S27.E04: Good Old Fashioned Spit In The Face

[Trick Question]

Don't any of these bozos realize Team Texas is using them to get rid of a strong team? Why should they do them any favors?

 

 

Everyone else is angling for that second Express Pass, so why not play along with Texas to say, "sure, we'll help you get rid of Green Team."  It's just good strategy and the correct play --- if you helped get the Greens (who are a legitimately good team) out and get an Express Pass for it, you're suddenly in great stead for the rest of the race.  Now that the second EP will be given away, expect Team Texas to become a big target as well.  In no small part because they probably unofficially promised the Pass to several teams in their 'alliance.'

 

I hate that this stupid TeamTexas vs GreenTeam is eating up most of the show.

 

My hope is that the editors are focusing so much on this feud now because one of the teams will be gone soon, so they're getting as much play from this feud as they can. 

 

If I had to pick one of the two be eliminated first?  It would be the Texans.  Here's another reason why playing that Express Pass at that point was a bad move --- you have a guy on the team who can barely run thanks to a bad hamstring!  Save it for a future physical exertion challenge!  Tanner & Josh have been very lucky they haven't faced any overtly physical challenges since the injury occurred, or else they might be out already. 

[Primetimer]

In Zambia and Zimbabwe, teams take in the gorgeous scenery at Victoria Falls, but the looming threat of the U-Turn casts a shadow on the proceedings.

Read the story

[jette]

dgpolo said:

They sure are repeating a lot of stuff from Season 1

 

Man, I hope it's not because this is the last season of Amazing Race!

 

Also, Justin's smugness is giving me a headache. Go home, Justin.

[Thog]

 

Maybe he was doing it for show, and maybe they all were, but I think it was very sweet to donate the rest of their money to the orphanage.

I also thought that was very sweet, but then the Texans donated all their money as well and it seemed as though they had been instructed to (from the way Phil asked if that was all of it). Still, I did appreciate that Justin seemed to really want to do it, and he really felt for the orphans and all they had lost. It will be interesting to see if the other teams also donate all their money. It would be a cool move on the part of the producers, because not only is it a way of giving something back to the country but it also helps to equalize the teams by ensuring they all have the same amount of money at this point.

[cooksdelight]

I also got the vibe that the teams were told to donate all of their remaining money to the orphanage. Which is great... just don't make it look like Justin had the idea and was doing it because he wanted to.... not because he had to.

[Rinaldo]

To my eyes, they didn't make it look like Justin's idea. From the two teams we got to see at the mat, it seemed pretty clearly mandatory.

 

Presumably whatever money they need for the next leg is in the envelope they've just been given, so they'll all be equal in that respect.

[Quilt Fairy]

I was looking at their helmets and thinking "Yeah, it's totally going to save you if you fall off of that flying thingie into the Falls."

 

I think the helmets were more to prevent something (bugs, debris, birds) from flying into their faces.

 

I was confused by the end -- now that Team Texas (stupidly) used their express pass, they can pass it on to another team? Has that always been a rule, or is it new for this season?

Half new rule, half existing rule. They won 2 EPs, one which they had to use by the 5th leg (IIRC), and once they used the 1st one they had to give the 2nd one to another team at that point. But it was a total surprise that they have to decide immediately, in front of Phil and the world at the not-a-Pit-Stop. Now their "strategy" about giving it to any team that U-turns Justin and Diana is out the window, they've apparently never discussed who they would give it to under other circumstances. Idiots.

[dgpolo]

 

Half new rule, half existing rule. They won 2 EPs, one which they had to use by the 5th leg (IIRC), and once they used the 1st one they had to give the 2nd one to another team at that point.

They did not win 2 EPs they won one, and as soon as they used it they had to pass it to another team, they should have known that they would need to pass it on in this leg as soon as they used it. I believe the 2nd team must use it in this next leg. I wonder if they'll be told to pass it on too. That would be interesting if it is passed on from team to team, as it becomes more important the later you use it. And the teams are usually the stronger ones too, so having to pass on an express pass AFTER you have used one, to another (possibly stronger) team in a later leg is a whole new race strategy.

[danheaton]

Bakota George! That definitely looks like the task from the season 1 premiere. Maybe they can set up the fast forward that Rob and Brennan grabbed too. Probably not on that front.

I'm still not thrilled by all the focus on one conflict this season. On the other hand, I found the failure of Tanner and Josh's plans to be very entertaining. Also, that Roadblock was spectacular. It was an improvement over last week, so that's good at least.

