S35.E10: Everyone Loves a Comeback Story

[Haleth]

Woo hoo!  Second place this season that I've been!  Stockholm is beautiful.

Ashlie must have been taking her frickin' damn time putting together the wreath.  That is the only reason they lagged so far behind.  It seems that as long as you had the correct number of flowers it would pass.  Ashlie thought she was making a wreath to sell at the PTA's holiday bazaar so it had to be perfect.  It looked like they completed all other tasks pretty quickly but by then there was no catching up.  (I don't think it was a close finish at all.  Everyone else was gone by the time Todd & Ashlie showed up.)

Loved watching the waiting partners do the dance too.

I was afraid for the brothers when they alone picked the wait staff challenge.  Gee, that was a lot to remember!  But of course they nailed it.  

AL's constant yelling at her dad to go faster is tiresome but I understand her frustration.  They have a good relationship and the yelling doesn't bother him, so I'll give her a pass.

21 hours ago, shura said:

I loved how everybody on the street was giving the racers wrong directions to the subway.  "It's over there", "It's that way" (in what looked like a small woodland?), "Yes, the subway is right here, hop on" (thank you, bus driver!), "It's in Germany".  See, this is why banning smartphone use would be a disaster - nobody knows anything without them anymore.

Hee!  I would have cracked up if someone had said it's in Germany.

21 hours ago, chaifan said:

Or was this filmed the time of year where it's daylight 20 hours/day? 

Phil said the Maypole dance was to celebrate midsummer, so yeah, lots of sunlight.  When I was there in June the sun was still up well after midnight.

I had a dream about the race last night.  To get to the final destination the teams had to figure out where to go.  They were in an airport waiting room of some kind, surrounded by clues about where they'd been and where to go next, they just had to be observant enough to realize the answer was right in front of them.  It was a pretty cool dream!

[zapper]

22 hours ago, bunnyface said:

Okay, well, I don't know what it says about me then, because I'd still be there right now instead of typing this.  The brother's ability with French was a great key.  ...

I thought that having only *one* of the brothers speak french was actually a problem because the communication between the two was oral.  He'd be asked to get a "choad bow-ef" and all that he could find was a "show buff" (my phonetic spelling sucks, but you get the idea I hope).

[30 Helens]

I didn’t feel too bad for Steve, because he has also done his fair share of berating. But still: Whip that horse until it drops, Scarlett O’Hara!

I was a bit nervous for Rob and Corey: all that focus on using the Express Pass correctly made me think they were getting the Irony Edit, and I was afraid the task they chose to do was going to be their undoing. Especially since they were getting passed up. But it worked out, and the correct teams made it through.

[Lady Calypso]

This leg was definitely a bit easier in terms of tasks, hence why everyone was so bunched up. Well, it was a combination of easier tasks, experience for some teams and working together, but still, I think all of the tasks were extremely manageable, even the Serve detour. 

The skydiving task looked beautiful. I'm terrified of heights, but I do think having an instructor and basically being pushed out of the plane anyway made it easier for people like Ashlie to just do it. I'd want to give skydiving a try, but I would need a lot of courage to even get myself on a plane. And, if I could do it in a place like Sweden, it would be worth it. But I did have a good laugh at multiple teams running past the barrier with the numbers on them. And I loved Joel/Garrett's reaction to Greg/John looking basically being like "my heart says to help, my head says to let you keep looking! Sorry!"

I questioned for a bit if Rob/Corey made the right decision with using the Express Pass on the Roadblock. Ultimately, I think with the information they had, it was not a bad idea. I know it would have been better for it to be used on the Detour, but I looked at it from their perspective. They saw all the teams at the Roadblock. They knew if they used it, they would definitely be in first. Judging by the Roadblock, it SEEMED like it was going to be detail-oriented. From their perspective, the Roadblock looked like it would have taken a good chunk of time, and with teams so close together, every bit of a lead helps. So if they could get a half hour head start on the next placed team, why not? 

Unfortunately, they couldn't have anticipated that out of all the tasks they've had with attention to detail, this one would be the most relaxed Roadblock where the detail didn't REALLY matter. So I think they took a risk that didn't pay off. 

It was nice to see Steve/Anna Leigh help Rob/Corey with finding the main entrance and where to go to find the violinist, and I especially liked how Rob/Corey got to return the favour immediately with helping them figure out they shouldn't be on that bus. And they worked together at the Sort detour, which honestly didn't help them THAT much, since the Sort detour seemed rather easy. The hardest part was locating each station, but the attendants there wouldn't let teams just place the wrong items in the wrong station, so it was just more about getting through the task faster than it being difficult.

