S29.E06: Double U-Turn Ahead

[Etta Place]

9 hours ago, ShadowSixx said:

How does the food tram thing work? There's no kitchen on the tram so do you order food ahead of time? Do you have to finish your food before the ride is over?

According to the website that was posted, there is a kitchen on the tram. They seem to be pretty popular - totally booked up from now till the part of July they're accepting reservations for.

On other topics, I don't understand Brooke's continued existence. And although I don't always like him either, Scott was both supportive and patient on the rock climbing task, and also had some great facial expressions in the interview when she said she didn't realize she'd been so vocal.

[HawaiiTVGuy]

I think TeamLolo is my favorite, primarily because of London.  Anyway here is her recap with BTS insight:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEHEauSOsDU

 

London says that Ashton got them up into first class...I thought it was not allowed?  Or can they just not buy first class tickets, and if they get a better class upgrade for free...lucky you?

[J-Man]

There were several close-up shots of taxi meters with rapidly ascending fares, so I assumed there might be a money issue later in the leg, but nothing came of it. I guess the TAR editors were just playing with us.

[NeverLate]

9 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

I actually liked Tara speaking Italian not just for functional reasons but because she knows Italian and obviously enjoys the language.

I think its very wise, when you are going on AR, to try and learn the basic language of a few countries, no matter how rudimentary. Tara happens to speak it very well..:) 

[holly4755]

it could be some countries don't want racing Americans driving in their country.  

[etagloh]

1 hour ago, HawaiiTVGuy said:

London says that Ashton got them up into first class...I thought it was not allowed?  Or can they just not buy first class tickets, and if they get a better class upgrade for free...lucky you?

In the past, finagling free upgrades has been okay, but buying non-economy isn't, and there have to be four economy seats available for you to be able to get on a flight. I'm not sure if that's changed since the arrival of "premium economy" and other intermediate classes. Since teams are generally buying full-fare at ultra-short notice, that probably gives them better reason to ask for upgrades if there aren't sufficient frequent flyers to move up the plane. (First class on European short-hop flights is pleasant enough, but it's more like business class on comparable domestic US flights.)

[Dobian]

This episode reminded me of how easily grownups regress back to high school.  If I'm going to u-turn a team, it's going to be strategic, as in, who do I think is the biggest threat.  Not, who do I think is the least cool and I do not want in my clique.

Edited April 29, 2017 by Dobian

[Netfoot]

2 hours ago, Catronia said:

About dining on trains:  One of my most magical memories is taking a train from (I think) Rome to Paris with my family when I was 12/13 years old, lo, these many years ago. We had our own compartment on the train, and after some time looking at the scenery, were called to the dining car, which had white tablecloths, waiters, a wine list, etc. By then, we were entering the Alps. We had a four course dinner that I remember as delicious, including a chocolate cake for my little sister's birthday, while looking over the beautiful scenery. When we got back to our compartment, the seats had been made up into very narrow bunks with wonderfully crisp sheets and soft pillows and clever netting pouches attached to the walls to put your glasses, book, whatever into. We fell asleep to the gentle rocking of the train, and woke up in the French countryside. The whole experience was just ... sumptuous. Sadly, I don't think these kinds of trains operate for general service anymore in Europe (and I'm sure it was terribly expensive -- I think my father's employer was footing the bill.)

Wow.  Was that the Orient Express?  

[Dobian]

On 4/27/2017 at 8:13 PM, Rachel RSL said:

Strategically using a U-Turn to ensure that a team goes home doesn't make them bullies. Nobody was cruel to them. Nobody excluded them when they were all hanging out on the ship. Nobody physically threatened them. Nobody bullied them.

It was done with a bully mentality, as was demonstrated when the clique was celebrating at the mat.  We don't like them, Vanck's a dork, we're too cool for this team.  It was very sophomoric.  There wasn't anything strategic about it.  Why are you trying to eliminate one of the weaker teams?  Why aren't you using probably the last u-turn opportunity this season to get rid of a strong team like Matt and Redmond?  You eliminate the team that is standing between you and a million dollars, not the team you want to hang out with the least after the leg is over.

[NeverLate]

1 hour ago, Dobian said:

It was done with a bully mentality, as was demonstrated when the clique was celebrating at the mat.  We don't like them, Vanck's a dork, we're too cool for this team.  It was very sophomoric.  There wasn't anything strategic about it.  Why are you trying to eliminate one of the weaker teams?  Why aren't you using probably the last u-turn opportunity this season to get rid of a strong team like Matt and Redmond?  You eliminate the team that is standing between you and a million dollars, not the team you want to hang out with the least after the leg is over.

That's why I think this could be the last season for AR. I much preferred it when they were a couple( or couples) racing around the world. As soon as they started teaming up, I lost interest It works on survivor, but AR, not at all.:(

[stegarden]

I agree, this show is turning into a Survivor wannabe. I quit watching Survivor 3 years ago, by the way. The rules have to be changed if this show is going to continue. It is too easy to U turn other teams you dont like. there need to be ramifications for U turning a team. For example, it a U turned team makes it to the pit stop within an alloted amount of time, say 30 minutes after the previous team , then the team that U turned them gets eliminated. Or the U turned team gets to pick a team to eliminate.  Any type of ramification is better than the the current mess.

