S28.E02: You Look Like Gollum

[cooksdelight]

Am I so spoiled by hotels in the US that I always assume they will provide a hair dryer in the room? Is this not true around the world, at least in the level of hotels that the teams would generally stay in at pit stops?

Everywhere I stayed in Europe -- hotels, inns, people's houses -- they had hairdryers. I'd never think of packing a curling iron. I do hope she and Daddy are gone soon because I feel sorry for that man. Free Blair's Daddy!!

[Vicky8675309]

Hair dryer and curling iron?!??  O.  M.  G!  And her head still looks like a rat's nest.  I'll venture that she won't be taking the head-shaving fast Forward.

 

So much stupid chatter.  El race-o!  Pink emeralds!  Your bum looks great!  A traumatic experience with a fish...caught in the poop-crotch...  (?!??)

 

The shrieking is approaching dangerous levels.  Somebody from Health and Safety needs to say something.

 

Overall, I'd say that the LookAtMe-ing is way down, although still to be found in some instances.  While less LAMing is good, the increase in shrill screaming somewhat counters the improvement.  Joslyn telling Erin to STFU and concentrate on business is a very encouraging sign.  Any way, I thought it was a good episode, or at least, better than last week.  I expected someone to go ass-over-teakettle down the steps at the mud volcano, but never thought anyone would freak out over a little fish laying on the beach.  Far less a little fish laying on a plate!  The challenges were good, and Phil was good, and for the most part the racing was good mixed with stupid (IOW, normal).  Sorry for the departing team, but I think they were the source of "El race-o!" , in which case, prolly better if they go.

 

Didn't the race once provide swimming gear if it was needed and the racer(s) didn't have any?  And if you were on TAR and had to jump into a mud volcano, wouldn't you just jump in in your thong -- or stark naked, if needed -- should you not have a suitable suit?  You know they'll pixelate your bits for TV, so what's the big deal?

 

One good think I'm taking away, is the "smashed plantain" dish.  Never seen that before, but it's obviously a thing in Cartegena, because they have neat little plantain-smashers in the kitchen!

 

 

I love plantains, but I've never seen them in that flower shape before.  Interesting point about the swimming gear, because last year at the volleyball competition, everyone had a white bikini on in the same cut, so I'm assuming they were provided to the racers.  But not here....

 

 

I lived in Panama the first 15 years of my life and we ate plantain like this all the time.

 

Patacones (fried plantains) are twice fried and lightly salted and oh so yummy (very starchy). I didn't cook (was a kid/teen) but I found a ton of recipes for them (we called them patacones):

http://www.food.com/recipe/patacones-fried-plantain-92191

 

I also like them when they are boiled or baked...when then come out soft (just a little chewy) and slightly sticky/sweet

[QuantumMechanic]

Fine, Blair accidentally unpacked her bathing suit when she got rid of her curling iron and blow dryer. Why didn't she just wear a sports bra and underwear? Whoever loaned her an outfit was nicer than necessary.

 

Sounds like she said all her underwear are thongs.  And she said she felt embarrassed wearing a thong in front of her dad.

[millennium]

Tyler is the only person I have ever heard of prior to the start of this season (I am not sure how that is the case, I have never watched any of his videos but for some reason I know who he is), I have no clue who these other folks are.  I really can't put a finger on it but there is something that really irks me about Tyler.  He has not done anything as of yet to warrant my feelings of irk towards him but he does irk me.

 

 

Me too.   He comes off phony.   Now I have to see his face plastered all over my Hulu at commercial breaks.   He has a new show there.  From the look of it, the show consists of Tyler grinning and being precious in silly costumes.  Whatever.

 

Brody and fellow Bigmouth got the mute button every time they appeared on camera. 

 

My favorite line of the episode came from either Marty or Hagan (whoever's the mom), addressed to their Colombian cab driver:

 

"We're in a race.  El race-o." 

Edited February 22, 2016 by millennium

[Netfoot]

How in the world could a fish get into your personal space?  how?

 

Speculating:  Too much Panky and not enough Hanky?