The Serve task, on paper, seemed more difficult and it definitely was, in ways. There were a lot of layers and having to orally communicate the right dishes to your partner and then remembering placements can definitely get other teams turned around. What helps is that John could just run back and forth and check each item if Greg wasn't sure. Luckily, Greg knows French! Not that it's super helpful but I think John describing each item fairly well helped. I do think other teams could have been tripped up over the task, but Greg/John sped through it.

I did laugh at how S/AL, G/J and R/C pretty much ended up bunched together at the end, and getting lost together. They likely would have been the top three had that not happened. And Joel/Garrett get first! Hooray!

Now, I get the annoyance with Anna Leigh pushing her dad with the constant "come on, Dad!". But, I think I get why; Anna Leigh is very competitive so it's going to come out, especially when you're near the bottom of the pack, see other teams and either don't know where your placement is or don't know where the last team is. For all Anna Leigh knew, Todd/Ashlie WERE right behind them. She knew Todd/Ashlie would beat them in a foot race, so I do not blame her for being pushy. Was it rude? Sure, but she wasn't being mean, which is important to note. Plus, Steve did say in an earlier confessional (that was taped after the leg anyway) that her pushing him like that does work for him. I think Anna Leigh got frustrated at the thought of losing, and we always see the worst of her come out in high stress moments, such as a foot race where you're trying to not get last.

I did enjoy the foot race aspect of this leg. I always wanted to see teams bunched up more to increase the tension.

[PurpleTentacle]

31 minutes ago, Haleth said:

Phil said the Maypole dance was to celebrate midsummer, so yeah, lots of sunlight.

Well yeah, but the cologne leg wasn't filmed during Karneval either which starts in November.

Looking it up, Wikipedia says they got to europe on June 30th. So this leg would have been some time in early July, which is a lot closer to the summer solstice than I had thought. I guess TV cameras and the rain clouds made 5am look darker than it usually would have been that time of year.

33 minutes ago, zapper said:

I thought that having only *one* of the brothers speak french was actually a problem because the communication between the two was oral.  He'd be asked to get a "choad bow-ef" and all that he could find was a "show buff" (my phonetic spelling sucks, but you get the idea I hope).

They both speak french. It's just that one speaks it a bit better.

[Browncoat]

The Parade interview with Todd and Ashlie is up, and they said they were told they were about 15 minutes behind.          

https://parade.com/tv/the-amazing-race-35-todd-ashlie-martin-eliminated-interview

[aradia22]

Quote

This leg was definitely a bit easier in terms of tasks, hence why everyone was so bunched up. Well, it was a combination of easier tasks, experience for some teams and working together, but still, I think all of the tasks were extremely manageable, even the Serve detour. 

Yeah, okay then watching people race to do simple tasks quickly is not my idea of entertainment... especially for 90 minutes. I'd rather see them do something difficult as quickly as they can. Make it a challenge. 

[Netfoot]

12 hours ago, aradia22 said:

It made me not want to visit Sweden. Because apparently the subway stations are difficult to find and no one knows how to give directions.

Then I suggest you don't visit my country. Because while everyone will happily give you directions, you probably won't understand their English due to the accent. And because we don't actually have any subways at all.

 

[iMonrey]

13 hours ago, aradia22 said:

Did they know the recycling signs would be in Swedish. Weird they all chose the physical task. I would have taken the Serve task with memorizing the menus and like Greg and John, I speak enough French it would have been simple enough. Also, there's the hidden advantage of being comfortable inside while the other teams are running around cold in the rain doing a physical challenge.

I think the sorting task seemed more clear cut. It was just physical, there wasn't any real chance for screwing it up, it's not like you could have thrown the recyclables into the wrong bin or pile, or had trouble finding the right area because you could see what was there just by looking at it. The serving task had more room for error, especially if you were mentally exhausted by that point and got confused.

13 hours ago, aradia22 said:

Those departing comments at the mat from Todd about how five or six years ago they were not as secure in their marriage and "God restored our relationship" makes me think there was a lot of stuff the editors cut out.

Uh, yeah, I wondered about that too. I also heard him tell their taxi driver "God bless you." And he has a big "Holy Bible" tattoo on his forearm. I suspect the show may have edited out some God-bothering here and there.

