S24.E07: The Gladiators Are Here

[MMLEsq]

I know she said she was not sure where the Eternal City was and just randomly said "Ethiopia", but oh how I would love to see a team hop a plane to a completely incorrect destination. 

That happened one season, although IIRC the team took a train, not a plane.  They went to the completely wrong city (in Switzerland? Austria? one of the Western European countries like that) and they were never able to recover.  I'm going to do some quick research to see if I can dig up the details...

ETA:  Okay, so it wasn't exactly how I remembered it.  But, the team did buy tickets for the wrong destination and no one stopped them.  They discovered the mistake on their own, but it still cost them time and they were eliminated.  From S4, E3:  "With the other teams already on trains bound for Gmunden[, Austria], Steve & Dave and Russell & Cindy raced to the Vienna train station to avoid elimination. Unfortunately, Steve & Dave had received incorrect information, which was to go to the Vienna North Station. Meanwhile, at the Vienna East Station, Russell & Cindy unwittingly bought tickets to Gmund, not Gmunden. Both teams were unaware that trains to Gmunden departed only from the Vienna West Station. While these teams were still in Vienna, father and son Steve & Josh arrived at the Seeschloss Orth in first place.  With the wrong tickets in hand, Russell & Cindy relaxed in the Vienna East Station. At Vienna North, Steve & Dave tried to purchase tickets and were told to go to the Vienna West Station. While the pair boarded the subway to Vienna West, Russell & Cindy discovered their mistake and also headed to the same station on a tram. "One guy's error thinking we were going to Gmund could cost us the game," Russell commented, "But I think we're going to be okay." While the two teams tried to correct their mistakes, Monica & Sheree, Reichen & Chip and Tian & Jaree finished second, third, and fourth, respectively.  As the two teams sweated out the ride, Millie & Chuck, Jon & Al, David & Jeff and Kelly & Jon finished fifth through eighth, respectively.  As the next train stopped in Gmunden, the air traffic controllers prevailed as Phil told the stunned pair they were the ninth team to arrive. In the end, Russell & Cindy's train arrived in Gmunden last, and when they arrived at Seeschloss Orth, Phil told them they had been eliminated."

Edited April 15, 2014 by MMLEsq

[SirDigbyPollo]

"but I would have guessed Athens as the Eternal City (still closer than Ethiopia) and wouldn't have known to go to the Spanish Steps."

 

Except that I believe the clue said to find the Bridge of Hadrian in the Eternal City.  Many people might associate "Hadrian" with Rome/Italy, because the Romans built Hadrian's Wall in the Great Britain.  I think Leo even said something like "Hadrian was a Roman, right?"

Rachell may have been joking, but I noticed that they didn't even bother to find out where the Eternal City was.  They just told the travel agent that they wanted tickets to the same place as the other racers who were there at the same time.  Say, didn't Brenchell complain in the past about team's just following them?

[Alapaki]

What about challenges with numbers makes the Globetrotter's brains turn off?? It was painfully obvious Flight Time had not understood the clue

 

There was something weird about the way Flight Time handled the Roadblock.  It seems like he thought the task was to simply determine the number of steps (and maybe he just assumed that the Roman Numerals on the obelisk provided that answer.  Because every time someone told him the number of steps, he ran right back down and reported that to the clue-taker.

But, if that's how he understood the task, why didn't he just count the steps himself as he ran up and down them multiple times?  It made me wonder if he has some sort of problem with innumeracy or something.  I just can't figure out why he wouldn't have been counting as he went up and down, if for no other reason than to double-check the answer the passers-by were giving him.

In that same regard, while I agree that smartphones (and readily available internet-connected computer terminals, for that matter) have taken a lot of the challenge out of some of the tasks, didn't Flight Time get 3 or 4 different answers from people with smartphones?  

[Snaporaz]

You're right, Flight Time did get a few different answers.  I think I remember Phil stating at the beginning of the task that some of the steps actually didn't count as a part of the total because it was a landing (or something like that).  That might explain the difference.  

