S25.E05: Morocc' And Roll

[jjj]

Well, with 6 minutes left in the broadcast and a U-Turn still waiting on the board, I was really confused about how they were going to finish that leg in time. I wasn't expecting a mass "we choose not to" which made Keith and Whitney's elimination a certainty.

 

 

Yes, I also was expecting some odd ending -- TBC, or a field elimination of the last team (AKA "Guido'd").  In fact, I am surprised that they had to do the second Detour, especially if it took them 2 hours and 9 minutes (the caption said "elapsed time" -- was that for both Detours?)  But at six minutes before the hour, there sure were a lot of teams left to finish! 

[evuaska]

The mom and daughter likely U-turned Keith and Whitney because they knew for certain they were behind them on the task.  The dentists did the other task, so the mom-daughter wouldn't have known if they were ahead or behind.

[GaT]

Really liking Kym and Alli & Adam and Bethany, I would be OK with either team winning. 

 

Nice to see a speedbump be an actual task, and not something like sitting in the sauna for 10 minutes.

I agree. I somehow missed that they even had to do a speedbump, so it was a surprise when it came up. I was surprised at how much trouble they had with it, no matter what I think of them personally, they're good racers.

[rlangmit]

Mr. Lighthouse is just so scary with his eyeballs, they always look like they're ready to just pop and bulge out. I'm scared he's ready to go all Hulk Smash on someone, so I feared for the motorcycle rider that bumped into him. FYI your wife isn't skin and bones she can lift some things, think as much as he works out, he probably had her workout a little bit too. Newsflash Lighthouse it is experiencing their culture even if it does smell. Idiot!! They didn't read their clue at the detour because Misti was just holding it with two hands. One of the top 3 rules for TAR is to read your clue in full. When Mr. Lighthouse said at the pit stop no speed bumps for them I was so hoping Phil would say that they have another one coming up just because they used that Save at a NEL pit stop. Make that save carry penalties.

 

Replying to many comments about this issue, not just the above: I am not bothered by Jim's remarks about the tannery.  Dirty jobs exist everywhere.  If some foreign team were visiting the US and had to, say, clean toilets at a local high school, I wouldn't consider it part of my "culture" or think they were "ugly" for thinking it was disgusting.  Maybe not the best example, but still.  TAR includes tasks on purpose that are over the top or disgusting.  I don't expect the racers to love them all.  It gets a bit weird when fans of the show expect the racers to enjoy every place/task, even when they are clearly lacking in positives.  Interesting experience in retrospect?  Sure.  Enjoyable in the moment, especially when stressed and exhausted?  Not necessarily.

 

I'm not sure if the clue at the tea Detour mentioned using one arm (unlike the numbers at last week's Roadblock).  I gathered it was part of the task to observe and copy.  I doubt the clue gave a required height for pouring either.

 

Finally, why should the Save carry a penalty?  Some prize that would be!

 

 

What I'm really loving about this season is that it's such a refreshing change from last season when the Afghanimals and Dave & Connor kept helping the Country Singers. Nobody is asking for help or leaning on another team to carry them. They're all being like The Cowboys, running their own race. 

 

Everything about this season is a refreshing change from last season.  It was the first time I actively disliked the show.

[Netfoot]

Jim & Misti continue to race well and behave well.  I see no reason to suspect Jekyll to Hyde conversion when the cameras are off.  He is still a scary enough looking guy that you could use him to scare good behaviour out of little children.  I'd have paid to see Shelly pull that "Or what?" shit on old FishEyes!  Jim's humility lasted about 9 seconds before they were Team Domination again.

 

Speaking of Shelly, I replayed the scene in slo-mo and stop-frame.  Shelly/Nici are standing and hugging and congratulating themselves six feet in front of Mr. RedCap when Keith runs up, directly to him.  Shelly/Nici seeing Keith approaching, turn towards Mr. RedCap and approach from the right as Keith approaches from the left.  They arrive side by side at roughly the same time, but Keith's right shoulder and part of his right arm are in front of Shelly's left shoulder and arm.  I'd say that in a photo-finish, Keith would have it.  However, WhipMe is still a good 10 yards off, so Team Survivor can't collect their clue yet.  Shelly seems to think that this is her cue to push Keith away and step to the front, but he will not be moved.  Shelly/Nici are then screeching how "We were here first!" and "The team has to be together," while pushing and shoving.  Maybe they were there first but they chose not to approach Mr. RedCap and grab their clue, for some reason.  As S&N try to  shove in front, Keith tells them to stop pushing, to which Shelly is all "Or what?"  (Keith should have grabbed his arm, let out a loud shriek of agony, and called Production to protect him from Shelly's violent behaviour.)  Amidst all the screeching, WhipMe arrives, completing Team Survivor, and allowing them to get their clue and leave.