13 hours ago, aradia22 said:

Also, random but was the food real for the Serve task? Or was it prop food?

Quote

I wondered that too. There was an awful lot of it, and it would have been sitting out for a long time. I'm not sure I would have eaten any of it.

[TVbitch]

Three out of four teams in the final four are so pleasant I would happy for any to win. Of course, with my luck, that can only mean.... 😬

If there is a hell, it will have AL on loop yelling "Come on, Dad!" But to be fair, he is an adult and if he was annoyed or pushed past his limits by it, he could certainly tell her that if she did not stop, he would not continue. That would probably shut her up.  ...  ...for a few minutes.

[proserpina65]

20 hours ago, Shermie said:

She wasn’t lambasting him, she was telling him to hurry up. Because it’s a race. That he signed up for. Hey, she doesn’t want to lose because it means elimination; I don’t blame her for telling her racing partner to move his ass. 

One or twice would've been fine, but she was at him constantly and her tone was not encouraging, it was hectoring.  I do blame her for not getting that he was hurrying.  If she had really wanted to help him, she should've taken his pack, which is what a lot of Racers have done in the past when their partners were struggling.

19 hours ago, J-Man said:

Maybe I misheard, but I thought John specifically said that he'd never worked as a server but that he was really enjoying the "hospitality aspect" of the task.

If the three-team bunch hadn't got misdirected at the end, it's likely the brothers would have come in first yet again, since they were first among the bunch to arrive at the mat.

That could be the case.  I will confess to being on the computer for a bit, so I might've misunderstood what he said.

15 hours ago, aradia22 said:

Am I getting tired of the season or was this a boring episode?

Idk about the first part, but no, this was not a boring episode to me.

12 hours ago, aradia22 said:

Just conjecture but I wonder if past roadblocks like the lotus bouquets made the teams nervous.

I suspect that might've been the case.  That detour was diabolical whereas the Midsommar one was much easier.

6 hours ago, PurpleTentacle said:

I mean still. When Corey and Rob were going for the express pass, Corey stayed behind Rob and asked if he was okay at some point. Contrast that with AL, who ran ahead up the stairs, while her father was basically only half up and then screamed down at him to hurry up, while he was clearly already going as fast as he could.

Exactly.

Edited to note that I don't hate Anna Leigh.  Even though she's the least appealing competitor left, she's far from the worst Racer we've ever seen in this respect and rocks most of the tasks with little complaining.  So, unlike some previous Races, I wouldn't hate it if she and her father won.  They're my last choice and I hope they don't make the final leg, but they're mostly ok.

Edited December 1, 2023 by proserpina65

[meep.meep]

19 hours ago, Lola82 said:

I’ll take a million “come on dad!”s over one “Twinnie!!!” any day.

 

Or the ever popular "Come on Babe!"

After all the hype with the sky diving, I was expecting something like Oswald's bungie jump.

I think the Express pass was played correctly.  It was that Roadblock that put Todd and Ashlie behind everyone else.

[Teriacky]

Anna Lee or Leigh or whatever needs to understand that her dad’s body just isn’t responding as well as he wants it to. He’s gotten older and no matter how hard he pushes he isn’t going to race like he would if he were 20 years (or even 10 years) younger.

And some day that will happen to her too. 

 

[Fukui San]

The thing about these arts and crafts tasks is that you don’t know how difficult it’ll be until you get judged. I don’t think any challenge was great for the Express Pass.

I think there were many teams in Amazing Race history that would have made the waitering task look very difficult. The brothers just made it look very easy. 

[chaifan]

10 minutes ago, Fukui San said:

I think there were many teams in Amazing Race history that would have made the waitering task look very difficult. The brothers just made it look very easy. 

The key was coming up with a system.  I could see a lot of teams trying to tackle that one plate at a time, or taking a much more difficult route than John did.  But he was very systematic about it - he memorized the prize years (last 2 digits only) instead of names, put those in order, requested the dishes in that order, served in that order.  He also knew better than to try and remember the full name of dishes, going for first or last word. 

I was a bit more amazed at Greg's ease in finding the dishes.  Either they did a lot of editing out of him walking around the table a lot, he had really good luck, or he actually knew what he was looking for food wise (not just looking at the placards). 

[QuantumMechanic]

23 hours ago, Silver-hyren said:

I was so jealous of the subway stations.  The ones in my city are grimy and literally crumbling apart from years of neglect.  The transit authority had a whole publicity push a few years back about doing deep cleaning on the walls and replacing lightbulbs (a hilarious attempt to distract from unreliable service and an unpopular fare hike).

