S27.E07: Full Speed Ahead, Captain!

[legaleagle53]

So did anyone else flash back to 'Allo 'Allo and the famous painting of the Cracked Pot with the Big Daisies?  Just me?

 

I'm glad I didn't have my hearing aids in when I watched this.  I speak Dutch (it's one of my favorite languages), and it would have sent me into a rage to hear the teams butcher the pronunciation of "The Hague" (although I probably would have instinctively referred to it by its Dutch name of "Den Haag") at full hearing capacity, and I would have slapped teams upside the head for thinking that Rotterdam was just another name for Amsterdam.  At least I didn't have to hear them mangle the Dutch language itself; they were lucky that they were in a country where so many natives speak English (because it's a required course in school starting in about third grade) that the country is practically bilingual now.

Edited November 7, 2015 by legaleagle53

[needschocolate]

1st, CBS, A.R., I realize your 'BLIND DATE' /COUPLE concept last season did not work well, but I commend you for TRYING to stir up the mix.

BUT you went RIGHT BACK to the 'COOKIE CUTTER MOLD for Casting the 'couples' who race!

I.E.-Every Season-there seemed to be a memo sent out saying :

Amazing Race-You must cast the following:

#1-A Black Team

#2 -A Team that has heritage from the 'Far East'

#3 A Team that is either Father/Daughter or Mother /Son

#4 A team with at least one gay member

#5 a Team that has a member with a 'handicap'

#6 A team with a Southern Accent

#7 a female 'Bimbo' Team-i.e. cheerleaders, models, centerfolds, etc

#8 Athletes, ex, retired, semi pro, etc.

#9 a team with a 'professional' on it, hopefully, DR. -need arrogance!

(if you are having casting trouble, you may COMBINE -i.e. Parent with gay child, or Black athletes.. BUT, they MUST ALL BE accounted for! Demographics people!! (Am surprised that the show does not demand a Native American team..)

 

You forgot to add the couple who is testing their relationship by going on the race and/or the newly dating couple.  Although, I wouldn't be surprised if the "memo" actually said "I couple that bicker and argue a lot."

 

I am laughing as hard as anyone about "Hagoo" (she needs to call him Mr Hagoo --rhymes with Magoo-- for a while), but in his defense, I am a great reader and reasonably intelligent, but when I was tired from traveling, I was reading something out loud and pronounced "lines" as a two syllable word: lin-ess (rhymes with "finesse") and then turned to my companion and asked: "what's that?" I think at least some of the idiocy we see on the race is Killer Fatigue. It used to manifest in whining and crying and screaming, but people seem to have gotten the self-control not to do that after seeing such meltdowns embarrass previous contestants. Now it's coming out as inability to think clearly and do basic tasks normally. I'm waiting for the day they can't find any pairs where one berates the other, but that day will probably never come, because the perpetrators don't seem to find it embarrassing anyway, so there's no learning going on by watching others do it.

 

Perhaps the stress of not melting down contributes to the inability to pronounce words correctly

[Grandma Saracen]

I had to pause for just a moment, thinking how all 3 of my early faves would've killed it at Double Dutch - the cousins, the dancers, and the track stars. :'( The cheerleaders did great!

 

Kelsey and Joey were so close! Their hats annoy me, too, but otherwise they are the ones I'm rooting for.

 

Being self-congratulatory is never a quality I enjoy watching... Chac and Justin had that in common, wasn't sorry to see Chac go... I liked the Sunflowers challenge, and the navigation one, too. Interesting mix of skills. 

[Netfoot]

I beg to differ on the basic arithmetic. Tanner and Josh made it exciting. :)

 

I'll give you 'entertaining', how's that?

 

So did anyone else flash back to 'Allo 'Allo and the famous painting of the Cracked Pot with the Big Daisies?  Just me?

 

That's not the painting I remember from 'Allo 'Allo!

[zoey1996]

I am trying to compile a full list of the stupidity in this episode:

11) James Earl choosing the later train. (Debatable, but was the wrong move)

 

I'd say it was a risky move that worked out in their favor, but not a wrong move.

 

Which leads me to JASON and ? -Doesn't actually matter who he is with, could be his GRANNY and he would probably still win. He did his homework, said he 'watched the last 2-3 seasons'. (Probably watched them back to back, studied them). He is approaching the A.R. like it is a Job where you only get paid If you come in 1st.. and it is working.. Yes, He could be nicer to his fiancé.. but..

Did you mean Justin?  If so, I totally agree.  Good come back, getting to first.  If only he didn't act like such an arse!

