S29.E01: We're Coming for You, Phil!

[Hpmec]

I suspect this may have started out as a "heroes" season featuring firefighters, police officers, and military personnel and somehow morphed into the race with a stranger format when the producers realized going with the heroes concept would create a bunch of evenly matched disciplined teams that wouldn't necessarilyly make for good tv. So, they mixed it up a little and added some other characters including the snowboarder, butcher, model, surfer dude, and whatever Vanck is -- to create drama and keep it interesting. Just a hunch. I'm so glad TAR is back, though, that I would have been ok with any gimmick short of the families tooling around the USA flop. Otherwise, it's all good. Let the Philiminations begin. 

Edited April 4, 2017 by Hpmec

[millennium]

There was no one to hate on sight.   No braggarts, no attention whores, no Survivor cross-overs, no youtube stars even.

Now what am I gonna do?

[RealReality]

I love Team Fun and I hope they go far.  I don't think I could be very Hakuna Matata if I was running TAR so its great to watch them.

When will pretty women stop learning to come on this show with a strategy of "I'll use my looks to get ahead!"  Has any task on TAR called for just being pretty?

Not gonna lie, I was playing matchmaker in my head with the top couple, Olivia and Seth maybe?

It would be interesting if they could make a mid course partner change once they all learn each other.

I wonder how long teams take at each task before they change their mind.  I think I would have stuck with the fish shooting for at least an hour before I changed, because you have to figure...if you change your mind, you gotta row back (or a boat has to come out and get you), you have to get yourself to the next task, you have to hope that there aren't too many people there, you have to get in the boat, get ready and then race.   All of that would take, at the very least a half hour, probably longer.

I like Vanck.

Also, I hate when people reference their IQ on TV.  Don't tell me your IQ, SHOW me your IQ.

I'm a little disappointed that there don't seem to be any women of color on the race.  Or at least the one WOC is gone in such short order.

Other than that, it looks like its going to be a great season.

[RealReality]

On 3/30/2017 at 8:13 PM, chaifan said:

My worst fear for this season came true - Phil trying to play matchmaker on the mat.  Please stop it, just stop.  It didn't look good on him in the dating season, and just looks worse now. 

There was a small part of me that hoped he would do that with Seth and Olive, if for no other reason than the ensuing awkwardness would make him stop immediately.

On 3/30/2017 at 8:24 PM, sinycalone said:

 

On 3/30/2017 at 8:37 PM, Mumbles said:

Ugh, this guy. He brags how he went to Harvard University and graduated at the top of his class. He was trying to imply he went to Harvard for college. But he didn't. Per his LinkedIn, went to the Harvard professional school for education. Nothing to turn your nose up at, but he was purposefully misleading about it. And he's not even a teacher. He's a recruiter.

From the way he treats his partner, I predict that he's going to be someone to hate-watch.

I do also laugh at the women who brag how they're going to use their amazingly hot looks to get ahead and you look at them and say, really?

I noticed when they showed his picture that the sign said Edu or something like that, and not that there is anything bad or wrong with getting a degree in education, but its not like he went to Harvard Law, Harvard Medical, or HBS, or HKS.  

I agree, when someone goes on and on about Harvard, you always have to have your radar up, because most of the time there is a wrinkle or a twist.  And 9 out of 10 times, it will leave you rolling your eyes.

On 3/30/2017 at 8:59 PM, enlightenedbum said:

 

Conspiracy theorist in me thought the pros were instructed to take it easy on the third run, plus the 100m head start.  Which is fine, presumably you spent a ton of time on the task so whatever.  But I suspect learning the technique would not make up for the exhaustion factor and it seemed like the pros were smoking them by well more than 100m in the first race.

I assumed they took it easy after the first race, and pretty much half assed it in the third.  

I haven't seen many tasks that involve "beating the professional" where the teams don't "win" within like 5 tries at most.  They never win the first time (except Logan and Matt), but it seems like, within a pre-determined amount of time, the professionals tone it down and let the amateurs win.

On 3/30/2017 at 9:04 PM, green said:

Bad.  Just bad.  Bad gimmick.  Bad in there was no age diversity.  Bad that most were either alpha-physical types from military/police/fire or the usual mactors some of whom got their usual other monikers like real estate agent etc.

Sir, how dare you.  There was a residential real estate agent and a luxury real estate agent.  Thats like night and day.