Boston?  Which, by the way, flagrantly stole the Stockholm transit system logo.

[Lady Calypso]

1 hour ago, Fukui San said:

I think there were many teams in Amazing Race history that would have made the waitering task look very difficult. The brothers just made it look very easy. 

Oh, for sure. I think the hardest part was coming up with a system to ensure you're not making mistakes along the way. The fact that John had a system to help him not just remember the menu, but remember who had what dish and the ability to communicate that with Greg AND ensuring he went back to the menu to double check before serving was a great system for him. I know I would have been confused trying to multi-task like that, but John really shone in that detour. Greg found the dishes quickly and he was able to understand what John was describing, which was also a huge help with what looked like 100+ dishes on the table. Though there had to be five of each dish for all five teams, so it probably narrowed it down a little bit. 

I think most teams would struggle. John/Greg just were smart in establishing a system before starting, and when doubting themselves, going back to each other to double check before continuing. That likely saved them a lot of time.

[PurpleTentacle]

2 hours ago, chaifan said:

I was a bit more amazed at Greg's ease in finding the dishes.  Either they did a lot of editing out of him walking around the table a lot, he had really good luck, or he actually knew what he was looking for food wise (not just looking at the placards). 

Considering it took about the time as recycling half a flat, I think there was a good amount of editing.

 

[Hera]

9 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

I questioned for a bit if Rob/Corey made the right decision with using the Express Pass on the Roadblock. Ultimately, I think with the information they had, it was not a bad idea.

This is where I land as well. Plus, the more you dither about whether or not to use it, the less advantage you get from using it. Like others pointed out, this task seemed similar to the lotus one, so I don't blame anyone for assuming it was going to be judged equally harshly. And skipping the roadblock here means that they'll have a choice about who does the final roadblock, assuming that Corey does the next one.

Anna Leigh was probably at an advantage in that she hadn't done the lotus task, and so she didn't have any preconceived notions about how harsh the judging would be. I give her a ton of credit for finishing quickly enough that she and her dad were able to catch and pass the team who were allowed to skip the task entirely. I'm floored that neither she nor her dad seemed to know the difference between a subway and a bus, but I guess if you're used to driving everywhere (and I suspect they both are), all public transport may seem like the same thing to you.

I suspect that both Rob/Corey and Steve/Anna Leigh are making unforced errors due to Killer Fatigue and the inability to get a comfortable lead on the other teams, leading to panicked rather than reasoned decision-making.

This is a very evenly matched final four—well, three of the teams are evenly matched; I would give Greg/John the edge over everyone else, though not by enough that I think they're absolute shoo-ins to win.

Edited December 1, 2023 by Hera

[watch2much]

I couldn't understand why Ashlie kept putting greenery on her wreath once she saw the others taking off way before her.  at that point she should have stuck the flowers on it and got it checked.  that lost the race for them.

[Guiaoshi]

Again, beautiful places but the tasks for this leg tho? Not a fan, very mechanical, not much mistakes to make. the one with the dishes had the potential but one of them knows french and the other actually played very well (it helps to focus by not having other teams there). The recycle one was the worst IMO, didnt translated as well, just them throwing stuff...  The foot Race/missed subway was more interesting ..

Edited December 2, 2023 by Guiaoshi

[aradia22]

Quote

Edited to note that I don't hate Anna Leigh.  Even though she's the least appealing competitor left, she's far from the worst Racer we've ever seen in this respect and rocks most of the tasks with little complaining.  So, unlike some previous Races, I wouldn't hate it if she and her father won.  They're my last choice and I hope they don't make the final leg, but they're mostly ok.

Yeah, this is where I am. I really want Rob and Corey to win. I'd be happy for Greg and John if they won. If the other two teams win, I'll be fine with it but I mostly want to see some more interesting challenges for the final legs.

Quote

Considering it took about the time as recycling half a flat, I think there was a good amount of editing.

Were the two tasks close by? And more importantly, close to the next clue? There might have been some extra travel time as well.

[vousviou]

22 minutes ago, Guiaoshi said:

Again, beautiful places but the tasks for this leg tho? Not a fan, very mechanical, not much mistakes to make. the one with the dishes had the potential but one of them knows french and the other actually played very well (it helps to focus by not having other teams there).

