S28.E09: Salt That Sand!

[Supay]

 

The race continues in Bali.

 

As confirmed by the official schedule:

 

http://cbspressexpress.com/cbs-entertainment/shows/the-amazing-race/photos?episode=10062

[ApprenticeFan]

Press release:

 

A TIGHT RACE TO THE MAT IN BALI HAS TEAMS ROWING AND SWIMMIMG TO A BOAT FOR THE PIT STOP, WHERE LOSERS ARE ELIMINATED BY WALKING THE PLANK, ON “THE AMAZING RACE,” FRIDAY, APRIL 22

 

[cocobeans]

*Check the ratings & scheduling thread if your carrier doesn't have AR on at it's usual time...

[Pepper the Cat]

Nope nope nope. I could not do the snake task!

[Browncoat]

Snakes wouldn't bother me in the slightest, but the rat temple from a few seasons ago?  Absolutely not.

[PaperTree]

Snakes are cool!

 

Speed bump looks wicked.

Edited April 23, 2016 by PaperTree

[SledDog]

As usual Sheri rocked the snake task. The big men (and her son) were squealing about the snakes touching them an Sheri was "oh I like snakes." Don't even get me started about the other women.

And the meatballs were probably chicken.

[Pepper the Cat]

Love the kites!

[Mreid]

This leg is just way too difficult lol  I would have been eliminated as soon as they showed me the snakes. 

[Browncoat]

The kites are gorgeous!

 

I'm actually impressed by Cole this leg (and again by Sheri).

[NYGirl]

I am so aggravated!! I thought for sure we'd be rid of that big mouth and instead we lose a nice team.  It makes me so sad.  Rachel worked so hard on that water task and salt task. 

 

Those kites were so beautiful.

 

Yes Cole rocked every single task tonight.  I'm impressed.

 

Well I also guess that Brodie is just a little bit "dopey" since they were all remarking that he has to do the remaining roadblocks and they seemed quite stoked about that.

Edited April 23, 2016 by NYGirl

[Ducky]

The kites were very awesome!

 

Sad to see Zach and Rachel go...:(  was hoping they'd beat out Brodie and Kurt...drat.. Well down to rooting for Korey/Tyler though the rest of the teams (minus Dana and possibly the Frisbee boys lol) are likeable enough.

 

I would have loved the snake task that was super awesome.

 

Missed the first 10 ish minutes right before the Snakes and Temple so don't know what happened.

 

Yep... Cole impressed me tonight... as did Rachel- she was the only female who did the water and salt task. Did pretty well... and the rowing- kept up pretty well.

Edited April 23, 2016 by Ducky

[Haleth]

I thought for sure as soon as Kurt told his cancer story that they'd be eliminated. Sad to see Zach and Rachel eliminated. She was a trooper with the salt roadblock. Bad choice to have her do it but she did great with a very difficult task.

Oh, shoot. Cute li'l pythons? Not scary. I'm glad no one freaked out too much.

Edited April 23, 2016 by Haleth

[ForeverAlone]

I enjoyed this episode very much. It was an interesting location, with diverse tasks. I liked the fact that the tasks were two Roadblocks, so both team members had to complete one. I don't usually keep track of who performs which Roadblock, so I was rather surprised to realize that Kurt had done most of them up to this point. He really has been carrying that team (just another reason for me to like him more than Brodie), and that disparity might come back to bite them in the ass, particularly since they burned the Express Pass.

 

I don't particularly like snakes, so I would NOT have enjoyed that particular walk with snakes, though I imagine they must have been well fed so they weren't tempted to make a meal out of any of the contestants. But it would still have been freaky. Neither of the Roadblock tasks seemed easy, but they were diverse enough to play to different skillsets. I wonder if the outcome would have been different if Zach had performed the first Roadblock (another Roadblock with a serious gender imbalance, and one in which the female seriously struggled). Though I imagine he made up some time with the kite Roadblock. Though since apparently Brodie is rather weak in Roadblocks, Rachel might have been able to pass him. But it was a close race to the Pit Stop, which made it exciting to watch.

 

I was so hoping Burnie and Ashley would win this leg since they are my new favorite team, but alas, they are still TAR bridesmaids. But maybe next week. 

Edited April 23, 2016 by ForeverAlone

[Lantern7]

Predictable episode. Would have been fitting if Brodie & Kurt had gone out because Brodie is a dumbass. Instead, we had to lose the inoffensive Zach & Rachel, because they picked wrong on the first Roadblock. No guarantee that Zach would have rocked the salt or Rachel could have done well on the kite, but we could've had an upset elimination in the neighborhood as the latest episode of Survivor. Not nearly as awesome, though.

