S25.E06: I Feel Like I Just Kissed A Goat

[Nutjob]

 

Coming up: Plowing with oxen!!!

YES! And it was Intense Jim leading that ox around! He's not quite the loose cannon Colin was, but I took that as a fan shout-out from the editors.

 

Although as ShadowSixx and a few other posters have said, I wonder how Jim would be if they didn't have that Save tucked away. I feel like it's just bubbling below the surface, and once they're really in a bind might spill out.

 

I was disappointed no one used the word "teat." Because I am 12.

Edited November 3, 2014 by Nutjob

[ElectricBoogaloo]

My sister has long toes - we refer to them as monkey toes.

Well I think the main difference is that with Bethany it's probably less of a choice and more of a necessity, right?

Surfers have very nimble feet/toes. They have to in order to grip the board and stay up.

My sister was a gymnast so she used those long toes to her advantage on the beam to grip and maintain her balance similar to a surfer on a board. But I guess you could look at gymnastics as a choice, not a necessity (although I suppose you could also say the same thing about doing a puzzle on TAR).

[needschocolate]

Well, I guess I heard wrong, because i haven't seen anyone else mention it, but I thought one of the flight attendants (I think the mom) said that they should have kept fighting with each other and maybe they would still be in the race.  

 

I've never understood how some teams navigate.  Take Shelly/Nici this week.  They have a 10 mile trip to a specific destination.  Their method is to randomly pick a road, and drive along that road for what?  100 miles?  Waiting for what to happen?  For the pottery to jump out into the road and flag them down?  It's navigation by guesswork!  Seems some teams never ask for directions, interpret a map, look out for landmarks along the way, read signposts, estimate bearings from the sun in the sky or the shadows of lampposts, etc, use the vehicle's odometer in any way, compute time/speed/distance against each other, or even drink a cuppa and interpret the pattern in the tealeaves!  How they ever expect to arrive at destination in a reasonable time, I don't know. 

 

The three last place teams left the hay task at about the same time, yet the scientists and the flight attendants got lost.  I was surprised that they didn't try to follow each other.  There has bee surprisingly little following this season - or maybe they just aren't showing it to us.  

[Packerbrewerbadger]

I heard the mom/daughter team say they should have kept fighting also.....

Found it interesting that the scientists genuinely felt sorry when the saw how lost mom/daughter were while the wrestlers started cheering , tho at the time they thought they were last , so semi-pass, but they did seem a bit obnoxious.

Count me among those loving this season after that horrendous fiasco that was Dave and Conner and "friends' last time!!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I heard her say that too. She said it gave them an edge. I think one of them also mentioned that what usually happens is one of them gives in to end the fight. It was in reference to driving so far out of the way. She thought if she had pushed more they would have turned around sooner.

[Tahitigirl]

Yea the switching would make it difficult. But for just the walking part, when crossing your bridge she can support herself with both feet, and the cable for her hand. When surfing you are just balancing with your feet, there is no cable or anything for your hands to give you extra support.

I've read Bethany's book and she talks about how she wasn't sure if she'd be able to surf competitively again because the arms are so important in maintaining balance on the board. While you are correct in that there is no "support" (nothing to hang on to) the arms are still a critical part of it. She had to completely relearn how to maintain balance with just one arm to be able to surf again. Clearly that skill came in handy with this roadblock.

[jumper sage]

Count me among those loving this season after that horrendous fiasco that was Dave and Conner and "friends' last time!!

Me too!  It seemed the last season was such a scam.

 

Goodbye mom and daughter from Detroit.  You were a blight on our city.

[Trek]

Hadn’t really noticed the cyclists until they took the “repair materials” with them on the cake delivery detour which allowed them to carry the thing in pieces and reassemble the cake at the destination.  I like teams that shows a little bit more foresight and creative thinking than the rest and have been rooting for them ever since. That said the decision to switch tasks this week was inexplicable. I could understand if they thought that they perhaps could not complete the task (e.g. despite all efforts found that they could not milk the goats) but once they got to the churn stage, completion was a guaranteed certainty and they were ahead (everyone else taking this side of the detour would have to take the churn time too.)

 

I am happy that the mom/daughter team got eliminated.  Teams that can never navigate for shyte have no business auditioning for the show as far as I’m concerned.  One of my peeves with TAR has always been the barrage of artificial slate wipers they use for the sake of drama that helps keep weaker teams in at the expense of strong racers who could then get eliminated for no fault other than being unfortunate enough to get a crappy cab driver.  If the race was allowed to flow without these strategically placed “doesn’t open until “ and fixed departure times with sign-up sheets 15 mins apart even though lead teams might have gotten to it 5 hours before the laggards etc. navigationally challenged teams like these would gradually fall days and even weeks behind by now.

[riley702]

In the early seasons, I remember teams being days apart. It killed any suspense, though, so we started seeing bunching with HOO, only one flight or train, etc.

[ShadowSixx]

Count me among those loving this season after that horrendous fiasco that was Dave and Conner and "friends' last time!!

