S29.E04: Another One Bites the Dust / S29.E05: Have Faith In Me, Broski

[watch2much]

"I don't understand why some teams seemed to be able to find a local who off the top of his/her head could list where the three royal doors were and what streets to go down, directions, etc.  Yet Shamir and Sara seemed to be running around lost despite asking a gazillion people where the door was."

I wonder if it's how the people they ask are approached.  We know Shamir can come off as an impatient jerk.  If he was demanding and inpatient, maybe people weren't inclined to help him.  

Some people complain about the lack of help from natives when traveling but they haven't even tried to learn a few words of their language or show some deference for being a visitor in their country.  I've found if you just learn to say "excuse me, where is?" in the native language in a polite fashion, people will go out of their way to help you. 

We saw that in the past with teams like the Cowboys who were always so polite.  humility and courtesy go a long way.

[Rachel RSL]

33 minutes ago, AZChristian said:

Sorry . . . can't get out of the Quote Box.

Sorry, I know this isn't episode-related but it made me laugh. I'm so glad I'm not the only one who gets trapped in there!

I forgot to mention one of my favourite parts, when Joey & Tara were in the cab:

Quote

 

Joey (or Tara?): Is it this way?

Driver: Yes.

Joey (to Tara): Watch! (To driver) Is it back that way?

Driver: Yes.

 

[Silver Raven]

Quote

Some people complain about the lack of help from natives when traveling but they haven't even tried to learn a few words of their language or show some deference for being a visitor in their country.  I've found if you just learn to say "excuse me, where is?" in the native language in a polite fashion, people will go out of their way to help you. 

And don't assume everybody in a foreign country speaks Spanish.

[meep.meep]

Let's give them some credit - nobody's broken out the rapidos yet.

[Lady Calypso]

31 minutes ago, watch2much said:

Some people complain about the lack of help from natives when traveling but they haven't even tried to learn a few words of their language or show some deference for being a visitor in their country.  I've found if you just learn to say "excuse me, where is?" in the native language in a polite fashion, people will go out of their way to help you. 

Maybe. I did note that Sara kept saying something I think in Spanish after they were given help or given the clues for the royal doors. By the end, Shamir was even saying it. I wish I knew what she said and what it meant, but it did show to me that she did try to learn a few words here and there. 

[Rachel RSL]

I think she was saying "Asante" or whatever the word was for "thank you" that they learned in the last leg. I'm actually very impressed by the teams who continue to use that instead of saying thank you in english.  It's just nice when teams at least make the effort.

[Dobian]

Okay watched part 2.  The honeymoon period seems to be over for some of these teams.  When Liz and Mike were going up the elevator with the muzak playing, I couldn't help but thinking of Jake and Elwood riding up the elevator in Blues Brothers.  It was hilarious watching that couple and that kid watching in disbelief at Mike and Liz sniping at each other.  The tension wasn't really there watching the finish though because I knew they weren't going to play two elimination legs back-to-back on the same night.  They really needed to work out the logistics on the fast forward because a team with the fast forward should not be finishing third unless they really mess up on the traveling, and from what I saw Becca and Floyd didn't do some major screw-up that would have knocked them into third. 

[greyhorse]

I'm a bit surprised there wasn't any talk or speculation about the Express Pass from any team.  At least not that we saw and not that I can recall.  Did teams even know that Team Fun had it?  Wouldn't somebody have asked about it?  Seems like in this case, (and I don't think it's allowed), Team Fun should have used the Express Pass on the Fast Forward and then maybe they would have finished first.  Certainly not as fun as jumping out of a helicopter, and not as memorable, but it would have helped to secure the win.

[etagloh]

4 hours ago, Hera said:

But when you're with a stranger, you don't have this information and so people deal with this by insisting on having their way all the time, or by always deferring to their partner, which results in the increased passive-aggression on display.

There's also a weird time-shift effect going on: in "race time", these teams have been together for just over a week. That's it. In normal seasons, that doesn't matter much because the relationships are already established, and whatever happens between partners has some kind of precedent. For this one, every leg represents just one or two more days of being partnered up, and the gap between that timeline and how long we feel we've known these teams grows wider and wider as the season progresses.

Combine that with long flights and culture shock and overnight bunches and it's KF squared.

On the FF not granting the leg victory: the fish-eating clue and the skydive landing zone were on Gødoy, about half an hour's drive from the Pit Stop. It's quite a drive.

[HahYallDoin]

7 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

but nowhere near as many as Redmond. He's very passive aggressive and he really seems to enjoy the digs about other teams. This time, it was Brooke. "Oh, I know she hates being told to calm down, which is why I kept saying it to her." Asshat. I'm really convinced that he likes being a bully.

THIS! My 14 year old made a comment about it and called him a bully too. When Redmond goes out of his way to screw with others, it speaks to his poor character. 

[chaifan]

1 hour ago, Silver Raven said:

Don't forget that they had already tried that first key and couldn't get it to work, so they assumed it wasn't worth anything, anyway.  They were handing over, to them, what they thought was a worthless key.

How did Becca and Floyd get that key to work?  Was the other team trying it in the wrong lock, or did they just not try hard enough (Phil said the locks were tricky)? 

[weightyghost]

9 hours ago, Rachel RSL said:

But the fact that he just sits back and lets it happen actually makes me dislike him more than Redmond. Then again, he fully subscribes to the theory that vaginas = drama so he's kind of a jerk on his own too.

