S24.E09: Accidental Alliance

[Snaporaz]

 

The three teams piling on with mocking Brendan and Rachel.  Mean bullying shit.  I'm Ok with not liking a team, even talking about WHY you don't like them.  But the imitations of Rachel just for the amusement of other racers were mean and petty.

What's even more priceless is the mocking of Rachel crying, when that asshole Dave wept like a baby several times in every single episode of his first season.  

[dolphincorn]

I'm so glad that I hated Dave back when I first saw him in his original season.

[Tara Ariano]

Here's what Sarah wrote about the episode!

[charlieboo]

I am definitely on Team Cowboy, but I also love the Afghanimals. They seem to be having a really fun time and appreciating the scenery as they go. They also never fight or yell at each other and, while I can see where their rambunctiousness might get annoying, it is always fun-spirited and never mean. As for the Alliance, I think they are only it to try and get D&C and the Country Girls into the Top 3 since they Afghanimals think they can beat C&D in a speed contest, and the Country Girls in almost anything else.  That's why (IMO) they helped and waited for the Girls - just to try get Brenchel eliminated, since they pose a bigger threat.

 

I do find it funny that the Cowboys, possibly the strongest all-around team, is completely under the radar. If they manage to win it all, they should send flowers to Brenchel for drawing all the attention.

 

I agree with what everyone said about the Country Girls, but that Roadblock was brutal!  Carrying 60 pounds of milk down a snowy mountain? The girls didn't stand a chance, but I really appreciated that she didn't start crying or give up, and that her partner was so supportive. And the fact that she was so sweet to the dog went a long way for me. They still should have been eliminated.  

[dolphincorn]

Sarah had the right idea about everything this episode (skip vs. watch), except the part with the dogs.  They were worth watching.

[Sarah D. Bunting]

I considered advising y'all to watch the dog part on mute, but in the end, it wasn't worth it. SHUT UP COUNTRY SINGERS. (I hate them more than most people; it's not rational but GAHHHHHH.)

[ProfCrash]

The Country Girls should win this season, it would be a perfect ending. They have been able to get other people to help them with at least one task on pretty much every leg. They are awful racers who are being brought along because they are quality people (I am assuming, blonde, pretty, and clingy is somehow or another quality person). As I understand it, a quality person is someone who thinks Dave and Conner should win because they have both had cancer or because Dave and Conner will give people answers or some combination of both.

 

I understand wanting to bring the Country Girls to the finals, who wouldn't? I don't understand how the Country Girls think that they are running a good race. Yes, they are advancing but not because of their own skill. As soon as they get to the finals, the answers will dry up, and they will lose. It is like Russell on Survivor, he doesn't understand that people kept him in the game because they knew he pissed people off so badly that they wouldn't vote for him. He continues to be shocked that he lost. The Country Girls are going to be shocked if they lose and miss that they are only in this race because the Cowboys gave up the extra express pass on the second leg (maybe third) or that the Afghanimals completed the mustang task or that how many other people guided them through how many legs.

 

This season deserves a Country Girl win.

 

I don't like the Cowboys or Brenchel but they are running solid racers and they are not relying on other teams to get buy. They appear to be treating the other racers with respect. Yes, Brenchel U Turned Conner and Dave but that was so that they could win a leg. They were not mean about it. They just did it. Most of the interviews that we have seen have had a slightly whiney tone to them but I have a feeling that is because they know that the three teams are not just upset a them but are being unnecessarily mean girl in their behavior. I would say bullying but they are not doing it to their face. I think that Brenchel is more confused that the other teams don't understand the competition aspect here and that sometimes you take certain actions in order to help you win. Like U Turning Leo and Jamal...

 

Dave and Conner are leading the pack in mocking Brenchel, not very Christian behavior. This is a team that choose to do the DJ task instead of the drink mixing task because they don't drink alcohol. You are annoyed that they U Turned you. They did not really endanger your ability to stay in the race, so stop whining. The Country Girls will latch on to anyone who will help them, so Dave and Conner are their friends. Leo and Jamal seem to like Conner and Dave and are keeping the Country Girls around because, well, they suck at racing. But I can't get behind an alliance that is based on mocking someone and pure hypocracy. Brenchal are bad because they don't share information. So in the final leg are you going to spoon feed the answers to the Country Girls? Brenchel are bad because they used the U Turn but it is ok to U Turn Leo and Jamal because you coached them through a task afterward?

