S28.E04: Get It Trending

[Netfoot]

I can't help but find it kind of hilarious how many TAR fans are so quick to call the work of this seasons contestants "without value" when we're mainly discussing a reality show--the very definition of "trash TV" for a lot of people. 

 

First, let me say that naturally, my "without merit" comment above, comes with an implied "In my opinion."  There is much of merit to be found on certain social media, but I haven't found any amongst this particular bunch of "content creators."

 

Secondly, I will agree that Reality Television is garbage.  However, The Amazing Race is absolutely the exception to  that rule.   It's Travel Porn mixed with good, clean, competition in a variety of tests of mind and body, unsullied with all the backstabbing, etc, that basically forms the basis for  the other shows like BB and Survivor.  At least, it used to be, at it's core.  For some reason TPTB has been trying to screw with it for 20+ seasons now, adding U-Turns, selfie-cameras, and Social  Media Influencers, but they still haven't ruined the show.  It remains the only serious Reality TV show worth watching, and disproves any suggestion that it is Trash TV.

[Anati]

I loved the flag challenge. I was worried when I saw the one team that had Netherlands' flag confused with Luxembourg's flag, that they might be there for ages before noticing, but it didn't seem to be too troublesome.

 

Poor leg design all-in-all, though I don't mind too much so long as the end of leg bunching is a one-off. It was kind of interesting to see all

 the teams on the train, praying the models don't make it.

 

First, let me say that naturally, my "without merit" comment above, comes with an implied "In my opinion."  There is much of merit to be found on certain social media, but I haven't found any amongst this particular bunch of "content creators."

 

You said in the previous post that you had never heard of any them before, and you've only seen the glimpses shown in the episodes. No kidding that you haven't found anything of merit, in that case, because you haven't looked!  

[RCharter]

Okay, I'm 10 minutes in and I just want to say that I now see where all the detractors of this season are coming from.

 

Because all of them acting precious over some "showmance" with a guy who looks like he is one step removed from a caveman, and a ditsy screechy Blair is not going to work for me.  I also don't need them all screeching about it in an effort to get more TV time.  I don't know why TAR is desperate to make a showmance happen, but I think it is one of the lamest things ever.  And to have these people all treat it like some big exciting secret I should be giggling about at home shows me that they are playing it up for the cameras and trying to perform instead of race.

 

I haven't seen all TAR seasons, but I don't think I ever saw anyone pushing for a "showmance" between competing teams before.  Not even during the season that was about blind dates!

 

And, come on Blair, you have your dad on the trip with you.....you've already talking about your thongs and promising kisses to strange men in front of him.....I'm happy you two have a good relationship, but respect that there are probably some things your dad doesn't want to see/know about.  I realize she is desperate for attention and camera time but keep it together.

 

And, no Tyler I'm not going to "get it trending" on balody, or baloney or whatever this stupid ass showmance name is supposed to be.

 

I bet you she would try to "use her sexuality" to get Brodie to give her a pass....insert eye roll.

 

I'm going to say it right now.....no way do I believe that there are random crowds of people mobbing any single one of these people.  You don't see people doing that with bonafide celebrities at an airport.  By now, people sort of know to be respectful, sneak a glimpse, and if it looks legit maybe ask for a picture.  I think these are all producer plants designed to convince the viewing audience that these people are much more popular than they are.

[RCharter]

*I'm looking at "bench."  and I think Rooster Teeth isn't performing efficiently.  The back of the bench is not continuous, its cut into what appear to be equal sections. I think the best way to do it is:

1. count the number of sections,

2. measure how many butts in one section,

3. multiply (1*2) for a total number of seats in the entire bench.  

 

They only have to get within range so it doesn't have to be perfection.

[RCharter]

 

Dana is still such a bitch. First to her boyfriend, then to the poor chess players. Telling her boyfriend to sit on the board, and getting mad when he wouldnt? Then pushing it herself? 

 

She is kinda the worst, and she can go home anytime now.  I wish there was some penalty for rudeness like that, or that he would have just started shouting random numbers in her directions to fuck up her count.

 

So, what's the deal with Blair's eyelashes? Why are they all pointy like that?

 

She probably packed a Costco sized case of eyelashes, but threw them away so her dad wouldn't have to carry them.

About the detour, as others have stated, the clue said they had to sit on the bench and the correct number was based on how many newspaper lengths, not body size.  Plus the other factor is that they probably didn't know how long the bench is, so the only way to get an answer was to start playing leapfrog and count.

The benches all looked to be the same size (or at least the back of the bench).  So you spread out your newspaper, and count how many butts w/ newspapers you can fit in one section.  Then multiply.  Even if the newspaper goes over a bit you can account for that in the math and get a fairly accurate total.  

 

Man, people on here are just bound and determined to minimize the popularity of people they claim to have never heard of.

