatively) new use of cell phones in the race.  I'm a chronic googler (I like knowledge and I love to be proved right - wrong answers need not apply or be announced!), but I think the race would be better without their use in this kind of situation.  Hell, I'm not German and I know the 4711 eau de cologne.  It may have taken a little work, but they could have found someone there who knew the answer.  It also would be easy enough to impose a "no cellphone use outside of certain parameters" rule.

(Was anyone else bothered by all the racers who didn't even bother saying, "Excuse me, but do you speak English?" before launching into their question.  I don't care how ubiquitous English may be at common tourist sites, there's still such a thing as common courtesy.)

 

Edited November 10, 2023 by Ancaster
4711 not 1711! Ironic huh?

[Browncoat]

When I'm tired, I often struggle with right vs left and east vs west, so I completely understand why Morgan or Lena (can't remember which is which!) immediately turned the wrong direction.  I don't know if it's really a thing, but I call it fatigue-induced dyslexia.  I actually started wearing a watch again to help me know which was my left. 

That said, if someone is giving me directions, they either need to point, or, if they're in the back seat, maybe tap me on the correct shoulder.

[kitkat343]

1 hour ago, Netfoot said:

Wow! This was a great episode/leg!

Greg and John raced well and deserved the #1 spot this leg.

Despite getting on the wrong ferry, Robin & Chelsea went from last, briefly to first and finished second. I agree with the consensus that they don't really seem to be enjoying the experience of TAR, and I think that just trying every possible combination of coins should have come with a detraction. Possibly a time delay between attempts or having to do the rappel each time before getting another guess. I was surprised that Robbin (Chelsea?) thought that the way to find the needle in the haystack of a million locks was to examine each lock closely, one at a time. It seemed to me that the way to go was to take a brisk walk and keep your eyes peeled. Production is going to hide the lock - they will let the other locks do that.

Ashlie and Todd put in a run-of-the-mill performance and I'm surprised they came as high in the rankings as they did. But good for them. Something about Ashlie creeps me out a little, but since I can't figure out why I am not letting it turn me against the team.

Rob and Corey are having a ball, and they seem to work well together to get the tasks completed. I hope they go far, not because I want them to win, but because I want them to enjoy this experience together for as long as possible. I must say I thought they were crazy to choose footie-darts. I've played lots of darts and getting the exact score is harder than it might sound. I've also played footie and that only convinces me that it would have been even more difficult. 

Steve and Anna Leigh are my pick for winners. Even more so, after this episode. Steve sitting in the back of the car and actively not navigating would have gotten my goat, I have to admit. You can't see? Lean forward, put your head down low and look out the windshield. Or open the window and stick your hear out! Having said this, I do believe Anna Leigh should have been less snippy with him because he is, after all, her father. respect is due. Make your point, sure. But hold back that attitude. And Steve giving her what-for was great. It's the reason for my "Even More so". Hopefully she will show a little more respect for her teammate and for other racers from now on!

Morgan and Lena. Unbelievable. You are driving, your navigator says "Turn Left!" So you immediately turn right? I'm surprised they did as well as they did, what with the arguing and bitching. They are sisters and I hope like hell they live in different cities, because I can't see them treating each other better when there are no cameras rolling.

I was a little disappointed with Joel and Garrett. I understand they thought they were last and therefore out of the race in a season with no NELs. I understand they just kicked back and enjoyed the experience on what they thought was their last day. But the outcome is all the evidence you need to understand why you never kick back and take your time. You race balls-to-the-wall, every moment, right up until you hear Phil say "I'm sorry to tell you..." This is even more true when you think you're last. Because maybe you aren't, and taking your time can ensure that you are.

And finally, Malaina and Andrea. Well, I always found their "Out Of Towners!" shrieking to be somewhat annoying but I wouldn't condemn a team for that. But when a team admits that they don't know where they are and don't know where they're going, then decide to just keep on driving? They are no-hopers at that point. They went miles out of their way, got on the wrong ferry, thought Euros were an ancient coinage... frankly I'm surprised they finished the leg at all. Come to think of it, they didn't! They received the Minor Guido elimination from Phil, who couldn't wait for them to bumble their way around the city until they accidentally bumped into him - he had to go and find them to give them the boot.

 

What killed them was that they asked on the ferry how many other teams had been there already, and when they were told none instead of thinking "hmm...we had a hard time finding this - it seems strange we would be in first"  they immediately started cheering about being in first.  Another team took the wrong ferry, realized it immediately and still finished near the top of the pack.  It was not thinking "this might be a problem" when they were told they were the first ones there that killed them.

55 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

 

Why?  If the clue didn't specify exactly how one got to the correct number, then there shouldn't be a penalty.

 

The producers need to decide if they want to allow racers to randomly guess or if they want to assess. a penalty for guessing.  In the task from the earlier season where the team quickly sold their fruit at a discount price, they first checked the clue to make sure they wouldn't incur a penalty for doing so and that TAR allowed them to immediately get more fruit baskets until they eventually earned the amount of money required by the clue.  It's a producer decision, and they will either tolerate random guessing in the future or assign a penalty/redesign the task in the future if they don't want this to happen again.

 

1 hour ago, sara416 said:

I noticed this last night more than before and it was delightful. I love these two! Can I find a way to hang out with them after the race? They seem like so much fun. 

After being tortured by Luke for two very long seasons, I am very glad to see this team racing.  And I was also impressed with his ability to drive while reading handwritten directions from his son.

Edited November 9, 2023 by kitkat343

[shura]

1 hour ago, Netfoot said:

Morgan and Lena. Unbelievable. You are driving, your navigator says "Turn Left!" So you immediately turn right?

Maybe it’s a reflex.  When your controlling sibling starts yelling controlling things at you, you go “You are not the boss of me!” and do the opposite. Not a super useful reflex for self-driving on TAR, to be sure.

Here is something for the fans of the intricacies of TAR rules and regulations (like last week’s discussion on telling Steve and Anna Leigh that they had not yet completed their task correctly).  Andrea is starting to do “a task that only one team member may perform” and realizes that she cannot complete it because she does not have the right coins. She goes back to her partner and together they figure out why she does not have the right coins and what to do to about it, then go and get the coins so Andrea can in fact complete the Roadblock. Does this not constitute Malaina’s helping Andrea do the Roadblock?

