S07: Talk

[Whimsy]

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

[ApprenticeFan]

I remember the popularity of Romber in the Race and believed they won the race, but they lost to Uchenna and Joyce. What if Jamaica the only independent nation left in the Race that will be revisited soon?

Edited January 10, 2016 by ApprenticeFan

[Supay]

A route that fails to circumnavigate the globe, a stunt-casted team that consumes the other contestants' attention as well as the majority of the airtime, and a mostly unpleasant boot order are all the signature hallmarks of TAR failure. 

 

Somehow, though, the eleventh hour leads to a miracle of a victory, a unique blend of deus ex machina and a happy ending, conspiracy theories about planes and cabfares be damned (plus those simplistic attempts to paint them as a poor man's sequel to the winning couple two seasons prior).

[TheRabbi]

I was not originally a fan of Romber being cast, but they really made the season. Definitely the best CBS crossover the show has seen yet.

The route may not have circumnavigated the globe, but still had tons of diversity in locales and several new countries.

This is one of the best casts the show has assembled in my opinion. Every team is memorable in some way, though having a 2 hour premiere certainly helps getting teams more airtime early.

Tons of memorable moments. Thrilling footraces to avoid elimination in several legs in the first half. The meatblock, Meredith and Gretchen continually surviving until near the end. The headshaving. The 2 hour leg 5/6 combo is truly great television all around. I also loved the double decker bus RB in London.

Not a big fan of the final leg, but the season that preceeds it is excellent.

[Supay]

I was not originally a fan of Romber being cast, but they really made the season. Definitely the best CBS crossover the show has seen yet.

The route may not have circumnavigated the globe, but still had tons of diversity in locales and several new countries.

 

Quite frankly, BB4 runner-up Alison Irwin did more in her two-episode stay than Mariano and Brkich in seventeen.

 

Also, everything pre-Turkey/Britain kind of blends together into a visually arid monotony.

[scowl]

I'm skipping this season. I've seen enough of Boston Rob on Survivor.

[scowl]

Oh no. He got that far? I'd rather see him get booted in the first or second episodes.

[scowl]

So they didn't rig it so he'd win? I'll have to check that season out then. 

[Roccos Brother]

Just finished watching through this season for the first time. Wow, what a finale! I don't think I've ever felt so much suspense from this show, especially for a final leg - one that was full of unexpected twists and turns. I was on the edge of my seat. How tragic would it have been for my favorite team to lose at the very end due to a lack of funds! I'm so happy that they were able to pull through at the last minute (and more than once), you couldn't have written a better ending. I also loved how Patrick was muttering "Uchenna and Joyce" under his breath when they were waiting to see who was coming up to the finish line. It was clear that many of the teams were happy to see Uchenna and Joyce as well.

Also, perhaps I'm being unfair and heavily biased, but I got a little annoyed with the people that coldly refused to spare them any money, particularly the one that gave them the lecture to "go work for it". They saw the camera and sound man, and signed a waiver to be filmed, they obviously knew it was a unique situation. But even if it was a normal situation with a homeless beggar, responding with "go work for it" is a pretty a-hole way to decline, let alone if you were being filmed.

Edited November 1, 2017 by Roccos Brother

[bunnyblue]

This was one of my favorite seasons, so I decided to do a re-watch. So far I'm up to episode 5.

Rob and Amber: I hated them on Survivor and I remember I was not happy with the stunt casting. But once the season started I was surprised how much I liked them. They didn't bicker with each other so that right there made them infinitely more tolerable than many teams. I loved that Rob used his background in construction to kick ass in stacking 180 books onto the dolly. And I still laugh that he convinced 2 other teams to take a 4 hour penalty in order to ensure his own survival. 

Uchenna and Joyce: Still love them. Another team that did not bicker and just ran their race. I LOL'd at the shoe shining roadblock where Joyce was speaking gibberish Spanish and at one point asked a customer "muy muy?". What? 

Greg and Brian: Nice funny guys. "Isn't 7:00 earlier than 7:40?" "It is where I come from." Heh. The rollover in Botswana was scary. They genuinely felt awful for injuring their camera guy. I still can't tell the brothers apart. They look like Zach Braff.

Meredith and Gretchen: They lasted longer than I remember. Gretchen was a bit too screechy in the beginning but she calmed down over time. As awful as her fall was in the caves (that was a lot of blood!) I still laugh at how messed up she looked coming out the cave: dirt and blood all over her face and clothes. Even Joyce wondered if her face looked as dirty as Gretchen's. While everyone would not shut up with their "rapido, rapido!", Meredith actually told his pedicab driver "mas despacio, por favor". Dude, you're in a RACE. Also, at times I was hoping they would be eliminated because they both looked like they would keel over at any moment, and I think Gretchen looked disappointed a few times to learn they hadn't been eliminated.

Ron and Kelly: They were just kind of there. He was nice if dull, but she had her moments where I doubted she even liked Ron and wondered if she was only with him because being a war hero/POW was the perfect compliment to her beauty queen. I'd be surprised if they are still together.

Alex and Lynn: UGH. Their obsession with Rob and Amber was unhealthy and annoying. They would not shut up, and I was glad when karma got them and their boat broke down and Romber ended up passing them. They weren't funny gays, they were just nasty. I hated when Lynn compared the streets of Botswana to Compton; really dude??

Ray and Deana: Horrible horrible people. He wasn't as abusive as the dentist guy from another season but he was pretty awful. Constantly telling her shut up, listen to him, don't question him, badgering her, etc. And not apologizing to her when he smacked her in the head with the stick told me all I needed to know about him. And she wasn't much better either, especially when she was yelling at that poor horse to "go, go, goooo!!" What the hell was Ray's obsession about not losing to an old man (Meredith)? Ray really thought too highly of himself, whenever they were in the middle of the pack or even the back, he always acted like it was so unlike him. Dude, you finished 1st once, otherwise you were average or below; you ain't nowhere near as good as you think.  I was so glad when the brothers out ran them to the pit stop and Phil eliminated them. Ray lasted way too long for my taste. I hope once Deana watched the season, she made the definitive break from Ray once and for all.