 

I probably would've hesitated around the snakes, but I would have done the task. Funny that the Frisbee Bros went to the snake temple with the fruit first.

 

I'm not too stressed about Burnie & Ashley. How many times did Kelsey & Joey finish second before they won last season?

[Mreid]

Oh god a double U turn next week thats my least favorite thing about the show i wish they would get rid of that. Of the 5 teams left my favorites are Tyler and Korey, Burnie and Ashley and Sheri and Cole, that would be an ideal final 3 for me.  

[Gregg247]

Wow, I hope they have showers on the boat they're using as a Pit Stop.  That leg of the race was BRUTAL!  That was probably the most physically demanding leg from start-to-finish they've had in a long time.

[TV Anonymous]

As an Indonesian origin, I am glad that my home country is portrayed in the show. Indeed, Bali is great and I have been to Tanah Lot a number of times. I am disappointed though with Sheri and Cole reaction when doing the noodle speed bump. It is just noodle with meatball. The meatball is made out of beef and tapioca. There is no mystery meat there, no intestine. Why must they be ignorant?

 

Fellow Canadians, did CTV cut the "next week" segment out?

[PhD-Purgatory15]

The opening scenario at the two temple sites was just gorgeous. 

 

Clearly Brodie doing the rest of the roadblocks from here on out is something that is worth monitoring. If it's purely some sort of athletic enterprise I think he's fine but if you introduce puzzles or things that involves fine motor skills.....that easily could be their downfall. Count me in with those who thought the Kurt/cancer backstory might have foreshadowed a shock elimination.

 

Burnie and Ashley w/ four consecutive 2nd place finishes. Is that a record?

 

Kudos to Sherri and Cole, easily their best leg of the entire race. As someone who has traveled a fair bit in Southeast Asia, I was laughing mirthfully at their confusion about a traditional Asian style breakfast. Anyone who's tried street food in that part of world may not automatically think "goat testicles", but you are facing a little bit of the unknown with certain dishes.

 

I wonder how readily visible the plots of land that needed watering were for the teams as they examined that clue. I keep thinking if Zach and Rachel had taken a beat to examine their immediate surroundings, and maybe come to a decision that some component of this RB was going to be extremely physically demanding then Zach would have been the obvious choice. It wasn't super clear to see from when S/C went with Cole and M/D went with Matt as they arrived at the task after them. Because I think Rachel did about as well as she could do given her physical capability. This wasn't a thing where the female poker pros physically couldn't hit that carnival game, but it felt like the second Rachel chose this RB, they consigned themselves to at least a 30 minute deficit going into the the 2nd and 3rd portions of that RB.

 

Apparently Dana was sedated between legs....cause she barely made her presence felt throughout the whole leg.

Edited April 23, 2016 by PhD-Purgatory15

[weightyghost]

 

Fellow Canadians, did CTV cut the "next week" segment out?

 

Yes, they did. Got a preview for something else.

 

This leg was brutal. It was solely because of the heat - Bali was the hottest place I've ever been, and it's a terribly heat - just pure humidity. But then the physicality of the whole leg must have been torturous. 

[TV Anonymous]

This leg was brutal. It was solely because of the heat - Bali was the hottest place I've ever been, and it's a terribly heat - just pure humidity. But then the physicality of the whole leg must have been torturous. 

 

Since they have just been to Dubai, it is not that bad. Bali is a lot cooler (temperature wise) than Dubai.

[mojoween]

If the end of the finish line were the length of a snake and I could win the million by walking that length while holding a snake, I would take second place all day and twice on Sundays. As soon as I opened that basket I would have thrown the lid and run away, never to be seen again.

The kites were absolutely gorgeous.

[Quilt Fairy]

I loved that both the RBs related to the culture of Bali. Also, a task to get a clue as a lead-off. I like it when they put those extra tasks in that both team members have to do.

 

I don't know that Zach and Rachel would have done any better if Zach had done the salt RB, because he clearly rocked the kite RB, and I don't know that Rachel would have done that one quickly either.

 

I can understand why Kurt has done most of the RBs, because Brodie doesn't appear too bright, and acted like a little girl (apologies to little girls) at the kite RB. How can you not "get" that the locals aren't there to help you, you're supposed to look at the fricken' sample?