[xcrayon2215x]

Keith and Whitney were really bad at the detour, I think the scientists will be gone next. I think the cyclists will make the Final 4.

[scrb]

Not choosing to U-Turn is an attempt to avoid being U-turned in a future leg but it's not guaranteed immunity.

 

Did the mother and daughter team think strategically to eliminate a team or did they act emotionally because of the team they had that flare up with the team?

 

Another team might use the fact that they U-turned to justify U-turning them.

[cooksdelight]

I looked Jim & Misti's history up to see if I could figure out what it is about them that's bugging me. He's done competitive body-building, she's a pageant person. She enters those Mrs. Whatever pageants. Photos of them sort of scare me. I expect we have not seen the last of these two now that they've achieved a taste of reality TV. And I agree that their lack of attention to detail is puzzling, given their professions. Asking the little man in the rug speed bump "can you run?" Did he need to be with them every step of the way?

[icol]

This episode just solidified my love for Team Surfers and cyclists. And the wrestlers are doing a smooth job sailing as well. 

[hincandenza]

I think I may get carpal tunnel syndrome typing in every episode thread about how utterly baffling it is, 25 seasons into this show, that teams can repeat a challenge multiple times without figuring out what they're doing wrong, either through re-reading the clue or paying attention to the demonstrator.  How can you pour tea 10 times before you realize that everyone else is doing it one-handed?  That's your only job, hold the tray still, and you screw it up?  I also wonder how explicit the rules were on the rug hanging Speed Bump; when they described it, my first thought was to have Misti ride on Jim's shoulders, putting her much closer to the wire and making the pole easier to manipulate since she could hold it closer to the hook end.

 

Speaking of Jim/Misti, I am not getting the Jim hate.  Not my favorite team, and good lord have they hit some kind of Killer Fatigue patch of black ice with their inability to focus on fine details or clue reading, but I'm seeing some pretty baseless projecting from a few posters here.  Making wholly unfounded claims that he surely abuses his wife when the cameras aren't around, probably hates women because they are useless compared to muscular he-men like himself, mocks the locals and their culture, likes to make fun of people with physical disabilities- among other alleged sins- is quite frankly ugly to see here.  Not a single one of those things has ever been shown on our screens- and in fact we've often seen the opposite, such as his frequent praise for other teams, politeness to locals, or support of his teammate- but I guess the thinking is, who cares about facts when we can get our two-minute hate on?  I mean, he clearly chose to have large eyes just to piss of web forum posters, it wasn't in genetics or anything, so let's blame him for that too.

 

 

Ahem.  Anyway, I still like the leg designs this season, this has been a good race so far with some really well constructed challenges that shake up the rankings multiple times per leg- but the U-Turn just before the pit stop was very poorly planned, their first misstep this year.  I guess they were thinking two teams would be U-Turned, and make for some drama?  Shelley/Nici let emotion overtake them and wasted the U-Turn: if I'm not mistaken, there were still two teams behind them at that Detour that they could see directly from the U-Turn mat, with the Pit Stop coming up next.  Well, at least if you're going to U-Turn anyone, might as well do it to a team you can literally see behind you and who will probably be eliminated because of it.

 

With one exception, I still like most of the racers so far.  As Donny Ketchum mentioned earlier, by and large this is a pretty good cast, mostly competent and drama free.  Then again, in TAR24 it wasn't until Dave/Connor decided to hate on Brendon/Rachel and try to turn all teams against them- for some self-pitying hypocritical reason I can't even remember- that I started to form any strong opinions on the individual racers and teams. I'm not yet really rooting for anyone except maybe the cyclists, scientists, and surfers, and will probably come to greatly dislike a couple of teams before this is all over- but for now this has been a fun season.. 

 

Shelley is the one racer I now actively dislike; she gets so petty and snippy, both with her own daughter and with others.  Leaving aside her smug "karma gonna getcha" commentary, the fight she started with Keith was completely overblown.  As others have said, it wasn't even a pit stop or a time-sensitive check-in point, so order isn't vital: just shut up, wait 5 seconds, grab your clue, and go.  Plus, as etagloh describes earlier, it's not even clear whether Keith needed Whitney there- that was the tail end of the RB, no "minimum distance" required yet.  But regardless, most grown people would understand that you could spend a minute arguing, or wait 5 seconds and move on.  Also, her "... or what?" deserves absolutely no kudos for "standing up" to Keith's implied threat.  She shoved him first, and did her now familiar passive-aggressive routine, daring him to shove her back.  Ugh... I'm getting flashbacks to permanent self-styled victim Dave of last season; I really hope this isn't the start of some redemption arc for a potential finale team in S/N.

