S26: Bergen & Kurt

[Donny Ketchum]

Hi.  We're from Sunnyvale, California, and one of only two gay couples this season.

Edited January 22, 2015 by Donny Ketchum

[jcin617]

They're not a couple though, right?   Aren't they the blind date counterpoint to Harley and Jonathan?

[Mreid]

Correct they are also a blind date couple 

[Maverick]

On a purely superficial level, these two make me think the blind dates were casted not as potential matches but in order to bring the drama. A pageant coordinator from the rural South with a white collar guy from LA? Not saying it couldn't work but doesn't seem like a natural fit for a blind date.

[Lamb18]

Sunnyvale, not Sunnyville.

[Bryce Lynch]

Hi. We're from Sunnyvale, California, and one of only two gay couples this season.

Strange that they say one of "only" two. Roughly 3% of Americans are homosexual and 18% of this season's racers are. Not that I care either way, but homosexuals are over represented by 600% this season, so "only 2" seems like an odd comment.

[Rick Kitchen]

Pageant Consultant?  Oh, God.

[awkward1penguin]

It's going to take me forever to tell them apart...even though one of them is obviously shorter than the other. 

[Chyna]

They both seem really fun, but it worries me that the taller guy hasn't had a relationship before.

[Quilt Fairy]

Wait..... there really IS a Sunnyvale, California? Who knew? I thought it was only in the Buffy universe.

[Donny Ketchum]

So.  Much.  Shrieking.  Nonetheless, they did all right at that Syncing Steps Detour, but other than that, I barely remember anything else they did.  They seem inoffensive, though, so for now, I'm okay with them.

[Donny Ketchum]

Somehow, they didn't seem as harmonious on this leg.  Bergen struggled at the Roadblock, and then, they both struggled at the Share Detour.  Still, fifth place is nothing to sneeze at, especially since they passed up Jeff & Jackie, a team who'd been two places ahead of them, at first, to do it.

[kris4n6]

Wait..... there really IS a Sunnyvale, California? Who knew? I thought it was only in the Buffy universe.

That's Sunnydale, in Buffy.

[Quilt Fairy]

That's Sunnydale, in Buffy.

Thanks. My bad.

[Lamb18]

There is a Sunnyvale, California. My cousin lives there. It's just west of San Jose.

[Donny Ketchum]

Interesting how they've already realized that they're just better off as friends.  But anyway, they had some problems keeping their meals balanced, as well, at the Tree Detour.  They stumbled many times at the cabaret task.  And despite getting the Date Night pass, it was nice of them to give it to Matt & Ashley after the proposal.

 

Seventh place.

[Lingo]

 they had some problems keeping their meals balanced

 

Ha, for a moment I thought you were talking about their diets.  I was very confused!

 

That should have been the name of this detour: "Balanced Meal vs. Raw Deal."  I miss the rhyming names.

[Donny Ketchum]

First place, and well-earned!  They seemed to make no huge mistakes, doing the Water Detour quickly and even dancing to eat their eggs!  Bergen kicked ass at the Roadblock, as well.  They seemed to be the only team not to get someone confused with the Pit Stop location, which helped them win the leg.  Good job!

 

Too bad Bergen seems and sounds so unpleasant.  Poor Kurt.

[Chyna]

Kurt (I think? The taller one) does seem a little spoiled, but he didn't complain much this leg (even about the nasty egg) so I hope he's toughening up since the tasks are only getting harder. I really liked seeing their joy when Phil told them they were first--even though they aren't going to hook up romantically, I hope these two become great friends.

Edited March 16, 2015 by Chyna

[Camera One]

I sort of the find the older one a little too condescending about how he has experienced so much, while the other one has never had to struggle, etc.  Can people be friends if they don't see the other as an equal?  