[7-Zark-7]

Does Brooke really think her screechy helplessness ever made her anyone's A list party guest? Girl, please.

I did not sign up for Survivor bullshit.

I hope all their oxen break.

Edited April 29, 2017 by 7-Zark-7

[Spaceman Spiff]

On ‎4‎/‎27‎/‎2017 at 10:06 PM, Lady Calypso said:

Man, so Ashton U-Turned Matt/Redmond for personal reasons. And then....everyone U-Turned Ashton/Vanck for personal reasons. You know what? I felt bad for them. This is a RACE. Ashton/Vanck may be annoying, but this is a RACE. You do what's best to get to the end, not who you like the least. Vanck/Ashton were ok players, but not strong. This is not a game where it's a pure social game. Social game with other teams will only get you so far, because the rest is based on luck, navigation, and skill. I actually can't stand that all the teams did it. It's just plain stupid. Not that the tasks seemed to take all that long. It seems like they were all done by noon, probably earlier. The tasks were all ridiculously easy this time around. 

Yea, I think I am pretty much done with this show. If I wanted to watch this kind social elitist playground behavior I'd watch Survivor. They all did it, but some even with maniacal glee, which is what I found just pathetic. It's also why I keep asking (me being new to TAR) if teams helping each other was a common place thing. I remember from last year (I think) with the social media group when they were doing a task that involved picking out certain flags in a grassed court yard. Everyone agreed to help everyone, except for the team that showed up last. And everyone hems and haws when the last team was asking questions like "Is everyone working together..?"  "Ummm not really." "What is the objective?' "I think it's over there somewhere.." Scott pulled that shit when he was obviously talking about the clues from the trolley and when Vanck walks up he's all "Go away Vanck". Brooke and Scott make my skin crawl.

On ‎4‎/‎28‎/‎2017 at 1:03 AM, Vicky8675309 said:

This is an edited show and we only know what they show up. Maybe Ashton and Vanck were huge jerks at the pitstops and we did get to see it. I have no idea but I doubt they all decided to u-turn them just for honking. I think there must have been more going on behind the scenes since logically they should have u-turned a stronger competitive team.

Sure it's edited, but they (producers) would normally show clips why other teams were making this decision. They have hours of footage, you would think something would be shown to give some kind of back story or reasoning behind every team wanting to dogpile on them. The only clips we see are Vanck saying Hi to Mike while carrying the huge fireworks in the previously, and the prior episode of them honking the horn as they drove past everyone running. IMO hardly egregious offenses for this kind of dislike.

B-List. Disgusting. Was really sad that team fun was so actively involved, they disappointed me. Oh well deleting season taping from my DVR.

[Catronia]

Hi, Netfoot! No, it wasn't the Orient Express, and, now that I've had time to access the memories, I think it was Florence to Paris. I wish I'd kept a travel diary of those years, but no. I do think it was operated by Wagon-Lits, which also operated the Orient Express :-)

[aemom]

I think that TAR US should take a look at TAR Canada.  My kids lost interest in watching TAR US because it had gotten so easy.  TAR Canada is really hard and I think it's more interesting to watch. Making the challenges more interesting again would help the US ratings.

You know what else would help with the US ratings? Going back to old school TAR. Nobody is interested in Blind Date TAR or Singles TAR. The show became popular based on what it was. People want to watch the show that they started watching, not this newfangled crap. It didn't need fixing or changing. It was fine just the way it was.

[Netfoot]

47 minutes ago, Catronia said:

Hi, Netfoot! No, it wasn't the Orient Express, and, now that I've had time to access the memories, I think it was Florence to Paris. I wish I'd kept a travel diary of those years, but no. I do think it was operated by Wagon-Lits, which also operated the Orient Express :-)

Sure sounded opulent and luxurious.  You have the memories to enjoy!

OT:  It seems like for the most part, this cast have no visceral connection to TAR at all.  They are running because i) they hope to get rich, ii) they expect to get famous.  They give me the impression that hardly any of them are TAR fans, or have watched the show, or have even ever heard about the race before. The whole concept of a "social game" is essentially foreign to TAR-of-old, wherein a team won or lost depending upon their own racing skill coupled with old-fashioned luck.  Apart from the Yield, there was no way to play "socially" other than to be polite to your fellow racers in the hope that they might help you later on.  And if you chose not to do this, there was little the other teams could do to you out of spite.  

Even the yield was not as bad as it sounds.  It was a fixed, 30-minute delay, unlike the U/W-Turn which could potentially take hours to complete.   And I don't seem to recall there being that many Yields per season.  One?  Two?

I've got to say that the game seems to be skewing towards the Survivor side of the coin.  In the game itself, and in the choice of racers selected to run.  But that type of show is all about bringing out the worst in people.  Their petty, spiteful, hate-filled selves on public display for the world to see.  TAR was always (in my eyes at least) above that.  It was somehow noble.  Or ennobling.  Taking teams of ordinary people,  putting them under stress, but showing them the diverse glory our world has to offer.  And letting us come along for the ride.  Now we get smug-faced blindsides at Tribal Council.  And the beautiful backdrop to this grand adventure is obscured by the bitching and bickering of self-absorbed assholes who are proud of their unsavoury nature, and think of themselves righteous and cool.