 

[Haleth]

This leg was intense!  The teams were busy from start to finish plus lots of running, running, biking, running.  No time for a breather!  

 

I cannot fault Jim for any cultural insensitivity regarding the smell of the tannery.  They do smell really bad.  That is a fact, not a comment about Moroccan culture or people who work in tanneries.  Traditionally tanners used pee to soak the skins before stipping the hair off.  I don't know if this particular tannery still uses traditional techniques, but whatever was in the vats it would be extremely foul smelling.  Nothing "ugly American" about saying so or being incredulous that another racer was able to ignore it.

 

Bethany is incredible but please stop telling us this, show.  I keep forgetting who Adam is unless he's with Bethany.  A couple times he was on camera alone and I had no idea who he was.  The cyclists are growing on me and I sort of like the way TJ and Tim are quietly and consistently performing well, but the mom and daughter can leave next.  Too much shrieking and drama.  I like my drama to be on the race course, not intra-team.

Edited October 25, 2014 by Haleth

[ghoulina]

I have to agree with those who weren't bothered by Jim's tannery comments. Mainly because he didn't make them AT the tannery. While they were there, Misti was quietly and diligently working on her hide, and Jim was cheering her on. He only mentioned that the place smelled like shit (which it probably did) in his TH. And I actually appreciated Maya's comment. But I didn't think of Jim as an Ugly American, because he reserved his thoughts for later. He wasn't of the teams gagging and complaining the entire time.

[Primetimer]

In Morocco, teams encounter new cultures, sights, and smells, and the U-Turn rears its head shortly after the season's most intense argument yet.

Read the story

[MyAimIsTrue]

Laughed when that flight attendant daughter talked to the cab driver in Spanish and explained proudly how she'd picked up fluent Spanish in six months. Just one tiny little detail: Morrocco was a French possession not Spanish. The official languages of the country are Arabic and French.

 

At first I had the same laugh but since Nici and the cabbie seemed to understand each other I figured there was a conversation off camera where the two of them realized they spoke a common language.  There are two Spanish enclaves on the north African coast, Ceuta and Melilla, that share a border with Morocco.

[blackwing]

It was Keith that said it smelled like poo. I thought all of the comments from all of the racers about the smells were bad. I've felt the same in every single season whenever racers say things like this. And it goes all the way back to the beloved Kevin and Drew in TAR Classic putting bandannas over their noses because they thought India smelled bad. It always bothers me particularly that these kinds of comments are always made in a poorer country like India or some country in Africa.

I have no doubt the tannery smelled. I've been at a plant that processed raw cow hides and manufactured them into leather car seats. And yes, the room where they actually had stacks of raw hides stunk to high heaven. They shaved the hides with a machine as opposed to hand (gross fact, the hair clippings get sold to food companies who use them in jello) but they still smelled. But I never said anything. Because this was someone's livelihood.

I really appreciated Maya's comment. She said it smelled but she liked that it was part of the culture. I believe Phil when he said that it was. They did it by hand with no machines. Hearing Jim making fun of her for being appreciative of it made him out to be an ass. It was a very Ugly American mentality. "In America we are rich and privileged and have people and machines to do this for us, I'm so glad I don't have to work with shit in a place that smells like shit. Sucks to be poor!"

I equally didn't appreciate the comment of one of the boyfriends (not sure which one is which, the one with the big mole or wart on his nosebridge) about how the raw meat in their food cart smelled bad. Not sure if the vendor spoke any English or not, but I'm sure at least one person in that crew did. Again, this was this guy's livelihood, and to openly opine that the wares he prepares and sells to make money to keep himself alive was quite disrespectful. I especially liked the contrast between his "This smells so bad" with the immediate cut to the bicycle girls saying "this smells so good" about their herbs.

[Caio Fernandes]

Great leg, congrats for Kym and Alli for another win, showing that they can win a leg with teams around them (such a intense leg). Good riddance on Keith and Whitney (so dead last on that detour that other teams didnt needed to use the other U-Turn). I´m really enjoying this year, waaaaaay better than the last three/four seasons (so far). Only thing that still is bothering me is the damm save/the dentists still with the´´we are invensible`` speech, I really hope they burn their save ASAP so we can see how they handle pressure without having a safe net.
And about the smell comment, yep, pretty much everyone made that comment, no problem with it, but don´t need to make fun/bash the girl that was trying to show some respect to their culture.

 

.

 

Did the mother and daughter team think strategically to eliminate a team or did they act emotionally because of the team they had that flare up with the team?

