S37.E04: There’s No Addresses in the Jungle

[iMonrey]

4 hours ago, cowgirlwen said:

I don't want gimmicks, and I certainly don't want trash talk at the mat. 

We've had teams wind up at the mat bitching about some other team doing them dirty before. What's different this time is Phil sort of egging everyone on, asking them as a group how they felt about Jonathan and Ana. And how they realized Scot and Lori were playing the oldster card to throw everyone off the scent. This is something that might have happened organically between teams during the Eat, Sleep, Mingle portion of the show (remember those?). But Phil shouldn't be participating or leading the discussion.

[Lovecat]

On 3/27/2025 at 12:26 PM, aghst said:

I wonder why they still use travel agencies.  The show is sponsored by the biggest online travel agency.  Why not use the computers at the hotel?

I always wonder why the Racers have to explain in detail, "We need 2 tickets to XYZ place, first flight available!" at 2 o'clock in the freaking morning, while the travel agents pretend like they have no idea why these crazy Americans have barged into their place of business in the middle of the damn night.  It just seems like an unnecessary charade.

[cowgirlwen]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

We've had teams wind up at the mat bitching about some other team doing them dirty before. What's different this time is Phil sort of egging everyone on, asking them as a group how they felt about Jonathan and Ana. And how they realized Scot and Lori were playing the oldster card to throw everyone off the scent. This is something that might have happened organically between teams during the Eat, Sleep, Mingle portion of the show (remember those?). But Phil shouldn't be participating or leading the discussion.

Couldn't agree more!!  👍

 

[dgpolo]

6 minutes ago, Lovecat said:

I always wonder why the Racers have to explain in detail, "We need 2 tickets to XYZ place, first flight available!" at 2 o'clock in the freaking morning, while the travel agents pretend like they have no idea why these crazy Americans have barged into their place of business in the middle of the damn night.  It just seems like an unnecessary charade.

Especially because they actually need 3 or 4 tickets because they can't board without their cameraman, used to be soundman too I think but I don't know if they still need that with the modern mics attached to them.

[aemom]

On 3/27/2025 at 9:31 AM, chaifan said:

While the ATV's to the waterfall gave us some stunning footage, it did nothing for the race.  Despite the "let's find a travel agent" remarks, it was clear they were all given the address for the one travel agent who was open at 2am.  And the two flights were equalized by the HOO.  It seems they all went out on the ATV's with very little time between teams, and it was obviously a closed loop that gave no chance for misdirection or any type of change in order.   So really, the "driver's seat" just went to the team that had the most competent taxi driver to get them from airport to HOO board first.  If you're going to have a gimmick like that, make the teams work to get it, not leave it to dumb taxi luck.

I think the Driver's Seat should have gone to the team that completed the roadblock first (15 lbs), not just arrived there first.  

This bothered me a lot.  There should have been opportunities to shake things up - or have the Driver's Seat further on in the leg.

If kept at this point in the leg, I also would have preferred that the first team to get the 15 pounds of rice would be in the Driver's Seat and would then assign the amounts to the teams.

[Ancaster]

25 minutes ago, Lovecat said:

I always wonder why the Racers have to explain in detail, "We need 2 tickets to XYZ place, first flight available!" at 2 o'clock in the freaking morning, while the travel agents pretend like they have no idea why these crazy Americans have barged into their place of business in the middle of the damn night.  It just seems like an unnecessary charade.

And boring.

[chaifan]

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

What's different this time is Phil sort of egging everyone on, asking them as a group how they felt about Jonathan and Ana. And how they realized Scot and Lori were playing the oldster card to throw everyone off the scent. This is something that might have happened organically between teams during the Eat, Sleep, Mingle portion of the show (remember those?). But Phil shouldn't be participating or leading the discussion.

To be fair, if you've got a group at the mat, you're going to be posing questions to the group.  And we really don't know if Phil asking these questions is new, or if we're just seeing more of it because they have 90 minutes of time to fill.  We know teams are asked producer-led questions all the time in their talking head segments.  I really don't see this as any different.  I'd swear Phil has asked questions like this (asking Team A about Team B at the mat) before, but I can't cite to any specific season/episode.  It just didn't seem that strange to me, like, wow! Phil's never done this before!

27 minutes ago, dgpolo said:

I don't know if they still need that with the modern mics attached to them.