 

Jet and Cord are good racers but they just irk me. It is the subtle things like the comment made in this episode. I get that he was joking but I don't think it really was a joke. I think that he expects that his wife has certain roles and he has certain roles and that those roles are based on genetalia and nothing else. I understand that there are plenty of people who are ocmfortable with that but it rubs me the wrong way. It just does. There are enough small things along those lines that just irk me and the whole BS after their first race. I just can't get behind them because as polite as they are, I can't get past that the politness hides an ugliness and on occassion we see small glimpses of it on the race. They can always be brushed off as killer fatigue or joking in the moment or something else but they add up.

 

So there really is no one I want to see win this season. Brenchel are reality TV whores and that drive sme nuts, Rachels is better but still rubs me the wrong way. Jet and Cord I want to like but I just can't. Dave and Conner are hypocrites who are leading a pack of mean girls. Leo and Jamal are better this season but still rub me the wrong way. The Country Girls (and I do hate calling grown women girls but these two act like they are hellpless and have to be rescued frequently enough that I actually think the label applies) cannot complete a race and use their social skills and looks to manipulate people.

 

UGGGHHH

 

So Country Girls for the win. Let the ineptitude reign!

[jackman36]

OMG Dave, what happened to you?  You have become a spoiled rotten bitch, this is not the Real Housewives of Utah.  The very defintion of a douche.  And Connor, do you have to look at your dad for permission before you speak each time?  You are an adult now and can use your big boy opinions.  Worst of all, you have me rooting for Brenchel!  What a distasteful situation this has become.  On the other hand, the Afghanimals are very tolerable this season and showing their competence.  Getting in a faux alliance in order to bring the weak teams (D&C and the Bimbos) to final 3 is an awesome strategy. 

[Milk-Eyed Mender]

If Dave and Connor and the Country Singers make final three and/or win, maybe they can pool their money and buy a bit of lebensraum where "people like them" can mingle and breed in a quality-controlled environment. I do think they're saying what many of the viewing audience is thinking re Brendon and Rachel and catty venting is probably a great stress reliever, but it's not a good look on anyone with grown children of their own, much less a 60-year old man.

[Scuslidge]

I've been rooting for the Cowboys all season, so I'm pleased the heat is not on them right now.  Not that I think all the mocking of Brenchel is acceptable - but I have a feeling the Cowboys would be feeling more pressure from the alliance if it weren't for Brenchel's presence.  I can't believe I'm actually hoping for Brenchel to not only make the final episode, but to come in second.  I really hated them during their last season.

 

The Cowboys are so competent when it comes to tasks that I'm not too worried about the U-Turn next episode, since it's a double U-Turn and they can probably beat the second U-Turned team.  I am fairly certain that if they don't hit the U-Turn first, they'll be completing both tasks. 

 

This episode was especially fun to watch (despite the unbearable smugness of Dave and Connor) because I've been to Lucerne and Mt. Titlis.

[Kromm]

The surest way to make me "like" a team as annoying as Brendon and Rachel?

 

Have all of the other teams stupidly go on about how they aren't "allowed" to U-Turn a particular team.  Like that's... a rule.

[leighdear]

For me, the biggest difference between the Cowboys and the rest of the teams is basic respect for other people.  On the race itself, and for the viewing public.  They actually think about what they're saying and are always aware of the cameras, and what they capture.

Nobody gets a bad edit if they don't provide the raw footage.  They can't show it if you didn't say it.  Sure, there are always editing manipulations.  But again, if you didn't say it, then nobody can manufacture it.  There are some lines the producers can't cross.

