S37.E09: The Pizza de Résistance

[chitowngirl]

The teams travel to Naples, Italy, where they must perfect their pizza-making skills.
 

Airdate April 30, 2025 on CBS.

[Rodney]

More tasks than ever before, I see.  Common of the show since they moved to ninety-minute episodes to increase the number of tasks once the teams dwindle down.

I liked the Detour, and the shopping task looked fun, with the chance of language barriers screwing things up.  The Roadblock was a good equalizer to offer up the chance for teams to pass each other.

Of course, one team who wouldn't get that chance was Han & Holden, who got lost early on after the first funicular and, unlike the other lost team, Jonathan & Ana, couldn't get it together in time to fight their way out of it.  They were last the entire leg after that.

But we got the first NEL in a long time, which was a very lucky break for them!

In other news, Jonathan was actually tolerable tonight.  He was very nice to, and supportive of, Ana, kept his patience with her, and they won their first leg in a while!  Congrats to them!

. . . And then, we see the preview of him slipping back into old habits next week.

Still, a good leg.

[dancingdreamer]

Jonathan was well behaved this leg, heck ,he was even helpful towards Ana.. 
I love Carson and Jack, I'd love them to win. It was so funny Jack got to eat the rejected pizzas from Carson.lol
I thought this was a' keep on racing' leg, but it was a NEL. Lucky for Han and Holden!

[dmeets]

37 minutes ago, Rodney said:

In other news, Jonathan was actually tolerable tonight.  He was very nice to, and supportive of, Ana, kept his patience with her, and they won their first leg in a while!  Congrats to them!

. . . And then, we see the preview of him slipping back into old habits next week

He’s only tolerable when he’s winning. So he gets zero credit from me for that.

[Rodney]

3 minutes ago, dmeets said:

He’s only tolerable when he’s winning.

Most of the time, I agree.  But he was even calm tonight when they fell behind, which was something different from him.

[kav]

I will never judge Johnathan for any behavior because much of it, he can not totally control because of the way his brain works and is wired in stressful situations.  We know some of his behaviors were confusing and hard to understand even for them to understand.  His behaviors and reactions are different, but there is a reason for that.

[bunnyface]

The shopping task was cool.  My brother was stationed in Turkey and described a similar system.  They said a vendor selling whatever would come down the street and if you wanted what he was selling, you would lower a basket with money in it and the vendor would put the goods in the basket and you would haul it up.  Saved going up and down to a 5th floor walk up with 2 little kids.  Even though he described it well, I had a hard time really visualizing it until I saw it here.

[kitkat343]

They did let the racers eat the pizza they made after they brought it to the pit stop, right?  Because otherwise it would just be too sad.  I also really loved the pizza maker, and thought it was nice to see him give specific criticism to the racers so they learned how to make good pizza.

Edited 15 hours ago by kitkat343

[Fake Jan Brady]

I'm so hungry!

Naples is a very beautiful city [made even prettier by Brett running around in a singlet and shorts the entire leg].

The mandolin task seemed a lot faster than mozzarella - was that due to Jonathan's self-proclaimed expertise or just down to the fact he simply had to screw a few things together?

Carson was not exaggerating about his lack of cooking skills.

I was moved by Han's stress over being the eldest sibling. 😢

[Haleth]

What a fun leg!  I laughed at Han and Holden having the same difficulty braiding the mozzarella as they did with the origami. They probably should have gone with the mandolin that was more straight forward. But at least they got to dance with Phil on the mat. But Phil didn’t mention a penalty for coming in last. Have they done away with that?

[Samwise979]

Loved Josiah carrying the pizza under his arm instead of holding the box flat like everyone else 😂 that must have been one smooshed pizza!

[mojoween]

Alyssa’s speculative “knock on wood that none of that happens” after describing a litany of things that could cause her to use the Express Pass and Jack saying he hoped Han and Holden weren’t there and then turning around and wondering “are they here?” were both so cute.

The red-aproned pizza guy looked like he had no use for these terrible chefs.

The non-elim surprised me, but now I know why we focused so much on Han and Holden when they were so far back.

[iMonrey]

8 hours ago, kitkat343 said:

They did let the racers eat the pizza they made after they brought it to the pit stop, right?

The pizzas they brought to the pitstop were for the band that was playing behind Phil. 

This was a pretty good leg overall because there was a lot of running around trying to find various locations which shook up placements more than once. Han and Holden and Jonathan and Ana got an early lead getting on the first funicular then fell behind the other three teams because they couldn't find the nose-rubbing thing.

BTW, hilarious shot of a bystander as teams ran past her looking for it. She looked straight at the camera like WTF? I honestly don't get how they have time to stop and get waivers signed from all the people they pass in crowded streets. They'd be there all day. I think people out in a public place like that are probably just fair game, although we do see blurred faces from time to time. I honestly don't know how it works.

Why was the mozzarella cheese braided? I've never seen or bought or heard of braided cheese before. It's not bread.