I feel most sorry for Phil, who has been there from the beginning and now finds himself presiding over this insipid shadow of what was once so great.

[MartyQui]

I used to work with a "Vanck", and even in a department full of nerds we all wanted to shove him out a window.  No social skills (or desire to get any), constant complaining about the littlest things, absolute confidence that he was the smartest person around (and we worked with Nobel prize winners), and lazy, lazy, lazy.  We worked on a floor adjacent to a clinic for kids with cancer, and he constantly complained about how rough *his* life was. Ugh.  Even the little clips that they showed us reinforced my initial impression.

[sinycalone]

While I can't say the "cast of strangers" premise would be one I'd want repeated....I'm really enjoying the season for the most part.  

Snobby/elitist teams are not new to the race (off the top of my head:  Freddie and Kendra...no one can top her).   Teams shutting out other teams (as part of a clique or otherwise)....how about the Cowboys being basically eliminated by other teams conspiring against them?  Or the other examples cited earlier (using the double UTurn and other schemes)?

Yes....Brooke's comments on the mat were appalling....but I can recall quite a few other teams that were equally repellent over the years.

Maybe some of these contestants were recruited....but there have always been at least a few people each race who were invited by TBTB.  Some turned out to be great racers...others certainly were not.  

I have never stopped watching a season because my favorite was eliminated -- no matter how questionable I thought the boot was.  I just love The Amazing Race.

Edited April 29, 2017 by sinycalone

[greyhorse]

I think the only team I can stomach is Team LoLo...

What a bunch of idiotic contestants.  As Phil told Vanck and Ashton at the mat, "for some reason, teams decided they didn't like you."  It doesn't take a Mensa genius to figure out what all of America already knows: Ashton is a grade A beeyatch.  But even so, that doesn't or shouldn't make them a target of elimination.  You eliminate one of the stronger teams, and that's Matt and Redmond, or I suppose Tara and Joey.  Matt and Redmond however already showed they could survive a U-Turn, however.  If you are a weaker team, you have to target the strong.  

If I ever somehow make it on the race, I'll remember that the number one objective is to win a million dollars.  I'm not there to make friends.  You can make friends with people on any of the gazillion reunions or reality show events.  Sheesh.

[sinycalone]

London (of LoLo) mentioned on her Youtube video that Ashton/Vanck had finagled first class on the flight from Norway to Milan as one example of why the teams did not like A/V.   If it was a case of just using the system to get an upgrade...kudos them for being clever.  If, however,  it involved something shady...I can see why it might have created resentment.

[Kerri Okie]

6 minutes ago, sinycalone said:

London (of LoLo) mentioned on her Youtube video that Ashton/Vanck had finagled first class on the flight from Norway to Milan as one example of why the teams did not like A/V.   If it was a case of just using the system to get an upgrade...kudos them for being clever.  If, however,  it involved something shady...I can see why it might have created resentment.

I'm not disagreeing with you, but I would think that if they got the upgrade in any way that went against race rules, there would have been a penalty.  It's happened before, IIRC.  A week or two ago, someone here posted a YT video of Becca and Floyd where they talked about the infamous line jumping, which turned out not to be line jumping at all, just that everyone else was in the wrong line to begin with, and when later teams showed up and got in the right line, the others felt they should all be able to move to the new line and stay in the same order.  Seems to me that the resentment comes in when a team ends up with an advantage not by being shady or cheating, but that others weren't able to finagle just by not paying attention or being in the right place at the right time.  Regardless, I would rather teams worry less about what other teams are doing and just run their race.

[sinycalone]

21 minutes ago, Kerri Okie said:

I'm not disagreeing with you, but I would think that if they got the upgrade in any way that went against race rules, there would have been a penalty.  It's happened before, IIRC.  A week or two ago, someone here posted a YT video of Becca and Floyd where they talked about the infamous line jumping, which turned out not to be line jumping at all, just that everyone else was in the wrong line to begin with, and when later teams showed up and got in the right line, the others felt they should all be able to move to the new line and stay in the same order.  Seems to me that the resentment comes in when a team ends up with an advantage not by being shady or cheating, but that others weren't able to finagle just by not paying attention or being in the right place at the right time.  Regardless, I would rather teams worry less about what other teams are doing and just run their race.

I think I basically was agreeing with you in my post....kudos to V/A if they managed to get upgraded within the rules.  I probably should have said after that, if something "was perceived" to be shady.....etc.  Yes, if they broke the rules, there would have been a penalty.  I agree about not worrying about what the other teams are doing....unless it directly effects your own progress.

Edited April 29, 2017 by sinycalone

[Kerri Okie]

6 minutes ago, sinycalone said:

I think I basically was agreeing with you in my post....kudos to V/A if they managed to get upgraded within the rules.  I probably should have said after that, if something was perceived to be shady.....etc.  Yes, if they broke the rules, there would have been a penalty.  I agree about now worrying about what the other teams are doing....unless it directly effects your own progress.