Edited April 23, 2016 by Quilt Fairy

[Archery]

As an Indonesian origin, I am glad that my home country is portrayed in the show. Indeed, Bali is great and I have been to Tanah Lot a number of times. I am disappointed though with Sheri and Cole reaction when doing the noodle speed bump. It is just noodle with meatball. The meatball is made out of beef and tapioca. There is no mystery meat there, no intestine. Why must they be ignorant?

But they had no way of knowing that it was beef and tapioca. It would not be the first time TAR has made racers eat something unfamiliar.

[weightyghost]

 

Since they have just been to Dubai, it is not that bad. Bali is a lot cooler (temperature wise) than Dubai.

 

As I said, the humidity is the worst part. It could be 20+ degrees colder (which it's not, they're actually only about 5C/10F difference) but the humidity sucks all the energy out of you. I was just in Arizona when it was 100 every day, but I could still be outside and not feel like I want to die because it was dry. Bali made me never want to leave the pool. 

 

 

I did like that this episode was pure race, and no personal drama between racers and/or couples.

Edited April 23, 2016 by weightyghost

[DEL901]

I can understand why Kurt has done most of the RBs, because Brodie doesn't appear too bright, and acted like a little girl (apologies to little girls) at the kite RB. How can you not "get" that the locals aren't there to help you, you're supposed to look at the fricken' sample?

 

That drove me crazy.  "Why won't they tell me what to do?"   Because it is a competition, idiot!!    Remember, though, this is the guy who burned the express pass on a super easy puzzle that everyone else breezed through.

[NurseGiGi]

Brodie seems to need a good dose of Adderall because he appears to have problems concentrating.  At least I hope that was his problem because the alternative is that, as stated by Quilt Fairy, he doesn't seem too bright.  I hadn't realized that Kurt had done most of the RBs and I think leaving the rest to Brodie could be their downfall.

 

I'm really liking Sherri.  Cole gets on my last nerve but he did do a great job this episode.  I wouldn't mind if they were in the Final 3 but I'm rooting for Bernie and Ashley for the win.

[Rick Kitchen]

Psh.  Those snakes might be heavy, but other than that, big deal.  And I honestly don't like snakes.

 

The title should have been "Love ya, boo."

 

Wow, those kites were beautiful.

 

An Amazing Bath Mat in the middle of the ocean?  Cool.

 

Tyler and Korey rocked those tasks.

 

Dana didn't screech this week.

[Maharincess]

What a bunch of babies. Most snakes are so docile and gentle, the freak outs were ridiculous. They weren't venomous, they weren't going to hurt them.

Never seen a bigger bunch of babies in my life.

[LotusFlower]

Remember, though, this is the guy who burned the express pass on a super easy puzzle that everyone else breezed through.

And all just to be #1 for a meaningless leg. Instead of using the pass to avoid elimination. Oh how sweet it would have been if they were eliminated tonight for just that reason. And it was so close!

[Sara2009]

What a bunch of babies. Most snakes are so docile and gentle, the freak outs were ridiculous. They weren't venomous, they weren't going to hurt them.

Never seen a bigger bunch of babies in my life.

If they didn't know much about snakes, they might not have known they weren't venomous. Plus, plenty of people are terrified of snakes in general.

[7isBlue]

Since they have just been to Dubai, it is not that bad. Bali is a lot cooler (temperature wise) than Dubai.

Dubai is brutally hot, even at night! It's easily the hottest place I've ever been, and I've been all over Asia.

[Maharincess]

If they didn't know much about snakes, they might not have known they weren't venomous. Plus, plenty of people are terrified of snakes in general.

I would imagine they would know the show wouldn't use venomous, dangerous snakes.

I don't know about anybody else but if I was doing a task and my team mate kept yelling "you can do it babe. You got it babe. Come on babe" over and over it would annoy the hell out of me.

Edited April 23, 2016 by Maharincess

[sinycalone]

I think Brodie's issue is that he lacks patience, gets frustrated too easily.  That may be why Kurt has done most of the roadblocks so far.  It's not that he thinks Brodie lacks the intelligence to deal with puzzles, assembly, etc...but loses focus too quickly.  And that does seem to be the case.

[thefog]

Kurt and Brodie are toast if Brodie has to do the remaining road blocks.  He should have been eliminated for being a dumbass. They wasted the Express Pass because he couldn't do the puzzle.  Now the challenges are only going to get tougher.

