S28.E07: Welcome To Bloody Fingers 101

[shura]

"She was more successful at 15 than I was at 50"

 

Right? The guy is a doctor and a lawyer, and she applies makeup.

[SomeTameGazelle]

Right? The guy is a doctor and a lawyer, and she applies makeup.

I assume he is measuring success purely in dollars.

[TaraS1]

Major kudos to the folks with little to no dance experience who managed to complete that task - it looked so hard! I would have still been there 12 hours later when Phil came to tell me I'd been eliminated.

I like Korey, but my god, Tyler grates. I wish he and Blair had gone home, and Korey and Daddy could've continued on together.

[SomeTameGazelle]

That's not how I took it. He said: "you weren't looking for a beautiful man?" - sarcastically referencing himself.

And Sheri replied, "No, we were looking for the hot lady." To which Phil said, "Maybe Cole was." Because for some reason Sheri can't describe ladies as hot and Phil has to make sure no one thinks she might be a lesbian? The whole exchange was just awkward and weird to me.

Edited April 9, 2016 by SomeTameGazelle

[fishcakes]

Korey is quite possibly the least coordinated human being ever.

 

Best moment was when Scott finished dancing, Blair starting woooooooo-ing, and you see the judge look over at her, shrug, and then tell Scott he passed. Scott seemed to do pretty well on that attempt, but I think it was 50/50 as to if he actually did it right or if the judge just wanted to get Blair and her loud mouth out of the theater.

[ByaNose]

Blair made the dumb mistake of taking both backpacks. Daddy has always been stuck carrying them both all season and now she decides to be all (not) helpful. That said, did Daddy & Tyler's backpack look that much alike that Daddy thought it was his? Those few seconds plus the earlier cabbie stopping to get gas cost them the race. I didn't care for Blair so I'm not terribly upset but it was almost curtains for Tyler.

[Muffyn]

Thought this was an excellent episode from start to finish, with a good mix of actually challenging challenges and all the drama the race can provide (including a bad cabbie deciding first place and a footrace to the mat for last). Unlike most episodes, this one felt open throughout with no foregone conclusions. I also enjoy how supportive the team members still are with each other even in the face of killer fatigue setting in (this lap seemed really exhausting), and how the teams interact with other teams. Particularly liked the interaction of an apologetic Scott with an exasperated Tyler when the bags got mixed up.

 

I understand why Sherri did the dancing roadblock, she seemed to have very good rhythm. Was really impressed with her and Ashley. Also while the editing didn't really reflect it, Dana seemed to learn the dance really fast, and although that's not surprising given her profession, I appreciated being able to see what she's actually internet-famous for.

 

To top it all off, Georgia and its inhabitants (both two- and four-legged) where gorgeous.

 

Please more of this!

Sherry kicked ass at the dance.  I loved how she threw herself into it.  There was no embarrassment or holding back trying to look cool.   She just strutted out there and nailed it.  While Cole is comes off as whiny and lazy, she rocks and is trying to get everything out of this race.  For Cole, I do think that often when he thinks he's being funny, he comes off like a douche; e.g.,  Mom's clean; if they lost he would be supportive - doesn't need to be since they didn't.  I can see him thinking these comments are snarky.  However, coming from him they add to his perceived jerkiness factor. 

 

I also enjoyed Dana's dance.  She's a real piece of work, yet again complaining her way through the race.   But her dance was excellent.  Her footwork was really beautiful.  I know she is a dancer by trade.  It showed last night.   

[Netfoot]

Because for some reason Sheri can't describe ladies as hot and Phil has to make sure no one thinks she might be a lesbian? The whole exchange was just awkward and weird to me.

 

I think he was just poking fun at her for not realizing she was implying (in a left-handed, sideways manner) that he wasn't a hot guy.  Just as I think, she was poking fun at him by suggesting that he is always hanging out with hot women.  

 

I can see him thinking these comments are snarky.  However, coming from him they add to his perceived jerkiness factor.

