S06: Talk

[Whimsy]

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

[Supay]

The most European course ever: a shame about the first five eliminated teams except for those boys from the Big Apple, though.

[scowl]

Starting this one. So who do we have? The hot party girls, the New York Jews (who are already making Exodus jokes!), the old couple, the roid-rage married wrestlers, the screaming "passionate" guy and his cowering partner , the doomed ex-lovers (picking up from the minute they broke up), the Salt Lake sisters with conflicting lifestyles (one who doesn't like "roughing it" so she's perfect for TAR), the "Daddy treats me like a baby!" girl and her daddy, the alpha male best friends, the engaged models (more eye candy), and the dating actors (even more eye candy and a nice couple).

 

And here's where the famous TAR line is said: "I'm so cold my implants are frozen!"

 

Oh my GOSH! Another gas/diesel mistake? Haven't these people seen the show? Oh, diesel is called "dieseline" in Iceland. At least they caught it before they started the engine. 

[Supay]

Er, Kris is very much a cisgendered alpha female. ;)

[scowl]

Just the second episode and this season appears to have the largest number of assholes so far. Adam (with the "horn hair") is constantly raging at Rebecca over trivial things ("I lost my sunglasses! If you ever tell me to take off my sunglasses, I'm never going to speak to you for the rest of my life!!!"). Bolo the wrestler always looks like he's ready to pop Lori and can't stop calling her white trash. Jonathan is yelling yelling yelling and Victoria is squealing squealing squealing. 

[ApprenticeFan]

I remember back in the Sri Lanka leg, Lori forgot to bring a ticket to the top of Sigiriya during the Roadblock, and the security officer did not permit to go but she goes to Bolo to get the ticket. That costs a biggest mistake.

[Supay]

Just the second episode and this season appears to have the largest number of assholes so far.

 

Heh, even more than just two seasons ago, eh?

[scowl]

Everyone remember this? Jonathon and Victoria are in a foot race to the mat with another couple in Berlin. Victoria is screaming in tears dragging her heavy backpack while Jonathan is screaming at her to get her stupid ass moving because they're losing. "I can't do it! It's too heavy!!!" They run by shocked bystanders. Of course they come in second with Victoria standing there nearly hysterical while good old Jon is not even looking at her cuz he don't look at losers!

 

Phil, clearly uncomfortable, tells Jonathan, "I think you should speak to Victoria." Great idea, Phil. He stomps over to her and starts screaming at her again all over again! This guy is a lunatic. 

[Supay]

You mean this iconic moment?

 

[scowl]

I forgot about Jonathan shoving her.

 

In the last episode Victoria said that she likes Jonathon because "he always keeps it interesting". Isn't Jonathan that guy who gets thrown out of bars and parties?

[TheRabbi]

As bickering couples go, I really like Lori and Bolo. Not so much any of the other dating/married/exes teams that we're always fighting. This season has a really depressing elimination order, and a terrible final leg.

I did enjoy this season for the first 5 episodes or so. The Scandinavian episodes are really great.

[scowl]

Lori and Bolo looked like the most unbearable couple of the season but at some point they got much more pleasant. Their arguments became much less heated. They got along with the other teams better after they started acting like people instead of pro-wrestling cartoons. In episode ten the worst thing Bolo said to Lori was, "Well then you do it, Miss Perfect!" which was kind of cute.

 

There was a strange thing. Bolo was in an argument with everyone when they were in line at a travel agent. Someone accused Bolo of being on steroids and he totally flipped out. "I am NOT on steroids!" But a minute or two later, everyone calmed down and was laughing about the comment like a bunch of adults. I never understood how that happened but it was nice to watch.

[scowl]

So the "They keep on breeding!" girl wins.

 

I was all for Hayden and what's his name from the beginning but man did she fall to pieces in the end. Matching a key to a lock is not a physically demanding challenge but giving up with a half an hour left made no sense. Also if you don't want to get out of a cab in the middle of nowhere, don't say, "I want to get out of this cab and find another!" 