Its not that, but I rarely have seen a famous person mobbed...even one that is ostensibly better known than a YouTube star.  I'm not sure if its because there is greater accessibility to stars through the internet/social media......or if its because I live in So. Cal....but I haven't seen it.  If I've seen a star in an airport/out I think most people are polite enough to sneak a few glances, whisper a little and if the scene is right ask for an autograph/selfie/snap a picture.  But I haven't seen outright mobbing for anyone.  And even the most popular YouTuber probably doesn't have the same number of views as a fairly popular TV show or movie.  This is why I think its a set up.

[aemom]

I think that the two guys with the chessboard and the others sitting on the bench are producer plants to make the task more challenging.

The first time two loons show up with newspapers and start measuring the bench, ok, but then when the rest of them show up, I move to another bench. Nobody ever moved, so I'm quite sure that they were part of the task.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

So, what's the deal with Blair's eyelashes? Why are they all pointy like that?

She probably packed a Costco sized case of eyelashes, but threw them away so her dad wouldn't have to carry them.

In the vlog she made where she talked about everything she packed in her backpack for TAR, she said that she got eyelash extensions so that she wouldn't have to deal with mascara while racing. I posted a link to the video in the episode thread whichever week she got rid of her curling iron and lost her bathing suit.

[sinycalone]

Just a reminder:  Team  Rooster Teeth said laying the newspaper on the bench was not permitted...you had to do the leapfrog method of counting.  We can debate the efficiency of that method forever...but that was the system they had to use.

[Netfoot]

You said in the previous post that you had never heard of any them before, and you've only seen the glimpses shown in the episodes. No kidding that you haven't found anything of merit, in that case, because you haven't looked!  

 

Correct.  The glimpses shown in the episodes -- plus their general behaviour -- are more than enough for me to know that these people have nothing of merit to offer me.

 

some "showmance" with a guy who looks like he is one step removed from a caveman...

 

I think of him as "Monkey Boy".    He's got the face of a chimp, but less IQ.  Ooo-Ooo-Ook!

[Big Mother]

There were rules inside the folder that prevented them from just doing calculations. If you notice, when one team shared the results with the rest of the teams, they all had to go back and re-do the task anyway, and only THEn give the number the first team had shared. I guess the producers didnt want one team to do all the work and the other teams all bunch up together. Which is surprising, bc it happens often that one team shares the answer with other teams, and the 2nd team doesnt have to re-do the task just for the sake of time passing.

[DEL901]

*I'm looking at "bench."  and I think Rooster Teeth isn't performing efficiently.  The back of the bench is not continuous, its cut into what appear to be equal sections. I think the best way to do it is:

1. count the number of sections,

2. measure how many butts in one section,

3. multiply (1*2) for a total number of seats in the entire bench.  

 

They only have to get within range so it doesn't have to be perfection.

It has already been posted in this thread that this was not allowed. 

 

As to the "fame" of the teams... I accept that I'm not their demographic so I don't mind/care that I haven't heard of them... all I care about is if they know how to race.  Right now, they aren't really demonstrating that they understand what it is to compete.  In the Amazing Race, everyone doesn't get a pat on the back just for competing.  First prize goes to just one team.

 

I did feel a bit sorry for the model because it hurts to be excluded, but she was in last place... what idiot does she think is going to jeopardize their own participation in the race by helping the last place team?

[zizzy]

There were rules inside the folder that prevented them from just doing calculations. If you notice, when one team shared the results with the rest of the teams, they all had to go back and re-do the task anyway, and only THEn give the number the first team had shared. I guess the producers didnt want one team to do all the work and the other teams all bunch up together. Which is surprising, bc it happens often that one team shares the answer with other teams, and the 2nd team doesnt have to re-do the task just for the sake of time passing.

I don't think it was, "Oh, you have to go back because he gave you the answer." I think Matt and Dana went back because they had already submitted their guess, and there was probably a rule that stated you couldn't just keep guessing over and over again without doing the task again--which makes sense. You don't want someone up there just working their way up or down from their initial guess until they get it right. And I don't think Rooster Teeth did it again because they seemed to be able to just take right off after Brodie and Kurt (which is why I question Brodie and Kurt giving them the answer at all), which makes sense if they hadn't submitted their second guess..

Edited March 6, 2016 by zizzy

[sinycalone]

I don't think it was, "Oh, you have to go back because he gave you the answer." I think Matt and Dana went back because they had already submitted their guess, and there was probably a rule that stated you couldn't just keep guessing over and over again without doing the task again--which makes sense. You don't want someone up there just working their way up or down from their initial guess until they get it right. And I don't think Rooster Teeth did it again because they seemed to be able to just take right off after Brodie and Kurt (which is why I question Brodie and Kurt giving them the answer at all), which makes sense if they hadn't submitted their second guess..

According to Rooster Teeth's comments on that Reddit site....they had not submitted their answer....and did not have to go back to the start.

Edited March 6, 2016 by sinycalone

[Tara Ariano]

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

 

After A Swing And A (Swiss) Miss, The Amazing Race Winds Up Riding The Bench
Romance blooms -- or should we say 'trends'? -- for one pair of social media moguls; everyone else has a date with some Swiss army knives and a pop quiz about flags.

[Kel Varnsen]

I thought the blodie thing was kind of funny only because the word blodie sounded a little dirty when people kept saying it.