See, I don't necessarily blame the way Matt is dealing with Redmond in this instance. He's just a guy he met a week ago, and he knows he's going to be stuck with for however much longer they may last in the race. If it were me, yes I'd be tempted to tell Red to STFU but on the other hand, I do know that I would have to work with him and have him work with me well enough to win the race. Redmond also seemed to calm down after the u-turn and take it in stride. Also, it was Redmond who said women have drama, Matt was staring out the window if I recall correctly. 

[amazingracefan]

49 minutes ago, Dobian said:

 They really needed to work out the logistics on the fast forward because a team with the fast forward should not be finishing third unless they really mess up on the traveling, and from what I saw Becca and Floyd didn't do some major screw-up that would have knocked them into third. 

Another thing about the fast forward though is that it's meant to keep you even safer from elimination and that's the main thing to me.  Others in the past have had their head shaved and still been eliminated, that's worse I think than just having to race first to a helicopter and have a sky dive.  Having a leg win just put on a plate for you shouldn't happen, I still want competition.

 

Also the woman who kept having the breakdowns, well it obviously worked for her as how many teams helped her at that metal task?  Without that help she might well have gone into total meltdown and been eliminated.  That's what probably would have happened in a normal competitive race.

Edited April 21, 2017 by amazingracefan

[Rinaldo]

26 minutes ago, HahYallDoin said:

My 14 year old made a comment about it and called him a bully too. When Redmond goes out of his way to screw with others, it speaks to his poor character. 

Indeed. I was reluctant to call Redmond a bully before -- jerk & asshole? sure, but I prefer not to dilute the concept of bullying by applying it to every instance of unpleasantness from a big loud person -- but he fully earned the title this time, and I withdraw my objections.

[Dobian]

49 minutes ago, weightyghost said:

See, I don't necessarily blame the way Matt is dealing with Redmond in this instance. He's just a guy he met a week ago, and he knows he's going to be stuck with for however much longer they may last in the race. If it were me, yes I'd be tempted to tell Red to STFU but on the other hand, I do know that I would have to work with him and have him work with me well enough to win the race. Redmond also seemed to calm down after the u-turn and take it in stride. Also, it was Redmond who said women have drama, Matt was staring out the window if I recall correctly. 

While he was putting the blame on women, there is some truth to it.  It's not women making drama, it's putting a man and a woman together that many times creates drama.  Guys behave differently around other guys than they do with women.  The argument over the map between Mike and Liz (where Mike was stirring up the drama) probably never would have happened with Mike and another guy because Mike wouldn't have gotten as defensive and wouldn't have kept carrying on long after, because guys tend to tone down the whining and sour grapes with other guys.  And the other guy would be saying, hey knucklehead, give it a rest, and that would be the end of it.  The male/female issues don't come into  play as much when the pair actually know each other (though they still can), but when they're total strangers there's no filter.

[ByaNose]

But Redmond did help the girl who was having the mental breakdown. If I ever end up in the bunker (I don't have any idea where one would find one) she would be the last person I'd want to be near. All that crying & whining. Jeez! STFU! She was so embarrassing. I don't give him a pass because he's basically a jerk but I did appreciate that he helped her. Personally, I think he should have hit her over the head with the ladle but that's just me.

[raven]

I liked the tasks but the bunching on the ferry in the first half made them kind of pointless.  I wonder if there was supposed to be another ferry (besides the one that S/S ended up on).  The teams seemed to be sitting there for a while before Logan and London showed up.

Tara seemed to be kind of losing her mind - wandering around looking for the Royal doors without any kind of plan, then the total mind fart in the kayak.  All I could think of was that she thought it was too easy since they found the clue quickly.  I did laugh at her telling Joey to find another partner and he said he didn't want another partner.  I do like their dynamic, they bicker but it doesn't seem serious and they work pretty well together.  Joey telling Phil "you look shaaaap" at the mat was cute.

Ashton is so awful.  Brooke is annoying with her constant whining and she can't do this, that, the other thing, but Ashton is rude and demeaning to her partner.   She leads them astray which was why he wanted directions in the first place...ugh.  She berates Vanck constantly, says he demanded to do the roadblock (we see him asking her if she wants to do it), then says he's slow at the roadblock (he was the only one who didn't have to fix his ladle as far as I could tell, so taking his time was smart).  I can see how his deliberateness could be annoying and their personalities don't mesh (I guess her declaration on the mat last week that she wouldn't want another partner was all for show) but to be so dismissive of him is mean girl behavior.

Redmond is also nasty, taking pleasure in irritating Brooke (really, why? what kind of threat is she to you?)  Shut up, Redmond.  It was nice to help, but why verbally poke at her?

Michael's rant on the mat was also unpleasant to watch.  Hey Michael, it's a race, guess what?  You're going to have do some taxing physical stuff at some point, maybe actually RUN!  He can walk and jog along but was quick to tell Liz it was all her for the climbing - she didn't seem to mind, but they're in trouble if they're in a footrace to keep from being eliminated.  

It ended up being a good thing that Scott gave the key to Becca, since Becca helped whiny Brooke at the ladle task.  It was nice of Michael to help as well, credit him for that, he didn't owe her a favor.  Scott's expressions when Brooke was taking credit for making him face his fear of heights was hilarious.  You know SHE was too scared to try this week's climbing task - which was technically easy, great hand/foot holds on the tower, and if she had tried, would have screamed the whole time.