I just remember a little bit more effort towards research being required in the earlier seasons.  Teams would have to go to an "internet cafe" or book stores to look at travel guides.  This show was so much more interesting before smart phones and spoon-fed flights.  I miss airport drama!

[TheRabbi]

I'm guessing since Rachel obviously didn't know the Eternal City, she was taking a shot in the dark based on looking at her passport visas with the Ethiopia comment.  The rumor was that this season was supposed to go there but the legs were canned last minute and they went to Rome, so they probably had the visa for it (remember back in season 22 when Chuck and Wynona were randomly throwing out countries listed on their passport to gain access to the travel agency when they had to identify the country they were going to before getting access).

I thought this was a highly entertaining episode.  The tasks were really fun, lots of gorgeous scenery, and a tense finish.  Definitely my favorite of the season so far.

[aradia22]

This wasn't the best episode of the season but it was a solid one. There was nothing that challenging about the chariot racing or the gladiator fight though I did like the way they pulled back with the chariot racing to make it seem like a video game and at least Leo and Jamal had an excuse for all their hammy behavior. They got a laugh or two out of me. I enjoyed the Spanish steps challenge largely because I love Roman Holiday so just seeing fake Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn made me happy. It was nice to see them challenge the racers a bit more with the clues even if it's frustrating to watch. I feel like it's fine if you're in Sri Lanka and you don't necessarily know a lot about the country but I'm a little less sympathetic to everyone borrowing phones to look things up when it's Rome or asking for help with Roman numerals. Maybe I'm just biased because I feel like Keats+Roman Holiday+piazza was enough of a clue. 

 

who does not know Rome is the Eternal City who has BEEN to the city before?

I didn't. It's not like it's plastered everywhere. Even though Paris is known as the City of Lights it's not like people shout it at you when you go there.

The Globetrotters are one of the only remaining teams I like but watching Flight Time at the Spanish Steps was so exasperating. You don't understand Roman numerals so you're not even going to try to do the challenge yourself?

[jhlipton]

I wonder why Dave and Connor let the country girls jump in front of them at the mat.  Was it explained anywhere? 

I think the Country Girls helped them with the Roman Holiday task.

[Alapaki]

I don't have a huge problem with the Country Singers' (over)reliance on other teams for tasks with the anything more than the slightest degree of difficulty.  I suppose those teams who chose to help them have strategic reasons for doing so.  If it comes back to bite them in the ass, that's their problem.

But, I do find the Country Singers' repeated Talking Head segments about what a strong team they are quite insufferable.

[Netfoot]

The Country Singers are doing well enough.  I think boasting might be excessive, but they are doing better than many others who have come and gone.

People skills are still skills.  And forming a short term alliance is a legitimate tactic in TAR. If you can consistently figure out who best can help you with the immediate challenge, and persuade them to do so, then you are doing something right. 

Where this strategy falls down is in the end-game.  As the race approaches F3, it will become increasingly more difficult to persuade others to help you.  In the final leg where it's every man for himself, it is unlikely you will be able to elicit the assistance you need. 

The Country Singers may go a long way using their current strategy.  Maybe all the way to the final leg.  But barring a huge stroke of luck, they aren't likely to win the final leg.  More likely to run last, and come trailing up to the mat.

In time to hear the eulogizing of PoorMark and Bopper, and the condemnation of Mallory for having huge shoes to fill and basically failing to be up to the task.....  Oh crap, why did I start thinking about the finish?!??

[dgpolo]

I liked all the clues in this leg but exasperated at the helping with the numbers at the steps. I mean he just gave them the answer, not even take this number and this number = convert to Roman numerals. He just gave them the answer. John might have won if he hadn't had to go back for another post card. It did bother me that no one recognized the fake Peck and Hepburn.

This is the leg Dave and Connor started to annoy me, especially Dave.

Too bad about John and Jessica, they were much more likeable this time and not as frantic.