Tara Ariano March 29, 2014 Share March 29, 2014 The racers are drained by an exhausting roadblock; a footrace to a pit stop. Link to comment
Wandering Snark March 31, 2014 Share March 31, 2014 My first thought of that day was "Who is this man, where is he, and why does he have on such a jaunty hat?" Hmm... questions questions. Also, why the hell is Brandon wearing part of Rachel's sequined shorts tied about his head? C'mon we're just starting to come around on you two don't blow it now in a cyclone of green sequins! If Rachel hadn't have brain farted everyone would have gotten through the task quicker! Her lunacy worked against everyone. #readtheclue They really stressed me out with their heads outside of the trains and running over the train tracks!! Didn't your mothers teach you anything?? Gratutious shot of the week: One of the blondes shaking her hands in slo-mo making her boobs give quite the jiggly Baywatchesque show. Jessica lost points with me with her "You're only as fast as your big fat elephant" comment. Just because they are large doesn't mean they are also fat. This is why elephants get eating disorders!! *shakes head* My first thought at seeing hte Amazing Mat was "Oh no it's on SAND!! Everybody gird your achilles!" I hear in one Race someone got hurt in the sand, but I think it's just a rumor. Good to see Browsie in full effect during the Mat convo with the Country singers. Overall it's a shame a leg that so rewarded good racing (and so much chance for bad Cab Karma) that gave a lot of chances to win/lose spots was kind of a bummer ending as a NEL though. Great episode though! 1 Link to comment
NYCFree March 31, 2014 Share March 31, 2014 Another leg of the race that made we want to visit the featured country. Beautiful scenery--and elephants! 1 Link to comment
tgrfan23 March 31, 2014 Share March 31, 2014 Taxi shenanigans? Check. Working animals? Check. Tight race to the Pit Stop? Check. I predict this will be an Emmy submission episode. Link to comment
Cobb Salad March 31, 2014 Share March 31, 2014 Good episode, toward the end I was hoping the Globetrotters wouldn't be last. Animals and the Amazing Race are always a good time. Jet and Cord still have their Express Pass which we've heard nothing about lately - will they (or could they still) use it? We have to wait 2 weeks????? Link to comment
NYGirl March 31, 2014 Share March 31, 2014 I am surprised the Afghanimals got away with running across the tracks like that. I enjoyed the episode nevertheless. I love the tuk-tuks and the elephants. Who would have thought that paper is made from dung..ugh. Link to comment
tgrfan23 March 31, 2014 Share March 31, 2014 Jet and Cord still have their Express Pass which we've heard nothing about lately - will they (or could they still) use it? We have to wait 2 weeks????? Jet and Cord have to use their EP within the next two legs. The Academy of Country Music Awards always airs the first Sunday in April. Link to comment
Tink March 31, 2014 Share March 31, 2014 (edited) I'm torn about the elephants. Loved seeing them, especially in the sanctuary, but felt sorry for them at the log task. I don't really know whether or not that was cruel, but it kind of felt like it. I wonder how much TAR takes that into account. Edited March 31, 2014 by Tink Link to comment
LakeGal March 31, 2014 Share March 31, 2014 I was surprised the Afghanimals didn't get penalized for crossing the train tracks. That probably isn't legal. Link to comment
StatMom March 31, 2014 Share March 31, 2014 I wish they would have shown the Trotters getting in/out of a tuktuk. We had one brief shot of Easy half hanging out, but I wanted more! They seem to be great sports. 1 Link to comment
Turtle March 31, 2014 Share March 31, 2014 I wasn't as bothered by the Afghanimals crossing the tracks as I was by them telling a tuktuk driver to block the cowboys. I was always under the impression that teams weren't allowed to interfere with other teams' racing (other than just doing their own racing, of course). Putting an obstacle in front of another team seems outside of the lines, somehow. This season is much better than I expected it to be. Seems pretty competitive, the teams (so far) seem mostly tolerable, and they've had some good challenges. Link to comment
ElectricBoogaloo March 31, 2014 Share March 31, 2014 Mr. EB said, "Elephant sanctuary? That's a work camp for elephants!" 2 Link to comment
Etta Place March 31, 2014 Share March 31, 2014 I wasn't really bothered by seeing the elephants working - horses pull carriages, oxen pull plows (unless your ox is broken), elephants apparently carry logs. I loved how close the racers were to each other just about the entire time. It was great to be able to see multiple teams in so many of the transporation and pit-stop-dash shots. 2 Link to comment