I was expecting the sky diving to land Becca & Floyd at the pit stop, before we saw where it was.  I wonder if that was the intention of the FF but they had to move the pit stop for some reason.   I enjoyed the sights and the tasks in both episodes but something seemed off in the logistics.

[lianau]

Does anyone else think that Shamir simply pissed off the locals so they wouldn't tell him where to find those royal doors.

 

And I thought I'd look up a ferry schedule 

http://www.zanzibarquest.com/ferries-flights/ferry-dar-es-salaam-zanzibar.html

Edited April 22, 2017 by lianau

[Netfoot]

2 hours ago, amazingracefan said:

Another thing about the fast forward though is that it's meant to keep you even safer from elimination and that's the main thing to me.

I don't see the FF as a guarantee of non-elimination, and certainly not an automatic leg-win/leg-prize.  Nor should it be.  It's an opportunity.  One which you might exploit to your advantage.  But there have been several instances in the past where the FF didn't result in an early placement in the leg, and at least one where the FF team were eliminated.  What I don't like about the latter-day FF is that once someone takes it, there is no chance for another team to compete against them.  Used to be that several teams would go for the FF, and the first to complete it would depart for the pitstop, while the others had to scurry back to the race.  

[Rachel RSL]

2 hours ago, weightyghost said:

. Also, it was Redmond who said women have drama, Matt was staring out the window if I recall correctly. 

I could be wrong, but I'm sure he said something similar in the first episode. 

1 minute ago, Netfoot said:

  What I don't like about the latter-day FF is that once someone takes it, there is no chance for another team to compete against them.  Used to be that several teams would go for the FF, and the first to complete it would depart for the pitstop, while the others had to scurry back to the race.  

Yes! I miss that so much.

[TheRabbi]

Finally got to watch the episodes. I'll go back and browse the comments in a bit, but in the meantime, apologies if I'm treading familiar ground.

Color me surprised at the sequencing. I don't think we've ever had a 2 hour episode with an elimination followed by an NEL, and we've had probably a dozen examples of the reverse. 8I was shocked when Phil came out to eliminate Shamir and Sarah.

Overall, this was a good set of episodes. The Tanzania leg was solid, and I LOVED the Norway leg. I've always enjoyed tasks where teams have to run through various towns or cities and either ask directions or get help from locals, and both these episodes had such detours. 

With Shamir gone, Brooke now easily has the title of most annoying racer. I just can't deal with someone who is a constant panicker and whiner. I don't think anything Scott has been shown saying really makes it ok for the way she's treating him. 

Liz and Mike were my favorite team, but now he's in whining mode, and starting to annoy me. I'll give him one chance to atone next week. Seemed a little annoyed that she wasn't willing to give the kayaking a shot. And you can't really blame her based on the Panama results (however easy this task turned out to be notwithstanding). 

The skydiving task was awesome as usual, though I'm not crazy about it being an FF. I'm not surprised some folks finished before them, since the rest of the leg was just a 2 minute rope climb and a 5 minute kayak ride.

I love the detour having different tactics though, like Vanck and Ashton choosing to drive while others walked. Interesting to see how teams react to situations. I'm starting to like Vanck and Ashton more. 

Sad to see Sarah go. Would have liked to see her teamed up with Floyd. I love Floyd's enthusiasm for the show in general. 

[vousviou]

6 hours ago, Rinaldo said:

There have, but in those cases there was some factor to explain why: either the team was already 24 hours behind and there was no way to make it up (Andrew and his dad in TAR3), or it was a task over which a team took significantly longer than it might have. In this case, the timing was in the hands of "management" (helicopter pilots, trainers, etc.) and Team Fun did everything as fast as they conceivably could have. And they still came third. They didn't moan about it so I won't either, but it does seem odd.

I think you're right that there was something in the timing due to a "management" issue.  In the US, at least, skydiving is well regulated, and you can't just go up and jump.  There are mandatory training requirements, and the show most likely skipped that.  Also, there are rules as far as wind speed and visibility, so that you can't jump unless conditions are right.  I wouldn't be surprised if there was a longer than expected period of waiting for the right conditions, or possibly just some minor equipment issue that had to be resolved and it took longer than planned.

Whatever happened (and maybe it was just poor design) they seemed perfectly happy coming in third in exchange for the skydiving, and I think I might even agree with them.

[Complex Trout]

Sorry if I missed this, but did Mike have an iPhone in his hand at the mat when they were arguing in the end.  And then again at the car?  

[Ducky]

6 hours ago, humbleopinion said:

Perhaps Becca and Floyd would have rushed more if it had EVEN crossed their minds that the other teams were getting through the challenge quickly.

Nope, they were smugly thinking they were sitting on an surmountable lead only to have their jaws dropped to the floor by revelation they were 3rd by the nice dancing family and Phil.

If I were Scott, I would have flung myself off Mt. Pallets thinking about continuing on TAR with Crybaby Brooke.

I don't think Becca and Floyd were that smug.   Every other team who has done the FF in the past has always though "oh we'll get first! Yay!" and as noted.. at least one team ended up in LAST place and eliminated on top of that and a few others didn't attain first either.

Hmm  so...

Becca & Floyd... loved their enthusiasm and it's something they'll never forget.  I don't think it was a  bad move to not use the Express Pass... they did say something about the fact the other teams will just keep wondering even though leg 5 was the last leg to use. I also do not think that Becca and/or Floyd is 'fake'... everybody is allow a "aaargh!!" moment or two and it looks to me like a)the didn't go super-hulk regarding the passport incident/mat talk and b)they resolved it and got over it pretty quickly.

