S35.E08: A Planes, Trains and Automobiles Day

[Whimsy]

Quote

For the first time, teams visit the country of Slovenia. Racers soar to new heights in glider planes, experience roadblock surprises, and battle to remain in the race

Original airdate 11/15/23

[Fake Jan Brady]

The gorgeousness of Slovenia was overwhelmed by the incessant whining of Anna Leigh and Steve.

Rob and Corey's relationship is a thing of beauty.

 

[Skooma]

I love TAR but they need to re-think the editing and for some time too.  The very blatant edit of "we are out of the race" that the blue-blouse team had about the niece in the first 10 minutes kind of ruined the level I could enjoy this leg with.

And they do it every freaking leg for years now.  I'd like to see a leg where the editors stop spoiling me.

Add that to Miss Beauty Pageant whining away constantly about being last and out which meant she wasn't.  Come on, nobody thought they would be last with that edit.

Other than that, great leg with the scenery we love and the mistakes we love to watch -- Miss Beauty Pageant dragging her poor Dad up all those steps especially -- along with "1199" (come on, watch the news, you are old enough to remember the break-up of Yugoslavia) etc.

Just I am begging you PLEASE fix the damn editing!!

Edited November 16, 2023 by Skooma

[anniebird]

Anna Leigh did that thing I hate the most on this show- at the very start of the leg she started moaning about being in last place. And she never let up.

[dizzyd]

I don’t understand how the sisters lost so much time after the roadblock. They were well ahead of AL/Steve who then messed up by going for the taken express pass before the detour that should have put them further behind. Editing didn’t show any significant issues for the sisters besides what looked like a minor navigational error but nothing big enough to erase a whole EP worth of time. 

[mertensia]

I now want to hop a plane to Slovenia. That place is gorgeous.

I totally sympathize with Rob begging for no more stairs.

I've cross-country skiied a couple of times; I bet I could have done that fairly gracefully.

Steve needs to be wearing a hat. Also get his heart checked after that leg.

[dancingdreamer]

Slovenia is beautiful , just beautiful. My father took me up in a glider, it was fantastic, so quiet. The view they got in the glider was something else..

We were seriously worried for AL's father,we thought he might have a heart attack. Did everyone else take the stairs when they took the elevator? Please can she go next week, she nags her father something fierce, rolls her eyes at him.. This amazing race is absolutely amazing ! I'm on the edge of my seat..

 

[Ancaster]

Train roulette is fun to watch!

 

Edited November 16, 2023 by Ancaster

[Artsda]

I was worried for Rob going up the stairs then when AL blew past that sign and her poor dad had to do it too. 

She is beyond annoying.  I was so not happy to see her go through to next round.  Her whining the entire episode was not entertaining. 

The brothers went from read the clue to leaving after Rob & Corey.  They are really great together as father child opposite of AL. 

[hendersonrocks]

1 hour ago, Fake Jan Brady said:

Rob and Corey's relationship is a thing of beauty.

So well said. Watching Rob absolutely geek out in the glider (and then history geek out over NATO?!), and watching Corey be so happy for his moments of glory, was such a treat. And a blessed relief from the other parent-child team. If I spoke to my dad like that, regardless of stress or circumstance, I would be not long for this world. It would truly never occur to me to speak to one of my parents like that. (Or anyone, really.)

I was feeling a mega leg up until the very end, so it was a pleasant surprise when the episode ended with an actual elimination. It feels like they have been brutal and very demanding legs of late.

The sound of “Lena!” yelled over and over again might be seared into my brain for a while, but I still liked the sisters. It’s funny how of the remaining teams I have a VERY strong preference for the 3 all male teams.

[Lantern7]

How did Morgan & Lena fall behind? I was too focused on Steve & Anna Leigh repeatedly shoot themselves in the foot. I'm amazed they have feet at all, especially after climbing up the stairs for an Express Pass that had already been taken.

Of course, by "Steve & Anna Leigh," I mean "Anna Leigh." In the context of this show, she is just the worst. The negativity is too much to bear. It really doesn't help when you have a functional parent/child team still racing in Rob & Corey. Those two are awesome. They haven't finished first once, but they are among the top teams left running, and their relationship is a thing of beauty. Then you got Steve, who was probably contemplating throwing himself down the hundreds of stairs, or diving onto a beehive. Who would have blamed him?

Slovenia is beautiful. Duh, right?

Great set of tasks this week, though I wouldn't have blamed Steve or Rob tapping out on the spiral staircase. The glider was especially impressive. The awkward cross-country skiing? Not so much. I caught Ashlie listening to Todd "encourage" her, followed by her giving out severe evil eye. And he deserved it. Also, he mixed up Slovenia with Transylvania. Just throwing that out there.

 

[Fukui San]

2 hours ago, mertensia said:

I now want to hop a plane to Slovenia. That place is gorgeous.

I totally sympathize with Rob begging for no more stairs.

I've cross-country skiied a couple of times; I bet I could have done that fairly gracefully.

Steve needs to be wearing a hat. Also get his heart checked after that leg.

I've cross-country skied quite a bit growing up, and I'm certain that I would have looked every bit the buffoon as anyone else on the race. I only liked skiing on mostly flat ground as I was only ever mediocre in skill. Those slight inclines are tough, and I might have had to resort to the full sideways shuffle climb technique. 

Anna Leigh and Steve doing that Express Pass climb was insane. Not just assuming that one of the six teams preceding them already did it? At least they let them zipline down and not make them walk down those stairs.

I would have totally guessed "1919" and had to ride that glider again. I forgot about Slovenia being part of Czechslovakia.

Trying to figure out who the brothers resemble. I have basketball player Jaylen Brown (but smiling) for Greg, who I believe is the bearded brother, but I can't place the other one. He definitely reminds me of someone, though.