[PrincessPurrsALot]

1 hour ago, Tango64 said:

Loved this episode, but I don't like how much they relied on asking people to use their cellphones. I know it's nothing new, but it still seems to take away from the spirit of the task. If they had asked passersby, "Hey, do you know of a cologne from here whose name is a four-digit number?" that would have been better. It would have taken more time probably, but just using someone's cell phone is an easy out and not much fun to watch.

But then again, I guess if you ask people, they're just going to whip out their phones anyway. So maybe it's better not to have a clue that relies on internet research.

I recall that one team asked passerbys if there was a perfume whose name was four digits.  One of the people answered the question without looking it up.  Since the cologne brand seemed to be well known, if they asked locals that question, it might have been faster.  Asking them to look up the oldest cologne made in Cologne removed the thing that might trigger a quick answer. For teams that asked prior to seeing the lock, they wouldn't know it was four digits.  If you asked after you were at the lock, it was clear what you were looking for. 

21 minutes ago, kitkat343 said:

What killed them was that they asked on the ferry how many other teams had been there already, and when they were told none instead of thinking "hmm...we had a hard time finding this - it seems strange we would be in first"  they immediately started cheering about being in first.  Another team took the wrong ferry, realized it immediately and still finished near the top of the pack.  It was not thinking "this might be a problem" when they were told they were the first ones there that killed them.

The producers need to decide if they want to allow racers to randomly guess or if they want to assess. a penalty for guessing.  In the task from the earlier season where the team quickly sold their fruit at a discount price, they first checked the clue to make sure they wouldn't incur a penalty for doing so and that TAR allowed them to immediately get more fruit baskets until they eventually earned the amount of money required by the clue.  It's a producer decision, and they will either tolerate random guessing in the future or assign a penalty/redesign the task in the future if they don't want this to happen again.

 I agree.  it was odd that A&M didn't realize that it was incredibly unlikely that they were the first team to arrive.  Did they really think that every other team took a multi-hour tour of the local region?  It was also funny that they asked for a money changer and got a guy whose actual job is to make change when needed.  He likely thought they just used an odd choice of words. You know he went home and explained so these women asked me for change for a 5, I gave them change, then someone asked me to sign a release to be on TV.  

There have been prior tasks with penalties for wrong guesses.  In this case, production chose not to add one.  The choice to keep guessing one coin at a time didn't bother me.  It looked like she went back down to the sign before guessing again.  It seemed like some of the teams struggled with the math because they were trying to figure it out together.  If you worked it from the bottom up, it was easy. 

This reminded me of when Rob got the first clue of the season quickly because he couldn't hear the other people and wasn't caught up in or distracted by their guesses. 

I did laugh when one of the sisters said I went to the top business school. I can do basic math.  I've worked with many MBAs from top schools that not only can't do basic math, I question how they get through a day without injuring themselves because of their lack of basic reasoning. I do give her credit for looking at the information and solving it immediately.  

[Guest]

One thing I couldn't figure out was the sudden gap between the sisters and facial hair friends. They both struggled with finding the parking garage where the circus was, but we saw them get there at the same time - both were parked and getting out of their cars in the same shot. And yet, Morgan & Lena had somehow gone upstairs, gotten dressed in their costumes, finished the circuit and were getting out of their costumes before Joel & Garrett even made it up there. What were the guys doing in all that time?

[Katrina Kate]

1 hour ago, Browncoat said:

When I'm tired, I often struggle with right vs left and east vs west, so I completely understand why Morgan or Lena (can't remember which is which!) immediately turned the wrong direction.  I don't know if it's really a thing, but I call it fatigue-induced dyslexia.  I actually started wearing a watch again to help me know which was my left. 

That said, if someone is giving me directions, they either need to point, or, if they're in the back seat, maybe tap me on the correct shoulder.

And if she can’t wear a watch on her left wrist, put a colored Band-Aid on the back of her left hand only, especially if she is on her own and doesn't want to ask anyone.

[Netfoot]

2 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

Quote

I think that just trying every possible combination of coins should have come with a detraction.

Why?  If the clue didn't specify exactly how one got to the correct number, then there shouldn't be a penalty.

I'm not saying they did something wrong or that there should have been a penalty applied, because the clue did not specify any reason not to do it their way.

What I'm saying is that the clue should have specified some requirement that would make simply trying every single possible combination until you lucked out less attractive. A delay between tries. A chore that had to be performed before trying again (Drink a flagon of beer!) Something.

Just my opinion. Feel free to disagree.

[Door County Cherry]

6 hours ago, Phebemarie said:

I’m starting to worry that an old Amazing Race “curse” is going to catch up with Corey and Rob.  In the first few seasons, the most beloved team went out in fourth place:  Kevin and Drew, Danny and Oswald, among others… Have they come in higher than fourth?  

They've come in 2nd a few times and 3rd once.  

[Twopper]

10 hours ago, tracyscott76 said:

Although if he was really just sitting in the back seat letting turns pass them by, I could get her irritation. I know he said he couldn't see, but it must be very frustrating to be at the mercy of a navigator who isn't doing anything, and you'd think his difficulty seeing would have come up before. Maybe they should have worked out a different arrangement.

I’ve watched a lot of seasons of this show, and I have always wondered why the navigator sits behind the driver instead of next to the driver. It would drive me nuts. 
I am enjoying this season. 

[Browncoat]

4 minutes ago, Twopper said:

I’ve watched a lot of seasons of this show, and I have always wondered why the navigator sits behind the driver instead of next to the driver. It would drive me nuts. 
I am enjoying this season. 

The cameraperson sits next to the driver.

[chicagofan]

On 11/9/2023 at 2:27 PM, PrincessPurrsALot said:

There have been prior tasks with penalties for wrong guesses.  In this case, production chose not to add one.  The choice to keep guessing one coin at a time didn't bother me.  It looked like she went back down to the sign before guessing again.  It seemed like some of the teams struggled with the math because they were trying to figure it out together.  If you worked it from the bottom up, it was easy. 

