S37.E05: It’s Not Personal, It’s Business

[seacliffsal]

While I agree that the driver's seat set up Jonathon and Ana to be U-turned, I also feel that Phil set up Scott and Lori to be U-turned when he asked the entire 'pack at the mat' about Scott and Lori's performance, thus making the point of how strong and consistent they were.  Frankly, I wish the other racers had selected one of the other strong teams to U-turn that might have been able to eliminate Jonathon and Ana.

I've had heat exhaustion and never did that cause me to berate the people with whom I was interacting.  Yes, I know that heat exhaustion and heat sickness impact us all in different ways, but Jonathon's behaviors are not ones I want to watch for entertainment.  

While I enjoyed Scott and Lori, I was surprised with their reactions to being voted for the U-turn.  I get being disappointed, but I think they forgot the roles they were playing for a moment-everyone's friends, everyone's parents, and consistently positive.  Yep, cracks were starting.

[Haleth]

31 minutes ago, seacliffsal said:

While I agree that the driver's seat set up Jonathon and Ana to be U-turned, I also feel that Phil set up Scott and Lori to be U-turned when he asked the entire 'pack at the mat' about Scott and Lori's performance, thus making the point of how strong and consistent they were.

I think the other teams were well aware of how consistent Scott and Lori were and didn’t need a reminder. It was a no brainer which teams needed to be slowed down. 

Edited April 3 by Haleth

[Meowwww]

Ana was in tears because she knew that when the cameras were off, it would be all her fault.  Jonathon is just like my ex, right down to the pouty face.  He will punish her. They need to be sent home.  What an insult to players who really care about playing. 
He said “Individually I can outcompete everybody” meaning that she drags him down. So much like my ex and I’m worried for her. 

Edited April 4 by Meowwww

[aghst]

38 minutes ago, Meowwww said:

Ana was in tears because she knew that when the cameras were off, it would be all her fault.  Jonathon is just like my ex, right down to the pouty face.  He will punish her. They need to be sent home.  What an insult to players who really care about playing. 
He said “Individually I can outcompete everybody” meaning that she drags him down. So much like my ex and I’m worried for her. 

If he believed that he should have partnered with some male friend instead of his wife.

Might be better for their relationship because if they don't win, you know that he will blame her.  Even if they won somehow, she won't be spared his toxic personality.

Maybe TAR is less likely to cast two bro types, liked their back story which is why they were cast.

[Tdoc72]

4 hours ago, Ilovepie said:

 

It was so disappointing to see the taxis just waiting for them everywhere. The challenges are more important than the actual "race" aspect of this show these days, and it's just not as compelling to me. Blurg...

 

(Snipped by me)