I agree having no other teams made it much less stressful. If this had happened about five legs earlier you would have seen teams throwing plates. Well, this season teams were too even keeled to throw plates, but you'd definitely see more flustered people.

[JH Lipton]

Nothing to say that hasn't been said, so here's the chart for this week

There's been a LOT more scrambling thi season than in a lot of others

Edited December 2, 2023 by JH Lipton
Scrambling

[jdunlop]

10 hours ago, meep.meep said:

Or the ever popular "Come on Babe!"

After all the hype with the sky diving, I was expecting something like Oswald's bungie jump.

I think the Express pass was played correctly.  It was that Roadblock that put Todd and Ashlie behind everyone else.

When i saw the HOO for the skydiving, I wondered if the Express Pass could have been used for that.  I don’t recall Phil saying it had to be used for either a roadblock or detour, just a task.  I figure skipping that task would have given them a huge lead.  Anybody know about the rules? 

[Haleth]

I'm with you all that Rob & Corey didn't necessarily make a mistake using the EP too early.  It might have taken teams a lot longer to complete the wreathes had the judging been stricter.  There was no way of knowing without wasting time watching until someone called for the judge.  It's always a risk when you choose to use it.

I think the confusion about subway/bus was that AL thought the bus driver would take them to the correct subway station.  She showed him the name on the clue.  I think the bus driver thought she was asking if he could take them to the location where the concert hall is, foregoing the subway.  He said yes, he was going that way.  It was just a misunderstanding.

[PurpleTentacle]

9 hours ago, jdunlop said:

When i saw the HOO for the skydiving, I wondered if the Express Pass could have been used for that.  I don’t recall Phil saying it had to be used for either a roadblock or detour, just a task.  I figure skipping that task would have given them a huge lead.  Anybody know about the rules? 

A route marker is generally not considered a task, even though it's something you got to do.

[Cotypubby]

10 hours ago, jdunlop said:

When i saw the HOO for the skydiving, I wondered if the Express Pass could have been used for that.  I don’t recall Phil saying it had to be used for either a roadblock or detour, just a task.  I figure skipping that task would have given them a huge lead.  Anybody know about the rules? 

Someone on this episode, I think it was Corey, definitely said the Express Pass had to be used on either a Roadblock or Detour.

[fishcakes]

On 11/30/2023 at 7:27 PM, aradia22 said:

Also, random but was the food real for the Serve task? Or was it prop food?

On 12/1/2023 at 8:46 AM, iMonrey said:

I wondered that too. There was an awful lot of it, and it would have been sitting out for a long time. I'm not sure I would have eaten any of it.

I was wondering if the diners ate any of the food. Because it was three courses, so if the racers had to wait for the diners to finish each course before they could serve the next one, a team could be slowed down if they had some particularly polite diners.

 

On 11/30/2023 at 3:46 PM, Lola82 said:

I’ll take a million “come on dad!”s over one “Twinnie!!!” any day.

21 hours ago, meep.meep said:

Or the ever popular "Come on Babe!"

*fondly remembers "Hump it, Teri, HUMP IT!"*

[chaifan]

3 hours ago, Haleth said:

I think the confusion about subway/bus was that AL thought the bus driver would take them to the correct subway station.  She showed him the name on the clue.  I think the bus driver thought she was asking if he could take them to the location where the concert hall is, foregoing the subway.  He said yes, he was going that way.  It was just a misunderstanding.

I'm mostly with you on this.  AL clearly said "let's ask for directions" when she was walking up to the bus.  I don't think she had any confusion re: bus or subway at that moment.  And, asking a bus driver for directions to a transit stop is a good idea - they'll know that.  The bus driver responded verbally, but made a gesture that I also would have taken as "here, get on the bus".  So, in my mind, the bus driver was going to take them to the subway stop (not the concert hall).  But, after Corey and Rob appeared and said the clue said subway, it was Steve who made some comment like "is this not a subway?" and the driver points and says "that is the subway".  AL's talking head did say "we were about to get on a bus when the clue said subway, so Corey & Rob saved us".  So I really am not sure if there was some legitimate confusion by Steve or AL about what is a subway - that just seems weird to me no matter where you're from - or if it was just weird phrasing in the moment. 

I'm sort of glad Rob & Corey couldn't use the EP with the skydiving.  I'd hate to be in that position - get a really solid lead on everyone and win the leg OR go skydiving in Sweden.

