S23: Talk

[Whimsy]

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

[Supay]

It was Marie's World and the other 21 contestants were just along for the ride, including the actual returnees for the debacle around the corner.

[Roccos Brother]

Nope! If I can get through Season 8, then I can get through just about anything!

Interestingly enough, I think I actually missed this season when it first aired, so another all new season for me to enjoy. Yay!

ER Doctors = Frank and Margarita 2.0 (but with a weaker female)

Beards = Bj and Tyler 2.0

NFL players = token former athletes who probably don’t need the money while possessing the physical advantage 8.0

Token pretty blondes & token pretty girls = token pretty blondes & token pretty girls that are completely indistinguishable from all the ones that came before 56.0

Floating in saltwater while reading a newspaper was a cute concept. Jason’s butt deserves its own reality show.

Afghanimals and ice princesses is an example of how a budding “romance”/flirtation on this show can actually work to be cute and entertaining.

Tim hitting on Jason (in costume, no less) is an even better example – second idea for a reality show! Tim in a yukata is the second part of that show. Walking vending machine is a guest-star.

I adored the afghanimals, they were by far, the best reason to watch this season. “My wife is pregnant!” I don’t know why they were hated on by so many of the other teams – oh well, SUCK IT HATERS!

Tasks with costumes, especially cross-dressing are great. Fragile masculinity (i.e. bitching and moaning about wearing a dress) is not.

I wanted the father/daughter team to go further, seems like getting in the wrong taxi was what ultimately did them in.

Tim and Marie played the role of villains so well, you’d think they were hired actors in a scripted show, with the way they continuously taunted others with the express pass.

I also wanted the bingo boys to go further. The ticket salespeople at the bus station screwed them over, but then they went on to make one of the dumbest mistakes in TAR history. They clearly have never watched the show. Even if the clue didn’t specify searching for a marked station, common sense should dictate that if they have to beg someone to ALLOW them to perform the roadblock, then they were clearly doing something wrong.

I originally liked the ER doctors – but using (wasting) an express pass on two relatively simple tasks without attempting them, so you could then U-turn the team right behind you, all because “they lied and we want to show our moral superiority”? NO. JUST NO. That type of petty self-righteous can be enough to permanently taint a season for me. It brings to mind the awful dreck that was Season 16 where both U-turns were used for trivial personal reasons.

[dgpolo]

Whoa! only one other comment in this thread!

Jason and Amy. I suppose among those left they were the least nasty so there's that. Have NO idea why they kept helping Nicole. The Drs won quite a few legs, why help them into the final? I did like when Jason asked the Juneau cabbie if he spoke English 'All my life' ha! And speaking of why were there so many cabs lined up where the helicopters let them out? was it an airport?

Tim and Marie. Yuck, I am soo glad she didn't win, she would've been even more insufferable than she was. Having an extra Express Pass does not make you a demi god. She was a bully and constantly yelling. Making Tim sign a 60/40 contract! being upset that the BB wives got the first standby tickets to the point of giving them a U-turn. But she did kick butt on the robot task.

Nicole and Travis. Such hypocrites! call Leo and Jamal out for lying and then try to blatantly cheat, why was she even allowed in the judging area without an instrument? Plus Travis was a jerk to her, I wonder if they even allowed their kids to watch the whole race. But brilliant use of blackmail to get the express pass off of Marie (though I don't know why she trusted Marie to actually give it to her, I thought she was going to demand it be handed over immediately) and I also think Tim and Marie should've had to go back to get the 'clue'. (they even had to bring their shield clue to the pit stop, looked like)

Leo and Jamal. The Afghanimals first appearance. Another team that is basically 'on' all the time, Leo more than Jamal. And they could be annoying but I thought they were fun. Leo is certainly easily distracted.

Wish Adam and Brandon and Chester and Ephraim had gone farther, liked what I saw of both those teams. I thought C&E would be a perfect candidate for another 'unfinished business' season. And it would've been fun if Adam and Brandon could've been there for the beard task last season (?)(Sorry getting them confused watching them one after the other)

I do worry a bit when there are racers as big as C&E, after seeing Big Easy not ALLOWED to do tasks because of his size in a future season, it makes me wonder what would happen if there is one that NEITHER team member could do.

Tim and Danny, why would dressing as a woman be humiliating! I wanted to punch him in the face. Get over yourself.

2nd time they had the RBlocker be the person on the ground.