Actually, I was wondering how many of this crew will suffer as a result of their fans getting a better picture of who they really are.  I mean, if you were a fan of Cole/Tyler/Blair, surely after this, you'd just be compelled to un-friend, un-follow, and un-like all of them?

Edited April 9, 2016 by Netfoot

[greyhorse]

I think Blair didn't want to do the roadblock not because she had supposedly hurt her knee in Chamonix, but it was that she didn't want to embarrass herself in front of new boyfriend Brodie.  Now there's no telling if Blair would have been more coordinated than Scott, but if you can use gender bias and say that men should be able to change oil faster than women, I would say the opposite when it comes to dancing.  Not to mention that I think somebody who is young would likely be able to dance better than somebody who is older.  But we'll never know.

 

The picking up WHERE'S-MY-BAG Tyler's backpack is what really cost them.  They would have had a several minute lead if that were not the case.  What would have happened had Scott not returned it?  Would he have been assessed a penalty?  I seem to remember in past races that you are not allowed to move another racers possessions.  But what if you do it accidentally?  In regards to the backpack, where did Tyler think it went?  He thought that one of the Georgians with cameramen in the room picked up a gigantic backpack and walked off with it because they want his smelly clothes?  Talk about overreaction.  

 

Dana was awesome at the dance.  Obviously that's what she does.  But she killed it.  And you can tell she has natural grace when moving.

[Lamima]

I think Blair didn't want to do the roadblock not because she had supposedly hurt her knee in Chamonix, but it was that she didn't want to embarrass herself in front of new boyfriend Brodie.  

I was wondering if this might have been the case too.

 

And the Tyler backpack thing. Maybe he thought someone hid it. We have seen seasons where folks did things with other teams stuff...that one season where stuff was taken out of a cab and the cab stolen. Stuff shoved under the seat, I recall one season. So I would have been freaking out too. 

Edited April 9, 2016 by Lamima

[MortysCleaningLady]

I got called out last week for potentially being sexist for stating I would never let my mother change oil.  Well, I'm back at it.  :(  I would never ask my Dad (who can funky chicken like no one's business) handle a dance task.   Of course, Blair didn't pull her weight again while Daddy handled stringing (though as a doctor, he might be great with a needle) as she stirred a pot.  Once dunking started, Daddy was still participating. He tried really hard with the dancing!

 

Dana's dancing was outstanding and Sheri gets big kudos for her run, too.  I rewound and rewatched Dana.

 

I think the concept of a hazelnut coated with candied wine sounds delicious, but the string somehow annoys me.  Are the hazelnuts softened enough that you'll be bite them off the string? 

Edited April 9, 2016 by MortysCleaningLady

[Guiaoshi]

The picking up WHERE'S-MY-BAG Tyler's backpack is what really cost them.  They would have had a several minute lead if that were not the case.  What would have happened had Scott not returned it?  Would he have been assessed a penalty?  I seem to remember in past races that you are not allowed to move another racers possessions.  But what if you do it accidentally?  In regards to the backpack, where did Tyler think it went?  He thought that one of the Georgians with cameramen in the room picked up a gigantic backpack and walked off with it because they want his smelly clothes?  Talk about overreaction.  

 

 

 

They would have take a penalty for sure. And I understand Tyler freakout. it wasnt just about lose his clothes and stuff in a regular situation, it was about lose his possessions from the race *maybe even his passport was there* when they were just behind the other team running to not finish last. It was a freak out on ´´OMG, this will be the last nail in our coffin ``.

Edited April 9, 2016 by Guiaoshi

[In Pog Form]

In regards to the backpack, where did Tyler think it went?  He thought that one of the Georgians with cameramen in the room picked up a gigantic backpack and walked off with it because they want his smelly clothes?  Talk about overreaction.

I don't think he was thinking of any specific scenario, he was just freaking out because his stuff wasn't where he left it. I don't think he was overreacting. He could have lost the race because of it. He was lucky, because it turned out to be the thing that saved him from elimination. But he had no way to know that at the time.