No, we agree.  I was just adding on my thoughts about teams taking offense over something that they themselves could very well have done, the irony being that had another team wrangled a first class upgrade or gotten to the right line first, they would have been completely (and correctly) self righteous about it.  Now, if V/A had been smug about it or rubbed the others' noses in it, I can see other teams being annoyed with them for that, but not for getting an upgrade.  

[Lady Calypso]

17 minutes ago, Kerri Okie said:

No, we agree.  I was just adding on my thoughts about teams taking offense over something that they themselves could very well have done, the irony being that had another team wrangled a first class upgrade or gotten to the right line first, they would have been completely (and correctly) self righteous about it.  Now, if V/A had been smug about it or rubbed the others' noses in it, I can see other teams being annoyed with them for that, but not for getting an upgrade.  

Yeah, I agree. Unless they did it in a shady way, I actually think they did the smart thing. Besides, it didn't get them to the clue box any faster, so it wasn't like it put them in the lead. It just gave them the chance to be in the lead. Again, they were actually thinking of the race. Nonetheless, watching London's video, she didn't seem upset by it at all. She didn't even seem to care much, and she did state that they love Vanck and Ashton now. Whether that's a lie or not, who knows? 

[etagloh]

3 hours ago, Netfoot said:

It seems like for the most part, this cast have no visceral connection to TAR at all.

It's the combination of "drawn from central casting" and "no pre-existing relationship" that creates conditions where everybody gloms onto the tropes of Generic Competitive Reality Show, which basically means Survivor's model of intimidation and alliances. The level of buddy-buddiness between teams is especially weird this time round -- think of the dynamics on the Lake Como ferry, and high-fives at the climbing Detour -- because it's mostly a product of ganging up against other teams. It's a weird collision of the "I'm not here to make friends" cliché with a situation where everybody is desperate to make friends with other teams.

It's a pity, because the locations have been well-chosen this time round, especially given the safety constraints on world travel in 2017, and most of the leg designs have been okay, but you can't help wondering what they'd be like with a different cast.

TARCan is an interesting comparison, as the teams there appear to remain on friendly terms (because Canada) but the difficulty of the tasks keeps them focused on the race and not on the "social game". No point in plotting and cultivating alliances if you can't do the basics.

[NeverLate]

4 hours ago, AEMom said:

I think that TAR US should take a look at TAR Canada.  My kids lost interest in watching TAR US because it had gotten so easy.  TAR Canada is really hard and I think it's more interesting to watch. Making the challenges more interesting again would help the US ratings.

You know what else would help with the US ratings? Going back to old school TAR. Nobody is interested in Blind Date TAR or Singles TAR. The show became popular based on what it was. People want to watch the show that they started watching, not this newfangled crap. It didn't need fixing or changing. It was fine just the way it was.

I love AR Canada, what a difference. The tasks are very difficult, it reminds us of AR US, when it first started.

[whiporee]

On 4/28/2017 at 5:23 AM, Bryce Lynch said:

Exactly.  Were Vanck and Ashton "bullying" Redmond and Matt when they U turned them, earlier in the race.

If anything, that was far worse.  They "bullied" a disabled veteran.

First, V&A U-turned them because Matt and Redmond lied to them. They had a deal, and M&R chose not to honor it. Had V&A not thought they had a deal, they may have run faster to the cluebox to check in. M&R lied to them, and then sort of mocked them for believing the lie. That's a justification for a U-Turn if there ever was one. 

Second, given yoour reasoning, they should give Redmond the money now. Not just some, but all. Because he's a sanctified disabled veteran. No matter how he behaves, whether he lies or bullies or heck, why not let him just beat up the smaller guy because he can? He's a veteran; he's earned it by choosing to join the military. Do I have that right?

As much as we deify the military in this country, you can be a veteran -- even a disabled one -- and still be a lying asshole. A lot of veterans are great, wonderful human beings, but the key noun in that sentence is human beings, not veterans.

Edited April 29, 2017 by whiporee

[Spunkygal]

If my sister and I were teammates, we would have killed each other fighting to be the one to do the dining tram.....and I probably would have purposely stayed on for a second trip. That food looked so good!

When Ashton was wrapping Vanck up as the ghost, she said, "you make a beautiful ghost." And he replied, "I always wanted to be a beautiful something." Or something to that effect. Anyway, I wanted to hug him. Vanck, no matter what these people say, you are beautiful! Wonder what he thinks when he watches this and sees the comments made by the others. 

[holly4755]

I think that what ever, reason you can u turn fine, but there was no need to be nasty talking about them, just no need. I realize you slip some time, but Michael and Liz and Brooke really seemed to take an attitude that they were better than them as human beings.  Now it is all over they have been to the parties, etc.  I just wonder when they watch this show and hear the B list comment just how would you feel.  And just because people get together, does not mean they are friends. and all is forgiven

[Maggie Mae]

Instead of a double u-turn, I wish they throw in one of those 'intersection' roadblocks. I think they only used it once but it seemed interesting.  You have to wait until another team shows up and then 1 member of each team have to work to do a task. 