[etagloh]

Catching up: yes, it's a bit shrieky, but the teams are generally good natured (for now). The curious thing about this season is that teams haven't been acting out their captions as much over the first couple of legs, perhaps because they already have some degree of comfort with a camera, as well as established social-media personas. Otherwise, it feels like a regular season opening: a few teams that are eliminations waiting to happen, a few that look like they'll lodge themselves at the front, a couple who may emerge as the race progresses.

 

(Parts of) Colombia becoming safe enough for TAR makes up a little bit for all of the countries that were once potential destinations and now aren't.

[aradia22]

I don't know their personalities enough to hate anyone so I basically just hate anyone who yells all the time. That would Brodie & Kurt, Cole, Blair... Now I remember why I couldn't watch her beauty videos... that voice...

 

Well, Marty and Hagan were a little annoying. Mostly Hagan. Not unbearable but too early to excuse it with KF.

[aradia22]

 

Seems like every season I comment on the absurdity of racers competing while wearing a full face of makeup at all times but never once did I imagine one would bring not just a hair dryer but also a curling iron.  I just can't with Blair.

Is it smart to lug that around? No. But I can see where it wouldn't be crazy. They don't tend to stay in hotels on the race but they do mix things up with the more rugged vs. posh locales. And there have been a couple of challenges involving makeup. That's the thing when you sign up. You're not sure which version of the show you're going to get. Some people have had it easy and some people have had it way too hard. And yet somehow there's always complaining.

 

Tyler reallllly needs to work on that comic like huh yuk yuk yuk laugh he has going. Oh man...

I'm with you on everything else but that's his real laugh. I think it's cute.

 

I am so curious what will happen in a uturn situation. These people are all so supportive of each other.

Now, this is kind of interesting to me. For the lower tier people like Marty and Hagan it doesn't matter. But for most of the others, being around the other racers is like networking. On youtube in particular, there's a big focus on collab videos. And fan communities can be very loyal and rabid. So how you behave to other racers could very much affect your life after the show much more than with the regular teams.

 

Did that one gal not know that emeralds are green?

To be fair, it was unclear that there were different kinds of stones so you could just assume that once you found something that was right. I'm going to give her the benefit of the doubt because the people whose business it is to convince us that rocks are valuable are very good at making the whole thing confusing. A few minutes on google suggests that all emeralds must be green but emeralds are a green variation of beryl which can be blue, pink, yellow, red, etc. Sapphires can be white, green, yellow, pink, black, etc.

[Kromm]

Blair is clearly a super-spaz once you strip away the glamour girl stuff--we really saw that in the second half of the episode.  So I've decided while I might have to plug my ears occasionally, I actually (at this point--and somewhat contrary to I'm sure almost everyone else here) love her. Why? She amuses me. That admittedly could change--we shall see.  She doesn't seem malicious, and while she clearly takes advantage of her Dad in a million little ways, she also does clearly love him. She seemed self-aware--even a little self-amused--about how ridiculous her extra beauty care items were, so I choose to see that in terms of her actually having a sense of humor rather than focus on how stupid (and/or selfish) it was to have them in her Dad's pack in the first place.

 

The Clevver Girls are super-ear-piercingly loud at times, but I do think they have a really good race attitude. From this episode I CAN see how some people last episode were confusing them with the Instagram Models (also loud).

 

Actually the common theme here DOES seem to be this IS a really loud cast. That said, while it might wear on me eventually a lot more, at this point I see it as real enthusiasm and not the infamous "look at me-ism"

 

There was definitely a fair amount of Cab Luck in this episode--both shown and unshown (unshown: for example, the way the Clevver Girls placed ahead of those other two teams even though they left the beach after them).

 

"We're In a Race-O" is definitely going down in the Big Book of Great Amazing Race Lines. I watched that back a few times. That wasn't planned, I think--they really WERE that dumb IMO. Or if it WAS planned, then I suppose they deserve an award for putting on that good of a dumb act.

I find Blair hilarious, but her voice will probably end up grating hard.

