S28.E05: We're Only Doing Freaky Stuff Today

[mookster]

I love love love snow, so this was by far my favorite episode. I kept marveling to my 10-year-old how lucky these people were to be experiencing this. So I kind of felt bed for Erin and Joslyn. They weren't my favorites, but they really seemed to be enjoying themselves and were nice to each other throughout. I still can't differentiate between a lot of them -- besides BLAIR and BRODIE -- but I like the married couples the most. Burnie and Ashley I think? And the two who messed up counting on the bus. When I saw them show up on the mat, I thought "Oh, they're still in it?" Three weeks off. Boo.

[Jersey Guy 87]

I really dislike when things like paragliding or sky diving are used as "Roadblocks" because they are done in tandem with an expert and there is no real skill or work involved besides arriving, getting in line, and doing it in whatever order you arrived in. I understand they are going for something that is visually arresting for the sake of the viewing audience, but in terms of actual racing it's not much of a task but more of a pointless time-filler.

 

Except the paragliding task caused teams to switch up the order because of poor take-off attempts or lulls in the wind.  And it did look spectacular (and the teams all seemed to appreciate it).

 

It was hilarious that many of the paragliders' launches failed seemingly because the contestant was more concerned with aiming their selfie stick than running down the hill or paying attention.

Live by the selfie stick, die by the selfie stick.

 

The selfie sticks were provided and required by TPTB so they could get those shots of them in the air.

[Tara Ariano]

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

 

The Amazing Race Finds Some Strangers In The Alps
In the French Alps, racers find plenty of snow, an abundance of gorgeous views, and a whole lot of vertigo.

[piequinn35]

Have all of the titles thus far been from Tyler and Korey?

Brodie said this ep's title

[valen]

It was reported that that was Phil's lunch, right?

 

I wish there had been more of a chance to change places, but overall, it was a beautiful episode.

[gryphon]

I think I enjoyed this episode, not only because of the beautiful scenery but because the thin air made a lot of screaming less possible....most people were concentrating on breathing (as I would be).  

I started to like Cheri mom a little bit this episode--I'm glad she did the paragliding and stuff.  Still not sold on her son, though. 

I'm hoping that Team Roosterteeth can pull up in the ranks...mix it up a bit more. 

[Bryce Lynch]

Can someone please explain this March Madness thing to a non-USA viewer? I noticed many of my other favourite shows just took a week off also

It is the best time of the year. The NCAA college basketball tournament. The first 2 days (Thursday and Friday) there are 32 games, so there is pretty much basketball on all day on 3 or 4 channels at a time. CBS even takes over TruTV, so you get to hear the announcers sheepishly do promos for "Pawn Stars".

How was "I dated a Yeti once" not the episode title?

This! First they passed on "What country is Switzerland in?" and now this.

[greyhorse]

Mrs. greyhorse and I are diehard skier/snowboarders, and we have been fortunate enough to have actually taken a trip to Chamonix.  In all our years of watching every single season of TAR, we were most excited about this one because they FINALLY visit Chamonix!  What a breathtaking ski valley and if you thought it looked beautiful on HD TV, then you can only imagine what it looks like in real life!  We skied Les Grands Montets, rode that same tram, and marveled at the incredible views of Mont Blanc.  What a treat it was to see it again and to relive some outstanding memories.

 

The tv episode tag line about how one team's hopes were in jeopardy because of a dropped clue was ridiculous.  All they did was get another clue!  It would have been another thing if they had to rope up and slide down the mountain to retrieve the dropped clue.  

 

I agree that it was smart of production to have experienced snow drivers shuttle the teams around.  Basically like a taxi but you had the intrigue of having to find one of the marked license plates.  I don't recall in our time there if there were actual taxis.  But there were definitely ski buses that could accommodate all the people with their skis and snowboards. 

 

I don't understand why the one team decided to build a tent.  They weren't at the back of the pack, but they said something like how they needed to take a risk and do what other people weren't doing.  But to pass up that incredible view and instead to just sit and replicate an outdoor campsite?  I think they missed out big time with that decision.

 

It looked like there was a bit of funky editing in the paragliding when they were down to the last three teams.  The first girl took off and fell, the other two celebrated, then when they cut back to somebody else taking off, the first girl was already standing as if she was all set to go again.  I was wondering why none of the teams (especially the actual experienced paragliding people) didn't try to pack down the snow so they could more easily run down the hill.  We witnessed firsthand these paragliders taking off while we were there.  Just incredible. 