[Supay]

Matching a key to a lock is not a physically demanding challenge but giving up with a half an hour left made no sense.

 

I agree in principle, but in her (and Rebecca's) defence, that RB involved a rare "enforced HoO", i.e. an actual closing time, like the synchronized Russian swimming Detour fifteen seasons later on the very same leg that the KeyBlock makes an unofficial Switchback.

Edited February 17, 2016 by Supay

[xcrayon2215x]

Jonathan came off as a complete dick, which is a shame considering I enjoyed the earlier seasons more for some reason.

[Supay]

I would rate the 4th, 11th, and 1st placers as worse than him/Victoria in that order. (My top three are 9th, 8th, and 7th with honourable mentions for 2nd, 5th, 10th, and 3rd.)

Edited April 5, 2016 by Supay

[ApprenticeFan]

Yeah, Jonathan's irritating behavior was annoying throughout the race and even shouting Victoria, as well to Ethiopian locals.

[Supay]

It's a pity how Iceland, Senegal, Hungary, and Ethiopia have their only appearances restricted to this disaster of a season.

Edited April 8, 2016 by Supay

[EVS]

I just finished this season and was reading updates on contestants after the race. I found out what happened to Hera and her little boy. I'm reading her blog now. I started from the beginning. It's so intense and powerful, but heartbreaking.

Edited May 24, 2016 by EVS

[Supay]

Worst case of life imitating art (if TAR be considered the latter), alas.

Edited May 27, 2016 by Supay

[Hera]

Just finished watching this season. I had no idea about Hera. Poor woman and her poor son. Reading through the Washingtonian article about it, the only good thing was that her family was there to help her.

She and Gus were my favorite team from this season, which I agree had more than its fair share of awful people. It's kind of funny, after watching everyone be down on Dana in S28 (the most recent one), to watch a season that had at least three couples (Jonathan/Victoria, Hayden/Aaron, and Adam/Rebecca—though I'm perhaps being over-generous in calling those two a "couple") who were so much worse than her and Matt.

[bunnyface]

I am rewatching this season now.  I haven't seen it since it originally aired and I vaguely remember the horror of J&V, with the emphasis on him.  But man, she is no picnic either.  I'm not sure I wouldn't have stuffed her in a cave somewhere and left her.  And strangely, thus far, I'm not as annoyed with Freddy and Kendra as I was the first time.  Thus far.  Maybe it happens later.

[Star Aristille]

5 hours ago, bunnyface said:

And strangely, thus far, I'm not as annoyed with Freddy and Kendra as I was the first time.  Thus far.  Maybe it happens later.

Doesn't really happen till you get farther into the race.

[chitowngirl]

I believe the Africa episodes started the Kendra and Freddy hate.

[bunnyface]

On ‎8‎/‎25‎/‎2017 at 1:01 PM, bunnyface said:

I am rewatching this season now.  I haven't seen it since it originally aired and I vaguely remember the horror of J&V, with the emphasis on him.  But man, she is no picnic either.  I'm not sure I wouldn't have stuffed her in a cave somewhere and left her.  And strangely, thus far, I'm not as annoyed with Freddy and Kendra as I was the first time.  Thus far.  Maybe it happens later.

 

On ‎8‎/‎25‎/‎2017 at 6:47 PM, Star Aristille said:

Doesn't really happen till you get farther into the race.

Ah...there it is.

[Roccos Brother]

Lots of handsome guys in this season - Freddie, Aaron, Jon. Two of the most annoying teams ever - Jonathan and Victoria (the push in Berlin was appalling), and Adam and Rebecca. The wrestlers were surprisingly amusing.

I loved when they were in Africa and all the little children would say "hello!" and follow them around. Absolutely adorable.

[Fiftyninth]

Kris is one of my all-time favorite racers. 

[theschnauzers]

1 hour ago, Fiftyninth said:

Kris is one of my all-time favorite racers. 

You can’t leave Jon out of that appellation. One of my favorite teams ever.

[Fiftyninth]

On 12/8/2018 at 8:03 PM, theschnauzers said:

You can’t leave Jon out of that appellation. One of my favorite teams ever.