Okay, I guess I'm not alone. She's funny--either intentionally or not I'm not yet sure. And her Dad doesn't seem to be suffering anymore than any other Dad of a Daddy's Girl. She clearly adores him--that was no act.  The voice made me squirm a bit at times, but once you saw her have to get really down and dirty in some of these tasks, while there was some girls squealing, she also came off, like I said, uppost, as just kind of a spaz. And I mean that in the good interpretation of that, not the bad one--someone who might put on an illusion of being functional at times, but has a bit of endearing loser-ness to them as well. Edited February 22, 2016 by Kromm

[whiskeyandfeet]

Packing a hairdryer AND curling iron, but no swimsuit.

 

Holy shit.

 

I basically hate this season 2 episodes in. Darius and Cameron aren't bad guys but they're not racing very well. So therefore I don't like anyone. Should I... should I tap out?

Edited February 22, 2016 by whiskeyandfeet

[Kromm]

Packing a hairdryer AND curling iron, but no swimsuit.

 

Holy shit.

 

I basically hate this season 2 episodes in. Darius and Cameron aren't bad guys but they're not racing very well. So therefore I don't like anyone. Should I... should I tap out?

Honestly, if you can only stand one team (and apparently barely)? Maybe so.

I've decided to see these folks as oddly normal in a world where everyone takes selfies and tweets and instagrams their life, but know not everyone's going to be able to make that jump in their thinking. They DO seem to mostly be having honest fun--and that's something that's lacking in some seasons. Maybe the fact that they ARE aware that the exposure they get through the show is more valuable than the cash prize might put some off and going into a "they don't really need it!" mode of criticism, but the flip side of that is since even the least of them might not really NEED to win the money... it's allowed a fairly congenial/drama-light interaction between them--these folks (so far) all seem to like each other and how often do we scream about "drama" on the race? So those are the upsides for me, even if we get a lot of Loud People, and people singing music from the show, and them interacting with Phil somewhat informally.

Anyway, not saying you SHOULD tap out, but if you're really thinking that so fast, I just wonder if it's likely to get better. And really we SHOULD only watch stuff we either enjoy, or that edify us, I suppose. One or the other.

[RCharter]

Packing a hairdryer AND curling iron, but no swimsuit.

 

Holy shit.

 

I basically hate this season 2 episodes in. Darius and Cameron aren't bad guys but they're not racing very well. So therefore I don't like anyone. Should I... should I tap out?

I'll be sad if the brothers leave, because I like them.  But I also kinda like Rooster Teeth....they seem like good people, and I like Tyler/Korey.  If I'm left with "we're gonna use our looks to get ahead," Princess Blair, and the angry dancer girl that is starting to remind me of Hayley I might be that into it.  I'm hoping against hope that the brothers reflect, think through their mistakes and get back on track.  They were able to make up time in the first leg and surpass other teams so I think if they have a sense of urgency they can do it again.

[blackwing]

I am having a hard time telling many of the women apart.  Particularly the two young female/female teams.  One team is a team of internet models and the other is a team of internet show hosts, or something like that.  I don't know who is who and in the end I don't think I particularly care, I would rather just both of them leave quickly.

 

The whole "OMG this is so funny, this one time at band camp, I was with this hot guy Scott, he was like soooooo hot and all the girls wanted him but I got him first so YAY ME.  Anyways, we went down to the lake at 1 AM and I suggested that we go skinny dipping.  I was like so shocked when he actually did it I didn't think he would!  I was having a great time but then this fish starting nibbling at my hoo-hah and OMG it freaked me out soooooo much" story from the one girl who was talking and looking at the camera while doing the task is a good example of why I am not particularly enjoying this season so far.  Every season has its share of contestants who pander to the camera, but now we seem to have every team that is always "ON" all the time and thinking about things to say so they can up their viewer count.

 

Too bad for the mom/daughter, but they weren't particularly good or bright and I'm glad the cannon fodder is out early.  "We're in a race-o" should have been the episode quote.  I did like the daughter saying "Really mom.  'Race-o'?"