[Ducky]

4 hours ago, Jobiska said:

It was Becca who had to climb up on a stack of suitcases to get the high up, silver-colored suitcase, right?  I couldn't see which suitcase they opened to find the Express Pass, and I don't remember what color Floyd's was, but I was wondering if the Pass turned out to be the "reward" for getting the most difficult-to-retrieve suitcase.

I think it was Becca who climbed up to get that suitcase, but it was Floyd who had the express pass I think.  I'd have to watch again but don't wan to sit through CBS online video screwing up where the video and captions froze and the audio kept going at times (quick fix was to just rewind a little lol).

[RealReality]

On 3/31/2017 at 11:12 AM, dgpolo said:

I'm not surprised Phil wasn't among the first to the airport. He was probably the last to leave and he doesn't have the knowledge of LA or the killer instincts that a home grown taxi driver would.

 

On 3/31/2017 at 11:15 AM, AZChristian said:

And his passengers probably weren't screaming "FASTER, FASTER.  WE'RE IN A RACE FOR $1,000,000."

Both of these amused me because it looked like they were going from the Financial District Downtown to LAX.  

There is no pretty way to get to LAX from Downtown.  You'd be silly to do anything besides take the freeway.  And you'd want to get to the nearest freeway because actually DRIVING in downtown is the absolute worst.

You can only get to LAX off the 405 or the 105, and barring a terrible accident you'd be crazy to take the 405.

So, it really doesn't take killer instincts, the way it would in NYC.  There aren't any time saving shortcuts that I've ever heard of, besides maybe taking the exit right before the airport exit to avoid the pile of cars at the actual airport exit.  I guess you could arguably take another freeway to a nearby city and maybe take surface streets?  But that would take just as long, if not longer. 

Watching them yell "FASTER, FASTER, WE'RE IN A RACE" was hilarious, because you're gonna get there when you're gonna get there and a lot of it is going to depend on the freeway.....which...spoiler alert....is probably going to suck.

[RealReality]

On 3/31/2017 at 11:57 AM, green said:

Why?  I respect him for saying that.  He was making a very strong comment on how people in this society are judged as smart based on the cover and not the book.  Because he didn't look like the "image" a person has of a smart person.  Because of a very strong prejudice in America to judge people by very shallow, very stupid stuff like money ("what is he worth") and looks and career and such.  Not their intelligence what to speak of their character, integrity, honor or compassion.  So that was a very VERY worthy comment to make and something I hope gets through to some of the viewers' and their stereotypes. 

And maybe there are some others on the show in that area too but so what?  He was saying that people look at him and think "dumb hick" because he has tattoos and long hair and a beard and doesn't dress in Armani crap.  That was his point.  He feels the prejudice like everyone else who feels prejudice. 

Prejudice means pre-judging after all and is usually based on looks or clothing or color of the skin or gender and such.  Thus prejudice against him, people of color, women in many cases, handicapped people, older people (hello, TAR, you are practicing age discrimination) etc as being not equal or up to the mark (or worthy of being on TAR...TAR I hate the way you are treating older people by not casting them). 

Also 140 is lower Mensa level based on some but not all definitions of same.  So yeah he does have an impressive IQ level.  That fact he HAS to mention it is the sad part and the part he is getting at.  No one would think he was smart who pre-judges people and unfortunately a large number of Americans do just that.  No one that doesn't experience prejudice directly may "get" the reason he needed to say that but those that have do get his reason.  Discrimination due to prejudice causes a need to fight back and stand up for yourself.  It was good he said what he said.

I could see your point if he showed me the cover OR the book.  My point being, show me your intelligence, don't tell me about it.  

If someone shouldn't be judged positively based on their accomplishments and success, they shouldn't be judged positively on a random number either.

Maybe people look at him and think "dumb hick" and if what he does to disabuse them of this notion is proclaim he has a 140 IQ while not doing anything to show it, people are likely left with the idea that he took an online IQ test.  I know I'm inclined to think thats what happened, because so far, he has done nothing to show me he is particularly MENSA level smart.

Honestly, I would feel more positively towards someone who wasn't as intelligent, but who worked hard and accomplished their goals, whatever they may be. 

Having a 140 IQ doesn't afford you anymore respect than someone with a 90 IQ.  At least not in my book.  A 140 IQ hick doesn't deserve better treatment than a dumb hick.  They are both people who deserve some basic level of respect.