Idiots, biggots and sanctimonious tools that forget the camera, will ALWAYS provide those moments for the later broadcast.  I'm sure there have been plenty of people with nasty views that we never saw, because they waited to make those comments in private.  Sure, the cameras are there most of the time, but there are breaks and rest periods where there simply cannot be filming of the racers.

While I have never done anything even remotely as intense and overwhelming as participating in this race, I just can't understand how some people can keep flapping their gums and verbally let fly every snarky thought they seem to have.

They've all been there before.  They know what can happen to their image and reputation.    

Edited April 28, 2014 by leighdear

[ribboninthesky1]

Was there an appreciable difference in the speed between Gondolas 1 and 2 during the milk jug task?  The way they kept highlighting who was on each Gondola, I thought at first that Gondola 2 must be slower or something.

 

It did seem like Gondola 2 was slower, but then again, didn't Leo finish the task before Brendan? Even though Brendan was shown ahead of Leo on Gondola 1?

[survivinmt]

NLU? Really Jennifer, that's embarrassing. For you. And you of all people, who have been on this race twice and seen LOTS of people that are NLU really should know the difference.

Love the Cowboys. Jet's throwaway (to me) comment about knowing how to use the vacuum was nothing. My husband tried to pull this on my all the time - I don't know how to load the dish washer - but he still does it. And lawn care and vehicle maintenance. I must have a keeper. I thought his much funnier more memorable line was, "You want any of this pizza?" Definitely said that myself a time or two in a hotel room while cleaning up. 

[merylinkid]

 

They can't show it if you didn't say it.  Sure, there are always editing manipulations.  But again, if you didn't say it, then nobody can manufacture it.

Exactly.   I am sure the producers asked C & D how they felt about being U-Turned.   The only response is "It's part of the game.  We just gotta move on."  There was absolutely no reason to keep going on and on about it and making fun of Rachel while they were whining.

[SirDigbyPollo]

Dave and Conner are leading the pack in mocking Brenchel, not very Christian behavior. This is a team that choose to do the DJ task instead of the drink mixing task because they don't drink alcohol.

 

The Entitled Ones did do the drink mixing/pouring task in Kuala Lumpur.

 

I will say this about TAR 24: I don't recall there being so many close leg finishes in previous seasons.

[Snaporaz]

 

I am sure the producers asked C & D how they felt about being U-Turned.   The only response is "It's part of the game.  We just gotta move on."  There was absolutely no reason to keep going on and on about it and making fun of Rachel while they were whining.

That's just how they roll.  Dave will be talking about this for two years.  "Nasty Brendan and Rachel made two cancer survivors, one of them a 60-year-old, build a toy donkey!"  Now that he has something else to talk about, he's stopped talking about his broken Achilles tendon.  

 

I doubt that B&R are losing any sleep because two douchey stiffs don't want to be friends with them.

[Kromm]

That's just how they roll.  Dave will be talking about this for two years.  "Nasty Brendan and Rachel made two cancer survivors, one of them a 60-year-old, build a toy donkey!"  Now that he has something else to talk about, he's stopped talking about his broken Achilles tendon.  

 

I doubt that B&R are losing any sleep because two douchey stiffs don't want to be friends with them.

 

I'm at the point where I honestly want all of these teams to fuck off.  I mean Brendon and Rachel aren't nice people, fine, but it IS a game.  These people need to grow the hell up.

 

That said, it WAS fairly stupid of Brenchel to risk that much bad will simply to win a single leg.  You risk that if you are in danger of coming last, not simply to ensure a stupid leg reward.  

 

Although to be fair, all of the other teams already hated them anyway.  So maybe ultimately it made very little difference.

[SourK]

I don't really care that much if the teams are mean to each other, but I hate it when they copy each other. I hate it at the best of times, when there's no alliance, and people who get to a task first lose their lead by having the other teams copy them, and I hate it even more when there is an alliance and people just tell each other the solution and no one has to try.

 

I do think it's interesting, though, that strategies have evolved to the point where the weaker teams are banding together to try to beat the stronger teams. I'm not sure that's the race I want to watch, but it's interesting.