[grawlix]

41 minutes ago, fishcakes said:

On 11/30/2023 at 7:27 PM, aradia22 said:

Also, random but was the food real for the Serve task? Or was it prop food?

On 12/1/2023 at 8:46 AM, iMonrey said:

I wondered that too. There was an awful lot of it, and it would have been sitting out for a long time. I'm not sure I would have eaten any of it.

I was wondering if the diners ate any of the food. Because it was three courses, so if the racers had to wait for the diners to finish each course before they could serve the next one, a team could be slowed down if they had some particularly polite diners.

It looked like all the dishes were props.  The brothers had sometimes stacked the dishes for the first two where the sauces would be messed due to the touching of the bottom of the plate.  When John placed the plate on the table, the sauces were undisturbed.  

I don't think any of the diners ate the food because it didn't look like the utensils were moved between dishes.

[illdoc]

12 hours ago, jdunlop said:

When i saw the HOO for the skydiving, I wondered if the Express Pass could have been used for that.  I don’t recall Phil saying it had to be used for either a roadblock or detour, just a task.  I figure skipping that task would have given them a huge lead.  Anybody know about the rules? 

When Morgan & Lena used their Express Pass, it was neither a Roadblock nor a Detour (it was the floating market task). So I believe R&C could have used it for the skydiving.

[Ducky]

Good lord I was worried for Steve, his face was so red and him holding his side while running.  Amazed he hasn't passed out on a leg yet.  I'm sure the TAR medical team is keeping an eye on him 🤞.

Re Express Pass- I think in the moment Rob/Corey thought that taking it on the Roadblock was the better choice as they usually do Detours easily enough.  They could have not known there would be an intermediary "task" (find the violinist)- bled a little time running completely around the building.  

Garrett/Joel were so sure they were either 4th or 3rd Maaaaybe 2nd- never expected 1st- that was fun to see.  Meantime the wandering of the 3 other teams was a comedy of errors until they found someone with a phone to use google maps.  

Ashlie/Todd- bummer that they didn't make it (would rather have had them instead of Steve/AL) but despite some of the down/negative talk Ashlie was doing sounds like overall they enjoyed their time on the race (notably the skydiving for Ashlie).

Greg/John- awesome as ever- loved when Greg was doing the roadblock and said after the first check failed- 'well time to debug it!' 

My final 3- Corey/Rob, John/Greg, Garrett/Joel.  I hope that R/C wins though.  And if S/AL do manage to squeeze in- 3rd place.  I don't hate them per se just not a big fan of AL and worried for Steve- regardless of 'well he signed up for it!';  I do wonder if he felt that he could do it but didn't anticipate just how hard all that running etc was and what it was doing to his body. He's 54 (thought he was older than that?!) so that's partly why I'm a tad worried on just how winded he was. 

Edited December 2, 2023 by Ducky
Adding the missing T to Garrett's name

[aradia22]

Quote

It looked like all the dishes were props.  The brothers had sometimes stacked the dishes for the first two where the sauces would be messed due to the touching of the bottom of the plate.  When John placed the plate on the table, the sauces were undisturbed.  

I don't think any of the diners ate the food because it didn't look like the utensils were moved between dishes.

I'm used to prop food looking plasticky. Like the displays they'll put in front of restaurants so you can see what the dishes look like. But there was something that looked like it had ladyfingers and one fell over when John was holding the plate and he had to put it back which makes me think it was real food. Whether it was real or not, I don't think they ate it for food safety. But I hope if it was real, the rest of the stuff on the table didn't go to waste. 

Though now I'm thinking about how chaotic it could have been if multiple teams had picked this task instead of recycling. 

[OlderThanDirt]

I can totally see why Corey and Rob used the Express Pass on the Roadblock when they didn't know if the judging would be strict. Remember how long it took Corey to do the Balancing and Dancing detour? 

Such a good twist that running together as a group cost them time and finishing places. There will be less cooperation on the next leg. Also, the 3 amazing camera crews stayed out of each other's camera shots. Or can the editors just erase them from the video? Are they using cell phones to record yet?

Why did the server brother not leave his backpack in the kitchen with his brother. I kept expecting him to take out an adjacent table. Also interesting that he wasn't given a serving tray. I guess production was hoping for dropped dishes. 