[Fukui San]

I can find braided mozzarella in my store's fancy cheese section. It's a thing. Doesn't change the taste at all or anything.

Ana with the free Domino's verbal product placement. Hey kids! Apply to Domino's today!

I do have to try making dough how they did it on the show, rather than using a rolling pin. Between this and the last Top Chef episode, I now have pointers to hone my technique.

If Alyssa truly would wait for Han and Holden to pass her before she'd consider using the Express Pass it would be too late. 

[Shrek]

22 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

 

BTW, hilarious shot of a bystander as teams ran past her looking for it. She looked straight at the camera like WTF? I honestly don't get how they have time to stop and get waivers signed from all the people they pass in crowded streets. They'd be there all day. I think people out in a public place like that are probably just fair game, although we do see blurred faces from time to time. I honestly don't know how it works.

 

I'm thinking they only get anything signed by people who do not want their identity to be shown for whatever reason rather than everyone. Maybe they're somewhere they shouldn't be or are with someone they shouldn't be with but most wouldn't care one way or another. I'm sure that every country has different rules regarding the public & filming people in public.

 

 

[seacliffsal]

Oh, I felt the pain of the pizza maker who looked worried that they would damage the inside of the pizza oven (especially when he stopped one person from even putting theirs in).  The pizza looked so good!  And, I've had pizza in Italy and it is so good (I think their flour is different from ours in the U.S.).

Looked all of the sights we saw.  Sigh.  Love Italy, but doubt I'll go back (am old and have a hard time walking...).  Ah, but I have memories...

One of Carson/Jack said of the passerbyers who helped them that 'people don't know their directions.'  Here's the thing-it's not up to the passerbyers to know their directions or help you.  I think they wait too long before asking for directions.

Was surprised it was a NEL.  We're almost to the end and I'm ashamed to admit that I don't know everyone's name yet (but, again, as previously mentioned, I'm old...).

[eel2178]

2 hours ago, Fukui San said:

Ana with the free Domino's verbal product placement. Hey kids! Apply to Domino's today!

I thought comparing Domino's to artisan pizza in Naples qualified as an Ugly American thing. That was plenty rude.

[RunningMarket]

3 minutes ago, eel2178 said:

I thought comparing Domino's to artisan pizza in Naples qualified as an Ugly American thing. That was plenty rude.

I never took it as comparing the actual pizza - she was comparing the ability to make the pizza. She had experience, which definitely helped.

[eel2178]

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I honestly don't get how they have time to stop and get waivers signed from all the people they pass in crowded streets. They'd be there all day. I think people out in a public place like that are probably just fair game, although we do see blurred faces from time to time. I honestly don't know how it works.

In public places, they post signs that say being in the area is "presumed consent," and if they don't want to be photographed, they need to stay out of the designated area. That is probably what they do with anyone who doesn't have a direct interaction with the racers or the crew.

Those who do interact with the contestants are the ones who have to actually sign a consent.

[Quilt Fairy]

1 minute ago, eel2178 said:

I thought comparing Domino's to artisan pizza in Naples qualified as an Ugly American thing. That was plenty rude.

I didn't hear her comparing the two, just that her experience at Domino's taught her some tricks of the trade (like flouring the pizza shovel) that helped her finish first.  And as much as I dislike her husband, props to them for running a good leg.  They deserved their first place. 

[Skooma]

16 hours ago, dancingdreamer said:

I love Carson and Jack, I'd love them to win. It was so funny Jack got to eat the rejected pizzas from Carson.lol

Me too.  I've been Team Green Shirts from the beginning because they are gamers.  I never played D&D but I certainly am into RPG's both stand alones (Elder Scrolls: Oblivion rocks!) and online in the past (original Guild Wars).  Go, Gamers!

16 hours ago, kav said:

I will never judge Johnathan for any behavior because much of it, he can not totally control because of the way his brain works and is wired in stressful situations.  We know some of his behaviors were confusing and hard to understand even for them to understand.  His behaviors and reactions are different, but there is a reason for that.

No brain is "wired" to be rude and cruel.  Plenty of other people have their brain "wired" that way and they aren't rude or cruel.  So no, there is no excuse for his actions.

3 hours ago, iMonrey said:

BTW, hilarious shot of a bystander as teams ran past her looking for it. She looked straight at the camera like WTF? I honestly don't get how they have time to stop and get waivers signed from all the people they pass in crowded streets. ...

They don't.  The waivers are for permission to use the image of people the Racers directly talk to and interact with. 

If a person in a crowd scene is blurred they would have had to have been proactive and come up and told the Camera Crew something along the lines of "Hey I don't want my face shown on TV."

2 hours ago, seacliffsal said:

One of Carson/Jack said of the passerbyers who helped them that 'people don't know their directions.'  Here's the thing-it's not up to the passerbyers to know their directions or help you.  I think they wait too long before asking for directions.