I liked when they used to say “go to the largest temple in some city” and the teams had to figure it out versus the “go to Whatever Temple in some city and here’s the address” they tend to do now. 
~~~~

Did anyone catch the commercial (Amazing Race brought to you by Allstate) about an hour into the show (Pops just started the surf challenge)through the show that possibly had an AR spoiler?        

Spoiler

It showed Carson & Jack in a car or cab w/a map of Bulgaria. But they haven’t been there yet so we know that team lasts a little longer.

 

I thought it was odd. 

Edited April 4 by Tdoc72

[Netfoot]

Run, Ana! Run!

15 hours ago, shura said:

I’ve had heat exhaustion.  It’s no joke.

I know. In August & September of '23 I was working in an un-ventilated shipping container in the blazing tropical sun during the hottest summer on record in this country. I suffered heatstroke several times a week for six or seven weeks. One day it was so bad I nearly crashed the car seven times on the way home. But it didn't turn me into a prick. 

When Jonathan dived into the water with the surfboard and stuck his nose into the sand like a Confederate submarine I laughed so hard I had to pause the show. Then rewind and watch again 3-4 times.

I'm not sure how Scott & Lori got to be villeins. They strike me as a fairly innocuous couple. I know who I was hoping would be eliminated and it wasn't them. Although I won't miss Lori repeatedly screaming "You got this" at the top of her lungs several times a minute.

The race continues to rock the locations and the challenges. I wish they would stop throwing in more and more twists. I swear, the first time Phil utters the words "immunity Idol", I'm out. At least their Driver's Seat achieved the desired goal of getting everyone POd at J&A. Although I have to admit it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy...

[Roccos Brother]

Mark and Carson just chilling, having their own little "gay beach" hangout has to be one of the cutest moments in TAR history.

Also, I'm sure this has been pointed out many times - but Jonathan really is the worst. Not because he had a breakdown (lord knows I wouldn't last in that heat), but because we know based on his earlier treatment of Ana, he likely would have never tolerated the same behavior had it come from her; especially with his bizarrely self-centered comments during their pitstop interview.

It was rough seeing Scott and Lori be eliminated, especially with how emotional they got. Despite all the criticism I've seen lodged their way, I thought they had a positive dynamic and attitude towards the competition as a whole.

Edited April 4 by Roccos Brother

[Fake Jan Brady]

12 hours ago, Stardancer Supreme said:

The coconut task was grueling. They couldn't give the teams a bag for the coconuts? They also couldn't ride the bikes?  That's a weird way to transport coconuts in Bali heat.

I was surprised so few teams took the Coral option; it would have meant a cooling dip in the ocean on such a hot humid day.

[cowgirlwen]

I was confused as to why Jonathan did the Road Block surfboard challenge in the first place.  He was already showing effects of heat exhaustion, and had previously mentioned having a headache in the cab (as he was berating Ana).  There had also been talk in prior episodes about how he struggles with being in the heat.  Sure, the water may have cooled him off somewhat, but the physical aspect, hot sun and anxiety of paddling around on a surfboard at the risk of being eliminated surely had to aggravate his condition.  I think Ana would have done a better/faster job.  (But God forbid if she didn't... she'd never hear the end of it from Jonathan.)  I'm sure though, that he insisted that he do the Road Block, exhibiting his controlling/abusive personality yet again.

[Netfoot]

6 minutes ago, cowgirlwen said:

I was confused as to why Jonathan did the Road Block surfboard challenge in the first place.  He was already showing effects of heat exhaustion [...]  Sure, the water may have cooled him off somewhat...

But if she had done the challenge he could have just sat in the water up to his neck and bathed his head in cool water until she was done. I think he was just exhibiting his He-Man complex. "You just sit right there, little lady! While I, the man in our party, does the hard work!"

[seank941]

21 hours ago, Stardancer Supreme said:

The coconut task was grueling. They couldn't give the teams a bag for the coconuts? They also couldn't ride the bikes?  That's a weird way to transport coconuts in Bali heat.

Did the clue say they couldn't ride the bikes? I assumed they could if they wanted, but figured it would be easier to push. It reminded me of the task in season 3 when they were somewhere in Southeast Asia. They had to ride bikes loaded with something on the back, and nobody could really get the hang of it.

47 minutes ago, cowgirlwen said:

I was confused as to why Jonathan did the Road Block surfboard challenge in the first place.  He was already showing effects of heat exhaustion, and had previously mentioned having a headache in the cab (as he was berating Ana).  There had also been talk in prior episodes about how he struggles with being in the heat.  Sure, the water may have cooled him off somewhat, but the physical aspect, hot sun and anxiety of paddling around on a surfboard at the risk of being eliminated surely had to aggravate his condition.  I think Ana would have done a better/faster job.  (But God forbid if she didn't... she'd never hear the end of it from Jonathan.)  I'm sure though, that he insisted that he do the Road Block, exhibiting his controlling/abusive personality yet again.

Judging by her reaction to the ocean in the coral task, Ana probably couldn't do it. I was actually wondering what would happen if medical said Jonathan couldn't go in the ocean. I can only think of a couple teams that have actually skipped a challenge because they truly were unable to complete it.

I hate the u-turn altogether, but this was a terrible leg for it. Enough teams have been physically drained by a regular leg in Southeast Asia that doing an extra task was basically asking for a medical problem. They should've waited until they were in a place where killer fatigue was hampering the teams, not a potentially dangerous physical problem. 

[TeeVeeWatcher]

I think Phil "parented" Scott and Lori a little bit at the mat when he reminded them that how they reacted to being eliminated would be a lesson to their boys. It seemed to me he was reminding them they didn't react so well when they were U-Turned and needed to do better right now. 

[chaifan]

45 minutes ago, seank941 said:

Judging by her reaction to the ocean in the coral task, Ana probably couldn't do it.

I agree.  She has a legitimate fear of open water.  Even with a life jacket on and laying on a surfboard, she'd likely have some panic moments.  (Which makes it weird for her want to be on TAR in the first place - I'd say the majority of seasons have had some open water swimming element to them.)  But also, paddling a surfboard takes some good upper body strength.  Jonathan was probably still the better choice from a physical perspective, even with the heat exhaustion.  

[cowgirlwen]

1 hour ago, seank941 said:

Judging by her reaction to the ocean in the coral task, Ana probably couldn't do it. I was actually wondering what would happen if medical said Jonathan couldn't go in the ocean. I can only think of a couple teams that have actually skipped a challenge because they truly were unable to complete it.

I guess I'd already forgotten about that.  Makes sense.  But honestly, she seems to have a "can-do" attitude, and probably would have powered thru it one way or another.  

[chaifan]

Someone posted the post- race interview with Lori & Scott in the media thread.  The problem with the coral was that it dried out, and the colors weren't showing.  So they finally figured out that they had to re-wet the coral.  

OK, I get that.  But they were told even before the challenge started that colors were a thing - you'd think they would have been focusing on color from the very start of that task.  

[proserpina65]

17 hours ago, Ilovepie said:

It was so disappointing to see the taxis just waiting for them everywhere. The challenges are more important than the actual "race" aspect of this show these days, and it's just not as compelling to me.

It was really only this leg where taxis seemed to have been arranged ahead of time.  We saw teams have trouble getting taxis in other legs.

12 hours ago, Netfoot said:

Although I won't miss Lori repeatedly screaming "You got this" at the top of her lungs several times a minute.

To be fair to Lori, that's practically in the script for every team at some point in every season.

2 hours ago, seank941 said:

It reminded me of the task in season 3 when they were somewhere in Southeast Asia. They had to ride bikes loaded with something on the back, and nobody could really get the hang of it.

I thought of that task, too.  I believe it was giant stacks of woven baskets.

[iMonrey]

13 hours ago, Netfoot said:

I'm not sure how Scott & Lori got to be villeins. They strike me as a fairly innocuous couple.

I don't think they ever quite reached the level of villainy. But Lori lost me quite a bit telling everyone she no longer considered them friends. I realize it was a heat of the moment kind of thing, but it struck me as lashing out in a rather petty way. Had they survived leg I think she would have had to walk that back.

[OlderThanDirt]

Lori did hug Ana as J&A were leaving and said she loved her. She spends her life refereeing 8 boys and heaven knows she's competitive,  so I think her reactions were understandable, 

[Ilovepie]

18 hours ago, mertensia said:

It's possible the spoon fed taxis were for safety reasons.

You might be right, but I still feel like the race aspect of the show is largely in the producers hands these days rather than the racers.