 

The dancer couple.  I like the guy, he does seem calm all the time, so I found it funny when his girlfriend was shrieking and she said she is either at 0 or 10 while he is always at 5 no matter what.  When is she ever at 0?  I have a feeling she will be at 10 the whole time, and she will shriek at him constantly.  Ugh.

 

Phil called that thing a "volcano".  Are we supposed to believe that it naturally spews this mud?  For some reason, I got the impression the contestants thought the mud was cold.  The whole thing seemed fairly man-made to me.  I know there was scaffolding and what not in it, but the opening seemed quite square.

 

To be fair, it was unclear that there were different kinds of stones so you could just assume that once you found something that was right. I'm going to give her the benefit of the doubt because the people whose business it is to convince us that rocks are valuable are very good at making the whole thing confusing. A few minutes on google suggests that all emeralds must be green but emeralds are a green variation of beryl which can be blue, pink, yellow, red, etc. Sapphires can be white, green, yellow, pink, black, etc.

But it was pretty obvious that these "gems" were fake and planted.  It's not like they were looking for the unusual pink emerald.  When someone says "emerald", unless they specify a different colour, it should be assumed that it is green.  Just like when someone says "diamond", they're not going to find a yellow diamond and assume that people were talking about a yellow diamond.  I don't give the girl the benefit of the doubt at all.  I think she is just stupid.  There's a reason why there was a bowl of water.  It was to wash off the dirt so you could see the colour of the stone.

[stillhere1900]

When did the Racers stop carrying cash to pay the taxis ?  I'm guessing that the show does it off camera. I noticed that the cabs actually had Amazing Race flag decals on their windshields.

Edited February 22, 2016 by stillhere1900

[Gummo]

 

When did the Racers stop carrying cash to pay the taxis ?  I'm guessing that the show does it off camera. I noticed that the cabs actually had Amazing Race flag decals on their windshields.

I'm guessing that Colombia is still too dangerous to let the contestants wander around on their own ("Next week on The Amazing Race -- one teams gets kidnaped by a viscious drug cartel and Phil has to negotiate their release!") so we're going to see them more or less chauffered around as long as they're there.

Edited February 22, 2016 by Gummo

[Jersey Guy 87]

Last week I had thought the notHarvard brothers were a sleeper team.  I was clearly wrong.  They seemed to have never been in an airport before, and missing the juice stand suggests they're going to have huge navigation problems.  Maybe they'll pull it together, but they blew it in the airport by clearly not tracking down someone to help them, and I can't see them getting that skill now.

 

I think you mean sleeping team, not sleeper.  That airport display was unreal.  Wandering around and not bothering to get tickets?

 

I noticed that the cabs actually had Amazing Race flag decals on their windshields.

 

I noticed the decals too.  I wonder if they had to take designated cabs for some reason.

 

I'm vaguely rooting for the Frisbee guys because I played ultimate in college (never advanced past sectionals) and they seem competent.  If a more than a bit loud.

[John Seavey]

If we are already seeing these kinds of stupid mistakes on the second leg, can you imagine what will happen by the ninth or tenth leg?

 

Well, the thing about stupid mistakes is they tend to get you eliminated, so presumably the teams that make it to the ninth or tenth leg won't be making so many. :)

 

I thought it was a fun episode. Again, I'm loving the lack of mean-spirited behavior; I don't know whether it's because they're all aware of each other's work, or whether they just want to present their best selves in order to avoid losing subscribers, but we've seen a lot of supportive behavior and very little animosity to the other teams. (Dana and Matt had a meltdown, yes, but by Race standards it was pretty mild.) Blair is a little too "fragile flower", but hey, she'll either toughen up or go out. The Race is a lot less friendly to wannabe-Flo types than it used to be. And the challenges were nice. I always love "attention to detail" tasks, because they reward precision and can't just be brute-forced.

[Charlesman]

Oh man. It's a good thing I was not a contestant on this race. Because as soon as I found out I'd be going to Cartagena, I would have insisted we take a bus there. Just so I could say "Is this the bus to Cartagena?" over and over until my partner throttled me. I would not have been able to leave the city until I'd ridden a bus there and asked every white woman if she was "the Joan Wilder?"