I also don't think that judging someone based on how they choose to look, is the same as judging someone for gender, race, or age.  To me, its fine if people choose to have a lot of tats and a long beard, but that is how they choose to express themselves to the world.

He didn't HAVE to mention his IQ.  If he had simply run the race smarter, he would have shown his IQ -- and I would have had much more respect for that.

On 3/31/2017 at 6:35 PM, mojoween said:

I'm sorry we lost Kevin but not sorry to see the back of Jenn.  He didn't really seem all that fond of her.  And calling him her sister?  WTF.

Well, you know, as a spectacularly hot woman who was going to use her sex appeal to get ahead she probably didn't want to have to outright reject Kevin, because he was obviously interested in her because....duh....sex appeal.

Calling him her sister effectively cut him off at the balls so to speak.

Edited April 2, 2017 by RealReality

[mertensia]

2 hours ago, HurricaneVal said:

Man...I have lately leaned that directions and a sense of direction is wildly different from person to person.  When driving, do you innately think north and south, or up and down?   When I'm driving, regardless of the direction, I think of what is in front of me as "forward" and "up" (most GPSs display this way), so when I enter a roundabout--regardless of its compass orient--by definition I enter at 6 o'clock.  But other people think differently, and they may enter at 12 o'clock, or at whatever position is relative to true North for them.  So unless you really, really know how someone thinks, "exit at 2 o'clock" or "exit at 135 degrees" is equally capable of misunderstanding.  At the risk of being accused of controlling or micromanaging, the best thing would have been to hang over the driver's shoulder and say "exit up ahead...not this one...not this one...yes, this one, turn, turn, turn!"

You can know people for years, but until you get in a car together and try to navigate to an unfamiliar location together, you would never know how differently your brains work.  

My dad pointed out that Panama is terrible for cardinal directions because of its shape, which is true. I never could figure out which ocean I was looking at. It's weirdly disorienting.

That said,  if that was a bridge they went over to get to Miraflores, I'm thinking a Roadblock got cut out because I don't think there is a big bridge like that going from Tocumen to Miraflores.

I also wonder if someone at some point didn't just say "locks" and get directed to the Gatun Locks.

[Jobiska]

3 hours ago, Ducky said:

I think it was Becca who climbed up to get that suitcase, but it was Floyd who had the express pass I think.  I'd have to watch again but don't wan to sit through CBS online video screwing up where the video and captions froze and the audio kept going at times (quick fix was to just rewind a little lol).

I should have said that I know it was Floyd who opened the suitcase with the pass in it, but as they were all sitting in the cabs with the cases awkwardly on their laps, I don't know if he had easier access than Becca did to open it or not.  I didn't notice his suitcase color nor if the one he opened was silver (the high up one).  

[shura]

6 hours ago, HurricaneVal said:

So unless you really, really know how someone thinks, "exit at 2 o'clock" or "exit at 135 degrees" is equally capable of misunderstanding.

And even if they don't misunderstand, there's also the practical matter of being able to determine where you are on a circle. It's all good and easy when you are looking at the whole circle on a map, but if you are actually driving around a large unfamiliar rotary with traffic you have to pay attention to, you are not going to be able to tell how many degrees in you are.

[Merneith]

4 hours ago, RealReality said:

I like Vanck.

 

 

Found Vanck's Mom!

 

(j/k!)

[mojoween]

If someone I just met told me that I need to use either a clock or degrees in a circle to find my exit on a roundabout, I would stop the car, tell them they are not speaking in a language I understand and make them drive.  I left thinking about degrees 25 years ago in high school.

Even my husband, who can think like that, said it was awkward and pretentious to do to someone who doesn't know you.

And that's probably part of the reason CBS is doing this format, so we will continue to tune in to see how long Vanck and Ashton go before killing each other.

Edited April 2, 2017 by mojoween

[Haleth]

5 hours ago, Hpmec said:

I suspect this may have started out as a "heroes" season featuring firefighters, police officers, and military personnel and somehow morphed into the race with a stranger format when the producers realized going with the heroes concept would create a bunch of evenly matched disciplined teams that wouldn't nrecessarily make for good tv. So, they mixed it up a little and added some other characters including the snowboarder, butcher, model, surfer dude, and whatever Vanck is -- to create drama and keep it interesting. Just a hunch. 