Edited April 12, 2018 by bunnyblue
Uchenna has 2 n's.

[Lantern7]

Not-Quite-Hot Take: Rob & Amber were better Racers than they were Survivors.

Amber . . . well, first of all, she didn't really qualify as an "All Star." Back in the days of Might Big TV, her nickname was "Lamber," on account that she'd always followed Jerri around. But she and Rob went into the merge with some of the dumbest players ever. And Amber only got the one vote (Shii Ann); the other three were votes against Rob. Seriously, those two went into the final five against Rupert Boneham, Tom Buchanan and Jenna Lewis. Not exactly a "Murderers' Row" of brains.

Long after TAR7 and TAR11, Rob got his million bucks when he was fed another bunch of dummies who basically cleared his path to the win like a football team's defense avoiding a kid cashing in his/her "Make a Wish." He didn't even need Redemption Island, while Russell Hantz (whose "feud" with Rob one year earlier necessitated a "rematch") fell right through it.

Yes, Ramber was stuntcast, but I didn't feel things were rigged for them to go to Day 39 against one average team (Uchenna & Joyce) and a bickering duo (Ron & Kelly).  They had four first-place finishes in total, and they added three more in TAR11. I reckon that's proof they were good Racers, even as twenty other people were hoping for them to fail.

Bottom line: if you have to shave your head for a task, it's for good luck, and it would guarantee your survival in the game (sorry, Bopper), you friggin' do it. I'm convinced the last part of the final leg was influenced by Joyce getting a dome to match her husband's. The only thing missing from that final leg was "All I Need Is A Miracle" playing in the background.

On 2/16/2016 at 9:27 PM, Supay said:

Quite frankly, BB4 runner-up Alison Irwin did more in her two-episode stay than Mariano and Brkich in seventeen.

 But she was Big Brother, the beef jerky of reality television. Back then, Survivor was filet mignon. And Alison and her dope on-again off-again boyfriend only ran the two legs. I'm betting more people remember the mime giving her shit in her season of BB.

[lexington11]

On 4/12/2018 at 1:30 AM, bunnyblue said:

Ray and Deana:. I hope once Deana watched the season, she made the definitive break from Ray once and for all.

They got married not long after TAR7 ended, with most of the cast, including Rob & Amber, attending their wedding, but about a couple of years ago, they split up

[TheRabbi]

On 6/17/2019 at 4:55 PM, lexington11 said:

They got married not long after TAR7 ended, with most of the cast, including Rob & Amber, attending their wedding, but about a couple of years ago, they split up

I heard Ray had some very serious health problems within the past year or 2 as well. Was touch and go for a while but he pulled through.

I've been watching a bit of season 7 recently as I haven't seen it in years. It's great stuff. Rob is really great. He knows how to play for the cameras much more pleasantly than someone like Rachel. The 2 hour premiere is so welcome in this season, as it allows you to get to know the whole cast early. All 11 teams factor deeply into the premiere, which just isn't possible in these recent seasons. 

[thelegacies87]

I'm so glad 

Spoiler

chenna and Joyce won! They were just the freakin' sweetest. What big hearts!

I couldn't stand Rob and Amber. Rob was just "reality tv villain" which, at least at the point I'm watching in Amazing Race, seems so anti-Amazing Race, which feels like "REAL" people racing. Also, they were so smug. Rob being a famous survivor gave them so many advantages, and Amber was just...I don't know. She was also so smug too, but did nothing save for make snide remarks and smirk at Rob's evil ways. And it seems EVERY time they go in first, they got a price, while every one else got nothing). 

[dgpolo]

I was so happy that Uchenna and Joyce won, they were severely handicapped that last leg without money, I hope it was part of getting rid of the 'mugging' of teams.

I was glad Rob and Amber lost but I would have understood if they had won. They did run a good race, I did think they were helped a little too much by locals who recognized them and I think there may have been some juggling in the rules later to prevent so much help but other than them not racing I don't see how they could have avoided that. They never raged at locals (probably 'cause most of them fell over each other to help) and rarely said anything bad to each other. They were VERY in tune to where their camera was at all times. Still glad they lost.

I thought Gretchen was screechy all the way through but what a trouper! Energizer bunnies indeed!

Didn't like Ron or Kelly and they were pretty toxic together.

I think this season had the most amazing Africa scenes ever, so many different animals showing up to be photographed including a warthog that somebody didn't recognize.

I found it amusing Lynn and Alex called the village with the bright paint and geometrical patterns the Beverly Hills of the villages.

I still can't believe the girls who drove 2 hours in the wrong direction! Didn't they know they needed to get to the mountains?

My favorite leg would have been the London one with the Sherlock Holmes clues but another Romber Fern ruined it for me.

I hope Uchenna and Joyce mailed a bonus to the two cab drivers that helped them.

[green]

Who knew that of all the TAR mactor wannabes only a TAR7 Racer succeeded in real Hollywood.  Props to Brian from the brothers who flipped their vehicle in Africa team for making it as a real jobbing actor and not a "reality thing hanger-on" Rachel type of person.

I just saw him in a new commercial this week so he is still making endless commercials like in the past now that The Big Bang Theory is finished along with his recurring role as Penny's dumb but lovable former boyfriend on it.