[Ancaster]

I actually didn't find that Anna Leigh was as bad this episode.  I think her father is the wrong partner for her and he bit off more than he could chew.  I felt the sisters were way worse the way they were talking to each other.  I was uncomfortable just watching it,  I can't imagine what their relationship was like before if they think the Amazing Race improved it.

[Fake Jan Brady]

2 hours ago, Fukui San said:

I would have totally guessed "1919" and had to ride that glider again. I forgot about Slovenia being part of Czechslovakia.

Yugoslavia. 

[SnideAsides]

4 hours ago, Fukui San said:

I forgot about Slovenia being part of Czechslovakia.

Slovenia was in Yugoslavia. Slovakia was in Czechoslovakia.

Given the level of scenery on offer in this episode, it's sort of crazy that this is only the third leg ever in the former Yugoslavia. Massively underused region. Feels like if this show was being made before the fall of communism they'd probably have ended up in Yugoslavia at least as much as they do in Italy and Spain now. (Heck, all of Eastern Europe is underused. There are so many countries they've never touched, and yet this is somehow the first new Eastern European country since the Czech Republic all the way back in TAR15.)

[Lady Calypso]

I love that we went to a new country; Slovenia looks absolutely beautiful. 

It was somewhat of a gruelling leg, at least for the two older men of the cast. Poor Rob and poor Steve, having to climb multiple stairs. Granted, Steve didn't even need to climb that first set of stairs had him or Anna Leigh seen the very blatant sign of the Express Pass being taken or put any thought into them being in last and someone else likely having gotten it, but still.

I'll start with the negatives and work my way to the positives. Steve/Anna Leigh were a disaster. Yes, more Anna Leigh than Steve, but neither in the team were working well this leg. Anna Leigh had a couple of breakdowns and went back to whining and pushing her father, so that wasn't fun to watch. Anna Leigh is very annoying when she's stressed in any way. That being said, I don't think she's the worst type of racer we see from this show. I can take comfort in watching her and knowing that, although she's rude to her dad, at least she's not rude to the locals (she's been one of the more pleasant people with the locals) AND she doesn't give up at tasks. If we had her be both rude to her partner AND then one or both of the other things, then THAT would be a worse racer. So Anna Leigh, albeit annoying, is on the mild side of bad racers. 

Robbin/Chelsea were also annoying, but just in a different way. I think I see why teams are likely not fond of them and they're 100% justified in feeling that way. This is now the SECOND and THIRD time Robbin/Chelsea have decided to just outright follow another team to the next task instead of asking for directions themselves. After all their bemoaning about racing their own race and never ever ever helping another team ever, they choose to take the easy way out when things are tough, first with the coin task (which, to be fair, I think IS fine if it's allowed; loopholes are totally fine in my book if it's allowed and not harming anyone else) and now with slacking on the actual navigation. They may suck at navigation, but outright following another team while also going out of their way to not help other teams when they ask is just hypocritical from them. 

I'm fine overall with the idea to race your own race, but when Greg/John are pointing out that they ARE noticing Robbin/Chelsea following other teams instead of asking for their own directions, it's frustrating. 

Morgan/Lena being eliminated sucks. They had their ups and downs for sure but they're the rare team where the bickering WASN'T annoying when it absolutely should have been. But I think, coming from a very similar sibling-esque relationship with my own sister, I could only laugh as I place me and my sister in their shoes and realize we'd probably be about the same. 

Rob/Corey are one of the best teams this show has ever had. They're competent racers, they're great partners to each other, and they're really funny and compassionate to boot. They take everything in stride and even their frustration at times isn't for very long. Rob was so excited to do that roadblock and I loved seeing him jump up and down to go up in that tiny plane. Corey checking in on his father several times about the Express Pass was also very good. AND they managed to jump from fourth to second to third! 

The train drama at the start was super fun to watch. The three teams tried to take a risk, even though they wouldn't have been able to start the roadblock anyway until morning, but they probably would have gotten a bit better of a sleep. But, alas, it didn't pay off. I would have liked to see it pay off but totally get why they all decided to bail on the plan and go back to their original train station. 

Decent leg, overall. Some tougher tasks depending on if a team went for the Express Pass and you could definitely see teams struggle with the navigation again. 

[PhD-Purgatory15]

Part of me thinks that if the 3 breakaway teams would've managed their train roulette correctly, they still would've ran into a hours of operation bunch up at the glider challenge once they made it to Slovenia.

AL was pretty much her normal race self (with some added Killer Fatigue). The only time I might give her a pass was when they were lost & they could see the gliders flying over them. Knowing my own personality, that would've broken my brain at some point.

Maybe, if they would've studying the EP challenge and had a thoughtful conversation about whether they thought anyone else could've physically completed the stairs I might be more lenient. But you both ran by a race flag with the word taken on it!! That should've sent them home, just on the principle of being one of the worst race decisions you could ever make..

Anybody else have flashbacks to the poor sisters who (if not for Phil mercifully philiminating them after 11 hours or some other insane amount of time) might still be unrolling giant hay bales from an early TAR Season..

This leg reinforces my belief that we are probably getting a Greg/Jon v Rob/Corey match up in the final leg. I can't decide who gets the final spot. TAR history says it's probably Todd/Ashlie, but because she's been the dominate race personality (for better or probably worse) I wonder if surviving today is what allows Steve & Ana Leigh to rally and end up in the Top 3..

 

[Grizzly]

I bet Morgan is regretting her pep talk to Anna Leigh. Instead of saying hang in there, race all the way to the mat; she's wishing she said just coast. And Morgan was a lot kinder to AL then she was to Lena.