Edited March 18, 2015 by Camera One

[Donny Ketchum]

Ugh.  Welcome to the First-to-Worst Club, gentlemen.  Other than that, not much to say about quitters.  Yes, Bergen, Kurt quit.  But you did nothing to stop him from quitting and instead relented and quit with him.  The fact that Phil had to come out and eliminate you two speaks volumes about how badly you raced this leg.  You should've kept with it just like Mike & Rochelle did, not quit the whole race, quitters.  In the end, you guys were so incompetent, you didn't even reach the Detour or the Roadblock!

 

Like someone else said in the episode thread, I'd have been pissed if this were an NEL and you two weren't eliminated.  Good riddance.  Not just to Bergen, but to Kurt, as well.

[hendersonrocks]

This showing was just embarrassing on so many levels. 

[backformore]

I tried to like them, they really were OK one episode, but what WIMPS! QUITTERS!   quitting because neither one could drive stick shift?  really? 

 

And what a blow to FORD, who put all that advertising into the show, to have a team quit because, yeah, the Ford Focus is a great car, it's got all these amazing features, but it's so hard to drive, we'd rather walk! 

[hincandenza]

Not just quitting, but quitting because you refused to drive a stick?  Ugh, that's just... yeah, echoing everyone who's mightily pissed that they wasted their opportunity, and insulted every fan who has dreamed of being on this show.  I still think Kurt is far more to blame; he did seem checked out early on once his dream hunk didn't materialize, and there's only so much you can do when your partner has basically given up, especially when you have no pre-existing relationship with which to cajole/wheedle them into continuing.  That said, of course Kurt still should have soldiered on, even if driving in first gear the whole way; they might have actually passed Mike/Rochelle, who weren't doing much better but had a non-poisonous attitude.

 

One thing I'm curious about: Bergen repeatedly stated in his talking heads/voiceovers that Kurt had no worries about money and thus his apparent nonchalance... but it was never expounded upon or confirmed by Kurt himself that I saw.  Why did he/should we think that's true?  I mean, Bergen's bio says he works in HR at a tech startup in SV, which by itself hardly means he's well to do much less wealthy, but is a good start to a career when you're 24.  Surely he'd be making considerably more than a pagaent coordinator in smalltown Kentucky, like Kurt. 

 

The implication was that Kurt has wealthy parents/family... but even wealthy families don't always just hand their kids millions.  For example, Warren Buffett is one of the three richest people on Earth, yet he famously disowned his granddaughter a few years ago when at age 28 she dared to appear in a documentary called "The One Percent" (which is on Netflix and worth a watch; it was made by one of the young heirs to the Johnson & Johnson company).  Prior to that he apparently did financially support her, as she pursued her dream of being an artist, but it was apparently a more modest amount of apparently about $40-50K/year.  Not bad at all just for being adopted into the right family... but certainly not the kind of money that would make you scoff at the prospect of winning $500K on TAR.  So is Kurt's supposed idle life of riches just a product of Bergen's imagination?

[Camera One]

I don't get Bergen's reasoning that they couldn't race because Kurt gave up.  It was his fault too for not being able to drive stick.  Was it because Kurt couldn't navigate while he tried to drive?  I couldn't really feel sympathy for him since he made it seem like it was all the rich boy's fault.  

Edited April 6, 2015 by Camera One

[Camera One]

Some of the other blind date teams seem to be people who originally auditioned to go on the Race with other partners.

 

That didn't seem to be the case with this team.  Bergen apparently first auditioned for Big Brother, and did not get on, but he later got a call from a casting director for "The Amazing Race".

http://www.twincities.com/minnesota/ci_27593010/from-ndsu-student-reality-tv-minnesotan-reflects-amazing

 

And if Kurt's main reason for being on the race was to find love, he was likely casted for this purpose as well.

 

So that kind of explains them not realizing they might have to drive stick-shift, and the overall lack of drive or passion for the Race itself.

Edited April 6, 2015 by Camera One

[Special K]

I still don't know which name belongs to which of these guys.  Ba-bye!