Brooke & Scott-- oh lordie  Brooke...just... STOP.. eesh.  I hated that everyone went to help her but I get why Becca did (she at least did say "There debt paid!"). Woman has something negative to say on just about every task- Shamir level.

Michael & Liz-  Not a big fan of this team... and the 2nd episode proved it to me. They don't seem to be communicating well.  And Michael wants to quit again- he wanted to back in leg 1 too.

London & Logan- Way under the radar- not seeing a whole lot of them...pretty good team

Joey & Tara- They're okay and quite good at everything they do...well except for practically giving away a clue...though I couldn't figure out why Tara told Joey to ask M&R then turned around and asked him "Why did you tell them that?!"... geesh.  Nice finish to 1st.

Matt & Redmond.  Red is still a dick. Intimidating people doesn't shine a good light on you Red..military or not.  Matt is okay though I don't know why he keeps letting Red run roughshod over everybody.  As for... "men teams don't have drama"... yeaaah okay... having a hissy fit about the U-turn isn't drama? Thhp... go away.. and soon.  Matt was ace on the tower!

Shamir & Sarah... somewhat better this time but still not the greatest.. don't have an opinion either way.

The tower was totally awesome!  Almost looked like a giant Jenga puzzle lmao.  The bonfire was super cool too.  I also thought it odd that the FF seemed like it was faster but turns out not to be.  The Trolls detour was really cool.  The Ladle RB well  if I were doing it...I'd have no issues with the noise  LMAO.. take off my 'lectric ears, stick them in the fanny pack and get to work!

 

Brooke please go home next.  Please?  PLEASE!

 

Forgot to add a few things lol... When I heard Farrouk Bulsara- I instantly knew it was Freddie Mercury and knew that he grew up in Zanzibar (I read way too much about him...).  And a question/musing... while Brooke was a total dink at the fish spot... I'm curious how TAR would have handled it if one of the racers was severely allergic to seafood (all), would they have allowed for that person to skip? One of my friends is severely allergic to where she can't really even be right where the fish/seafood is being cooked or eaten by anyone (she told me that once).  And to the mention of Nat & Kat- they were awesome- one of them was a vegetarian (not both) but sucked it up and dealt with it.

Edited April 22, 2017 by Ducky

[Silver Raven]

3 hours ago, chaifan said:

How did Becca and Floyd get that key to work?  Was the other team trying it in the wrong lock, or did they just not try hard enough (Phil said the locks were tricky)? 

I think the other team just didn't try hard enough.

[vousviou]

3 hours ago, etagloh said:

There's also a weird time-shift effect going on: in "race time", these teams have been together for just over a week. That's it. In normal seasons, that doesn't matter much because the relationships are already established, and whatever happens between partners has some kind of precedent. For this one, every leg represents just one or two more days of being partnered up, and the gap between that timeline and how long we feel we've known these teams grows wider and wider as the season progresses.

I think that's completely right.  I would also assume that regular teams (if they're smart) would have a little time before the race to work out some ways of making decisions.  Obviously a lot of teams in the past haven't figured this out, but at least some of them seem to have talked through how to navigate when driving, how to decide to split up challenges, and so forth.  None of these current teams have had that luxury.

I like that show has given glimpses of Ashton and Vanck talking through how they handled the previous leg -- I think it shows how they've managed to keep functioning despite a major mismatch.  I wish there was more shown of that with other teams, because it would give a sense of how they're coping (or not, as the case may be), and that's a crucial difference between this season and most of the others.

[mojoween]

My son wondered about seafood allergies too. I would have pretended to have one because while I wouldn't have been as godawful as Brooke was about it, there is no way on this earth I could have eaten raw fish.

Tara did her makeup before they went to Norway.  And it stayed on all day!  Fascinating.

Is she from New York?  I'm curious about the 'Cuse shirt.  

[Ducky]

I would think with any allergies that may impact you and your health, you'd have to put that down on the application form so the TPTB would at least be aware of it.  Whether they would actually verify it somehow dunno....

[sinycalone]

1 hour ago, mojoween said:

My son wondered about seafood allergies too. I would have pretended to have one because while I wouldn't have been as godawful as Brooke was about it, there is no way on this earth I could have eaten raw fish.

Tara did her makeup before they went to Norway.  And it stayed on all day!  Fascinating.

Is she from New York?  I'm curious about the 'Cuse shirt.  

Tara's bio lists her is being born in Connecticut, but currently living in Alexandria VA (although she was deployed to Afghanistan).  In that bio, she states she speaks Mandarin Chinese and some Italian.  

 

ETA:  I don't think you meant Tara....she has been wearing t-shirts that say Army, and doesn't seem to wear much make-up.

Edited April 22, 2017 by sinycalone

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

The Amazing Race Ladles Out Some Punishment

Teams spend back-to-back episodes in Tanzania and Norway, respectively, and most of them are finally getting to know one another well enough to fully let loose and bicker.

[mojoween]

This was in the cab on the way to the airport, when I noticed she was freshly made up.  It's not as noticeable in this pic though.

Edited April 22, 2017 by mojoween

[sinycalone]

I never noticed the Cuse shirt!  Thought she always wore the Army tee.

[etagloh]

1 hour ago, Ducky said:

When I heard Farrouk Bulsara- I instantly knew it was Freddie Mercury and knew that he grew up in Zanzibar (I read way too much about him...). 