[Ancaster]

2 hours ago, OlderThanDirt said:

Lori did hug Ana as J&A were leaving and said she loved her. 

Of course she loves her.  They've known each other for what, two weeks?

[springbarb]

On 4/3/2025 at 2:14 AM, aghst said:

The other teams said they pretended to be non competitive but they were winning legs or placing top 3 and Scott denied it was gameplay to try to come across as uncompetitive.

I don't think Scott and Lori pretended to see themselves as not competitive; I think they saw themselves as the oldest team, and combined with the fact that they both lost a lot of weight recently, saw themselves as the underdog. They kept doing really well, but in their heads, they weren't the strongest team. I don't think they were trying to manipulate other teams when they talked like that.

On 4/3/2025 at 5:08 AM, PhoneCop said:

As someone who doesn't do well with heat and humidity, I could kind of relate to Jonathan on that level. But man, what an object lesson in how not to conduct myself no matter how frazzled I might get.

Agreed. I've been there and it's awful. Which makes last week's use of the Express Pass worse, as Jonathan said that he was happy to have it to use in exactly this kind of situation! What an idiot.

I never liked him, but him yanking the clue away from Ana after he finished the Roadblock was infuriating. He's the worst.

[North of Eden]

Johnathan...the biggest tool in the box. What a  petulant little b@#$h nearly costing the race with his childish tantrums...oh and he's a litterbug too leaving his water bottle like that. And his wife...pity her. She has self-esteem so low that there is no scale for which it can be measured. A living breathing doormat.

But on a positive note the blue skies and beaches were the stuff of wonder.

Edited April 5 by North of Eden

[Stardancer Supreme]

33 minutes ago, North of Eden said:

Johnathan...the biggest tool in the box. What a  petulatn little b@#$h nearly costing the race with his childish tantrums...oh and he's a litterbug too leaving his water bottle like that.

I'm so glad I wasn't the only one who saw him leave his water bottles at the roadblock!

[SVNBob]

On 4/3/2025 at 9:38 AM, Fukui San said:

It was a fun, exciting episode but the race design was truly an atrocity in terms of fairness.

• The Driver's Seat last episode making one team a clear target for retribution.
• A forced bunch erasing any possible lead from last episode.
• A relatively long pair of Detours and a relatively easy Roadblock making it practically inevitable that one of the U-Turned teams get eliminated.

Basically it was the show setting a trap for whichever team first got to the Driver's Seat last episode. If that happened to any other team than Jonathan and Ana I think there might be much more outrage.

There wasn't a time limit in the Express Pass that got used last episode, was there? At least one that dictated that they use it last episode or lose it? The Express Pass would have been mighty handy for J&A this episode.

TB somewhat F, the "forced bunching" was in service of the Live U-Turn Vote.  They did the same thing in the CBS Reality crossover TAR a few seasons back when they introduced the U-Turn vote to TARPrime.  (International versions had had Voting for U-Turns and Yields* before that season.)  This particular voting method doesn't work without bunching.  And at least they did some classic TAR OOO bunching for it, instead of something more awkward and artificial.

I (and I think the majority of us) preferred the other U-Turn Vote method they used more recently; the one with the big board that teams dropped their team photo in to cast their vote.  But given there's going to be a "twist" of some kind on every Leg, it is possible and likely that we'll see that in a future Leg.  And possibly a standard U-Turn in a third Leg as well.

*Speaking of: anyone else (now) thinking that one of the upcoming Legs' twists will be the return of the Yield?

 

On 4/3/2025 at 2:08 PM, Tango64 said:

I had been a fan of Scott and Lori, but boy did they change my mind with this episode. First it was the patronizing, manipulative "I think of all of you as my children! My boys would never do this to us!!" combined with "Now that you have  wronged me, I am no longer your friend!" They must be a real joy playing Monopoly with the family.

Pfft!  If I were a gambling man, I'd lay decent money on at least one of their sons going NC as soon as they can get out of that house and (presumed) church. 

Edited April 5 by SVNBob

[Corgi-ears]

On top of everything, Jonathan is a litterbug, melodramatically setting his empty water bottle down and leaving it, as if the bottle wronged him. 

Edited April 5 by Corgi-ears

[Souris]

I really don't like the show purposely stoking inter-team drama with the Driver's Seat and Live Double U-Turn. It's not why I watch this show, and it's not entertaining to me.