Not sure if I'm remembering it correctly, but Anna Leigh didn't get the right answer by doing the math. IIRC she was with some of the other racers working on the clue and said something like "it's 5" - then someone told her "no 15". Then she said "o.k. I'm going to try that (15) and let you know if it's right as she proceeded to jump ahead of everyone who was there. When it proved correct she told the others it was correct and bounced off ahead of them to do the rappelling.

 

 

 

.

 

Edited November 10, 2023 by chicagofan
Because reppelling and rappelling are not the same thing

[Corgi-ears]

5 hours ago, chaifan said:

On a different topic... does anyone know the significance of 66 as the point goal for the darts game?  Did they mention that at all and did I miss it?

There was no explanation, and it would be delightful if the reason is simply that if you're going to get your kicks, it might as well be on (route) 66.

[J-Man]

I noticed the "4711" logo on a building in the very first shot of Phil in Germany, and there was another one later on when they were in Cologne. So I wondered how or if that was going to factor into one of the tasks.

Some people are contrasting the parent-child relationships of Rob-Corey vs. Steve-Anna Leigh. I would also like to point out how different the sibling relationship that Morgan-Lena have vs. Greg-John. And I really enjoyed how much Greg and John seemed to have fun this episode. They, along with Rob and Corey and The Facial Hair Duo seem to "get" what TAR is all about. Ashlie and Todd are close behind, but the other two teams can leave anytime.

[Ancaster]

57 minutes ago, chicagofan said:

Not sure if I'm remembering it correctly, but Anna Leigh didn't get the right answer by doing the math. IIRC she was with some of the other racers working on the clue and said something like "it's 5" - then someone told her "no 15". Then she said "o.k. I'm going to try that (15) and let you know if it's right as she proceeded to jump ahead of everyone who was there. When it proved correct she told the others it was correct and bounced off ahead of them to do the repelling.

 

That figures, since at least a few of us here do find her kind of repellent.  😉

Edited November 9, 2023 by Ancaster

[jabRI]

7 hours ago, Door County Cherry said:

And it didn't look like he had an interpreter with him. 

But the question was written down, no reason he couldn't have signalled that he was deaf and someone could have looked it up on their phone.  Mad props to the two of them, favorite team of the season, just saying for written instructions/questions he wouldn't need an interpreter.

[Skooma]

2 hours ago, kitkat343 said:

The producers need to decide if they want to allow racers to randomly guess or if they want to assess. a penalty for guessing.  In the task from the earlier season where the team quickly sold their fruit at a discount price, they first checked the clue to make sure they wouldn't incur a penalty for doing so and that TAR allowed them to immediately get more fruit baskets until they eventually earned the amount of money required by the clue.  It's a producer decision, and they will either tolerate random guessing in the future or assign a penalty/redesign the task in the future if they don't want this to happen again.

I like that the producers don't force everybody to finish a task the same way but to do their own thing.  Promotes creativity and recognizes we're are not all built the same. 

I'm blanking here.  Was it Ken & Gerard that figured out to sell their stuff cheaper or did Zach come up with it?  (I know Flo didn't, haha).  I'm thinking it was Ken & Gerard maybe.  And it was in the same Mekong delta area of Vietnam as this Race visited too.  Just doing stuff with fruit on dry land instead of the water there in TAR3.

2 hours ago, shura said:

Here is something for the fans of the intricacies of TAR rules and regulations (like last week’s discussion on telling Steve and Anna Leigh that they had not yet completed their task correctly).  Andrea is starting to do “a task that only one team member may perform” and realizes that she cannot complete it because she does not have the right coins. She goes back to her partner and together they figure out why she does not have the right coins and what to do to about it, then go and get the coins so Andrea can in fact complete the Roadblock. Does this not constitute Malaina’s helping Andrea do the Roadblock?

No.  She couldn't do/start the RB because she didn't have the right tools aka the coins.  Getting the coins first from the money changer wasn't part of the RB task.

2 hours ago, PrincessPurrsALot said:

I did laugh when one of the sisters said I went to the top business school. I can do basic math.  I've worked with many MBAs from top schools that not only can't do basic math, I question how they get through a day without injuring themselves because of their lack of basic reasoning. I do give her credit for looking at the information and solving it immediately.  

And the brother that did the task said he was a software engineer but sucked at math and always googled stuff, haha.

1 hour ago, Netfoot said:

I'm not saying they did something wrong or that there should have been a penalty applied, because the clue did not specify any reason not to do it their way.

What I'm saying is that the clue should have specified some requirement that would make simply trying every single possible combination until you lucked out less attractive. A delay between tries. A chore that had to be performed before trying again (Drink a flagon of beer!) Something.

Just my opinion. Feel free to disagree.

Well above I disagreed.  I believe you turn the Racers loose and let them figure out the best way for them to do a task.  Be creative.  Not everybody is a square peg that likes going into a square hole.  I like it when Racers try different ways.  And wild guessing has been part of numerous RB and Detour tasks over the years.  Doesn't bother me at all.  🤷‍♂️

35 minutes ago, Twopper said:

I’ve watched a lot of seasons of this show, and I have always wondered why the navigator sits behind the driver instead of next to the driver. It would drive me nuts. 
I am enjoying this season. 

 

30 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

The cameraperson sits next to the driver.

Just like Browncoat said.  In Season 1 early on they did sit together in the front seat ("The Smoke That Thunders" long drive in Africa) and all we saw were the backs of bobbing heads on the screen since the cameraman was in the back seat so the producers knew they had to fix that problem asap.

[vousviou]

I'm sorry to see M & A go, but that was a huge navigation collapse. If I somehow ended up racing, I think I'd skip practicing memory puzzles and dance lessons and just spend all of my time with my teammate navigating in strange places.

I was a little surprised Team ZZ Top was sure they were last and didn't have some hope M & A might have been behind. Maybe it just didn't occur to them that they could be so lost.

I was struck when they said the sausages were the first food they'd had since breakfast. Racing all day like that must be pretty draining.

The cars were automatic, weren't they? I would have liked to ha e a little stick shift drama.

[aradia22]

This was a bit of a boring episode. The tasks weren't that great and weren't very visually interesting to watch either and as much as the editors tried to hide it, it was pretty damn obvious that Andrea and Malaina were going home from very early on. Joel and Garrett were very lucky.