Fair. I adored them as a team. 

[gryphon]

Rewatching early seasons on Amazon....I like that I can FF past the toxic bits.  And pause on the scenes that make me choke up.  (Example:  Lena and Kristy and the hay bales.)

The joy of Kris and Jon.  My favorite team ever.  

The Race has gone through so many changes...I still liked it better when they didn't use any crossover people from other reality shows. 

Edited December 27, 2018 by gryphon

[SVNBob]

My mother (my CBS reality show watching partner) and I have been going back in the archives and watching TAR seasons before she really started watching.  We've watched 2, 5, 3, and 4 in that order (I moved up 5 for a big reason, but now know I could have held off) and are now on to this season.

As Hulu was bringing up the first episode, I prefaced our watch with the statements that this season was "not very highly regarded" and that I was hesitant to even revisit it.  But ignoring history does not erase it, so onward we trudge.

And immediately upon the introduction of He Who Does Not Deserve Mentioning, my mother understood.  She made a face not unlike this:

 

most every time he opened his mouth.  She's already stated she hopes they don't get too far.

She also had similar but milder reactions to some of the other teams, because the first episode is full of awful inter-team interactions, even the old couple Don and MJ.  Although, she did give the same pass that I do to Lori and Bolo's fighting.  We agree that their interactions, while some of the loudest, are at least equal on both sides; each giving as well as they are taking (unlike some other teams), and that, if it things were to get physical, it'd at least be a more even fight than in most other cases, as seen in their demo at the campsite. 

Plus, something I don't recall thinking during the original airing, we need to factor in their career: professional wrestling.  The Race just started, so everyone is in super-competitive and adrenaline-pumping mode.  For Lori and Bolo, that's what their normal job does too.  So they're not just in Race Mode, they're in Ring Mode.  Which includes lots of yelling and trash-talking, even while putting 100% trust in the other person.  So when Bolo says in a TH that while the two of them may fight and yell at each other a lot, they still love each other, I have no reason to doubt his word.

Other observations: Early in the episode, my mother asked what was up with Adam's hair (the hair horns).  My response was simply that he's a young idiot, just before he kind of explained himself as eccentric and weird in the episode.  But even though I called him a "young idiot", Adam showed more wisdom than I remembered.  At the Detour, the choice between a close-by needle in a haystack (not the literal haystacks... we're not there yet) or the more distant glacier climb, Adam says "not always what's closer is what's faster."  Plus, when he and Rebecca need to stop for fuel after the Detour, he asks her if their vehicle needs diesel or gasoline, which means he was at least aware of Dieselgate from TAR3.  That doesn't prevent them from making the same mistake, but they also caught it while still at the station, so they were able to get the situation resolved relatively quickly and easily.  For a young idiot, he's not that stupid.

Speaking of the Detour, we agreed that we'd go for the climb over the search.  Although I opined that big Gus probably made the right call for them to do the search instead.  Him attempting the glacier would not have been fun or quick.

[Lantern7]

Basically, I view TAR6 as the karmic price viewers had to pay for the prior season having the happiest of endings. Most of the nice teams are bounced early, the aggravating teams stayed in, and the only thing separating Freddy & Kendra from victory? Chicago deep dish pizza.  Kris & Jon sharing one last kiss as they wait for the train to pass was heartbreaking.

Here are my pics from TARCon 6. Freddy & Kendra were in town to pick up the check, but they didn't come here. That was probably the best move for all parties involved.

[dgpolo]

On 12/8/2018 at 1:53 AM, eliot90000 said:

Aside from Kendra’s disgusting racism, the two of them have to be among the dumber teams ever to race.  Has there ever been a season with this many annoying and unlivable teams?  

I'm not sure it was racism exactly but more a kind of elitism? She seemed fine in Ethiopia, I don't think she felt safe in Senegal, but it was an appalling comment. I mostly didn't like them because they didn't seem to like much of anywhere and rarely took the time to enjoy themselves.