[SophiaPehawkins]

Yeah, I didn't think they were trying to be cute with their nickname. I think they kept saying because it sounds stupid. There's Bennifer and Branjelina and there's Blodie, which sounds like how you feel during your period. To be more to the point, it's unglamorous so it sounded like they were making fun of them more than supporting them.

I really disliked Team Brody and his partner giving the other team the answer. Why would they do it first all and why would they allow it?

I'm also not going to completely bag on the model for being upset that no one wanted to help her, because it's understandable to a point. No one wants to be the odd man out. It's not nice, but it's not unfair. No one is obligated to help you and instead of complaining about it, how about moving with a little urgency?

Edited March 6, 2016 by SophiaPehawkins

[Big Mother]

"Bloaty" = how I feel after a big lunch!

[RCharter]

Yeah, I didn't think they were trying to be cute with their nickname. I think they kept saying because it sounds stupid. There's Bennifer and Branjelina and there's Blodie, which sounds like how you feel during your period. To be more to the point, it's unglamorous so it sounded like they were making fun of them more than supporting them.

I really disliked Team Brody and his partner giving the other team the answer. Why would they do it first all and why would they allow it?

I'm also not going to completely bag on the model for being upset that no one wanted to help her, because it's understandable to a point. No one wants to be the odd man out. It's not nice, but it's not unfair. No one is obligated to help you and instead of complaining about it, how about moving with a little urgency?

Either way, I think its exactly that type of over the top camera mugging and attempts to "entertain" that people were worried about with this season.  10 - 15 minutes in an episode devoted to some "showmance."  It just all feels very "contrived" by people that are trying to create some reality show storyline to sell instead of just doing the race.  And I don't like that, I didn't like it in snippets last year with Jackie, and that blind date dude but it was way less contrived than this.  

 

And everyone screeching about it, because its just so precious and don't we all want to be in on the joke?  Aren't they all so clever and funny?  No, you're not, I'm not going to "trend" anything.  This show is primarily about the race, not about twitter whatever.

 

I don't mind a cast of YouTuber's at all, because at the beginning they were like any other cast.  But they are starting to show signs that they are not like other casts.  All this camera mugging over some "showmance,"  thinking that people like the fakeness of a "showmance" especially to the point where its going to "trend" and we're gonna hashtag it and make it happen....that social media "showmances" are as important to the viewer as they assume it must be because I mean aren't we all super involved in listening to these social media influencers?  Everyone is turned on all the time, and thinking of their next ploy to get the camera to focus on them.  No one wants to race and everyone wants to be besties.

 

There are still some of the cast that I like.  I like Rooster Teeth.....oh noes, is that the only team I like?  I liked Tyler/Korey, but that whole "blodie" thing and "get it trending" or whatever has really given me an active distaste for them.  The precious comments about the "showmance" even on the train?  Just no.  Well, here is to hoping Rooster Teeth can take it.

[shura]

I'm also not going to completely bag on the model for being upset that no one wanted to help her, because it's understandable to a point. No one wants to be the odd man out. It's not nice, but it's not unfair. No one is obligated to help you and instead of complaining about it, how about moving with a little urgency?

 

So did she ask to team up with someone and was refused? Or did she show up all entitled, never asked and got upset that she is not included? I didn't catch exactly how it happened. 

[Jobiska]

I'm not thrilled with a focus on showmances, but I don't think it's that new to the show, starting with Flo and one of the twins, then Eric and Danielle, then oh shoot the guy who lost the fanny pack who was teamed with his mom...name?...and one of the women...they'll do at least a little focus on it if it's there.  Sure, Tyler and Korey were cracking themselves up with their silly hashtag, but I don't think this editing focus is confined to gimmick seasons.  I think they blew it up in this one because due to the leg design the two got to snuggle.

Blair seemed as young as she is when she was trying to get everyone to crouch down and hide in the train so the models wouldn't see them through the windows.  

I thought for sure the show had made an error with the caption "Chamonix" until I looked it up on Wikipedia and found that "Chamounix" is an old spelling.  I think I'm picturing some retro-looking Olympics poster or something in my mind!

I think that every factor plays in in airport familiarity.  1) the cameras are going to draw attention that something is happening but 2) I think once people look at what the cameras are looking at, these folks are legitimately being recognized, and 3) they are at exactly the level of fame that they welcome the attention, hoping it will build their brand, and knowing the friendliness to the audience helps.  If I saw an A-list movie star or sports legend or whatnot in an airport, I'd be too shy to approach, figuring they'd want their privacy, but if I saw someone I knew from YouTube or suchlike (the only one I knew beforehand was Tyler, but maybe from one of the few other channels I watch), I'd probably feel they'd be more welcoming.  

I don't mind these teams and I don't think the race is dumbed down.  It's early yet, also.  

Edited March 6, 2016 by Jobiska

[RCharter]

So did she ask to team up with someone and was refused? Or did she show up all entitled, never asked and got upset that she is not included? I didn't catch exactly how it happened. 

I feel like she may have initially made some moves to try to seek help but was soundly rebuffed.  She specially asked Korey what they were doing, and he was just like "oh, we're guessing"  which she could plainly see was not the case.  

