S29.E06: Double U-Turn Ahead

[NeverLate]

I'm ready for the next episode! I wonder if Brooke is the next to go? Will she say, " I can't go Phil" when she reaches that point? LOL

[legaleagle53]

On 4/28/2017 at 9:27 AM, meep.meep said:

Count is now:  1 Rapido, 1 Andale      apparently these are indispensable words of power that must eventually be used!

I'll give them a pass on "rápido," since the word does exist in Italian (but without the accent mark), although the more common word would be "presto."  "Ándale," however, is unacceptable.  The Italian equivalent of that is "Dai!"

Edited May 1, 2017 by legaleagle53

[legaleagle53]

On 4/28/2017 at 7:01 PM, 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.)

*Pretending not to be jealous*

[aemom]

16 hours ago, Sayla Vee said:

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.

I can only comment on TAR because I don't watch the other shows, but TAR Canada only has 1 season a year that airs in the summer, so there's no overlap of TAR US and TAR Canada, so it's easy enough to watch both.

[peachmangosteen]

Quote

A grown person can only be bullied if they allow themselves to be.

Gross.

Personally I'm hoping for a twist in the end where they can all compete separately because on virtually every team I only like one of them. I like Joey, Scott, Floyd, and Liz, but I'm not a fan of any of their partners. Logan and London are both fine, I guess, so maybe they'd be the least offensive winning team for me. I hate both of Redmond and his partner, so I'm fairly sure they will win.

[scrb]

In one of the Youtube videos, Vanck said he's committed to trying to win the race -- apparently Ashton questioned whether he was motivated enough.

Vanck said he hadn't checked his stock portfolio in 4 or 5 days, as proof that he's all-in on the race.  :D

Actually these Wall Street guys Vanck and Shamir should be capable of saving about a million, if they bank some of their pay and bonuses, instead of maxing out their spending.  It might take them the better part of 10 years but they'd still be pretty young.

Of course if they rose to higher positions, they'd get there much faster.

[bunnyface]

18 hours ago, Sayla Vee said:

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.

I recently found The Amazing Race Canada on-line and have been watching it.  I admit after watching a few episodes I thought "Wow, this is what TAR used to be."   I love TAR and will watch it until the bitter end.  But that doesn't mean I can't recognize what used to be and what is now.  There is a marked difference and it's not hard to see. 

[Netfoot]

4 hours ago, AEMom said:

I can only comment on TAR because I don't watch the other shows, but TAR Canada only has 1 season a year that airs in the summer, so there's no overlap of TAR US and TAR Canada, so it's easy enough to watch both.

I watch TAR Canada when I catch it, as well.  I've just watched an episode (S4) with people climbing out of one end of a cable-car, under the car, and back in the other end.  If you fell, there was a bungee-cord to save you.  But thinking about it, jumping with a bungee isn't the same as slipping and falling, because in the first case you deliberately take the drop and in the second you are trying not to drop.  When you lose your grip and fall, there must be a moment of sheer terror, before the brain kicks in and reminds you about the bungee.  And the whole time I was saying "I'd pay money to see Brooke subjected to this Roadblock..."

But to answer Sayla Vee, just because TAR Canada is superior in some respects, that doesn't mean I can't watch Original/Classic TAR as well.  I mean, I prefer iced-cream, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy cake!  No reason I can't say "The vanilla cake was delicious, but I would have enjoyed chocolate cake even more!"  Classic TAR may have deteriorated over the years (not sure that's the right word...) but it still has some things to recommend it.  It's global reach, for one.  And Mr. Keoghan for another!

[holly4755]

where do you see it?

[aemom]

3 hours ago, holly4755 said:

where do you see it?

The episodes are on YouTube. There have been 4 seasons so far.

[amazingracefan]

The Australian version was very good, unfortunately it got put on indefinite hiatus.

[Netfoot]

42 minutes ago, amazingracefan said:

The Australian version was very good, unfortunately it got put on indefinite hiatus.

Indeed, the Oz version was excellent, at least at first.  But for Season 3  they went with an Australia vs. New Zealand theme which brought out the worst in some racers, and displeased the viewers.  The show hasn't been back since.

[Pepper Mostly]

On 4/29/2017 at 9:12 AM, Netfoot said:

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.

I wish I could like this a thousand times. Thanks for this thoughtful post and I concur with every word.  My hat is off to you.