[merylinkid]

Team Texan was stupid.    Getting to the Detour first is not the goal.   They still have to do the detour to get to the UTurn.   WHat if it takes forever to do your side and Team Green powers through their side?   Then you are behind them.   You get to the Detour and use your express pass, thereby pretty much guaranteeing you get to the UTurn ahead of Team Green.

 

WHoever keeps saying "Hashtag" then some stupid phrase needs to stop.   RIght now.   You are not on twitter, you are speaking.   Use your words, you have more than 140 characters.  

[Netfoot]

Sure hope the feud between Team Green and Team Dumb is concluded soon.

 

I think what Texans were saying was that they didn't know who to give it to because they like everyone and they didn't want to be seen as picking favorites.

 

Smartest thing they could do?  Tell Phil to give it to the last team to arrive.

[NurseGiGi]

The Texans should give the express pass to the weakest team left, the one they are most sure they can beat, so probably the cheerleaders.

 

I was actually looking forward to the teams spending some time in the orphanage with the kids.

Yes to this!  How stupid that they just wasted that express pass.  The VF task seemed pretty straight forward and the other guy could have done it.  Plus, why pass up a once in a lifetime opportunity like that??  I would give my right pinky finger to do it.  And that country is so beautiful!

 

I actually liked Justin this episode because he finally toned down his OTTness. (yes I know that's not a word)  And the Texans need to look at them and learn and then move on to their own race.  I hated the focus this episode on their rivalry.

 

Oh, and Denise's reaction to being blessed with a spitting was hilarious.  She seemed to be the only one who didn't take it in stride.

[NurseGiGi]

Team Texan was stupid.    Getting to the Detour first is not the goal.   They still have to do the detour to get to the UTurn.   WHat if it takes forever to do your side and Team Green powers through their side?   Then you are behind them.   You get to the Detour and use your express pass, thereby pretty much guaranteeing you get to the UTurn ahead of Team Green.

 

WHoever keeps saying "Hashtag" then some stupid phrase needs to stop.   RIght now.   You are not on twitter, you are speaking.   Use your words, you have more than 140 characters.  

Hell yes.  I really hate when people do that.  Something else I hate?  When someone actually says LOL, lols, or ohemgee.  It makes me irrationally angry and maybe even a little stabby.

[DasFlavorPup]

dgpolo said:

Man, I hope it's not because this is the last season of Amazing Race!

 

 

I had the same thought, like they were doing some sort of greatest hits/circle-of-life thing for their last season by using so much from their first season.  

 

It also occurred to me that with all of Texas' scheming to get to the U-Turn first and their burning of the Express Pass to try and do so, they completely forgot about one very important possible use for their EP:  that if they aren't the first team there they can just use their Express Pass to bypass the Detour if they ARE U-Turned.  Unless they are still in that arrogant mindset that they will just always be ahead of everyone (although so far they annoyingly have been for the most part).

[hendersonrocks]

So, flying over Victoria effing Falls in a go-kart with a propeller and a kite? I was freaking out on my couch thousands of miles away. I can't believe all of them were so fearless - that's awesome. I was slightly worried at a few points when Denise and whichever cheerleader that was kept throwing their arms back in ecstasy with a propeller that looked to be not that far behind them. 

 

The Texans are idiots and Justin continues to be annoying as hell, superfan or not. Can we just fast forward through this entire storyline, please? I've had enough.

Edited October 17, 2015 by hendersonrocks

[Netfoot]

I was slightly worried at a few points when Denise and whichever cheerleader that was kept throwing their arms back in ecstasy with a propeller that looked to be not that far behind them.

 

I observed this as well, and thought it's just about the stupidest thing you could do in a Microlight, other than unstrap and, you know, jump out.  

 

The Texans are idiots and Justin continues to be annoying has hell, superfan or not. Can we just fast forward through this entire storyline, please? I've had enough.

 

Plus One.

[xcrayon2215x]

Justin wasn't as bad this episode. Josh/Tanner's strategy got completely destroyed did not expect that. Seeing the rainbow was pretty cool, Josh/Tanner and Justin/Diana will probably last until the end.