[Bryce Lynch]

I'd say it was a risky move that worked out in their favor, but not a wrong move.

It only worked out because Chac Attack, after arriving several minutes before them on the earlier local train, got on the wrong tram.

I guess you could argue that if they rode the same train Chac Attack might have followed them on to the correct tram resulting in a footrace to the mat, but who knows?

I think 2 stops would generally take less than 7 minutes. Plus a train about to leave the station is a safer bet than one that hasn't arrived yet and could be late, which is what happened.

Edited November 7, 2015 by Bryce Lynch

[Dale Griffin]

Rick Kitchen, on 06 Nov 2015 - 10:59 PM, said:

Well, the Chacs went to the wrong city tonight...  I don't think I'd want him operating on me.

Did they?  I heard Rick say they got off at the airport train station and turned around before they went too far.

[MyAimIsTrue]

Rick said the station for Schiphol which is Amsterdam's international airport.

[lianau]

What makes Chac Attack's mistake even more mind boggling is that the clue said Rotterdam (which he for some reason thought meant Amsterdam) but they passed the Rotterdam stop without getting off the train. If the Amsterdam stop came before the Rotterdam stop and they got off at it, it would have been a bit more understandable.

They Den Haaged it . They probably knew or heard about The Hague and Den Haag being the same city  but forgot the actual city this language twister applied to and filled that black hole of information with two Dams , switching Rotter with Amster in the process. 

[Merneith]

The Hag-you deserves to go down in TAR history.

[millennium]

As much as I dislike Justin (and Diana by association), I have to admit that they are pretty formidable competitors. How did they finish the simulator much faster than the reporters? How did they get to Rotterdam Centraal ahead of the cheerleaders when the cheerleaders finished earlier? As well, earlier they were shown to be willing to stand on the train trip between Paris Nord to Rotterdam Centraal. Even with Thalys it is more than 2.5 hours trip. Compare that with the brothers who were just chillin' waiting for their reserved trip instead of scrambling for a better one.

 

I hate Justin, but he's the only one treating the race like a race.  Compare to Laurel and Hardy, who took in the sights, had a beer, and missed their train.

I wonder if Pragoo is one of the stops on the race this season.

[BarneySays]

There have been many heinous players/teams in the history of this show, but for some reason Justin annoys me more than all of them combined.  I can't explain it, but I have such a visceral reaction to him that this is the first time that a nasty player is truly ruining my enjoyment of the show.  Perhaps it's the fact that the rest of the teams are so incompetent that they are the leading team.  The chance of them getting eliminated is greatly reduced when we have teams that don't know basic geography and the most basic of mathematics.  How do these people function in real life?  The Hague was particularly amusing, but, compared to Eagle-lite last week, at least they tried a proper French phonetic pronunciation. 

 

I knew the doctors were out in their first TH in which it was apparent that the wife had been crying:  wet eyes and stuffy nose.  It's always disappointing when the result is so obviously telegraphed.  Edit better, guys.  Rotterdam is what the French call Amsterdam?  How does one pull such stupidity out of one's ass?  And with such certainty.  Anyone who so easily asserts completely made up "facts" tells me they've got the certainty that only the truly stupid can muster.  I'd never use him professionally.  And they would have had to have to have gone through Rotterdam to get to Amsterdam.  Were they so unobservant that they missed this completely?  And then waiting for a bus for a half-hour instead of taking a cab to the tram?  They deserved to go out, thereby saving the southerners who have been circling the drain for the past few legs. 

 

The staggering of the teams in the morning was clearly too much, since the doctors, with all of their idiocy re where they were headed still didn't lose much position among the teams.  And I don't understand why they had to change trains at Schiphol on the way back. 

 

The van Gogh task was interesting.  I probably would have flubbed that the first time, based on a certainty of being able to identify the correct sunflowers easily.    And the detours were interesting too. 

 

I was really disappointed by the prize because the clue indicated that taking more steps would come back to haunt teams in the end.  I was so hoping the walkers would have an added burden later in the leg, but instead they actually were rewarded for it.  Damnit.  Justin's fiancee's (whatshername) "error" actually benefitted them.  So, the asshole is ultimately rewarded for being an asshole (Justin, obviously).  Only made me hate him even more. 

 

I don't think the cheerleader was being dishonest whne she said they let them have it.  I think she was just being snarky about the fact that they were outrun.  The one had been complaining about how much the sunflowers task took out of her legs.  I'm left rooting for the newscasters, notwithstanding that they reinforce every stereotype of the dumb teleprompter readers.  How could anyone involved in the news have so little knowledge?  At least they're pleasant.  The paparazzi remain contemptible.  Such ugly souls, especially him.  At least he wears it on his sleeve, so anyone who encounters him knows exactly what they're dealing with. 