 

My thing is that, she can see that everyone is looking at the legend running to the flags......if no one is going to help, she should have at least been able to see what everyone else was doing.  With no one else willing to help her, she should have just gotten to doing what she saw everyone else doing and got it done as quick as possible instead of complaining about no one helping her.  You may complain or not, but they still aren't going to help, show them whos the boss by getting it done as quick as possible and making it on that last train!

[RCharter]

Jobiska -- I completely understand your points.  However, to me, I don't find anything authentic in the romance, I think it was two people, desperate for camera time who saw an opportunity for more of it by "snuggling" in an airport.  And for Blair....again, in front of her dad, just no.  I realize she is desperate for attention, and likely any male attention, but just stop it already.  I think its all a calculated move probably on both of their parts to get TV time.  Which is fully supported by everyone equally vying for attention with the various shrieking over it and hashtagging it, and whatever.  

 

Hopefully she will be out pretty soon, so she and her creepily talking about thongs, twerking, offering kisses and cuddling up with boys in front of her father can be gone as well.

 

I'm not sure what the reach is of most of these YouTubers (I'm guessing Tyler/Korey have more than a million followers).  But I imagine for most the audience is fairly limited so there is less of a chance they would be recognized in an airport period, but then MOBBED in an airport?  I don't know.  I'm more inclined to believe that people assume they are important because there is a camera crew following them around.  I can see that.

[shura]

My thing is that, she can see that everyone is looking at the legend running to the flags......if no one is going to help, she should have at least been able to see what everyone else was doing.  With no one else willing to help her, she should have just gotten to doing what she saw everyone else doing and got it done as quick as possible instead of complaining about no one helping her.  You may complain or not, but they still aren't going to help, show them whos the boss by getting it done as quick as possible and making it on that last train!

 

Or know your flags, in which case you don't even need anyone's help and certainly don't need to waste time running around. It's not that hard. If you don't know them, it's probably a good idea to study up on something like that before going on a race around the world. As yes, I forgot, it was a total surprise for them all that they are going on TAR. Had to leave as soon as they learned about it...

[RCharter]

Or know your flags, in which case you don't even need anyone's help and certainly don't need to waste time running around. It's not that hard. If you don't know them, it's probably a good idea to study up on something like that before going on a race around the world. As yes, I forgot, it was a total surprise for them all that they are going on TAR. Had to leave as soon as they learned about it...

thank goodness everyone was at home and wearing matching outfits!

 

I liked how Cole's and his mother were like "well, he will know the flags from soccer"  and I thought "wow, thats interesting, he is such a great soccer player that he plays in international tournaments?"  Nope, turns out he plays  FIFA video soccer....which is how he gleaned his nearly non-existent knowledge of world flags.

[millennium]

I'm also not going to completely bag on the model for being upset that no one wanted to help her, because it's understandable to a point. No one wants to be the odd man out. It's not nice, but it's not unfair. No one is obligated to help you and instead of complaining about it, how about moving with a little urgency?

 

I can't blame her very much either.   She knew they were in last place and that she was under the gun to get the task done fast.   How infuriating it must have been to 1) not be entirely sure how to proceed with the task, and 2) be trying to figure it out while everyone around you is helping each other but they won't help you.  How demoralizing.

 

I object to all the helping that went on in this episode, from the bench to the flags.   It ruins the race (IMO) and I wish they would insert time penalties for racers who are clued in on how to complete the challenge as well as those who give away the information.  A team's chances of winning should be based on the team's skill set, not who likes who or who doesn't.   I also don't enjoy when teams conspire to sabotage another team.   The increasingly social aspect of TAR seems very petty, especially in contrast to the magnificent surroundings.

 

I've been trying to put my finger on what bugs me most about this season.   I think it's my impression that some of the teams are conducting themselves as if they're just making another video to upload to Youtube rather than actually racing TAR.  The TAR's a big deal.   Many, many people from all over America apply to race.  They make audition tapes, they send them in -- and they were all left on the reject pile this time around because they don't happen to be "Youtube celebrities."   So when I see the Youtubers show up and (again IMO) diminish the race with mugging and silliness to bogart camera time to increase their own popularity (you especially, Tyler), it takes a lot of the enjoyment out of watching.    I'll be glad when this is over.   There's no team I like and no team I want to see win.

Edited March 6, 2016 by millennium

[fishcakes]

So did she ask to team up with someone and was refused? Or did she show up all entitled, never asked and got upset that she is not included? I didn't catch exactly how it happened.

 

I feel like she may have initially made some moves to try to seek help but was soundly rebuffed.  She specially asked Korey what they were doing, and he was just like "oh, we're guessing"  which she could plainly see was not the case.

 

Also, at one point she walked up to Blair at a flagpole and asked her a question and Blair completely ignored her, not looking at her and not responding. So while I thought the model was being a little whiny, the other teams could have been more polite about not helping. I remember waaaay back to season 3 when one of the Bald Snark guys simply said, "I'm sorry, I can't tell you," when Hump It Teri asked him where something was toward the end of a leg. It is possible to race hard, yet not be a jerk about it.