[hjmugillecuty]

I finally watched the episode last night. I'm curious how it might have gone differently if Liz and Michael hadn't passed Vanck and Ashton on the way to the fountain. Presumably, Tara would have worked with Vanck on the Roadblock, they would have gotten the second departure time in the morning and unless Tara and Joey change their minds and UTurn, they are still in the race. They seemed to partly get lost the next morning because they saw Matt and Redmond heading for the boats and followed them, which wouldn't have happened if they had been second. Always gotta be racing.

[amazingracefan]

5 hours ago, Netfoot said:

Indeed, the Oz version was excellent, at least at first.  But for Season 3  they went with an Australia vs. New Zealand theme which brought out the worst in some racers, and displeased the viewers.  The show hasn't been back since.

I don't remember disliking the final season either.  They didn't have boring casts, the challenges could be hard and the longer episodes meant more per show and they still went all around the world.  Can't really remember who was hated, but in reality tv I prefer to see both the good and the not so good in people, as it's more reality rather than a vanilla sugar coated version, 

The Canadian one travels less, and I haven't liked all the casts (the first season for instance wasn't that great for me).  But overall it has been stronger than the US version has been from season 21 on.

[HawaiiTVGuy]

On 4/28/2017 at 5:41 PM, etagloh said:

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.)

Thanks for the clarification, makes sense...and maybe this was an example of how Vanck and Ashton "felt they were better than everyone else" and "shouldn't be trusted"?  Oh well.

Allowing for W-Turn blocking was a huge production mistake, the whole premise of moving from U-Turn to W-Turn was to make sure the episodes would still have intrigue as to who would be eliminated.  However, once teams could gang up and W-Turn-block to only have one team have to U-Turn, it effectively ruins the entire episode.  If TAR has another season, I think the U-Turn and W-Turn is going to have to go away, or have the rules changed.  I think doing a "Speed Bump" is a much more reasonable "penalty" and brings out intrigue.  Or pretty much make any leg with W-Turn or U-Turn a continuation leg or elimination leg, it will allow a team to use it to win a leg but then still face the potential "consequences" so there is some downside to using it.

On 4/29/2017 at 10:04 AM, Spunkygal said:

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. 

yeah not sure how that comment is consistent with the idea that he is someone that has the personality like the type of co-worker that @Martyqui worked with, and IMO, I don't see anything about what Vanck did that would reinforce the idea that he is "lazy, lazy, lazy" like the co-worker.

Becca and Floyd had this to say about the big Conspiracy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XOttgrnCms

Interesting reasoning regarding why they decided to participate in the conspiracy, not sure I agree with the idea that Vanck and Ashton were a threat, but it seems like it was a purely strategic play on their part, at least to go along with it.  Their reasoning for not U-Turning someone else makes sense, especially if they really felt Brooke and Scott and Team Lolo were weak.

Another interesting tidbit, everyone (no one specifically mentioned as not participating) bonded in Norway during camping.

Edited May 1, 2017 by HawaiiTVGuy

[kingshearte]

On 4/29/2017 at 3:24 AM, stegarden said:

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.

If we must keep the infernal thing, which apparently we must, I like this idea. Either a risk, like you suggested, or some kind of straight-up cost, like money or time. If you want to U-turn someone, it'll cost you $X or X minutes or something.

On 4/29/2017 at 8:52 AM, 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.

Definitely this. The tasks on TARC are legit hard, and the teams do generally seem more affable, while remaining competitive. Even if I don't love all the teams, I don't think there's yet been one on TARC that I've full-on loathed. There have been many on TAR USA. I want to say they did introduce a U-turn of some flavour on the last season of TARC, though, which made me sad.

Whether they do anything different with the actual tasks or not, I really do wish they would go back to extras that benefited you, rather than extras that hurt others. Like, I have no objection to the Express Pass (even the extra one for giving away), and I liked the greater numbers of Fast Forwards. Those could be used strategically to benefit whichever team was using them without actively and deliberately screwing anyone else, whereas the U-turns and Yields benefit a team by directly harming another. It brings the unpleasant aspects of the social game into play, and the quality of entertainment has suffered.

You know, if TAR feels the need to keep constantly reinventing itself, maybe it should try reinventing itself into something closer to its original formula.