[justawatcher]

In defense of James Earl and cro-ket-

Down here in the South, we have a food dish called croquettes, most commonly a salmon croquette, traditionally served on Wednesday nights if you're Baptist and Friday nights if you're Catholic. It is spelled

croquette (cro-ket) food dish

croquet (cro-kay) lawn game

[J-Man]

I'm assuming that the Texans were required to hand over their Express Pass to another team (via Phil) when checking in because the race designers assumed that, having used the Express Pass, they'd be coming in first on that leg. Because -- what if they'd come in LAST? How could Phil hand it to another team as they checked in when they would've all been gone by then?

 

But of course the idiot Texans found a way NOT to come in first; fortunately for the race designers, the only team ahead of them is one to which they'd never dream of giving the Express, so I guess it's not an issue this time.

[fishcakes]

I don't think it has to be given to a team that comes in after Team Texas because they were told they could give it to any team. Even if they'd completely borked the leg and come in later, I assume they would just tell Phil what team to give it to and if that team had already checked in and left the orphanage, the pass would be given to them by their camera/sound people.

 

Were there different greeters in Zambia or was it one greeter who was spitting in different places? By the time I realized some people were getting off easy and taking it in the chest or legs, it was too late to tell if was the same woman doing all the spitting. I'm not crazy about Denise, but I have to give her credit for staying stonefaced after it happened. If that had been me and I hadn't been expecting it, I hope I could stay that calm, but I'm not sure I would.

[Rinaldo]

In defense of James Earl and cro-ket-

Down here in the South, we have a food dish called croquettes, most commonly a salmon croquette, traditionally served on Wednesday nights if you're Baptist and Friday nights if you're Catholic. 

Croquettes are not just a Southern thing -- they're a worldwide delicacy, as hinted by the French name. I bet most or all the racers are familiar with the idea.

 

I hadn't noticed anybody attacking James Earl for his pronunciation, by the way. Anybody can make a mistake with an unfamiliar word. But the "croquette" confusion was equally available to everyone.

[Netfoot]

croquette (cro-ket) food dish

croquet (cro-kay) lawn game

 

Fine, but the game of Croquet is played all over the place, and mentioned in works of literature.  I'd expect anyone to be able to pronounce it, even if they'd never played it or seen it played.

 

I would be surprised if he pronounced Cricket "cri-kay", too.  Although I'm willing to bet he's never played, or even watched a game.

[Bryce Smith]

I was cracking up when the green team and the Texans both promised not to u-turn each other and then said in separate interviews that they might still u-turn each other because lying for a million dollars is okay. The main reason I'm glad that they didn't u-turn each other is that I didn't want to hear the inevitable and hypocritical whining about "I can't believe they lied to our faces and then u-turned us!" I am fine with teams using the u-turn but I am also fine with people just trying to race better and faster than everyone else.

The difference between Justin & Diana and Tanner & Josh, though, was that Justin & Diana were only going to use it if the situation got desperate enough for it, while Tanner & Josh were going to do it no matter what.  For that, I respect the former team way more than the latter.

[Netfoot]

I don't respect either of them.

 

I don't believe that setting out to eliminate your rivals is a true part of TAR.  For me, it's about racing as best you can, and being better at it than the next guy.  This whole conspiracy to eliminate just drags The Amazing Race down the same shitty level as Survivor.  team Dumbass gets no respect from me for that reason.

 

Now Justin is a pain in the ass, but that isn't why he gets no respect from me.  He's supposed to be a scholar of the game, spouting off pronouncements about how U-Turning never works as a means of getting a team out (when in actual fact it almost always works).  No, it's all the "...well, if you want to play dirty..." bullshit.  If he's a scholar of the game he should be well aware of the fact that since the U-Turn is (regrettably, IMHO, but never the less) a legitimate part of the game, there is no question of it being "dirty".  

 

No, both teams are asshats, and if Phil were to introduce the first ever double-elimination and throw them both out, I'd be quite happy to see it, and the remainder of the race could only be better off as a result.

[Rancide]

I really hope the face-spitting is not an actual traditional blessing but really an elaborate joke on gullible tourists looking to have an "authentic" "African" experience.  It did seem as though some of them got it more full-on in the face than others.  I'm going to imagine that wasn't an accident.

[thefog]

No, both teams are asshats, and if Phil were to introduce the first ever double-elimination and throw them both out, I'd be quite happy to see it, and the remainder of the race could only be better off as a result.

Even if there was a double elimination - which is highly unlikely, it would mean they would have to be the last 2 teams to check  - which is very unlikely, since there are much weaker racers in the competition.