 

 

 I think it was half  a emotionally decision and half a way to secure that they could return to their cab, take their bags and still secure their place on the pit stop. At the end, it was a effective use of the U-turn since they sent home the team they target, so at least It wasnt one of those cases of a team leading the pack U-turning a weak team for revange/letting a stronger team get a free pass (using on the dentist, while could make them finally have to use their save, would just create a team to target them back on a next U-turn.).

Edited October 25, 2014 by Caio Fernandes

[Jsrose235]

I was in Marrakech in January and so loved this episode. I am surprised they got lost as little as they did; whatever racer said it was a rat's maze was correct. We spent two hours looking for a place that was very close. Maps don't help. Does anyone know when this episode was filmed? I ask bc the tanneries smell really bad if it is a warm day; they give out mint sprigs to the tourists to combat the smell from the urine used to soak all the skins. The food carts are huge; it looked as if it was a giant puzzle without directions.

[Guest]

The funny thing about the karma comment was that was exactly what I said about Shelley being knocked off her bike by Misty.  

 

I don't expect Jim to rave about the smell of the tannery but the way he said it was ridiculing Maya's respectful attitude and also had an air of pretention and disgust, like others have mentioned.  You're being paid to tour the world, don't bitch about things being exotic.  

[Latverian Diplomat]

I just don't understand how the 1st place teams fail to realize that once it says fly to, take a ferry, etc. your lead is GONE, said this last week.

 

Do Robbie and Brooke like playing idiots? 

Hope springs eternal, teams like to hope they have an advantage until it's gone for sure. Just human nature, I think. 

 

Robbie and Brooke do seem to be doing schtick. I wonder if they play an informal malaprop game between themselves all the time. I can imagine a couple of verbally playful people regularly doing that for grins even in the absence of cameras.

 

The only disappointing thing was the Double U-Turn.  Why did no one think to use it on Misti & Jim to try and get them to flush their Save?!  Instead, the users use it for purely personal reasons.  Not cool.

 

I think Jim explained this very well. You definitely don't want to use the first U Turn unless you think it will guarantee an elimination for the target (to avoid payback). The Dentists are the one team that absolutely could not be eliminated with a U Turn in this leg. Whatever Shelley/Nici's reasons, they made a good choice by that criteria.

 

Laughed when that flight attendant daughter talked to the cab driver in Spanish and explained proudly how she'd picked up fluent Spanish in six months. Just one tiny little detail: Morrocco was a French possession not Spanish. The official languages of the country are Arabic and French.

Spain is just across the water, so I imagine that there are a fair number of tourists from Spain. It didn't surprise me that it worked as a common language with a cabbie. German might work just as well for a similar reason (lots of German tourists).

Edited October 31, 2014 by Latverian Diplomat

[NutMeg]

I cannot fault Jim for any cultural insensitivity regarding the smell of the tannery.  They do smell really bad.  That is a fact, not a comment about Moroccan culture or people who work in tanneries.  Traditionally tanners used pee to soak the skins before stipping the hair off.  I don't know if this particular tannery still uses traditional techniques, but whatever was in the vats it would be extremely foul smelling.

 

I've lived in Morocco for a few years and know that smell, it carries for miles. As Phil mentioned the tanning has been done the same way since medieval times, I went seaching for what that means and found this (source for more: http://www.leathernet.com/tanning.htm) : 

Skins typically arrived at the tannery dried stiff and dirty with soil and gore. First, the ancient tanners would soak the skins in water to clean and soften them. Then they would pound and scour the skin to remove any remaining flesh and fat. Next, the tanner needed to remove the hair fibers from the skin. This was done by either soaking the skin in urine, painting it with an alkaline lime mixture, or simply letting the skin putrefy for several months then dipping it in a salt solution. After the hair fibers were loosened, the tanners scraped them off with a knife.

Once the hair was removed, the tanners would bate the material (see below) by pounding dung into the skin or soaking the skin in a solution of animal brains. Among the kinds of dung commonly used were that of dogs or pigeons. Sometimes the dung was mixed with water in a large vat, and the prepared skins were kneaded in the dung water until they became supple, but not too soft. The ancient tanner might use his bare feet to knead the skins in the dung water, and the kneading could last two or three hours.

It was this combination of urine, animal feces and decaying flesh that made ancient tanneries so odiferous.

 

Bolding is mine, in the interest of somehow bringing the idea of the smell through the screen.

 

Otherwise, I really don't like the way the U or W-turn is always at the end of the race. If the leg takes place in one city, why not have it earlier, so there is still some way to recover from it?   

[Caio Fernandes]

Otherwise, I really don't like the way the U or W-turn is always at the end of the race. If the leg takes place in one city, why not have it earlier, so there is still some way to recover from it?   