[grawlix]

2 hours ago, aradia22 said:

I'm used to prop food looking plasticky. Like the displays they'll put in front of restaurants so you can see what the dishes look like. But there was something that looked like it had ladyfingers and one fell over when John was holding the plate and he had to put it back which makes me think it was real food. Whether it was real or not, I don't think they ate it for food safety. But I hope if it was real, the rest of the stuff on the table didn't go to waste. 

Though now I'm thinking about how chaotic it could have been if multiple teams had picked this task instead of recycling. 

I'm open to the possibility that the desserts were real.    There weren't enough teams choosing this task to make a definitive determination, unless G&J talk about it on their YT recap.

There are various levels of quality to fake food.  In Japan, there is an art form called Sampuru (https://www.today.com/food/trends/sampuru-japanese-art-fake-food-rcna26990).

As for the Ladyfinger dessert, it is possible that the prop consisted of individual parts where the lady fingers were lightly glued onto the center portion.

[Evenshorter]

Anna Leigh is definitely annoying with all the "C'mon Dad" yelling, but my word - she has some gorgeous hair!!

[Giuseppe]

Would be very surprised if it were real food they were serving, and even if it were, highly suspect the "diners" weren't actually eating it. All the plates were sitting out, uncovered, on a table with no way to keep them hot, and could have been there for hours based on when/if other teams arrived. The diners would not be expected to eat cold food that had been sitting out that long, not to mention plates potentially being mishandled by frantic racers (fingers in the food, sweat dripping in it, etc.).

[PrincessPurrsALot]

On 12/1/2023 at 3:49 PM, watch2much said:

I couldn't understand why Ashlie kept putting greenery on her wreath once she saw the others taking off way before her.  at that point she should have stuck the flowers on it and got it checked.  that lost the race for them.

Ashlie was the most concerned about getting it right on the first try.  She added much more greenery than the other teams, seemingly thinking that the judge would be concerned  if the wire showed.  Seems the key was enough to cover and the right number of each flower. 

There was a shot of Todd and Ashlie on the subway that was great.  Todd was talking about being blessed and Ashlie's face was like an eyeroll even if her eyes didn't move.  She then said that's what losers say. 😦

When Robb gets tired Corey carries his pack.  When AL gets tired, Steve carries her pack.  When Steve gets tired, AL tells him to move it.  I don't mind her pushing him.  I didn't like her snapping at him, "You were supposed to train for this."  Not sure why he was particularly tired that day, but he was.  He couldn't will it away. 

The follicle friends were great at the mat.  They never expected that they were in first place.

[eel2178]

On 12/1/2023 at 1:47 PM, Lady Calypso said:

Though there had to be five of each dish for all five teams, so it probably narrowed it down a little bit. 

I think each table had different Noble Prize winners (I was looking for Linus Pauling) and different menus, so there wouldn't have been 5 of the same dishes.

[Fukui San]

On the other hand with the food in Nat and Kat’s season, there was the challenge where there was a whole banquet spread full of food sitting out for however long. And racers had to eat them until they found the fake food items. 
 

in this case I hope the food was uneaten. 

[LeDucDiableBleu]

On 11/30/2023 at 3:55 PM, Shermie said:

She wasn’t lambasting him, she was telling him to hurry up. Because it’s a race. That he signed up for. Hey, she doesn’t want to lose because it means elimination; I don’t blame her for telling her racing partner to move his ass. 

 

He know it's a race and he was going as fast as he could. Everyone was going as fast as they could. Yelling the same phrase over and over doesn't make someone go faster.

Edited December 4, 2023 by LeDucDiableBleu

[Netfoot]

1 hour ago, LeDucDiableBleu said:

Yelling the same phrase over and over doesn't make someone go faster.

True, but it is very common for people to do so (yell). Go to a horse race. Everyone is yelling at the horse & jockey to go faster! Is it that they think the horse is not going as fast as it can? Same for any track & field or motor sport event. 

[HurricaneVal]

It was lovely to see the surprise and joy on the hirsute team when they came to the mat.  That's my favorite part of this show, when the racers are having fun and enjoying the moments. 

Steve might have known what he was signing up for, but Anna Leigh also needs to know that her dad isn't a sprightly 28yo anymore either, and to take a beat and note more than just that her dad is flagging, but how he is flagging and what his condition is.  His overly red face and head and chest/side clutching had me really concerned.  She doesn't even look at him when she's exhorting him to go faster.  I get it, she's really competitive and it is a race--but if she hadn't considered the limitations of racing with her dad, she should have picked a fellow gym rat to compete with.