After Leg 3 in Zanzibar I read up a little more on the reason why he and many others ended up as refugees in 1964, and though TPTB didn't touch on that, you did get a sense in Leg 4 of the complexity surrounding how current residents approach the island's history.

1 hour ago, vousviou said:

I like that show has given glimpses of Ashton and Vanck talking through how they handled the previous leg -- I think it shows how they've managed to keep functioning despite a major mismatch. 

Absolutely, and this is where we all miss the Insider Videos that were posted in previous seasons. There are aspects of TAR where regular teams are likely to work out a strategy ahead of time -- basic stuff such as "who'll drive? who'll do heights or swimming or muscle or dancing?" All of this is being worked out on the fly by teams who know each other less well than we think we know them when watching, because we're getting a week between episodes and they're getting at best a day or so, and they're sorta busy with stuff rather than stepping back and doing psych profiles of their partners.

[CaioF]

Its really becoming hard to watch most of these teams trying to work together.. Wish Shamir and Brooke were team up (they would have gone leg 1, eliminated on the first task cause one wouldnt be able to do anything and the other would just give up). And Michael and Ashton also should be a team, so they both could crash their heads against each other..

If I was Scott, I would probably give up.. You can see at his face that hes comming to the conclusion that unless he manages to do everything (with is impossible), they wont stood a chance. Michael and Liz totally can rebound IF Michael stops to be so passive agressive towards Liz. ´´You know it all, You know it all, choose it``. SHHHHH!!!! If you see that you are being clueless/making wrong decisions pretty much the full leg and your team mate is at least keeping you guys on track, don´t act like shes steping up over you.. If wasnt for Liz, they would have lost waaay more time (really that he wanted to go kayak again? after their major struggle with it on leg 1?).

And the U-turn rules changes since when? Cause as far I remember, teams could only use it one time during the entire race....

[LadyNebula]

Damn, Norway is one whimsical country.  I really enjoyed this leg, because the only thing I know about Norway is.... well, nothing, actually.  I skipped the post-ride movie at Epcot (before Frozen took over).  Wait, no.  I knew they liked fish!  Thank you, creepy kid from the mural in the Maelstrom queue: 

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gHrILl0tZms/Ta4r56ijUII/AAAAAAAAAqc/owVi4F_Z_FM/s1600/Norway+lookalike+crop.jpg

So... there are, what, 2 teams left that like each other?  Team Fun Meter is great.  They had a blast, and I'm jealous.  What a Fast Pass!

Edited April 22, 2017 by LadyNebula
Pic was too darned huge.

[Knuckles]

I caught up with the ladle-making episode, which I missed on Thursday....and I have to say, using the mute was helpful. I am so not interested in watching Brooke moan and cry and wait for someone to rescue her. This is a race, and presumably you have watched some episodes of TAR...bungee jumping, eating strange things, rolling hay in fields, and working with broken oxen...all part of some races. If you are completely unable to do anything but whine...go away. There are so many people who could have made something of your chance...and to see you throw it away is just irritating. Scott is doing better dealing with this than I would...so props to him.

[amazingracefan]

3 hours ago, Netfoot said:

What I don't like about the latter-day FF is that once someone takes it, there is no chance for another team to compete against them.  Used to be that several teams would go for the FF, and the first to complete it would depart for the pitstop, while the others had to scurry back to the race.  

Yes I said that earlier, I like it where it's competed for.  Otherwise it's just one team near the front getting even more ahead just because they are doing well already.  And skydiving, as much as rappelling, is a staple of the show.  Any team going on the race is likely to expect that they might do it.

[holly4755]

10 hours ago, amazingracefan said:

Ah ok I got confused on that (I didn't catch they had two keys, when they after all only needed one), I still wish they hadn't just handed the key out to make it easy for them.

Brooke yelled at her partner for giving the key away. I don't think they should have taken it with them as who knows if they would have enough keys. She should be thanking her partner for that , because if they had not given the key to team fun, Becca would not have cut the metal for her. Why is Becca stronger than her,  - I looked up her biography, she is a barista, eh - who also works as a rock climbing instructor.  That will give you some strong hands. I don't think redmond helped her with more than words. 

If you truly want to hate Ashton - this not shown clip should do it 

[amazingracefan]

24 minutes ago, holly4755 said:

because if they had not given the key to team fun, Becca would not have cut the metal for her.

I like teams doing their own tasks though, that deprived us of classic Amazing Race drama as the other team caught up.

[etagloh]

47 minutes ago, holly4755 said:

If you truly want to hate Ashton - this not shown clip should do it 

Ohhh, that's where the Insider Videos went. And yeah, Ashton seems to mistake "making impulsive choices" with "being motivated for TAR" even when her impulses lead her to miss things.

[Ducky]

1 hour ago, holly4755 said:

If you truly want to hate Ashton - this not shown clip should do it 

Ahh  I wish it was captioned... :(.  It's why I almost never watched past 'insider' videos from past seasons (forgive me the right term is slipping my mind) or the ones like the one posted here.

[MVFrostsMyPie]

It was so obvious S & S were going home because in one of their interviews describing what they were going through as if it was present tense, she looked on the verge of tears. Also, I continued to be amazed by 1) how much makeup she wears every leg, and 2) how it manages to stay on through all the heat and sweat. 