Has anyone ever gained a real advantage for being a few second ahead of a crowd of people all trying to grab a clue from the box or a person?

What happened to the digital U-turn board?

I found the finale pretty bland. I guess really most of the race was pretty bland.

[displayname]

I thought Tim and Marie were hilarious, and Marie specifically is one of the toughest competitors ever on the show.

[LadyChatts]

In the end, I would have preferred Tim and Marie to win over Jason/Amy.  Something about those two always just bugged, and I could never really figure out why.  And as much as I dislike the Afghanimals (more so in this season than the other ones they showed up in), I would have been fine with them making the final 3 over Nicole/Travis.  I liked them at first, but then Travis turned into a jerk, and Nicole seemed like she couldn't get by without help.  And it annoyed me with Amy that, even in the end, she'd still hold up her own team to help her out.  I couldn't believe Nicole actually expected Jamal to help her with that musical instrument RB, and followed him into the judging area to see what his looked like.  I get she was getting desperate, but I don't know why she'd think the guy she U-turned and had clashed with would want to help her.    

Marie made it clear she wasn't there to make friends, and was there to win.  While I didn't care for her at first, I ended up really liking her at the end of the season.  Her and Tim are on my list of strongest teams to never win, and I really think Marie could hold her own against anyone.  

I really liked the first 4 teams out, and it's unfortunate that bad luck/not paying attention to clues ended up doing them in.  With the exception of Tim/Marie, I would have traded any of the other final 4 for any of the teams that went out before them.   

Edited August 5, 2019 by LadyChatts

[bunnyblue]

I binged this entire season in 2 days and have a few thoughts:

I remember not liking Marie during the initial airing of the season but I found myself rooting for her and Tim during this rewatch. Yes, she was annoying at first with demanding people help her because she had the extra Express Pass to give, but once she handed it over to Nicole & Travis she seemed to mellow out a bit. And I give her major props for boiling those eggs long enough during her first try that she ended up cutting into the big lead of the other teams. Though, I wonder if she was playing it up for the cameras when she acted like she didn't know how to boil an egg. And she really kicked ass in the robot building challenge; she blew past incompetent-Nicole and too-nice-Amy who were working together and Leo who got there before her. After that I really wanted her and Tim to win (since the Afghanimals ended up being eliminated).

OMG, Nicole! I kept asking myself "is she really an ER doctor?!" because she repeatedly wilted under pressure. Yes, Travis was an ass with the constant badgering (and I was left wondering what that relationship is like off-camera), but her incompetence during Roadblocks was astounding and really cost them. I was done with her when she literally begged Amy not to leave the Roadblock until she helped her. WTF!! And then she did it again during the robot-building!! And then she has the nerve to yell at Amy to not listen to Marie and concentrate on helping her (Nicole). That is some seriously ugly behavior. 

Jason was right to get pissed at Amy for staying to help Nicole one too many times. But I didn't like how he yelled at her to "shut up!" on the Mat when they were arguing over cab-gate with Marie & Tim. For the most part, Tim Jason wasn't offensive but there were times when he gave off a verbally-abusive-jerk-vibe and it soured me on him. I wonder if they're still together.

Edited December 10, 2020 by bunnyblue
Jason not Tim. Whoops.

[dgpolo]

4 hours ago, bunnyblue said:

I remember not liking Marie during the initial airing of the season but I found myself rooting for her and Tim during this rewatch. Yes, she was annoying at first with demanding people help her because she had the extra Express Pass to give, but once she handed it over to Nicole & Travis she seemed to mellow out a bit.

While I didn't go that far when I re-watched this season I did admit that Marie was one hell of a racer!

Tim and Marie weren't even a couple when they raced so they wouldn't have been together after the race. She had approached him to be her partner and got him to sign a document giving her a bigger percentage of the winnings (if they won, don't remember the amount)

[bunnyblue]

10 minutes ago, dgpolo said:

While I didn't go that far when I re-watched this season I did admit that Marie was one hell of a racer!

Tim and Marie weren't even a couple when they raced so they wouldn't have been together after the race. She had approached him to be her partner and got him to sign a document giving her a bigger percentage of the winnings (if they won, don't remember the amount)

Sorry, I typed Tim when I meant Jason...I wonder if Jason & Amy are still together because he came off a bit asshole-ish a few times with his treatment of her.

As for Marie & Tim: she had him sign a contract that they'd split the $1 million 60/40, with her share being 60%. 

Edited December 10, 2020 by bunnyblue