whammo March 31, 2014 Share March 31, 2014 Seven teams, four pumps -- awesomeness! Some pretty brilliant chaos, though I'd have to fight the urge to deck someone if I was in that mob. "I feel like whoever is the most insane under those circumstances is the most successful" -- words to live by. And, I hope never to hear anyone shout the word "GreeeeeEEEEEeeen" again. Oh, Rachel, just when I was beginning to like you. . . . I wasn't really bothered by seeing the elephants working - horses pull carriages, oxen pull plows (unless your ox is broken), elephants apparently carry logs. Agreed. I have no issue with working animals. I think the concern is how they are treated and cared for. Hopefully the Amazing Producers make at least some inquiry into that. Tuk-tuk and taxi derbys looked like great fun. I want to drive a tuk-tuk in my next life. No problems with Dave and Connor getting their driver to give his younger brother(??) crap directions. I'm a little more conflicted on the Afghanimals engineering the block on the Cowboys, but, still, it's a RAAAAAAAAAACE. Cowboys seemed a bit bitter at the mat. Maybe it's a one-off thing because of the taxi race, but I've always gotten the impression they don't lose well. I'm glad the ladies got NEL'd. Still not sure who I'm backing -- I'm actually starting to like John and Jessica. Link to comment
Netfoot March 31, 2014 Share March 31, 2014 (edited) John, you idiot! If you'd kept your big mouth shut, Rachel would still be pumping gas! I'm shocked. Dave and Connor didn't mention tendons even once! The Globetrotters went and spoiled it, tho... Guy with the clues at the Dutch museum had a hat that Jet would be proud of! So, I guess in Sri Lanka you... never put paper... in your mouth? Very nice to see Phil having a good time. First with the dancers, then later with the Country Singers (who he genuinely seemed to enjoy chatting with). There was too much bunching, but otherwise, this was a great episode. The train rides must have been really enjoyable for the competitors. The tuk-tuks were absolutely lunatic, what with the yelling and screaming and body-checking of vehicles. The liberal spraying of the general surroundings as well as fellow competitors with gasoline was outrageous. Ben Stiller, where were you? And both sides of the detour looked great. Making the paper looked laborious and there was obviously a trick to the elephant chains. Speaking of the elephants, I'm not bothered by their working. There are working animals everywhere, and it isn't like they were Pit-Ponies. I suspect an elephant is a valuable resource which would be well looked after, and who knows what would happen to the local economy if elephant labor was prohibited? Crossing the tracks may be unwise in a busy station, but in this instance it didn't look dangerous. It's a shame it was a NEL. Not because I wanted the blondes to go -- I'm getting quite fond of them and they're one of my few choices for a win -- but because the NEL just made all the crazy and frantic seem pointless, since in the end, nobody went home! Edited because I forgot to ask... Gratutious shot of the week: That would be about minute-mark... what? Edited March 31, 2014 by Netfoot 2 Link to comment
ElectricBoogaloo March 31, 2014 Share March 31, 2014 (edited) As horrified as I was by seeing gasoline spraying onto people, I couldn't help but laugh because I immediately thought, "Just because we have chiseled abs and stunning features, it doesn't mean that we too can't not die in a freak gasoline fight accident." It made me want an orange mocha frappuccino! I, too, was disappointed that this was another NEL. Didn't we just have one the week before last? Having the elephants this week reminded me of a team a few seasons ago whose road bump was to give the elephants a bath. They knew they were going to be eliminated so they just took their time with the elephants and really enjoyed it, which I loved seeing. Was it the twinnies? I just remember whoever it was talking about how much they loved elephants. Rachel, Rachel, Rachel. Have you still not learned that the most important thing on TAR is to READ THE FREAKING CLUE?! Edited March 31, 2014 by ElectricBoogaloo 1 Link to comment
ProfCrash March 31, 2014 Share March 31, 2014 The racers are drained by an exhausting roadblock; a footrace to a pit stop. I missed a bit of the episode due to DVR weirdness but overall I was bored. It didn't help that it was a non-elimination round and I really wanted the Country Singers gone. 1 Link to comment
