S03.E08: All of These Are the Same

[radishcake]

The remaining teams travel to Kolkata, India, and face chaos in the streets.

[Vyas]

Yay, a footrace for first between a pair of worthy teams and another for last between the two worst ones!

 

In other words, that was the best episode of the season by far both in terms of who won it and who got eliminated. If the wrestlers had to be beaten by someone else, then Jai Kali Maa that it was the dancers. Good riddance to the fools who failed to use a W-Turn three rounds ago in order to win a leg prize just in case something like this happened!

Also, what an ingenious way of combining two classical tasks from the original edition: a cross between the garland decorating Detour from the S12 episode in Mumbai (Thread ‘Em, a.k.a. where the stupidest team mistook an elephant for a groom) along with an unused task/location from the very first Kolkata leg during S5* (Light but Long, which everyone skipped in favour of Heavy but Short, i.e. pushing engine-less cabs).

* “The city’s largest flower market”, a.k.a. the Malik Ghat Bazaar that served as the very first (RI) challenge tonight.
 

Edited August 27, 2015 by Vyas

[SledDog]

Can I just say how much I really disliked Brian & Cynthia. Particularly in this episode, but throughout the whole race really. It used to be just Cynthia since she stopped Neil from helping Hamilton in Buenos Aires, but Brian started earning my ire, particularly last week in Saskatoon and then today in Kolkata. Glad to see them gone.

There are three cab companies in Saskatoon. Each company got two teams. What were the odds of that (he said sarcastically).

[Miss Scarlet]

Brian and Cynthia were so humourless that it was almost hilarious.

[TV Anonymous]

Good riddance to the fools who failed to use a W-Turn three rounds ago in order to win a leg prize just in case something like this happened!

 

Can you please explain?

 

Regarding Brian and Cynthia, my problem with them is that they take themselves too seriously. Fine, they are Army vets (or are they still in the Reserve?), they are police officers and Cynthia is a medic. But it does not mean that they deserve something because of that. As I wrote on previous episode's thread, this is not a crime investigation, this is not an emergency room. This is a race, a game, a TV show. Just play it out.

[Blackie]

Yes glad Brian and Cynthia are gone, they were out of shape, had no patience and seemed to be not the brightest and too cocky..guess that works when you are police officers.....

 

The tasks this week seemed kind of boring and "easy", the only factor of difficulty being fatigue and just the general  logistics of being in Kolcata/Calcutta. (crowds, traffic, not getting a taxi).  I guess that is the more traditional type of TAR, I guess when they are in Canada we don't have that "chaos" so they have to make tasks in which you almost freeze to death.

[Shermie]

I liked Brian and Cynthia at first. I rooted for them as a middle aged couple that wasn't reality show thin and fit; you know, regular folks. But I guess they're the types who are likable on first impression, but get annoying and arrogant as they become more familiar. As members of the police, medical and armed forces set, it seems they bought into the media hype that they are somehow superior to the rest of us, being "heroes" and all for just doing their jobs.

I wonder if the wrestlers are getting the winners edit, with the whole "we just can't seem to win a leg even though we get so close" storyline. Will they finally come in first on the only leg that really matters in the end, the last one?

Nice to see Dujean and Leilani come in first. I like that the leg wins are being spread around, so that the prizes are going to different teams. So if a team wins a leg and gets gas for a year and then wins it all (or another leg) and gets gas for a year again, does that mean two years of free gas?

[Canada]

Add me to the list of people who are glad that Brian and Cynthia went home this week.  So humourless, no fun, arrogant, unhappy, rude.  I found Brian to be quite condescending to the woman at the pick-your-different-idol challenge.  Loudly, slowly telling her that they're all the same?  Douche.

[Vyas]

Can you please explain?

 

Recall how the cops got lost trying to find the PitStop on the Magdalen Islands: they were ahead of all the teams at that point, even stating at the W-Turn board that "if we use it on the boys, we're probably going to get first place".

 

Had Team Winnipeg done so, then their navigational error while driving to Pointe Old-Harry on Grosse-Isle would've had the buffer of Team Hamilton doing the equestrian Dressage Detour and thus shuffled the leg placements to something like the below:

 

1. Brian/Cynthia (reward: trip to almost anywhere in the Great White North plus a year of free gas)
2. Nick/Matt
3. Dujean/Leilani
4. Gino/Jesse
5. Brent/Sean
6. Nic/Sabrina
7. Neil/Kristin
8. Simi/Ope

[gryphon]

I'm glad Gino and Jesse got 5th.  And I like the dancers--I mostly like Leilani. She seems very encouraging.  Glad Nick and Matt are still there.  They crack me up. 

