Jump to content

Type keyword(s) to search

S37.E06: It Smells Like the Desert

chitowngirl

Recommended Posts

InDueTime

InDueTime

The designs of the Museum and the Atlantis buildings made me wonder where the elevators would be located on them.

Props to Han for crushing both surfing challenges.

Dammit. Pops and Jeff were my favorite team this season. If Melinda and Erika, also Brett and Mark leave the race, I won't care who wins.

I had dinner, but I still wanted to try those pastries. Even the ramen ad at the Bali airport looked tasty.

  • Like 5
TheRabbi

TheRabbi

Definitely the best episode thus far. Fun tasks, nice scenery, close finish. I do think the show has an editing problem - I found it obvious/extremely likely Pops and Jeff were getting eliminated when they were the only team to get a confessional at the beginning of the episode. 

I think it was kind of lame that the fast forward was decided by whoever saw the orange car first. Probably only enough budget/safety people to have one team do the scuba dive. I'll root for Alyssa and Josiah from here. He won me over being worried about her at the skydive. Seem to have a great relationship. I like Melinda and Erica as well and will root for them, but it's obvious they are playing with house money at this point. Good episode for sure.

  • Like 18
dancingdreamer

dancingdreamer

(edited)

Omg I loved that scuba diving  in what looked like a city , it looked super relaxing. 

The challenges  weren't  easy, but Han really  did well in the surfing  challenge. 

I felt sorry for pops and Jeff, missing  that train , I think  they knew this could  be the end. Great attitude. 

Edited by dancingdreamer
  • Like 9
Lantern7

Lantern7

Good episode. Dubai doesn't skimp on the attractions. Unfortunately, we had bunching, a meh Roadblock (only in execution; skydiving always seems to kick ass), a Fast Forward that wasn't challenging to get (though the epic pool was impressive), a cool Roadblock ("Surfing . . . IN THE FUTURE!!!"), and then the Pit Stop.

Dang, I liked Pops & Jeff. Nice guys. I would've taken them over Nick & Mike. I had to look up the brothers' names.

At least Jonathan wasn't that grating this week. Progress?

  • Like 10
shura

shura

Wow, that was quite a commercial for things to do in Dubai.  Skydiving over the Palm $750, the scuba pool $490, the motorized surfboard $95 for 30 min (it would probably take me that long just to master the thing).  Afternoon tea with that dessert cart $170 for two people.  Budget-friendly family entertainment…

1 hour ago, Browncoat said:

The only reason Jonathan wasn’t grating this week is that we barely saw him at all.

Yes, I was wondering, who is this mellow gentleman running with Ana and enjoying feeling like a chef?  Makes me wonder if they can edit anybody into any persona they want.  Could they do an Evil Pops, for example?

How did they film them in the air during skydiving?  Drone?

  • Like 5
  • Useful 2
  • Love 1
Haleth

Haleth

What a fun leg!  From spending the night in a tent in the desert to the pit stop at the ultra modern museum everything was fun to see. Sorry to see Pops and his amazing arms go but glad he got to cross off some bucket list items. 

41 minutes ago, shura said:

How did they film them in the air during skydiving?

Yeah, I was wondering this too. Did the camera people also jump? Or does the skydive company include videos for patrons? 

  • Like 5
chaifan

chaifan

I felt this was a good episode from an editing perspective.  Things kept moving, it didn't feel like 90 minutes.  I agree that it seemed pretty obvious from the beginning that Pops and Jeff were out.  (The one editing flaw.) I was still rooting for them to beat the brothers to the mat, but even with losing their packs (where???) they couldn't outrun them.  

I was so hoping Jonathan just wouldn't get a hang of the surfing.  I'd like for him to be eliminated for something that was 100% his fault.  

I don't think I would be able to be around that much pastry and not be able to eat any of it.  That's just mean.  Especially when you know it's all going straight into the trash as soon as they're gone.  But damn, that chef was gorgeous and had amazing eyes!  I thought it was funny that Han and Holden were the team that just melted for him.  