That's the dilemma.  If they ask directions they have to go through the time consuming process of getting the person to sign the waiver to give permission for their image to be shown.  

The audio guy usually has to explain all this and why they need to sign it.  And if they say they will give directions but don't want to sign then audio guy has to explain that they could blur their face instead and is that okay.

So do you spend precious minutes in a Race doing this every time you get somewhat confused and semi-lost or do you think you can self-correct faster.

1 hour ago, eel2178 said:

I thought comparing Domino's to artisan pizza in Naples qualified as an Ugly American thing. That was plenty rude.

Not even remotely an ugly American thing.  She never said Domino's was better.  Just that she had dealt with tons of crusts and knew the flour trick.  And even if she somehow liked Domino's better that still would be just her opinion and not something "ugly."  Just totally crazy, lol.

[kav]

39 minutes ago, Skooma said:

17 hours ago, kav said:

I will never judge Johnathan for any behavior because much of it, he can not totally control because of the way his brain works and is wired in stressful situations.  We know some of his behaviors were confusing and hard to understand even for them to understand.  His behaviors and reactions are different, but there is a reason for that.

No brain is "wired" to be rude and cruel.  Plenty of other people have their brain "wired" that way and they aren't rude or cruel.  So no, there is no excuse for his actions.

What some people see "as rude and cruel" is an opinion, not a fact. Johnathan has said he did not understand he behavior on the show and a lot made sense after he came home and was diagnosed as being on the Autism Spectrum like Eva from Survivor is.

Edited 2 hours ago by kav

[meep.meep]

Wrong show dude.

Do you know that Jonathan is autistic?

 

[Skooma]

4 minutes ago, kav said:

What you are some people see "as rude and cruel" is an opinion, not a fact. I am sorry that you see the way Eva is able to communicate because OF SOMETHING SHE CAN NOT CONTROL as rude and cruel, it is just how she does it in a different and unique way than people whom are not on the spectrum.  Star has someone in  her life on the Spectrum, she understands Eva might communicate in a way that might seem rude or cruel to the some people.

Huh?  Eva?  If that is the Survivor woman?  I never said anything negative about her since she has never been cruel.

And nobody else on the spectrum I've ever seen on TV or on other media has ever been rude or cruel like Jonathan.  So no, he has no excuse for his behavior.  Period.

Edited 2 hours ago by Skooma

[kav]

4 hours ago, Shrek said:

I'm thinking they only get anything signed by people who do not want their identity to be shown for whatever reason rather than everyone. Maybe they're somewhere they shouldn't be or are with someone they shouldn't be with but most wouldn't care one way or another. I'm sure that every country has different rules regarding the public & filming people in public.

 

 

Before they are able to talk to someone for directions, the person needs to sign something from producers.

23 minutes ago, meep.meep said:

Wrong show dude.

Do you know that Jonathan is autistic?

 

Yes, I do, Johnathan himself explained it on his podcast a few weeks ago that he was diagnosed after the show was filmed and it helped explain and help him understand a lot of his behavior from the show that even he himself did not understand the why he acted the way he did in stressful information.

 

PS. I edited my above post to the Amazing Race, but most of what I had said apply for the same reason for Johnathan as Eva.

 

"And nobody else on the spectrum I've ever seen on TV or on other media has ever been rude or cruel like Jonathan.  So no, he has no excuse for his behavior.  Period."

 

The TV and Media is a very small piece of a persons life.  Until you have real life experience of someone on the Spectrum, you can not truly understand how their condition affects their behavior and the way it can look to many neurotypical people.  It is insulting to him as a person to say that he has no excuse for his behavior and can be very demoralizing to read stuff like that.  His brain works differently than neurotypical people and under stressful situations he might react in unexpected ways.

Edited 1 hour ago by kav

[chaifan]

Maybe I'm at a table for one here, but I didn't like this leg.  I felt that the "challenges" just weren't that challenging, especially compared to the last few legs.  I felt that nothing was really that hard, nothing that could really shake up the order that much.  Yes, Carson got caught up on the pizzas, but it was still relatively quick between tries and the judge let them know exactly what the problem was. So it seemed something that was relatively easy to self correct on.  Han & Holden got behind mostly because they kept running in the wrong direction.  But 4 out of 5 teams were pretty much one cluster for most of the leg.

No self navigation, either.  I wonder why they had the marked cars and drivers, instead of having the racers get there by public transport or taxi?  It just seemed too spoonfed, and I was bored with most of the episode.

One thing that wasn't clear on the grocery run...  they all ended up at the same vendors, but it didn't seem like they were instructed to go to those particular vendors.  No one seemed to be searching for an address or marked signs, Han & Holden certainly didn't have a clue where to go after the produce.  So how did they all end up at the same places?  There have to be more than just those 3 stores in that area.

I'm glad Han & Holden got spared.  Han was a bit over the top very early on in this episode, but they both got on track and were much better with each other.  I loved that they got Phil to join in on their happy dance, jumping up and down.  That was really cute.