 

What was he supposed to do, other than go looking for the bag and make some noise about it to get other people looking? Just shrug and say "oh well, all my stuff is gone"?

[greyhorse]

I don't think he was thinking of any specific scenario, he was just freaking out because his stuff wasn't where he left it. I don't think he was overreacting. He could have lost the race because of it. He was lucky, because it turned out to be the thing that saved him from elimination. But he had no way to know that at the time.

 

What was he supposed to do, other than go looking for the bag and make some noise about it to get other people looking? Just shrug and say "oh well, all my stuff is gone"?

OK, fair enough.  I suppose if the same thing had happened to me, I would probably be very concerned as well.  Especially since my passport was probably in there, although when I travel I always carry it on my actual person in a pocket or a security pouch.  Who knows what I'd do on the actual race.  I guess I can't stand Tyler and his shrieking.  Like Korey though.  But can't stand Tyler.

 

Anybody else get annoyed at the Georgians at the nut dipping task?  Clearly they understood English.  The racers would ask something, and then they would respond to the question in Georgian.  Obviously that's the local language and they're not obligated to respond in English.  Bizarre.  But if somebody here came up to me, clearly not able to speak much English but started speaking in Spanish only, I would do my best to respond in Spanish if I understood their question.

 

Sad to see Scott go.  Blair, not so much.  For somebody so accomplished in life, I'm a bit surprised that the show didn't focus on his success and show interviews of him talking about his medical group, etc.  Then again, this is the YouTube season, so I suppose Blair is the star of the team, and not him.  "She was more successful at 15 than I was at 50."  Ha.  Maybe in terms of YouTube hits or perhaps even at making advertising money.  

[Jobiska]

I think if you shoved the needle down through the hazelnut on a tabletop, it would be more likely to roll away, you'd be more likely to split the nut with the extra force, and the tip would get blunted on the wood and more difficult to push through other nuts.  

I enjoyed the judgmental gray cat watching from above.  

I thought Scott's words, which I cannot hope to replicate, about relying on mediocrity because it's served them okay so far (though I suspect he was trying to be funny/self-deprecating) were included to presage the ending, and so indeed it proved.

I was happy with either of the first two teams getting the prize, but sorry for RoosterTeeth that it was cab luck that did them in (though I wonder if they said Ree-kay Park instead of Rike-to-rhyme-with-Mike park (I'm assuming a bit on the pronunciation, and don't recall if Phil mentioned it in his description of the Peace Bridge or not), they might have gotten the correct name across.  I also assume the other park is vah-kay and not vake-to-rhyme-with-wake, and wonder if it was the first vowel sound that made the confusion.  Perhaps someone here knows how to pronounce it in Georgian; the only think I feel I can assert is it most likely doesn't rhyme with Mike.

I was intrigued that I could see differences in style that the slightly better dancers brought to their interpretations; if they all danced next to each other Ashley's joyous flair, Sheri's almost tango-like midsection roll, Dana's strong hip hop leg action, and Kurt's upright precision would have provided quite an array (Zach and Korey's flailing would have kind of matched, I thing).  


 

[ForeverAlone]

Well, that sucks for Blair and Daddy, but seriously, why the hell did Scott do that Roadblock instead of Blair? That is as eyebrow raising as Sheri doing the Roadblock last week. But whatever. Good on Tyler and Korey for being able to run faster than Scott and Blair. I would rather have them stay in the race than Scott and Blair (at least I don't have to hear her shriek anymore). But damn they got lucky. They have had two close scares in a row. As for the rest of the leg, I thought it was interesting with a variety of tasks, and Georgia is a beautiful country.

[xcrayon2215x]

I'm not surprised about the elimination, had Matt/Dana not went to the first task they would have likely won this leg.  