Speaking of Han...  damn, girl.  I don't know if surfing skills have every come into play at all during the race, let alone twice.  Who was the other racer who said "You're a monster!  No, you're a Hanster!"  That was great, and it should have been the episode title.  I loved that the two women were the only ones to complete that task on the first try.   I think I'm rooting for Han and Holden for the win.  They just seem to have such true TAR spirit - they're always having fun, they race well, and for siblings they don't bicker too much.

I don't know if I've seen such a close finish between two teams coming in last to the mat.  We see that a lot in the middle of the bunch, but not often are two teams truly racing that close for last place.  

I wonder how long Jack & Connor were at the dive place.  Between putting on wet suits, instruction, and the dive, how long was all of that?  I hope they get to keep their lead in the next leg and that there isn't a major bunching at the airport or HOO for the first task.  

The one element I wish they would change up is when they have the pre-set timed departures, like with the camels the next morning.  When they do something like this first thing in a leg, it's just taxi luck that gets you the earlier departures.  I'd rather see a mini task - solve a puzzle or something - when you get to the board, before you can pick your time slot.  Especially when the challenges themselves give no opportunity to switch up orders, like the skydiving.

Dubai is beautiful, but it's pretty much at the bottom of my travel list.  It's just too artificial for me, and when you start learning about the abusive labor practices they use to build all that, I just don't know if I could go there with a good conscious.  OK, and yeah, it's incredibly expensive, I just don't have the travel budget for that, so it's not going to happen even if I wanted it to.

Double U turn next week.  Here's my hope - it's back to the old fashioned board, Ana and Jonathan are the first to get U turned, and the remaining teams burn it so no one else gets hit.  Yeah, I know, not gonna happen.  But a girl can dream...

 

  • Like 12
  • Applause 3
  • Useful 1
Skooma

Skooma

9 hours ago, TheRabbi said:

Definitely the best episode thus far. Fun tasks, nice scenery, close finish. I do think the show has an editing problem - I found it obvious/extremely likely Pops and Jeff were getting eliminated when they were the only team to get a confessional at the beginning of the episode.

Yes.  Yet again they ruined an episode by telling us the team that would be eliminated in like the first 2 minutes.

The Amazing Race used to have really great editing years back but now they have really REALLY dumb, poor, horrible, stupid editing.  Hate to see the show I watched since the very first episode of Season 1 hit the skids like this.

It also made the whole episode a real downer knowing full will Pops & Jeff were going out.

  • Like 4
iMonrey

iMonrey

I thought this was a strange episode. Too much of the placements were determined by taxi luck from the airport to the tea cups. I hate pointless time wasters like zip lining and sky diving. There is zero chance for placement shakeups. I don't see how skydiving is even a Roadblock. The "race" didn't really start until they got to the pastries.

Now, the "tea time" (the pastries) seemed like it should have been the real Roadblock because it was the first opportunity to see placements shuffle. And I did like the second Roadblock for the same reason (plus it seemed pretty hard). So at least there were some equalizers here. 

But whichever team won the Fast Forward basically had to use it right there and then because there was no time for them to go back and do the second Roadblock and save it for a future leg. So that was odd as well. And have we seen that diving pool in a previous season? I swear it looked familiar.

I liked Pops and Jeff but I sort of knew they weren't long for this race. I agree the editing has gotten kind of lazy. Or, at least, after so many seasons we're able to tell who the show is highlighting and who they aren't. Based on that, I'd say Carson and Jack are a lock for the final three, because they seem to be getting the most screen time.

Conversely, I don't think Mark and Brett will make the final leg. The editors just don't seem to be very interested in them. 

  • Like 3
  • Useful 1
Browncoat

Browncoat

2 hours ago, chaifan said:

I don't know if surfing skills have every come into play at all during the race, let alone twice.

I think they did once before, when the shark attack surfer girl was a racer -- Bethany?  Brittany?  I forget her name, but I think she only had one arm, maybe?  But that surfing was on a wave generator, and not in open water.