I didn't like Scott/Lori, and Jonathan is a petulant jerk but I at least like Ana, so I am fine with how it worked out.

Loved Han catching the wave on the way in. 

[iMonrey]

12 hours ago, Souris said:

I really don't like the show purposely stoking inter-team drama with the Driver's Seat and Live Double U-Turn. It's not why I watch this show, and it's not entertaining to me.

At this point I half expect the teams to go to tribal council and vote one of the teams out. Seems like someone really, really wants this show to be Survivor. 

[PurpleTentacle]

This was about the worst possible outcome. I was so hoping that burning the express pass so early would break Jonathan's neck, but sadly it was not meant to be. There is of course some blame on Scott and Lori for getting frazzled and not paying enough attention to detail, but still. They probably should have done it before the coconuts. Can't be easy to pay that much attention after doing a hard task in the sun. Your eyes adjusting alone, so you can see the colours correctly in the shade is going to take a few minutes.

Hopefully the next returning players season is going to be soon, so Scott and Lori won't be too old to be competative. I'd really like to see them go far next time. I assume it's a given they are going to be invited back.

[Rodney]

4 hours ago, PurpleTentacle said:

This was about the worst possible outcome. I was so hoping that burning the express pass so early would break Jonathan's neck, but sadly it was not meant to be. There is of course some blame on Scott and Lori for getting frazzled and not paying enough attention to detail, but still. They probably should have done it before the coconuts. Can't be easy to pay that much attention after doing a hard task in the sun. Your eyes adjusting alone, so you can see the colors correctly in the shade is going to take a few minutes.

It's worse when you consider how close it was.  Scott & Lori have post-show interviews posted all over Facebook, and under one of them, Josiah from this season commented that they were only "six minutes away from this being a perfect episode."  Which implies that Scott & Lori were just six minutes behind Jonathan & Ana.

For Josiah to comment that, though, implies that there must be some real dislike or even hatred toward Jonathan among the teams that's being hidden for now.

Edited April 7 by Rodney

[Red Bridey]

I can get a little claustrophobic and if I were at the mat and the Monkey King and all those dancers surrounded me like they did, I might get a little freaked out. I was cringing watching them come up from behind while Team Vegas hit the mat. Look behind you, says Phil and I might have yelped a little!

I thought we might see more surfing from the Roadblockers when some of them said they could surf. Good for Han! I was happy she at least enjoyed the task!

I was also concerned for Jonathan on the board, hoping he wouldn't roll off and drown, but yes, I agree with almost everyone here that he is a Grade A Asshole.

[proserpina65]

On 4/4/2025 at 7:44 PM, springbarb said:

I think they saw themselves as the oldest team, and combined with the fact that they both lost a lot of weight recently, saw themselves as the underdog. They kept doing really well, but in their heads, they weren't the strongest team.

It was interesting to find out about their relatively recent weight loss because that had to have colored their expectations of how they'd perform in the Race.  I agree that their perception and how it didn't match the reality of their performances up to that point were not just manipulation but how they actually saw themselves.

52 minutes ago, Red Bridey said:

I thought we might see more surfing from the Roadblockers when some of them said they could surf. Good for Han! I was happy she at least enjoyed the task!

I really would've done the same thing, although I probably would've fallen off right away, even before I got to my knees, never mind getting to my feet.

 

[Lantern7]

Rewatching the episode. Saw that Josiah raised an eyebrow during the U-Turn voting. Has any other Racer displayed one of Phil’s best aspects?

[InDueTime]

Scott and Lori weren't my favorite team this season, but they were OK.

I have to agree with what most are saying about Johnathan and Ana. I not sure that I would do better physically than Johnathan at the surfing Roadblock, but I definitely wouldn't take it out on my teammate either. Howecer, I would do better at hanging onto that Express Pass for latet use where it could be more beneficial.

[Hanahope]

I was listening to a podcast interview with Scott and Lori and apparently they took so long with the coral task that many pieces of their coral dried out and that caused the colors to change and that is why they got some in the wrong places.  when they wet the coral pieces again, they were able to put them in the right spot.  

I guess someone must have been constantly wetting the coral pieces on the sample.