[HistoryGirl]

I wonder if the wrestlers are getting the winners edit, with the whole "we just can't seem to win a leg even though we get so close" storyline. Will they finally come in first on the only leg that really matters in the end, the last one?

Nice to see Dujean and Leilani come in first. I like that the leg wins are being spread around, so that the prizes are going to different teams. So if a team wins a leg and gets gas for a year and then wins it all (or another leg) and gets gas for a year again, does that mean two years of free gas?

 

I thought the same thing about the wrestlers.  Truly there are many, many, MANY TAR racers who've never won a leg and then won the last leg where it counts.  In fact, while I don't have the math, I'm certain it's happened to the vast majority of people who've raced.  It happens so often that I'm often left wondering why the teams get so disappointed in not coming in first, it's almost a lucky charm if you never "win" a leg.  There's only one first place finish that matters.  I even speculated that there was no way that the hockey girls could've won last year simply because they'd won virtually every leg.  It's just super unlikely based on past TAR records. 

 

As for the free gas, my guess is that it's a card that you use to spend x dollars worth per year.  That's how the "win free gas" contests work for us regular folk.  If you win, Petro Canada averages how many litres a person would need filled a year and then gives you that dollar amount in the form of a gift card(s).  If you use more than the allotted amount, that's it. So presumably the team would get 2 years worth of cards.

[Shermie]

Yes, that makes sense.

[tankgirl73]

Haven't they said (in previous episodes) that they get a gazillion Petro Points, which equals free gas for a year? I know there have been Petro Points -- was it for something other than gas?

 

And thank heavens that they reduced the product placement for the BMO Cashback international mastercard, or whatever it's called. "For this leg of the race you have $250 on your BMO yada yada card" -- that I can tolerate.  But the airport scene of "and how will you be paying today?" "With my BMO Cashbanck international mastercard!" UGH.  So tacky and obvious.

 

Could someone clarify a rule for me? Before TAR:Canada, I had watched a total of one episode of TAR (and been rather bored by it). The one thing I really remember (or think I do) was a race to the finish, and a team penalized becase they didn't have their gear with them. They'd dropped their packs in order to run, and had to go get them and then come back to the mat before their time would be counted.  And yet, in this series, the brothers are dropping their pack in their sprint to the mat all the time.  So... is this a rule or not?

[Kelda Feegle]

 

Could someone clarify a rule for me? Before TAR:Canada, I had watched a total of one episode of TAR (and been rather bored by it). The one thing I really remember (or think I do) was a race to the finish, and a team penalized becase they didn't have their gear with them. They'd dropped their packs in order to run, and had to go get them and then come back to the mat before their time would be counted.  And yet, in this series, the brothers are dropping their pack in their sprint to the mat all the time.  So... is this a rule or not?

IIRC as long as they are within sight of the mat the packs can be dropped on the run in.

 

I had thought Brian was funny, with a very dry sense of humour (we aren't trained in the use of selfies) but he was very dickish this week - KF maybe - maybe not.

 

I know the brothers come in for some criticism for being fit and fast but they do also manage the thinking tasks with speed so I am ok with them doing consistently well - I'd be happy to see the wrestlers win though.

[shok]

Brian sounds like a humourless dick in his exit interview too. http://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/television/amazing-race-canada-brian-and-cynthia-were-there-to-win

[funkymunky]

Had Team Winnipeg done so, then their navigational error while driving to Pointe Old-Harry on Grosse-Isle would've had the buffer of Team Hamilton doing the equestrian Dressage Detour and thus shuffled the leg placements to something like the below:

 

 

Wait, who are Team Winnipeg and Team Hamilton? It might be easier for those of us reading the comments to refer to them by their first names, as the show does:-)

 

I was also happy to see Brian and Cynthia go - they (especially Brian) were really getting on my nerves.

 

I laughed/cringed at whoever said "mucho rapido" to the taxi driver. You're in Kolkata, buddy!

Edited August 29, 2015 by funkymunky

[etagloh]

There was something joyless about how Brian and Cynthia greeted all the destinations, but especially this one. That Brian's big failure was a task that required attention to detail -- hey, police skills! who's a police officer? -- made the elimination fairly satisfying.