[sinycalone]

16 minutes ago, Maggie Mae said:

Instead of a double u-turn, I wish they throw in one of those 'intersection' roadblocks. I think they only used it once but it seemed interesting.  You have to wait until another team shows up and then 1 member of each team have to work to do a task. 

And the justice to that would have been:  Brooke and Ashton had to work together.

Edited April 29, 2017 by sinycalone

[Netfoot]

On 4/28/2017 at 10:11 AM, Netfoot said:

The practice of blowing the second half of a W-Turn requires collusion, and I can't think of any way to regulate against it.

I've been giving this some thought, and I've come up with a change that might improve things.  (Not that I think TPTB would be receptive to the idea, because they obviously like the adversarial, Survivoresque way things work now.)

I notice that at the PitStart, the racers are told (in their clue):  "Caution:  W-Turn ahead!"  Why is it desirable to warn racers that a W-Turn is about to appear? Because it gives them a chance to conspire in the aeroport and to plan who they will target.  If this caution were eliminated, and the U/W-Turn board properly located after the Detour, there would be far less chance of collusion and conspiracy.  The first you'ld know about the U/W-Turn is when you encountered the board, and you would have to decide then and there, and essentially on your own, what to do.  I think this would go a long way towards eliminating the deplorable U/W-Turn gang-banging of some "undesirable" team by all the Cool-Kid racers.

Yes, racers could wait around for the next team and discuss it, if they wanted to waste valuable time (unlikely).  Or it might be that more than one team arrive at the U/W-Turn board simultaneously (infrequent).  But by and large, I think this is an easily implementable change which would fix the U/W-Turn and improve the nature of the race.  And which, as I said above, TPTB won't be caught dead implementing!

[scrb]

Dumb move, using Double U-Turn on a good but not the best team.

if they saw how fast those two teams went up the rock face, those were the biggest threats to win the race.

[ChiefWiggum9-1-2]

Two things: 

Can we all please stop with the over-use of the word bullying?   These are all grown adults.  A grown person can only be bullied if they allow themselves to be.   Some people live their lives as perpetual victims and revel in it.

We are only seeing the footage that the producers want us to see. Vanck  is a socially awkward person,  with no perception of boundaries.   Who knows what he has said or done to these people in the footage we don't see?   This is the first season that the producers  have gone out of their way  to show the teams behind the scenes  interacting at the pit stops.  The producers had a story they wanted to tell, and they've been telling it since Week One knowing it was all going to lead up to this elimination. 

Edited April 30, 2017 by ChiefWiggum9-1-2

[Netfoot]

52 minutes ago, ChiefWiggum9-1-2 said:

We are only seeing the footage that the producers want us to see. Vanck  is a socially awkward person,  with no perception of boundaries.   Who knows what he has said or done to these people in the footage we don't see?

We have no reason to believe that he said or did anything to offend.  In fact, chances are if he had, the Amazing Editors would have taken pains to show it to us.  And the other teams would surely have mentioned how he rubbed them wrong during the Pitstop?  So, the fact we haven't seen or heard about any such moments, would imply that there haven't been any such moments.

But sure.  We don't know what he may have said or done to offend.  He's pretty un-confrontational, though.  Hopefully, perhaps later in the race or after the finale, we'll get some leakage from the other teams to clear this up.  

[Subrookie]

Team Fun would have actually made the YouTube season fun. 

[Sayla Vee]

13 hours ago, sinycalone said:

While I can't say the "cast of strangers" premise would be one I'd want repeated....I'm really enjoying the season for the most part.  

Snobby/elitist teams are not new to the race (off the top of my head:  Freddie and Kendra...no one can top her).   Teams shutting out other teams (as part of a clique or otherwise)....how about the Cowboys being basically eliminated by other teams conspiring against them?  Or the other examples cited earlier (using the double UTurn and other schemes)?

Yes....Brooke's comments on the mat were appalling....but I can recall quite a few other teams that were equally repellent over the years.

Maybe some of these contestants were recruited....but there have always been at least a few people each race who were invited by TBTB.  Some turned out to be great racers...others certainly were not.  

I have never stopped watching a season because my favorite was eliminated -- no matter how questionable I thought the boot was.  I just love The Amazing Race.

Just everything you said.  Nor have I ever stopped watching because my favorite was eliminated (came close with Justin & Diane, but didn't), nor will I ever.  I'll be watching this show whenever and however you broadcast it to me.  Not that I don't hope for better, but I'm here for the duration.

 

12 hours ago, greyhorse said:

I  As Phil told Vanck and Ashton at the mat, "for some reason, teams decided they didn't like you."  It doesn't take a Mensa genius to figure out what all of America already knows: Ashton is a grade A beeyatch.  

 

Can't believe Phil said that.  I thought Phil was a kinder, gentler person than Jeff Probst, and I was stunned that he would deliberately hurt this team's feelings.  However, if a team is making it unpleasant for me on a daily basis, it very well might be their time to go so that I can better focus on my race.

 

11 hours ago, Kerri Okie said:

 A week or two ago, someone here posted a YT video of Becca and Floyd where they talked about the infamous line jumping, which turned out not to be line jumping at all, just that everyone else was in the wrong line to begin with, and when later teams showed up and got in the right line, the others felt they should all be able to move to the new line and stay in the same order.  Seems to me that the resentment comes in when a team ends up with an advantage not by being shady or cheating, but that others weren't able to finagle just by not paying attention or being in the right place at the right time.  Regardless, I would rather teams worry less about what other teams are doing and just run their race.