Edited October 17, 2015 by escape

[dgpolo]

Netfoot

 

Now Justin is a pain in the ass, but that isn't why he gets no respect from me.  He's supposed to be a scholar of the game, spouting off pronouncements about how U-Turning never works as a means of getting a team out (when in actual fact it almost always works).

In actual fact the U-turn has been unsuccessful almost 41% of the time. 11 teams have survived the U-turn in 27 seasons, I'm not sure if the percentage is even more because I'm uncertain if the U-turn has been in every season. One of the surviving teams went on to win. And it looks like Leo and Jamal survived twice so the percentage is more anyway.

http://www.amazingracefanwiki.com/page/Amazing+Race+Records

[Sayla Vee]

It will be interesting to see if the other teams also donate all their money. It would be a cool move on the part of the producers, because not only is it a way of giving something back to the country but it also helps to equalize the teams by ensuring they all have the same amount of money at this point.

 

Pretty much any time an orphanage or school is used as part of a task, at least as far as I can remember, teams have either donated their money or performed some work for the group.  I remember teams painting the building in another African country and donating money to a school in India.

 

 

WHoever keeps saying "Hashtag" then some stupid phrase needs to stop.   RIght now.   You are not on twitter, you are speaking.   Use your words, you have more than 140 characters.  

 

Isn't that Justin doing that?

 

 

 

Smartest thing they could do?  Tell Phil to give it to the last team to arrive.

 

Hey, we think alike.  That's what I think they should do, too.

 

 

 

Oh, and Denise's reaction to being blessed with a spitting was hilarious.  She seemed to be the only one who didn't take it in stride.

 

OMG, I loved, loved, loved that.  It really bears re-watching or maybe even a screen saver.

 

 

In defense of James Earl and cro-ket-

Down here in the South, we have a food dish called croquettes, most commonly a salmon croquette, traditionally served on Wednesday nights if you're Baptist and Friday nights if you're Catholic. It is spelled

croquette (cro-ket) food dish

croquet (cro-kay) lawn game

 

We have that food in the North as well, most commonly chicken or turkey corquettes.  And we both, North and South, stole both the recipe and the word from the French.

 

 

I really hope the face-spitting is not an actual traditional blessing but really an elaborate joke on gullible tourists looking to have an "authentic" "African" experience.  It did seem as though some of them got it more full-on in the face than others.  I'm going to imagine that wasn't an accident.

 

I'm confused by this.  Why wouldn't it be an accident?   The greeter didn't know any of the teams personally, so why would she just pick on some teams and not others.  I thought she just could not work up enough energy to get it higher in many cases.

[Netfoot]

Those numbers are misleading.  Since there is only one elimination per leg, there is always a survivor of a double U-Turn.  For instance:

 

In S17, Brooke & Claire (not Nat & Kat as I originally posted) are listed as surviving a Double-U-Turn.   Well, obviously, because Jill & Thomas U-Turned them, but then Nat & Kat used the second half of the U-Turn on Chad & Stephanie who were eliminated.  

 

In S18, Flight Time & Big Easy are listed as U-Turn survivors.  But what happened is, in Leg #5, Kent & Vyxsin U-Turned Jaime & Cara who then U-Turned Flight Time & Big Easy. The Globetrotters survived, but Jaime & Cara didn't.  In Leg #9, Flight Time & Big Easy U-Turned Jet & Cord, who didn't survive it.

 

Bill & Cathi are listed as U-Turn survivors in S19.  Ernie & Cindy U-Turned Bill & Cathi, but they in turn U-Turned Laurence & Zac who didn't survive.

 

In fact, in the ten races from S17 to S26 there were twelve people eliminated directly as a result of being U-Turned, and very few instances of the U-Turn not sending home one of the two teams affected.

 

In fact, excluding silliness like when a team U-Turned a team that had already passed, or a team that Fast-Forwarded past the U-Turn, there are only four instances of the U-Turn failing to eliminate someone.  In one case Nary & Jamie went home instead because they were hours behind the rest at the NEL in the previous leg and had a Speed Bump to do.  In another case, Dave and Connor went out instead because of some sort of issue with a tendon.

Edited October 18, 2015 by Netfoot

[jjj]

I really hope the face-spitting is not an actual traditional blessing but really an elaborate joke on gullible tourists looking to have an "authentic" "African" experience.  It did seem as though some of them got it more full-on in the face than others.  I'm going to imagine that wasn't an accident.