That could be.  I'd always hoped Survivor would do a season with teams of police/firefighters vs military vs teachers (which they sort of did with Brains vs Brawn vs Beauty), but part of the fun of TAR is the great diversity of the teams. Of course we almost always end up with young, fit teams in the finale anyway, but it's fun to root for the oldsters as long as they last.

4 hours ago, RealReality said:

When will pretty women stop learning to come on this show with a strategy of "I'll use my looks to get ahead!"  Has any task on TAR called for just being pretty?

Maybe only the selling goods on the street tasks.  And maybe a subjective task where the judge may be a little more lenient with regard to a pretty girl?  Or maybe a pretty face makes it easier to find a helpful Fern?  (Although attitude and courtesy should be more important than looks.)

[merylinkid]

53 minutes ago, mojoween said:

If someone I just met told me that I need to use either a clock or degrees in a circle to find my exit on a roundabout, I would stop the car, tell them they are not speaking in a language I understand and make them drive.  I left thinking about degrees 25 years ago in high school.

Even my husband, you can think like that, said it was awkward and pretentious to do to someone who doesn't know you.

And that's probably part of the reason CBS is doing this format, so we will continue to tune in to see how long Vanck and Ashton go before killing each other.

I would actually probably smack them.   Heck with people I do know if they start talking "Go north" my eyes glaze over.   They then get the "Look folks, I don't do compass directions, North moves so I don't use it" speech.    Just tell me watch hand or ring hand.   As you can see, I suck at directions and would never go on the race for this reason.    I can do the tasks.   Just can't get to them -- can't drive a stick either.

[AZChristian]

When we've gone whale watching, we've always been told to yell out sightings as though we were looking at a clock:  "2 o'clock" means the whale is in front of us, slightly to the right.  In some ways, that would have been a logical way to give someone directions - definitely easier than "135 degrees" for anyone other than a math person.  Of course, lots of younger people have digital clocks/watches, and schools have ditched "how to tell time" along with "how to write in cursive."

When we're in our home area, all of the major streets are laid out in 1-mile grids, and they are straight north/south and east/west.  Easy - but it doesn't necessarily work well in a strange place.

So I would have said, "Which way am I going to turn?  Left or right?" (so I could be in the correct lane).  Then I would have said, "Yell right before we get to the turn.  And stick your compass AND your protractor where the sun don't shine."

[Browncoat]

135 degrees confused me, and I was calmly sitting on my sofa, not driving an unfamiliar car on unfamiliar roads in an unfamiliar country.  I'm also not terribly mathletic -- by the time I figured out what he was saying, we'd have been all the way around the roundabout and starting again like Chevy Chase in European Vacation.  "Hey, kids, there's Big Ben!"

[egnever]

1 hour ago, AZChristian said:

When we've gone whale watching, we've always been told to yell out sightings as though we were looking at a clock:  "2 o'clock" means the whale is in front of us, slightly to the right.  In some ways, that would have been a logical way to give someone directions - definitely easier than "135 degrees" for anyone other than a math person.  Of course, lots of younger people have digital clocks/watches, and schools have ditched "how to tell time" along with "how to write in cursive."

135 degrees would be better if you drive based on visual-spatial awareness, vs. saying Xth exit would be better for someone who drives off procedural intuition.

To me, 135 degrees makes more sense than 2 o'clock, because 2 o'clock quickly changes as you round a roundabout, but 135 degrees of a circle is an amount of an arc you can feel. It's 3/8th the way around a full turn. You could blindfold me and I could probably tell roughly when I've turned 135 degrees. It's a simple matter of arc length, which is something you learn in high school math.

It just strikes me as weird that we give contestants all sorts of shit for not knowing stuff we learned in high school English or geography or history. But when it comes to basic high school math, it's apparently fine to not only be ignorant, but give people who know it the Phil Eyebrow(tm). And apparently Vanck is crazy because he gives directions in arc length of a circle, which is... perfectly appropriate for measuring distance traversed along a circle.

Edited April 2, 2017 by egnever

[Fretful]

Floyd grabbed a blue bag at the luggage store, and opened the blue bag in the cab to find the Express Pass.  Becca had a grey bag and it was still on her lap, unopened.