 

I may have also insisted that we refer to every Jeep as a little burro.

[RCharter]

I'm guessing that Colombia is still too dangerous to let the contestants wander around on their own ("Next week on The Amazing Race -- one teams gets kidnaped by a viscious drug cartel and Phil has to negotiate their release!") so we're going to see them more or less chauffered around as long as they're there.

Roadblock "who doesn't need their ear?  You Korey, you don't need an ear, you do this roadblock!"

[K2DangerGirl]

How in the world could a fish get into your personal space?

I unknowingly brought a tiny fish back from the beach once in my swimsuit bottoms. I'd been boogie-boarding in San Diego with friends. I think technically they were running shorts (the kind with a liner panty) so probably a bit looser than a swimsuit normally is, but it's probably not that hard if you're in somewhat turbulent water or strong currents.

[auntlada]

or whether they just want to present their best selves in order to avoid losing subscribers

 

I don't care why they do it, but I could do with seeing more people on TV who try to present their best selves instead of trying to "keep it real."

[North of Eden]

A lot better than the premier. However the flaw and or weakness of the concept for the season was on clear display. There are wayyyyyy too many interchangeable twenty something females. I couldn't keep any of them straight other than Dana because she's super hot, super bitchy and apparently super stupid if she doesn't know what an emerald looks like. Seriously was she the one child in America who never saw The Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz.

 

Can someone please explain how anyone could possibly solve a Rubik's Cube blindfolded? Or was it a special effect like the other Youtubers that do "magic".

 

The brothers good character showed tonight. While relieved to see Marty and Hagan running down the road they didn't take a childish unnecessary glee in it like someone like Justin probably would have. That was very mature and I respected them for it.

 

Best shots of the night were Dana shooing a bird away and Mary and Hagan waving and giving up all hope as the cab went by.

[etagloh]

I'm guessing that Colombia is still too dangerous to let the contestants wander around on their own 

 

It's not massively far from the situation in Peru last season where ISTR there were obviously 'approved cabs' and also ones that teams absolutely definitely couldn't take. The ones in Cartagena seemed a lot more spoonfed, with the decals, but since this was a leg that wasn't massively dependent upon cab performance compared to task performance, I'm fine with that. I'd be curious to know if there was basically a day-hire rate that was agreed with TPTB and paid out of what teams got with their clues.

Edited February 23, 2016 by etagloh

[NutMeg]

I really like this season so far, and I was becoming less and less enthusiastic over the previous few seasons and was thinking of quitting watching this show.

 

Other posters before me summarized the nice vibe this season has better than I could, and so far I think - especially in this episode - that the tasks are fairly "tasky", i.e. not super easy, and I like that they allow changes in the ranking of the teams (which was lacking last season), and I also liked the speed bump this episode, thinking it had just the right balance of not too easy/not too difficult (again, much better than last season).

 

Nobody really irks. Granted, there are a few silly things being done, but I put it on TAR having a learning curve and I'm curious to see how teams adjust and adapt. The young lady with her father has already adjusted somewhat, by starting to get rid of non vital stuff, althought she went for it with maybe too much gusto if she also got rid of her swimsuit! We'll see how others adjust, but so far I'm hopeful.

 

Yeah, yeah, emeralds are green, sapphires are blue, etc. Except that sapphires can be other colors. Having not that long ago discovered that jade is not necessarily green, but can be orange-ish, yellow, white, and apparently even lavender, I'm not sure I wouldn't have second guessed myself there. So not throwing any (emerald) stone :)  

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Can someone please explain how anyone could possibly solve a Rubik's Cube blindfolded? Or was it a special effect like the other Youtubers that do "magic".

Solving a Rubik's Cube involves a series of steps (there are several different methods). Once you memorize one of the patterns, you can do it blindfolded (you are allowed to look at the cube before being blindfolded). There are lots of tutorials on Youtube. At speedcubing competitions, there is usually a blindfolded category. The current record for blindfolded cubing is 21.05 seconds.