  • Like 2
aghst

aghst

12 hours ago, choclatechip45 said:

Ugh was rooting for Pops & Jeff!

But Pops seems satisfied  with the legs he got to run.  He said during the episode setting aside the money for a second, they're having great experiences.

He got to skydive and while he couldn't sprint as fast to the finish, he seems to treasure the experience.

Very cool tasks, the tea service most seem to get on first try, though was it Jeff who accidentally wiped the frosting off the large cake and they had to do it a second time?

That and just missing the previous train to the Pit Stop will probably fuel some regrets for him.

I have no interest in visiting Dubai but it did look beautiful.  To make an oasis in the desert probably required a lot of money and energy, just more contributions to climate change, not to mention the labor and human rights abuses it took to built that gleaming city.

  • Like 12
  • Useful 1
Ilovepie

Ilovepie

Unpopular opinion: I didn't like this episode. Once again, the actual "race" was just the show shuttling the participants from one country to another. I really wish they would stop staggering their start when they are already pre-booked on one flight. That basically means the first-place team from the prior leg is actually being punished by having to leave first with no actual advantage for coming in first last leg. It feels like the same thing every episode: Everyone on one or two flights, run for taxis and be driven from one place to the next and to and from an airport.  Maybe I'm just being cranky, but this show is just not doing it for me anymore. I do love seeing the locations, but without the travel component I just don't care as much about the tasks. There is just too little actual navigation involved anymore when the teams are being spoon fed flights and taxis (and yes I know sometimes they have had to get their own taxis, but not so much the last couple episodes). I cannot wait for the self-driving next week.

I'm not a fan of tasks where they have to sign up for something one at a time and this whole episode until they got to the cakes was that. Everyone except the Express Pass team was bunched pretty tightly the whole episode. Exciting finish, but it just delayed the inevitable - those boys are toast. No matter what they do they just keep falling behind and all of the weaker teams are gone. I hope Jonathan and Ana get U-turned again next week.

.

  • Like 6
eel2178

eel2178

On 4/8/2025 at 10:54 AM, chitowngirl said:

Racers skydive over the city of Dubai, and one team wins the classic game piece the Fast Forward, allowing them to skip all remaining tasks and head straight to the Pit Stop.

I thought it wasn't possible to go up in an airplane on the same day you go for a scuba dive. Something with the big changes in altitude contributing to the bends, maybe?

  • Like 1
  • Useful 1
shura

shura

The bends only happens when you go from the depth up, from high pressure to low pressure.  So you cannot fly after diving (or even go up Burj Khalifa, apparently, it’s too tall), but the other way around is fine.

Another thing I learned on the very informative Deep Dive Dubai website - if you are not officially certified for deep diving, you can only scuba dive 12 meters deep there, not the full 60 m (for the same price, it appears).   

  • Like 1
  • Useful 8
PurpleTentacle

PurpleTentacle

4 hours ago, OlderThanDirt said:

In the past hasn't there been a rule that if you've been UTurned once, you can't be turned again? If so, I think Carson and Jack & Han and Holden seem like the obvious choices.

There used to be a rule that you can't use the U-Turn more than once. But that's out the window with the U-Turn vote.

You can be U-Turned as many times as there are U-Turns in the race.

 

 

  • Like 4
Dirge

Dirge

5 hours ago, Ilovepie said:

It feels like the same thing every episode: Everyone on one or two flights, run for taxis and be driven from one place to the next and to and from an airport.  Maybe I'm just being cranky, but this show is just not doing it for me anymore. I do love seeing the locations, but without the travel component I just don't care as much about the tasks.

Come sit by me. I know I'm alone in my Colin and Christie love, but the way that man worked airports was just amazing. I think at one point (Egypt, maybe) they had a 24-hour lead. THOSE were the days. 

  • Like 8
  • Fire 2
  • Applause 2
Haleth

Haleth

(edited)
3 minutes ago, Dirge said:

Come sit by me. I know I'm alone in my Colin and Christie love, but the way that man worked airports was just amazing. I think at one point (Egypt, maybe) they had a 24-hour lead. THOSE were the days. 