The ferry was not exciting at all but I guess it provided some drama in shaking up the placement after they'd bunched up on the flight. But navigation woes did that throughout the episode. I'm not sure production really thought it was going to be that big of a deal though actually finding the man with the bag of coins should have been a clue to Andrea and Malaina. I was expecting the worst from the money conversion task after the scramble puzzle in episode one. But Corey has always seemed good at math, Morgan aced it, and most of the others didn't struggle too much. Chelsea was just embarrassing though. I guess there was only one type of coin if she could just keep returning with different amounts. They should have made it more difficult (like having to use the three types of coins on the board to make proper change). 

Greg and John seemed good with navigation this episode and that really helped them secure first. I did not like Robbin and Chelsea tailing them (especially since they're bad at navigation and haven't wanted to help other teams). 

The carnival task didn't seem to affect placement at all. The challenge seemed to just be finding the location. No one really struggled with pedaling but I guess it broke up the boredom of watching them do the other tasks. There was a certain style to the carnival packing up and going home before Andrea and Malaina got there. Those poor actors/musicians. I hope production was in communication when racers were getting close so they could just be on break the rest of the time. 

Production was nice to them in making the locks big and obvious compared to the regular locks on the bridge. I was a little confused at how much the early teams were struggling if all 7 locks were attached to the bridge at the start. Surely it should get more difficult over time? Nice to see Ashlie help Rob with the combination. I have no idea how they planned to get around that if he'd been unable to ask someone with a cell phone for help. Would there be an ASL translator to intervene and ask a passerby for him?

Robb and Corey were very cute talking about darts. It's like they both rolled super high on charisma.

Todd picking the soccer task was bananas. But luckily they switched early and still ended up in third. 

The mustard task seemed reasonably difficult. You had to be good at identifying the flavors as well as keeping the memory task part in mind. Obviously it was preferable to soccer unless you had soccer skills but I can see how you'd struggle.

Greg and John continue to prove themselves very likable and competent racers. It took them two tries at the mustard and there weren't any big struggles this episode. 

[aradia22]

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Robbin and Chelsea - quite possibly never spoke another word to each other after the race.

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Morgan & Lena are such a mess, I love it. "Slow downnnn!" as she's running after Morgan on the big horse bike 😆

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You heard it here first, folks. Even Steve thinks Anna Leigh has a "smart-ass mouth." His words, not mine.

Full disclosure, I wasn't watching the episode all that carefully and if people were bickering and I missed it, I didn't rewind. I think Robbin got a more positive edit in that they mentioned more of her backstory stuff but she was still snapping at Chelsea. Morgan and Lena cannot hide their dysfunction but I missed most of it during the driving. I totally missed most of the Steve/Anna Leigh stuff until he finally told her to stop talking to him like that. But honestly, with Andrea and Malaina gone, I think I'll like all of the racers fine if/when Robbin and Chelsea leave. I mean, I don't want Steve and Anna Leigh to win but they can hang around a while as long as the editors focus on the likable teams.

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I'm not usually one for rooting for a guy/guy team but Greg & John, Rob & Corey and Joel & Garrett are my preferred final three.

As dysfunctional as they are, I wouldn't mind Morgan & Lena pushing Joel & Garrett out but yeah, those are the most likable teams left. Todd & Ashlie are okay but I don't want them to win.

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That’s quite a paradoxical definition of smart - refusing to do mental work in favor of brute-forcing it through the challenge. Good thing she only needed to pay 15 coins and not 115.

Yeah, I really hated that. And after she bragged about puzzles during the tile task.

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It was weird to me how few managed to get out even a Danke, which is surely one of the easiest thank yous out there, and one I thought most Americans know.  Normally many of them make an attempt to get something vaguely local out, but it was as if they were so relieved to get back to "civilization" and recognizable cars, etc., that their brains just flopped back to middle America.

Agreed, especially when three of them have lived in Germany. Not just vacationed, but lived there. 

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I cannot for the life of me understand why teams don't take the divide and conquer approach for task such as the mustard tasting - you have 9 flavours: one of you learns four and one of you learns five, instead of both of you trying to learn 9 each.  Doh!

They didn't really show it but I assume both team members could taste each flavor at first and then during the actual task. I get why it would be good to have someone back you up on what things tasted like. If only one person could taste each mustard while guessing, it makes sense not to divide things up because you don't know the order. Either way, I think this time it made sense for a task they were doing together because they could help each other. It wasn't purely about memory.

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Everybody keeps hating on Ana Leigh, while I'm over here watching the older of the two sisters in horror. She hates, no loathes her little sister with a passion. It literally drips off her every time she belittles her.

I don't think she loathes her at all but I wonder if Morgan talks to everyone that way or just Lena. From episode one, I've found her shockingly mean and dismissive. It's like when she gets stressed, that's the only way she can process it. 

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Hey TAR, could we have an All Stars season of fun, positive, loving teams?  I'd watch the hell out of that.

A bunch of nice people having a good time? Sounds great. tbf, they got pretty close this season

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Chelsea and Robbin act like someone forced them at gunpoint to do this race. There is no joy. Especially from Chelsea. I thought she was rude at the castle when she said “I don’t know. You tell me” to the guy collecting her coins who asked “what’s the right amount?”  He’s just playing his role, Chelsea. Maybe stop and enjoy it. She looks so dour even in their talking heads that I am convinced every leg that they got eliminated. 

And this is why everyone who didn't U-turn Steve and Anna Leigh picked them instead.

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Rob and Corey are having a ball, and they seem to work well together to get the tasks completed. I hope they go far, not because I want them to win, but because I want them to enjoy this experience together for as long as possible. I must say I thought they were crazy to choose footie-darts. I've played lots of darts and getting the exact score is harder than it might sound. I've also played footie and that only convinces me that it would have been even more difficult. 

They both kind of seem like jocks (Rob's a football coach) and maybe they were worried about communicating at the mustard task or just didn't want to eat mustard. They seem inclined towards physical tasks. I hope they would have switched if they were really struggling but it didn't seem to take them that long to figure it out given their placement at the mat.

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Loved this episode, but I don't like how much they relied on asking people to use their cellphones. I know it's nothing new, but it still seems to take away from the spirit of the task. If they had asked passersby, "Hey, do you know of a cologne from here whose name is a four-digit number?" that would have been better. It would have taken more time probably, but just using someone's cell phone is an easy out and not much fun to watch.