Taeolas March 31, 2014 Share March 31, 2014 It seems the NEL's usually happen in the middle, usually two or three eps apart from each other, so it wasn't too unexpected. Canada's Worst Driver used to give the drivers a gas station challenge; where they worst drivers would have to get their cars up to the pumps while the other drivers are trying to get there. That challenge was only slightly less chaotic than the TAR TukTuk Gas station challenge. Lots of fun to watch and major chaos. I'm really surprised the entire place didn't go up in flames. Did TAR hire all those tuk tuks to keep them hanging around there or what? Running across the tracks is dangerous, no matter how unbusy it may seem. But since all the racers seemed to do it at one point or another, I wonder if the producers will just consider it a wash as far as penalties go. All in all, a fun ep though. And yes, I'd love to see how the Globetrotters got in and out of a Tuktuk. :) Link to comment
Haleth March 31, 2014 Share March 31, 2014 That whole episode was exhausting to watch. I'm surprised the racers didn't collapse at the pit stop. Anyone who did the gasoline challenge is going to be battered and bruised for the rest of the race. Can you believe Big Easy just lifted one and moved it out of the way? As fun as it would have been to watch Rachel continue to fill up the wrong tuk tuks, John couldn't let the opportunity pass of claiming the one she maneuvered all the way to the pumps since it was his color. She did the work, he got the credit. I have to say that as much as I hated the casting when announced, there really isn't anyone I dislike left. All teams are proving to be pretty competent. As the country singer said, it's harder when no one makes a mistake. Or in Rachel's case, makes a mistake but recovers in time to catch up. Link to comment
Eggman March 31, 2014 Share March 31, 2014 Rachel was hogging a gas pump, so eventually they pretty much had to tell her what she was doing wrong so that they could use the damn thing. What an idiot woman. I cannot wait for her to go. Link to comment
Chip March 31, 2014 Share March 31, 2014 This is a duplicate topic, so I am going to merge it with the one with more replies. Link to comment
Etta Place March 31, 2014 Share March 31, 2014 As fun as it would have been to watch Rachel continue to fill up the wrong tuk tuks, John couldn't let the opportunity pass of claiming the one she maneuvered all the way to the pumps since it was his color. She did the work, he got the credit. Yeah, good catch on that. I was yelling at the tv wondering why John would tell her what she was doing wrong, and then my husband pointed out that she'd gotten one of John's tuk-tuks to the pump, so it really was in his best interests at that point. I admit it makes sense, but I would have been happy with Rachel continuing to fill the wrong ones until everyone left. If only there were a way to selectively mute her voice on the broadcast. Agreed. I have no issue with working animals. I think the concern is how they are treated and cared for. Hopefully the Amazing Producers make at least some inquiry into that. True. Although on a previous race, they posed with tigers and I know there have been some reports in the media about problems with the conditions at places like that before. The elephants here looked okay to me (I'm not an elephant expert), and I was glad to see that the workers were checking the racers' chains before letting the elephants try to pick anything up. I guess that was probably mostly so no one got crushed by a log that the elephant dropped, but I was hoping it was also for the elephants' safety. Link to comment
maywatch March 31, 2014 Share March 31, 2014 I can't speak to this particular elephant rescue camp but I've been to others in SEA and lived for a long tim in an area with elephant/human villages. Asian elephants who grow up around humans like to work, they usually have the same handler for most of their lives (sometimes they outlive their mahouts which is very sad for them) - and they are super smart animals. Working gives them exercise, a purpose and keeps them busy - which is much better for everyone than a bored and frustrated elephant, believe me. A lot of the camps in Thailand were set up after logging along the border was made illegal and the elephants/mahouts lost their livelihoods and were begging on the streets of large towns and cities. Believe me, the elephants are much better off at the camps. This episode and this whole season have been making me tired. Rachel has been growing on me, but this week she lost my good will. Please. Read. The. Clue. 4 Link to comment
Veruca Assault March 31, 2014 Share March 31, 2014 Did anyone else notice one of the Afganimals grab the clue out of the river then out it in his mouth? Think that was less safe than running over the train tracks. Water bourn parasites! Link to comment
WookieeCookieez March 31, 2014 Share March 31, 2014 With all the mad dashing around in the tuk tuks and cabs, I was at least as concerned of an injury as they were careening down the hillside to get the river clue. It's a real relief no one ruptured an Achilles or anything this week. Link to comment