Kris and Jon on the other hand loved everything, everywhere. They just seemed to enjoy themselves no matter what.

Heartbreaking season ending. Especially since Chicago is the closest big city to where I live, and the town I grew up in had train tracks on two sides. If there was a freight going through you were basically stuck unless you wanted to go waayy out of your way. So for Kris and Jon to lose because of a train really struck home for me.

Jonathan was just vile, I've read that they claimed editing but though editing can leave out good moments you have it can't create the bad ones. And when he shoved her hard enough to knock her off balance and drop the clue she was carrying, that was a bad one. Plus I noticed two other times his arm seemed to draw back like he was going to push her, once in a cab. Speaking of which, America cheered when the Hungarian cabbie forced the out of his cab. I've read that this is one team Phil did not want to come back, that is not editing. And why did he have to go shirtless so much, I would much rather have seen Jon that way. At the beginning of leg 5, Jonathan says that they've come in 2nd 3 times but at that point they had come in second only twice, at the end of leg 5 is their third second place. So either he can't count or they put an interview from the end of the leg at the beginning of it.

So sad about Lena and the hay bales.

Loved Bolo counting at Ikea... 66-68-80

Gus and the beer, Gus's backpack looked really small. Hera's gorgeous eyes. Her story makes it so sad to watch her.

Too bad Freddie and Kendra's penalty for taking a 2nd clue wasn't enough to eliminate them.

On 2/12/2016 at 6:41 PM, scowl said:

Matching a key to a lock is not a physically demanding challenge but giving up with a half an hour left made no sense.

We don't know if it was really a half an hour, editing could have placed that remark anywhere. I also disagree a bit about it not being physically demanding, I mean it didn't take brute strength but it was hard on their hands, and I think it was also probably hard on their backs -they had to bend over for hours- and on their legs -standing and moving up and down, again for hours-. Personally I have always had a hard time fitting keys into locks and turning them, there always seems to be a 'trick' to them, slightly up or down or to the side or you don't slide it all the way in. I'm not surprised this was a hard task.

[mikewho]

I have a few things to say about Season 6 that you guys might find interesting. But they come from that Season's TARcon. One of the most enjoyable ones I've attended.

Aside from Lori and Bolo, who I think attended their own West Coast party, Freddy and Kendra were the only team to not attended. At TARcons, the teams generally didn't put each other down, even the ones who didn't like each other.

But that season, most were more than happy to spill the beans about how much they disliked F&K. I heard they were not only elitist, but ALSO racist.

This was back when CBS still held their own finale party. F&K attended that one, and I've heard that Phil highly encouraged the racers to attend TARcon. Many showed up with an attitude of 'Now THIS is a party!' and enjoyed the hell out of it.

Apparently, F&K thought it was beneath them to attend a party thrown by a bunch of fans, so they didn't attend.

One very interesting fact about the lock and key roadblock. This is one instance where I know editing played a part in how it was shown in the episode. It's kind of confusing, but I'll do my best.

I think the last gondola went down at 7. Rebecca (with what's his face) and Hayden were still there. At 6:30 production told them to start thinking about whether to continue, or give up and take the penalty. But there was still a half hour left.

Hayden and Aaron and Rebecca and what's his face started to discuss what they would do if they ran out of time. They decided BOTH teams would take the penalty, meaning that at least one of them would win the next leg and continue on, the other would be eliminated. Sort of battle it out. Makes sense.

At 6:55, production asked for their decisions. Aaron said they'd take the penalty and then IMMEDIATELY after, Rebecca found the right lock. But she never said they'd take the penalty, so that automatically meant that Hayden and Aaron were out.

Aaron told me, 'That was why I was so pissed and spun around like I was going to throw my bag over the edge. Not for the reason it appeared on the show like I was throwing a hissy fit. We knew at that moment, it was over for us because Rebecca never said they'd take the penalty'.

Regarding Jonathan and Victoria, Jonathan mostly stood in one spot, where he could easily be seen, wearing a permanent smile and behaving like an absolute choir boy.

People treated Victoria badly and I actually felt sorry for her.