But then again, I guess if you ask people, they're just going to whip out their phones anyway. So maybe it's better not to have a clue that relies on internet research.

I think it would be nice to have another mini puzzle, especially since there were four digits. Give them something that adds up to 4711 or let them guess each digit individually from a different clue. Or at least have like a sign somewhere along the bridge that they need to locate to find the answer. But with something like that, finding someone with a phone really is the fastest way to get through it.

[PrincessPurrsALot]

4 hours ago, chicagofan said:

Not sure if I'm remembering it correctly, but Anna Leigh didn't get the right answer by doing the math. IIRC she was with some of the other racers working on the clue and said something like "it's 5" - then someone told her "no 15". Then she said "o.k. I'm going to try that (15) and let you know if it's right as she proceeded to jump ahead of everyone who was there. When it proved correct she told the others it was correct and bounced off ahead of them to do the repelling.

That is what I recall too.  She let the others do the work then acted like she was helping them out by jumping ahead.  D'oh!

[Twopper]

4 hours ago, Browncoat said:

The cameraperson sits next to the driver.

Thanks. I thought there was just a camera  in the car with them, but with a million dollar prize I can see that they would want a real person. 
I want to go to that carnival and try to ride the horse-bike. 

[absolutelyido]

11 hours ago, tracyscott76 said:

Malaina accosting the (wrong) ferry changemaker with "you gave us the wrong coins!" wasn't being a super good sport, but agreed that they took most of it in stride.

I would have broken down in tears realizing that I had taked the wrong ferry and basically had to start the leg all over again. I admired how calm they were through the whole fiasco of a leg.

[Skooma]

20 hours ago, aradia22 said:

Production was nice to them in making the locks big and obvious compared to the regular locks on the bridge.  ... Nice to see Ashlie help Rob with the combination. I have no idea how they planned to get around that if he'd been unable to ask someone with a cell phone for help. Would there be an ASL translator to intervene and ask a passerby for him?

Yeah I was expecting a major locks meltdown like on TAR6.  As for Rob he had a pen and the clue with him and he can speak fine.  Just ask and have the person show him the cell phone screen or write the number down on the clue.

19 hours ago, Twopper said:

Thanks. I thought there was just a camera  in the car with them, but with a million dollar prize I can see that they would want a real person. 
I want to go to that carnival and try to ride the horse-bike. 

There is a 2 person team that follows each team.  The cameraman and the person who handles the boon mic (to record all the non-miced locals and sound background etc) and among other duties has a cell phone he won't share with the Racers but he does use to communicate with the producers throughout the Race as to where they are and ETA on when they will arrive at the next location be it clue box, Detour, RB, Mat or whatever.  I mean Phil doesn't stand at the Mat for hours.  He and the local greeter only wander over to it when a team is about to arrive.

(FYI:  In Season 1 that early, battery-guzzling cell phone ran out of battery juice when the one team got lost in the Sahara and nobody could find them and with a sandstorm coming on.  That was one close call for real).

Edited November 10, 2023 by Skooma

[J-Man]

4 hours ago, Skooma said:

And the brother that did the task said he was a software engineer but sucked at math and always googled stuff, haha.

He said he works for Google.

[Fake Jan Brady]

13 hours ago, PhD-Purgatory15 said:

Everybody keeps hating on Ana Leigh, while I'm over here watching the older of the two sisters in horror. She hates, no loathes her little sister with a passion. It literally drips off her every time she belittles her.

The gulf between them was never greater than Morgan's "I went to the number one MBA school in the world: I know how to do math" and Lena's "I don't know my left from my right".

[Ancaster]

2 minutes ago, J-Man said:

He said he works for Google.

. . . and basically was having a brain fart.

[Skooma]

27 minutes ago, J-Man said:

He said he works for Google.

Thanks.  But good, he can google stuff at Google.  That's kind of cool.

Edited November 10, 2023 by Skooma

[bunnyface]

I'm not going to go back and watch, but I seem to remember Robbin and Chelsea being fairly okay in the beginning.  I think Robbin is sucking all the fun out of Chelsea.  She's very snappish and churlish with Chelsea at times.  I think Chelsea is tired of it and if it were me, I might have kicked Robbin in the neck by now.

[Fake Jan Brady]

32 minutes ago, Skooma said:

Thanks.  But good, he can google stuff at Google.  That's kind of cool.

Never try it!

[30 Helens]

On 11/8/2023 at 11:08 PM, Jodithgrace said:

Who was the racer who didn’t bother doing the written math, but instead brought different numbers of coins to the counter until she got it right? Pretty smart. 

This annoyed me. Yes, I understand she didn’t violate any rules, but I would prefer some rules that penalized such workarounds. Like, you get 3 guesses but then you have to take a 10-minute penalty before making more guesses. If there’s a task, actually doing the task should be required.

 

6 hours ago, Skooma said:

And the brother that did the task said he was a software engineer but sucked at math and always googled stuff, haha.

My software engineer husband appreciated this because he also sucks at math, and it annoys him when people assume that just because you can code you can also do quick mathematical equations. He also chooses to Google rather than store a bunch of random things in his brain, so I think he found a kindred spirit.

In the mustard challenge, the different flavors had very different shades, so another way to remember them might have been to memorize their colors. 

For me, the one thing thing that makes a team likeable/ rootable or not is the way they work together, and how much respect they have for each other. That’s why I am sorry to see Andrea and Melaina go, although ouch, what a bad leg. That’s also why I am rooting for the brothers, and the father/son team. There seems to be no room for sniping or blame here, and that’s the way it should be. You’re playing a game, getting to travel the world, and you have the chance to win a boatload of money. How is that not 100% fun, 100% of the time.

ETA: I also wanted to mention that, for anyone who watches Big Brother, Phil’s little discourse on mustard seeds should have come with a trigger warning.

Edited November 10, 2023 by 30 Helens

[QuantumMechanic]

I enjoyed the episode — more for some of the funny lines and mistakes though, and not for the tasks which were actually pretty boring.

I wish there was a rule saying you are not allowed to receive help from anyone who uses a cell phone (or asks anyone to use their phone) to try to help you.