[Lingo]

I believe Blair's excuse that she twisted her knee on the paragliding in Chamonix because Erin (of Team Clevver) said the same thing, and that she and Joslyn probably would have been eliminated soon after they did because her knee was so messed up. You can run short distances on a messed-up knee if you have to but it's pretty painful.

 

Kurt, Ashley, and Sherry were really impressive at the dancing, and Dana was a natural of course. But Dana and Matt were so far behind at the beginning that I was beginning to wonder if they were going to be ironically eliminated in a leg with a dance task. This was before Tyler and Korey quit at the candy task of course.

 

(BTW, I thought a Bald Snark was defined as switching at a detour twice.  So the Dancers only did one-and-a-half Bald Snarks maybe?)

 

I'm bummed RoosterTeeth missed out on that first place, but good for the Magicians. Honestly as irritating as Blair's voice can be, I hate Tyler's laugh more and was really hoping he'd be eliminated instead. And I don't want to see this race come down to two "alpha"-male teams dominating the whole thing.

 

Amazingly tense finish, though! I was not expecting that.

Edited April 9, 2016 by Lingo

[Netfoot]

Anybody else get annoyed at the Georgians at the nut dipping task?  Clearly they understood English.

 

You shouldn't get annoyed with them for not speaking English.  They may have been instructed to stick to their own language.

[Rinaldo]

What would have happened had Scott not returned it?  Would he have been assessed a penalty?  I seem to remember in past races that you are not allowed to move another racers possessions.  But what if you do it accidentally? 

Scott would definitely have received a penalty; that's one reason (probably the main one) why the moment he knew what he'd done, he had no other thought but to run back and return it. "Accidentally" is how this sort of thing generally happens -- that's why they all know that taking someone else's stuff, however unintentionally, has bad consequences.

 

I too don't think Tyler overreacted at all. If I'm in an unfamiliar country and suddenly all my possessions are inexplicably gone... I may not have a hypothesis as to how it happened, but that doesn't matter: I'm going to be frantic to get it back.

[greyhorse]

You shouldn't get annoyed with them for not speaking English.  They may have been instructed to stick to their own language.

We can of course conjecture anything, but all I could see is that they clearly understood English.  Not trying to be all American-centric here and expect the world to speak English, but the locals clearly understood English.  And it was clear that the racers did not understand Georgian.  Not sure why the producers would tell the locals in this instance that they couldn't speak English.  We've certainly seen other countries where the locals at roadblocks and detours speak English.

[fishcakes]

(BTW, I thought a Bald Snark was defined as switching at a detour twice.  So the Dancers only did one-and-a-half Bald Snarks maybe?)

 

This is what I thought as well. The way I remembered it was that switching detours once is just switching detours, but because Season 3's Ken and Gerard, at least a couple of times, switched and then switched back, that came to be known as a Bald Snark. And I also vaguely remember that one time they were doing Option 1, switched to Option 2, switched back to 1, and then switched again back to 2, and Miss Alli marveled at the Double Bald Snark. So (nerd alert) I searched for variations on "bald snark the detour" in the TWoP recaps, and weirdly the only time it comes up, or at least the only time it comes up in search results is one time in Season 4, where Miss Alli says that, "Kelly and Jon found out that one pushy guy and one woman who's looking like a swizzle stick these days will have a hard time pulling up a heavy lobster trap, so they Bald-Snarked the Detour and went fishing." So even she used it to mean to switch detours once. Nonetheless, I'm almost certain it originally meant to switch then switch back, but since it's not in the recaps (or maybe it is, but I'd have to read all of the S3 recaps to know for sure and Miss Alli's writing was funny, but it was also long), I'm thinking that all of the discussion about what "bald snark" meant must have been in the forums, which are sadly long gone now.