 

I am glad that the show has replaced the non-elimination legs with TBC legs.  I've argued for that for years.  The TBC removes the letdown from an entire leg being pointless and avoids bunching after the NEL.  I hope they keep this change going forward.

[ML89]

In the Reporters' defense, if you don't know it's The Hague, just looking at it, you might get to Hagoo. They're local news, and The Hague hasn't been in the news lately. It's not like it's Anderson Cooper and Clarissa Ward from CBS now CNN running (although I would love to see some foreign correspondents run, it would be epic). I like them because they're nice to the locals, unflappable, competent and not jackasses about it....

In contrast to Justin, who is on my last nerve. He is insufferable. I think Diana might be fun by herself - maybe she should team up with Logan. Chris would drive Justin insane. I think I'd pay to see it. I can't get why Justin sets me off but he just shows up onscreen and I want everyone to beat him.

Yay for Mom and Son finally getting the rap and the Cheerleaders rocking Double Dutch. Texas is beginning to grow on me and good for them for sightseeing- who knows when you'll get back again? Chac made not much impression so...

[AussiesRule]

In the Reporters' defense, if you don't know it's The Hague, just looking at it, you might get to Hagoo. 

How do you get to "Hagoo"? It looks just like vague and plague. Wouldn't that be your first go to pronunciation? I wrote down Hague for my 8 year old who's never heard of the place and even she pronounced it correctly.

[ML89]

Well there's "ague" too - but I'll make excuses for them considering how long they had been racing...it's still funny, I'll agree on that. Of course after Adventures in French last week...

What I couldn't get over was Texas' math skills. I've mispronounced lots of words but subtraction? Tom Lehrer could put together a sequel to "New Math."

[TV Anonymous]

The staggering of the teams in the morning was clearly too much, since the doctors, with all of their idiocy re where they were headed still didn't lose much position among the teams.  And I don't understand why they had to change trains at Schiphol on the way back. 

 

Schiphol NS Station is located between Rotterdam Centraal and Amsterdam Centraal. On their way to Amsterdam after leaving Rotterdam, they realized their mistake and needed to go back to Rotterdam. I think the next station that they could get off the train after realizing the mistake was Schiphol. It was not really changing the train but a trip back South.

[Netfoot]

Justin's fiancee's (whatshername) "error" actually benefitted them.  So, the asshole is ultimately rewarded for being an asshole (Justin, obviously).  Only made me hate him even more. 

 

Well, I hope he knows that of the $31,873 prize, he only gets $14,234 and Diana gets $17,639!  Not only did she work harder for it, she also had to put up with his abuse!  So when she breaks the news to him, I hope he will be man enough to take it with grace.  But I doubt he will be.

[Quilt Fairy]

Diana said something to the effect that she and Justin "talk things out" after each leg, but I can't see any improvement in how he treats her.

 

RE: Casting stereotypes - You forgot a Superfan team. (Except usually they don't do as well as J&D.)

[TV Anonymous]

I think that the real winners this leg was Team Texas. Yes, they should have tried for an earlier train, but their decision to sight see allowed them to actually see and experience Paris. And, the comments they made, they enjoyed the experience in Paris. Although they fell behind they still ended up in a solid position. Yes, it could have gone the other way, but it didn't.

 

I am sorry, but it is nothing good for me as a viewer of The Amazing Race. If I was looking for a show about people sightseeing in Paris, enjoying the city and the scene, I would watch The Bachelorette.

[BarneySays]

Schiphol NS Station is located between Rotterdam Centraal and Amsterdam Centraal. On their way to Amsterdam after leaving Rotterdam, they realized their mistake and needed to go back to Rotterdam. I think the next station that they could get off the train after realizing the mistake was Schiphol. It was not really changing the train but a trip back South.

 

Thanks, for some reason, I thought they realized their error at Amsterdam Centraal, and reversed course there.  Having the Dutch guy explain to him that Rotterdam and Amsterdam weren't the same place was one of the more cringeworthy clueless American moments on the show.  The other most notable one to me was when ALL of the teams (if I recall correctly) had to ask German bar patrons which president said, ich bin ein Berliner. 

[Lemons]

  At least I didn't have to hear them mangle the Dutch language itself; they were lucky that they were in a country where so many natives speak English (because it's a required course in school starting in about third grade) that the country is practically bilingual now.