 

 I think its a way to not make a easy acess to the U-turn, like you have to run pretty much a full good leg prior to get there at time. Plus, being a double U-turn producers expect it to turn into a battle of two teams at the end, too bad that the Survivor couple was dead where the teams could see them struggling that any other team wanted to waste their U-turn.

Edited October 25, 2014 by Caio Fernandes

[peachmangosteen]

The mom and daughter likely U-turned Keith and Whitney because they knew for certain they were behind them on the task.  The dentists did the other task, so the mom-daughter wouldn't have known if they were ahead or behind.

 

Yea, I thought they made a good strategic decision in U-Turning Team Survivor, plus they got the satisfaction of getting a team they don't like eliminated. It was a win-win for them.

 

This episode was so hilarious to me. I loved it. But damn the editing is super terrible this season. I've had the feeling of having no idea how things happened at least twice in every episode.

Edited October 25, 2014 by peachmangosteen

[kwnyc]

 

When the deadpan scientist took over the hat twirling (I was yelling "bobby pins!!!" at her partner) she looked like a stoner hippie. I laughed out loud.

 

 

 

In my imaginary supply kit for the race, I always include bobby pins, safety pins, scrunchies and after last night, surgical masks or a very small respirator. Seriously...for most of the teams, a few strategically placed bobby pins would have made all the difference.

 

And while Mom/Daughter certainly have their non-endearing moments, I was totally on their side when Keith said: If you do that again, I'll.. Mom was totally right to say: You'll do WHAT? I'd totally react the same. When a big guy makes a vague threat, you have to call him on it.

 

I might have U-turned Keith/Whitney as well (over the dentists) because basic strategy is that you U-turn someone you KNOW is behind you, so you don't waste it. And, if they'd U-turned the dentists, Team Teeth MIGHT not have come in dead last and still had the save, and even if they used the save, the dentists might have targeted Mom/Daughter for the rest of the race. So the cleaner use of the U-turn was K/W.

 

(And of course, if Keith had followed through with some kind of a purposeful hit or shove, he'd've been out of the race anyway)

 

(And because it still irks me, all these years later, I will never understand why Jonathan didn't get thrown out of the race for shoving his wife).

Edited October 25, 2014 by kwnyc

[merylinkid]

So Keith is getting shoved by Mom.   He tells her to stop.   And SHE is the good one for standing up to him?   He is supposed to just stand there and let her shove away because he's the guy and she's the woman?   Mom was totalling counting on that attitude and ran into someone who thinks "You shove me, I shove back.   Not going to full out hit you, but you will get what are you dishing out."   Women don't get a pass in the violence department just for being women.   

[jah1986]

Another enjoyable episode. I like that things seemed to be fast paced.  I hate when the first team checks into the mat and there's still 25-30 minutes left in the episode. Not so last night. I have to admit  I don't hate any teams right now. Even though I was begging for mom to shut up during the hair pulling task I still don't hate that team.  And the dentists just don't grate as much as they did in the beginning.  And Jim really does seem to treat Misti decently.  Can you imagine the ER doctors or Victoria and He Who Shall Not Be Named if their wives had the same struggles Misti had? It would not have been pretty.  Finally, I think Shelly and Nici choose to U-turn the right team, not just because they didn't like them but because even flushing out the save would have just lit a fire under Jim/Misti and they would have had to deal with them afterwards.  And we've seen in the past that U-turning a team that doesn't get eliminated leads to very awkward confrontations. I'm happy for the cyclists but worried for the scientists.

[iMonrey]

I thought the pacing for this episode was weirdly off, because I too was convinced it was going to be a "to be continued" episode when the teams were finally reaching the U-Turn about ten minutes before the end of the hour. I don't even see the point of putting a U-Turn at the end of a leg. You might as well make it a "screw you, you're out" sign. No chance to catch up. The detour should have come first, followed by the U-Turn, followed by the road block. That would at least give a U-Turned team a fighting chance.

 

I can't believe nobody U-Turned Team Dentist. Even if they can't get eliminated, make them lose that damn Save. That thing's going to carry them to the final three. Same with Team Surfer and their Express Pass. Make them use it! And I don't need to hear all the other teams telling me how awesome Bethany is either. All it does is remind me she's a stunt cast. They're really shoving these two down my throat and I'm not seeing nearly as much of some of the other teams. Tim and Te Jay were barely there.

 

When they kept showing an overhead shot of that Moroccan marketplace, I flashed back to Ab Fab hearing Saffron going "People keep taking things!"

[leighdear]

When they kept showing an overhead shot of that Moroccan marketplace, I flashed back to Ab Fab hearing Saffron going "People keep taking things!"

Don't forget the "Pop-Specs"!  :)

[NutMeg]

I can't believe nobody U-Turned Team Dentist. Even if they can't get eliminated, make them lose that damn Save.

