S04: Talk

[Whimsy]

Since some older seasons are available to view on different platforms, we are starting all episodes threads for each season.

[scowl]

I'm three episodes into this one. Biggest mistake so far in this season: Cindy and Russell buying a train ticket to Gmund instead of Gmunden. 

 

There seem to be more teams doing things together in this season so far.

 

Sorry that Amanda and Chris got eliminated. I liked Amanda's smile. 

[Supay]

Ah, this season basically jinxed all future Europe-overload, cold-weather routes/courses into the void of "no-fun".

 

At least both F/F teams made it to Asia, yet those India legs were so harrowing as to feel more like endgame episodes, and vice versa for the anticlimactic penultimate destination of Australia that probably should've preceded Borneo and Korea.

Edited January 3, 2016 by Supay

[scowl]

Swimming under the ice has to be the toughest thing I can imagine. The teams cheered after the first guy made it because they now knew it was possible to live through it. 

[scowl]

So when the last team is hopelessly behind in the last leg, they just leave a note for them telling them that the race is over? Ouch!

[Supay]

Team Guido from Classic a.k.a. Joe/Bill are the trendsetters that the most anonymous third-placers ever wished they could be ~

[Roccos Brother]

Out of all the seasons I've seen so far of TAR, this might be my least favorite by far. I would actually alternate between episodes from this season, and binging entire other seasons. A large part of my disinterest might be due to the fact that I already knew which team would win in the end. Being a member of the LGBT community, I've known about Reichen long before I started watching this show, and he always struck me as an opportunistic fame-whore. I knew his relationship with Chip was not genuine and found it impossible to root for them, despite wanting a gay team to win. Didn't much care for the rest of the cast either, which didn't feel very diverse or memorable, save for the clowns and trophy wives. Several racers felt interchangeable even.

Edited October 25, 2017 by Roccos Brother

[Star Aristille]

19 minutes ago, Roccos Brother said:

Being a member of the LGBT community, I've known about Reichen long before I started watching this show, and he always struck me as an opportunistic fame-whore. I knew his relationship with Chip was not genuine and found it impossible to [root] for them, despite wanting a gay team to win.

You're not that far off.  Reichen almost immediately proceeded to cash in on his reality TV fame by nailing many roles and many shows, including a gay soap opera a few years back.  Also went into gay porn for a while.

Chip proved to be pretty cool, though.  Even today, he still actively works with gay rights groups and is an advocate gay rights, in general.  He even went on to appear (though only in a bonus video) on All-Stars, winding up at an airport in Miami at the same time as the teams when they were getting ready to fly out on the first leg.

Their relationship was genuine, though, at the time they raced.  Their marriage went south a year or two after it was over, but at the time, they seemed happy and content enough together.

23 minutes ago, Roccos Brother said:

Didn't much care for the rest of the cast either, which didn't feel very diverse or memorable, save for the clowns and trophy wives. Several racers felt interchangeable even.

Yes, Jon & Al and Monica & Sheree really were the only two truly likable teams that season.  I'd say that Tian & Jaree were decent entertainment, too, due to being two very different personalities, and Kelly & Jon were at least fun villains, but other than that . . . this cast was a dud.

[TheRabbi]

Man I really am in the minority on this season, I just love it! What about Steve and Dave? They are an immensely likeable team that sticks around long enough to make an impression. I have a soft spot for Millie and Chuck though, as they are in my top 2 or 3 teams ever. I just love them.

 

But really, other than not caring about the winners, I think the entire second half of the race is awesome. Both Malaysia episodes are fantastic, the Korea episode has an insane amount of language barriers and great tasks, Australia has a great showing with crocs, dune buggies rolling over, and face first rappelling. The various rivalries between R/C and K/J, M/C and K/J, R/C and D/J are all just fun to watch fester as they get under each other's skin. I just greatly enjoy watching it.

[Star Aristille]

8 hours ago, TheRabbi said:

What about Steve and Dave? They are an immensely likeable team that sticks around long enough to make an impression.

Oh, heeeeeeeell naw!  It got tiresome hearing them whine about their knees.  And I will forever hold a grudge about them screwing over Monica & Sheree at LAX and being highly smug about it.