[greyhorse]

I thought it was shocking that Tyler and Korey gave up on the nuts when they had perhaps three strands done already.  And then I thought it was also surprising when the dancers arrived back to the nuts because they couldn't find the cleaning pots task, that they would simply not even attempt the nuts because they saw Tyler and Korey running out saying it was impossible.  It worked out for them, as I thought of the two tasks the cleaning pots didn't really seem all that hard.  Basically it was just scooping out the grape skin and then washing it down with a wet sponge.  Surprised that more teams didn't go for that in the beginning, but I suppose it is hard to tell from just reading a description.

[RCharter]

I believe Blair's excuse that she twisted her knee on the paragliding in Chamonix because Erin (of Team Clevver) said the same thing, and that she and Joslyn probably would have been eliminated soon after they did because her knee was so messed up. You can run short distances on a messed-up knee if you have to but it's pretty painful.

She wasn't even limping while running on a knee that was so injured she couldn't put any weight on it?  Nope.  Not even so much as a little shuffle as she ran on a horribly injured knee....nope.

 

I do however, believe that she may have come up with the excuse after hearing Erin and decided it could work for her.

Edited April 9, 2016 by RCharter

[absolutelyido]

I would be more apt to believe that Blair's knee was hurt too badly to dance (as opposed to just being lazy) if I hadn't watched her do nothing but halfheartedly stir a pot while Scott threaded all 100 of those hazelnuts. It seems like she does as little as possible in these tasks.

Blair did literally nothing this leg. I think her not stringing any hazelnuts cost them the minutes that made them lose the leg. Even if she had done one or one-and-a-half of the strings, and it saved them 10 minutes, it could have saved them from elimination.

Edited April 9, 2016 by absolutelyido

[possibilities]

Maybe she sprained her fingers in Chamonix, as well.

[Netfoot]

@BlairFowler

A lot of you are asking why I made my dad do the dancing roadblock... I hurt my knee in chamonix and could barely put any weight on it!

 

Would this be @ShrillBlair for real do you think?  

 

Anyway, she says she had an injured knee, and absent any evidence to the contrary, I will accept it at face value.  But Blair pretty much set herself up for this by depending so heavily upon her father from the beginning.   He obviously dotes on her.

[truthaboutluv]

I mean, if you were a fan of Cole/Tyler/Blair, surely after this, you'd just be compelled to un-friend, un-follow, and un-like all of them?

 

I really have no opinion on Cole (other than I do think it was douchy of him to say that he would have comforted his mom if they'd been eliminated but since they weren't he was basically going to rag on her) and while I found Blair's constant screech of Daddy annoying, it didn't make me actively dislike her. So if I was following her (I'm not, as I'm not following any of these people), I don't feel like there was anything she did on the show that would make me un-follow her. And same goes for Tyler. Unpopular opinion perhaps but I like Tyler and I have seen no reason not to on the race. Yes his laugh can be a little annoying but whatever, I assume it's just his natural laugh so not much he can really do about it. 

 

Frankly, when it comes to this show, I just look for teams that get along well, try hard and respect the people they encounter on the race and the other teams. I don't even need them to like the other teams because why...theyre competing against them. So frankly the only person I have actively disliked at points this season is Dana who has been awful and rude to her fiance and teammate and rude and awful to the locals as well. She can leave anytime and it sucks that the leg came down to a dancing challenge, the thing they're actually good at. Because I would have been more than okay with them leaving, although I do like her fiance just fine. Sucks for him he's stuck with her. Okay, I also sort of can't stand Brodie and Kurt but that's because they give me a headache with all the yelling and bro-ness. But I just try to mute them as much as possible. 

 

 

I thought it was shocking that Tyler and Korey gave up on the nuts when they had perhaps three strands done already.

 

They only had one strand done. The woman told them all the strands but one was wrong so they had to re-strand four more again. Brodie and Kurt were the ones who had three strands right and had to re-do two. Still don't get me wrong, I too thought that was a dumb decision on Tyler and Korey's part and was positive they'd be eliminated for it, especially when the editing made sure to show Brodie or Kurt (I get them confused to be honest) saying he wasn't sure that was a good idea. 

Edited April 9, 2016 by truthaboutluv

[gryphon]

 

I enjoyed the judgmental gray cat watching from above.