[Corgi-ears]

I wish:

1. That the show had made Anna-Leigh walk all those steps back down after being told the express pass was already taken (fine, Steve can use the zipline);

2. That, as she is walking down, they magically re-route the stairs and turn the sign around so that Anna-Leigh goes past, AGAIN, and this time SEES, the sign that said "Express Pass Taken" (though it is also delicious to contemplate the possibility that on TV is the first time the two of them realize that there was even that "It's Taken, You Dumbass" sign);

3. That they still somehow land second-last on the mat, only for Phil to give them the "HOWEVER" of doom: namely, to tell them that the clue said, "travel by foot," and taking the elevator down instead of the spiral staircase means that they have a 30 mins penalty. Whereupon Lena & Morgan arrive. C'mon, show -- we even had a few other teams portend that this might be the requirement (e.g., Greg and/or John asking the other, "Would this be going by foot? Let's take the stairs down to be safe"). It would just be good TV, not to mention cosmic justice.

10 hours ago, dizzyd said:

Editing didn’t show any significant issues for the sisters besides what looked like a minor navigational error but nothing big enough to erase a whole EP worth of time. 

I think the significant issue the sisters had was each other.

Rob is just the cutest.

Edited November 16, 2023 by Corgi-ears

[snarts]

How ridiculously stupid is Anna Leigh to think none of the teams ahead of them had gone for the Express Pass?  Then to run right by the sign telling them it's already been taken. 

Which, IMHO, was odd. Previous Express Pass/Fast Forwards have had later teams go/run all the way there only to be told it's been taken. The fact they put the sign down at the bottom of the stairs seemed quite racer friendly, just like the double U-turn assistance they were provided.

Not sure why anyone would think they'd be a fan favorite. Anna Leigh is a complete pill and I can't wait for them to be eliminated. I think that Steve will be relieved as well.

Rob & Corey are an absolute joy and I'm really hoping they win but I do generally like the rest of the teams as well.

[rr2911]

The best part of this episode was Anna Leigh.................oh, um,  and her dad of course being saved!  The second best part of this episode was Anna Leigh being saved!  😁

[iMonrey]

Oh, Amazing Race. Don't tease me with a good time. About 20 minutes in, after Anna Leigh's constant whining about being "done" and "out," and post-leg interview segments all weepy eyed about being over . . . I just knew there was no way the show was telling us in advance who was going to be eliminated. C'mon, editors. We aren't that naive. This isn't our first race. Unless this is the first season you've ever watched. I mean, who was fooled by that? Hands? 

I guess Lena and Morgan being eliminated is the best consolation prize I can hope for, since their constant sniping at each other (mostly Morgan at Lena) was equally annoying. 

4 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

Morgan/Lena being eliminated sucks. They had their ups and downs for sure but they're the rare team where the bickering WASN'T annoying when it absolutely should have been.

I guess you have a higher tolerance, I couldn't stand them. But the editing here again was wonky because, knowing Anna Leigh and Steve were certainly going to be saved by someone, I figured it was going to be Joel and Garrett. At no point did I see an obvious reason why the sisters would fall behind. I think something must have happened that got cut out because it would have made it too obvious. I should have guessed it would be them, though, since they got the "back home we have a sad thing" backstory.

Greg and John keep saying "It's what we do!" every time they celebrate finishing a task or winning a leg. I guess it's their catchphrase. I got a kick out of them driving away from the Detour with hay in Greg's hair.

[AEJ79]

For some reason this didn't record last night & the episode is not showing up on my Spectrum On Demand. Is there any other way I can watch this ep? Thanks!

[RunningMarket]

1 hour ago, snarts said:

How ridiculously stupid is Anna Leigh to think none of the teams ahead of them had gone for the Express Pass?  Then to run right by the sign telling them it's already been taken. 

Agreed. As we are all well aware, Anna Leigh knew they were in last. I laughed harder than I should have when she flew right past the "taken" sign. (I may have also clapped in glee...)

Rob and Corey are just simply delightful. Even after they figured Greg and John were a bit snippy due to the Express Pass, they took it in stride and just moved on with the task. (Paging Anna Leigh...) 

If that's an improvement to Morgan and Lena's relationship, I cringe to think of what it was before.

[sara416]

32 minutes ago, AEJ79 said:

For some reason this didn't record last night & the episode is not showing up on my Spectrum On Demand. Is there any other way I can watch this ep? Thanks!

Hulu should have it up today. 

[Browncoat]

It was interesting to me that when Rob and Corey went up that interminable staircase (I get tired just thinking about 1100 steps!), Corey was behind Rob, giving him encouragement, and saying, "You can do it!  Are you okay?" and so on.  But when Steve and Anna Leigh went up, AL just ran off and left Steve behind, saying only things like, "Come on, Dad!" and "Hurry up, Dad!"  Hell, she even yelled at him to hurry up when he was on the zip line!

Edited November 16, 2023 by Browncoat

[chaifan]

2 hours ago, snarts said:

How ridiculously stupid is Anna Leigh to think none of the teams ahead of them had gone for the Express Pass?  Then to run right by the sign telling them it's already been taken. 

Which, IMHO, was odd. Previous Express Pass/Fast Forwards have had later teams go/run all the way there only to be told it's been taken. The fact they put the sign down at the bottom of the stairs seemed quite racer friendly, just like the double U-turn assistance they were provided.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought the "taken" sign was weird.  I didn't recall ever seeing that before, and that it was a matter of chance whether you got to the EP first or not.  So, did Steve and AL even know there would be a sign to look out for?  I think they were both stupid for assuming the EP would still be there, given they were certain they were in last place.  But, I give AL credit for reading the clue and knowing there wasn't a prohibition from taking the elevator down from the second stair climb.  Steve needed that.

I had my doubts about them being eliminated from the constant "oh, no, we're last" edits, but then really didn't know if the producers were toying with us or not on the end race to the mat.  Damn, that was close.

