S27.E02: Get In There And Think Like A Dog

[Paron Xanthis]

Then at the detour in the church Chris says he wanted to do the statue and she says "whatever, I thought we should do cardboard" and then when he reads further outside and says they should do cardboard, she is passive aggressive AGAIN and complains that he said statue. No, lady, you should have been more assertive in the church, and not basically argued with all of his choices.

I wasn't bothered by that.  Chris was being wishy-washy with the Detour, so I could see why she'd be annoyed.

[lianau]

Maybe Justin will calm down once he's over the " I'm on the Amazing Race OMG !!!"  freak phase . 

[Sayla Vee]

My theory is that Justin in insufferable because he works in radio. I have never in my life met anyone who works in radio, especially on-air personalities, who wasn't a complete douchebag. (Except Darrell Martini, the Cosmic Muffin.) Pax to anyone here who works in radio or is an on-air personality, I'm sure you are a wonderful person. But Justin's level of insufferableness just screams radio guy. I don't think he's socially awkward or tone deaf. I think he's a radio guy and used to acting like a jerk. He may be kind to his mother and read to the blind, but he's got a persona and he's living up to it. jmo

 

 

You may be on to something here.  Maybe Justin is a Howard Stern wannabe or something, but he certainly is ON all the time......just all the damned time.

 

 

I find Justin annoying as well, but I wonder how much of his perpetual mania right now is because he's so freaked to be ON the show, and he just can't get out of his head yet. I'll give him a pass for another episode, but if he continues to self-narrate (and self-congratulate), yeah, he's gonna get old for me real fast. As it is, for now, I kind of feel sorry for him because I don't actually get a mean vibe from him (which, honestly, I do from the Texas boys, no matter how good-looking they are). He's not douchey thus far to me, I just think he's so oblivious and socially awkward (ramped up by 1000% because he's ON! THE! AMAZING! RACE!) that he's barrelling through all these circumstances without a clue as to how others are reading him.

 

 

See, he does come across as mean to me.  Right from the start he seemed to gloat that the Texans had broken equipment, refused to tow them because they were beefcake, and then cackled as they pulled away.  I don't even blame him for not towing them, but why bring it up if you're not going to do it, and then laugh about it.  I even forgave him about the meltdown after the failed attempt at the FF, but then when he discovered there were other racers, all of a sudden, he is in a great mood again.  When he called the Anchors (whom I like because they don't carry on and they don't dis anyone) Ken and Barbie, I was back to hating him .  He knew nothing about them as of yet, but he went right to name calling.  Then when he saw that they had finished the volleyball game, he was sure that if Ken & Barbie was able to do, surely a stud like him could.  And darn, he did.  Then at the Mat, he cried once again, not because he was still in the race, but because he wanted to be first and he wasn't.  He said it would be for Diana because he wanted to give her everything, but that's a load.

 

Right off the bat the next day, James Earl finds a piece of information, is nice enough to share it with Justin, and Justin tries to force him into an alliance with just them and keep his info a secret from everyone else.  Obviously James wasn't in to that, and said nothing at all to him.  Then when Justin realized that James was sharing, he went over to the group to publicly chastise James...so much for not sharing.  Then when Logan wonders what is going on, because it is said in front of her after all, he tells her that she's not part of this.  If you don't want other people to know you're trying to force a deal, then don't talk about it in front of them.  And, of course, he could have done the dance better, and then had the nerve to laugh about Tanner not getting the steps.   He's just an obnoxious PIA, and he's not nice when he's winning.

 

If the Texans spend too much time trying to get even with him, that's on them.  And if they are eliminated because of it, ces't la vie. 

 

Other teams seem really nice, even Texas.  It's just Justin that I can't get past.