 

Exactly, teams are relying on themselves this season and not riding the coattails of another team or forming alliances. They're depending on themselves which I love cause it shows who can get through the race and if you win it's because you're good during that leg and if you lose and are eliminated it's because of you and can't blame anyone else. When help is offered it's not a lot of help, they mostly tell you where it is and how far and that's it.

 

Not like last season where they just gave away the answers on how to do RB and Detours. Why would you do that? Telling an answer could be the difference in whether or not you're eliminated. That's why country girls came 2nd, cause people just gave them the answers and helped them way too much. As annoying as Rachel & Brendon were, they ran their own race, mostly  because everyone disliked them. 

[Camera One]

Finally got a chance to watch.

 

The Dentists won a pretty flawless leg, and smart to have Misti do the task without the pressures of lots of teams there, since this one didn't require strength. 

 

The Surfers' patience really paid off with the milk.  I guess the Bikers really wanted to be first.  I mean, if it took them 45 min, it would also take Adam and Bethany 45 min, so they weren't in danger of being last either way.  First time they've argued, but they recovered quickly, which was nice.

 

T&T and the Scientists are killing me with their poor navigational and searching skills.  I like the teams on top, but I also tend to cheer for the underdogs, and they seem to be in another lower league.  It was funny how proud T&T were of their tent, though, and I loved Maya and her strategic butter-making technique.  It looks like Tim is a little stronger than Te Jay at tasks, and Tim tends to take the lead with what they're doing.  

 

I did like the Mother/daughter team, but I think I got over them a little after the big fight.  Including the clip where the mom said they drove for 3 hours pretty much eliminated any suspense in the episode.

 

Brooke is so whiny.  I really hope they go home next, though they're usually strong enough to be safely in the middle of the pack.

 

I heard the mom/daughter team say they should have kept fighting also.....

 

I thought they said a "fighting spirit"?  Not sure, though.  Their loss was solely due to navigation, though, so not really a lack of competitiveness. Was the Mom resistant to asking for directions or something?

[NutMeg]

The funny thing is that people seem much nicer overall this season - and part of me believes that last season, all the helping was because people wanted to appear nice, but somewhat it translated as fake. Whereas this time, people seem to be more genuine, and we have some great moments here and there that translate as very real (the singing at the goat milking task showing Adam/Bethany, Bikers and Wrestler teams all having good fun together, Wrestler lady's sincere (to me) "well done" to the teams that finished ahead of them, etc.)

 

So now with the mother/daughter team out I like everyone left. While in theory there are clearly 3 top teams and 3 average teams, anything can happen in TAR (bad day, bad taxi driver, vehicule breakdown, as well as challenge playing to one person's skillset, super taxi driver, helpful local with no life that day willing to be kidnapped until pitstop), and I'm not ruling out any of the weaker teams making final 3 or even winning - it's all happened before! 

[Tryangle]

I hope it's not too off topic, but I would point out to those who are mentioning scheduling, that the show is available at cbs.com the day after it airs, or even the same day if it's late enough on the west coast.  There are fewer commercials and you can watch it whenever you feel like it, rather than when your local CBS affiliate feels you should feel like it. 

 

I've completely forgotten that the Race airs on Fridays, the past *four* times. Thank goodness for cbs.com... and the hola internet plugin for Chrome, heh.

 

How do you train a chicken to sit on your head, and then a dove to sit on the chicken? In the end I suppose there's also a missing Colonel Sanders joke in it, so heck.

 

Good episode.

[doodlebug]

In the early seasons, I remember teams being days apart. It killed any suspense, though, so we started seeing bunching with HOO, only one flight or train, etc.

 

It also lead to logistical problems where Phil was still checking in racers at the pit stop while the first place team was rushing off to the next destination.  I believe Colin and Christie, who were amazing at finding the best flights, managed to get to Paris almost a day ahead of everyone else and hours and hours before production thought they could possibly arrive.  Most of the production team was still at the last location and had to scurry to catch up to them to set up the leg.  I think that is also why they no longer have so many options for navigation too.  Colin, while certainly one of the most intense competitors every, was also one of the smartest.  He knew how to play the game.

Edited November 4, 2014 by doodlebug

[etagloh]

once they got to the churn stage, completion was a guaranteed certainty and they were ahead (everyone else taking this side of the detour would have to take the churn time too.)

 

That's the danger of being a strong team with a couple of leg wins banked and half an eye on another one, as opposed to a middle-pack team aiming not to be eliminated. If you get twitchier about the teams leaving the Detour ahead of you than the ones behind you, it can trigger bad decisions. Yes, there was still some navigation and a Road Block to complete, but it's usually not smart strategy to take risks for a leg win.

[ghoulina]

Due to Halloween festivities I am late in watching, but I am so glad the mother-daughter team is gone. Interesting to see that ceasing their fighting may have "tamed" them too much, but I really cannot stand to watch loved ones snipe at each other constantly on this show. Once in awhile is understandable, but if you're just going at it all day long it becomes uncomfortable. 