 

I have spoken to many Dutch people visiting New York and I am always amazed at how good their English is.  Some teens I met could pass for American.  It's funny how their accent appeared to be American and not British.

[Alapaki]

Watching Teams eliminated because they made completed bone-headed mistakes is one thing.  But watching Teams who make bone-headed mistakes saved because another Team (or Teams!) made even worse mistakes is not the Amazing Race I want to watch.

 

It only worked out because Chac Attack, after arriving several minutes before them on the earlier local train, got on the wrong tram.

I guess you could argue that if they rode the same train Chac Attack might have followed them on to the correct tram resulting in a footrace to the mat, but who knows?

I think 2 stops would generally take less than 7 minutes. Plus a train about to leave the station is a safer bet than one that hasn't arrived yet and could be late, which is what happened.

 

 

At the time James Earl made the decision I thought it was defensible because taking the same train meant most likely committing their fate to their ability to win a foot-race to the Mat, which I don't think they'd be favored to win.  Although it was still possible that the direct route would directly cancel out the 7 minute difference and still leave them with a foot race.  I'm not sure there was an objectively correct decision for James Earl to make there.

[Kelda Feegle]

I'm willing to admit that my math is poor - I would have just counted up from the lower number to the higher one on my damn fingers! Surely the boys could have managed that?

Justin needs to GTFO my screen like yesterday! 

Also I would like to see the cheerleaders and MS Pap wearing pants, pants please, not things that purport to be fitness wear but are pretty close to underwear.

 

(Yeah I know - get off my lawn)

[Rick Kitchen]

I have spoken to many Dutch people visiting New York and I am always amazed at how good their English is.  Some teens I met could pass for American.  It's funny how their accent appeared to be American and not British.

 

The greeter at the mat almost sounded American.

[meep.meep]

I don't know why it cracks me up that Doctor Chac got some sort of sting on his lip, and didn't know how to fix it with medicine or Vicks Vapor Rub or something. And he was so clueless at finding his way from point A to point B.

Do YOU want that guy operating on you?? Hell no, not me!!!

Some of us have actual allergic reactions to mosquito bites. And mosquitos from stagnant bodies of water (swampy canals) are the worst. Only thing that helps is a shot of epinephrine.

But they are finally in the Netherlands! Bring on the bunny races!

[RCharter]

Some of us have actual allergic reactions to mosquito bites. And mosquitos from stagnant bodies of water (swampy canals) are the worst. Only thing that helps is a shot of epinephrine.

But they are finally in the Netherlands! Bring on the bunny races!

Many, many, many, many moons ago I visited Belize and my finger swelled to at least 2x its size after I got bitten by a mosquito there.

 

So, I thought it was possible for him to have gotten bitten by a mosquito and having it swell his lip.

[feminaformosa]

I loved how the mom, in all the excitement at the mat at not being the last team, still shouted out "Oh, JamesEarl!"  She really does call him by his full name all the time.

Double names like that are common in the south, and yes, you always use both names. One of my friends from back home (TN) added a hyphen to her name when she moved up north for college because she was so sick of people calling her just Mary instead of Mary Katherine.

  

I just realized that Diana's decision to run instead of take a cab to the water taxi earned them thousands of extra dollars.

Suck it, Justin!

I kept waiting for one of them to say something about this, but nothing. Justin seems so passive aggressive, oh, you make the decision, and then later haranguing her about it.

[Knuckles]

I rewatched this yesterday, just to enjoy the comedy. Team Texas baffled by third grade arithmetic, doctors who see 9 and decide it's as good as a 1, newscasters who have no clue about, well, anything related to international news...

I agree with the poster above who called the doctors dunderheads, and would add, that Rick's certainty about Rotterdam being Amsterdam, in the face of competing evidence, would keep me far away from him.  The newscasters must just read anything that is put in front of them...no insight, no retention. And the Texans, have gone from being hyper-competitive to just cruising--I wouldn't be surprised if they ended up out of the race before even the paps.

Glad mom and son made the mat, they may not have mad skillz, but they are determined. And hooray for the cheerleaders... with the dancers and the track stars gone, they are really showing how to work together and move on up.

Justin is an uber jerk, but Diana is no prize herself. I don't mind them being ahead now, I have great hopes that Asia will scramble them, and produce an epic meltdown.

[vousviou]

1st, CBS, A.R., I realize your 'BLIND DATE' /COUPLE concept last season did not work well, but I commend you for TRYING to stir up the mix.