The first hour seemed to go on forever. I got SO sick of seeing them look for hidden keys or looking for doors. Too much knocking on doors tonight, between Zanzibar and the weird ass troll task. 

Brooke, why'd you bother with this show if you "can't" do anything? Geez. She probably cries and complains while taking a dump too. I honestly don't know how people stayed so encouraging with her. STFU already. 

That pallet climbing task looked SO fun! I would have scampered up it like Matt and probably would have wanted to stay up there longer to take in the view, ha. 

Ashton and her eyebrows can go away soon, please. And I want to root for Vanck, but he annoys me too. He doesn't deserve what Ashton keeps bitching at him about, but I don't find myself actively rooting for him. 

I'm actually getting kind of tired of Becca. 

I wish Michael and Liz would quit, but they won't. On to the next part of the leg!

[Vyk]

All right.  Since there were two legs, I'll address them both separately for the team-by-team analyses.

For the first leg, I liked the tasks -- actual hard, tricky task -- but not so much the structure.  I think the teams who proved their mettle should've kept the leads they'd earned and not been bunched up by the ferry.  After that, taxi luck and Roadblock performance pretty much determined the placements, which wasn't so hot.

Tara & Joey: No one ran a perfect leg in the first episode.  These two ran around with virtually no plan at the Knock Detour, had no luck at the Lock Detour, and switched back to the Knock Detour.  But at least they finally figured out what they were looking for, after which they zipped right through the task.  Lucky, they were, that the ferry bunched up all of the teams but one.  Joey was an ace at the Roadblock and was fortunate that everyone who'd finished before him had to go back and check another detail.  Well-earned win.

Becca & Floyd: Nice recovery!  They lucked out a lot when Brooke gave them their extra key at the Lock Detour, and they knew it.  Becca crushed the Roadblock, and she was very nice to repay Brooke by helping her out, even though I might not have done the same thing.  Second place was very much deserved.

Liz & Michael: Their winning streak ended, but they still ran a strong, solid leg.  Michael helped them not take so long with the Lock Detour by figuring out the secret compartments being an element of the task, and he killed the Roadblock with his physical skills.  If they'd figured out the Lock Detour a bit faster, they might've been the only team on their ferry and had a comfortable lead in going to the Roadblock and won their third leg because of it.  But third place isn't bad.

Matt & Redmond: Not as bad as they were the last two legs, but Redmond's still a dick.  They were lucky that Brooke couldn't keep quiet at the Lock Detour about the secret compartments, after which Matt was able to find one.  Lucked out some more with bunching up with the ferry.  Was worried that this would help them win the leg, especially when Redmond seemed to blow through the Roadblock, but he luckily had to go back and fix the holes in his ladle.  Fourth place, which isn't too shabby.  But I still just want them gone.

London & Logan: Still kind of staying the course and floating in the middle of the pack.  They switched from the Lock Detour to the Knock Detour after a ton of bad luck at the former.  They had the really fortunate break of running into the local woman nearby the Lock Detour and getting her help in solving the Knock Detour and finished what had to be just in time to get on the first ferry to the Roadblock.  Then, Logan seemed to do a good job with the task and get them to a decent, fifth-place finish.  Nice job of catching up.

Vanck & Ashton: Yeah, so Ashton is annoying me now.  But still, she and Vanck are nonetheless running a good race in spite of their dysfunction.  While it was a slight struggle, they finished the Knock Detour in a decent amount of time.  Then, despite some misgivings, Vanck seemed to do a fine job on the Roadblock and finished it on his first try.  Because of his slowness there, they dropped to sixth, but given the end result of this leg, that isn't bad at all.

Brooke & Scott: I have to say that they got majorly lucky here.  About the only good things Brooke did here were discovering the secret compartments at the Lock Detour and giving her and Scott's extra key to Becca & Floyd.  Might seem like a bad thing, but given what happened at the Roadblock, it really helped her.  She struggled majorly with the task, even to the point of tears (Scott really should've done it instead).  But Becca helped her to repay her.  Even Redmond did, though he largely did so for another chance at needling her.  (Dick.)  Nonetheless, she finished, and they remained in the race.  Very lucky, though, that Shamir & Sara severely imploded.

Shamir & Sara: They just fell apart on this leg and couldn't get their shit together.  Not at all.  They stumbled a lot at the Knock Detour, and Shamir browbeat and berated Sara into switching to the Lock Detour when they only had one carving left to find.  Still, the one crowning achievement he had was figuring out the secret compartments fairly fast.  But they dawdled for so long, they were left behind on the second ferry to the Roadblock, and that was the killing blow for them.  I don't know how long Shamir had been working on their ladle, but it was clear that he'd struggled at it, too, and was too far behind to bother catching up.  To get an elimination by Phil coming out onto the course to do so?  Humiliating way to go out.  Feel bad for Sara, who seemed like a good, nice person.  But won't be sorry to see the back of Shamir.  Hate saying that about one of my peeps, but even I can't abide by a racer who acted the way Shamir acted.

As for the second leg, I think this leg was structured much better, and I liked that there was self-driving in it.  Navigation, both in the car and on foot, ended up playing a key role in how everyone did, which was nice.  But so did teamwork, apparently.

Tara & Joey: Pretty damn good job to win two legs in a row, despite being the oldest team in the race!  Joey rocked the Roadblock, and they finished the Troll Detour pretty quickly.  But the one worrisome thing they did was their apparent confusion over the clue they'd found at that Detour.  That, and then helping Matt & Redmond with it.  They very nearly cost themselves the win they'd rightly earned!  I was surprised they managed to outrun them in spite of that!  Still, good job to win two in a row.