Edited July 16, 2019 by green

[SVNBob]

After the twin nadirs of 6 and 8, my mother and I have started in on this season.  And this one is a rare re-watch for the both of us; I was a TARfly from the beginning (but fell off in the early teen seasons, because of the move to Sundays and the delays to the primetime schedule that the NFL caused.   I'm still not caught up, so sometime soon in our re-watches, it'll become a first watch for me.)  But my mother came to TAR much later.  And this is one of the seasons I was sure my mother had watched...probably because I made her watch the DVD a long while ago, one of the only two TAR DVD sets produced by CBS and not Amazon's burn on-demand service.

In any case, as we were watching the premire, she said that she recognized more teams than just Rob and Amber.  Uchenna and Joyce seemed to be familiar to her, as were Brian and/or Greg.  I mentioned here that post-TAR that one of them (I forgot at the time it was Brian) did a lot of commercial work, and often tried to get the other to appear if possible and logical for the ad.  She also said she recognized some of the "couples", but I didn't really press.

As would be expected, a majority of our conversation revolved around Rob and Amber, and him more than her.  A lot of talk was focused on his attitude.  I think he had the exact right attitude for this outing.  Confident that they were going to win (almost to a Hatchian degree), but realistic enough to know it wasn't actually guaranteed.  Plus, he was able to demonstrate a couple of skills that make him (imo) one of the best All-arounders in Survivor history.  He showed off his physicality at the Detour with hauling the basket, but more importantly showed of his intelligence and quick-thinking at the beach in Peru after the first flight.  They knew that the task was to dig ou airline tickets from a pile of sand, then take a marker off a post near the pile.  He quickly observed that only two teams were present at the beach, and there was one post with a single marker left on it.  So, he knew immediately that that pile was the one with the earliest departure time and that he and Amber didn't need to waste time or energy checking the other two.  And he did that and explained it all to Amber and the camera while running up to the beach from the pedicab.  The whole thing took just a few seconds, but gave them a few extra minutes of digging; just enough to beat out Ray and Deena for that last set of tickets.

Later, we did talk about Amber.  I noted that she is actually the perfect match for Rob, and the two of them balance each other out very well.  (Four daughters is some evidence of that.)  For example, during the Detour, Rob lost control of his basket and started freaking out a little.  She was the one who remained calm, calmed him down, and helped him get the basket back under control.  She's also quite self-aware of their position in the Race.  She noted that at the campfire on the beach that all the other teams were nice to their faces, but she had a gut feeling that most, if not all, the other teams wanted them gone as soon as possible.

But before most of that, there was one other thing to talk about.  Rob and Amber did have an advantage going in to TAR that no other Racers had: they were already international celebrities.  We had talked before about Racers cultivating their own Ferns before.  But now, we were seeing the start of a greenhouse throwing itself at a team, with Romber picking up (their first) Fern on the flight who went with them all the way to the beach above.  It is somewhat unfair to the other teams?  Yes.  While any team can try to get a Fern at any point (as the anti-Fern rules were not in place yet), it is a lot easier for Romber at this time.  Do I blame Romber?  Hell no.  They were asked to do TAR, and they'd have been foolish not to take any help freely offered during the Race.

Beyond those two, the other main team we talked about was Ryan and Chuck, the first elimination.  The big things we talked about with them were 1) not only it being somewhat surprising a couple of South Carolina hicks not only spoke Portuguese at all, but semi-fluently.  And 2) that it was a shame they were the first ones out.  They'd have been a great team to watch throughout the Race.  But they hit a pretty bad streak of luck throughout the leg that kept pushing them back, and they were never able to recover, only to lose by a matter of seconds.

[SVNBob]

Got through a couple more episodes yesterday.  And again most of the talk revolved around Rob and Amber, as it did within the show.

First episode was #2, which started off with a long-haul bus ride.  Romber did 2 smart things here.  First, they didn't rely on the information from the other two teams regarding tickets.  The first team to arrive at the terminal saw one sign with the name of their destination city on it, then parked themselves there.  When the second team to arrive did, they joined the line.  Romber at least decided to ask around to see if that was the best or only option, and did find better.  Smart thing #2 was attempting to share that information with just their allies.  They had a VO saying they'd teamed up with Ray/Deena and Uchenna/Joyce (ironically), so were only going to share their findings with those two teams.  This is the post-ASS BRob, so he has just learned something about not alienating everyone.   This did backfire when one of the later arriving teams finally decided to inquire about a different bus than the one everyone was lining up for, and Rob's attempt at secrecy was found out.  But like I just said, he and Amber were the first ones to put in the work to find faster transport in a RACE.  They were under no obligation to share that information with anyone (but they still did.)

Near the end of the bus ride, Rob did another pair of smart things.  He first got his two ally teams plus Ron/Kelly, all of whom were seated at the front of the bus, to pitch in on a small bribe (5 sols each, so 20 max.  And given the next task, 1 sol does not appear to be too terribly much) to have the driver not open the back doors of the bus right away.  Then he pocketed his own contribution (down to a 15 sol bribe).   The whole door thing is minor interference (it's not like the other 6 teams couldn't just use the front door as well, nor did he never open the other door), plus the driver didn't necessarily have to do it.  Not using his own money was the smarter part of this.  As we saw later in this episode, costs can add up quickly, so "saving" where and when you can is valuable.   However, even through the shuffling in the rest of the episode, this door trick does end up paying off, as the 4 teams involved were the first 4 teams to reach the Pit Stop.

At the first Roadblock, we talked about a couple things.  First, there was an advantage to getting there sooner: you had first crack at the closer locals for the shoeshines.  As each subsequent team arrived, they had to go further and further away to find a pool of customers.  Second, there were a lot of bad shine jobs.  Several socks got marked, and one guy even had polish on his actual foot (either very short or no socks on him.)

