S22: Talk

[Rusun]

The commercials' teaser song, "We Come Running" by Youngblood Hawke, promised some feel-good light-hearted innovation to the series. Alas, the hype dwarfed the actual finished product.

 

• It would be the last season to use the graphics and sound established since TAR14, including the intro.
• Dualism pervades seemingly everything: the introduction of double Express Passes, the fresh first half of the route juxtaposed against the stale second, the Janus-faced passive-aggression between the opposing alliances.
• In spite of the pleasing scenery, the smaller-than-life cast inexplicably provided the glut of All Star 3's lineup.
• The winning team was not only statistically dominant, but also savvy enough with the social game to avoid all W-Turns.
• Family Edition cameo(s) aside, the finale turned out to be a disappointing exercise in predictability, not to mention the  culture-free penultimate leg.

[TheRabbi]

I thought this was a pretty good season.

 

The route:  excellent.  I'm not sure I agree with the statement that the first half of the route was fresh while the second half was stale.  The only leg that sucked in the second half was the Swiss leg.  Visits to Scotland and Ireland for the first time in ages, and Botswana hadn't been done since season 7.  And the first half featured the 3rd trip to Indonesia in the last 4, along with more trips to Vietnam and NZ.  I'm not complaining about the route though, as I think it was pretty great and varied.  Bora Bora was a great new location after s21 gave us no new countries.  And that Ireland leg I thought was one of the better legs of recent memory, so we have plenty to disagree on!

 

The cast I also thought was overall very good.  The only stinkers were probably Caroline and Jen and Joey and Megan.  The final 3 was great, though it was admittedly done in by a terribly designed finale, and it was given no favors by the fact that it was a landslide victory after s21's nailbiter.  One of the worst finales the show has done.  But back to the cast, there was a pretty good balance of teams.  There were 4 M/M teams, but only one of them was a typical alpha-male team (and naturally they went on to win).  Mona and Beth and Pam and Winnie were really strong F/F teams, and then add in 3 wildly different couples to top it off.  J/J is one of the most awe-inducing eliminations ever, Chuck and Wynona are some good comic relief, and Max and Katie I found hilarious and great despite the editors' attempt to villainize them.  

 

Overall, the tasks were good too.  There were certainly some clunkers, like digging the scorpion hole, the fire vs. fowl detour, the entire Swiss and finale legs, but some really great ones as well.  The second Bora Bora leg, Bali, Vietnam, Berlin, and Ireland all being well above-average.

 

So for me, an above average cast, above average and varied route, and good team dynamics and editing make this a good season.

Edited May 11, 2014 by TheRabbi

[Whimsy]

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

[Supay]

Damn, Jodi Wincheski's alleged rigging to get her former competitors on Unfinished Business retroactively improved Season 14, yet the opposite happened to this one save perhaps the Bali-boot(s).

 

Anyhow, the foolish (and grossly overrated) runner-ups ought to have embarked on the following course of action in the tenth leg:

 

1. Acknowledge that their alliance with Hockey, as the remaining team noticeably stronger than everyone else (only one of the F5 with an average ranking < 3.00, the other four having > 4.00 each), will be of no further service so late in the game.
2. Break said alliance behind Hockey's back and approach Derby/YouTube with mutually beneficial offer to U-Turn the brothers out of the game.
3. Secure seats on the Berlin-Edinburgh flight not just for themselves, but also the moms and the other M/F team (effectively limiting their former alliance members to the other, later one).
4. U-Turn Hockey (doesn't matter if YouTube gets ahead since they already used their U-Turn back in Hanoi).
5. Have Derby U-Turn them in the same manner that Texas U-Turn'd the Chippendales after the latter already U-Turn'd the Divorcees (yes, all were already racing at the time that episode was airing, but then people still blame Season 14 for having a negative cast despite the sequester thing not occurring until halfway into that season).
6. Let the Singers and YouTube fight it out to see who gets the final elimination.