Way Wes Jr March 31, 2014 Share March 31, 2014 (edited) That just jumped to the top part of the list that contains “Most Dangerous Roadblocks Evah!.” Spilled gasoline, chances of getting run over, and chances of getting pinned between tuk-tuks - just, wow. And, it rewarded being obnoxiously competitive. And it had a (unrealized) chance to have "miss the train" drama. I noticed that, the other teams having noticed Rachel and Brendan’s “get off on the ‘wrong’ side of the train” advantage, that they all jumped across the tracks when they got to the next stop. (Again, danger!) [Except, of course Jet and Cord at the finish line...] During the tuk-tuk ride to the elephant preserve it looked as if everyone was having a great time. Except Rachel. I wonder if Brendan wasn’t quite as supportive as the (post-leg) interviews tried to make it seem. Anyone else have flashbacks as Dave is running on sand towards a Pit Stop? Flight Time and Big Easy almost got taxi-lucked into last place; interesting to not that there wasn’t too much of a time difference in Detours. (Provided one paid attention to the demonstration.) The “these teams are behind” vibe at the papermaking challenge was too relaxed, I called it as non-elimination while Caroline and Jennifer were still at the Detour. And Caroline’s dung-paper pearl necklace was very distracting. At another site, ;), folk were saying the Detours were unbalanced, and it wasn’t fair to have only four spots available for the elephants. (Hi, TheRabbi, and others.) I have to disagree about the time difference of the Detours. The Globies were the fifth team to arrive at the detour, thus forced to do the paper task. Had their cab driver not screwed up they could have been in a footrace with both Jessica and John and Dave and Connor. If they had paid attention to the fact they needed to press the paper, they (possibly) could have passed them both. And if one of the four elephants had been feeling temperamental? I think they were very balanced. Edited March 31, 2014 by Way Wes Jr Link to comment
ProfCrash March 31, 2014 Share March 31, 2014 Sorry about the dup topic for some reason I missed this one. I don't know why but I found this episode pretty boring. The tuk-tuk filling was just chaotic, dangerous, and not all that interesting to watch. The elephants were cool but there are ethical dilema's with the way that they are treated. The paper task was cool to watch for about 30 seconds and then just boring. And it was a non-elimination leg. And the Afghanimals won. They are better this season but still annoy me. So just an over all blah episode for me. Link to comment
Tara Ariano March 31, 2014 Author Share March 31, 2014 And here's John's post on the episode! Link to comment
DaddeeTV March 31, 2014 Share March 31, 2014 Flight Time grooving to the "wise man's" little tune, Phil finger bopping with the Sri Lankan drummers, and Big Easy just plain LIFTING UP a tuk-tuk to get the job done... I am down for either The Cowboys of GTs to win the thing - both teams truly are inspiring in how they find the moments to enjoy. (Loved the wave of the cowboy hat from the train as they were pulling out...) The show retains it's excellence this season, imho. Link to comment
ElectricBoogaloo March 31, 2014 Share March 31, 2014 I liked that when each team sent one person slip sliding down the steep embankment to get their clue, you could see one of the cowboys (I think it was Jet) and Dave helping each other try not to fall. I think John was in the mix too. But then on their way back up, they went their separate ways. 1 Link to comment
Alapaki March 31, 2014 Share March 31, 2014 Given the Rachel and Brendan still made the same train as everyone else, even after her screw-up, suggests the race planners had to know that all of the teams would most likely make that train. Rendering the Roadblock . . . completely irrelevant to the outcome of the leg, let alone the race. And it seems like the first teams to complete the Roadblock did so relatively flawlessly. Rachel, by contrast, committed just about the worst screw-up that I think is possible on the task. And it still only set them back by less than 15 minutes. I'd like to see the tasks designed so that very good performance is rewarded with more than a 10 or 15 lead time on a team that really screws up. Maybe the Country Singers are just singing from TPTB's script. But, "it's a tough race because nobody makes mistakes?!?" They'd seen Rachel commit a colossal mistake. And they saw all three teams at the Paper Detour miss a crucial step in the task. In fact, this season we've seen pretty bad mistakes completely obliterated by travel bunching, and other teams eliminated due to pre-designed (or easily foreseeable) travel-separation. 1 Link to comment