I’m with you there. He was a magician when it came to finding an edge at the airport. Yes, didn’t he get to Egypt before Phil and the crew did?

Edited by Haleth
  • Like 7
Ilovepie

Ilovepie

1 hour ago, Dirge said:

Come sit by me. I know I'm alone in my Colin and Christie love, but the way that man worked airports was just amazing. I think at one point (Egypt, maybe) they had a 24-hour lead. THOSE were the days. 

"MY OX IS BROKEN!!!!" Colin is a TAR icon for that scene alone 🤣

I am glad I am not the only one who misses classic TAR!

  • Like 4
  • Applause 2
  • Love 1
vousviou

vousviou

14 hours ago, shura said:

 Makes me wonder if they can edit anybody into any persona they want.  Could they do an Evil Pops, for example?

I think last week they magnified Jonathan by about 25%. He's no fun but probably not quite that bad. But no way would Pops ever be evil. I bet they had to edit out all of stray kittens and puppies he rescued along the way to fit in the episode run time.

  • Like 4
  • LOL 9
  • Love 1
vousviou

vousviou

8 hours ago, Ilovepie said:

I'm not a fan of tasks where they have to sign up for something one at a time and this whole episode until they got to the cakes was that.

I think location scouts and some producers fall in love with things like skydiving and ziplines, but they almost always produce pretty blah TV. They'd be better off with a 30 second drone shot and then move on to the competition.

At least the cakes and surfing were decent challenges.

  • Like 4
  • Applause 1
vousviou

vousviou

12 hours ago, chaifan said:

Dubai is beautiful, but it's pretty much at the bottom of my travel list.  It's just too artificial for me, and when you start learning about the abusive labor practices they use to build all that, I just don't know if I could go there with a good conscious.  OK, and yeah, it's incredibly expensive, I just don't have the travel budget for that, so it's not going to happen even if I wanted it to.

You left out the weather!

  • Like 1
Stardancer Supreme

Stardancer Supreme

(edited)
14 hours ago, shura said:

Wow, that was quite a commercial for things to do in Dubai.  Skydiving over the Palm $750, the scuba pool $490, the motorized surfboard $95 for 30 min (it would probably take me that long just to master the thing).  Afternoon tea with that dessert cart $170 for two people.  Budget-friendly family entertainment…

Yes, I was wondering, who is this mellow gentleman running with Ana and enjoying feeling like a chef?  Makes me wonder if they can edit anybody into any persona they want.  Could they do an Evil Pops, for example?

How did they film them in the air during skydiving?  Drone?

Still not giving Jonathan a pass. Ana was pushing it with the "we wuz friends, why did you vote for us?" spiel with Carson and Jack. Ma'am, this is a game; roll with the punches or be quiet!

I will miss Pops and Jeff! Can't think of a better place to lose the game than in Dubai.

In a blink and you will miss them moment, a cameraman jumped out of the plane ahead of the skydiving tandem team. That's the person filming the skydive and why the jumpers were waving their hands and smiling.

Edited by Stardancer Supreme
  • Like 5
Quilt Fairy

Quilt Fairy

(edited)
11 hours ago, iMonrey said:

But whichever team won the Fast Forward basically had to use it right there and then because there was no time for them to go back and do the second Roadblock and save it for a future leg. So that was odd as well.

You're confusing the Fast Forward with the Express Pass.  The Fast Forward is part of that leg only, it cannot be saved.  That being said, I did not like how they used it here, there was no chance for more than one team to compete for it.  Very poor race design.  

10 hours ago, aghst said:

I have no interest in visiting Dubai but it did look beautiful.  To make an oasis in the desert probably required a lot of money and energy, just more contributions to climate change, not to mention the labor and human rights abuses it took to built that gleaming city.

Yes, all I see in Dubai is oil money and a city that was created rather than growing organically.  Tasks that could have been done in many other places. But the design of that museum was incredible.