Sorry for her because I spoke with her for about 10 minutes and she did NOTHING but talk about how great Jonathan was. She kept tapping my arm with her fingers every time she made another point about it.

She told me that by the time they were eliminated, Jonathan had amassed eleven hundred dollars by begging throughout the race even tho (I don't think) they were ever in last place.

And what they 'didn't show' was the reason those kids were following them to the pit stop was because J was throwing that money back over his shoulders to the kids, because he's 'so generous'.

Just thought you guys might be interested. Hope it made sense, since I'm typing with a broken pinky finger 😉

[Stiggs]

Reached season 6 of my TAR quarantine binge, having largely forgotten everything about this season other than it started in Iceland (I am obsessed with Iceland and was supposed to be there in May, urg.). I am up to episode 8 and I realized I never finished this one - because wow, what a bunch of assholes. Once Lori and Bolo go I am out. I don’t want anyone left to win. 
So Freddy freaks out and threatens to break people in half, Jonathan abuses his wife from country to country...really show? No 30-minute penalty for violent threats or spousal abuse? I think this season was the beginning of the TAR end for me. The family season killed it. I came back for All Stars but don’t remember much of that - tho I will rewatch cuz I love the Chas and have a shameful crush on Boston Rob. This season had all of the people who had, like, souls, go home first, it just got in-fun. It’s just an unlikeable group of shitty people. I might have to turn it off. They make me miss Colin and Christy...

Edited June 12, 2020 by Stiggs

[Lantern7]

3 hours ago, Stiggs said:

I am up to episode 8 and I realized I never finished this one - because wow, what a bunch of assholes. Once Lori and Bolo go I am out. I don’t want anyone left to win. 

Does that include Kris & Jon? They were legitimately lovely people.

[Stiggs]

10 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Does that include Kris & Jon? They were legitimately lovely people.

It's so strange, because I totally forget about them, even while watching the race. They do seem lovely. Watching these old seasons is showing me how terrible my memory is. For most the seasons, the folks I didn't like the first time don't seem as bad, but this season is the exception, lol. Jonathan is worse than I remember. I've already moved on to season 7. Lori and Bolo sniped a lot but they were better than the three awful couples. When I saw who won I jumped ship. 

[Grundoon59]

I too am doing a Quarantine rewatch - thank you Hulu!  I agree that this season has some of my least favorite teams ever and it was memorable dislike ( as opposed to other seasons when I had to watch more episodes to remember why). 

However this season does have two of my favorite moments of all my Amazing Race watching and they have also stuck with me through the years.  Interestingly both were in Senegal - one was Don and Mary Jean deciding that there was no way they were going to beg from locals even if they were eliminated and the other teams giving them money with good grace (including Jonathan). 

But the all time moment for me was Gus breaking down at the Door of No Return - it was one of the most real reactions I think I have ever seen on television and it was incredibly moving to me.  I thought both these teams were good people running the best races they could and I was sorry when they each went out.  

Edited June 28, 2020 by Grundoon59
silly spelling error

[kaygeeret]

Lordy do I agree with all the comments disliking this season.

The Freddie and Kendra hate is also shared - I was gobsmacked by her comments dismissing and demeaning people in other countries who are poor and in poor environments, etc.  Truly despicable.

I agree Jon and Khris were  lovely as were Gus and Hera.  I even liked the wrestlers this time also.  Decent people all.

Question:  Is this the first season they were casting and filming for maximum boob exposure?  I really hated it and the smirking reminded me of the camera work on Survivors later years.

What - the only audience they want is 16 yr old boys?

Does TAR pick the clothes the way Survivor sometimes does?

Interesting that Jonathon made me nostalgic for Colin - it helps that Colin worked to take control of himself, and I thought it was interesting that in the end the only person the temper tantrums hurt was Colin himself.

Jonathon was genuinely frightening and I would have chosen to stay as far away from him as the race allowed.

I also skipped the rest of the season after the wrestlers were eliminated and I found out who won.  Epic fail of a season, eclipsed only by the 'family season'.