[Netfoot]

When they placed first in the leg, and Phil began to tell them about the prize, I'm sure that for a moment Dave thought he'd won one of the classic Mustangs from the challenge.  What an asshole!

[Alapaki]

I think TPTB revel in teams forming alliances, and have been increasingly so with every passing season.

 

So I'm sure they just ate it up when the teams worked together to give each other the answers to what, I presume, were meant to be challenging tasks (thus largely defeating the purpose of the challenge).

 

I do have to say, though, that I'm not sure how they anticipated the tunnel-drill-bore task to play out for a team that didn't know what it was already.  Brendan and Rachel got the right answer from a passer-by.  But I'm not sure what TPTB expected teams to do if that wasn't the case.

[Scuslidge]

I don't really care that much if the teams are mean to each other, but I hate it when they copy each other. I hate it at the best of times, when there's no alliance, and people who get to a task first lose their lead by having the other teams copy them, and I hate it even more when there is an alliance and people just tell each other the solution and no one has to try.

 

I do think it's interesting, though, that strategies have evolved to the point where the weaker teams are banding together to try to beat the stronger teams. I'm not sure that's the race I want to watch, but it's interesting.

No kidding!  I would love it if the powers that be would institute a rule that a team cannot just give answers to other teams.  This would be a very different race if they couldn't share information.

[merylinkid]

Oh the drill bit.   C & D's whining drove that right out of my head.

 

I so wanted Brendan to say it was a sinusoidal curve for determining alphanumeric to roman numerals.

 

(hey I can snark on them for their actual stupidity).

[jhlipton]

** Commenting on the U-Turn in the appropriate thread.

[auntlada]

They had to give him the card with the "formula" worked out on it.  If they hadn't filled in the right mileage with the year answer, I don't think it would have been accepted.

 

That's what I figured, although I was hoping they could just tell the guy what year the car was. I didn't know any of them, but my husband picked out almost all of them. I believe he got one off by one year.

 

They are awful racers who are being brought along because they are quality people (I am assuming, blonde, pretty, and clingy is somehow or another quality person).

 

Those things do make a quality person. It's just a question of what kind of quality.

[jigo]

There being no (ill-intent of) physical harm done to the other team, all that’s being said and done by each team were part of their strategies (deliberate or not)  for the race.  So, Game On! 

 

Putting some team on u-turn is part of the game... as much as setting up alliances, helping-out the non-threats, identifying and posturing-against/psyching-out your (immediate) competition, battle-cries, conflicts, being targets, etc.  As long as they're on their bubble of the game (of its of fluid possibilities in indeterminate situations), it’s for them to play and talk it out the way they can and want it to be (to get them by towards their goal) on same shared context they’re in. But, it’s not for me to fairly define the merits of their personal being.

 

The name-calling in the TAR-forums bubble, however, against those in the race was quite a eye-popping clout of group think being manifested… Demanding flawlessness and wolfishly calling out the 'self-righteousness’, ‘hypocrisy’, ‘whining’, ‘game-plays’ of the racers are reeking of ironic entitled self-righteous hypocrisy in itself - tantamount to spitting with the face up towards the sky. In terms of likability/'supportability', I’d rather defer it to the racers themselves than the arm-chair flame-throwers who're not on the same context as the racers were in. 

 

For a TV show to indulge myself in, weeding out all the dramas and the shrills, I’m all for finding productive strategies being carried out. And it’s more satisfying if it resulted in more time with the pretty - hence, Team Connor and Team Cuter Cowboy!

[LittleIggy]

One of the blondes said Brenchel were "NLU - Not Like Us." Well, then I'm a NLU and proud of it! PS, adored the doggies!

[Meushell]

How about "Most Obnoxious Allliance". Or "Gag inducing Alliance"???

I started calling it the Whiny Alliance, though that's largely due to the Whiny Team.

Let me get this straight - so the asshatimals can say we are the final 3 for the win but Brenchel can't write in the window of the gondola that they are winners? Back the truck up!

Brenchel also U turned against someone with great hair. The horror!