[Eolivet]

22 hours ago, iMonrey said:

• Sara - Luxury Real Estate; Ashton - Residential Real Estate
• Vanck - Wall St. Analyst; Shamir - Wall St. Banker
• Seth - Police officer; Joey - Police Sgt
• Jessie - K9 officer; Olive - Firefighter
• Francesca - Army Drill Sgt.; Tara - Army officer
• Scott - Recruiting Manager; Logan - Surgical Consultant/Sales Rep
• Jenn - Model; London - Artist
• Kevin - Athletic Trainer; Matt - Snowboarder

Ever since someone mentioned a defunct Survivor season, I keep wondering if this was supposed to be Worlds Apart 2 (Blue Collar/White Collar/No Collar). I find it interesting that last year's Survivor and this year's Amazing Race filmed within two months of each other -- I doubt that always happens (Survivor was April-May and Amazing Race was June-July). Furthering the theory that these were Survivor leftovers this show scooped up.

[illdoc]

Turn 135 degrees would have confused me, and I have a PhD in Math!!!!

[pamplemousse]

7 hours ago, illdoc said:

Turn 135 degrees would have confused me, and I have a PhD in Math!!!!

But did you get your PhD in Math from Harvard (Professional School of Education) University?

Vanck and Ashton are my favorites so far because they make me cackle and at this point I feel like they deserve each other. He's annoyingly bossy and she needs to stop whinging about how mis-matched they are (I'm sure she wanted a Logan as a partner) and stand up to his nonsense. I find them both rather socially inept in different ways. I hope they last a long time just for my amusement (doubt they will, though).

[Wandering Snark]

16 hours ago, RealReality said:

When will pretty women stop learning to come on this show with a strategy of "I'll use my looks to get ahead!"  Has any task on TAR called for just being pretty?

As mentioned, the 'do task X until you get tipped $400 in local currency' tasks skew heavily to those that appeal to a foreign crowd by either looks or being able to 'hit it off' with one to get the tips/buys flowing.

There are some parts of the world they are simply awed by women with blonde hair for example.

So while it's not quite as worthless an asset as on, say, Survivor it is 'mostly worthless' on TAR to say your looks will give you some innate bonus while racing.

[RealReality]

41 minutes ago, Wandering Snark said:

As mentioned, the 'do task X until you get tipped $400 in local currency' tasks skew heavily to those that appeal to a foreign crowd by either looks or being able to 'hit it off' with one to get the tips/buys flowing.

There are some parts of the world they are simply awed by women with blonde hair for example.

So while it's not quite as worthless an asset as on, say, Survivor it is 'mostly worthless' on TAR to say your looks will give you some innate bonus while racing.

I'm no historian, but I vaguely remember the cheerleaders whining and crying during one such tasks.  After boldly proclaiming that they were going to "use their sexuality!" 

Being an average looking person with charm seems to be a far better approach.

[Netfoot]

8 minutes ago, RealReality said:

Being an average looking person with charm seems to be a far better approach.

Sweet mout' beat sweet face.   (Translation:  Talking good wins over looking good.)

[tenativelyyours]

Shamir and Logan are nice to look at.  And seem rather agreeable so I hope they stay until either proves otherwise.

 

Not sure how much the 135 degree turn is part of an affectation (even if so automatic it comes out with lack of awareness) but he is on my teevee so even if my favorite reality show, every one is suspect in that regard. 

 

I wasn't keen on the idea after the wretched dating season.  But the strangers thing actually works towards "just race" at least so far.  Hope Phil and production can let it stay that way. 

I was also mostly pleased with the playground pick approach to teams.  Though a part of me wishes there had been a way to pair them that was random -- neither contestant control or production trying to create dramatic storylines.  I have no idea how they could have done that.  Maybe have numbers in the suitcases that matched up? 

I would have been pissed getting the consolation prize of being driven by Phil only to be on the second flight.  Sounds like a poor your momma joke:  Phil, you not only wear your momma's jeans but you drive like her too. 

I mean really.  Yay second flight just to watch the back of Phil's head. 

Not going to lie, laughed at Miss I'm So Pretty walking into the night of First Eliminated.  How's that pretty working for you now? 

[J-Man]

Quote

There was no one to hate on sight.   No braggarts, no attention whores, no Survivor cross-overs, no youtube stars even.

Now what am I gonna do?

Give them time. 