I thought the express pass use was fine.  We've just seen express passes in the past used to make a first place finish, but all you really need to do is make sure you're not the last team to the mat.  I feel like Rob and Corey are in this as much for the experience as the win, so the wreath making and maypole dancing task didn't seem all that interesting of an experience for them, so they chose to skip it.  Or they chose to skip it because it was the first chance to use the express pass that was burning a hole in their pocket.  The recycle task wasn't all that interesting, so joke's on them if they were looking to skip a boring task in favor of a fun one.

I'm disappointed more teams didn't choose the Nobel dining task, that would have been fun to watch.  I did like how the brothers worked together on it, and how polite the one brother was when serving the "winners."  They looked like they were having fun with the whole thing. 

There was a lot of cooperation in this episode, and Anna Leigh was actually joking when she mentioned how the hairy boys had U-Turned them and that they'd better help them out in the sorting task.  She might have been joking, but it was also clear that she was still stung by the U-Turn.

All in all, not a great showcasing of what is probably a pretty terrific city.  My greatest impression of Stockholm now is that the subway stations are pretty awesome.

[LeDucDiableBleu]

1 hour ago, Netfoot said:

True, but it is very common for people to do so (yell). Go to a horse race. Everyone is yelling at the horse & jockey to go faster! Is it that they think the horse is not going as fast as it can? Same for any track & field or motor sport event. 

 

I think cheering for your favorite horse and jockey as a far away audience member is different than yelling at your father to move his ass (as if he doesn't know that he should) in a one-on-one, currently in the race situation. It would be like yelling at someone to cook dinner, cook dinner, cook dinner over and over while they're in the kitchen cooking dinner. Once or twice would have been enough. I think she wanted the world to know that if they lost, it would be his fault. She's on record telling him to go faster 100 times, so she did her part. It would also be different if Steve was intentionally going slow, or lazy. He's proven that he's neither of these, so berating him as if he were, was unwarranted.

[iMonrey]

Some things I noticed on rewatch:

Sweden is made up of 14 islands? The more you know. Also: 99% of locally produced products are recycled. In fact they ran out of trash to recycle and started importing it from other countries. Go Sweden.

I never noticed John wears glasses too. I wonder if he and Corey wear contacts or if they just take off their glasses to do the tasks.

The airport didn't open until 5:00 am the next morning so when did they get there? It was bright daylight. Did they have to camp out or were they put up in a hotel somewhere? It was dark the next morning when the airport opened.

They had to sit on the laps of their jump partners in the plane. Just imagine having Steve or Rob sitting on your lap.

I have done a static line jump before. One thing they never show you on TV: the parachute seldom opens perfectly on its own. Usually the risers are twisted, and you have to twist your body around and around to unwind them before you can release the pulls that guide you.

Don't you have to wait until your partner is with you before you can pull the clue out of the box? Or is that just for the finish mat? Both Corey and Todd pulled the Roadblock clue before either partner was with them.

Ashlie definitely lost this leg at the Roadblock. She was the only one I saw repeatedly cutting her branches. 

It looked like Rob and Corey did in fact go into the main entrance to the music hall but when they saw the rope across the stairs they thought they were in the wrong place and went back out again.

It was Steve who asked "Is this not a subway?" while sitting in a bus. I realize subways aren't a big thing in Texas, but - yeesh.

I think the Amazing Editors tried to make it look like Todd and Ashlie made the same subway as the other three teams ahead of them so it would look like a footrace between them and Steve and Anna Leigh, but I don't think they caught the same subway. 

[Netfoot]

8 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Don't you have to wait until your partner is with you before you can pull the clue out of the box?

I may be wrong but I think you have to wait until you are together to open the clue and read it.

[dgpolo]

11 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Sweden is made up of 14 islands?

Stockholm

[aradia22]

Quote

I never noticed John wears glasses too. I wonder if he and Corey wear contacts or if they just take off their glasses to do the tasks.

My assumption is that people who wear contacts generally do so for vanity and switch to glasses only when their eyes are tired or they're in private. It's more noticeable if someone only wears contacts for sports or special occasions. People who wear contacts seem to use them most of the time. 

Also, I haven't researched this deeply, but use of contacts is being investigated for myopia treatment so it might be increasingly prevalent for people to choose contacts over glasses going forward. My eyes are too forked at this point to switch.

[dgpolo]

2 minutes ago, aradia22 said:

My assumption is that people who wear contacts generally do so for vanity

Then you assume wrongly.