[auntlada]

10 hours ago, TheRabbi said:

Man I really am in the minority on this season, I just love it! What about Steve and Dave? They are an immensely likeable team that sticks around long enough to make an impression. I have a soft spot for Millie and Chuck though, as they are in my top 2 or 3 teams ever. I just love them.

 

But really, other than not caring about the winners, I think the entire second half of the race is awesome. Both Malaysia episodes are fantastic, the Korea episode has an insane amount of language barriers and great tasks, Australia has a great showing with crocs, dune buggies rolling over, and face first rappelling. The various rivalries between R/C and K/J, M/C and K/J, R/C and D/J are all just fun to watch fester as they get under each other's skin. I just greatly enjoy watching it.

I always liked Chuck and Millie, too, but I always felt I was in a distinct minority. I felt a strong affinity with Millie and her intensity and competitiveness.

[Lamb18]

Didn't this season have the accidental excursion to North Korea?

[Roccos Brother]

On 10/23/2017 at 1:19 AM, Star Aristille said:

Their relationship was genuine, though, at the time they raced.  Their marriage went south a year or two after it was over, but at the time, they seemed happy and content enough together.

To me, it did not feel genuine based on how they described their relationship during the race, versus after. It seemed like they paired up because they knew they would be a strong team, and wanted to push this narrative of a strong, hetero-normative, masculine gay couple. I don't doubt that they were an actual couple, but I don't think they were as serious as they described themselves on the show. If you had told me they were just best friends on the show, I never would have known the difference. I don't recall them ever showing any actual signs of affection, not even after crossing the finish line. Of course this is my perception, no one ever really knows what goes on in someone else's relationship.

Addendum - On a different note, how incredibly heart-breaking was it to see Steve crying in episode 1 because he felt he let his wife down? Now THERE's a pair that is clearly very much in love. Such a shame they only lasted one leg.

Edited October 25, 2017 by Roccos Brother

[TheRabbi]

On 10/24/2017 at 8:40 PM, Roccos Brother said:

To me, it did not feel genuine based on how they described their relationship during the race, versus after. It seemed like they paired up because they knew they would be a strong team, and wanted to push this narrative of a strong, hetero-normative, masculine gay couple. I don't doubt that they were an actual couple, but I don't think they were as serious as they described themselves on the show. If you had told me they were just best friends on the show, I never would have known the difference. I don't recall them ever showing any actual signs of affection, not even after crossing the finish line. Of course this is my perception, no one ever really knows what goes on in someone else's relationship.

I remember hearing about this years ago. Apparently they shared a big kiss on the mat after they won and it was kind of quiet around the contestants. CBS chose not to show it.

The tv landscape and what is considered 'acceptable' has certainly changed and evolved over the past 14ish years.

I can't remember which interview I read this in, but I do remember it. I thought their relationship seemed fairly genuine at the time

[displayname]

I legitimately think no one on the race has ever had more fun than Kelly and Jon.

[Marlin]

Jon & Al, Kelly & Jon and no one else. That's how much I care about this season. There were too many polarizing personalities this season.

Edited January 29, 2018 by Marlin

[Giuseppe]

I still think the nutbunches episode with Kelly and Jon racing Millie and Chuck to the pit stop is one of the best episodes in TAR history.

[SVNBob]

On 10/23/2017 at 9:45 AM, TheRabbi said:

 What about Steve and Dave? They are an immensely likeable team that sticks around long enough to make an impression.

 

On 10/23/2017 at 5:55 PM, Star Aristille said:

Oh, heeeeeeeell naw!  It got tiresome hearing them whine about their knees.  And I will forever hold a grudge about them screwing over Monica & Sheree at LAX and being highly smug about it.

Doing a rewatch of this season.   It wasn't really Steve and Dave who screwed over Moniker and Sheree at LAX; it was Weezer and Geezer.  They wanted to ally with the ATCs who were behind both the NFL Wives and Reichen and Chip in the line, so they got the airline tickets for the ATCs.  Which meant the Wives missed that flight.  (ReiChip would have missed it either way, since there was only the one set of tickets left.)  The ATCs benefited from the move, but it wasn't their idea to make it.  They did get smug about it though, so that part's fair.