I'm sort of glad Steve and AL are still in it.  I am wondering if they will rebound spectacularly, or really go down in flames.  Count me among those who can't figure out how they caught up, and passed, the sisters.

Todd & Ashlie - I thought it was really funny how Ashlie got the Dracula country wrong (Romania, not Slovenia), but Todd, thinking he's Mr. Smarty Pants, comments on "Ivan" the Impaler.  Um, no, it's Vlad the Impaler.  But we at least got the sad trombone, or some version of it.

I love Rob & Corey.  I love that Rob's a NATO geek, and that Corey is excited about that.  Also love Greg & John, and I'm so hoping those two teams are in the final 3. 

The train drama in the beginning was great.  I wonder why they had them do the plane to Vienna and train to Ljubljana, as I'm sure there would have been a flight.  But I'm glad they did structure it this way.  They should do more of this.

I think if the original plan had worked, there would have been some HOO issues, but they still would have had a few hours lead on the rest of the teams.

 

 

 

Edited November 16, 2023 by chaifan

[zoey1996]

2 hours ago, RunningMarket said:

Agreed. As we are all well aware, Anna Leigh knew they were in last. I laughed harder than I should have when she flew right past the "taken" sign. (I may have also clapped in glee...)

I felt bad for Steve, but he should also have looked at the marker. 

Not sorry the sisters are .gone, but I'd rather it were Robbin & Chelsea. "Let's not help anyone, but let's follow the leaders."

[aradia22]

The episode started with travel drama but it was really boring travel drama since the top 3 teams ended up losing their 8 hour lead through delays and transfers and so none of it amounted to anything and they ended up bunched up again. I get why they showed it to us because they wanted to build suspense (and the rest of tasks this episode were also boring) but meh. This was definitely an episode that didn't seem like it needed to be 90 minutes.

The express pass led to a lot of mistakes this episode. First Todd just charging ahead not looking for a marked path and then spending a good chunk of the time until the hay detour blaming Ashlie and being entirely unsympathetic to her skiing struggles. Really remembered why I don't like him in this episode. 

I could have used more clumsy skiing but it seemed like most of that ended up on the cutting room and it didn't slow anyone down nearly as much as the navigation. 

I felt bad for Greg and John and Corey (and maybe some of the others) for their hay allergies. Seeing how things worked out, it made no sense to choose the bee house assembly/painting task. But I wonder if they had any plans in place other than forcing people to choose the other detour. Especially since it seemed like most of them didn't know they had hay allergies until they did the task.

Joel and Garrett need to stop leaving things behind at tasks. They've managed to recover but they can't be lucky forever, especially as the pack is thinning out.

Happy that Greg and John won the foot race for first. And that Chelsea and Robbin weren't able to follow them and had to self-navigate though if I had my way, they'd be out instead of Morgan and Lena. 

While I did like Morgan and Lena as racers, I'm not shocked they left this episode. I'm more shocked that Morgan was so nice to Anna Leigh and yet continued to bicker with and criticize Lena. Just no sympathy throughout the skiing and probably even more navigation drama than what we saw. 

Oof. I was worried for Steve this episode. I hate stairs. And I was certainly sympathetic to Rob and his good natured complaint when they had to climb the spiral staircase. But Anna Leigh not seeing the sign and making him climb all those stairs... without an express pass as a reward? I kind of want them to go home next episode just to put them out of their misery. 

[chaifan]

30 minutes ago, aradia22 said:

But Anna Leigh not seeing the sign and making him climb all those stairs... without an express pass as a reward?

Eh, Steve's an adult.  It was just as much his responsibility as AL's to look for a "taken" sign (if, as I noted above, they even knew to look for it), and to think strategically about whether or not another team would have already grabbed the EP.  But it was 100% his responsibility to fairly assess his ability to climb those stairs and say a firm "no" if he felt that answer was no.  Obviously he could do it, so I don't think AL "made" him do anything. 

Edited to add: I went back and watched that part.  Honestly, there's not a lot there, a few seconds of them opening the clue, AL saying they "have to" go for the EP, and Steve saying ok.  Then they're shown breezing past the "taken" sign.  Maybe there was more discussion, maybe there was pushback by Steve, maybe not. 

Edited November 16, 2023 by chaifan

[aradia22]

Quote

I love TAR but they need to re-think the editing and for some time too.  The very blatant edit of "we are out of the race" that the blue-blouse team had about the niece in the first 10 minutes kind of ruined the level I could enjoy this leg with.

And they do it every freaking leg for years now.  I'd like to see a leg where the editors stop spoiling me.

Quote

I don’t understand how the sisters lost so much time after the roadblock. They were well ahead of AL/Steve who then messed up by going for the taken express pass before the detour that should have put them further behind. Editing didn’t show any significant issues for the sisters besides what looked like a minor navigational error but nothing big enough to erase a whole EP worth of time. 

I think these are both fair criticisms but the latter bothers me more. There's a way to pace things and draw focus so there is some suspense. But TAR likes the races to the mat and the talking heads. Making the episodes 90 minutes only amplifies the problems. Why not show me Morgan and Lena getting lost for longer? 

Quote

I was feeling a mega leg up until the very end, so it was a pleasant surprise when the episode ended with an actual elimination. It feels like they have been brutal and very demanding legs of late.

The sound of “Lena!” yelled over and over again might be seared into my brain for a while, but I still liked the sisters. It’s funny how of the remaining teams I have a VERY strong preference for the 3 all male teams.

I kept checking the time towards the end of the episode. That's part of the pacing issue but also a bit of a race design flaw. Rather than tasks that challenged the teams and slowed them down, it was another leg with a lot of self-navigation and also some random stuff to tire them out. 

With Morgan and Lena gone, my preference tips heavily towards the 3 all male teams. I mean, Ashlie is fine; I just don't like Todd. I still find Steve and Anna Leigh tolerable but they're not going to win so they should just be allowed to go home. And Robbin and Chelsea can leave yesterday.