 

I agree in theory but I think in practical terms no team wants to be the one who made an enemy of another team who's bound to survive the U-Turn thanks to the save. It's different when there's a vote, because it means a majority of people agreed with you, so you're not the sole target of sourgrapes afterwards (again, in theory).  

 

(Edited for spelling - again, not against)

Edited October 25, 2014 by NutMeg

[Camera One]

I equally didn't appreciate the comment of one of the boyfriends (not sure which one is which, the one with the big mole or wart on his nosebridge) about how the raw meat in their food cart smelled bad. Not sure if the vendor spoke any English or not, but I'm sure at least one person in that crew did. Again, this was this guy's livelihood, and to openly opine that the wares he prepares and sells to make money to keep himself alive was quite disrespectful. I especially liked the contrast between his "This smells so bad" with the immediate cut to the bicycle girls saying "this smells so good" about their herbs.

 

I agree they shouldn't have said it aloud, but it looked like they were shocked when they opened up the box and it was a sheep's head and the smell emanated out. The bicycle girls were lucky their vendor was vegetarian and the herbs did smell good.  I thought whoever was setting up the vendor with the eggs, and repeating several times I would never eat here, was more rude overall.

[Guest]

In my imaginary supply kit for the race, I always include bobby pins, safety pins, scrunchies and after last night, surgical masks or a very small respirator. Seriously...for most of the teams, a few strategically placed bobby pins would have made all the difference.

 

 

I thought that too then realized pinning your beanie on was probably against the rules.  It looked like they had some way of making the beanie fit but that something didn't work well with the girl's head shape or hair texture?  

I can't believe nobody U-Turned Team Dentist. Even if they can't get eliminated, make them lose that damn Save. That thing's going to carry them to the final three. 

We thought that too but someone here said the Save is only usable for like two more legs, anyway.

[Caio Fernandes]

 

I can't believe nobody U-Turned Team Dentist. Even if they can't get eliminated, make them lose that damn Save. That thing's going to carry them to the final three. Same with Team Surfer and their Express Pass. Make them use it! 

 

 

Again, dont creat a enime that for sure is not gonna be eliminated/waste your SINGLE use of U-Turn while theres at least one more comming ahead.

[Netfoot]

So Keith is getting shoved by Mom.   He tells her to stop.   And SHE is the good one for standing up to him?   He is supposed to just stand there and let her shove away because he's the guy and she's the woman?   Mom was totalling counting on that attitude and ran into someone who thinks "You shove me, I shove back.   Not going to full out hit you, but you will get what are you dishing out."   Women don't get a pass in the violence department just for being women.   

 

Amen!  Some women generally think they can do exactly as they want, and then they're all "Poor little me!" when they get a dose of their own medicine.

 

"We're all equal in this bus!  Now, stand up so I can take a seat."

[Sharpie66]

I think putting a bandana and some high-octane lip balm with lots of menthal or a similar strong scent in it would probably be a good thing to add to the supply kit--you can rub some of the balm on the bandana and wear it over your lower face.

I went to college in downtown Milwaukee in the 1980s, and when the wind came from the southwest, you had to brace yourself, since that's where the tannery was. Ugh, did it smell, and it was miles from campus! (The rare days when it blew from the north, otoh, were terrific, since that's where the Ambrosia chocolate factory was at. Of couse, Jeffrey Dahlmer worked there, but we didn't know about him yet...)

[rlangmit]

I have no doubt the tannery smelled. I've been at a plant that processed raw cow hides and manufactured them into leather car seats. And yes, the room where they actually had stacks of raw hides stunk to high heaven. They shaved the hides with a machine as opposed to hand (gross fact, the hair clippings get sold to food companies who use them in jello) but they still smelled. But I never said anything. Because this was someone's livelihood.

 

But don't you think the people who do these things think they are gross too?  Saying something smells bad or is disgusting isn't the same as degrading the people who have to work with it.  If anything, I think acknowledging the difficulty of someone's work (and I sure as hell couldn't do that--I would be gagging and puking rather easily) can show respect for the person.  That's not to say I'm giving any of the racers credit for some grand praise of the Moroccan tanners, just that I don't ascribe negative motives to their comments either.

 

(If anything, the most offensive comment to me would be from whoever said that this is why they prefer fake leather.  Unless I'm making that up...but I thought it heard it live at the challenge.  That's someone saying "Hey, I wouldn't even want to buy your stuff because I find it offensive to my sensibilities, so you're wasting your time with this disgusting work."  And I don't seriously think that's offensive either.)

 

And about the smell comment, yep, pretty much everyone made that comment, no problem with it, but don´t need to make fun/bash the girl that was trying to show some respect to their culture.