Edited January 10, 2016 by Supay

[Writing Wrongs]

I can't believe how stupid John was not to use the Express Pass. From the way he was acting, I think he may had some severe OCD or other problem.

[Kanaloa]

On 10/30/2016 at 4:24 PM, Writing Wrongs said:

I can't believe how stupid John was not to use the Express Pass. From the way he was acting, I think he may had some severe OCD or other problem.

Funnily enough, the very first EP holders on the Canadian edition met the same fate in less than a year's difference of filming between them (late autumn 2012 for the Yankees and mid spring 2013 for the Canucks, respectively). 

Edited November 7, 2016 by Kanaloa

[Roccos Brother]

I watched this season when it aired many years ago, and only vaguely remember what happens. Rewatching it now, I'm surprised I didn't remember the surfboard incident at all - perhaps, I wasn't paying attention and missed it the first time. Connor absolutely "cheated" (for lack of better word) when he snuck a peak at Winnie's surfboard and robbed her of the first place finish, after he had declined to work with her! What a POS. That was such poor sportsmanship. Now I have this new found animosity towards him that I did not previously have when this season first aired or during all-stars.

Edited December 27, 2017 by Roccos Brother

[TheRabbi]

Can I just say how thoroughly I enjoyed this season when watching the Amazon DVD's that just came out. Really a lot better than I remember it.

I'l get the bad stuff out of the way:

The finale ultimately being decided on that ridiculous family edition switchback with the spies. Terrible.

The Switzerland leg, while having a number of funny moments, is just designed terribly, with tons of train equalizers. 

Finally, there's no doubting some of the roadblocks aren't particularly challenging.

 

But this season is great. Bates and Anthony are genuinely funny guys. I don't get why Mona and Beth are the only team that realized having an alliance bring them to the final 3 was a bad idea, but I digress. The Botswana episodes, especially the second one, are fantastic. And there is a ton of driving and self-navigation. Teams had to drive in New Zealand, both Botswana episodes, Germany, Scotland, and Belfast. That has to be more than any season in recent memory.

Chuck and Wynona are hilarious, I love Max and Katie (and they were a joy to meet in person as well). I was also surprised how much I loved Megan. I can't stand Joey, as he seems ridiculously fake, but Megan was all kinds of awesome (sadly I don't care enough to look up the correct spelling of her name). And Mona and Beth are the best and most memorable team of the year.

Great location variety, mostly good tasks along the way, and a great cast. Good season, even with the finale clunker.

[Roccos Brother]

3 hours ago, Geenee said:

I don't blame you for forgetting this season: it's the most egregious case of style over substance from production, thinking that viewer-bait tourist traps will compensate for a bland cast.

Bora bora really was incredibly gorgeous to see though, probably one of the most memorable destinations yet. But I agree, definitely a lackluster cast.

[Roccos Brother]

Thought this cast was extremely boring the first time it aired, rewatching it now is no better. The country singers and hockey players are the most generic reality TV white people ever. Whoever cast them should be fired, or assigned to work on The Real World. The boring budding romance/flirtation storyline would suit that type of show better.

Edited December 29, 2017 by Roccos Brother

[sinycalone]

Different strokes, etc.  Yep, a few weak challenges....but most were tough and well-designed.  I found Bates and Anthony funny -- and top racers.  And I agree with the poster who found Connor's behavior (Conor?  who cares) reprehensible.  A couple of the early eliminations were surprising because they seemed to be promising competitors  Overall, one of my favorite later races.

[dgpolo]

My rewatch thoughts for this one. I didn't mind Bates and Anthony winning, for an alpha male team they at least were nice and funny and weren't jerks, didn't fight, weren't ugly Americans, but still... I wish someone else had won. Pure luck on the spy challenge and more luck with the balls left a bad taste too. Why did Anthony help the Derby moms with the Titanic challenge? if he hadn't his 'buddies' the blondes might have had a better chance to reach the final 3. Also think everyone should have been U-turning them all along. Why help the strongest team?