Quote

I can't imagine what their relationship was like before if they think the Amazing Race improved it.

I hope they can enjoy their downtime wherever TAR sends the racers until the finale. For what it's worth, I feel like Morgan forgets the awful way she talked to Lena in between legs. Whereas Steve and Anna Leigh clearly hold onto resentment and it's wearing on them. 

Quote

Part of me thinks that if the 3 breakaway teams would've managed their train roulette correctly, they still would've ran into a hours of operation bunch up at the glider challenge once they made it to Slovenia.

Yeah, I know they said it's old TAR but I'm suspicious about whether tasks would be ready if any of the racers happened to get a big advantage with flights. 

Quote

I should have guessed it would be them, though, since they got the "back home we have a sad thing" backstory.

Another thing... I have a hard time believing this is the first time Morgan and Lena have talked about their cousin. Not that I want more backstory but the editors are not doing a great job of sprinkling that stuff in naturally which you might expect with 90 minute episodes. Hopefully, if they continue with this episode length, they'll figure out the pacing as they go along. 

Quote

Obviously he could do it, so I don't think AL "made" him do anything. 

That was a lot as a response to one word. iirc AL was the one who decided to go for the Express Pass. 🤷‍♀️

[eel2178]

1 hour ago, chaifan said:

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought the "taken" sign was weird.  I didn't recall ever seeing that before, and that it was a matter of chance whether you got to the EP first or not. 

The season where the 2 doctors ate the sheep's head to get the express pass also had a sign that said it was taken after they had finished.

[proserpina65]

11 hours ago, Ancaster said:

I actually didn't find that Anna Leigh was as bad this episode.  I think her father is the wrong partner for her and he bit off more than he could chew.  I felt the sisters were way worse the way they were talking to each other.  I was uncomfortable just watching it,  I can't imagine what their relationship was like before if they think the Amazing Race improved it.

I wish it had been a double elimination because both of these teams annoyed the crap out of me this leg and the last two legs as well.

6 hours ago, PhD-Purgatory15 said:

Anybody else have flashbacks to the poor sisters who (if not for Phil mercifully philiminating them after 11 hours or some other insane amount of time) might still be unrolling giant hay bales from an early TAR Season..

It was a little over 8 hours when all the other teams had finally checked in.  I think that will always be the standard for needle-in-a-haystack tasks.

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

At no point did I see an obvious reason why the sisters would fall behind. I think something must have happened that got cut out because it would have made it too obvious.

I think their many navigation errors did them in.  It's also possible that the bee house task was quicker than the hay one.

1 hour ago, Browncoat said:

It was interesting to me that when Rob and Corey went up that interminable staircase (I get tired just thinking about 1100 steps!), Corey was behind Rob, giving him encouragement, and saying, "You can do it!  Are you okay?" and so on.  But when Steve and Anna Leigh went up, AL just ran off and left Steve behind, saying only things like, "Come on, Dad!" and "Hurry up, Dad!"  Hell, she even yelled at him to hurry up when he was on the zip line!

Rob and Corey's relationship has been a joy to watch from the start of this Race.  It's probably the best parent-child team we've ever seen on TAR from this perspective.

 

[PurpleTentacle]

Yeah, you don't bank on a 5 minute train connection in Austria. I could have told the teams that. In Switzerland sure, but not in Austria. Although with such a short delay there was a chance the next train would have waited. But I guess it was pretty late in the evening and so there was no later train, meaning they would have been stranded in Graz had they missed it. Seems like they took an overnight train from Salzburg to Ljubljana. Those aren't exactly common.

Going back and using the tickets, the race seemingly arranged, was clearly the right decision though. We all know the race won't let an 8 hour lead stand in this day and age anymore anyway, so even if they had made it, they would have been greeted with an hours of operation.

But even earlier, did teams just not think about disregarding the suggested flight completely and flying to Ljubljana directly? I guess there is only one flight that could have gotten them into Ljubljana that evening, so maybe that was booked. Or teams really had tunnel vision? Or did the clue specify that they had to go through Wien? Is there any exit press on this? I'd be really interested.

-

Poor Todd not being able to do the plane-task because of his height. As a 6'8er, I feel you, man.

With 1199 the answer was pretty obviously 1991, as that was in the general eastern european reshuffle, when the soviet union broke up. Though in the heat of the moment that might have slipped somebodies mind. Not sure how long they had to think before they had to give the answer. Or maybe some teams really didn't know it.

Those stairs to the express pass looked brutal.

This week I have to say I'm with other posters who say Anna Leigh was a brat. Maybe think and look for 5 seconds before you drag your old dad up a bunch of stairs and don't be an ass when he can't get up those as fast as you. They could have had a more comfortable 6th place or even 5th if she had just calmed down for a second. That unnecessary climb must have taken like half an hour.

Edited November 16, 2023 by PurpleTentacle

[aghst]

Wow, I passed on a day trip to that city and Lake Bled and now I want to visit for at least a few nights.

Even if they made the trains, they'd have arrived at 1 AM and probably would not have been able to get the cars and drive themselves to the air field.  Or even if they did, they'd have to wait until the morning.

So they were going to be bunched after the flight it appears.

The glider task was awesome but annoying that they have to go back up when they already have the 4 letters.  Second time around, one of the sisters said she was getting nauseous.  Probably with the sun blasting through that dome it might get uncomfortable.

The hay bailing was serious, the one kid had an intense allergic reaction and they all were picking hay out of their hair.  But it seemed to go faster than the beehive building and bee stings might be worse to some people than allergic reactions to hay.

AL was whining early after they fell behind in navigating to the air field but at least she and Steve kept going.  Then for the drive to the parking garage and skyscraper climb, they got good directions from a bystander while the sisters were bickering again during the drive and probably didn't ask for directions until it was too late.