Edited October 6, 2015 by Sayla Vee

[RCharter]

See, he does come across as mean to me.  Right from the start he seemed to gloat that the Texans had broken equipment, refused to tow them because they were beefcake, and then cackled as they pulled away.  I don't even blame him for not towing them, but why bring it up if you're not going to do it, and then laugh about it.  I even forgave him about the meltdown after the failed attempt at the FF, but then when he discovered there were other racers, all of a sudden, he is in a great mood again.  When he called the Anchors (whom I like because they don't carry on and they don't dis anyone) Ken and Barbie, I was back to hating him .  He knew nothing about them as of yet, but he went right to name calling.  Then when he saw that they had finished the volleyball game, he was sure that if Ken & Barbie was able to do, surely a stud like him could.  And darn, he did.  Then at the Mat, he cried once again, not because he was still in the race, but because he wanted to be first and he wasn't.  He said it would be for Diana because he wanted to give her everything, but that's a load.

 

Right off the bat the next day, James Earl finds a piece of information, is nice enough to share it with Justin, and Justin tries to force him into an alliance with just them and keep his info a secret from everyone else.  Obviously James wasn't in to that, and said nothing at all to him.  Then when Justin realized that James was sharing, he went over to the group to publicly chastise James...so much for not sharing.  Then when Logan wonders what is going on, because it is said in front of her after all, he tells her that she's not part of this.  If you don't want other people to know you're trying to force a deal, then don't talk about it in front of them.  And, of course, he could have done the dance better, and then had the nerve to laugh about Tanner not getting the steps.   He's just an obnoxious PIA, and he's not nice when he's winning.

 

If the Texans spend too much time trying to get even with him, that's on them.  And if they are eliminated because of it, ces't la vie. 

 

Other teams seem really nice, even Texas.  It's just Justin that I can't get past.

ITA with this sentiment.  I don't just think Justin is "on," I think he was mean spirited and gloaty with the Texans.  He is pushy and annoying and I hope he is the next one off because he bugs me.  But I hated Hayley and she was there until the bitter end so I'm sure I'll be annoyed by Justin for a long time :(

[Alapaki]

Yes!  And he was vested for mass, and handing them the clues across an altar.  I get the worship vs. tourism thing, but that really did seem disrespectful on the part of the show.

 

 

I'm assuming this took place in a side-chapel to the main Cathedral.  

[Qoass]

 

My theory is that Justin in insufferable because he works in radio. I have never in my life met anyone who works in radio, especially on-air personalities, who wasn't a complete douchebag. (Except Darrell Martini, the Cosmic Muffin.) Pax to anyone here who works in radio

 

 

Pepper Mostly, we must be neighbors because I dated someone who worked with Darrell and yes, he was a love.

 

And a couple of pages ago, there was a discussion of people who get pulled into reality show footage having to sign a release.  That actually happened to me when I was working an event attended by a reality "star" who shall remain nameless.  He was being followed by cameras and apparently I was in the background of a shot or two.  A production assistant came up to me after he had moved to another part of the building and asked me to sign a release.  I didn't really want to but I didn't want the company I was working for to be seen as having uncooperative employees so I signed.  Then they took a picture of me holding up the signed release so they could match it with the footage later if need be.  THANK HEAVENS I ended up on the cutting room floor!!!!!!!!!!

[Eolivet]

Justin got on my last nerve during the dancing task. It started with "I'm a better dancer than her," which set the stage for all his later comments. That just meant that, to me, all his praise was coming from his place of perceived superiority to Diana's place of perceived inferiority. "Look at her, she's doing so well (but I would do better)." "Way to go, honey (but I would do better)." "She really nailed those moves (but I would do better)."

 

And he never either acknowledged his earlier comment and rebutted it ("I thought I was a better dancer, but wow, I could never do this.") or attempted to empathize with her, as I've seen other contestants do when they've made the wrong roadblock choice ("Wow, she's really struggling, I feel so badly. I really should've been the one to do this.") But to have his immediate reaction as thinking he could've done better, and to follow it up with a deluge of praise felt either completely condescending or completely disingenuous or both. It also had a whiff of "not bad...for a girl." (even though he probably would've done the same thing if he was partnered with a man).

 

I don't know if others have said this, but Justin strikes me as the type of person where if you tell him you had a bad day, he responds that he had the worst day ever and let me tell you about my day. It's always about ME. ME. ME. Does Diana even exist? From the editing, it's like Justin alone received the invitation to the show and Diana is just there as his +1.