I agree -- the Texans got fully blasted in their faces with a LOT of water.  I was thinking, "do they remind you of someone from your past?"  From the reactions, I'm assuming the teams were told they would be spat upon, because no way would that many people be so cool about walking into a festive scene and having a woman spray water on them.  I would not have been happy. (Production:  "Okay, here's the deal -- you are going into this welcome, a woman is going to bless you by spitting in your face, and you are going to LIKE IT")

 

So this is basically a non-elimination leg?  In the past, I think wise posters have pointed out the difference between TBC and non-elimination, but they sure look the same to me in terms of weeding out the teams.  (That is, not weeding out the teams.)  Will the other teams arrive at the welcome mat next week?  Will the last one just be told, "keep racing," with no Speed Bump?  (Okay, there's a difference between TBC and non-elim.)

Edited October 17, 2015 by jjj

[Browncoat]

 

In defense of James Earl and cro-ket-

Down here in the South, we have a food dish called croquettes, most commonly a salmon croquette, traditionally served on Wednesday nights if you're Baptist and Friday nights if you're Catholic. It is spelled

croquette (cro-ket) food dish

croquet (cro-kay) lawn game

 

I'm the one who commented on James Earl's pronunciation of croquet.  Being Southern is no excuse.  I grew up in and currently live in the South and have not only played croquet, but have eaten croquettes, and know how to pronounce each of them correctly.

[ShadowSixx]

I'm from the south as well and never played the game or eaten the food. Maybe James Earl didn't either, it was a small error from him as some people do mispronounce words. It wasn't an error that cost him the race, or he didn't say anything ridiculous after saying croquet wrong like "he can't wait to eat it".

[Archery]

I thought Justin was pointing out that using a U-turn on the team right behind you when you are in the front of the pack never works. The Texans using it on the Green Team in their current configuration would not have pushed the Green Team far enough back to be out.

The Texans missed seeing one of the seven wonders, either by air or from the bridge, because of a stupid strategy that failed anyway. I wish they had gone last week instead of the Dancers, who would appreciated all of it.

[Bryce Smith]

In S17, Nat & Kat are listed as surviving a Double-U-Turn.   Well, obviously, because Jill & Thomas U-Turned them, but then Nat & Kat used the second half of the U-Turn on Chad & Stephanie who were eliminated.

 

Bill & Cathi are listed as U-Turn survivors in S19.  Ernie & Cindy U-Turned Bill & Cathi, but they in turn U-Turned Laurence & Zac who didn't survive.

For TAR17, I think that's wrong.  Nat & Kat aren't U-Turn survivors.  They did use it on Chad & Stephanie, but it was Brook & Claire who were U-Turned by Jill & Thomas, not Nat & Kat.

 

As for TAR19, I remember Cindy wanting Bill & Cathi U-Turned for no other reason than she desperately just wanted a first-place finish.  She and Ernie didn't even need it since they weren't even in danger.  I recall her getting a lot of fan hatred and blowback for that.

[hjmugillecuty]

With the mispronunciations, no one's mentioned Logan and Chris' pronunciation of Zambia upon opening the first envelope?

I just reread recaps of the first season so hearing 'the smoke that thunders' made me giddy. I kept expecting Justin to immediately recognize the Knife's Edge bridge.

The track stars screwed themselves on the bridge, not their cabbie. He took them to the Knife's Edge, but they said it was wrong and that they needed to go to the Victoria Falls bridge, which is in Zimbabwe and looks very different. Once he took them there, one of them asked for the Victoria Falls bridge and the other for the Victoria Falls Knife's Edge bridge. I'm not sure they ever knew exactly where they wanted to go.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

With the mispronunciations, no one's mentioned Logan and Chris' pronunciation of Zambia upon opening the first envelope?

Ha, it totally cracked me when he said Zambia!

[Netfoot]

For TAR17, I think that's wrong.  Nat & Kat aren't U-Turn survivors.  They did use it on Chad & Stephanie, but it was Brook & Claire who were U-Turned by Jill & Thomas, not Nat & Kat.

 

You are correct -- my mistake.  I meant to say Brooke & Claire but somehow I got mixed up.  

 

Jill & Thomas U-Turned Brook & Claire, who survived because Nat & Kat U-Turned Chad & Stephanie who went out.  Better go back and correct my original post!

[Rancide]

I'm confused by this.  Why wouldn't it be an accident?   The greeter didn't know any of the teams personally, so why would she just pick on some teams and not others.  I thought she just could not work up enough energy to get it higher in many cases.