Are the racers mic'd?  I've never noticed.  They still sit as if there's a 3rd person in the back seat of taxis, so I've always assumed it's still 2 crew members for each team.  

The part that bothered me most about the 2am travel agency, is that you know it wasn't by chance that everyone a) went to a travel agency, instead of going straight to the airport, and b) went to the exact same agency.  There was obviously a direction in the Clue to go to that agency (because why else would it be open at 2am?).  I honestly don't know why they bother having the crews fly with the teams.  I think it would be easier/cheaper to have 2 sets of crews, each one assigned to every other leg, and just flying in advance on pre-purchased flights.  Your team gets to the mat on Leg 1, Crew A flies to destination of Leg 3, Crew B takes over for Leg 2, and so on.

[dgpolo]

19 hours ago, chaifan said:

Are the racers mic'd?  I've never noticed.  They still sit as if there's a 3rd person in the back seat of taxis, so I've always assumed it's still 2 crew members for each team.  

The part that bothered me most about the 2am travel agency, is that you know it wasn't by chance that everyone a) went to a travel agency, instead of going straight to the airport, and b) went to the exact same agency.  There was obviously a direction in the Clue to go to that agency (because why else would it be open at 2am?).  I honestly don't know why they bother having the crews fly with the teams.  I think it would be easier/cheaper to have 2 sets of crews, each one assigned to every other leg, and just flying in advance on pre-purchased flights.  Your team gets to the mat on Leg 1, Crew A flies to destination of Leg 3, Crew B takes over for Leg 2, and so on.

First I didn't quote it but yes, I remember Phil asking questions like this before, especially after Uturns.

You can sometimes see the mic clipped to the back of their shorts/pants.

They ALWAYS have to have their cameraman, remember that mess with Danny and Angie losing their crew? This is a TV show they need to be filmed almost constantly, I have seen footage from flights, there was one where everyone scrambled for the first flight out of Hawaii only to have it turn back when one of the passengers had a heart attack. Footage of reactions from the teams on board. then there was the Goat Yoga ladies when one got all passive-aggressive when her partner actually talked to someone to get intel on their destination without her! /s

If they miss some kind of drama because there was no camera that is not good TV.

Edited April 1 by dgpolo
fill in stuff I missed

[Skooma]

11 hours ago, dgpolo said:

Especially because they actually need 3 or 4 tickets because they can't board without their cameraman, used to be soundman too I think but I don't know if they still need that with the modern mics attached to them.

 

10 hours ago, chaifan said:

Are the racers mic'd?  I've never noticed.  They still sit as if there's a 3rd person in the back seat of taxis, so I've always assumed it's still 2 crew members for each team.

Yes the Racers have their own battery pack (you can see it sometimes at waist level in the small of their back) and a mic on them.  Been that way since Episode 1 of Season 1.

An Ode to the Forgotten Hero of TAR - The Soundman

The soundman is totally essential but he is NOT recording the Racers.  He has a boon mic and records the people they interact with and ambient sounds. 

He also is the one that carries the cell phone to phone ahead to the set-up and camera teams at the various detours, roadblocks etc to alert them a team is coming in and to get ready.  Same thing for the pit stop.  Phil and the Local Greeter don't stand around on the mat all day waiting.  They wait for the alert form the soundman's phone that a team or teams are arriving very soon. (And no, the teams can never use that phone themselves).

The phone is also to call in the trailing private security team if real trouble arises like in Season 3 in Morocco when the cop and fireman team got taken out of town by a cabbie to a sketchy village where the mayor was demanding their passports.  Security intervened and problem solved.

The soundman also carries the permission slips people Racers talk to on the street or in a cab need to sign that allows CBS to show their faces on TV.  He helps explain the reason to the locals.  A few times you will see someone's face pixelated.  They didn't sign a slip and are close enough to get in the frame but don't want their image seen on TV.

The soundman is also the eyes of the cameraman when the cameraman is walking backwards filming a team head on.  The cameraman can't see behind where he is stepping or where a curb is or if he is about to bump into somebody after all.

The soundman also usually carries extra batteries for the camera or did in the early days.  Don't know how long the more modern batteries last on a leg.

Huzzah to the Soundmen of TAR!

[chaifan]

I can't believe all this time I've never noticed a microphone (or battery pack) on a racer.  Thanks for all the details, @Skooma!  