They really must have screwed up the drive because AL and Steve did an unnecessary climb for the Express Pass that they should have known was long gone.  He would have had every right to be livid with her but looked like the zip line ride was a blast.

AL and Steve were the only ones to go down in the elevator?  But the instructions must not have prohibited it because Phil didn't say anything at the mat.  Maybe they decided to give this team a pass for some reason.

The sisters after they got eliminated blathered some nonsense about coming together on the trip and resetting their relationship.  

Okey dokey, whatever they say but the tapes say differently.

They got eliminated because they were always bickering in the car, which is how they lost time.

 

 

[Tango64]

5 hours ago, Corgi-ears said:

I wish:

1. That the show had made Anna-Leigh walk all those steps back down after being told the express pass was already taken (fine, Steve can use the zipline);

Me too. I understood the zipline to be a sort of reward for getting the pass, so I expected they would have to climb back down the stairs. Going downstairs for that distance isn't all easy, especially when your legs are jelly already. 

I may be revealing a personality trait, but I love it when a team screws up like that and has to pay the consequences. Constant success isn't as interesting to watch.

[chaifan]

11 minutes ago, aghst said:

AL and Steve were the only ones to go down in the elevator?  But the instructions must not have prohibited it because Phil didn't say anything at the mat.

AL specifically said the clue didn't say they had to go back down the stairs.  Another team was going to take the elevator but gave up waiting for it.

55 minutes ago, aradia22 said:

Another thing... I have a hard time believing this is the first time Morgan and Lena have talked about their cousin. Not that I want more backstory but the editors are not doing a great job of sprinkling that stuff in naturally which you might expect with 90 minute episodes.

I agree that it seemed odd and that this discussion of a disabled cousin came out of nowhere this episode.  I still don't understand the point of it.  "Oh, we have a disabled cousin who never could do any of these things we're doing, but at least she can watch us do it on TV."  (paraphrasing)  That is just such an odd thing to bring up.  And it seemed rather shoehorned in.  Did the editors feel they needed this story shown to make Lena and Morgan seem more sympathetic?  What was the point?

Ljubljana has been on my short list for travel for several years now.  This episode really makes me want to go there soon.

[PurpleTentacle]

16 hours ago, Skooma said:

along with "1199" (come on, watch the news, you are old enough to remember the break-up of Yugoslavia) etc.

I mean, her dad mentioned that she's 28 this episode, so she is literally not. That was 32 years ago.

But I would hope she'd have learned it in history class. American schools do teach the breakup of the soviet union and the aftermath, right?

16 hours ago, dizzyd said:

I don’t understand how the sisters lost so much time after the roadblock. They were well ahead of AL/Steve who then messed up by going for the taken express pass before the detour that should have put them further behind. Editing didn’t show any significant issues for the sisters besides what looked like a minor navigational error but nothing big enough to erase a whole EP worth of time. 

Guess that navigational error was more than minor.

8 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

That being said, I don't think she's the worst type of racer we see from this show.

Yeah, at least she pushes, while she non-stop whines. The worst type is a Flo, who whines all the time and then refuses to move.

3 hours ago, chaifan said:

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought the "taken" sign was weird.  I didn't recall ever seeing that before, and that it was a matter of chance whether you got to the EP first or not.

There have always been "taken" signs. Now if they would have put it at the bottom of the stairs in early TAR, who can say? But I tend towards "yes", because usually it was at the start of the task and here the start was the bottom of the stairs, not the zipline.

I think the confusion might stem from the fact, that the taken sign is only put there once the pass is actually taken, so multiple times, teams have started a task when another team was already almost done.

1 hour ago, aradia22 said:

Especially since it seemed like most of them didn't know they had hay allergies until they did the task.

That was a bit weird to me. Are they really so removed from nature that they don't know they are allergic to grass? They know hay is mostly dried grass, right?

1 hour ago, aradia22 said:

I hope they can enjoy their downtime wherever TAR sends the racers until the finale.

This late in the game, they might have to race as decoys.

1 hour ago, proserpina65 said:

It's also possible that the bee house task was quicker than the hay one.

Didn't seem like it. The beardos came in after most of the hay teams. Of course they "went back" but I assume that was like 3km at that point and only put in to suggest drama. Otherwise nobody would have gone back for a notebook and we would have seen them pick it up, with AL and her father in the same shot almost being finished with the bee house.

51 minutes ago, aghst said:

Even if they made the trains, they'd have arrived at 1 AM and probably would not have been able to get the cars and drive themselves to the air field.  Or even if they did, they'd have to wait until the morning.

They should have been able to get the cars, but that board at the airfield would have had hours of operations on it. Maybe could have gotten like an hour on the other teams though. Who knows.

33 minutes ago, Tango64 said:

Me too. I understood the zipline to be a sort of reward for getting the pass, so I expected they would have to climb back down the stairs. Going downstairs for that distance isn't all easy, especially when your legs are jelly already. 

That's also how I understood it when Phil explained it: "The team that gets it first, will be rewarded with a ride down the world's steepest zipline."

Maybe production took pity on Steve, thinking they were out anyway. If so, not that great that they still squeeked by. But production can do whatever the hell the want. It's in the contracts and courts have ruled it legal.

Edited November 16, 2023 by PurpleTentacle

[Tango64]

10 minutes ago, PurpleTentacle said:

This late in the game, they might have to race as decoys.

They do that??

[PurpleTentacle]

1 minute ago, Tango64 said:

They do that??

At least they used to. Not sure if that's still a thing. But yeah, they went through all the tasks, the other racers had to do, with camera people behind them. Just with the cameras off.