[legaleagle53]

To be fair, Swiss German is pretty hard to understand if you're used to standard German. But I'd be surprised if any of the racers knew that.

 

Yes, it's a nightmare to try to pick up that particular dialect if all you've ever studied is standard German, although the natives do understand and speak standard German because that's what they're taught in school.  

 

In any event, they were in the wrong part of Switzerland for German.  The four linguistic communities (French, German, Italian, and Romansch) pretty much confine themselves to their own geographic areas and rarely interact with one another (which is why Switzerland hasn't had a civil war in over 800 years), even though all four languages are co-official in Switzerland and would therefore theoretically be understood throughout the entire country.

Edited March 7, 2016 by legaleagle53

[sinycalone]

Upthread, someone who is currently living in Colombia pointed out that the crowd that gathered around Zack were part of a student outing, and once one of the kids recognized Zack, the rest of group rushed over.  That makes sense to me.  Right age to know about Zack's Vines...and to be excited about meeting him.

[etagloh]

That was some bullshitty leg design there. Spoonfed flight, an HoO bunch, one side of the Detour that was so weirdly stipulated and calibrated that it basically required teams to share successful answers, a Road Block that encouraged the same, and then basically a massive forced bunch en route to the Pit Stop, so the leg prize went to the alphabros who won the foot race in the snow. The only decent task was the Victorinox self-assembly challenge.
 
I like legs that set up a proper journey from the final task to the Pit Stop, especially if it's on public transport (not cabs), but the schedules have to be regular enough that whatever advantage teams take from good racing on the day isn't completely eliminated by sitting in trains on platforms. Should have been a NEL.
 
On the meta-point: I think there's some truth to the idea that we're not seeing BJ & Tyler-style mugging to camera, because these teams mostly live in a way that anything can be a potential in-character fan selfie or Vine clip or YouTube video. TAR is an interlude in the reality show that is their lives.

Quick ETA: I assume that you can get through tickets from Geneva (in Switzerland) to Chamonix (in France) but maybe not: it was a messy journey via Martingny (in Switzerland) and then Vallorcine (in France), and messier still if you're paying in cash and need both CHF and Euros.

Edited March 7, 2016 by etagloh

[Corgi-ears]

I don't feel like we have sufficiently mocked Blair for her pathetic attempts to get everyone on the train to "hit the floor" in an attempt to hide from the trailing team, like she was auditioning for a reboot of Duck and Cover. Hilariously, and appropriately, absolute no one paid her any heed.

[ForeverAlone]

Yeah, if I was one of those teams racing on this leg and I was eliminated by literal seconds (particularly if my team was one of the first ones finished, but all the later teams were equalized at the train stations), because of the bunching from the train station to the Pit Stop, I would be pissed as all get out. While I can see the need for SOME equalizers (though I would love to see how a race would turn out if there were no operating hours equalizers, only transportation equalizers), I don't think there should be anything close to equalizers on the way to the Pit Stop. That's just poor race design. 

Edited March 7, 2016 by ForeverAlone

[auntlada]

I really thought it was going to be a nonelim leg because of the bunching and because of the amount of whining about not getting help we saw. I figured they were setting something up for the next leg or two.

[viajero]

Or know your flags, in which case you don't even need anyone's help and certainly don't need to waste time running around. It's not that hard. If you don't know them, it's probably a good idea to study up on something like that before going on a race around the world. As yes, I forgot, it was a total surprise for them all that they are going on TAR. Had to leave as soon as they learned about it...

 

Why would you expect racers to memorize 180+ flags before going on the race?  It's not like that has been useful knowledge on previous editions of the race.  Knowing the flags of the countries they actually visited could be important in the final episode, but general knowledge of all the flags in the world, not so much.  There are things racers should learn and practice before the race, such as driving a stick shift.  But all the world's flags is not one of them.

 

As for your second point, when did anyone ever say that the racers didn't know they were going to be on the race?  Of course they knew that they would be on TAR and the day they needed to ready to leave.  Many of them filmed videos for their social media channels announcing that they would be on the race well ahead of time.  The only thing that took them by surprise was that the race was starting right from their homes.  Blair explained it in quite some detail in her recap of Episode 1.  They were told that cameramen would be filming their final preparations and saying goodbye to their families to have as B roll in case the editors later decided to use some of it, but thought that they would then be heading out to the starting point of the race somewhere in the US, rather than directly to their first destination. I take it that this wasn't the first time TAR had sent camera crews to their homes to get footage, so they didn't think much of it until the cell phones they had been given to take on the race suddenly started ringing.

Edited March 8, 2016 by viajero

[MelinaBallerina]

Ooh.  Fun with Flags.  Where's Dr. Sheldon Cooper when you need him?  

[Netfoot]

Wait.  They were given cell phones to take on the race?!??

[stillhere1900]

I totally would have built the knife -- especially since they got to keep the knives!

 

How did it take them so long to figure out that the board was a map to the flagpoles?  That seemed incredibly obvious to me.