[Pepper Mostly]

On 3/31/2017 at 4:33 PM, mauras said:

Sometimes I think TAR should be fined for Egregious Boston Stereotypes. I was rolling my eyes as soon as the cop opened his mouth.

 

This drives me nuts. In the world of reality TV, all people from Boston are either cops, firefighters, or construction workers, and all talk like "FAHK  DOOD! DID YOU SEE THAT DOOD GO OVAH!? LIKE A TONNA BRICKS! Now lets go get an ice cawfee and a frappe and go around a rotary and get a drink at the bubbla! And say "wicked" a lot! And Yankees suck! Lets go getta calzone at Santahpio's bro!" Sheesh. Its exhausting. Do not mistake me, this is a pretty standard issue blue collar Boston accent, I grew up with it, still live with it, and to this day my son dings me if I say "wheah" for "where" or "dahk" for "dark". But it is far (fah) from universal here.

On 4/2/2017 at 4:06 AM, RealReality said:

I noticed when they showed his picture that the sign said Edu or something like that, and not that there is anything bad or wrong with getting a degree in education, but its not like he went to Harvard Law, Harvard Medical, or HBS, or HKS.  

I agree, when someone goes on and on about Harvard, you always have to have your radar up, because most of the time there is a wrinkle or a twist.  And 9 out of 10 times, it will leave you rolling your eyes.

 

 

If you went to Harvard for undergrad you would correctly say you went to Harvard College. He's not technically wrong to say he went to Harvard University, which encompasses the college and all the graduate/professional schools, but it is pretty pretentious. (full disclosure, I worked at HKS for ten years, when it was still KSG). Most people will refer to the grad school they attended, not the university as a whole. And I don't know about the GSE, but we had no class ranking. My boss, who did recruitment travel a lot, said the further away you were from Cambridge, the more elan the Harvard name had. So maybe geography is a factor? But the minute I heard him crow he graduated from Harvard University at the top of his class I tuned him right out.

I thought I would hate this but so far it is pretty enjoyable.

[meep.meep]

You mean you're not all like that?  :-)

Us Californian's aren't all stoned surfer yoga babes either.

19 hours ago, RealReality said:

I'm no historian, but I vaguely remember the cheerleaders whining and crying during one such tasks.  After boldly proclaiming that they were going to "use their sexuality!" 

Being an average looking person with charm seems to be a far better approach.

Well I remember that guy in Dubai who gave the twins all his money after they came in last and had to beg for money.  "Twins!", he said, meaning young, blonde, good looking twins.   The Bowling Moms (avg looking with charm) on the same season had to sell apples from the hotel lobby to make money.

[amazingracefan]

Good - self navigation and the twist I was always happy with anyway

 

Not so good - express pass just given out randomly, not even earned. 

And a 2 hour penalty for not completing a detour when it wasn't even their choice.  It was more a technical difficulty of completing the detour situation which I'm not sure has always been that long a penalty, and in this case seemed to pretty much decide the end.  The team that survived was just as incompetent, and I had no hate for the eliminated team like some.  Of course if they had made it a 2 day leg we wouldn't have had this problem, but short legs have been standard since they cut the budget.  Having both detours out of bounds because of lack of light does seem rather restrictive.  These days I suppose they tend to have them close together, again for budget reasons.

 

Team 'fun' are team annoying, she seems very contrived.  Some other teams give me hope, though some do look like the standard photogenic people they stick in.

[Mystery]

When I visited Boston, a cousin told me to enter a rotary and turn at a certain number of degrees. (Me: "I didn't pack a protractor!") Maybe it's a local thing?

[AZChristian]

2 hours ago, Mystery said:

When I visited Boston, a cousin told me to enter a rotary and turn at a certain number of degrees. (Me: "I didn't pack a protractor!") Maybe it's a local thing?

Did your cousin go to MIT?

[Ottis]

TAR has been around long enough that they should provide us with more data so we know what is happening. When the 10th team earned a 2-hour penalty, we should have seen a countdown clock, for instance. It might eliminate suspense now and then, but at this point, add some details , show. 

[HawaiiTVGuy]

On 3/30/2017 at 7:44 PM, jumper sage said:

 

I don't know, this season Long Hair Don't Care really didn't care and are out.  Watch, next year we'll find out they hooked up, had a kid.............

 

Wouldn't be surprised, seems like he is her "type" and I mean what else are they going to do all by their lonesome until the next team gets eliminated.