[PhD-Purgatory15]

Well some of that is the specific rules of roadblocks (and we had two tonight instead of just one).....the other teammate isn't allowed to yell anything that could be construed as specific advice as to how to complete the roadblock for fear of being hit with a penalty like James Earl and Denise from last season.. So most likely you are either going to get complete radio silence (which some partners probably do prefer on the more complicated and technical roadblocks), or you get the most general, vaguely positive exaltations. Some version of "You've got this" most likely.

 

Also, I'm not sure I'd say the entire lot of them were freaked out babies by the snakes. Burnie and Ashley seemed ok with it, Sherri and Cole (Sherri for sure) didn't see to have many issues. Brodie yells 24/7 so the fact that he yelled w/ a snake around his neck shouldn't be much of a surprise....but he and Kurt seemed to get through the challenge ok. The only person I thought really had an issue was Zach who at one point seemed to be carrying his snake with two hands in front of his body. Which probably wasn't the idea form to be using in snake transportation.

[Primetimer]

As Racers harvest salt and fly kites in Bali, everyone randomly piles on one guy for not pulling his weight.

Read the story

[Misslindsey]

 

I think Brodie's issue is that he lacks patience, gets frustrated too easily.  That may be why Kurt has done most of the roadblocks so far.  It's not that he thinks Brodie lacks the intelligence to deal with puzzles, assembly, etc...but loses focus too quickly.  And that does seem to be the case.

I agree though I do think Kurt is smarter than him. Brodie does seem to get frustrated easily, especially with the puzzle last week that did not seem to be a problem for the other teams. I think Kurt can get frustrated, but he just calmly keeps going.

 

I am not wild about snakes, so I would probably be a bit hesitant during the task. I would have power walked to the snake drop off to get rid of it as quickly as possible. Though I have a fear of garden gnomes so I would have a bigger problem during the leg where they have to carry the Travelocity gnome.

[TV Anonymous]

As I said, the humidity is the worst part. It could be 20+ degrees colder (which it's not, they're actually only about 5C/10F difference) but the humidity sucks all the energy out of you. I was just in Arizona when it was 100 every day, but I could still be outside and not feel like I want to die because it was dry. Bali made me never want to leave the pool. 

 

And I am telling you from my first hand experience, that with ambient temperature and humidity both taken into consideration, the 40C Dubai is much less comfortable than the 25C Denpasar.

[Muffyn]

I loved this leg.  No major freak outs within the teams.  The snakes added an interesting extra.  The scenery was incredible.  What a beautiful place.  The tasks were challenging.  I really enjoyed it.

 

I was hoping Zach and Rachel would stay in.  Brodie choked so badly.   The usual team number one is in trouble with the distribution of road blocks.  I wonder how they would have done if Brodie had done more of the earlier road blocks.  He really seemed to not have a clue on the kite.  Whereas Rachel plugged away at the salt task without whining and Zach did a great job on the kite while expressing his appreciation of the task.  I did feel a little bad for the teams when we got the camera shots of them sliding on the deck when they first got on the pit boat. 

 

Dana wasn't a nightmare.  Cole did his part without complaint.  No one was too damn screechy.  Did we switch seasons?  

[GaT]

That was a tough leg, but I'm surprised there was only one Britney Spears reference :-) Shame it was Zach & Rachel, I liked them.

[Quilt Fairy]

And all just to be #1 for a meaningless leg. Instead of using the pass to avoid elimination. Oh how sweet it would have been if they were eliminated tonight for just that reason. And it was so close!

In all fairness, while I agree they should not have used it last week, the Express Pass got them a trip to Finland. Considering the odds of winning the $1M and the nice prizes they now give out at each pit stop, trying for first place on as many legs as possible is not stupid.

 

Has anyone come in first this season besides Kurt & Brodie or Tyler & Korey?

[Lantern7]

Quilt Fairy . . . Dana & Matt and Zach & Rachel won legs.

 

Kinda weird that Sheri & Cole got to the front of the pack for the first time, while Brodie & Kurt finished in the back.

[yamashinaryu]

This is my fave episode so far.

The kites were gorgeous. The group of locals doing some rituals on the beach was cinematic.

Rooting so hard for Sherri and Cole. Mostly for Sherri.

[Artsda]

Cole did great with the fetching water task, he motored through it and saved them a lot of time.  

 

Kurt survived colon cancer at 22. So amazing he did and is stronger and cancer free. 

[viajero]

I thought this was one of the better legs this season, though I wished Kurt & Brody had been the ones going home.  But I don't really dislike any of the teams all that much.

 

And I am telling you from my first hand experience, that with ambient temperature and humidity both taken into consideration, the 40C Dubai is much less comfortable than the 25C Denpasar.