BUT you went RIGHT BACK to the 'COOKIE CUTTER MOLD for Casting the 'couples' who race!

I.E.-Every Season-there seemed to be a memo sent out saying :

Amazing Race-You must cast the following:

 

<cut for space>

 

But, because CBC/Amazing Race does this Every Season, you almost know who is going home right away/the 1st few episodes!

So, please, toss this mold away. With the open casting across the country, you can still get personable teams we can root/hate!

 

The thing is that I'd love to see a race that focused on a few categories -- Six teams of athletes and six teams of scientists, for example, or an all musician race with jazz musicians vs. rock musicians vs. classical etc., or half college student teams and half teams of professors.  I really don't think it's necessary to be so demographically rigid.

 

          and yes, this season.. AIRHEADS! (UNLESS..they are purposely showing the 'idiot remarks' more).

 

I know there have been challenges which require a lot of attention to detail, but I'm struggling to recall one in the past several seasons since I started watching which require a lot of genuine brain power -- not so much differential calculus, but solving difficult brain teasers that require a lot of logic.  Have they done this?

[RCharter]

I hope in this life I'm never so harshly judged by a few stupid comments I make when I'm tired, fatigued, in a country I'm not familiar with, and being filmed for a reality show that takes me out of my comfort zone.

[cooksdelight]

I have spoken to many Dutch people visiting New York and I am always amazed at how good their English is.  Some teens I met could pass for American.  It's funny how their accent appeared to be American and not British.

I went to France right after Dubya pissed them all off, and I pretended to be Canadian. :)

[Ducky]

Agree with RCarter.  I've always said we're only seeing a tiny bit of the thousands of hours of filmed adventures (that's my guess anyway).

 

As for this:

 

What I couldn't get over was Texas' math skills. I've mispronounced lots of words but subtraction? Tom Lehrer could put together a sequel to "New Math."

 

 

I am willing to let that go-  I get baffled by third grade math a LOT and have to do it three or four times and that's under NON stressful conditions unlike a race where they probably haven't had a good decent night of sleep in a while (out of their comfort zone- any of the racers) and running all over the place.  I'm worse under stressful conditions when it comes to basic addition and subtraction... yet I have a nice lil Bachelor's degree and have had great jobs (in IT no less and working with testing-- oh... finance and billing programs for one lol).

 

I was always great with English & writing and horribly slow/awful with math while a few of my college friends were awful with English and writing (I ended up helping quite often in term papers...) but were super whizzes with math, numbers and accounting.

Edited November 8, 2015 by Ducky

[RCharter]

Agree with RCarter.  I've always said we're only seeing a tiny bit of the thousands of hours of filmed adventures (that's my guess anyway).

 

As for this:

 

I am willing to let that go-  I get baffled by third grade math a LOT and have to do it three or four times and that's under NON stressful conditions like a race where they probably haven't had a good decent night of sleep in a while (out of their comfort zone- any of the racers) and running all over the place.  I'm worse under stressful conditions when it comes to basic addition and subtraction... yet I have a nice lil Bachelor's degree and have had great jobs (in IT no less and working with testing-- oh... finance and billing programs for one lol).

 

I was always great with English & writing and horribly slow/awful with math while a few of my college friends were awful with English and writing (I ended up helping quite often in term papers...) but were super whizzes with math, numbers and accounting.

I'm sort of the same way.  I can do addition/subtraction in my head but there are certain combinations of numbers that I would want to re-check by doing the math on paper.  Like a number ending in an 8 subtracted from a number ending in a 3 will probably make me just want to re-check my numbers.  And I would really want to re-check because if you ended up with the wrong number of daisies you would have to go back.   If they were even one daisy off, I think everyone would think "gosh, why didn't those dummies just re-check the numbers!"

[TV Anonymous]

So did anyone else flash back to 'Allo 'Allo and the famous painting of the Cracked Pot with the Big Daisies?  Just me?

At least I didn't have to hear them mangle the Dutch language itself; they were lucky that they were in a country where so many natives speak English (because it's a required course in school starting in about third grade) that the country is practically bilingual now.

 

Based on the time I was in the Netherlands and interacting with people there in English, the greeter at the place that they drop the flowers sounds suspiciously too American. Her accent, intonation and choice of words are not what I expect from a typical Dutch.

 

Having the Dutch guy explain to him that Rotterdam and Amsterdam weren't the same place was one of the more cringeworthy clueless American moments on the show.  The other most notable one to me was when ALL of the teams (if I recall correctly) had to ask German bar patrons which president said, ich bin ein Berliner. 