Add Judging Cat to the list of Shecky the Wonder Camel and Broken Ox...such awesome animals in TAR through the years...

Sheri rocked the dance--I was impressed and so happy for her--she just threw herself into it and got it done.  Wow.  I like her and I liked Blair's Dad.  *sigh*

Tyler and Korey are certainly not as shouty when they're not winning--understandably...I'm kind of glad they toned it down a bit and have a taste of the middle of the pack for a while.  Hopefully the pack gets shuffled around even more next week--Go Rooster Teeth! 

[buttersister]

 

"And yes, they are taking the midnight train to Georgia." Uncharacteristic quip from Phil. I approve.

With every viewers' brain screaming it, he could hardly not say it. <g>

[millennium]

Tyler gets on my nerves (too frenetic, too much drama queen, too much pandering to the camera) but I like Korey.

 

 

Can't stand Tyler.  I was yelling at Scott to ditch the bag in the gutter or take it with him and return it to Tyler at the mat.   Once again, doing the decent thing comes back to bite someone in the ass.   Tyler made such a scene about his bag being gone, like righteous petulance and shouting for the camera would make it reappear (and was it just me, or was he implying that one of the locals must have taken it?).   We've seen better racers lose a bag in the past and not create even half the fuss Tyler did.  They just took the hit and kept racing. 

Edited April 9, 2016 by millennium

[RCharter]

With every viewers' brain screaming it, he could hardly not say it. <g>

My brain was screaming the "whoo hoo!" part too.....

[doodlebug]

Can't stand Tyler.  I was yelling at Scott to ditch the bag in the gutter or take it with him and return it to Tyler at the mat.   Once again, doing the decent thing comes back to bite someone in the ass.  

I'm pretty sure that race rules required him to return the bag as soon as he realized he had taken it.  We've seen teams get time penalties for taking other teams' property, even inadvertently.  In this situation, a time penalty would've killed them, too.  Scott did the only thing he could do to try to minimize the error.  If anything, it looks like he saved a couple minutes because he ran into Tyler on the stairs and didn't have to go all the way back to the challenge.  He might be a decent guy, but he really didn't have a choice.

[Netfoot]

Add Judging Cat to the list of Shecky the Wonder Camel and Broken Ox...such awesome animals in TAR through the years...

 

Don't forget that delightful creature from Season 12 that I like to think of as "Ari's Ass".

 

Tyler and Korey are certainly not as shouty when they're not winning--understandably...I'm kind of glad they toned it down a bit and have a taste of the middle of the pack for a while.

 

Understandable, maybe, but when things don't go well, I see a rapid departure of Fun-Loving Tyler, who is immediately replaced by Bitch-Faced Tyler.  A good shakeup can never hurt TAR.  How about Team WhoooBroDude racing to the mat avoid elimination?    That would shake up the dynamic a bit, wot!

[millennium]

I'm pretty sure that race rules required him to return the bag as soon as he realized he had taken it.  We've seen teams get time penalties for taking other teams' property, even inadvertently.  In this situation, a time penalty would've killed them, too.  Scott did the only thing he could do to try to minimize the error.  If anything, it looks like he saved a couple minutes because he ran into Tyler on the stairs and didn't have to go all the way back to the challenge.  He might be a decent guy, but he really didn't have a choice.

 

I think it would help if the show made the rules clear in instances like this -- for example, Phil could have said something about it at the mat.   Of course they never have in all these years, so why start now?

[Lingo]

She wasn't even limping while running on a knee that was so injured she couldn't put any weight on it?  Nope.  Not even so much as a little shuffle as she ran on a horribly injured knee....nope.

 

I do however, believe that she may have come up with the excuse after hearing Erin and decided it could work for her.

 

Well, you know, it's one thing to run, it's another to dance with grace. She would have been judged on her dancing; she's not judged on her running. Except here, obviously.