But the -eezers made up with the NFL Wives shortly afterward.  The next task after the flight involved finding hidden tickets for charter buses to a "mystery location", and the tickets were the "once you take, you can't switch" type that TAR loves to use.  The -eezers led Moniker and Sheree to the last set of tickets for the second charter which left 2 hours before the last one (but also 2 hours behind the one both the -eezers and the ATCs were on) and the Wives said that that made up for the airport squabble.

[dgpolo]

When I was getting ready to watch this season I couldn't remember who won. When it started I did remember the teams but they really don't stand out to me when looking back at all the racers. I think I remember the shark tank the most, with Reichen trying to get his balance by throwing out his arm with a big shark right there next to him.

Other standout moments: Tian getting pulled through the mud by the bulls, I heard she was the first (only?) woman to have ever done that and it was in the local paper.

Reichen and Chip eating the octopus and talking about how it was clinging to their teeth!

The train in India with all the groping.

I do not like how the airport employees share info with the racers about other racers.

Then something that just seemed odd to me, when they were running to do the swim under the ice a voice over, that sounded to me like Reichen, asked what skivvies were, but I thought that was military slang for underwear and he was in the Air Force?

Not a very memorable season for me.

[mikewho]

19 minutes ago, dgpolo said:

Other standout moments: Tian getting pulled through the mud by the bulls, I heard she was the first (only?) woman to have ever done that and it was in the local paper.

I read that when the race planners were setting up that challenge, they neglected to tell them that women would be participating too. It was strictly a male sport in that country.

So when the racers got there, the local government tried to stop it, and it took a lot of persuading from the producers to get them to allow Tian to do it.

No wonder the guys on the sidelines had such big smiles on their faces.

[meep.meep]

This season has the episode that I think is the best TAR episode ever - the one in Vienna.  It definitely has the best FF where the team has to carry trays of champagne flutes through a dance floor filled with couples waltzing.

[kaygeeret]

Having just finished the first three epis. I do have a question.

Is this the first season where we find so many contestants playing to the camera and creating back stories, etc?

It seems to me a little bit striking that everyone has "drama"

Having binged the first 3 seasons, I do find the teams with 'conflict' to be far less interesting than the others.  Yet the camera and the story line seems to love the 'conflict.

Perhaps there is a huge difference between watching one epi a week vs. binging.  

The conflict folks are one note ponies - they repeat and repeat the same complaints and charges against their partners and other teams, using the same words and blah, blah.  It's actually boring when you are binging the nonsense back to back to back......

[AncientNewbie]

Rewatching this one now...and it's almost like a first watch because it's so unmemorable. I know the winners by name but that's about it. Sort of a cool experience, if not full of people I want to see, to be surprised by finish order.

[weightyghost]

Rewatched the series now and this has to be my least favourite so far. Watching the first 5, I am struck by how outdated it is - the name calling, the violence threats, the gross nicknames for teams. They were common in reality TV back then but I never really realize how it tapered off until now. 

This season was the epitome of it (so far) - it seemed like no couple actually liked each other. Calling Milly -mole and the constant barrage of insults. The "letting a gay guy beat you". The groping in India which the women just dealt with as their male partners laughed it off. 

[bearcatfan]

I’m having a hard time watching this season. I have skipped ahead to seasons 5 and 7 which I found much more enjoyable. For those I can hardly wait to see the next episode. 

[LadyChatts]

I re-watched this season recently on TAR's Pluto channel.  I'm disappointed that Hulu and Prime removed most of the TAR seasons, and that some of the ones missing on Hulu aren't even available for purchase through Apple or Itunes (not sure why that is).  I've never liked this season much for several reasons, but I think it had potential.  What disappointed me was the Europe heavy route.  I actually liked the locations and tasks in each country, but it was too much Europe in  a row, and not a lot of variety with the countries they visited.  I also thought some of the teams eliminated early on (Amanda and Chris, Steve and Josh, and Steve and Dave) might have been better personalities than some of the teams that lasted longer.  I will say, though, that the race between Kelly/Jon and Chuck/Millie at the road block is definitely one of the series more exciting moments.    

Edited April 16, 2022 by LadyChatts

[ApprenticeFan]

I remember watching the finale episode when David & Jeff a day behind the other teams as they were stranded in Sydney, Australia looking for a flight to Honolulu and when they arrived, they opened the clue and read the race was over. This was the last season to have two teams (who were still racing) present at the finish line.