Edited February 23, 2016 by ElectricBoogaloo

[MyAimIsTrue]

The brothers good character showed tonight. While relieved to see Marty and Hagan running down the road they didn't take a childish unnecessary glee in it like someone like Justin probably would have. That was very mature and I respected them for it.

 

I half expected the brothers to pick up Marty and Hagan and then make it a foot race to the mat.

 

Good character indeed.

[North of Eden]

Solving a Rubik's Cube involves a series of steps (there are several different methods). Once you memorize one of the patterns, you can do it blindfolded (you are allowed to look at the cube before being blindfolded). There are lots of tutorials on Youtube. At speedcubing competitions, there is usually a blindfolded category. The current record for blindfolded cubing is 21.05 seconds.

Amazing...it seems like magic to me doing it blindfolded since I was around for the initial Rubik's Cube craze in the 80's and to this day I NEVER was able to solve it let alone blindfolded!

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

 

The Amazing Race Gets Carted Off To Cartagena
In Colombia, it’s a contest to find out whose epic fail will be the most epic: packing nine tons of beauty supplies in your backpack? Ignoring your clue? Letting your cab go? Or utterly destroying the Spanish language?

[Jersey Guy 87]

It's much easier to learn how to solve Rubik's Cube today thanks to the Internet - you can learn the basics from a whole lot of YouTube videos and take it from there.  Solving Rubik's Cube this way isn't a display of raw intelligence but rather a display of being able to follow directions.  Getting insanely fast time means being able to quickly recognize the pattern needed and having a cube that's loose enough to be able to spin it really quickly.  However, being able to solve Rubik's Cube makes you look smart to other people.

 

I was really hoping to like the (not)Harvard brothers.  But their complete lack of interest in finding a flight to Columbia really soured me on them. I'm still struggling to remember names of racers, there are too many right now and I know some are cannon fodder so why bother?  Plus a couple of the teams look to similar for me to tell them apart.

[kingshearte]

OK, so after this second episode, I will say that there is still way too much screeching for my liking, but overall, this cast may not really be any screechier than any other cast overall. They do seem to have a collectively higher-than-average dumb bunny quotient, though. You expect to see one solid bonehead move just about every episode, but these first episodes have felt kind of like an endless stream of dumb mistakes.

 

I seriously can't even with someone who doesn't have a bathing suit on this race. I'm not even going to rag on her bringing her hair appliances. If you've got the luggage space and it's important to you, who am I to judge (although you do get major side-eye for making your dad carry them)? But no bathing suit? I can't even.

 

And Scott? You dropped your puzzle pieces last week. You dropped your fish this week. Don't know what you'll drop next week, but I'll tell you who I wouldn't want delivering my baby...

 

I do agree that the cast has been nicer to each other overall, though, which is nice.

[John Seavey]

OK, so after this second episode, I will say that there is still way too much screeching for my liking, but overall, this cast may not really be any screechier than any other cast overall. They do seem to have a collectively higher-than-average dumb bunny quotient, though. You expect to see one solid bonehead move just about every episode, but these first episodes have felt kind of like an endless stream of dumb mistakes.

 

I agree, but again, it's worth keeping in mind that the first three or four episodes tend to be a little bit heavy on the "OMGWTF" mistakes because no matter how much they pre-screen the teams, there are always going to be a few people who just don't have the skills needed to compete in the Race. And since they only eliminate one team a week, you can see a really terrible team hang around for two or three weeks simply because someone was worse than them every time. (Think "selfie in front of train we need to catch". They weren't even the first team eliminated.)

 

Plus, to some extent practice makes perfect. With a couple of All-Star exceptions, the teams going on the Race have never done it before, and watching old shows only prepares you so much. As the teams get more experience navigating airports, negotiating with taxis, completing tasks, et cetera, you can expect them to start looking a bit more competent. Then we'll get a better idea of who's going to be in it to win it.

[whiskeyandfeet]

Oh man. It's a good thing I was not a contestant on this race. Because as soon as I found out I'd be going to Cartagena, I would have insisted we take a bus there. Just so I could say "Is this the bus to Cartagena?" over and over until my partner throttled me. I would not have been able to leave the city until I'd ridden a bus there and asked every white woman if she was "the Joan Wilder?"