It didn't seem like the resentment came from the teams, however.  It came from the general public who didn't pay attention to what had happened, and that there was no line cutting at all.  Worse, TAR editors didn't show us at all that Matt & Redmond were not the only or even the first team to do this.  Becca & Floyd entered this line first.

 

4 hours ago, scrb said:

Dumb move, using Double U-Turn on a good but not the best team.

if they saw how fast those two teams went up the rock face, those were the biggest threats to win the race.

Yes, indeed.  Becca, Liz and Ashton all made short work of the rock climbing.  All of these women are big threats.

2 hours ago, ChiefWiggum9-1-2 said:

Two things: 

Can we all please stop with the over-use of the word bullying?   These are all grown adults.  A grown person can only be bullied if they allow themselves to be.   Some people live their lives as perpetual victims and revel in it.

 

Use of the word Bullying has gotten out of hand.  It makes no difference whether I attempt to get a team eliminated because I feel like they are strong or whether I want them gone because I find them unpleasant and distracting to be around.  I am just doing what I think I need for my race, and none of it is bullying.  Phil, on the other hand, bringing up that the other teams didn't like Ashton and Vanck WAS bullying.  Shame on you, Phil.  Starting trouble where none was needed.

Two things I don't quite get.  I see that many of you mention the same team to get rid of based on competence.  I have a totally different feel.  I see Tara & Joey as the main threat, followed by Becca & Urket and then Mike & Liz.  Mike & Liz may do themselves in due to temper tantrums, but the same isn't true of the other two teams.  When you see teams running in a group, you mostly see Matt & Redmond starting off in 2nd place, but Red just can't seem to run.  It's pretty much always that Tara & Joey leave the airport first, followed closely by TeamFun or Mike and Liz.  Team Boys is usually down in 5th or 6th place in a foot race.

The other thing is this, and please don't take this as inflammatory.  I really want to know.   If TAR, Master Chef and others are so superior on Canadian TV, why are you still watching U.S. show?  If I had better versions of my favorite show available for my viewing, I just wouldn't waste my time on the inferior shows.  I can't be the only person pushed for time.

[biakbiak]

13 minutes ago, Sayla Vee said:

Phil, on the other hand, bringing up that the other teams didn't like Ashton and Vanck WAS bullying.

I dont' see how this is bullying and A/V did not seem surprised because they knew there was collusion as soon as they saw the board. Also, Phil did not even say that the other teams didn't like them he said "for whatever reason some of the other teams decided to get rid of you."

[Kerri Okie]

10 hours ago, Sayla Vee said:

It didn't seem like the resentment came from the teams, however.  It came from the general public who didn't pay attention to what had happened, and that there was no line cutting at all.  Worse, TAR editors didn't show us at all that Matt & Redmond were not the only or even the first team to do this.  Becca & Floyd entered this line first.

It was short-lived, but there was grumbling on the episode about Matt and Redmond allegedly jumping the line.  I wouldn't have known Becca and Floyd also "jumped" if I hadn't seen their YT video, so yes, clearly the show chooses not to show us everything.  But you're right, people did seem to get over the whole thing pretty quickly and now seem to think Redmond is a great guy, when quite a bit of what we've seen of him seems to be the opposite, proving we can't always make sound judgments based on the edit alone.  I also agree that viewers tend to make a bigger deal of things than the players themselves.

ETA: A/V weren't bullied. They may have been ostracized (there was talk of it on the dinner tram, but I don't think we actually saw whether teams did or not), and they were certainly ganged up on, but those are not the same as bullying.  They often go hand in hand with bullying, but not always.  Phil didn't bully them either, although I cringed when he said that at the mat.  It may have been true, but why the need to point it out and add insult to injury?

Edited April 30, 2017 by Kerri Okie

[aradia22]

I got spoiled in another thread so I knew who was going home.

Travelocity app, huh? I was missing the product placement.

So last week, I was OK with the bickering. I don't mind it that much if it's natural (not staged or provoked) and I'd rather them show us the teams behaving badly from time to time than just pretend everything is perfect and let me root for people who are hateful. But starting off with Michael and Liz was rough. A week has passed for me but no time has passed for them and he's still in the same awful passive-aggressive place.

Haha, you dumb (insert expletive). Since when has TAR been a social game? This isn't Survivor. I feel like someone came up with this plan *cough Brooke cough* and everyone else is parroting her. I mean, they're a relatively strong team all things considered so I get knocking them out. But everyone going along with Brooke's emotional vendetta (which is different from V/A turning on M/A because it's Brooke targeting people who did nothing to her and getting everyone else to do it too) seems like stupid racing. 

That seemed like a pretty nice roadblock. I have no great sense of the timeline for rest, etc. but a nice meal while trying to find 3 words? There are worse challenges. I feel like the difficulties would be in how fast the trams were driving (though it was night and there didn't seem to be too much of a rush) and if you had to repeat and eat the meal again.