[Paron Xanthis]

Does Diana even exist? From the editing, it's like Justin alone received the invitation to the show and Diana is just there as his +1.

She's there.  The editors have done this with lots of teams where one member has a big, loud personality and the other has a small, quiet one.  Hell, they once did it to a team where both members had big personalities, but still only chose to focus on one of them.  Diana might get some race editing and be featured during tasks.  But Justin's clearly going to get the story editing and be featured prominently in things relating to the story of the season.

 

Usually, those teams don't win, as the editors usually feature both members of winning teams fairly evenly, so if you don't like Justin much, there's that possibility, at least.  Though there have been four exceptions, in which teams with an imbalance of focus between their members have still won.

Edited October 9, 2015 by Paron Xanthis

[Netfoot]

Does Diana even exist?

 

At the end of Episode #1, I was fairly convinced that Justin was the first team of one to ever race on TAR...

[RCharter]

At the end of Episode #1, I was fairly convinced that Justin was the first team of one to ever race on TAR...

And why not -- he does everything amazing, he really could do this race alone.  

[Lingo]

So, two episodes in and we haven't seen Phil doing a 'live" presentation while at one of the tasks while the first team is arriving like we did last season. Have they abandoned this idea? I would imagine it adds an extra layer of complexity in scheduling and transportation, so maybe they decided it just wasn't worth the trouble.

 

Hey, that's a really good point! I liked that addition to TAR last year, and I hope they keep doing it.

[Netfoot]

I liked that addition to TAR last year, and I hope they keep doing it.

 

Me too.  It seemed to make Phil more "connected" to what was going on.

[biakbiak]

Didn't save this on the dvr but were the dancers and the cousins not shown with any other teams at the tango roadblock? I admit the taxi drama between the last three teams might be skewing my perception but I am perplexed how they were so far behind.

Edited October 10, 2015 by biakbiak

[aradia22]

That was a beautiful church. Episode 1 was weak in terms of challenges but I'm loving the sightseeing so far.

 

The first challenge was OK. I do like 'doing local jobs' challenges though it was hard to really get a sense of where everyone was in terms of rankings/pace.

 

I hope this isn't the start to many more dance challenges. But since it's Argentina, I'll excuse the tango. What is it like to be that accordion player? Playing that song over and over again. I thought the woman from the Green team was good until I watched the cheerleader.

 

It was dumb of him to pull his hamstring. I mean, maybe the Green team got lost and they were racing for first but... doubtful.

 

I was starting to like Alex and Adam. They seemed fun.

 

Team Texas one of them pulled a hamstring racing to the finish line like Dave and his achilles tendon.

Dear God, if I have to hear about this hamstring all season...

[Camera One]

For being such fans, the guy in the Green team didn't realize he shouldn't rub people the wrong way?  I wanted to like them last week, but he seems pretty full of himself going on about how he was better at dancing than his partner.  I want to like the Texas crew over them but they were really fixated on how much they dislike the Green guy.  So dumb to pull a hamstring racing to the pitstop for second.

 

I actually ended up liking the Cheerleaders.  The reporters seemed competent as well.  I guess the Statue task just took longer than the cardboard task.

 

I like Logan but the guy she's dating is so annoying.

 

I was really hoping the Track Girls would be eliminated, especially the one telling the other one they didn't have time to put on her shoes.  I wish the brothers got further.  I had hope when they got the tango since I thought he seemed to be having difficulties but it ended up being taxi luck.

[lexington11]

I don't like Justin either but I don't like seeing people get ganged on either. I didn't like Brendan and Rachel but I didn't like that just about every team was ganging up on them Dave/Connor, Cowgirls, Leo/Jamal. I don't like watching things like that and it would make me strongly dislike the teams that do the mob mentality. 

Same here, although Leo/Jamal did redeem themselves when they U-Turned Cowboys instead of Brendon/Rachel. Speaking of, I find that Green Team is very similar to Brendon/Rachel, only with the roles reversed, since Diana's the quieter one but definitely has a temper, and Justin is just so over the top and has to be on ALL.THE.DAMN.TIME that his personality is grating on me about as much as Rachel's did on all four of her reality show appearances.