How on earth did the eliminated team think Euro coins were “historic coins”?? Though given their ferry screwup I guess they probably didn’t read the clue closely enough to realize they were supposed to get special coins.

And that first roadblock had to be one of the most pathetic if not the most pathetic in Race history — do a simple math problem (which also could be trivially brute-forced with little waste of time), walk a bit, and then do a short rapell. Might as well just let them sit in a sauna for a little bit.

[Dobian]

The carnival was obviously staged.  Rent a hall, bring in a band and some dancers, and a bunch of locals to act as partygoers.

Malaina and Andrea failed spectacularly.  When Phil showed up at the carnival place to meet them it was still light out.  It made me think of the times when one team was left in the dust but finished their remaining tasks and made it to the mat late at night with Phil still waiting.

[chicagofan]

1 hour ago, QuantumMechanic said:

And that first roadblock had to be one of the most pathetic if not the most pathetic in Race history — do a simple math problem (which also could be trivially brute-forced with little waste of time), walk a bit, and then do a short rapell. Might as well just let them sit in a sauna for a little bit.

It was only a non-event because no one freaked out at the repelling part of the task. Yes, it wasn't a huge drop, but there's usually someone that panics. Since it looked like they only allowed one person at a time to do the repelling it could have led to some drama as other racers waiting their turn start to goad the racer holding them back.

[aradia22]

I feel like that's a problem though. Production can't keep counting on someone having a fear of heights. It's not really a challenge for the racers and it's boring for viewers to watch. (Also, personally, I don't like seeing someone struggle with a phobia. That's not really drama I'm into.) I struggle to think of a really compelling challenge that involved heights. They sort of tried with that task (maybe in France?) where they had to look at the coat of arms and also rappel and I think if you failed the memory task you had to do it again. And there was one of those rope tasks that involved a flag recently but I think that also ended up being boring. I think there's just too much safety stuff involved to have these heights tasks be something they repeat over and over to complete. And when it's a rope walk, they can't be hanging out there for too long. Could they maybe find a safe way to do rock climbing? Something that's an actual physical challenge? Or, if they want it to be psychological, maybe go to one of those places that's high up that has a glass floor. And then have something they have to look at through the floor to challenge any fear of heights. 

Also, Greg is the only one left that I remember having a fear of heights and John was the one who did the task.

[PurpleTentacle]

I really did like that they for once didn't go to Berlin or Bavaria, yay. Still, would be fun if they'd for once hit something else but the most massive cities and their surroundings. I might be biased, but I think north Hessen is prettier and more interesting than south Hessen. Even Kassel is nice, if you route teams around the city center (that was completely destroyed in WW2 and is now just a bunch of concrete buildings). Microsoft recently put castle Wilhelmshöhe as a startup screen on my PC, and I get random screens from around the world. So somebody thinks it should be in the same list as the Taj Mahal or grand canyon. The park around it even is a UNESCO world heritage site.

It's funny to see teams try to pronounce german words and then just bail half way through.

Also GbR is not the important part of that ferry's name, whoever fixated on that (don't remember). That just means Gesellschaft bürgerlichen Rechts (partnership organised under the Civil Code). I think it should have been obvious by how much smaller those letters were, that it's something like "inc.".

Funny enough, when I was a kid (getting old) Groschen, Rappen and Heller were still somewhat in coloquial use, or at least you'd see them mentioned in fairy tales. Never ever have I heard about Witten before. I think the amazing race picked some obscure denomination that was never used to make the math harder.

Steve turned pretty nasty there and Anna Leigh tried to appease him as good as she could. That doesn't seem like a recent dynamic... Also she was right, he is the navigator. He has to watch where they are going. If he can't see, he really should have gotten glasses before the race.

Andrea and Malaina should really learn the difference between ancient coins and Euros.

How the hell did Robbin and Chelsea make it to second place, after getting on the wrong ferry? Did teams really drive in circles in cologne for hours or were there more navigation mishaps we didn't get to see? Was there maybe a traffic jam on the Autobahn that equalised them? With the 90 minutes runtime, I wish they'd give us information like that.

Robbin, those locks aren't the colours they are because of germany's flag (which is red, black and gold, not yellow, btw.). They are those colours because red is the colour of love and yellow (brass) and black are standard colours for locks.

I totally unlocked a childhood memory here. When I was a kid there would always be these commercials on TV with a man saying "4711 echt köllnisch Wasser". I don't think this is the exact spot I have in mind, but it is the guy doing the voiceover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo-flVDjANE

Whoever made the on-screen answer key for the mustard testing has dyslexia. It's Riesling, not Reisling and Bauern, not Bauren... It was spelled correctly on the cards on the table, btw.

Weird hearing the Baron von Münchhausen refered to exclusively as "baron of lies". I guess it's true that he has the colloquial titel of Lügenbaron, but usually you'd use his name.

Andrea and Malaina with a deserved loss here. Navigation really wasn't their strong suit. I wonder if they really were this chill the whole time or if they just got a nice going-out edit.

All in all, fun episode, with at least a few more and varied tasks than the last weeks.

Edited November 10, 2023 by PurpleTentacle

[PurpleTentacle]

On 11/9/2023 at 5:29 AM, iMonrey said:

Having to get exactly 66 on "Just for kicks" seemed really hard.

Yeah, the second I heard exactly 66 I was like: "switch!"

On 11/9/2023 at 6:24 AM, mertensia said:

I could not have gotten that math one. I'd've been just bringing up different amounts until I got it right.

I'm not sure how I would have done under stress on the race, but at home I had it in under 10 seconds. It wasn't very hard.

On 11/9/2023 at 6:24 AM, mertensia said:

Man, Anna Leigh turns into a real bitch.

I think you misspelled "Steve" there.

I mean I don't love Anna Leigh, but he was clearly the one being a bitch here.

On 11/9/2023 at 8:27 AM, Lantern7 said:

How were they supposed to know that they needed old-timey money?

Because their clue said so. Always read your clue, people.

Also if you don't use the wrong ferry, you won't have that problem in the first place. So read your clue and look what it says which ferry you have to take.

On 11/9/2023 at 8:27 AM, Lantern7 said:

I didn't like how Robbin or Chelsea just went back and forth with increasing amounts of Witten(?) to present to the robber baron. Seemed against the spirit of the game.