Tara was lucky to have Michael there. She spoke Italian but once again for some reason she had difficulty identifying clues as clues. Yellow and red. What more do you need? As for the others, even though they weren't working together, there's obviously an advantage if you can see the people in front of you writing down the clue. Not that they could see what they were writing but the fact that they're looking around or writing at all tells you where the clue is. 

Ohh... they were VERY lucky they just had to say the clues to the... conductor? Tara clearly thought it was something like "cernobolo" and the guy corrected her like she just pronounced it incorrectly. I don't know what he was thinking when Michael made the same mistake. He seemed to consider it and think... well, I just let her get away with it so he just said OK. 

Logan seemed a little pissy about not getting on the tram that was leaving. He did seem to get over it once the tram arrived so I won't hold it against him. I did find it funny that he somehow managed to get the last one that everyone missed but chose to go with the wrong clue. I guess there was a rule that you had to take the tram again and not just tell the conductor a different set of answers.

I want to like Scott but him joining Brooke's group think is holding me back. Also based on her fear of getting U-turned I do see it as a little strategic. Brooke can't be oblivious to how annoying she is. I think she turned everyone on V/A to get the heat off her and Scott.

Oh, those ghost things. I heard about them on Threadbanger. There have been a lot of heights/climbing challenges this season. I feel like Matt and Becca had way too easy of a time at the detour and if they were going to speed through it, I wish the editors had given us more time with the other teams.

Well, it wouldn't be a Brooke detour without complaining. She barely got off the ground before she started in. Girl, why did you sign up for this show?

At least I got to enjoy Becca and Floyd beating Matt and Redmond. I'm not enamored of Team Fun anymore but I'm prepared to root for anyone but M/R. And possible B/S too. Sorry, Scott.

Vanck and Ashton were in a really tough spot. They seemed to burn a lot of time looking for the clue box/U-turn board which was their own fault. But given the drying time needed for the ghost detour, it was a pretty impossible situation unless a team REALLY struggled on one of the detours. As much as Brooke complained (and God bless the editors for cutting out what was probably a lot of footage) she was making her way up the mountain. V/A really had no hope of these detours slowing a team down considering they had to do both of them. 

I'm interested in Michael saying Vanck when Brooke was talking about people they wouldn't want to have dinner with. With all the bickering, you'd think if they had some footage of conflict between the teams to justify EVERYONE going along with the plan, they'd show it.

I don't know. Italy is beautiful but all that scheming and nastiness left a bad taste in my mouth.

[urusai]

On 4/29/2017 at 4:06 AM, MartyQui said:

I used to work with a "Vanck", and even in a department full of nerds we all wanted to shove him out a window.  No social skills (or desire to get any), constant complaining about the littlest things, absolute confidence that he was the smartest person around (and we worked with Nobel prize winners), and lazy, lazy, lazy.  We worked on a floor adjacent to a clinic for kids with cancer, and he constantly complained about how rough *his* life was. Ugh.  Even the little clips that they showed us reinforced my initial impression.

Wait, are you mistaking Vanck with Brooke?  Because it seems like you just perfectly described her except for the social skills.  

Edited April 30, 2017 by urusai

[RedheadZombie]

14 hours ago, ChiefWiggum9-1-2 said:

Can we all please stop with the over-use of the word bullying?   These are all grown adults.  A grown person can only be bullied if they allow themselves to be.   Some people live their lives as perpetual victims and revel in it.

Or maybe stop policing the word usage of others?

[jumper sage]

22 hours ago, etagloh said:

It's the combination of "drawn from central casting" and "no pre-existing relationship" that creates conditions where everybody gloms onto the tropes of Generic Competitive Reality Show, which basically means Survivor's model of intimidation and alliances. The level of buddy-buddiness between teams is especially weird this time round

I have watched this show since season 1, the one where Phil only showed up to eliminate you.  It used to be that the teams would be together at pit stops and such and it was encouraged.  The bases of the show was because Elise Doganieri, I believe, was talking about her travels through Europe during college and she thought the same kind of game show would be doable.  It was just that, in the first few seasons, where strangers were trying to get from place to place quickly with tasks a long the way and the spirit of the teams were great.

Somewhere along the way the teams became meaner and more strategic.  There was a season where teams came to blows.  After this season the teams were separated.

I am glad they are back to being together and not isolated.

17 hours ago, Netfoot said:

I've been giving this some thought, and I've come up with a change that might improve things.  (Not that I think TPTB would be receptive to the idea, because they obviously like the adversarial, Survivoresque way things work now.)

I notice that at the PitStart, the racers are told (in their clue):  "Caution:  W-Turn ahead!"  Why is it desirable to warn racers that a W-Turn is about to appear? Because it gives them a chance to conspire in the aeroport and to plan who they will target.  If this caution were eliminated, and the U/W-Turn board properly located after the Detour, there would be far less chance of collusion and conspiracy.  The first you'ld know about the U/W-Turn is when you encountered the board, and you would have to decide then and there, and essentially on your own, what to do.  I think this would go a long way towards eliminating the deplorable U/W-Turn gang-banging of some "undesirable" team by all the Cool-Kid racers.