[vousviou]

13 hours ago, Fukui San said:

I've cross-country skied quite a bit growing up, and I'm certain that I would have looked every bit the buffoon as anyone else on the race. I only liked skiing on mostly flat ground as I was only ever mediocre in skill. Those slight inclines are tough, and I might have had to resort to the full sideways shuffle climb technique. 

I wouldn't be surprised if that artificial snow was also icier than most snow. 

[aradia22]

Quote

Yeah, at least she pushes, while she non-stop whines. The worst type is a Flo, who whines all the time and then refuses to move.

It's definitely possible that I wouldn't feel as kindly towards Anna Leigh if we hadn't experienced Sharik and Linton last season and her increasing frustration when asked to do anything culminating in a total meltdown in Italy.

Quote

That was a bit weird to me. Are they really so removed from nature that they don't know they are allergic to grass? They know hay is mostly dried grass, right?

As someone with non-specific allergies, I get it. I'm just assuming I'm allergic to pollen because of seasonal spikes but I have no problem with flowers and it could be dust or any number of things. It's not severe enough for me to get tested. The hay task was like diving into the deep end of exposure. Like someone who wasn't consciously avoiding nuts but never ate enough to notice a reaction suddenly being asked to eat as many nuts as the number of bugs Morgan and Lena had to eat in episode 1. I get that it was about the express pass, but I did feel bad remembering them doing that only to see them get eliminated later in the episode. I can't feel too bad though because they got in their own way with bickering and poor navigation.

Quote

At least they used to. Not sure if that's still a thing. But yeah, they went through all the tasks, the other racers had to do, with camera people behind them. Just with the cameras off.

I don't know if that would be worse for Morgan and Lena or their camera person. I would hope they could just get directions at that point instead of driving around arguing.

[Silver-hyren]

51 minutes ago, PurpleTentacle said:

I mean, her dad mentioned that she's 28 this episode, so she is literally not. That was 32 years ago.

But I would hope she'd have learned it in history class. American schools do teach the breakup of the soviet union and the aftermath, right?

It was one of the beard guys that guessed 1199.  So yeah, he would have been old enough to know first-hand.

Can't speak for anyone else, but I didn't learn about the fall of the Soviet Union in school.  Not for lack of trying, though.  We got to about day one of the unit on the Cold War in my Western Civ class then everything shut down for two weeks of mandatory state testing (where ironically I was asked questions about outcomes of the Cold War.  Good thing it didn't count for me).  I only knew 1991 was the answer because I had a co-worker a few years back tell us about her trip there.

[seacliffsal]

Anna Leigh not only complained and whined the whole time, she actively tried to make other teams feel sorry for her.  What did she expect them to do?  Let her go ahead of them?  Why was she bothering others with her pity party?  Especially at the bee hive activity when she should have been working on it rather than expecting the beard team to feel sorry for her?

I was nervous for Rob and Corey with the Express Pass as two other teams tried to go for it after them.  I think the brothers could have passed them but I was glad they turned around.  I think Rob and Corey decided to just go for broke through the whole race-they seem like they are enjoying every single moment.  And, I like that they stopped to deal with Corey's allergic reaction rather than just race to the end.  I also like how Corey signs all of the conversations just automatically for his dad (on the train he just signed everything).  I like seeing positive relationships as a good race is drama enough for me, I don't need to see constant bickering or fighting.

[Hera]

8 hours ago, PhD-Purgatory15 said:

Part of me thinks that if the 3 breakaway teams would've managed their train roulette correctly, they still would've ran into a hours of operation bunch up at the glider challenge once they made it to Slovenia.

This is what I thought. They kept talking about their "eight hour head start" and I think even if it had worked out, they maybe would have gotten one or two hours ahead at most. It's not nothing, but it's not the eight hour leg up they were hoping for.

2 hours ago, aradia22 said:

While I did like Morgan and Lena as racers, I'm not shocked they left this episode. I'm more shocked that Morgan was so nice to Anna Leigh and yet continued to bicker with and criticize Lena. Just no sympathy throughout the skiing and probably even more navigation drama than what we saw. 

The reaction to Steve and Anna Leigh from the other racers suggested to me that they're a well-liked team. As for Morgan and Lena, I both felt sorry for Lena when Morgan was yelling at her for falling down on the skiing task ("LENA! What are you doing?" Er… she didn't fall on purpose, so calm down), but I also found the reveal that Lena "has been skiing [her] whole life" very funny—though not skiing for over a decade is a rock solid excuse for being bad at that task, in my book.

2 hours ago, PurpleTentacle said:

They could have had a more comfortable 6th place or even 5th if she had just calmed down for a second. That unnecessary climb must have taken like half an hour.

Yeah, their navigation issues are sending them spiraling. I was going to blame the U-Turn (and that may well have started them on this frazzled path), but there have been enough equalizers that that can't be a factor anymore. I think this is simply a team that can't handle the stress of racing at the back, which is where they end up thanks to their poor navigation skills. This makes them rush to try to make up time and so they think through what they're trying to do, which leads to unforced errors like trying for the Express Pass, even though it made no sense to do so.

Finally, well done to Ashlie for understanding the hay task (she mentioned that judge was going to want to see that they used all the hay) and for disproving Robbin's prediction that she'd make her team switch tasks because it was hard work and Robbin wasn't sure Ashlie had it in her. It's particularly funny in retrospect because it seemed like Robbin and Chelsea ended up being one of the slowest teams to complete that task. I don't think their strategy of trying to grind through physical tasks is a good one on a season that's so stacked with athletic men.

[Skooma]

2 hours ago, PurpleTentacle said:

I mean, her dad mentioned that she's 28 this episode, so she is literally not. That was 32 years ago.

Sorry, that was about the Facial Hair Guys since it was their mistake, not Pageant Queen Person.  Fragmented sentence on my part.