Max and Katie were...weird. Especially Katie, she seemed very flat, emotionally. Like she could play Seven of Nine's little sister. She had to consciously turn on the 'social' persona. But she was a racer who was -actually- good at the details. I like how she figured out the 5 courses at the Titanic task (which...morbid much?)

Mona and Beth were strong but I kept forgetting who they were.

Country girls were bland.

I really liked Joey and Meghan. I feel he got a lot of the same hate a future U-tuber also got. I think that guys that are always 'on' are disliked a whole lot more than women who are always 'on'. It's like it's ok for a girl to be like that but not a guy so people think they are 'fake'. I think it's just his personality and he's lucky that there is a place like U-tube where that kind of personality can flourish. If I was around that type of personality in real life (male or female) it would probably drive me nuts because I am more introverted, but on TV I don't mind as much especially one who seems as goodnatured as Joey. I loved how he kept telling Meghan it wasn't her fault when they were last in Switzerland.

John and Jessica going out with the Express pass was so dumb! I don't understand what he was thinking! He had to know he was at least almost last so why take a chance. and then he thought he could go to the pit stop to look at the correct boards? he was nuts!

Didn't like Connor looking at the board, did like that he knew exactly how to land in the manure pond, he timed jumping off the inner tube so he landed on his feet and didn't flop into it like everyone else.

Why would you go on the Race in Season 22 and not take care of your fear of water before you left?

The Eiger challenge was one of the scarier ones, I thought, especially having to move your line over and unclasping the gnome.

What on earth did the guy in the bar mean when he told Joey 'I thought you were with the cat police' ?!? that part was REALLY trippy!

I don't think even the producers liked the globe challenge at the end. They cut out more than half of it, just all of a sudden you saw everyone finding their last one.

All in all there were some good challenges and some dumb moves. And gorgeous scenery as always.

ETA: I forgot to mention when John and Jessica went into a random backyard and tried to make up a challenge to do! Their cab driver finally told them where to go-- another instance of a cab driver knowing about tasks before they get their fare?

Edited August 4, 2019 by dgpolo
forgot something

[displayname]

13 hours ago, dgpolo said:

I really liked Joey and Meghan. I feel he got a lot of the same hate a future U-tuber also got. I think that guys that are always 'on' are disliked a whole lot more than women who are always 'on'. It's like it's ok for a girl to be like that but not a guy so people think they are 'fake'.

I don't know if I agree if guys who are "on" are hated more than women who are "on" -- Rachel Reilly was constantly "on" in a negative way for many, and she got plenty of hate. I think it's more that people still react more to socially-acceptable personas. A "positive" guy is hated for expressing his opinions in a "camp" way -- but not when he does so "acceptably" like Jon (of Kris and Jon) from season 6 used to.

Edited August 4, 2019 by displayname

[dgpolo]

46 minutes ago, displayname said:

I don't know if I agree if guys who are "on" are hated more than women who are "on" -- Rachel Reilly was constantly "on" in a negative way for many, and she got plenty of hate.

I don't think her being 'on' was the problem, being whiny, fighting with Brendon and 'fake' crying were why people hated her. And I don't think she was 'on' the way Joey is. Mallory was 'on' and she was a fan favorite, Brook was 'on' and she Claire were fan favorites, or the cheerleaders in 27. Actually I think being 'on' is almost a requirement for being a cheerleader. And being a cheerleader is again more acceptable for girls than guys. So I think we are basically agreeing. Joey (and Tyler) are perceived negatively and as 'fake' because their type of personality (in a man) isn't acceptable to some. For instance Joey's reactions during the scorpion task were considered 'over the top' but I don't think he was faking them, that's just how he reacts and he would react the same way whether or not other people, or cameras, were around.