[dgpolo]

1 hour ago, chaifan said:

I can't believe all this time I've never noticed a microphone (or battery pack)

It's easiest to see on the women when they are wearing a tank top or if they get wet. Usually the guys shirts cover it pretty well.

[Skooma]

6 hours ago, chaifan said:

I can't believe all this time I've never noticed a microphone (or battery pack) on a racer.  Thanks for all the details, @Skooma!  

Next to impossible to see a mic.  In fact I don't know whether Ive ever spotted one.  They are very well hidden.  It is what dgpolo said above.  It's the battery packs you can sometimes spot.

Edited April 1 by Skooma

[Ilovepie]

On 3/31/2025 at 9:49 AM, iMonrey said:

This is something that might have happened organically between teams during the Eat, Sleep, Mingle portion of the show (remember those?).

Yes I do - I wish the show still showed the teams at the pitstop! I just finished season 2 and there was a team of exes and the gal cozied up to one of the guys in another team - talk about drama! I really miss that. This show is so slick and over produced compared to the older seasons. Not a fan of Phil stoking the flames of drama at the mat.....

On 3/31/2025 at 11:32 AM, Lovecat said:

I always wonder why the Racers have to explain in detail, "We need 2 tickets to XYZ place, first flight available!" at 2 o'clock in the freaking morning, while the travel agents pretend like they have no idea why these crazy Americans have barged into their place of business in the middle of the damn night.  It just seems like an unnecessary charade.

It really does, especially since they are told exactly which travel agent to visit and are being put on pre-selected flights. I wish they could just have an iPad with a link to Expedia (think about the advertising opportunities!) to book their own flights at the pitstops when their time starts. This would more closely mirror older seasons when they would go to the airport or a travel agent and get their own flights.  

[iMonrey]

1 hour ago, Ilovepie said:

It really does, especially since they are told exactly which travel agent to visit and are being put on pre-selected flights. I wish they could just have an iPad with a link to Expedia (think about the advertising opportunities!) to book their own flights at the pitstops when their time starts. This would more closely mirror older seasons when they would go to the airport or a travel agent and get their own flights.  

Well, they're not allowed to have phones, which is how 99% of people book flights these days. Frankly I'm surprised travel agencies still exist. But from a practical standpoint, there probably isn't a better way to show who's booking first, who's getting the best flights, etc. If they were just all handed iPads and booked flights that way it would be harder to get a sense of what order they're in. But they could at least try it and see how it goes. 

[Ilovepie]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

Well, they're not allowed to have phones, which is how 99% of people book flights these days. Frankly I'm surprised travel agencies still exist. But from a practical standpoint, there probably isn't a better way to show who's booking first, who's getting the best flights, etc. If they were just all handed iPads and booked flights that way it would be harder to get a sense of what order they're in. But they could at least try it and see how it goes. 

When they give them the clue to start the leg of the race it could come with an iPad that says "book your travel to xyz place". They would still be starting in the correct order. I don't see that it's any different than when they used to all go their own way to get to the airport or a travel agent or use a taxi driver's phone to call and book a flight.

[dgpolo]

3 minutes ago, Ilovepie said:

When they give them the clue to start the leg of the race it could come with an iPad that says "book your travel to xyz place".

I don't think iMonrey was talking about the order they leave in, they were talking about the vagaries of booking flights, how many times have we seen that one travel agent will find a faster flight, or teams decide to risk a close connection. It's the DRAMA! they want. They want teams fighting over flights, want them to try to keep what they are doing from other teams, want the team that gets there last to luck into an earlier flight because someone canceled etc. Each team booking with an iPad in 'correct order' is boring. Even the farce of them going to the same travel agent is better in my opinion, especially if the first teams out get lost along the way. (only my opinion, of course)

[Quilt Fairy]

It didn't seem to be the case here, but in the past teams have visited countries where international travel had to be booked through a travel agency.  Or maybe the producers decided that going to a travel agency was more interesting than having teams wander through an empty airport terminal waiting for counters to open.  Very recently though, either last season or the one before, I remember when an older, more seasoned agent managed to find better flights for teams that came in after the early teams.

 

[Netfoot]

4 hours ago, Ilovepie said:

there was a team of exes and the gal cozied up to one of the guys in another team

That must be Tara. Really, she was a bit of a shit.

But by way of compensation, a picture of Wil and the ice-ball is in the encyclopedia under "Comedy Gold"...