But not against the rules. This is on the designers. They should have implemented a wait period after every attempt and not just a 10 meter walk.

23 hours ago, kitkat343 said:

I am just wondering - do the producers provide maps to the racers?  I don't even know if you can buy maps in airports nowadays.

They did during covid, but usually racers have to buy or print them. It seems like airports and gasstations still carry them. Even during recent seasons racers rebought lost maps at gas stations.

22 hours ago, shura said:

It was so depressing to see the carnival people leaving and leaving behind some torn paper and a few balloons on the floor. It was like, you ladies are so far behind that we are not even going to try to make your elimination a respectable experience. You will be eliminated in a trashed hall.

Field Philiminations are never fun, but this one was a particular downer.

21 hours ago, Ancaster said:

I cannot for the life of me understand why teams don't take the divide and conquer approach for task such as the mustard tasting - you have 9 flavours: one of you learns four and one of you learns five, instead of both of you trying to learn 9 each.  Doh!

There are pros and cons to it. Here I think it might make sense to be able to confer, especially since you have to recognise the taste and remember the correct name.

17 hours ago, kitkat343 said:

To be fair, I blame the producers more for the coin skipping than Robin and Chelsea.  They could have picked up the coins at the top of the castle and gotten a pile of 40-50 coins which would have forced them to do the math.  Or had a time penalty they'd have to wait out after each wrong guess.

Or have to go all the way back down to the river to get new coins after every wrong guess. That would have been diabolical. But it would have been doable, since it isn't exactly indian heat on the Rhein.

16 hours ago, Netfoot said:

Steve and Anna Leigh are my pick for winners. Even more so, after this episode. Steve sitting in the back of the car and actively not navigating would have gotten my goat, I have to admit. You can't see? Lean forward, put your head down low and look out the windshield. Or open the window and stick your hear out! Having said this, I do believe Anna Leigh should have been less snippy with him because he is, after all, her father. respect is due. Make your point, sure. But hold back that attitude. And Steve giving her what-for was great. It's the reason for my "Even More so". Hopefully she will show a little more respect for her teammate and for other racers from now on!

Either you are a team or you aren't. If you aren't, don't go on the amazing race.

If he wants to keep this father-daughter hierarchy, he shouldn't have gone on the race with her. As far as snippy goes, I think she was well within reason, considering her navigator refused to navigate.

[PurpleTentacle]

16 hours ago, Tango64 said:

Loved this episode, but I don't like how much they relied on asking people to use their cellphones. I know it's nothing new, but it still seems to take away from the spirit of the task. If they had asked passersby, "Hey, do you know of a cologne from here whose name is a four-digit number?" that would have been better. It would have taken more time probably, but just using someone's cell phone is an easy out and not much fun to watch.

They would have had to find older people for that, then maybe somebody would have known. Even pushing-40-me only remembered after they said the name.

Can't really outlaw civilians using their phones on the race though. That would be nearly impossible to enforce, especially in countries with limited english-communication: "please help me... no not like this, it isn't allowed!". I do think that racers shouldn't be allowed to touch the phones though.

16 hours ago, Ancaster said:

Hell, I'm not German and I know the 1711 eau de cologne.

Well your attempt at the lock would not have opened it. ;)

16 hours ago, Ancaster said:

It also would be easy enough to impose a "no cellphone use outside of certain parameters" rule.

I don't think that would be easy at all.

16 hours ago, Ancaster said:

(Was anyone else bothered by all the racers who didn't even bother saying, "Excuse me, but do you speak English?" before launching into their question.  I don't care how ubiquitous English may be at common tourist sites, there's still such a thing as common courtesy.)

It's west germany. Everybody speaks english well enough to at least understand what they are asking. (I specified "west" because in east germany it gets problematic with people over 50, since they learned russian in school, instead of english, but with people younger than that you should still be fine.)

15 hours ago, tracyscott76 said:

One thing I couldn't figure out was the sudden gap between the sisters and facial hair friends. They both struggled with finding the parking garage where the circus was, but we saw them get there at the same time - both were parked and getting out of their cars in the same shot. And yet, Morgan & Lena had somehow gone upstairs, gotten dressed in their costumes, finished the circuit and were getting out of their costumes before Joel & Garrett even made it up there. What were the guys doing in all that time?

Wandering around Köln aimlessly, would be my guess.

12 hours ago, Skooma said:

And the brother that did the task said he was a software engineer but sucked at math and always googled stuff, haha.

No, he said he was a software engineer at google and as such really good at math, but just blanked in the moment.

6 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

My software engineer husband appreciated this because he also sucks at math, and it annoys him when people assume that just because you can code you can also do quick mathematical equations. He also chooses to Google rather than store a bunch of random things in his brain, so I think he found a kindred spirit.

I mean. you usually have to do some pretty advanced math when going to school for software engineering. So unless he is one of the few people (used to be more common) who got into the job through practical experience, rather than formal schooling, he would have had to be at least decent at math.

5 hours ago, Dobian said:

The carnival was obviously staged.  Rent a hall, bring in a band and some dancers, and a bunch of locals to act as partygoers.

I mean sure, it was out of season for one, but these were pretty clearly people who belong to a Karnevalsverein (carnival club).

Edited November 10, 2023 by PurpleTentacle

[Haleth]

That was so good!  Another brutal day for everyone.  Imagine hopping off a long flight and spending all day running around like that.  No wonder KF is kicking in.  

I do dislike bickering teams.  AL and Steve are bad enough, but the way the sisters argue with each other is unpleasant to listen to.  Robbin and Chelsea aren't much better.  They can all leave any time now.

Omigosh, it was painful seeing how far Malaina and Andrea were falling behind because they didn't realize their mistake for hours.  As soon as they got on the wrong ferry without rereading the clue they were toast.  I was reminded of the mercy elimination of a team in an early season when they were still in the wrong country.

It didn't bother me much that Chelsea (that's the brunette, right?) didn't do the math.  I think the producers give teams a lot of leeway when figuring out how to solve a puzzle.  Coming up with alternatives makes for better tv.  But yeah, a time out or other penalty for a wrong guess wouldn't hurt.