At the first Detour, Rob's intelligence and experience came into play.  He realized that purchasing ingredients on Shop detour would come from their Race funds, but that the Schlep option had no monetary cost.  Given that we do see those that take the Shop option either get close to or actually run out of money, this frugal move does look smart.   The experience comes in at the Detour itself.  As Rob says in VO, he has experience in using dollys to transport lots of items, and that proper packing and stacking is the key to efficiency.  Which he does here, and beautifully so.  Amber also quickly picks up on what Rob is doing, and focuses on getting as many copies of similar sized books as possible to make things even easier.   Of all the teams that took this Detour, only two did it in one trip: Romber, and Ray/Deena, and that pair did something similar, to the point of appearing to have 180 copies of the same book.  Every other team made two trips with books of varying sizes.

Second episode had the first major self-driving portion of the this race, going through the Andes.  Which lead to the first Yield.  Again, Amber's awareness of their position in the Race is on display here.  She's sure that unless they get to the Yield first, they're going to be Yielded.  And she's very probably right.  Good for them they were the first to arrive, and decided not to antagonize a team unnecessarily by using their Yield.

Detour here was interesting, either biking down 7 miles of railway track to the cluebox, or paddling the same distance on a parallel course down the river.  Rafting included 3 other people on the raft, and some assistance from the river, but there would also be times when the river fought back.  Whereas biking was only as fast as the slowest in a pair.  In the end, I opined it really came down to upper- vs. lower-body strength.

On the river, we see Alex and Lyn's obsession with Romber start taking off (Add in Patrick, and it really is just the gay men this season that are obsessed with this team.  Everyone else doesn't seem to care as much, or is at least less vocal about it.)  While it seemed to be good motivation for them to do as well as they did in the leg, it is a problem.  They're not Running Their Own Race; they're running a race to stay ahead of a particular team. 

Which is different from racing to stay ahead of a team to avoid Philimination.  We actually saw that with Brian/Greg and Megan/Heidi in the previous episode.  Those two teams were allies/potential romances, but it came down to a foot race between them to avoid last.  Both these teams would have preferred not to have been the cause of the other's elimination, but they both were sure at the time that it was a very likely possibility in that moment.  And they all went all out, alliance/romance be damned.  Just like they all would have if either team had been replaced by a third in that moment.

But back to the river.  Alex and Lyn may be starting to obsess on another team, but Romber are not,  They are Running Their Own Race; enjoying TAR as a different kind of experience than Survivor, and in the same way that many good and compatible couples have throughout TAR history.  Amber even jokes about how the paddling was a good workout that will help her fit into her wedding dress soon.  Again, just a great attitude overall coming from Romber.

After the Detour, we hit the infamous MeatBlock.  Much like the caviar in S05 and the Hungarian spicy soup in S06, it's not the actual food itself that's the bad part; it's the quantity.  And BRob had one other issue.  After a certain point into his attempt, he had to have started having fafaru flashbacks, which would have been exacerbated after that came back into his life in ASS.

But then he does something that should not have been possible (the other thing that makes this Roadblock so infamous.)  To start, he checks with Amber about the rules of what would happen if he quit doing the Roadblock.  Then he does a cost-benefit analysis of that penalty versus him trying to finish, in which he determines he would not be able to finish in under 4 hours, so the penalty would be better.  He then comes up with the plan to not only quit himself, but to get someone else to quit after he does, so that he and Amber are guaranteed to have at least one team behind them.  That's when he gets a triple stroke of luck. 

1. The next team to arrive (which is the actual start of the penalty timer (as seen again in TAR31's first leg) do so in very short order after Rob had quit.
2. It's Ray and Deena; one of their allies.
3. Deena's the one that took the MeatBlock.

That first point is just convenient; it only means their penalty counter started sooner rather than later.  But the other two points work out great for Rob here.  He and Amber realize that Deena's probably not going to be able to finish either, so he's got a reasonable target for his plan.  Plus, since it's a team he's allied with, they're already pre-disposed to actually listen to him and take his advice (it did work out in the previous leg after all) more than most of the other teams.  (Uchenna and Ron were doing pretty well on their own...and that does make two bald African-American men powering through the food Roadblock....).   Deena also looked rather upset at the prospect of making the attempt after getting her plank of meat, so she does quit.  Followed shortly thereafter by Meredith, who was convinced by Gretchen to quit, and not by Rob.  (Although I'm sure seeing two other teams quit made it easier for him.)

This should not have worked, even on paper.  The rules and concepts of TAR do not seem to allow for this kind of thing to happen.  But somehow, BRob found a loophole, something absolutely within the rules (not cheating) he could exploit, and somehow made it work.  He deserved the cocky grin he had on his face when checking in to the Pit Stop.

[SVNBob]

I know I tend to post big walls of text.  But we watched 3 episodes this week (one regular and a double-length (that was really divided into two regular ones)), so strap in for an even bigger wall than usual.

The first episode is really divided into two halves because of a flight.  There were only two flights teams could take, and the teams on the first flight all checked in before the second flight even arrives in Argentina.  This is the first flight that Rob and Amber make last minute, much to the chagrin of the other 4 teams on the flight (doubly so for Lyn and Alex, who will not shut up about Rob and Amber.)   But the thing is, if Romber had missed that flight, they wouldn't have been upset with the airline, or the guy at the counter.  They would have been upset with themselves for getting lost on the way to the Roadblock before going to the airport.

Speaking of the Roadblock; Props to Joyce for getting thrown at least twice, yet still getting right back on the horse and getting things done.  Also, she's the one who does this Roadblock because she has experience with horses, and I wondered if that was just something she put on her resume for her acting career (remember, Joyce flew the Enterprise-D for a couple of years before she Raced) without actually having experience, like other actors have done.  But checking her credits, she was also a stunt-double for a couple bigger names, which would give more credence to her having real equestrian experience, and also explains how she was able to take the falls and not get hurt.  Also, somehow I missed the opportunity to make any "horse's ass" jokes regarding Ray during Deana's attempts.

First Detour was another odd one.  Either finding a shipwreck given a picture of the boat in its' prime, or locate an island.  It was very hard to determine which task would be the fastest, even after the teams did both.