 

[Ancaster]

2 hours ago, dgpolo said:

I don't think iMonrey was talking about the order they leave in, they were talking about the vagaries of booking flights, how many times have we seen that one travel agent will find a faster flight, or teams decide to risk a close connection. It's the DRAMA! they want. They want teams fighting over flights, want them to try to keep what they are doing from other teams, want the team that gets there last to luck into an earlier flight because someone canceled etc.

Never in my recent memory.  Granted, my memory is the proverbial sieve, but I don't remember this in years, which is why I find the whole "find the best flight" thing so boring.

I'm happy to be proved wrong (though I'll no doubt forget that I have been).

Edited April 2 by Ancaster

[dgpolo]

1 hour ago, Quilt Fairy said:

Very recently though, either last season or the one before, I remember when an older, more seasoned agent managed to find better flights for teams that came in after the early teams

 

30 minutes ago, Ancaster said:

Never in my recent memory.  Granted, my memory is the proverbial sieve, but I don't remember this in years, which is why I find the whole "find the best flight" thing so boring.

Season 35, episode 3, the older agent got Joel and Garrett and at least one other team on an earlier flight.

[InDueTime]

On 3/27/2025 at 11:26 AM, aghst said:

Phil tried to stir the pot with every other racer about Jonathan and Ana using the Driver's Seat.

It's really not a good look for TAR resorting to such tactics to gin up drama between cast members.

Agreed. I don't need a show where the host is trying to cause tension between the contestants. There's Survivor for that.

Bernie and Carrington just couldn't get it together. 

At least the Bali scenery was gorgeous. Plus, the dogs at the end were nice.

 

[Rodney]

1 hour ago, dgpolo said:

Season 35, episode 3, the older agent got Joel & Garrett and at least one other team on an earlier flight.

Joe & Ian.

[Netfoot]

On 3/27/2025 at 12:26 PM, aghst said:

It's really not a good look for TAR resorting to such tactics to gin up drama between cast members.

They've been doing it for years, off and on. Clearly TPTB think that villeins and contention are a way towards higher viewership. Perhaps it is. There are certainly those who would consider a show that requires contestants to flourish as a result of their own abilities, highlights travel and displays the various places, peoples and cultures of the world as inferior to a squabblefest in some out of the way, fixed location (an island, for instance.) I'm not one of those persons and think TAR superior. But perhaps TPTB feel that they need to pander to that crowd to keep the wolf from the door. And maybe they are right.

[iMonrey]

4 hours ago, Netfoot said:

They've been doing it for years, off and on. Clearly TPTB think that villeins and contention are a way towards higher viewership. Perhaps it is. There are certainly those who would consider a show that requires contestants to flourish as a result of their own abilities, highlights travel and displays the various places, peoples and cultures of the world as inferior to a squabblefest in some out of the way, fixed location (an island, for instance.) I'm not one of those persons and think TAR superior. But perhaps TPTB feel that they need to pander to that crowd to keep the wolf from the door. And maybe they are right.

It's sad but historically Amazing Race has been a lower rated show than Survivor, so there's no doubt CBS has pushed the show to be more like Survivor. 

[Ilovepie]

14 hours ago, Netfoot said:

That must be Tara. Really, she was a bit of a shit.

But by way of compensation, a picture of Wil and the ice-ball is in the encyclopedia under "Comedy Gold"...

Totally! I thought Tara AND WIll were both shits tbh.......He was so horrible and said such degrading things to her even though she was smarter than him, I didn't mind her cozying up to the boys, and Will's pissy face every time she sat on the other guy's lap was hilarious.

That season was the beginning of the golden age of TAR.

[Tango64]

I think the travel agent scenes are a holdover from when it was possible for teams to snag an earlier flight that another agent didn't find, or decided to risk a quick connection. In those cases, the scenes worked because they could add a bit of drama.

But now it seems the travel agent visit is just a sort of check-in. The flights are predetermined, everyone is using the same travel agent, there is hardly any choice at all, and the team is just going through the motions of accepting the obviously better flight out of two or three. That's what seems like a pointless charade.

[chaifan]

40 minutes ago, Tango64 said:

I think the travel agent scenes are a holdover from when it was possible for teams to snag an earlier flight that another agent didn't find, or decided to risk a quick connection. In those cases, the scenes worked because they could add a bit of drama.