[hincandenza]

Some of the other blind date teams seem to be people who originally auditioned to go on the Race with other partners.

 

That didn't seem to be the case with this team.  Bergen apparently first auditioned for Big Brother, and did not get on, but he later got a call from a casting director for "The Amazing Race".

http://www.twincities.com/minnesota/ci_27593010/from-ndsu-student-reality-tv-minnesotan-reflects-amazing

 

And if Kurt's main reason for being on the race was to find love, he was likely casted for this purpose as well.

 

So that kind of explains them not realizing they might have to drive stick-shift, and the overall lack of drive or passion for the Race itself.

 

Then the unsportsmanlike performance in this leg- unsurprisingly- falls squarely on the shoulders of the producers and casting crew.  Why on earth would you cast people who hardly want to be on the show, or are just looking for some/any kind of famewhoring attention?  That was one of the big fears coming into this season, which seemed to be avoided at first... but sadly, maybe we're now starting to see the KF tear apart the blind date couples to the point that their apathy and unpleasantness dominates the screen.

 

I get that people do watch these shows in part for the "eye candy".  I won't lie, I missed quite a few seasons in the teens and early twenties for Survivor since I'd grown bored with it not long after Fiji... up until I saw the previews that included the stunning Morgan from "Cagayan" and thought I'd give it another whirl.  But by and large, that's just something to get our attention; we only keep watching if it's a well done season.  And even after the pretty cheerleader with huge boobs was voted off and the rest of the cast were normal looking plotting and scheming people, Cagayan was and remained a highly entertaining season.

 

TAR doesn't even have the mactor-casting excuse of people being in their underwear 24/7, and I don't think I've ever heard a single fan of this show declare that they tune in specifically for the eye candy or that impossible "TV normal" level of physical attractiveness.  While not my favorites, many loved the candy scientists last year: normal people, a little awkward and nerdy, yet also huge fans of the show and thoroughly delighted to be racing around the world.

 

Just my opinion, but neither Bergen or Kurt are particularly attractive at all, certainly not so much that TAR needed to scrape the barrel for these clowns, instead of apparent fans such as the candy scientists or Mike & Rochelle this year.

[Camera One]

Then the unsportsmanlike performance in this leg- unsurprisingly- falls squarely on the shoulders of the producers and casting crew.  Why on earth would you cast people who hardly want to be on the show, or are just looking for some/any kind of famewhoring attention?  That was one of the big fears coming into this season, which seemed to be avoided at first... but sadly, maybe we're now starting to see the KF tear apart the blind date couples to the point that their apathy and unpleasantness dominates the screen.

 

Yeah, I was deeply disappointed in the producers when I read that they actively chose people who hadn't expressed prior interest in Racing.  How is wanting to be on Big Brother even relevant?  There are thousands of people out there who would have wanted to Race even if the blind date gimmick didn't pan out.  I don't have a huge problem with the blind-partner concept per se, especially some of the individuals in the other blind date couplings who had applied with other partners previously.  But this particular coupling should never have been casted.

Edited April 7, 2015 by Camera One

[Jersey Guy 87]

To be fair to this season  I hardly think this is the first time they've cast people who didn't actually apply to be on the race.  I'm sure it happens with a fair degree of frequency.

 

However, this team was a disaster.  The only good thing about them is they completely gave up and left my TV screen.

[ProfCrash]

Their interview on Rob Has a Podcast showed that the two are still on totally different pages regarding what happened on the race. It sure didn't sound like the two of them have talked a lot since the race.

[Donny Ketchum]

Their interview on Rob Has a Podcast showed that the two are still on totally different pages regarding what happened on the race. It sure didn't sound like the two of them have talked a lot since the race.

Or at all.  I wouldn't be surprised if they cut each other off entirely.  Bergen did act like he almost hated Kurt on the race.  It might've spread to real life, too.

[hendersonrocks]

Bergen did act like he almost hated Kurt on the race.

 

Almost?!