 

The hockey player brothers - the eventual champions - knew the answer right away without asking anybody.

[Quilt Fairy]

I have spoken to many Dutch people visiting New York and I am always amazed at how good their English is.  Some teens I met could pass for American.  It's funny how their accent appeared to be American and not British.

 

 

The greeter at the mat almost sounded American.

 

 

Based on the time I was in the Netherlands and interacting with people there in English, the greeter at the place that they drop the flowers sounds suspiciously too American. Her accent, intonation and choice of words are not what I expect from a typical Dutch.

I thought so at the time as well. If I had met the tulip girl wearing typical teenager attire and not her "Dutch clothes" I would swear she was an American teenager.

[Bryce Lynch]

I hope in this life I'm never so harshly judged by a few stupid comments I make when I'm tired, fatigued, in a country I'm not familiar with, and being filmed for a reality show that takes me out of my comfort zone.

I agree. I thought all the gaffes were hilarious, and I enjoy poking fun at the racers, but they don't necessarily mean the people who made them are stupid. This is especially true of Rick, who was smart enough to graduate from college and medical school.

Edited November 9, 2015 by Bryce Lynch

[RCharter]

I agree. I thought all the gaffes were hilarious, and I enoy poking fun at the racers, but they don't necessarily mean the people who made them are stupid. This is especially true of Rick, who was smart enough to graduate from college and medical school.

Agree, I don't pick my doctors based on their knowledge of world geography and I think I would be disappointed if I did.  

 

I think its funny to poke fun at the racers.....and I realize that Texas was about five seconds away from pulling out their toes to complete the math.....but in the end I know if people judged me on my stupidest moments I would be universally proclaimed a half-wit.

[Netfoot]

I hope in this life I'm never so harshly judged by a few stupid comments I make when I'm tired, fatigued, in a country I'm not familiar with, and being filmed for a reality show that takes me out of my comfort zone.

 

When the BQs said they were going to Helinski, I cut them some slack for all of the above reasons.  And because even as the word left their lips, there was a "that's not right" expression on their own faces.  But really, some of this bunch exhibit a wide-eyed look of innocence that tells me they aren't even vaguely aware that they might have made an error.  It went straight over their head and it didn't pass close enough to ruffle the hair on their brow!

[Bryce Lynch]

Agree, I don't pick my doctors based on their knowledge of world geography and I think I would be disappointed if I did.

I think its funny to poke fun at the racers.....and I realize that Texas was about five seconds away from pulling out their toes to complete the math.....but in the end I know if people judged me on my stupidest moments I would be universally proclaimed a half-wit.

We agree a lot more on TAR than on Blue Bloods. :)

Do you agree that it would be great to see Danny and Henry give Justin a wood shampoo? :)

[Twopper]

 

This is especially true of Rick, who was smart enough to graduate from college and medical school.

So did James Earl.

[TheOriginalDonald]

Dear Jess, Adam and Bethany AKA #SoulSurfers make great parents. #RADON will not.

[Vyas]

But they are finally in the Netherlands! Bring on the bunny races!

 

Er, the country was also visited just last season, and the rabbit hop is from Denmark. (True, there are windmills in both episodes/countries, but still.)

 

 

Dear Jess, Adam and Bethany AKA #SoulSurfers make great parents. #RADON will not.

 

And those past teams are relevant to this season, how?

[InDueTime]

Well, so long, Chacs.  This episode aside, I started to warm up to you.

 

I won't comment on the racers' screw-ups, because anything to say has all been said already.

 

I'll just sort of root for Kelsey/Joey and Tiffany/Krista, for now.

 

The ship simulator Detour reminded me of the plane landing simulator task in the finale of TAR 19.

Edited November 9, 2015 by InDueTime

[SandyToes]

I really enjoyed the episode, lots of opportunities to mix things up, make decisions(!), and mental and physical challenges.  I still mostly like all the teams. I always enjoy super fans, since I race vicariously through them, and teams who take time to actually experience the "Amazing" part of the race.  When Team Texas went sight seeing, I too flashed back to early TAR days, but also appreciated that they took the time to experience what the race offers, rather than camping in the airport.  Glad it didn't hurt them. 

 

When Mom and James Earl took a different train, we wondered over here if that was the right call. Back of the pack, my thought is to generally stay with the other team and hope for a foot or taxi race that would fall in my favor.  Glad that this too, didn't hurt them.

 

I think the TBC eps are an improvement over the non-elims.  I also like that the locations recently have been wonderful places, and the tasks often positive experiences. I remember some previous seasons where all we heard were complaints about the hot, smelly, severely crowded, miserable trains, buses, cities, etc.