 

Now, if only the wrestlers could go next week I would be happy with the remaining teams. To be fair, it's not really the dude's fault. But Brooke is insufferable. Big Shock - she bitched and moaned the entire way across the rope bridge. I get that doing something like that may be scary to some, but she sounded like a 10-year-old. And she does it EVERY SINGLE WEEK. I'm over it. 

 

Contrast that with Ally taking the time to stop and appreciate the view. I'd be right there with her. I thought it was kind of reckless of the cyclists to switch tasks twice, but they still ended up in the middle and I just can't help but love them and their enjoyment of the race. 

 

It was nice to see Missy conquering a task by herself this week, as if often seems like Jim carries her. And even though they're not my favorite team, I appreciate a season where a team can go from the top to the bottom and back up to the top again. Very interesting this time around, and I don't see a clear-cut winner, which is fun. 

 

Bethenny continues to impress. Some of the other teams were really struggling to get their bushel of hay up onto the roof, and she just hoisted it up with one arm like it aint no thang. Love her!

[hincandenza]

I agree Brooke whines a LOT, but I was actually laughing my ass off when she was going across the rope bridge like some air raid siren with feet: "Oh my God... Oh my GOD... Oh my GOOOOOD".  That and her line about the perverted goat drinking its own milk, I had a good a chuckle.

 

So I don't love Brooke, but I don't hate her either.  Like others have said, at this point no teams left are particularly vile, scheming, or mean; even teams I thought I'd be wary of, such as the dentists, are too decent and competent to hate on.  Now that the mother/daughter team is gone, everyone left is quirky and weird and unique, but most are just racin' the race.  I really like this season so far, especially- again, parroting what others have already said- compared to the hand-held lousy race design and high school clique behavior of last season.

[jhlipton]

In the early seasons, I remember teams being days apart. It killed any suspense, though, so we started seeing bunching with HOO, only one flight or train, etc.

 

They started adding "bunching" after the first season, where one team was in Alaska, while the other [two??] teams were finishing the race in New York.

[Kel Varnsen]

They started adding "bunching" after the first season, where one team was in Alaska, while the other [two??] teams were finishing the race in New York.

I imagine that bunching is here to stay. Like others have said Phil and his crew basically have to be with the teams at all times. Maybe back in the days when the show was doing much stronger in the ratings, they could have chartered Phil a private jet to make sure he always made it to the mat first, but at this point I don't see that happening.

[auntlada]

They started adding "bunching" after the first season, where one team was in Alaska, while the other [two??] teams were finishing the race in New York.

 

Replying in Past Seasons.

[ramble]

How do you train a chicken to sit on your head, and then a dove to sit on the chicken? In the end I suppose there's also a missing Colonel Sanders joke in it, so heck

My parents have backyard chickens & one of my kiddos has a favorite chicken that will not only sit on her head (cause she's a kid & thought it was funny) but sits at the breakfast table & drinks hot tea & eats oatmeal. So I've seen it in its odd action. Now the dove thing fascinates me, but I suppose if you tame it as a pet it works. It was visually awesome.

[Netfoot]

How do you train a chicken to sit on your head, and then a dove to sit on the chicken? In the end I suppose there's also a missing Colonel Sanders joke in it, so heck.

 

I assume the guy with the chicken & dove from the Berber tent detour is the same as the greeter?   Or is chicken/dove headwear a Morroccan thing?

[NurseGiGi]

What everyone else has said about this season being so much better than last.  I guess the Wrestlers would have to be my least favorite team at this point but I still enjoy them, except for Brooke's whining.  The thing is, if they had been on last season they would have been my favorite team for the win.  I'm just really enjoying this season's participants.

[Rusun]

Despite having all the required tasks necessary for a "complete" leg, i.e. Roadblock + Detour with optional Route Info (Active Route) Marker/s, this episode still seemed the weakest overall even up against the two RB-less Britain legs earlier in the season. (Simply limit the punting and herding to one person per team and voila!)

 

Yes, it was unlikely to top the sheer brilliance of the Copenhagen-Marrakech duo, yet both Detours were inferior pseudo-Switchbacks: Cream was TAR12's "Babe, there's no more milk!" - or TAR16's cow kicking the Nana partnered with her favorite grandchild - combined with TAR19's "All Churned Out" in the original Denmark visit, while Camp was a hasty rehash of the Parking Space Detour just two episodes ago. The CanyonPuzzleBlock suffered from a general lack of momentum in spite of its appealing multi-step nature on paper, and the hay-carriage RI turned out to be more enjoyable for the racers themselves than the viewers given the limited camera-time spent on capturing the city scenes during their rides.

 

Paired with the resulting boot of the best mother/daughter team since Momily, this leg was a letdown all around. No further nadirs, please!

[TheOriginalDonald]

Thanks for NOT U-Turning #ISITSAFE???????????????? when you had the chance, Nici and Shelley. Karma got you here, ladies. Unfortunately we're stuck with Jim and Misti till the end. #SoulSurfersNumberOne