 

 

Probably the same way waiters can tell who is going to be a pain in their ass even before they sit down.  Service industry skills!  Maybe wishful thinking, but she seemed to have near 100% success with face-blasting the teams I find most annoying.  Team Texas and James Earl's mom seemed particularly "blessed."  

[green]

I agree -- the Texans got fully blasted in their faces with a LOT of water.  I was thinking, "do they remind you of someone from your past?"  From the reactions, I'm assuming the teams were told they would be spat upon, because no way would that many people be so cool about walking into a festive scene and having a woman spray water on them.  I would not have been happy. (Production:  "Okay, here's the deal -- you are going into this welcome, a woman is going to bless you by spitting in your face, and you are going to LIKE IT")

 

So this is basically a non-elimination leg?  In the past, I think wise posters have pointed out the difference between TBC and non-elimination, but they sure look the same to me in terms of weeding out the teams.  (That is, not weeding out the teams.)  Will the other teams arrive at the welcome mat next week?  Will the last one just be told, "keep racing," with no Speed Bump?  (Okay, there's a difference between TBC and non-elim.)

 

Why would they tell teams this?  And no way should any team NOT know what happens at Mukini Village.  If you are cast in the Race, even if you haven't watched it from the beginning, you start watching it asap.  (DVDs or online downloads or whatever).  Season 1, Leg 2 everyone got the same greeting there at Mukini Village.  And it's no big deal so I don't see what the "mother" looked so upset at.  Arguably TAR's favorite "mom" ever -- Season 1's Nancy -- had no problem with it.  (RIP, Nancy, you were the best and I loved the total joy you showed experiencing Africa back in the day).

 

I thought Justin was pointing out that using a U-turn on the team right behind you when you are in the front of the pack never works. The Texans using it on the Green Team in their current configuration would not have pushed the Green Team far enough back to be out.

The Texans missed seeing one of the seven wonders, either by air or from the bridge, because of a stupid strategy that failed anyway. I wish they had gone last week instead of the Dancers, who would appreciated all of it.

 

You are totally right.  Justin never said a U-Turn doesn't work.  He said it was a waste to use it on front of the pack teams.   And last week he was saying that you should only use it to survive yourself by U-Turning a team you know to be near the very back of the pack if you feel like you are struggling or in trouble.  And he is right. 

 

U-Turning a strong team near the front in a leg never works and just gets that team upset at you for nothing.  And if they survive -- and they will -- and they have a U-Turn left for them they can hold on to it until near the end when there is only a handful of teams left so using it against a strong team at that point may work given the very few teams left at that point.  And that strong team may just be the one who tried to get you out early on.  Which is always Amazing Karma.

 

Texas has neither self-control nor have shown themselves strategy-wise so far.  I wish they had U-Turned someone this episode as well to make the episode perfect but I guess even they aren't 100% stupid, alas.

Edited October 18, 2015 by green

[RCharter]

I agree -- the Texans got fully blasted in their faces with a LOT of water.  I was thinking, "do they remind you of someone from your past?"  From the reactions, I'm assuming the teams were told they would be spat upon, because no way would that many people be so cool about walking into a festive scene and having a woman spray water on them.  I would not have been happy. (Production:  "Okay, here's the deal -- you are going into this welcome, a woman is going to bless you by spitting in your face, and you are going to LIKE IT")

 

So this is basically a non-elimination leg?  In the past, I think wise posters have pointed out the difference between TBC and non-elimination, but they sure look the same to me in terms of weeding out the teams.  (That is, not weeding out the teams.)  Will the other teams arrive at the welcome mat next week?  Will the last one just be told, "keep racing," with no Speed Bump?  (Okay, there's a difference between TBC and non-elim.)

Judging by the look on her face, no one told denise what was going on......

 

 

I thought Justin was pointing out that using a U-turn on the team right behind you when you are in the front of the pack never works. The Texans using it on the Green Team in their current configuration would not have pushed the Green Team far enough back to be out.

The Texans missed seeing one of the seven wonders, either by air or from the bridge, because of a stupid strategy that failed anyway. I wish they had gone last week instead of the Dancers, who would appreciated all of it.

I'm not a TAR historian, but I would think....given the fact that everyone was pretty close together (there wasn't anyone as far behind as the dancers were the last episode, and they weren't coming off a NEL, where there would be another team having to do a speedbump) I would think that even a team at the front of the pack having to do both tasks would put them at a severe disadvantage, if not out of the game.  