Vanck's choice of Ashton was really puzzling, by far the strangest pick of the bunch in my mind.  Joey or either of the Swole sisters would have been better choices.  

Edited April 4, 2017 by HawaiiTVGuy

[Fiftyninth]

On 4/2/2017 at 10:04 PM, tenativelyyours said:

I would have been pissed getting the consolation prize of being driven by Phil only to be on the second flight.  Sounds like a poor your momma joke:  Phil, you not only wear your momma's jeans but you drive like her too. 

I mean really.  Yay second flight just to watch the back of Phil's head. 

I dunno. If I came in as the last two out of three individuals on the initial task (and last overall out of 11 teams), I wouldn't have expected Phil to help me cut the line to make it to flight 1. 

[blackwing]

13 hours ago, amazingracefan said:

And a 2 hour penalty for not completing a detour when it wasn't even their choice.  It was more a technical difficulty of completing the detour situation which I'm not sure has always been that long a penalty, and in this case seemed to pretty much decide the end.  The team that survived was just as incompetent, and I had no hate for the eliminated team like some.  Of course if they had made it a 2 day leg we wouldn't have had this problem, but short legs have been standard since they cut the budget.  Having both detours out of bounds because of lack of light does seem rather restrictive.  These days I suppose they tend to have them close together, again for budget reasons.

It's not like they were innocent victims who got unfairly booted because of that penalty.  They were in that position because 1) they were slow to get to the airport and therefore ended up on the second flight and 2) they lost lots of time due to their incompetence in finding the tower.   They have nobody to blame but themselves.

[North of Eden]

On 3/30/2017 at 10:59 PM, DasFlavorPup said:

  Some of these teams are mismatched to an extent that it's uncomfortable to watch (Vanck and Ashton in particular).   

I know right! It was so clear the poor woman's TAR experience was ruined by getting stuck with him!

 

I have to say this was 100% better than it sounded on paper: All Teams: MARK and MALLORY. I enjoyed it. I hope the 1oPM slot doesn't kill the show for good.

Right now I am in in it for Team Amazon/Drill instructor. There is something oddly appealing about that pair...enemies to friends. I like it. Also I don't usually like the comic releaf characters but the Fun Meter Pair I took an instant liking to based on their enthusiasm.

Ginger and the blond look like self destruct material.

[Jersey Guy 87]

19 hours ago, amazingracefan said:

And a 2 hour penalty for not completing a detour when it wasn't even their choice.  It was more a technical difficulty of completing the detour situation which I'm not sure has always been that long a penalty, and in this case seemed to pretty much decide the end.  The team that survived was just as incompetent, and I had no hate for the eliminated team like some.  Of course if they had made it a 2 day leg we wouldn't have had this problem, but short legs have been standard since they cut the budget.  Having both detours out of bounds because of lack of light does seem rather restrictive.  These days I suppose they tend to have them close together, again for budget reasons.

Getting to the detour too late to be able to complete it was entirely their fault.  They got to the airport late so they were on the later flight, they then got lost badly finding the detour and thus got there too late to be able to safely complete the detour.  The other team was slightly more competent in that they found the detour in time and completed the task.  Team Long Hair deserved to go home based on their performance.

[FoundTime]

I do not like this format. I know Survivor has switched up the contestant rules ad nauseum over the years, but part of what makes TAR TAR is the "existing relationship." I've always felt that, along with the travel component, it set the show apart from other reality competitions. There's something about the Philiminated team almost always commenting that "I wouldn't have wanted to do this with anyone else {sniffle} {sob} and I'm so glad we had this opportunity etc." Perhaps over the course of the Race there will be teams who form a genuine connection and can have a lite version of that moment, I dunno.

[Lamima]

Recorded the first episode and been so busy I am just now watching. OMG, it's kinda funny. Lots of stuff making me ROFL. Team Fun... the Hawaiian guy bringing a flower to the airline lady and also saying all Asians look 12 and their old Asian cabby smirked....

Digging it so far.

[Honeycocoa]

Not loving the format, but it's still my show and I'm glad it's back.  and thanks to whoever pointed out the cinematography was off - I knew it didn't look quite right, that's what it is. Thank you.

[SnideAsides]

On 31/3/2017 at 4:48 PM, vb68 said:

I always kinda hate when one team gets singled out as TeamAmerica because not only is it unfair, especially with so many service people in the cast, but it's obnoxious.