Matt & Redmond: So Redmond is still a dick, this time with him saying that men's teams have no drama while women are the ones who do bring the drama.  Matt did a good job with the Roadblock, but they were both clearly lost at the Trolls Detour.  They were hugely lucky that Tara & Joey, in their inexplicable confusion, helped them out.  I was scared they'd land an unearned win since they were helped out majorly, but in the end, they somehow lost out to Tara & Joey, anyway.  Good.  Second place was good, but giving how much trouble they were having, they should've been fourth or fifth.

Becca & Floyd: They seemed to have such a good time with that Fast Forward.  But honestly, I'm surprised that, when they saw Brooke & Scott approaching them, they didn't just hand over their Express Pass to them since they wouldn't be needing it.  But I guess they wanted to keep it a secret that badly.  They did well to finish the Fast Forward, but I'm confused as to why that didn't lead them to first place and only landed them in third.  They seemed to have no trouble doing it at all.  Was it really getting lost that did it?

Vanck & Ashton: Even with all of Ashton's nattering, I was surprised that she and Vanck still did such a nice job on the leg.  Ashton rocked out the Roadblock, and she and Vanck navigated their way through the Trolls Detour splendidly.  And then, using their car instead of doing everything on foot also seemed to help them out and saved their legs.  Chose the right way to head up the mountain to reach the Pit Stop and got a well-deserved fourth-place finish.

London & Logan: They remained in fifth place on this leg.  London did well with the Roadblock, but they seemed to go slowly on the Trolls Detour.  Likely because they couldn't navigate as well as Vanck & Ashton did.  Still, the job they did was solid enough, and they obviously kept up their speed on the climb to the Pit Stop enough to clock in fifth, maintaining their finish from the last two legs.

Brooke & Scott: Lucked out a second time in a row.  Scott did well on another heights-based Roadblock, and they seemed to work well enough together and with London & Logan to finish the Trolls Detour.  But of course, I have to say that Brooke calling Ashton "irritating" made me say, "I wouldn't talk about irritating if I were you."  And naturally, the whining comes back yet again while climbing the mountain to the Pit Stop.  Lucky that Liz & Michael had their accident and then drove the wrong way to find the Pit Stop, or they'd have finished last.

Liz & Michael: Was really shocked to see them collapse so utterly after doing so well together on the last three legs.  They had navigation problems on the way to the lighthouse, they didn't take the easier Troll Detour even after Michael thought they should since they stumbled upon it (just because Liz didn't want to), they had a hard time navigating through the Trolls Detour because neither could read a map for beans, they had an accident that could've doomed them, and then, they try that parking garage in the hopes of using an elevator that just doesn't get them to where they're hoping.  A complete, utter implosion, and they were lucky that this was a "to be continued" leg.

Whew.  It'll be interesting to see if Liz & Michael can get back into it, but they'd better hope they can with another Double U-Turn coming up.

[sigmaforce86]

10 hours ago, Netfoot said:

I don't see the FF as a guarantee of non-elimination, and certainly not an automatic leg-win/leg-prize.  Nor should it be.  It's an opportunity.  One which you might exploit to your advantage.  But there have been several instances in the past where the FF didn't result in an early placement in the leg, and at least one where the FF team were eliminated.  What I don't like about the latter-day FF is that once someone takes it, there is no chance for another team to compete against them.  Used to be that several teams would go for the FF, and the first to complete it would depart for the pitstop, while the others had to scurry back to the race.  

Agreed - the task itself should be fast but things can go wrong anyway - if the team can't do it (for whatever reason, not good at it, fear etc.) or they get lost or accidentally take a cab when the clue says walk, all of that is going to screw up their time.

I don't know where the mountain was in relation to the racers but it seemed like this was a time where walking is actually faster and driving was a bad choice.  Or at least the editing made it look that way.

I think at this point I'm routing for Team Fun - they seem to get over their arguments quickly, get things done and with very little drama.  Brook is on my last nerve - she's defeated before she starts, the minute they started up those stairs it was "I can't".  Maybe she's tired or just venting but she's not exactly getting psyched up with a winning attitude if all she tells herself is how she's going to fail.

10 hours ago, Ducky said:

And a question/musing... while Brooke was a total dink at the fish spot... I'm curious how TAR would have handled it if one of the racers was severely allergic to seafood (all), would they have allowed for that person to skip? One of my friends is severely allergic to where she can't really even be right where the fish/seafood is being cooked or eaten by anyone (she told me that once).  And to the mention of Nat & Kat- they were awesome- one of them was a vegetarian (not both) but sucked it up and dealt with it.

I imagine their's something the racers fill out with personal info including medical and TAR would adjust the race if they had to, I think all shows like this would have to do that.  For the Survivor challenge in Africa where they had to drink blood I remember Jeff telling one of the contestants that their glass had soy milk instead of regular.

[Pepper the Cat]

I want to be a fire troll!

[Spaceman Spiff]

On ‎4‎/‎21‎/‎2017 at 3:43 AM, Catronia said:

And, yeah, Brooke is ridiculous, though I was rooting for her at the very start.   But I think Venck is also pretty awful, and I'm no beauty queen looking for a BF.  He's stubborn and rude and doesn't listen, and thinks he's smarter than everyone else.  He'd drive me crazy, too.