aradia22 April 1, 2014 Share April 1, 2014 I've been feeling pretty positive about the challenges in the last two episodes after a lackluster beginning to the season. I think this was a more middle of the road episode. There wasn't much to the gas challenge and with the way the teams bunched up at the train, it didn't seem that difficult and didn't seem to separate the pack. I guess maybe they thought it might provoke some drama, but no one really seemed to get into it. The elephant challenge was a little better. It was nice to see the elephants even if there wasn't much to that challenge. The paper-making challenge was the better one of the two to watch as the log-carrying challenge was pretty repetitive. The wise man was a pretty pointless stop. I found myself rooting for the Afghanimals at the end which I never would have imagined myself doing at the beginning of this season. They have gotten a little better (though they still pick people up and make way too much noise) but I think it's also that they seem to deserve a win for the way they've been racing. Also, they seem to almost always learn how to say "thank you" in that language spoken in the country where they're racing which is nice. I really like the Globetrotters. I was nervous for them and upset, especially with Dave and Connor sending them off in the wrong direction. What are the rules on that? 1 Link to comment
Netfoot April 1, 2014 Share April 1, 2014 Also, they seem to almost always learn how to say "thank you" in that language spoken in the country where they're racing which is nice. I noticed the Country Singers also spoke to the greeter in what I'd assume is the local language. This on the mat as they contemplated elimination. Argh! This editor is going to drive me nutz! 1 Link to comment
etagloh April 1, 2014 Share April 1, 2014 (edited) It felt a lot like the Swiss mountaintop leg in TAR22, where the train bunches undid any advantage gained from tasks. The big advantage came from getting the craziest tuk-tuk to the elephant sanctuary and claiming the Trunk side of the Detour, though we'll never know if one of the lead teams could have rocked the Paper side with a bit more care and attention. And the places were decided by taxi luck at the end, with a head-swerve that was meant to imply that the Globetrotters might finish last. The filling station task seemed designed to generate some of that TAR "south Asia crazy" for what was probably the leg for the Emmy committee's consideration. Edited April 1, 2014 by etagloh 1 Link to comment
John Ramos April 1, 2014 Share April 1, 2014 And it seems like the first teams to complete the Roadblock did so relatively flawlessly. Rachel, by contrast, committed just about the worst screw-up that I think is possible on the task. And it still only set them back by less than 15 minutes. I'd like to see the tasks designed so that very good performance is rewarded with more than a 10 or 15 lead time on a team that really screws up. I hate poor leg planning as much as anyone, but I think there were a couple things to note about this particular one: The first is that even the teams that finished first only got to the train with 12 minutes to spare. The second is that, although they didn't stress it, the task got easier to complete the more teams finished. So if those first couple teams had taken even slightly longer, there likely would have been a cascade effect that would have resulted in at least one team missing the train. I don't deny that Rachel was lucky to escape unscathed, but she and Brendon did baaaaarely make it. I enjoyed that tension even if it didn't amount to a penalty. Link to comment
Veruca Assault April 2, 2014 Share April 2, 2014 I moved a few of the Brenchel posts to the Brendon & Rachel thread, as they were generally about the team and not just their action during this leg of the race. Link to comment
Kelda Feegle April 4, 2014 Share April 4, 2014 (edited) Am I the only one who wonders how the cowboys get their jeans dry so fast? Seems like we so often see them in water and yet dried off soon after - maybe they have several pair and time to change or maybe it is just that they have been in pretty hot countries - still this inquiring mind wants to know. I'm doing okay with Brenchel - was not a fan last season but as I haven't seen them in any other show and their maturity has improved this time I think I will be ok. Huge reservations about the ethics of the elephant work though ... Edited April 4, 2014 by Kelda Feegle Link to comment
Netfoot April 4, 2014 Share April 4, 2014 I guess Scotchgard. Either that, or the constant rubbing together of their superiority complexes generate a high degree of heat... Link to comment
dgpolo August 6, 2019 Share August 6, 2019 The tuk tuks were a mad house. I think John had to tell Rachel her mistake since she had one of her cabs. Never mind the elephant tasks, I think they contribute to the economy in a country that needs it. Another non-elim Link to comment
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