After the first flight of teams checked in, the focus hit the other group, mainly Susan and Patrick.  They made a big error in Race judgement.  When they were the only ones on their train, they assumed that they had the jump on the other two teams.  But on TAR, if you know you're in a competition to avoid last place and you don't see any other teams...you need to assume you're in last.  Because if you assume you aren't (as these two did), you definitely are.  However, there was only a 3 minute difference between the two trains, so the point is actually moot.

First part of the double-length episode takes us to South Africa.  The airport sequence is interesting in that only 2 of the 7 teams are required to check their bags; Uchenna and Joyce, and Ron and Kelly.  Looking at their bags, Uchenna does have one of the biggest.  It goes from below his waist to over his head, and he's one of the tallest guys still in the Race so far (the brothers might be nearly as tall, but Uchenna is also broader across the shoulders, so he is the biggest dude.)   Ron's is of a similar size, due to his military experience.  Contrast with Rob's bag which doesn't make it quite to the top of his head, and he's around half a head shorter than Uchenna to begin with.  However, both of those teams that had to check their bags were also the only two to deal with one particular airline employee.  She might have just been a bigger stickler for the rules than the others the other teams dealt with, or it was just about bag size.  (Or both.  Coulda been both.)

While in South Africa, we finally see a down-side to the celebrity that has been aiding Rob and Amber thus far.  After missing out on the Fast Forward (which, nope!  This was the "walk across an unstable bridge with no handholds across the top of an abandoned nuclear cooling tower with a 30-story drop beneath you" FF.  Nopity nope nope nope.), they stop at a hospital to get directions.  Here, the nurses start recognizing Amber, then Rob, and want to give them a hug.  Amber says in a later TH that while it's always nice to interact with fans, it was hard to explain to them that they're in a hurry and needed to leave.  However, at the Roadblock, the reverse happens again.  Another Fern recognizes Amber in the market as she's doing the shopping for the RB, and the Fern immediately offers to help, going so far as to grab Amber by the wrist and direct her where to go.  This Fern also fangirls a little when she sees BRob as Amber's getting her purchases verifies, then offers to stay with Romber all the way to the Pit Stop.  She even checks in with them.

In between those moments was the Tunnels/Tribes Detour.  The Tunnels side involved rappelling into a cavern, then navigating through the tunnels while finding the next clue.  This is where one of the biggest accidents to happen in early TAR since Jim tripping at the starting line in TAR3 occurs.  Gretchen slips in the cave and cuts her head open.  It looks bad, but head injuries bleed worse than they actually are (ask any pro wrestling fan).  She still needs a stitch though, and continues the rest of the leg with her head wrapped in a large bandage.

(This is getting rather long, and I'm running out of time to post at the moment, so I'll continue with the other side of this Detour and the next leg (another biggie) in the next post.)

Edited August 2, 2019 by SVNBob

[SVNBob]

(Ok...where was I?  Right.)

Tribes Detour.  This was the one where teams had to go to a cultural village where representatives of 5 tribes were, and deliver 1 of 6 items belonging to each tribe, as determined by context.  We had a bit of discussion about how to tackle this one, as there's a few different methods on how to go about things.  The main conclusions we came to were that you always needed to have something with you, just in case you got lucky with the item/tribe combination, instead of just running around empty-handed.  However, a little prior knowledge would also help.  I know that the tribe names weren't seen until after teams picked up their first item.  But one of the items was a shield, and there was a Zulu contingent at the village.  I'd like to think I'd at least wonder if the Zulu were one of the five tribes upon seeing that shield, only to get it confirmed a few seconds later.

Not too much else to say about the Roadblock that wasn't in the last post, and the rest of the episode leads nicely into the next, so moving along.

"Third" episode starts with the teams driving out to a "safari park" to go feed lions, with Brian noting (in a nice bit of foreshadowing) he's not necessarily the best of drivers.  It's a staggered bunching point, since there's two feeding sessions, and all the teams will arrive long before either happens.  But this time is more notable for being the aftermath of the end of the previous leg.  It was the first of this Race's NELs, much to Meredith and Gretchen's post-injury luck.  On the flip side though, this was the first season of the expanded Philching.  So these oldsters were the first ones that Phil took not their money, but everything but their passports and the literal clothes on their backs.  My mother comment "at least its good they're wearing all black" at the time.  But at the start of the leg, they have different clothes.  She commented on that, and I paused the episode to go over the exact words Phil used.  He said they could not start the leg with any money, nor would they get any funds in their starting clue, but he did not say anything about any other belongings.  Which meant other teams would be allowed to donate anything except money before the leg started.  And once we restarted the episode, we get to the scene where Meredith thanks Uchenna for the shirt.

That, and the scene in the morning where most of the other teams loaned Meredith and Gretchen some money led us into a discussion of what we would do in that situation.  We agreed that donating clothing was a good idea on multiple counts.  First, you are helping out in a way, so karma may smile on you if the same happens to you.  Second, you're also lightening your own load.  Less stuff for you to carry allows you to move faster.  (It also might allow you to compress your bag some and not have to check it....)  I also opined that, since they knew where a few were, maybe purchasing a backpack would also be a good gesture, since using plastic bags seems worrisome and problematic.  But we did also agree with BRob that an actual cash donation that could be used for Race-related things like cab fare might be going a little far.

Lions get fed (sidebar: Cute kitties!  Want to pet!), clues get ripped, flights to Botswana are booked, and we're at the Roadblock.  This one has them trying to hit a moving sandbag with a spear, under the tutelage of a bushman.  Everyone takes a while to get the hang of this, but Ron actually does something more impressive than what they're meant to do.  He hits the knot of the rope tied to the sand bag, an even smaller target.  I don't think he was trying to hit it, but still a great shot.