 

Also?  Quit whining and raaaaaace!

 

I dh figured it out right away. He was actually yelling (talking loud) at the Tv.  lol

I totally would have built the knife -- especially since they got to keep the knives!

 

How did it take them so long to figure out that the board was a map to the flagpoles?  That seemed incredibly obvious to me.

 

Also?  Quit whining and raaaaaace!

Can those knives be carried on the plane ? 

Edited March 7, 2016 by stillhere1900

[shura]

Why would you expect racers to memorize 180+ flags before going on the race?  It's not like that has been useful knowledge on previous editions of the race.  Knowing the flags of the countries they actually visited could be important in the final episode, but general knowledge of all the flags in the world, not so much.  There are things racers should learn and practice before the race, such as driving a stick shift.  But all the world's flags is not one of them.

 

As for your second point, when did anyone ever say that the racers didn't know they were going to be on the race?  Of course they knew that they would be on TAR and the day they needed to ready to leave.  Many of them filmed videos for their social media channels announcing that they would be on the race well ahead of time.  The only thing that took them by surprise was that the race was starting right from their homes.  Blair explained it in quite some detail in her recap of Episode 1.  They were told that cameramen would be filming their final preparations and saying goodbye to their families to have as B roll in case the editors later decided to use some of it, but thought that they would then be heading out to the starting point of the race somewhere in the US, rather than directly to their first destination. I take it that this wasn't the first time TAR had sent camera crews to their homes to get footage, so they didn't think much of it until the cell phones they had been given to take on the race suddenly started ringing.

 

So let me understand - they were ready to go, knew they were leaving, were saying goodbyes to their families, but the thing that made Cole cry was the unexpected curve ball of not being able to go to a common starting point in the US? The first episode certainly made it appear (to me) as if they'd just got a little bigger surprise than that, like maybe learning that the race was starting right then and there (which would mean, among other things, that they had no more time to spend on preparation). Ah, the wonders of editing.

 

As for knowing the flags, I don't really expect the racers to memorize them in preparation for the race, even though it might possibly be useful knowledge (as this episode demonstrated) that doesn't actually take that much time and effort to acquire. I'm just surprised that the racers seemed to know so little about flags of different countries that they had to waste so much time running back and forth to check what the flags look like.

[RCharter]

I don't feel like we have sufficiently mocked Blair for her pathetic attempts to get everyone on the train to "hit the floor" in an attempt to hide from the trailing team, like she was auditioning for a reboot of Duck and Cover. Hilariously, and appropriately, absolute no one paid her any heed.

The only reason I'm giving Blair a pass on that is because I understood her point.  Everyone was on the same train and she and her father would definitely lose a foot race.  It was ridiculous, but I understood where she was coming from.

Why would you expect racers to memorize 180+ flags before going on the race?  It's not like that has been useful knowledge on previous editions of the race.  Knowing the flags of the countries they actually visited could be important in the final episode, but general knowledge of all the flags in the world, not so much.  There are things racers should learn and practice before the race, such as driving a stick shift.  But all the world's flags is not one of them.

 

I don't think 180+, but maybe some of the bigger countries.  The countries that they were asked to pick out didn't seem to be obscure countries.  Turkey, Norway were at least two that I think might have been on a list of better known countries whose flags you might know.  And didn't they have them do a final task that was about the flags of all the countries they had visited?  And these were smaller countries in Africa, so knowing the flags does seem to be important knowledge....even for lesser known countries.  I'm not sure how many times in the past they have done a final task around flag knowledge, but I think after last year I would at least try to know some of the flags of the bigger countries.

[Lukeysboat]

I'm not sure what the reach is of most of these YouTubers (I'm guessing Tyler/Korey have more than a million followers).

I'm not trying to pick on anyone, but I have been surprised at the disbelief of some viewers that these YouTubers are actually famous/recognizable. I have two teenagers and they rarely watch TV. They watch Netflix and YouTube, and that is not unusual for their peer group.

Tyler Oakley has well over a million followers on YouTube; he has more than 8 million.

Rooster Teeth has even more YouTube followers than Tyler Oakley; they have 8.5 million.

Matt, the dancer, has more than 3 million.

Zach has more than 1 million.

Brodie has more than 1 million.

Clevver News (Erin and Joslyn) has more than 2 million--and that's only for the news portion of Clevver.

I haven't looked up any more than those people ... but that's a lot of followers, and that's only on YouTube. Tyler has 5 million followers on Twitter alone.

YouTube is a big deal. It may not be for you or your generation (or mine, for that matter), but one cannot discount its influence and popularity.

Edited March 7, 2016 by Lukeysboat

[RCharter]

I'm not trying to pick on anyone, but I have been surprised at the disbelief of some viewers that these YouTubers are actually famous/recognizable. I have two teenagers and they rarely watch TV. They watch Netflix and YouTube, and that is not unusual for their peer group.

Tyler Oakley has well over a million followers on YouTube; he has more than 8 million.

Rooster Teeth has even more YouTube followers than Tyler Oakley; they have 8.5 million.

Matt, the dancer, has more than 3 million.