 

I think it was more "Oh, come on, Maya."  I like Maya just fine, but if I were standing with her in a place that smelled awful, and everyone else was complaining about how it smelled (important, by the way, for TV, since we can't smell it ourselves), I would be calling BS on someone who was saying a bunch of flowery stuff about culture.  It's almost like she was playing up to the group of TAR viewers who love to look for the slightest sign of "Ugly American."

[cooksdelight]

I thought whoever was setting up the vendor with the eggs, and repeating several times I would never eat here, was more rude overall.

It was the wrestler chick and maybe she thought she was being funny. In England, eggs sit out on the floor in the grocery stores. Not everyone refrigerates fresh eggs.

[Camera One]

(If anything, the most offensive comment to me would be from whoever said that this is why they prefer fake leather.  Unless I'm making that up...but I thought it heard it live at the challenge.  That's someone saying "Hey, I wouldn't even want to buy your stuff because I find it offensive to my sensibilities, so you're wasting your time with this disgusting work."  And I don't seriously think that's offensive either.)

 

 

That was the Cyclist team.

Edited October 25, 2014 by Camera One

[Alapaki]

Nice to see a speedbump be an actual task, and not something like sitting in the sauna for 10 minutes.

 

 

But didn't Phil say "now [the dentists] are a full 12 minutes behind" after they completed the Speed Bump?

 

I may have misheard that, but it surprised me because it's seemed from the editing that the task would've taken the longer.

[ShadowSixx]

How much y'all wanna bet that Team Lighthouse will be using that Save when it's NEL legs. If they're that far behind which maybe the case since they seem to not read their clues in full. I know someone upthread said that the using one hand may not have been in the clue, but all the other teams did it and even Bethany asked if she could kneel down. So either it was in the clue or in the demonstration which they didn't pay attention to at all. They won't get a pass from me for not paying attention.

 

Jim making that remark about Maya he may not be dissing the country but in his TH he was making fun of her and saying no not part of the culture because it smelled or something to that affect. Even if it does smell, it's part of the culture.

 

Shelley isn't going to get a pass from me either on her behavior. You can confront someone without getting physical.

[Camera One]

But didn't Phil say "now [the dentists] are a full 12 minutes behind" after they completed the Speed Bump?

 

I may have misheard that, but it surprised me because it's seemed from the editing that the task would've taken the longer.

 

It was definitely 12 minutes.  He repeated it again in the Mat Chat with the teams in the Bonus clip.  They must have shown 4 out of the 12 minutes on-air... basically the times the struggled when they were starting, and near the end when the hook fell off.

 

This also means setting up the carts didn't actually take that long... some teams were out of there by the time the Dentists arrived with their cart.

Edited October 25, 2014 by Camera One

[Lamb18]

A biker girl made the comment about fake leather. Brooke complained about the eggs. I didn't think it was wrong to say that the tannery stank in a talking head, because they do! I didn't like Jim making fun of Maya's comments. I don't think she was playing to the camera, either. I can easily believe that an intelligent young woman would choose to appreciate another culture despite smelly circumstances. I had Margie and Luke/Jen and Kisha flashbacks during the Shelley and Keith confrontation. I think both partners must have needed to be there to get the clue, because if not, why didn't Keith get his clue right away?

 

I think Bethany is refusing to play the "I'm showing the world that amputees can be strong competitors" card, so production has to get Bethany is amazing quotes from other people. I do admire her attitude of jumping in to do the challenge.

[Donny Ketchum]

I have no doubt the tannery smelled. I've been at a plant that processed raw cow hides and manufactured them into leather car seats. And yes, the room where they actually had stacks of raw hides stunk to high heaven. They shaved the hides with a machine as opposed to hand (gross fact, the hair clippings get sold to food companies who use them in jello) but they still smelled. But I never said anything. Because this was someone's livelihood.

I really appreciated Maya's comment. She said it smelled but she liked that it was part of the culture. I believe Phil when he said that it was. They did it by hand with no machines. Hearing Jim making fun of her for being appreciative of it made him out to be an ass. It was a very Ugly American mentality. "In America we are rich and privileged and have people and machines to do this for us, I'm so glad I don't have to work with shit in a place that smells like shit. Sucks to be poor!"

 

And about the smell comment, yep, pretty much everyone made that comment, no problem with it, but don´t need to make fun/bash the girl that was trying to show some respect to their culture.

 

I don't expect Jim to rave about the smell of the tannery but the way he said it was ridiculing Maya's respectful attitude and also had an air of pretention and disgust, like others have mentioned.  You're being paid to tour the world, don't bitch about things being exotic.  

THIS.  This is why I'm very surprised to see Jim being excused, defended, and even praised to high heaven.  I don't mind that he thought that the tannery smelled.  It probably did.  It was his attitude toward Maya's respectful attitude that bugged me severely.  That's what I found disgusting.