The brothers and Ron/Kelly are the first to leave the Roadblock and start the self-driving to Detour.  This is somewhat important to the thing that happens next.  Because for the previous couple legs, Ron and Kelly have always just arrived ahead of Brian and Greg at every task.  Which has made the brothers slightly obsessed with Ron and Kelly.   I parallel this to Lynn and Alex's obsession with Romber, but there is a major difference.  The Ron/Kelly "obsession" was born solely from Race events, and not really that big.  The brothers were annoyed by the repeated circumstance, but not by the actual people involved.  The Romber obsession is based strictly on them being them...and them being good enough at Racing that they continue to be there.

So Brian technically finishes the Roadblock first, but Ron and Kelly somehow get ahead of them during the driving.  That's when all the pieces start adding up.  Brian's "not so good at driving", being in a right-hand drive vehicle with a manual transmission, the desire to get ahead of Ron/Kelly for once, and slippery dirt roads all lead to the worst accident in Race history since...the previous leg.  The Flipped Jeep.

It does make sense that it was a crew person that took the worst of that.  They're carrying their equipment at all times, and a vehicle accident like this one would bounce all that around and into people, mainly the closest person.  Jumping ahead a bit, it is fortunate that no one sustained any serious injuries and that everyone was ok.

But in the aftermath of that accident, we come to one of the more controversial moments of this Race.  Lynn and Alex, who were the first team behind Brian and Greg, stop to check on everyone.  The next team to come by is Romber.  And while they are concerned for everyone and don't want to see anyone hurt or eliminated in this way...they drive on by.  The rest of the teams when they show up all slow down and roll down their windows to ask if everyone is ok.  Romber is the only team that does not (except Ron/Kelly, but they were ahead of the accident and didn't see it, so they have a legitimate excuse.)

So, yeah.  This is the one decision thus far by Rob that I still can't get behind, even knowing in advance that everyone was ok.  Did they need to stop?  No.  There were already two or three vehicles there (including Lynn and Alex) and more than enough people to handle any situation.  But they should have at least paused and asked if things were ok like the other teams did.  That's the absolute least they should have done, and they didn't.  (I also don't blame Amber here.  She wasn't driving.  If she had been, they probably would have paused.) 

Continuing on the the Detour, teams either need to pound corn into meal, or fill ostrich eggs with water for storing.  Most teams take the more physical side, but Romber and later Brian/Greg choose the water.   I think there was a little bit of shame coloring Rob's decision here.  All the teams would be in the same place pounding corn meal, but the spring was a little further away, and also involved using straws to gather the water.  Combined, it means that they'd have to hear about less about not stopping to check on Brian and Greg.  (Which is notable because Lynn and Alex were making sure everyone knew Romber didn't stop, even emphasizing that as more important to Ron and Kelly than the accident itself.)

It does also appear that the Water task was the easier of the two tasks, since the teams that did it finished quickly, while the other teams took much longer to pound corn to the right consistency for the judges.  The only reason Ron and Kelly finished before Romber did was that they had a huge head start.

At the Pit Stop, there was a footrace for first between Ron/Kelly and Romber.  But during the run, Amber dropped some of the clue information.  Since we know that Racers need to have all their information with them to check in, they had to stop and pick it up.  Although I think Ron and Kelly would have still got there first anyway.

But then we get to the highlights of the leg.  Brian and Greg finally make it to the Detour in their new jeep, while there are a few teams still there, all on the Food side.  They quickly decide to go Water, which was the wise choice.  Joining in on Food would mean they'd have to spend time catching up to where the teams were before trying to pass them.  Going the other way means not playing catch-up in that manner.  And since it was a simpler and quicker task, they do finish fast...mere seconds behind Ray and Deana, the last team left doing Food.  That tiny glimmer of hope leads to the most dramatic end to a non finish-line leg.  They parked practically in the same second, but the brothers absolutely smoked Ray and Deana in a footrace to the Pit Stop.   They poured everything they had left into that run, and earned their reprieve.  Shades of Boston beating out TaraWeasel in TAR2.  And one of the most dramatic comebacks in TAR history.  Still a thing of glory to watch, even when you know what's going to happen.

[mikewho]

I couldn't stand Lynn and Alex on the race. And again, I was at that TARcon. Everyone from that season showed up except one member from one team (I can't remember her name. One of the girls who was eliminated in the second leg).

There was a table of 'trinkets' near the door. When Lynn and Alex arrived, they looked at the table and someone gave them one.

It was a round button that someone had made to resemble the Survivor logo. It said, 'I Survived...Rob and Amber...on The Amazing Race.' (There were several. I took one. Lost it when I moved).

Either Lynn or Alex looked at it, threw it so DRAMATICALLY back down on the table it bounced across and went over the other side, and declared, 'I want NOTHING to do with them!'

So they still weren't over it.

I always liked to meet the racers, but I avoided them like the plague.

Rob and Amber were the last to arrive (with Phil). The place was huge, and I didn't see them anywhere near Lynn and Alex either. But they definitely didn't care that they were there.

[kittykat]

I haven't done rewatch write ups in a while but I'm almost done with this season and it is SO MUCH BETTER than S6.

How is it better?  These ways:

The route: I know some complain about them not circumnavigating the globe but I don't mind.  The South America legs are wonderfully scenic especially the E3 drive through the Andes (or the ocean if you're Debbie and Bianca) and both Botswana legs are awesome.

The teams to root for: gone are the model heavy bickering couples.  We've got goofy brothers Brian and Greg (the smoking of Ray and Deana will never stop being satisfying to watch), the old underdogs Meredith and Gretchen and some of my favorite winners of all time Uchenna and Joyce.  I could listen to Uchenna tell Joyce how beautiful she is while she gets her head shaved on a loop (although I'm sad they split IRL).