Yes, racers could wait around for the next team and discuss it, if they wanted to waste valuable time (unlikely).  Or it might be that more than one team arrive at the U/W-Turn board simultaneously (infrequent).  But by and large, I think this is an easily implementable change which would fix the U/W-Turn and improve the nature of the race.  And which, as I said above, TPTB won't be caught dead implementing!

I think the show changes are due to CBS and not the TPTB on the show.  I like your idea though, come across a U-turn without any warning.  Make it happen!

[Spunkygal]

1 hour ago, aradia22 said:

Ohh... they were VERY lucky they just had to say the clues to the... conductor? Tara clearly thought it was something like "cernobolo" and the guy corrected her like she just pronounced it incorrectly. I don't know what he was thinking when Michael made the same mistake. He seemed to consider it and think... well, I just let her get away with it so he just said OK. 

I swear one of the guys pronounced it Chernobyl and it was accepted. 

[Wings]

1 minute ago, Spunkygal said:

I swear one of the guys pronounced it Chernobyl and it was accepted. 

I heard that too.  

[spanana]

14 hours ago, Netfoot said:

We have no reason to believe that he said or did anything to offend.  In fact, chances are if he had, the Amazing Editors would have taken pains to show it to us.  And the other teams would surely have mentioned how he rubbed them wrong during the Pitstop?  So, the fact we haven't seen or heard about any such moments, would imply that there haven't been any such moments.

But sure.  We don't know what he may have said or done to offend.  He's pretty un-confrontational, though.  Hopefully, perhaps later in the race or after the finale, we'll get some leakage from the other teams to clear this up.  

I tend to agree with this.  I get that we don't see everything.  That is a given.   The producers give us the stories they want us to see.  But they also thrive on drama.  If Vanck, or Ashton for that matter, had done something particularly annoying to the other teams (outside of their beef with Matt and Redmond), it is highly likely the show would have shown it to us.  As it is, the editors chose to show us the other teams pretty much ganging up on Vanck & Ashton, including with that petty commentary from Brooke at the mat basically about how they were B list people, but then gave us nothing as to why other teams felt this way?  If anything on this particular leg, the editors gave Vanck & Ashton a really good edit.  Why?  The show has no reason to protect Vanck & Ashton and make them out to be underdog heroes since their story ends here.  If they made it further in the race, then yes, I might buy it since the show might want to play up their underdog status so people would root for them to beat the others and maybe the show might hide some behavior.  But it makes no sense for a middle of the pack exit.  Editors thrive on drama.

[holly4755]

well all we know that V/A did  that was annoying was get a seat in first class while the others were in the coach but that was relayed via recap, not shown on TV quite possibly because it needed a lot of video for a small payoff. .  

[scrb]

Even if Vanck and Ashton had found the clue box right away, I think the double U-turn had already been set, IIRC.

As for the conspiracy, the only way it makes sense is if other teams wanted to keep Scott and Brooke around as one of the weaker teams.  But Brooke has done a fair amount of the tasks already so presumably in future legs, Scott would be doing the solo challenges?

[aradia22]

Quote

So now that's two Double U Turns we've seen so far. Is that it for U Turns?  There's only six teams left.  I was surprised that Tara and Joey were eligible to U Turn again, I guess they did away with that rule.  

I wasn't a fan of Ashton but they were weak.  I wouldn't have minded losing the painful Michael and Liz.  Michael is a grade A dick.   Brooke is irritating too.  She can't do anything, and her comments at the mat about Vanck and Ashton were annoying considering what a piece of work she is.  I do like Scott so I am torn as to getting rid of her.

I think I like London and Logan the most but they are always so slow.  I'm surprised that they chose the molding task considering how physically fit they both look.

Yes, I thought it was weird T/J even had to consider it. I wish they'd tell us about these rule changes.

I don't get the conclusion that it was smart to U-turn V/A because they're weak. They might be a little dysfunctional but they've placed pretty well. She's athletic and relatively strong. There haven't been a lot of puzzles but I think they would be good there. They run around a lot but again, they've placed well so they don't spend as much time getting lost as everyone else. If we were picking the weakest team to U-turn, I would pick Brooke and Scott, Liz and Michael, and London and Logan before Vanck and Ashton. Brooke gets through the tasks but she complains so much and needs so much encouragement that it seems to take them way longer than it should. Plus they keep fighting which could easily lead to some KF implosion. Liz and Michael have navigation issues. They're probably the weakest physically. And they're not winning a foot race to the mat. Also, I'm not convinced the fighting is over. London and Logan get along with everyone but they must have a combination of poor navigation and bad taxi luck because even when they bunch up, they always end up at the back of the pack. They seem relatively competent (eh...) but they're taking a very relaxed approach. Maybe they think they're conserving their energy but they've been lucky that other teams have been slower or run into problems.

I don't feel like watching any video recaps (I don't really like any of these people) but I would assume that London thinks she's artistic (crochet) and they assumed with the U-turn that they would be able to beat V/A without a problem. I hope they're playing some kind of long game and conserving their energy because otherwise I do not understand the complete lack of urgency. 

[holly4755]

indeed that is correct, Logan suggested the detour because London is Artistic.