 

Still chuckling over Team Texas looking for a horse to stomp out the answer....   :-)

[Maysie]

 

Diana should just let Justin decide everything.  No really.  Just let him make all the decisions.  She can then avoid his constant abuse of her when she makes even the tiniest of mistakes.  Speaking of which, since Justin is such a pro at all this he should know to take a taxi whenever you can.  You go straight there and, more importantly, you do not start out what will of course be a physically demanding day with one mile race.

 

You know, if my husband gets too bossy (like, "hey, don't you think you should stir that sauce a little more") I just give him control. It doesn't happen often, and as the years have passed it happens a lot less often now because I developed a response of "fine, do it your way." There's no arguing or "I told you so." Just "alrighty, take over and deal with it." Over time we've both learned when it's worth second-guessing each other and when it isn't. It appears Diana has not learned to take this approach. Instead, they discuss their mistakes every evening so "they" can learn from them. And I imagine that discussion entails something like:

 

"That wasn't a bad leg, Diana. Thank GOD we came in first again; I don't think I could continue if we didn't. And I have to admit, your insistence on walking did give us an extra few thousand dollars. However, if you'd done it my way, we would have had a much larger lead. But you really messed up on those sunflowers. I mean, come on. How hard is it to pick out a painting? And if you'd been friendlier to the judge, maybe throwing in a little Dutch or something, he may have given you the painting. You saw how that worked for me in Argentina; they LOVED my 'amigo!!!'. Anyway, we really lost a lot of time because of you. And we weren't first anymore. If we aren't first, what's the point?"

 

"Well, it was really hard to tell the paintings apart. The flowers were different and the vase-"

 

"Obviously you didn't work on your observation and memorization skills sufficiently before we began the race. I think we're going to have to spend an extra hour running through our review of all the places we've been on the race so far. Where's the book of world flags and the inflatable globe I brought with us? We need to get to work on that for the final leg. We can't risk that you'll mess up on a memorization task . . . "

 

 

Watching Teams eliminated because they made completed bone-headed mistakes is one thing.  But watching Teams who make bone-headed mistakes saved because another Team (or Teams!) made even worse mistakes is not the Amazing Race I want to watch.

 

Yes! There are some flashes of good racing, to be sure, but overall, I'm not all that impressed with what I'm seeing from the racers. It's nice that Team Texas appreciates the travel, but I had to roll my eyes at the idea of them actually taking time to play tourist instead of hustling to move on. And I had no real opinion of Chac Attack (other than hating on that stupid name) but I could not believe they would actually willingly sit for 45 minutes and do nothing all in the quest for a bus. There's not another team in sight and the idea of a cab is dismissed as soon as it's brought up - what the hell? In my opinion, the only time you sit around doing nothing during the race is if you're sitting out a penalty or waiting for a task to open/board your plane. It was painful to see them just sitting at the bus stop.

 

Look, I can forgive not knowing country mottoes and mispronouncing names. I can even overlook The Hague (though it's disturbing that a news anchor does not recognize it, which is a whole different conversation). I'm having a harder time with the math (because that was very basic math and they had paper and pencil). If I'm feeling charitable I would write it off to fatigue and stress. But it's more than bad pronunciation and inability to do grade-school math; it seems like there's some basic bad judgment going on here. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to win the race but you should be able to rely on some sort of logic and critical thinking to get through. In my opinion, this has not been all that difficult of a race so far. I'm not saying I'd blaze through the tasks (like ship vs. double dutch - I'd have been screwed on that!), but this season doesn't seem to be as mentally and physically taxing as years past and it seems like this group of teams is barely up to the challenge. It'd be interesting to see Diana and Justin go up against some of the really strong teams from past years.

 

And I wonder if the cheerleaders' comment about not really knowing what country they're in is a hint about the final three?  I am unspoiled; I have no idea if they make it that far or not, but it could be foreshadowing for that final task.

[jhlipton]

And 152 minus 128 is 42 or 22. 

 

Looking at their work, I have no idea how they came up with the right answer.

 

that said...18 tries at the rap detour for Alabama.. yow....they were dang lucky it was a TBC leg.

 

I figure at some point, the judges just said "eh.. good enough..."

 

I thought they were NUTS to take the double dutch task and I envisioned them being there all day long, but they did it after the second try.

 

I figured they would nail it since synchronized jumping and clapping is pretty much in their job description.