Gone too Soon: Driving two hours in the wrong direction is fundamentally stupid but Debbie and Bianca refusing to give up and almost catching up at Meatblock was admirable.  If they had managed to pass Susan and Patrick that would have been a hell of a comeback considering there was no bunching points after everyone got their cars.  IIRC producers confirmed they checked in only minutes after S/P.

Another shout out to Ryan and Chuck who could have been great comic relief had they not lost the footrace.  Not only that but Ron and Kelly would have been eliminated instead.

Ray and Deana: Ray definitely takes the title of Jerkass of the Season.  But the fact he was only a fraction the Jerkass Jonathan was shows what a better batch of racers we had.

Romber:. I can't deny they are good racers with or without their Ferns and I could NOT stand Lynn and Alex so I was more on Rob and Amber's side.  That said, regarding Wreckgate, it would have been the considerate thing to at least SLOW DOWN and at least ask if everything was ok.  That was badly done on their part.  

Time to delve into Family Edition.  The only good thing I'll probably have to say is that that really annoying family didn't win.

[Brookside]

I'm 

Edited March 3, 2020 by Brookside

[Phebemarie]

I'm afraid the disruption to this season will mean the end of the race.  Any updates?

[AncientNewbie]

We finished s7 on our rewatch last night. @SVNBob, you did some great coverage above that highlighted some points I was thinking about too (and some I missed.)

This was a weird one for me at the original airing. Survivor had been cut out of the schedule due to a grad school class, so I had limited knowledge of Romber together and only knew them from s2 and s4 of Survivor. I did not care for them at the time, but I also didn't like the other teams that were obsessed with them. I just wanted my TAR and this wasn't it. I get why CBS was cashing in on their new reality stars, but they were just too big of stars at that time to be on a "regular people" season. I don't doubt Rob would have dragooned Ferns to help them, because that's how he operates and people just get sucked into his wake, but the people jumping to spend full days helping them seemed awkward.

I thought his Meatblock plan was brilliant and that went a long way to win me over. I do agree with many that they should have stopped at the wreck, but I also think expecting normal human interaction from Rob Mariano during a televised contest can be difficult. Looking at it 15 years later, after learning what production on Survivor  looks like, I can believe that he saw enough people around to handle it and didn't see any need to join the camera, sound, producer and contestant crowd.

Lynn and Alex seemed kind with each other and competent racers, but they wouldn't let Rob and Amber out of their heads. The Compton comment was a big mark against them in my book, and before that I was pondering how they might have been on another season. Sort of the same with Patrick, who I had to remind myself wasn't 15 during filming, but he seemed a lot less into than his mother and I don't know if being on another season would have helped him.

I wish Ryan and Chuck had been around longer. I really thought they had potential to be an interesting team.

Overall, I liked the season despite some casting and gameplay issues. It reminded me of why I liked old TAR, where the eye candy might be gone in three eps and then we'd have Mom and Dad racing the world, saying real-life (ie, stupid) things that the Survivor editors would never allow to air.

 

Edited May 5, 2020 by AncientNewbie

[Stiggs]

I am re-watching — I forgot so much. This season is really entertaining, and a breath of fresh air after season 6 (I cut my re-watch short — it was painful.). 

My BFF and I both laugh at our inexplicable adoration for Rob and Ambuh. We can't explain it, we just like them. Back when she was single, she used to joke, "If I could just find a guy who looks at me the way Rob looks at Ambuh." (And she did! They have a kid now!) I remember being wary of their stunt casting because I knew everyone would hate it, and I knew the other racers would be after them and it would be played up, and that's what happened, heh. You'd think that after the "get the twins" season karma these folks would learn to race their own race, but I'm quite sure they were prompted a LOT about Romber. 

The brothers' accident — I remember the first time I watched it didn't really bother me that Romber didn't stop because clearly they weren't needed, but I knew the optics would be bad, heh. I would have stopped and asked if everyone was okay, but I don't think not stopping in that moment was such a horrible thing. Had they seen the accident happen and just flew by, then I'd be disappointed, but I found I had the same opinion of it the second time around as I did the first. 

I loved the brothers. They were so adorable and fun, and I enjoyed their schtick. They seemed like good enough dudes. Lynn and Alex had moments where they were funny and cute, but their obsession with Romber got old and mean, fast. Same with the mom and son. 

I wish Ryan and Chuck had beaten Kelly and Ron, because they were boring and joyless. Kelly started out seemingly pretending to like Ron, and then slowly just devolved into barely concealing her contempt. She was about as fun as a pap exam. Ron was a little blah and seemed to not know how to connect with Kelly. It was like they met two days before the race, which may have been the case. One thing about Ron that kept cracking me up was his complete inability to pronounce everything. At some points he'll just be like, "Go to the town of...whatever...and find the clue box." 

I noticed that most of the folks commented a lot on how beautiful their surroundings were, and were mostly polite - or at least TAR running like crazy polite - to the locals everywhere they went. Mostly. Nobody is perfect. Alex and Lynn freaking out at the fish place and their cheating scales was embarrassing. I enjoy the race much more when the racers enjoy it. I'd say out of this group, Rob and Ambuh, the brothers, and Gretchen and Meredith were enjoying it the most, but all the teams had their enjoyable moments. This was a good season. 

[bunnyface]

I am rewatching the shows with someone who has never watched these or any show with Rob in it.  He is completely new where Rob is concerned and almost immediately said "That's guy's a jerk!"  He automatically hated him.  Rob doesn't bother me because it doesn't seem to be an overly personal thing to me.  He's playing the game; he's not personally sabotaging someone, he's not giving talking heads where he claims to hate these people.  He's just playing the game and that's what I told the person I'm watching with.  I told him "every single one of those people would have done the same thing IF they had thought of it before Rob did.  He just thought of it first."  And if they hadn't done it, they certainly would have preached (and preached and preached) on why they didn't do it and how that makes them superior.  