[truthaboutluv]

for example, Phil could have said something about it at the mat.

 

I'm sure he would have if Scott had incurred the penalty because they would need to explain to the viewers why he received the penalty. Many past racers in interviews after their season have said that there are many rules they are told and given that viewers may never hear about or know, just because no one does it so no one gets a penalty for it.

 

Also viewers forget quickly sometimes. For example, just last season, we saw that one racer, the mom who was racing with her son, incur a penalty for the team when she shouted out something to him while he was doing a roadblock. At the mat, Phil clearly explained that they're not allowed to do that (one team member shout out instructions and help the other team member doing the roadblock) and that's why they got the penalty. This season, so many were wondering why the one brother, either Darius or Cameron, wasn't telling the other brother that the delivery station for the bags was right there, since he'd seen the other teams pick up the clue there. But that's because he couldn't. 

 

Understandable, maybe, but when things don't go well, I see a rapid departure of Fun-Loving Tyler, who is immediately replaced by Bitch-Faced Tyler.

 

YMMV but I see stressed because who doesn't look stressed if they know they're very close to being eliminated? If he still seemed happy and fun-loving, then he'd be accused of not caring about the race and not being a true racer like ordinary TAR fans who really need the money, as many of the teams have already been accused of (not that I think we really know these people's financial status). 

Edited April 10, 2016 by truthaboutluv

[Jobiska]

Ken and Gerard of season three were nicknamed "bald snark" because they were bald, as noted above, but also snarky.  

My memory of the term "to Bald Snark" is one detour switch, which they did frequently.  Two was a Double Bald Snark.  This list of definitions from TARflies Times seems to bear that out.
 

Bald Snark (v.): At a Detour point, to choose one task, begin it, then stop it and switch to the other task, for whatever reason. Ken & Gerard of TAR3 were the masters of the Bald Snark, so much so that it was named in their honor, even though switches in Detours had occurred in earlier seasons. A Double-Bald-Snark (with or without hyphens) is a double-dip of delicious Bald-snarking. In other words, when a team chooses a Detour option, works on it for bit, changes their mind and switches to the other Detour option, works on that one for a bit, and then changes their mind again and goes back to the first one, they've performed a Double-bald-Snark. (In TAR10, Peter & Sarah did a Double-bald-snark in Mongolia, starting with the ger, switching to the hyniks, then switching back to the ger.)

 

 http://www.tarflies.com/article.php?_f=detail&id=835
 

[RCharter]

Well, you know, it's one thing to run, it's another to dance with grace. She would have been judged on her dancing; she's not judged on her running. Except here, obviously.

Many of the racers danced without any level of grace.  She would have been judged on getting the steps right.  And just to be clear, I'm judging her very, very weak excuse for not doing the dance, which is based on a phantom knee injury that there is no evidence of her having, and all evidence of her not having.  

 

I run 5-6 days a week and even if you run on an injury you're not going to run the same, especially a serious knee injury.  Since she can run, there was no serious knee injury that kept her from dancing....this was just another case of Blair not wanting to do a task if she could send daddy to do it for her.  Running is one of the ultimate activities that puts weight on your knees as you land on your feet.  Her "well I can't put any weight on my knees" is ridiculous if she was able to run normally, without a limp or even favoring one leg or the other.

Edited April 10, 2016 by RCharter

[J-Man]

Has anyone noticed that in the past few seasons, the issue of money is no longer discussed? They used to always tell us how much each team received for each leg of the race, and there were always situations where teams actively tried to save money (or even beg for money) in order to have enough to take taxis, etc. 

 

Lately it seems like there's never an issue-- even when a taxi would obviously end up costing more than it should because they went in the wrong direction at first, or if they had to go back and change taxis. 

[etagloh]

Well, the dance judge was grading on the curve there, which helped Zach a little. I'm not too bothered by that, since it was quite the dance.