Zach has more than 1 million.

Brodie has more than 1 million.

Clevver News (Erin and Joslyn) has more than 2 million--and that's only for the news portion of Clevver.

I haven't looked up any more than those people ... but that's a lot of followers, and that's only on YouTube. Tyler has 5 million followers on Twitter alone.

YouTube is a big deal. It may not be for you or your generation (or mine, for that matter), but one cannot discount its influence and popularity.

I don't think its picking on anyone, I think its a valid point.  Although, I don't know if "followers" is the same as people who view on a regular basis.  I don't know how many hits any of their videos get.  I truly don't know.

 

And I totally get it, I don't have a television anymore so I watch ALL of my TV online.  And I watch YouTube a lot as well, but I know that I'll randomly subscribe to a channel and then not really keep up with it.  It costs me nothing to "follow" someone on YouTube, so I can click on everyone and subscribe to everyone's page...and many of the YT videos I've seen start or end with a call to "subscribe/follow" and since it doesn't cost anything, why not?  

 

I would be much more interested in views on individual videos and how those compare with traditional TV shows.  You may have Logo on your package, but what does it matter if you never watch RuPauls Drag Race, or any other Logo programming?  

 

I mean, I don't like to subscribe to things, but even I'm probably subscribed to over 20 pages, and most of them I don't actively follow.  Or I have fallen off.  I followed Wayne Goss makeup superstar for a minute, but then I lost interest in learning makeup techniques and I didn't watch anymore.  I'm not going to take the time to unsubscribe.  Same thing with the lady who does the Belizean Pantry.  Subscribing, for me, was an easy way to find a video of hers if I wanted to reference back instead of having to search for it.

[Lukeysboat]

By the way, Lingo has a thorough breakdown of social media stats for TAR racers in the "Just how famous are they?" thread.

[tanyak]

I liked how Cole's and his mother were like "well, he will know the flags from soccer"  and I thought "wow, thats interesting, he is such a great soccer player that he plays in international tournaments?"  Nope, turns out he plays  FIFA video soccer....which is how he gleaned his nearly non-existent knowledge of world flags.

 

Well, however he knew them, he knew them, right? He said he got about half of them. As Cole and his mom were talking, Mr. Tanyak was saying the same thing. He watches a ton of soccer games (and other international sports) and he thought he might be able to figure out some of the more unusual flags from that. 

 

I feel silly now not realizing that the folks on the bench were paid plants. I was actually getting agitated with the chess players. Yes, they were there first, but once you see some craziness happening, pick up your game and move to another bench. Either way, Dana knocking over the game was not cool. 

 

ETA: To be fair about the flags, we don't know which flags they were struggling with. I'm willing to bet they knew some of the more common ones, but not all of them. The editing can make things look more chaotic and confusing than maybe they really are.

Edited March 7, 2016 by tanyak

[blackwing]

I don't understand why it took all of the teams such a long time to figure out the flags.  They all seemed astounded by the revelation that "this is a map" when to me it was extremely obvious that it was a map.  The countries were listed on the board in random order, and certain countries were highlighted.  The map had the same number of rows as the the flagpoles.  They all seemed so self-satisfied when they figured that out, you would have thought they had solved some complex law of physics, not simply that the names of the countries on the map corresponded with their location in the flagpoles right in front of them.

 

Yeah, if I was one of those teams racing on this leg and I was eliminated by literal seconds (particularly if my team was one of the first ones finished, but all the later teams were equalized at the train stations), because of the bunching from the train station to the Pit Stop, I would be pissed as all get out. While I can see the need for SOME equalizers (though I would love to see how a race would turn out if there were no operating hours equalizers, only transportation equalizers), I don't think there should be anything close to equalizers on the way to the Pit Stop. That's just poor race design. 

I would agree that the fact that the racers on the second train caught up to the ones on the first train who were waiting for the train on the second leg was a bit poor.  You would think that there could have been a lot more of the second leg train so everyone doesn't end up on the same train.  Have there been times in past races where there has been an equaliser so close to the pit stop?  If the blue girls had made it onto that train, it would just have been a foot race, and undoubtedly we would have lost Blaire and her dad.

 

That said, I can't feel too sorry for the blue girls.  I've read about her excuse that they had currency issues, but it doesn't seem like they made any effort to make the train.  Even with currency issues, they could have actually tried to run while in the station.  They could have run to the ticket booth and asked if the train could be delayed a few minutes, or asked someone if they could buy the correct change from them, or ran for the train and dealt with it on the train.  What is the conductor going to do?  Stop the train, have it back up into the station, and throw them off?  There was a very lackadaisical acceptance of their fate.  They also can't really blame the train, they thoroughly sucked at every aspect of this leg.  1) They missed the watch shop which could have been a faster task; 2) They aimlessly wandered around looking for the long bench; 3) Even after they found the bench, they were terrible at the task; 4) Too much whining at the flags and not enough doing; 5) Missed the train.

[piequinn35]

It was a good leg except Brodie giving away the answer, Dana being a bitch on the bench work, Jessica whining, almost everyone in the train going to the pit stop..