But now it seems the travel agent visit is just a sort of check-in. The flights are predetermined, everyone is using the same travel agent, there is hardly any choice at all, and the team is just going through the motions of accepting the obviously better flight out of two or three. That's what seems like a pointless charade.

I agree, and "a pointless charade" is a great way of putting it.  Every once in a rare while (as someone pointed out above) it can happen that teams get a better flight even while using spoon fed travel agencies.  But that's rare.  My thought is, why bother to even show the travel agent scenes where nothing happens?  It's dull to watch team after team come in and say "do the same thing".  I'd rather have them edit this out, and only show the travel agent/ticket agent segments when something different happens.  

It would be somewhat interesting if teams had 2 options - a connecting flight that was leaving soon, vs. a direct flight that left later and maybe arrived a little later than the connecting one.  Do you risk the connection being on time to arrive early, or play it safe with the direct flight?  That's the type of thing we saw in the past when they truly arranged their own travel, but it's rare to see now.  

But again, my big nitpick with it is that teams have to pretend that going to *a* travel agent and *this* particular travel agent was all their idea, when it obviously wasn't.  I think it was Lori who said in the cab "let's go to a travel agent".  sheesh.  Just have her read the part of the clue that says "Go to ___ Travel Agency on ___ Street to buy your tickets."  That's the pointless charade I could do without.

 

[Shrek]

My 2 cents for what it's worth about the flights & travel agents now v then is that since Covid there have not been the number of flights to choose from that there were in the old days, and they (tv producers) need to have already bought & paid for the seats or they run the risk of there not actually being seats available until the next day. Whereas in the old days (pre-2020) there were a host of flights leaving to choose from & if one flight was full there would be others to get a ticket for.

I only suggest this as I've been looking at international flights & whereas in 2019 there were 7 or 8 flights a day at various times to my destination from just 1 airport, there are now only 2 or at most 3 different flights from the same airport on any given day.

As I say, just a thought.

[Notabug]

2 hours ago, Shrek said:

My 2 cents for what it's worth about the flights & travel agents now v then is that since Covid there have not been the number of flights to choose from that there were in the old days, and they (tv producers) need to have already bought & paid for the seats or they run the risk of there not actually being seats available until the next day. Whereas in the old days (pre-2020) there were a host of flights leaving to choose from & if one flight was full there would be others to get a ticket for.

I only suggest this as I've been looking at international flights & whereas in 2019 there were 7 or 8 flights a day at various times to my destination from just 1 airport, there are now only 2 or at most 3 different flights from the same airport on any given day.

As I say, just a thought.

This is true.  I also understand that there are a lot of shady airlines, especially flying within Asia that are known for poor aircraft maintenance and other safety concerns and TPTB decided not to allow teams to use them after the first season or two and teams were often faced with multiple flights to a location that they could not use.  Teams were given a list of acceptable airlines at the start of the race and had to use one of them and the list was very short in some parts of the world.

[Stardancer Supreme]

On 3/27/2025 at 4:37 PM, Rodney said:

The only "banshee" was Bernie.  I thought that Carrigan was a sweet girl who just wanted to be heard and treated like a teammate, only for Bernie to treat her like the exact opposite.  She was no banshee.  Only Bernie was.

It was good for her sake that they got eliminated, because I don't know how much longer Carrigan could've taken Bernie's shit.

I hope Bernie learned how to treat her friend better. Your bestie shouldn't be in tears in nearly every interaction with you. 

On 3/29/2025 at 12:11 PM, Silver-hyren said:

The editing around the potty break is so clunky, we can’t say for sure Ana didn’t go with him/step away from the challenge until he came back.  We hear the voice over of him saying he has to pee and then see him running toward her afterward under a VO of her asking if he feels better.  IIRC there was a building right next to the grassy area they were working in - I assumed there was a restroom in there he used while she stayed outside on the grass (close enough to satisfy the teams must stay together rule).

Also, I don't think they wanted to chance him thinking about going in the bushes or trees and catching that moment on camera.  I wondered what would happen if a racer had to relieve themselves in the middle of a leg...

On 3/27/2025 at 8:50 AM, GenerationX said:

The single worst use of the Express Pass I have seen in the entire run of the show.

Yep, I was wondering why they wasted the Express Pass so quickly since Jonathan practically harassed Ana to complete the task for it.