2 hours ago, chaifan said:

I agree that it seemed odd and that this discussion of a disabled cousin came out of nowhere this episode.  I still don't understand the point of it

When you get an edit like that (personal and usually sentimental stuff) early in an episode about a team it means 9 times out of 10 that team is going to be eliminated that leg. 

TAR (and Survivor) have had the same, crummy, ham-fisted, give-away edits like this for years and it annoys the crap out of me.  I hate that they almost always spoil me.

Add in the silly, over the top "we are doomed, DOOMED I tell you" endless moans and groans of Pageant Girl meaning they weren't doomed (also typical bad editing of a team NOT being eliminated) and it just confirmed over and over again that the light-blue blouse sisters team was going home.

I basically said the same thing up thread asking TAR to please stop with this primitive, first grade editing they always do and stop spoiling me almost every freaking leg.  I love this show but the sentimental story editing at the start of a leg stuff is two decades behind the curve and hasn't worked since the start of TAR2 at the latest.

Edited November 16, 2023 by Skooma

[Netfoot]

13 hours ago, PhD-Purgatory15 said:

Part of me thinks that if the 3 breakaway teams would've managed their train roulette correctly, they still would've ran into a hours of operation bunch up at the glider challenge once they made it to Slovenia.

Very possibly, but I wish they had successfully leapfrogged ahead. Racers these days are very inclined to stick with the programme and a successful jump ahead by using alternate transportation might have inspired other teams at other times in later legs/seasons.

I've been rooting for Steve and Anna Leigh but I have to admit that she is emotionally fragile to quite a degree. Early navigational issues on the way to the airfield had her sniffling and sure they were done. Kisses to Morgan for telling her to chill and be positive. How the hell they missed the "Taken" sign, walked all the way up 1100 steps and still managed to avoid elimination, I swear I don't know. 

And as for missing the sign, what about Ashlie & Todd missing the stairway entirely, despite it being marked not once but twice? Shaking my head. 

The gliding looked superb. They had some fairly modern tugs and sailplanes but also one or two vintage birds as well as a vintage tug! I thought it was Robbin that said she thought she saw sixes on top of the boats when looking down from the gliders and was relieved when she gave a correct answer. When it came to Lena, I was laughingly saying to myself that she would guess 9119 but maybe I shouldn't have laughed at the idea. She did manage to get two digits (7 & 6) that were not correct at all.  But then she claimed she felt like she was going to ralph the whole time. so some slack was given.

I can't make my mind up as to which would have been harder / taken longer, beehive building or hay racking. All I know was that I felt for Rob when he was faced with that 10-story spiral staircase, and I tip my hat to him for stepping forth without any hesitation or particular sign of dismay.

It was so pleasant to see that the race made it to a brand new country and that the place turned out to be so beautiful and ... well just lovely. There is always the risk when the race ventures into new territory that they end up in some armpit of a place that you wish they had just not bothered.

Since I have been OK with all teams up to this point, I was not particularly happy to see the sisters eliminated. However, they have been bickering for several legs now and their self-navigation is poor. How they ended up behing Steve & Anna Leigh is beyond me, but I will just assume it was a self-administered knockout blow. Goodbye ladies, and I hope you fare well.

Still looking for a Steve/Anna Leigh win, but frankly, Anna Leigh will have to get herself together much better if that is to happen, and Steve needs to put some spring in his step! He is giving me a strong vibe of wanting to throw in the towel!

Edited November 17, 2023 by Netfoot

[iMonrey]

3 hours ago, aradia22 said:

First Todd just charging ahead not looking for a marked path and then spending a good chunk of the time until the hay detour blaming Ashlie and being entirely unsympathetic to her skiing struggles. Really remembered why I don't like him in this episode. 

I just don't see Todd in such a negative light. Both of them missed the marked path to the stairs, and I didn't see him blame her at any point. Maybe I missed something, but when they finally found the stairs, he simply asked whether or not she could do it. She waffled instead of just answering. I can see how that's annoying but he never lost patience with her, he just asked for an answer. Now if that had been Morgan and Lena . . .

He was also trying to help her on the ski slope and she just kept whimpering and complaining. I know he isn't exactly touchy-feely or lovey-dovey in these moments but neither is he unkind nor does he raise his voice. His is simply very direct in trying to help her and tell her how to do it. 

I think the fact that Ashlie starts to whine is what makes people think Todd is somehow responsible but I think it's unfair to blame her behavior on him. He's clearly used to it and he just doesn't coddle her. 

What's really telling is how they act in the interview segments. In that respect, I think Morgan and Lena were even worse than Anna Leigh and Steve. Anna Leigh is sort of amusing in how she's all smiles and self-reflective in her interviews, whereas Morgan and Lena are still pretty salty. And Todd and Ashlie seem just fine. I don't see any evidence she's still mad after the fact. I think she just loses patience with him when she's stressed but that's not his fault. It's like saying Lena must be doing something wrong for Morgan to be yelling at her all the time.

[Lisa418722]

Rob and Corey continue to be my favorite team.  They have a wonderful father/son relationship and seem to be enjoying the race.  
I wanted to feel sorry for Steve climbing all those stairs, but since he's AL's father, he contributed to making her the person she is, I don't have a lot of sympathy.  I have a health condition that makes climbing stairs almost impossible.  I can usually climb one or two fights with no problems but after that.  I was huffing and puffing watching them.  
When Rob and Corey stopped the car to get the Benadryl and wipes, I was wondering if were they given that by the Race or did they pack it to have it on hand just in case of an allergy attack.  

[PurpleTentacle]

1 minute ago, Lisa418722 said:

When Rob and Corey stopped the car to get the Benadryl and wipes, I was wondering if were they given that by the Race or did they pack it to have it on hand just in case of an allergy attack.  

They were getting them from their backpacks. So they brought them. Bringing Benadryl is a good idea if you know you have allergies and wipes are in the inofficial pack-list for the race.