Edited by Quilt Fairy
  • Like 10
  • Useful 1
  • Love 1
iMonrey

iMonrey

5 hours ago, Dirge said:

Come sit by me. I know I'm alone in my Colin and Christie love, but the way that man worked airports was just amazing. I think at one point (Egypt, maybe) they had a 24-hour lead. THOSE were the days. 

Don't forget Myrna, of Charla and Myrna infamy. Myrna's superpower was finding better flights. 

1 hour ago, Quilt Fairy said:

You're confusing the Fast Forward with the Express Pass.  The Fast Forward is part of that leg only, it cannot be saved.  That being said, I did not like how they used it here, there was no chance for more than one team to compete for it.  Very poor race design.  

Thank you for correcting me. Totally agree, the way it was handled only gave two teams a chance at it.

  • Like 5
  • Useful 1
30 Helens

30 Helens

I realize Dubai is all artifice and fakery, but it’s aesthetically beautiful fakery. It’s like the entire city is a sculpture. I want to dress myself as a boy and just wander around. I especially want to do that deep dive. I am fascinated with underground cities, so the idea of exploring a submerged underground city is very, very cool. What was up with the weird Lego man, though?

I wonder what would have happened if Jeff had just left his arm between those closing train doors? Would a sensor have made them pop back open, or would he have lost an arm? Clearly he didn’t want to take the chance (because he’s sane like that), but I bet he wondered for a long time after. Sad to see that team go.

This leg, Ana showed she can be just as nasty as Jonathan when given the opportunity. Those two deserve each other.

  • Like 5
Fake Jan Brady

Fake Jan Brady

16 minutes ago, 30 Helens said:

I wonder what would have happened if Jeff had just left his arm between those closing train doors? Would a sensor have made them pop back open, or would he have lost an arm? Clearly he didn’t want to take the chance (because he’s sane like that), but I bet he wondered for a long time after. Sad to see that team go.

Jeff's giant arm didn't seem to be stopping the door at all so I suspect he was sensible to get it out of there.

aghst

aghst

12 hours ago, vousviou said:

I think location scouts and some producers fall in love with things like skydiving and ziplines, but they almost always produce pretty blah TV. They'd be better off with a 30 second drone shot and then move on to the competition.

At least the cakes and surfing were decent challenges.

They do skydiving often, don't they?

Has to be tougher to set up logistically because they have cameramen skydiving to get shots of the racers as well as shots of the terrain below.

The racers and the professional tandem skydivers all have Hero helmet cams but they're also getting shots of the racer and the pros together.

So the producers are going through the expense to set up those missions, probably because they think viewers like them.

  • Like 3
iMonrey

iMonrey

8 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

This leg, Ana showed she can be just as nasty as Jonathan when given the opportunity. Those two deserve each other.

I noticed they made a point of showing her asking the cab driver for change. The other two teams ahead of her didn't. Maybe I'm just reading into that, but it seems like Jonathan and Ana are deliberately getting a "villain" edit.

  • Like 3
Skooma

Skooma

15 hours ago, joanne3482 said:

I'm watching the episode a day later and came specifically to see if Pops & Jeff were out so I would be prepared. Sad to see i was right.

Actually there was no need to come here first.  The editors gave away that Pops & Jeff were out in the first two minutes of the show with their "human interest interview of doom" they do for each team that is going to be eliminated that episode.

2 hours ago, aghst said:

They do skydiving often, don't they? ...

So the producers are going through the expense to set up those missions, probably because they think viewers like them.

Think?  No need to think with me.  I LOVE them.  I want AMAZING shots every episode.  I want to see the world all gussied up and looking stunning.  More of this and less of Jonathan please.

  • Like 2
chaifan

chaifan

11 minutes ago, Skooma said:

The editors gave away that Pops & Jeff were out in the first two minutes of the show

While I also felt Jeff & Pops were getting the elimination edit, in all fairness to the editors they have faked us out before.  I have no idea if it's on purpose or not, but there have been many times I've felt that I knew that a team was going to be eliminated based on their talking head shots.  And I've been wrong a lot of those times. 

  • Like 3
  • Applause 1

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...