 

I would agree with this.  25C isn't that bad, even in the tropics.  It's when it gets up around 30C or above that the combination of heat and humidity becomes impossible.  There is a reason why Colombia plays all its home games in mid-afternoon in Baranquilla.  Even pro soccer players wilt under those conditions.

[Richness]

Except for a few minor quibbles, I really enjoyed this episode. It had great scenery and tasks. I love when they do a double Roadblock, forcing both racers to perform a task in a single leg. This is the Emmy nomination episode as far as I'm concerned, especially with those gorgeous kites. The snowy mountain leg was very scenic, but it wasn't as well designed as this leg. This episode also had a sob story, no fighting, no helping of other teams (other than vague directions to go over there), animals, and major position changes. What's not to love (other than maybe snakes)?

 

I too thought the cancer story foretold the doom of the Frisbee bro team. It's also become painfully aware that the brains on this team lie with Kurt. They're awesome when they're working together, but Brodie seems useless on his own, especially after last week's shark tank puzzle stumble. Since it looks like Brodie will have to do future Roadblocks, I'm betting they're eliminated unless the tasks are purely physical in nature. Anything involving thinking will trip him up. And while Brodie continues to be loud, at least there wasn't any romance reporting going on this leg. Glad to finally have that nonsense completely behind us.

 

On the opposite end, Cole did very well this episode, though I still want to administer some Ritalin to calm him down. Did he and Brodie exchange spirits? Sherri continues to be awesome, especially when it came to handling those snakes, which would have made me freak. While I can appreciate the beauty of those yellow pythons, I just don't like snakes.

 

Glad to see Tyler and Korey got their groove back. While I'm not rooting for them to win, I at least want them to do well. I alternate back and forth with liking or hating their comments. The Britney snake comment (pop) rocked, but the booty (butt) pirate comment by gay guys failed miserably. Get it through your head, guys, Phil just is not that into you. I didn't appreciate his drunken sailor comment until the final two teams wobbled onto the mat.

 

I'm hoping Burnie and Ashley, the perpetual bridesmaids, win it all since they seem to be unable to win a leg. As far as I can recall, the haven't fought the entire race, and they've continuously supported each other. That's made them somewhat mediocre compared to the others, but I find the wholesomeness enjoyable.

 

Heck, even Dana was supportive during the salt task. I had to watch again to make sure it was she who said positive words of encouragement to Matt. Combine this with Sherri and Cole finishing third while Brodie and Kurt finish next to last, it must be opposites day on TAR.

[mertensia]

"Oh, honey, snakes don't bother me". Oh Sherri. My admiration for you grows. And you were genuinely admiring the (I guess) python around Cole's neck's coloring. Plus the both of you rocked the roadblocks.

I'm guessing the tapioca is what bothered them in the meatballs.

Too bad we lost Zach and Rachel.

[Lingo]

I want to point out that from what I heard in the extra videos, Kurt can't do any more roadblocks "until the final leg", which will undoubtedly be another double-RB leg. I think there's only 3 legs left, so Brodie only has to do 2 more RBs, and survive 2 eliminations, until the final leg where they'll each do one. I'm guessing this was our best shot at eliminating them (except maybe at a U-Turn). Too bad!!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I am so disappointed that we lost Zach and Rachel who were hard working and pleasant (to each other as well as to locals and fellow racers). What makes it even worse is that in exchange, we are stuck with Brodie who is loud and annoying.

 

I don't think he's a complete moron but I think that he doesn't do as well when he's forced to do things on his own like the roadblocks. He is strong and fit so if he is told what to do, he is capable but tasks like the kite are his weakness because he expects to be spoonfed the instructions rather than figuring out how something works and how to insert tab A into slot B on his own.

 

Being stuck with Brodie while losing Zach and Rachel is even more disappointing just knowing how hard Rachel worked at the salt task.

 

I was surprised that Dana did so well at the kite task after she initially complained about not liking tasks like that.

 

Sheri was awesome again. I loved that she was so appreciative of the snakes' beauty - and she was the one telling Cole to hurry up while they were walking with the snakes!

 

Tyler and Korey did really well this week, so they deserved the win (even though I was really rooting for Burnie and Ashley to finally get a win!).

 

The kites were so huge and really beautiful. I loved that when the first one went up, several of the racers were in awe and making comments about how amazing it looked.

 

When Phil mentioned the bat cave, I thought they would have a guano related task so I was glad to see that wasn't the case (although maybe the racers would have preferred being in a cool dark cave instead of out in the sun hauling buckets of water).