[Former Nun]

I didn't like Jim making fun of Maya's comments.

 

 

I agree, Lamb18.  I think that comment was the final straw for me as far as Dr. Jim is concerned.  Of course, I gave him only one straw to start with--the moment he flashed his superior teeth.  I wonder who his fembot's manufacturer is.

 

Maya is the type of American we need to travel to other countries.

Edited October 25, 2014 by Former Nun

[cooksdelight]

When the mother/daughter were talking to Jim about the Save, I got the impression everyone had been told the rules of the Save and how it worked. I wish they'd tell US. It sounded like there's more to it than we are aware.

[Former Nun]

Not everyone refrigerates fresh eggs.

 

 

Exactly...even the hens keep them a bit warm.

[Camera One]

THIS.  This is why I'm very surprised to see Jim being excused, defended, and even praised to high heaven.  I don't mind that he thought that the tannery smelled.  It probably did.  It was his attitude toward Maya's respectful attitude that bugged me severely.  That's what I found disgusting.

 

I found him a little dismissive and condescending towards Maya in the Bonus clip as well.  It's kinda weird why he felt he had to pick on her especially in the talking head after the leg.

[etagloh]

 

I don't even see the point of putting a U-Turn at the end of a leg. You might as well make it a "screw you, you're out" sign.

I imagine TPTB gamed it thinking they'd have two teams U-Turned and having to scramble against each other, perhaps from opposite sides of the Detour. Having the U-Turn location right next to the twirling and 10 minutes from the tea may have swayed things there, and I also think the logjam after the Road Block made teams more risk-averse for the rest of the leg.

 

I think in practical terms no team wants to be the one who made an enemy of another team who's bound to survive the U-Turn thanks to the save.

I think this leg revealed that the Save is, in practical terms, a "go direct to the Final Five" ticket, because it would require a strong and confident team to spend their U-Turn in order to put the dentists under pressure, with no guarantee of burning the Save. The only strategy that makes sense for strong teams that don't want the dentists in the F3 is to try and U-Turn them once the Save has expired. I now assume that TPTB will put the second W-Turn in the 10th leg, like TAR22; if it shows up earlier, the Save will feel more like a ticket to the F3.

[Guest]

This says the Save can be used "until the end of the 9th leg".  

 

http://www.cbs.com/shows/amazing_race/episodes/213493/

 

That was the 5th leg of 12, I think. 

 

I don't know if I'd bother making that team use it up.  They've done well but I think they have plenty of weaknesses and I wouldn't mind being in a final leg against them, all things considered.  Jim does seem a little angry and capable of playing vengefully.  

 

 

[Camera One]

I don't know if I'd bother making that team use it up.  They've done well but I think they have plenty of weaknesses and I wouldn't mind being in a final leg against them, all things considered.  Jim does seem a little angry and capable of playing vengefully.

 

I agree.  The teams are under enough stress.  Can you imagine being on a roadblock or detour and Jim is glowering at you, or worse?  He was saying there was blood in the water at the tannery and he didn't even have anything against the mother/daughter.

Edited October 25, 2014 by Camera One

[merylinkid]

Jim is very intense competitor.   This is a raaaaaaace.   Not the Amazing Admire Other Cultures Show.    Can you do both?   Sure.   But all Jim sees is RAAAAAACE.  So he is going to comment on someone who takes a minute to smell the roses -- or the tannery as the case may be.  Because in his mind that gets in the way of raaaaaaacing.

 

Personally I am more botheredt the female racer who said all the other racers were sticks in the mud because they didn't want to go exploring in Oxford.   Just because someone doesn't want to go wandering around a strange city in the middle of the night does not make them wrong.   

[nottopbravo]

 

Do not like the U-Turn being right before the pitstop.   The detour should have been first with the roadblock after so that the u-turned team has time to recover.   Otherwise it's practically a guaranteed "you are going to be last" move.   

 

 

and

I thought the pacing for this episode was weirdly off, because I too was convinced it was going to be a "to be continued" episode when the teams were finally reaching the U-Turn about ten minutes before the end of the hour. I don't even see the point of putting a U-Turn at the end of a leg. You might as well make it a "screw you, you're out" sign. No chance to catch up. The detour should have come first, followed by the U-Turn, followed by the road block. That would at least give a U-Turned team a fighting chance.

 

The placement of the U-Turn was just off.  I don't know if it was the rushed nature of the episode, or the hope that no one would use it.  Because no matter what happened in the race, as noted above, if you were U-Turned, you would be last. 

 

Don't know why, but Kym and Alli bring a smile to my face every time they're on-screen.