 

Anyway, a really good, well-planned leg in a great location, all with a lot of old-school TAR charm: nice to get a shakeup at the top, although some of that was (again, necessarily) taxi-driven. When TAR visits a country or region for the first time, it's possible to use the best-known local customs for decent challenges, and the wine and churchkhela tasks worked well. The Armenian leg lacked a little on the tasks, but in both legs, the judges seemed to be enjoying themselves a lot (apart from Judging Cat, who was a cat) which always helps.

 

Phil got to do 'live' descriptions twice, which was unusual, perhaps because the TBC meant he and production barely got the jump on the teams into Tblisi.

 

(Georgian wine has very limited distribution elsewhere in Europe, and even more limited in the US, but it's worth a try if you stumble across it.)

 

Anybody else get annoyed at the Georgians at the nut dipping task?  Clearly they understood English.  The racers would ask something, and then they would respond to the question in Georgian.  Obviously that's the local language and they're not obligated to respond in English.  Bizarre.  But if somebody here came up to me, clearly not able to speak much English but started speaking in Spanish only, I would do my best to respond in Spanish if I understood their question.

 

Maybe just maybe that's what they were told to do by TPTB? I thought it was hilarious and entirely appropriate.

[greyhorse]

Anybody catch that when Brodie and Kurt were trying to tell the taxi driver where to go, that it looked like they were showing him torn out pages from a guidebook?  What a smart idea.  I'm wondering now if they actually bought the book at the airport, or simply just tore out several pages without paying...

[In Pog Form]

I think it would help if the show made the rules clear in instances like this -- for example, Phil could have said something about it at the mat.   Of course they never have in all these years, so why start now?

 

Does anyone really even need to be told it's rule not to take other teams' stuff? Most children learn that by about the age of five years old.

[Lingo]

Well, for those of you who wanted to see the the racers all dance that dance at the same time: Your wish has come true! Sort of:

 

[possibilities]

It seemed like Sheri was embarrassed by Cole saying "rapido" to their cab driver. I like her more and more each episode.

 

Does anyone think Phil is CGI'd into the cluebox appearances? The racers in the background never even seem to notice he's there. It seems little suspicious to me that he'd tape those moments while the teams were actually getting their clues, and it just looks fake to me. I don't mind them doing this, but it looks to me like it's not real.

[millennium]

Does anyone really even need to be told it's rule not to take other teams' stuff? Most children learn that by about the age of five years old.

 

Kinda snotty response there.   Thanks for that.    I was referring to the fact that it was an accidental snatch and wondering what might have happened had Scott carried it to the mat.  

[RCharter]

Has anyone noticed that in the past few seasons, the issue of money is no longer discussed? They used to always tell us how much each team received for each leg of the race, and there were always situations where teams actively tried to save money (or even beg for money) in order to have enough to take taxis, etc. 

 

Lately it seems like there's never an issue-- even when a taxi would obviously end up costing more than it should because they went in the wrong direction at first, or if they had to go back and change taxis. 

I wondered about this because Dana/Matt had the cab take them to the candy task, and then halfway to the wine task, then back to the candy task and then to the wine task.  That seemed like it would cost quite a bit more than a team who just went to one task, or even two.  Although last year it did seem like they were able to save money in certain areas, so they could have a surplus.

[NurseGiGi]

Would this be @ShrillBlair for real do you think?  

 

Anyway, she says she had an injured knee, and absent any evidence to the contrary, I will accept it at face value.  But Blair pretty much set herself up for this by depending so heavily upon her father from the beginning.   He obviously dotes on her.

I tend to believe her about the knee because she's usually ahead of her father going to the mat (at least that's how I'm remembering it) and this time she was several steps behind him as he was, as usual, juggling both their bags.

[Lingo]

They still have to ration their money, but it's just rarely an issue these days. It's occasionally mentioned in the online videos. I think the French Alps leg was one of their notorious $1 legs.

[Chyna]

Did anyone catch the name of the candy they were making? (Or just know what it is because you are an awesomely worldly person?) I really want to find some to try it.