Edited June 16, 2020 by bunnyface
Clarity

[kaygeeret]

On 6/16/2020 at 4:19 PM, bunnyface said:

I am rewatching the shows with someone who has never watched these or any show with Rob in it.  He is completely new where Rob is concerned and almost immediately said "That's guy's a jerk!"  He automatically hated him.  Rob doesn't bother me because it doesn't seem to be an overly personal thing to me.  He's playing the game; he's not personally sabotaging someone, he's not giving talking heads where he claims to hate these people.  He's just playing the game and that's what I told the person I'm watching with.  I told him "every single one of those people would have done the same thing IF they had thought of it before Rob did.  He just thought of it first."  And if they hadn't done it, they certainly would have preached (and preached and preached) on why they didn't do it and how that makes them superior.  

Edited June 16 by bunnyface · Reason: Clarity

Except, Rob was just IRATE that someone would DARE to employ his own tactics against him e.g. banning him from the bus.  I was laughing at his outrage because it actually seemed sincere.

Which made his over the top condemnation of Uchenna/Joyce and the older couple so much more satisfying.  I am talking about the plane reservation issue to Istanbul where Rob/Amber were so convinced they were better, smarter and downright the best folks to ever appear on TV, that the revelation they were third made me laugh out loud and enjoy the ride.

If you are going to screw over other folks, when they try to get back attcha ya'...you need to respect that. And demeaning the intellegience of others is beyond the pale.

Bringing me to Ron's teammate - the beauty queen - know henceforward the TBQ.  What a poor excuse for a human being.  Her conversation with Ron and his "lack of commitment" resulting in her basically saying that he BECAME A POW TO GET OUT OF THE MILITARY - I spit out some water.  I had not remembered that.

I opposed our involvement in both Vietnam and the Iraq war.  She was out of line and just the singular definition of someone who has never had to work a day in her life...or something I am not articulate enough to say right now.

NO ONE signs up to be a POW, my god, what in creation was she thinking - and then to look at the camera and SMILE!?

I turned it off after, just couldn't.  Just because I don't think a war is justified doesn't mean I don't know people who served honorably and with courage.  I hope she is eliminated and never seen again.

[txvoodoo]

On 4/12/2018 at 12:30 AM, bunnyblue said:

Alex and Lynn: UGH. Their obsession with Rob and Amber was unhealthy and annoying. They would not shut up, and I was glad when karma got them and their boat broke down and Romber ended up passing them. They weren't funny gays, they were just nasty. I hated when Lynn compared the streets of Botswana to Compton; really dude??

I'm rewatching now, and I'd forgotten just how racist they were. Not only with the Compton remark, but in the same scene, calling on guy on the street Tupac, and offensively rolling up their car windows. And then in the scene detour of carrying water or milking the goat, when Uchenna and Joyce were carrying the things, Lynn was saying something like "well, they're made for this" and I just wished right then that they'd be knocked out. 

On the rewatch, Greg and Brian remind me SO much of the Property Brothers, it isn't even funny. 

On 4/12/2018 at 12:30 AM, bunnyblue said:

What the hell was Ray's obsession about not losing to an old man (Meredith)?

If there was an -ism, Ray was determined to demonstrate it. I honestly cheered every time they were beat by someone he despised. Hey, Ray, the old people, the gay people, the girls all beat you. Chew on that. 

On 6/17/2019 at 3:09 PM, Lantern7 said:

Yes, Ramber was stuntcast, but I didn't feel things were rigged for them to go to Day 39 against one average team (Uchenna & Joyce) and a bickering duo (Ron & Kelly).  They had four first-place finishes in total, and they added three more in TAR11. I reckon that's proof they were good Racers, even as twenty other people were hoping for them to fail.

I've always been a Rob fan. Yeah, he's cocksure and can be an ass, but he's also smart as hell and yet has a gift of making everyone he's competing with, on Survivor or TAR, believe that they're more clever than he is. He's very self-aware, too. He very much looks out for number one. But one thing that endears him is that his number one includes Amber, and always has. He never is disparaging to her. Their relationship, compared to so very many couples on TAR that we've seen, is a breath of fresh air. They work so well together. And they've lasted a long time! 

Also, watching from this time distance, the fame of them being on Survivor seems rather insignificant, but that's probably because since then, we've seen the rise of the Kardashians and all that. Comparatively Rob & Amber are small potatoes.

They really made me giggle though when referring to all the goats they were milking as "he"!

--------

As I'm doing my rewatches, the non-elim mugging is even worse than I remembered. I'm so glad they stopped that. SO cringey. 

On 7/14/2019 at 8:54 PM, dgpolo said:

I still can't believe the girls who drove 2 hours in the wrong direction! Didn't they know they needed to get to the mountains?

When they started admiring the OCEAN, I was flabbergasted!

---------

As I'm watching this, I'm remembering the things I thought on originally watching. These people all seem to think that it's a group game. It's crazy! Also they wasted a lot of time working to take down other teams rather than running their own race. Very self defeating. 

On 11/17/2019 at 8:36 PM, kittykat said:

Time to delve into Family Edition

Ugh. I barely watched it first time, and won't again. What a misstep that season was. 

On 6/12/2020 at 10:48 AM, Stiggs said:

I enjoy the race much more when the racers enjoy it.

This is so true, of every season. One of the first things that drew me into TAR was seeing all the wonderful places and peoples. If I ever feel like the racers are taking it for granted, it sours me on that team, and makes watching TAR less enjoyable until they're gone. I mean, if you're lucky enough to get on TAR, why would you not appreciate it? 

On 6/12/2020 at 10:48 AM, Stiggs said:

She was about as fun as a pap exam.

LOL great line, and so true!

LONG POST. Sorry! At least I know I'm typing to a group of people who get it.