 

I hope Matt/Dana or Blair/Dad will go home next week.
 

[RCharter]

By the way, Lingo has a thorough breakdown of social media stats for TAR racers in the "Just how famous are they?" thread.

I think that is a very interesting thread.  However, in terms of views the tracking is how many views their most popular video got.  Not how many people are dedicated viewers on a weekly basis, or how many views their less popular videos get, or how many average views their videos get.  Its the same problem with the subscribers.

 

Every week, someone comes here, or somewhere and posts the viewership for this particular episode of TAR.  It doesn't tell us how many people will EVER view the episode (which I think is more the data that Lingo is giving), but it lets us know how many people viewed it probably on TV in a specified period (or DVR'd it).  I'm not even sure if that data gives the number of people that watched it online. That sort of thing, to me, is more representative of the popularity of a person/personality/show.  But while the numbers do look very impressive, this is over years and years.  Tyler has been doing this for what, 8-9 years now?  I think its more than reasonable to expect that over time he gets a lot more views on a video that he has had out for 8-9 years.

 

This isn't to say that YT doesn't create popular personalities, but the same way that traditional media does?  I'm hesitant to agree with that.

[Jersey Guy 87]

Man, people on here are just bound and determined to minimize the popularity of people they claim to have never heard of.

 

 

 

This isn't to say that YT doesn't create popular personalities, but the same way that traditional media does?  I'm hesitant to agree with that.

 

I don't think traditional media creates popular personalities the way it once did - television has fragmented with the number of cable channels out there plus other outlets such as YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc  That I don't follow any of these people on social media (nor have any desire to do so) doesn't mean they aren't legitimately popular and that they wouldn't be recognized in Columbia.  My thirteen year old son knows a few of the racers from social media, he'd be more likely to recognize them than any number of traditional media stars.

 

I'm disappointed in the amount of cooperation we saw this leg - I don't need the racers to all be cut-throat but I'd prefer to see less information sharing.  I think the Frisbee dudes and Corey/Tyler are good racers, not sure if anyone else is.

[Rick Kitchen]

 

I don't think its picking on anyone, I think its a valid point.  Although, I don't know if "followers" is the same as people who view on a regular basis.  I don't know how many hits any of their videos get.  I truly don't know.

 

Tyler's most-watched video got 10.9 million views. He runs about 2 million views per video, and he has a total of 556,604,553 views for all of his videos.

[RCharter]

I don't think traditional media creates popular personalities the way it once did - television has fragmented with the number of cable channels out there plus other outlets such as YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc  That I don't follow any of these people on social media (nor have any desire to do so) doesn't mean they aren't legitimately popular and that they wouldn't be recognized in Columbia.  My thirteen year old son knows a few of the racers from social media, he'd be more likely to recognize them than any number of traditional media stars.

 

I'm disappointed in the amount of cooperation we saw this leg - I don't need the racers to all be cut-throat but I'd prefer to see less information sharing.  I think the Frisbee dudes and Corey/Tyler are good racers, not sure if anyone else is.

I still think it does.  People still know who Katherine Hegil is (even if I can't spell her name), or Kal Penn, or Chris Rock, or Tina Fey.  I think there are a wide variety of TV viewing options, but there is only so much money you can devote to programming that is going to create "traditional" stars.  How many additional big name shows have each of those platforms added to the mix.  N/F probably has the most, with House of Cards, Kimmy Schmidt, Frankie and Grace, Marco Polo, OITNB and some cartoon about a horse.  Even of those shows probably the most popular are HoC and OITNB.  And House of Cards relied on two people that were already traditional "stars."  Hulu is relying on James Franco for its new series.  I haven't heard much about the Amazon series doing very well at all.  I dont think they are failures by any stretch, but they arent' OITNB or HOC.

 

And these are more traditional shows just being shown on a non-traditional platform.  Which is not what any of these YT'ers do, or are striving to do.  I think they would be more comparable to a reality show star, and I think a LOT more people would recognize someone from a Bravo show than they would from YT.  

[RCharter]

Tyler's most-watched video got 10.9 million views. He runs about 2 million views per video, and he has a total of 556,604,553 views for all of his videos.

That means for as long as he has left a video up and going its gotten about 2 million views.  Thats nothing to laugh at, but how many views has the worst episode of the Amazing Race gotten in a week?  Even being at #34 in the ranking, TAR netted 9.49 million viewers.  And thats for an average week.  And thats not for a hit show, or a number 1 show.  And thats on a Friday when there are ostensibly fewer viewers.  

 

Again, its not to say that Tyler isn't popular, but as popular as people in traditional media?  I can't go for that.

[Netfoot]

I don't own a TV.  Last TV I had went up in smoke when the house got hit by lightning, in 1996.  I get all of my video, including TV programming, off the net.  I watch YouTube often.  I have no objection to the internet as a content distribution medium.  None at all.

 

But when anyone is free to create "content" and post it online, it stands to reason that the result will be little islands of quality in a vast ocean of dross.  What constitutes quality and what constitutes dross?  That will depend upon who you ask, because everyone has their own sense of taste.