[RCharter]

^^I felt like RoosterTeeth took a calculated risk.  If the tent building ended up being the easier task than they would have moved up and it would have been a pretty big win for them......but they weren't so far behind that if it turned out to be harder they would fall to dead last.  And it seems like the way the tasks are set out the teams are altogether quite often (either end up on the same flight, or on the same bus, etc) so at some point they will probably be right back with the top teams.  They also mentioned that they knew something about building a tent so they might have thought that their experience would have made the task a little easier.

[North of Eden]

Random observations,

 

*The girls took it well so good on them.

 

*Wayyyyyy to much Tyler for my liking and way too much screeching and hollering by racers in general.

 

*If you are afraid of heights you probably better not go on the amazing race.

 

*Ratings are already low...vanishing for presumably basketball for several weeks is sure to not help matters.

 

*Blair is starting to grow on me. I like her pep and enthusiasm.

 

*A couple interesting shots tonight...seeing how close the village is to the base of the mountain looks like the perfect ingrediant for "The Big One" of avalanches some day. Not sure I would want to live there. Also I noticed a helicopter hovering to get some of the shots.

 

*I wonder what production would have done if it was not literally a picture postcard perfect day.

 

*Don't know anything about Mt. Blanc but hyping it up as special for having snow year round I don't get because it looked like everyone of its neighboring mountains would too.

 

*Not my favorite episode of the season because some people in all their heavy gear were indistinquishable from one and another.

Edited March 15, 2016 by North of Eden

[lianau]

Just an observation after watching the last 4 episodes back to back . Why is Korey so cute ? Yeah I know , completely superficial but I enjoy seeing him  . And the most annoying word of the season has to be "Daddy" in different volumes but always full of whinyness .

[RCharter]

Just an observation after watching the last 4 episodes back to back . Why is Korey so cute ? Yeah I know , completely superficial but I enjoy seeing him  . And the most annoying word of the season has to be "Daddy" in different volumes but always full of whinyness .

What killed me was when Blair got really freaked out and dropped the act for a second.  Voice dropped to normal range, and she just said "dad, I'm scared."  It seemed like such a real moment.  Which makes me sort of sad, because if this is all an act, is this what she thinks she needs to do to get attention?  Screech and shriek?  

[Jersey Guy 87]

I don't understand why the one team decided to build a tent.  They weren't at the back of the pack, but they said something like how they needed to take a risk and do what other people weren't doing.  But to pass up that incredible view and instead to just sit and replicate an outdoor campsite?  I think they missed out big time with that decision.

 

They thought that by building the campsite they would have an opportunity to get ahead of other teams by doing something different. They were wrong, but their motivation was racing (although I don't think it's that important to win any leg except the last).

[RockShrimp]

So the greeter with a hook was some kind of serial killer, right?

I'm pretty sure it was Keith Richards...

 

I about died laughing at whoever said they knew the person approaching from the paraglide wasn't Blair because they would have heard her shreiking. 

[greyhorse]

*Ratings are already low...vanishing for presumably basketball for several weeks is sure to not help matters.

 

...

 

*A couple interesting shots tonight...seeing how close the village is to the base of the mountain looks like the perfect ingrediant for "The Big One" of avalanches some day. Not sure I would want to live there. Also I noticed a helicopter hovering to get some of the shots.

 

*I wonder what production would have done if it was not literally a picture postcard perfect day.

 

*Don't know anything about Mt. Blanc but hyping it up as special for having snow year round I don't get because it looked like everyone of its neighboring mountains would too.

 

*Not my favorite episode of the season because some people in all their heavy gear were indistinquishable from one and another.

I haven't looked at any of the ratings, but are they indeed lower?  Last season when I saw the preview for this one, I thought I wouldn't like this season because I hate stunt casting and this is a whole cast of stunt casting.  But after figuring out why people are on the show and what they do on YouTube, it doesn't really matter to me anymore.  They're just like any racers and it's been fun to watch.  I am amazed that these YouTubers can get recognized around the world as if they were a celebrity.

 

Mont Blanc ("White Mountain") is the highest peak in the Alps and I would say one of the most recognized in the world.  Not sure if they were really "hyping" it, but rather this was the mountain that they were at.  Just like if they were at the Matterhorn.  Or Denali.