Dave and Connor are the biggest hypocrites and I don't want them to win at all. I'm probably a bad person, but I laughed when Dave tried to jump over that barrier at the end and thought it would have been hysterical if he hurt himself again and had to drop out.

I laughed, then backed it up to watch Connor fall again.

Dave, you really shouldn't make fun of anyone for whining when your more recent attitude can be summed up as "Waaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!"

[ProfCrash]

Brenchel stated that he knew he would hank off Conner by writing what he did in the Gondela. He did it to get a rise out of Conner. Conner could have laughed and said "That takes balls" or "Silly Branden, my Dad and I are going to win the Amazing Race" or something along those lines. Instead he got indignant that another team thought that they might win and wrote it, in the frost, on a gondola.

 

Conner has no sense of humor and his overall indignation at people 1) playing the game 2) thinking they might win is flat out silly.

 

Alliances in the Amazing Race drive me crazy. I understand the strategic element, Leo and Jamal are kind of there. They are in it because they know they can beat the Country Girls and think they can beat Conner and David. Conner and David are in it because they want to work with "quality people", meaning that anyone not in the alliance is not a qulaity person. Brenchel are not quality people because they did not provide David and Conner information needed to complete tasks and they U Turned them. ie Brenchel is racing to win and not treating the Race like it is Boy Scout camp where people should work collabrativly, roast marshmellows, and sing songs around the camp fire. The Country Girls are in the alliance because they cannot complete an entire leg without help from another team. So this is the worst kind of alliance because one team is thinks that good people equates to people who help us advance and/or win and another member is being dragged along because they suck that badly.

 

That said, alliances are a valid strategy and can be useful, see the Country Girls. My real problem with this alliance is that Dave and Conner, the leaders of the alliance are highly judgemental and a tensy bit hypocritical. A team choose not to help you and U Turned you. You can be pissy and mock them, including making fun of how they speak and act. The most useless team in the alliance has joined in the mockery because "they are not like us" which is the worst reason ever for bullying. Forget being open minded and accepting that people are different. We should pick on them because they are using a different strategy to run the race and doing well without a ton of help from other people. And they sound different and act different and have different goals then us so by all means, lets mock them. And the Afghanimals are right in the mix encouraging the bad behavior.

 

So yeah, I take no offense at Branden pissing off Conner by writing something silly in the Gondela. It wasn't an insult, it wasn't mean, it was the reason that everyone is participating in the race. Conner being Conner was offended and probably will return to mocking the people who are not like them while running his hand through his beautiful hair while helping an incompotent team along so that they have someone to join them in bullying another team.

 

They have turned the race into the pretty people vs the outsides and that disgusts me.

 

The Cowboys have stayed out of this and I am happy to see that. I wish they would tell them to stop acting that asshats but that would put a target on their backs. It could also be that the Cowboys have not heard the ruder remarks and seen much of the mocking since that seems to have happened when the teams in the alliance are together and not when the Cowboys are there.

[Mr Rampage]

A great episode ruined by the racers in it. Oh, and product placement.

 

Helga? Awesome. Gigantic machinery? Awesome. Dogs + snow + scenery? Awesome. Three-way race to the mat? Awesome.

 

(and I can't help but feel like I was denied a Detour because the Amazing Editors wanted to waste more time on Bitchapalooza 2014 instead.)

[FineWashables]

Well, apparently Dave and Connor are entitled to talk trash about Brendon and Rachel because Brendon and Rachel aren't quality people.  Because the church Dave and Connor go to encourages its members to pronounce judgement on other people.

 

Why do so many people seem to believe that their religion is a weapon to use against other people?  An awful lot of "religious" people seem to use their book -- Bible, Koran, Talmud, whatever -- as proof that they have the right to treat other people like shit.  Personally, whenever I meet someone who tells me in the first five minutes of meeting them that they are very religious, I interpret that to mean that they're bigots.  Not trying to attack anyone's beliefs, just noticing that Dave and Connor are exhibiting this same kind of behavior.

 

I don't like Brendon and I don't like Rachel but I don't like bullying either -- even when I don't like the people getting bullied. 