 

In order to use the U-Turn, I would think Green Team would have had to have been at least third.  Reporters get there first, U-Turn Texans, Texans get there second, U-Turn Green Team.  Green Team can't U-Turn anyone else, Texans use their Express Pass.  Since no one was terribly behind Green Team either gets pushed to the bottom, or gets out.  If they aren't at the very bottom, they start out the next leg towards the bottom.  However, they are good racers so there is a chance that they fight their way back to the middle or even to the front I suppose

[donovan]

Every time Denise is on screen I flash back to Bette Davis in Whatever happened to Baby Jane.

[jjj]

 Season 1's Nancy -- had no problem with it.  (RIP, Nancy, you were the best and I loved the total joy you showed experiencing Africa back in the day).

RIP?  Did something happen to her? 

[Netfoot]

She passed away in December, 2011.

 

http://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/2011/12/the-amazing-race-1-nancy-hoyt-dead/

[UncleChuck]

I don't think they had much to be concerned with about the "spitting".

That greeter was not really "spitting" as in transmitting her own bodily fluids onto the racers...

Rather, she seemed to be just taking in a mouthful of water and quickly blowing it back onto the greetees without really mixing the water with any of her own "stuff".

I just experimented with this.  It seems pretty easy to just blow out only the water without actually spitting.

 

That wouldn't be my favorite way of getting "greeted" but there are worse customs, I think.

[jjj]

She passed away in December, 2011.

 

http://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/2011/12/the-amazing-race-1-nancy-hoyt-dead/

I'm so sorry to hear this, and will go find the appropriate thread for more information. She really was wonderful. Momily. 

Edited October 18, 2015 by jjj

[kingshearte]

I would definitely rather see less scheming and more straight up racing on this show, but Justin really annoys me, so I was hoping the scheme would work this time... On the other hand, it failed spectacularly enough to be at least vaguely amusing. Ultimately, though, way too much focus was devoted to the plan that amounted to absolutely nothing, and we didn't even finish a leg, so it did kind of feel like a bit of waste of time. Beautiful scenery for sure, though.

[auntlada]

Oh, and Denise's reaction to being blessed with a spitting was hilarious.  She seemed to be the only one who didn't take it in stride.

One of the cheerleaders didn't. She got a faceful and jumped back. Not that I blame her. It's probably pretty startling.

[europa1057]

Huh. We inherited some beautiful wooden antelope from my husband's Grandfather and all we knew was that they came from one of his many travels to Africa. They have the same beautiful finish as the giraffes from tonight's episode. I'm going to use this little tidbit to hopefully track down the source of these gorgeous statues. Behold the educational aspects of TAR! 

Edited October 19, 2015 by europa1057

[Lingo]

I'm a big Race fan, have seen the TAR 1 a few times, and remembered all of the locations from TAR 1 (I even remember Kevin exclaiming "Mukuni Village! Mukuni freakin' Village!"), but I actually don't remember the face-spitting. And I don't expect these racers to be familiar with it either, because even if I were cast, there's 26 seasons to re-watch and I'd start with the most recent ones because they're more relevant to the game as played now.

I felt a bit of sympathy for Team Texas, because placing that Hours-Of-Operation bunch in the middle of the leg, when there was still plenty of daylight, sure felt (as I was watching) like some buuuuuuuuullshit, some serious producer meddling to make the end of the leg extra-suspenseful. Now in retrospect it seems like they did it so that the teams could get through both this week's Detour AND next week's challenges all in one day, but even so, I'd think they could have packed this week's RB into that long day as well. After all, it didn't seem to take anyone much time to do.

I was also temporarily upset about the Bunching because it meant that any team who gets U-Turned would have almost no shot at not being last (except by U-Turning another team). But now since this leg is almost certainly a Non-Elim, it appears that whoever is u-turned will have a full leg to catch up. So it's not as bad as it first appeared. I'm still not 100% satisfied with this course design, though.

[jjj]

I'm a big Race fan, have seen the TAR 1 a few times, and remembered all of the locations from TAR 1 (I even remember Kevin exclaiming "Mukuni Village! Mukuni freakin' Village!"), but I actually don't remember the face-spitting.

Thanks, I don't remember it, either.  Glad I'm not alone.  And I agree, Season One was from another era, and the Race protocols were very different then.  It was a simpler time...