 

All ski/mountain cities are at the base of the mountain.  As far as I know, there has never been any avalanche incidents involving the actual town of Chamonix.

[NutMeg]

Rant: how could Phil not know that you don't pronounce the "c" at the end of Mont Blanc!? And what was this weird Spanish pronunciation he used for other French words? After how many years, you'd think he'd know, or at least know to ask. Some posters rant about contestants using Spanish in any non English speaking country, so I'd say if they are fair game, so is Phil! :)

 

By the way, there is one dude who pronounces French words perfectly (I think he was the one setting up the tent, don't know his name yet), his grammar is sometimes lacking but his pronunciation is absolutely perfect!

[auntlada]

I didn't know it, so I don't think I'd expect any other non-native French speaker to know it. When I took French in high school, we learned to pronounce the consonants in the word "careful" when they were ending consonants (as a general rule). Of course, there are words I don't pronounce correctly in English because I learned them from reading.

I don't thnk it is on the same level as using Spanish in place of any foreign language,malthough I understand that, too, because when you learn another language as an adult,myour brain stores it in a different spot, so even if you know words in more than one other language, it can be difficult to pull the right one out, particularly if you are under stress.

[kingshearte]

I don't thnk it is on the same level as using Spanish in place of any foreign language,malthough I understand that, too, because when you learn another language as an adult,myour brain stores it in a different spot, so even if you know words in more than one other language, it can be difficult to pull the right one out, particularly if you are under stress.

True story: I learned Spanish and German at the same time (And I used the word "learned" slightly loosely. I'm not exactly fluent in either at this point.) and to this day, my brain defaults to the German word for "eleven." I can count up to ten just fine in Spanish, but then "elf" comes out. It's not like I don't know that it's wrong, but that's what comes out. So I am a little sympathetic to anyone who just busts out whatever second language they might happen to know. It's certainly less objectionable than the ones who just throw an O on the end of English words. Plus, especially in Europe, loads of people speak several languages, so the odds that one of them could be Spanish aren't as small as one might think.

[Kromm]

I don't hate Blair a quarter as much as I think most here seem to. Her voice is annoying, and the plaintive wail of "Daddddddy" tiresome, but I really do get the sense she loves her Daddy and in her own way is very supportive of him. She takes advantage of him like crazy, but does also seem to be his biggest booster.

 

I liked the Clevver Girls in this one. Even though the physicality of this caught up with them eventually, I liked how enthusiastic they were about this, unlike some of the other teams who just whined and screamed straight off from the beginning.

Mont Blanc ("White Mountain") is the highest peak in the Alps and I would say one of the most recognized in the world.  Not sure if they were really "hyping" it, but rather this was the mountain that they were at.  Just like if they were at the Matterhorn.  Or Denali.

 

Rant: how could Phil not know that you don't pronounce the "c" at the end of Mont Blanc!?

I think most people know Mont Blanc because of the pen company. But people rarely SAY the name out loud.

*Blair is starting to grow on me. I like her pep and enthusiasm.

You can join me in the corner. I said this two episodes ago. Her voice is annoying, and she early on seemed to really be taking advantage of Daddy, but she's also really positive in many ways. She certainly honestly loves her Dad--that's no act.

[Jobiska]

It also seems like a lot of detours have had one task be universally faster than the other: the mariachi band vs. the fireworks, collecting bus fares vs. playing tejo, and this time it was delivering lunch and dynamite vs. setting up a survival tent.

 

So the lesson here is if it explodes, pick it, I guess!

I've often seen it said (on forums and on TWOP's recaps) that if you know you're behind and a lot of other teams are taking the other detour, it's generally a wise choice to take the unpopulated one in the hopes that you'll pass up a few of the others at least.  I think Burnie and Ashley, as said above, took a calculated risk, and if they had dug just a little deeper (rather than having to pile later, which they said was harder) might have passed one or two more teams.  Certainly didn't seem like one could pass another team on the dynamite.

I too am sure they were required to hold the selfie sticks by production.

Erin and Joslyn seemed a little goofy all day, one of them randomly tripping on cobblestones, the whole find a lunch thing, one of them slipping on the dynamite trek...I was wondering if they were a bit affected by altitude or killer fatigue.  At any rate, they seemed to have fun with it, and good for them.

[Supay]

So the greeter with a hook was some kind of serial killer, right?

 

Il s'appele Jean-Marie ! *

 

 

* His name is Jean-Marie!