[RCharter]

We agree a lot more on TAR than on Blue Bloods. :)

Do you agree that it would be great to see Danny and Henry give Justin a wood shampoo? :)

Ha!  I wish someone would let ME give Justin a wood shampoo :)

[Bryce Lynch]

Looking at their work, I have no idea how they came up with the right answer.

I figure at some point, the judges just said "eh.. good enough..."

I figured they would nail it since synchronized jumping and clapping is pretty much in their job description.

I thought the same thing about the rap judges with Denise. She seemed to stumble a bit on her successful attempt, though I am no expert on French or Rap or "FRap".

James Earl sounded like he was fluent in French. Maybe they gave him some extra credit to cover Denise's mistakes.

I think the cheerleaders cheered more as a hobby than a profession, but jumping and clapping in rhythm is certainly a big part of cheerleading.

I am hoping they will finish 1st so my Jets can have some sort of win. :)

J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets!

[ProfCrash]

2. Sad to see ChacAttack go -- I realized that they weren't everyone's cup of tea, but they both seemed so supportive of each other even the chips were absolutely down.  Even in their worst moment they didn't resort to the same asshole antics that I saw from Justin.  He seems to have a pretty good spirit and I think with time, he will learn to listen more to his wife.  They got me all verklempt in their little exit blurb.

They were pretty low key and seemed fine but I am not sure I would call him supportive. He even interviewed that he was used tot he traditional roles where the man makes a decision and the woman accepts his decision. That is why they sat at a bus top for at least 30 minutes instead of calling for a cab or asking for some help, which she wanted to do. There were many examples throughout the race of his making a decision and them just following his call even when she had a better idea. I liked them. They were pretty bland and boring and I think they are fine with their dynamic but I would not say that he is all that supportive.

 

Justin and Diana can leave soon. Their dynamic is awful and he is an ass. She chooses to be with him and is planning to marry him so she gets some of the blame for their interaction. I would hope that she reevaluates their relationship after the race and decides if she wants to live with someone like Justin. If she does, more power to her but she needs to own her role in this relationship.

 

Team Texas is far less annoying, probably because they are farther behind and we are not seeing the fixation on Team Green. I wish they had looked for different trains but I don't have a problem with the sight seeing. They thought they were good on travel and decided to see a city that they might not return to instead of hanging out in the train station. It is pretty clear that they are not savy world travelers and that led to an awful train choice but I am not going to knock their decision to see Paris. 

 

I am really liking the Cheerleaders. They have a good attitude, make good decisions and are having fun. I knew that they would do the double dutch task and figured they would nail it. The are good with choreography and would be able to nail that type of a task. I commented to my Husband that only one team needs to try that task and that was the Cheerleaders. We use to  jump double dutch when I was a little girl and it is hard. Toss in a clapping game that had to be in synch and just wow.

 

The geography and lack of knowledge about world politics reminds me of how little time spent on history and geography in US schools because that was simply pathetic.

Edited November 9, 2015 by ProfCrash

[mookster]

I can cut the reporters some slack on Hagoo - maybe because they're the only team I can root for. I once read aloud "compromise" as "com-promise" (is, not ize) and was duly embarrassed. I think the lack of sleep and constant traveling have more to do with their brain meltdowns rather than the difficulty of the tasks.They seem pleasant to each other and locals and otherwise intelligent, so I hope they win.

 

Justin, I simply can't stand. In Diana's bio, she said "Sometimes the “New Yorker” in Justin comes out. I shut down and do not want to talk to him!" As a born and bred New Yorker, I take umbrage at that. New York has nothing to do with his douchiness. In his bio, he talks about how his work as morning radio personality has changed people's lives. Um, okay. Also, didn't Diana actually tell Justin to "get over it" when he was haranguing her about her decision to walk? Of course, he didn't, but at least she tried.

 

Can't feel too bad about Chacattack leaving. I never really got a good feel for them anyway. I did feel bad about his blown-up lip - not much even he as a doctor could do about it. I was stung by a wasp in Paris and walked around with a welt on my neck for the entire trip, despite much Benadryl.

 

I still like the Texans if only because they're nice to look at. I've given up on their possessing any kind of smarts - street or otherwise. As stupid as their decision to sight-see was, it was kind of endearing. I love Paris myself (see above) and would love any chance to get more of it. Still, yes, it's a race.

 

Cheerleaders were impressive with the double-dutching, but they're a little too boingy-boingy for my taste. Loved the goat's reaction to the one's ear-piercing scream.

 

Don't really care for the paps or the mother and son, but if I had to choose, I'd rather the paps go next.