[19K Vet]

The alliance is a direct result of the use of the U-turn on a team directly behind you.  It doesn't knock them out and just turns the others against you.  Short-term good (they won the leg), but long-term dumb (if anyone besides the Cowboys beat Brendon and Rachel to the U-turn they are in trouble). 

 

Are the Cowboys the only team that don't waste their time thinking about what other teams are doing?  Yes they can be sullen, but how many teams can say they are racing their race? 

[Chyna]

At least Jamal and Leo have strategic reasons for the alliance. They're absolutely right in thinking that in a final three composed of the alliance, they've got a good shot at the win. But I have no good explanation for why D&C are willing to drag the country singers around the world.

[Alapaki]

The alliance is a direct result of the use of the U-turn on a team directly behind you.  It doesn't knock them out and just turns the others against you.

 

 

Maybe this is just semantics, but I think the "alliance" was formed because the Country Singers need someone to carry them through the race (and possibly have daddy-issues) and the Afghans think it's situationally beneficial to have the Country Singers and the 60-year-old who can't read clues in the F3 rather than Brendan and Rachel.

 

The fact that Dave and Connor have a big enough cry-baby-persecution-complex to call out a posse because they got U-turned is probably not something they counted on.

 

I agree that you need to factor in that potential downside when weighing the "pros and cons" (as the saying used to go).  And I think it's debatable whether the prize for any single leg justifies taking the risk of prompting another team to retaliate and possibly get you eliminated.  

 

Ultimately I think the biggest, and most certain, cost of using a U-turn when you don't need it to avoid elimination is that you can't use it later.  That's the situation Brendan and Rachel now find themselves in.  Assuming it's a double-U-turn coming up, if Brendan and Rachel get hit on the front end of it, they won't be able to U-Turn another team to protect themselves.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

When one of the country girls said that Brenchel is NLU, I just rolled my eyes. You mean because Brenchel didn't beg for the express pass or ask for help with tasks every leg or expect to follow another team because "we're bad with directions"? I have never liked Brenchel but at this point, not being like the country girls seems like a good thing.

I could not believe they just stood there looking at all the signs and complaining to each other "But I don't get it!" until Leo & Jamal told them what to do. It wasn't rocket science. Hell, it was a task that second graders could have figured out more quickly. I guess now we know that the "I'm just a helpless dumb blonde" act isn't really an act.

[Wandering Snark]

The blondes are the type that if they got a flat tire would just stand on the side of the car looking helpless and sighing looking at traffic and then at their flat tire until someone stopped. That's pretty much what they did on that task, as EB pointed out.

[momlyd]

Putting some team on u-turn is part of the game... as much as setting up alliances, helping-out the non-threats, identifying and posturing-against/psyching-out your (immediate) competition, battle-cries, conflicts, being targets, etc.  As long as they're on their bubble of the game (of its of fluid possibilities in indeterminate situations), it’s for them to play and talk it out the way they can and want it to be (to get them by towards their goal) on same shared context they’re in. But, it’s not for me to fairly define the merits of their personal being.

 

This is a good point which you completely negate with -

The name-calling in the TAR-forums bubble, however, against those in the race was quite a eye-popping clout of group think being manifested… Demanding flawlessness and wolfishly calling out the 'self-righteousness’, ‘hypocrisy’, ‘whining’, ‘game-plays’ of the racers are reeking of ironic entitled self-righteous hypocrisy in itself - tantamount to spitting with the face up towards the sky. In terms of likability/'supportability', I’d rather defer it to the racers themselves than the arm-chair flame-throwers who're not on the same context as the racers were in.

 

What was that about defining merits? Some people see whining and hypocrisy - let them and stop defining the terms of what others may think.

[jhlipton]

Ultimately I think the biggest, and most certain, cost of using a U-turn when you don't need it to avoid elimination is that you can't use it later.

 

 

Quite true.  I really doubt they would have bought any good will by not U-Turning any of the Whiney Alliance, but leaving it for the second pass might have been better strategy.  Others have said that they thought the prize was going to be new cars -- they were off by one leg.