The darts/soccer thing seemed too difficult because of the specificity of hitting exactly 66.  I was surprised anyone could control the ball enough to hit the right number.  Good job, Corey!

I love it when TAR is some place I've been (Köln).  The cathedral is breathtaking.  The chocolate museum wasn't there those many years ago though.  Darn it.

6 hours ago, Dobian said:

Malaina and Andrea failed spectacularly.  When Phil showed up at the carnival place to meet them it was still light out.  It made me think of the times when one team was left in the dust but finished their remaining tasks and made it to the mat late at night with Phil still waiting.

Maybe this would not have been possible given the tasks that remained.  Maybe it would have been too dark to see the locks?

[chaifan]

1 hour ago, Haleth said:

Maybe this would not have been possible given the tasks that remained.  Maybe it would have been too dark to see the locks?

My best guess is that they were eliminated at the Carnival because it would have been too costly (and maybe not even possible) to keep all the Carnival people around past whatever time they estimated they would be done.  Making A&M run the course in the horse-cycle with no performers, throwing roses to an empty room would have been sad and pathetic. 

All the other tasks could have been done with a skeleton crew (and lights).

Also, Phil likely needed to move onto the next location. 

 

[smartymarty]

8 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

My software engineer husband appreciated this because he also sucks at math, and it annoys him when people assume that just because you can code you can also do quick mathematical equations. He also chooses to Google rather than store a bunch of random things in his brain, so I think he found a kindred spirit.

In the mustard challenge, the different flavors had very different shades, so another way to remember them might have been to memorize their colors. 

Someone above stated that one does sophisticated math to be a software engineer, but my memory (albeit from the 80s) is my computer programming professor pointing out that programming is really logic, not math (despite our high school guidance counselors asking about our math grades if we were interested in programming). A computer engineer (such as my brother at Intel) would need math skills, because that has to do with the hardware, not software.

8 hours ago, QuantumMechanic said:

And that first roadblock had to be one of the most pathetic if not the most pathetic in Race history — do a simple math problem (which also could be trivially brute-forced with little waste of time), walk a bit, and then do a short rapel. Might as well just let them sit in a sauna for a little bit.

Like the horse-bike detour, this roadblock seemed to also be to bring racers to one of the iconic castles rather than being about the task to be performed there. Remember, that beyond being a race, this is to expose the racers to the world.

[shura]

15 hours ago, Skooma said:

No.  She couldn't do/start the RB because she didn't have the right tools aka the coins.  Getting the coins first from the money changer wasn't part of the RB task.

Maybe.  You could also argue though that a task starts once you have read the description of what you actually have to do (as opposed to the cryptic clue they use to decide which team member will do it).  Otherwise you could read the description, go back to your partner and get all kinds of input or other help, then come back and only then "start" the RB.  I've never seen them do this, so I assume this is not allowed under the "only one team member may perform" rule.  So it could be argued that once Andrea read the description, Malaina should not have been allowed to help with anything, be it suggestions or getting the right coins.  Nobody interpreted the rule this way, obviously, which makes me wonder what exactly it says and what ways to bend it there are.

10 hours ago, absolutelyido said:

I would have broken down in tears realizing that I had taked the wrong ferry and basically had to start the leg all over again. I admired how calm they were through the whole fiasco of a leg.

I know.  Imagine the feeling of standing there at the Roadblock, looking at the word "Witten", then at the euro coins in your palm and suddenly realizing that no, the reason you have not seen any other teams is not because you are ahead of everybody... It must have been devastating.

In other news, it appears that all these ads on this wonderful website of ours have finally killed my Safari.  It crashes every time I try to open it now.

[Guest]

Just now, shura said:

Maybe.  You could also argue though that a task starts once you have read the description of what you actually have to do (as opposed to the cryptic clue they use to decide which team member will do it).  Otherwise you could read the description, go back to your partner and get all kinds of input or other help, then come back and only then "start" the RB.  I've never seen them do this, so I assume this is not allowed under the "only one team member may perform" rule.  So it could be argued that once Andrea read the description, Malaina should not have been allowed to help with anything, be it suggestions or getting the right coins.  Nobody interpreted the rule this way, obviously, which makes me wonder what exactly it says and what ways to bend it there are.

By this logic, Andrea would have been in "Roadblock mode" until she got the correct coins, so she would have had to drive back to the correct ferry and get the right coins by herself. Not exactly practical from the show's perspective. I'd say that once it was clear that Andrea didn't have the right tools to do the task, "Roadblock mode" was cancelled and they were back in team mode.

Edited November 10, 2023 by tracyscott76
Word choice

[Cotypubby]

“Get the correct coins” wasn’t part of the Roadblock. The Roadblock was “with these ancient coins figure out how many to give and then repel down the wall.”

[shura]

Makes me wonder if the rule specifies under what circumstances you can leave the "Roadblock mode", go do something else and then come back.  Most probably there simply is no rule about that, this situation was simply unprecedented and unforseen.  They probably didn't even think about it.

I also wonder what kind of training the crew people have.  How you do not give away to the racers that something extraordinarily wrong is happening? Those guys must be good at poker.

[mbluecpa]

The elimination was certainly anticlimactic but the episode definitely felt old school with a combination of tasks, self-navigating/driving, and the early elimination by Phil. Even excluding Andrea and Malaina, it did look like getting lost or taking the wrong ferry burned material time from some teams; I hope the start line graphics next week show teams’ departure times. 

I was really surprised that no one freaked out, even mildly, at the rappelling. Just about everyone was like “oh cool” then went right to it.

When Chelsea did her workaround with the coins, I first thought it a little sketchy but quickly came around to “it’s a cop out but it was smart.”

At least three or four teams seemed to get the mustard task on the first try. I’m thinking either some non-TV-worthy attempts were edited out or the task designers misjudged the difficulty. Kudos to Rob and Corey for the foot darts task as that could’ve been an all-day affair; obviously skill was involved but Corey’s strategy helped a lot there too. Definitely something that looks like it would be a blast to do with friends and beer, but not on the Race.

[Ancaster]

4 hours ago, PurpleTentacle said:

 

Well your attempt at the lock would not have opened it. ;)

 

Haha, yes!  Ironic mistake, considering!  Corrected now.