I agree. Vanck is a pill and a half. In the first episode thread everyone felt sorry for Ashton because of his turn a 135 degrees crap. Now Ashton is considered a bitch because she responds to Phil's question saying "I am stuck with him." Lot's of people have said that at the mat or in talking heads. And they are all stuck with their partner, it hasn't been said they can re-pair up. She also follows that up with "we are trying to work together as best as possible." And it seems that lots forget that Vanck picked her because he wanted to race with the hot blonde girl, when he should have picked a strong dude or one of the those amazon women who got eliminated to handle the more physical challenges. (as shown when they fell behind because he couldn't forge the ladle fast). She also said she would apologize if she was wrong about the doors, and when she was proven right, Vanck didn't admit she was right. I also think it was kind of on him about the fanny pack being left behind. Mind your partners belongings while they are doing a task. She even mentions, "How did you have my hat and jacket and not my pack.."

Obviously I am in the minority here, much like last week when I didn't think Becca was "threatening physical harm" to Floyd with the fake punch.

Floyd mentioned the Express Pass is now null and void, they had to use on this leg, but got the FF instead. This way they can ingratiate themselves with everyone by showing they had the pass but never used it.

I've only watched the last few seasons of this, my SIL got me interested in this show. I am really not a fan of teams helping other teams. Has this always been the case?

You can't figure out the clue or finish the task, well it sucks to be you then.

Edited April 22, 2017 by Spaceman Spiff

[humbleopinion]

Teams banding together has been done early and often in various forms in past seasons but sooner or later there is an ugly breakup with one team deciding the weaker team is too much of a liability and literally leaves them on the side of the road.

[greyhorse]

8 hours ago, holly4755 said:

If you truly want to hate Ashton - this not shown clip should do it 

Wow, she's terrible.  I don't blame her for being mad at Vanck though.  The person not doing the task should be responsible for the fanny pack.  It's got your passports, money, clue, etc.  Why would you just leave it sitting on the ground?  Even if I wasn't involved in a race and I was traveling with a partner, I would never leave the bag on the ground out of my possession.

But what makes Ashton so unlikable is that she believes she is the stronger racer than Vanck, and assumes the alpha and that she is never wrong.  Vanck is a little bumbling and doesn't project confidence or physical strength, but at least he's not whiny like Brooke or Shamir.  Why she didn't let him run up the flight of stairs just to look is ridiculous.  Why Vanck felt the need to ask first is ridiculous.  Maybe it's because of that race rule that they can't be further than x amount of distance from their partner.   So how much time did they lose because of her?  And all she said was one quick "sorry"?  And notice how Vanck reacts, he never raises his voice or even says so much as an "I told you so."  We all know if it was the other way around - which it wouldn't have happened because Ashton would just have run up the stairs without checking with Vanck if it was ok - that there would have been a lot more yelling.

So these are official TAR "Insider" videos yet they are on YouTube?  Wonder why.  I find it interesting that we get a long clip of a particular team, previously I recall these videos being much shorter.  

[watch2much]

I think Scott displays a lot of restraint in being able to limit his speech to the occasional sarcastic comment.  I would have turned on her and unloaded by now.  The constant complaining.....he was carrying her pack up the stairs and she was complaining.....yes the ladle thing appeared to be difficult, but she had most of the circle cut out before Becca finished it, so she was able to do it.  She's princess that apparently can't even endure a modicum of discomfort.   

[Hera]

3 hours ago, Spaceman Spiff said:

I've only watched the last few seasons of this, my SIL got me interested in this show. I am really not a fan of teams helping other teams. Has this always been the case?

You can't figure out the clue or finish the task, well it sucks to be you then.

2 hours ago, humbleopinion said:

Teams banding together has been done early and often in various forms in past seasons but sooner or later there is an ugly breakup with one team deciding the weaker team is too much of a liability and literally leaves them on the side of the road.

Working together/helping another team can be good strategy, and consequently it has always appeared on the race in one form or another in just about every season I've seen. If a strong team somehow ends up behind the rest of the pack, giving a weaker team a boost (or working together for your mutual benefit) can sometimes mean that a team you might not be able to beat (in a footrace, in subsequent legs, etc.) line gets eliminated, while keeping a team that you probably can beat later on in the game. This kind of collusion tends to hurt athletic teams like Matt and Redmond.

Under the circumstances, I thought it was smart play for Becca to help Brooke, but funnily enough, not for the reasons I just outlined. I think Shamir and Sara's elimination was a foregone conclusion once they missed that ferry. I also think that Sara was so bad at that task that she was always going to finish last. So Becca's helping her out did little to affect the outcome of the leg, but meant that Becca and Floyd had returned the favor that Scott did for them by giving them the key at the detour. Brooke even agreed that everything would be square between the teams if Becca helped her. This means that Becca and Floyd aren't going to be expected to do anything for Brooke and Scott later on (something that might have actual consequences for their own game) and avoids any sort of unnecessary rivalry, like the one between Ashton and Redmond.

However, giving Becca and Floyd the key in the first place was probably not a great move by Scott and I kind of understand why Brooke was annoyed about it, even though it ended up working in her favor later on. If Becca and Floyd never figured out the secret drawers, or decided to switch detours, they may have also missed the ferry, which would have left them battling against Shamir and Sara not to be eliminated, and would have left the surviving team really far behind going into the next day. Yeah, they probably would had caught up thanks to flights, but you never know.