Me too. Not only is it calling the other teams less American than them (and... no. You're all using the same passports), but.. like, what is specifically American about being a police officer or a firefighter? They have them in literally every other country on earth. We've seen them on this show before. Many times.

Decent premiere though. Not one of the best ones, but certainly better than the last few, partly because they didn't dwell on the twist a hell of a lot and partly because, even without a Road Block, they didn't start with a half-assed warm-up leg like they normally do nowadays. Like that Detour was legitimately tough, compared to those TMZ people a couple of seasons back who randomly spent hours failing to solve a three-by-four sliding puzzle of the kind someone on Survivor solves within seconds every single damn season.

[Netfoot]

5 hours ago, SnideAsides said:

what is specifically American about being a police officer or a firefighter?

America is populated by Quarterbacks and Cheerleaders.  Cops and Firefighters closely fit the mold.  Candy Scientists (say) are geeky, amusing persons who fail to fit the mold, but who are allowed to live in America, so long as they accept their social inferiority as compared to Quarterbacks and Cheerleaders. Should such persons win The Amazing Race (say), such a win will be tolerated, so long as this does not happen too often.

[HawaiiTVGuy]

9 hours ago, Netfoot said:

America is populated by Quarterbacks and Cheerleaders.  Cops and Firefighters closely fit the mold.  Candy Scientists (say) are geeky, amusing persons who fail to fit the mold, but who are allowed to live in America, so long as they accept their social inferiority as compared to Quarterbacks and Cheerleaders. Should such persons win The Amazing Race (say), such a win will be tolerated, so long as this does not happen too often.

I was thinking they should have been called #TeamFirst.

[vousviou]

On 4/2/2017 at 4:51 AM, mertensia said:

My dad pointed out that Panama is terrible for cardinal directions because of its shape, which is true. I never could figure out which ocean I was looking at. It's weirdly disorienting.

That said,  if that was a bridge they went over to get to Miraflores, I'm thinking a Roadblock got cut out because I don't think there is a big bridge like that going from Tocumen to Miraflores.

I also wonder if someone at some point didn't just say "locks" and get directed to the Gatun Locks.

I haven't been to Panama but I've been to Costa Rica, and from this description, it sounds like the driving challenges are pretty similar:

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/forums/americas-central-america/topics/i-survived-driving-in-panama-city-here-s-how

You have to be very assertive to get where you want, and a brief hesitation can get you stuck on the wrong road with no clear idea how to get back.  I'm guessing that's what happened to the losing team -- unlike the one team (I forget which one) who pulled a U-Turn in the middle of traffic despite getting a lot of angry honking in response.

I suspect I'd struggle driving in a situation like that and you need a navigator who can think several moves ahead too.

[vousviou]

Was it clear why so many teams picked Scoot instead of Shoot?  The bows turned out to be tricky, but based on how Becca and Floyd seemed to do fine, Shoot didn't seem that hard, and I'd think it would be more appealing to some of the less hardcore athletes.

[Dobian]

I've seen a lot of bad teams on Amazing Race, but Team Long Hair has to be the lamest of them all.  I really think they just wanted to mail it in so they could go off and do each other's hair.  At least they didn't get paired up with other players, which would have wrecked those other racers' chances.

I don't mind the gimmick this season, but no older people, even middle aged.  How about a fit, athletic, fifty-something?  Several military and law enforcement though, which is interesting.

[aradia22]

I'm kind of impressed at the kinds of candidates they managed to wrangle. We'll see who ends up sticking around but lots of military and PD/FD backgrounds, Ivies, lawyers, etc. It was a decent episode but I feel like I didn't get to see enough of Panama for my taste.

No strong feelings about Seth and Olive right now but he seems pretty likeable.

I feel like Becca and Floyd could get annoying but right now I'm enjoying their dorky enthusiasm.

Team Will and Grace seems like they could get irritating but you never know. The people who fight at first aren't always the people who fight the whole race. I feel like Vanck and Ashton are the ones who are going to get on my nerves. Mostly him. 

London and Logan... stop matchmaking, Phil! The dating season was a disaster.

Goodbye Kevin and Jenn. Was she wearing some weird contacts? I feel like they got a lot of screen time for... nothing. Eh, like most reality shows it's tough when you start with so many contestants.