Anyway, TARCan does India, around the time (legwise) that TAR-USA generally does India, except that this is hardcore KF-generating travel. I was slightly surprised that they didn't NEL this one, in part because taxi luck/karma was going to be a massive factor, but anyway. I liked the tasks, I liked the leg format, and I think that TPTBCan recognised that the environment was sufficient of a challenge for them not to add additional tasks as they've done in Canadian legs. It also felt as if the yoga side of the Detour was probably faster than the delivery side if you were decently flexible and attentive, which was a good weighting.

I can understand the wrestlers' frustration at not winning legs, because the leg prizes are pretty nice, but as HistoryGirl says, winning legs doesn't count for anything in the final leg. What wins you the big prize is not getting eliminated and being smart at the very end. For sure, strong teams are going to make fewer mistakes and finish higher throughout the race, but it's not like you get credit for those leg victories at the end. (Though that might be an interesting tweak for TPTB in the future.)

[shok]

 

except that this is hardcore KF-generating travel.

 

Yeah, apparently it took them 30plus hours from Saskatoon to get there and when they did it was 40 degrees with high humidity. When they went out the the door of the terminal the heat hit them like a blast furnace and then they had to deal with the chaos and noise that none of them had ever experienced before. However, the conditions were the same for everybody so all's fair in love and war and TARC. They all looked like they held up pretty well actually - except for Cynthia's bindi which by the end of the leg looked like she had been shot in the forehead!

[Vyas]

Wait, who are Team Winnipeg and Team Hamilton? It might be easier for those of us reading the comments to refer to them by their first names, as the show does:-)

 

I was also happy to see Brian and Cynthia go - they (especially Brian) were really getting on my nerves.

 

I laughed/cringed at whoever said "mucho rapido" to the taxi driver. You're in Kolkata, buddy!

 

Team Winnipeg was/is the cops, Team Hamilton the conceited/entitled Italian brothers: both pairs did mention their hometowns during the premiere's team introductions at the start of the race.

 

Speaking of these two, they along with the reward for winning this round rather neatly tie together Kolkata's Anglophile legacy: the leg prize was a trip to the capital of the colonists, the geography major in-name-only embarrassed himself for the second time by asking his Pakistani-Saskatchewanian cabbie, "Do [indian] taxi drivers you think speak English, or...?", and the eliminees' intro shot featuring their personal collection of medallions referenced the American season that aired last autumn (the episode with Somerset House and Oxford, to be specific):

 

 

Edited August 29, 2015 by Vyas

[Fake Jan Brady]

Truly there are many, many, MANY TAR racers who've never won a leg and then won the last leg where it counts.  In fact, while I don't have the math, I'm certain it's happened to the vast majority of people who've raced.  It happens so often that I'm often left wondering why the teams get so disappointed in not coming in first, it's almost a lucky charm if you never "win" a leg.  There's only one first place finish that matters.  I even speculated that there was no way that the hockey girls could've won last year simply because they'd won virtually every leg.  It's just super unlikely based on past TAR records. 

 

 

Sure, it's happened on both seasons of TAR Canada, but in TAR Classic it's only happened three times in twenty-six seasons: Kisha & Jen [season 18], the Beekman Boys [season 21] and Amy & Maya [season 25]. 

 

My favourite bit this episode? A tie between Dujean & Leilani's disbelief at John's "You're team number one" and Sean giving Brent his headband to protect him from any further head injuries during the yoga challenge [awww...].

Edited August 30, 2015 by cousin oliver

[Vyas]

Sure, it's happened on both seasons of TAR Canada, but in TAR Classic it's only happened three times in twenty-six seasons: Kisha & Jen [season 18], the Beekman Boys [season 21] and Amy & Maya [season 25]. 

 

You meant four: the first such instance occurred on Season 11 with Eric and Danielle (yuck).

 

Fun fact - the Yoga Detour took place in the same neighbourhood that Kisha/Jen and seven other teams had to locate using a Snapple bottlecap during Unfinished Business.

[Fake Jan Brady]

You meant four: the first such instance occurred on Season 11 with Eric and Danielle (yuck).

 

 

I'm still in denial over that one.

[kingshearte]

I laughed/cringed at whoever said "mucho rapido" to the taxi driver. You're in Kolkata, buddy!

So did I, but I thought it was an improvement over what I'm pretty sure I heard from someone else: "Fast-o." At least "mucho rapido" consists of actual words, if not particularly relevant words when in India...