 

I may have also insisted that we refer to every Jeep as a little burro.

Little Mule. But still.

[iMonrey]

 

I am so curious what will happen in a uturn situation. These people are all so supportive of each other.

 

I imagine it will come down to need rather than competitiveness. If someone is lagging far enough behind they'll use it; front runner teams will pass on it. So far there don't seem to be any particular rivalries and certainly no animosities. Brody and Kurt seem to be eyeballing Tyler and Korey as their main competition but I still bet neither would U-Turn the other so long as they're comfortably at the front of the pack.

Edited February 23, 2016 by iMonrey

[Ducky]

Regarding the hair dryer in other countries discussion... I can remember a trip to Italy back in the 1980s (Group trip...high school).  In Venice I think it was we stayed in a nice older hotel.  Unfortunately the problem was all the HS girls brought hair dryers.... and that night there were at least 3 times that the hair dryers tripped the fuse box and shut off all the lights lol.

[tanyak]

 

Yeah, yeah, emeralds are green, sapphires are blue, etc. Except that sapphires can be other colors. Having not that long ago discovered that jade is not necessarily green, but can be orange-ish, yellow, white, and apparently even lavender, I'm not sure I wouldn't have second guessed myself there. So not throwing any (emerald) stone :)

Ha! I'm glad there are a handful of other people sitting at this table with me. My engagement ring has pink sapphires, and I didn't know those existed until I got my ring 11 years ago. So when I saw the girl with the pink stone, I actually turned to Mr. Tanyak and asked "Are there pink emeralds, too?" Lol I now understand that in the absence of any information, it makes sense to look for the most common color. But my ring totally screwed with my mind for about a minute or so. Lol

[Whimsy]

Hi. As a reminder, anything outside of the scope of this actual episode is considered a spoiler. TAR fans take this very seriously. No talking about previews or upcoming legs, please.

[proserpina65]

Remember when Race contestants were all these hyperdriven fitness-fanatic Type A's ?

 

This ... is not that group.

 

I get it now -- this is going to be another 'goofy' season, like the dating season.

 

Okay, I can laugh at people and feel superior.  That's fun.

 

But geez, Race, you used to be better than that.

Take away the social media aspect and a lot of these teams remind me of the early seasons of AR, when the teams were more mixed and not all fitness fanatics.  So I guess my impression is the exact opposite of yours.  I could do without the shrieking, but that's really only coming from a couple of people who are likely to be quickly eliminated.

 

I loved the tasks on this leg.  And the fish story - OMG, I feel for her!

[proserpina65]

I thought I heard Blair say Carta-GEEENA.  Did they both?

I think they all mispronounced it.  Or at least most of them.

[proserpina65]

Every season has its share of contestants who pander to the camera, but now we seem to have every team that is always "ON" all the time and thinking about things to say so they can up their viewer count.

 

I'm actually finding that most of the teams pander to the camera LESS than ones on previous Races.  Maybe just in comparison to Justin.

[fishcakes]

I don't know if I'd call it pandering, but I've never seen so many racers speak directly into the camera and narrate what they're doing. Kelsey and Joey did it a couple of times last season using their anchorperson voices, but they were doing it jokingly. Some of the people in this group seem to be starring in some show they're imagining that coincidentally involves some other people and a race.

[Supay]

I would've assumed that the pink gemstone was rose quartz (and, naturally, the blue sapphire).

[RCharter]

I'm actually finding that most of the teams pander to the camera LESS than ones on previous Races.  Maybe just in comparison to Justin.

So true I think when you look at things through the "Justin" lens, it really puts it all in perspective.

[Supay]

The stylish gentleman who greeted teams at Bolivar Plaza says hello:

 

[Netfoot]

^^^ This video is not available.

[Supay]

Ah, drat, only viewable for those in the US - blasted Geoblock!

[Hank3]

Just catching up now and just finished episode 2.  I cannot stand Tyler's laugh.