[Bella]

Just a reminder:

 

You may disagree with what other posters are saying, but they are allowed to state their opinions of the racers and the show. That's what we're here for.

[Rusun]

Good news: the end of the quadruple back-to-back nation marathon, and Helga.

 

Bad news: yet another wintry Swiss leg without a Detour?

 

Ugly news: neither the Cowboys nor Brenchel.

[scrb]

Brendan is kind of neurotic too -- 'don't say that, don't say that!'

 

If they feed each other's neuroticism, their children may be in for a rough time.

 

Can't have the Big Brother winners win this.

[Way Wes Jr]

I will say this about TAR 24: I don't recall there being so many close leg finishes in previous seasons.

 

I would be more excited about this if all of the close leg finishes weren't the endproduct of this seasons unrelenting "let's help everyone else finish this leg," bull pucky. 

 

I'm down to rooting for a three-time team, a professional Reality Show couple whom I dislike, or the schadenfreude-eriffic possibility of Caroline and Jen winning due to extreme taxi luck.

[Hanahope]

I think the reason the "accidental alliance" believe themselves to be in the right is because they all presumed Brenchel would u-turn the cowboys, as the strongest team, or perhaps the afganimals as likely the second strongest.  They were all just suprised at it being Dave and Connor due to Dave's age.  That said, making fun of Brenchel wasn't really nice.

 

I am much more impressed with Brenchel this time, she's acting much more maturely and having more fun than last time and Brendon seems calmer and more at ease with everything too.  And they are definitely pulling their own weight and doing well in the challenges.

[Kromm]

I think the reason the "accidental alliance" believe themselves to be in the right is because they all presumed Brenchel would u-turn the cowboys, as the strongest team, or perhaps the afganimals as likely the second strongest.  They were all just suprised at it being Dave and Connor due to Dave's age.  That said, making fun of Brenchel wasn't really nice.

I can't really put it down to "surprise", because that implies they have a right to determine the right and proper strategy for another team (and a team who has no good reason to do what anyone else says or expects).  

 

Sure, they probably expected someone else to be U-turned.  On a purely strategic level it was a fairly stupid use of a U-turn.  But that's not the context used to criticize them.  The one that was more along the lines of "how dare you".

[merylinkid]

If Dave has some sort of immunity due to his being "too old" he shouldn't be on the race.   As for strong teams, this is the guy who finished first in a leg while on crutches.   IF they weren't such entitled, judgmental whiners, I would be rooting for them as a very strong team that has a good chance to win.

[Taylorh2]

When D & C won that leg, we thought for sure by the way that Phil was talking that they were going to get one/two or those classic mustangs. lol

 

That was cruel. lol

[Joystickenvy]

Episode was pre-empted by weather coverage in my area and I just now watched from on demand. I wish I hadn't. Not only did the whiny Conners win the leg, but the obnoxious country singers got saved by the NEL AGAIN. Argh!

I'm firmly on team anybody but the "accidental alliance" now and the country singers have officially passed the Conners as my least favorite team.

Edited May 4, 2014 by Joystickenvy

[aradia22]

There's something really gross about the way the alliance talked about the Brenchels. Especially the whole "not like us" theme. Like, way to ally yourself with some not so savory groups, guys. The only reason I don't hate the Afghanimals as much as Caroline and Jen and Dave and Connor is because of that early interview which made it clear that they don't see those two teams as that much of a threat. If this is all strategy to knock out the stronger teams, then sure, be in this stupid alliance.

 

The hotel room cleaning challenge was kind of silly but I liked the fact that there were specific things they had to get right. It was like a really complicated game of spot the difference.

The only team that was fun to watch was the Cowboys but I spent most the episode rooting for Brenchel to not get eliminated. 

[dgpolo]

My re-watch thoughts: Shut up Dave!

Singers are non-elim again! (so it didn't make much difference that Leo and Jamal helped them)

Love, love, love the dogs.

Loved Helga.

No, Rachel, not an ancient artifact, just an artifact.