And just to get back to this actual episode: Brooke. Oh my effing god. Could that woman be any more obnoxiously useless? I mean, OK, she does eventually get the job done generally, but good god, the screeching and freaking out about it, and inexplicably putting her own difficulties squarely on Scott's shoulders is just insufferable. I'm pretty sure that, in addition to spotting all her holds for her, he was also expected to actually be pulling her up, which is not the purpose of belaying. He may or may not be the best person ever, but the fact that he usually remains as calm and supportive with her as he does is truly astonishing, and more than she has any call to expect.

[etagloh]

On 4/30/2017 at 11:54 AM, jumper sage said:

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

I've liked the attempts to bring back eat-sleep-mingle in newer seasons -- it's now typically during in-leg bunches where teams are bunking down together and food is laid on -- but this feels a little different to me, because they're E-S-M-ing more as individuals than as team members. Everyone's known each other around the same time, and though they've spent more time up close with their teammates, that's generally been in more stressful and fractious situations. So you get racers who seem more sociable with other teams than they are with their own partners, which in turn makes cross-team relationships different. I'm not sure how it's going to resolve itself as we pivot towards the final 3.

[ReeseDixon]

I'm surprised by the take on Vanck because I have hated him from the very first second when he said that if he got to pick a partner he was going to pick a pretty girl. I don't remember the exact words he used to justify this, but it was basically so that he could have someTHING pretty to look at while HE ran the race. And then he proceeded to belittle and ignore Ashton's suggestions throughout the race. I thought he was so blatantly sexist that people would pull out torches and pitchforks for him!

Ashton's not a real prize either, I think, with her grudge holding and ridiculous standards of what constitutes fair play. She was so bent out of shape that Redmond and Matt didn't WAIT FOR HER AND FLIP A COIN FOR FIRST, which is the most ludicrous thing I ever heard. The person that gets there first is first. Why would you introduce a coin flip and then gripe about them being so unethical for not obeying your rule?

[Jobiska]

1 hour ago, ReeseDixon said:

I'm surprised by the take on Vanck because I have hated him from the very first second when he said that if he got to pick a partner he was going to pick a pretty girl. I don't remember the exact words he used to justify this, but it was basically so that he could have someTHING pretty to look at while HE ran the race. 

Another poster and I had a discussion about this in the preceding episodes' thread, and that person kindly went back and rewatched right then, and gave Vanck's selection explanation as follows:  
 

Quote

Vanck: Ideal partner. A pretty girl. Never hurts in term of sales on the race because some people look at me like I have 2 heads or something sometimes. 

Nothing about him wanting to look at her for himself.   

 

[HawaiiTVGuy]

On 5/3/2017 at 0:45 PM, ReeseDixon said:

I'm surprised by the take on Vanck because I have hated him from the very first second when he said that if he got to pick a partner he was going to pick a pretty girl. I don't remember the exact words he used to justify this, but it was basically so that he could have someTHING pretty to look at while HE ran the race. And then he proceeded to belittle and ignore Ashton's suggestions throughout the race. I thought he was so blatantly sexist that people would pull out torches and pitchforks for him!

Ashton's not a real prize either, I think, with her grudge holding and ridiculous standards of what constitutes fair play. She was so bent out of shape that Redmond and Matt didn't WAIT FOR HER AND FLIP A COIN FOR FIRST, which is the most ludicrous thing I ever heard. The person that gets there first is first. Why would you introduce a coin flip and then gripe about them being so unethical for not obeying your rule?

The deal was made beforehand so that they (both teams) would be running and fighting to get there.  If TeamDouche didn't want to go along with the deal they shouldn't have agreed to it, but once they agree, they should have followed through and just done the coin flip.  

And as mentioned below, Vanck mentioned that was the reason for his preference, he realizes there are sometimes social aspects to TAR that he probably wouldn't shine at (remember all those sales tasks that teams needed to do in past seasons?).  Personally, I think he should have thought about the physical tasks first and thought about finding someone strong, but I guess they really haven't faltered at physical stuff, so maybe he knew himself best and knew his worst limitations.

[fishcakes]

Honestly, the more episodes I watch, the less I want to have dinner with any of these people, but if Brooke, Becca, Redmond, and Michael were my choices, I think I'd have to insist that death be an option. Redmond and Michael would probably tell me I was eating too much and/or eating it wrong, Brooke would ask a million questions about the food and then refuse to eat any of it, and Becca would yell out, "yeeeeahhh boiiiii" after every bite.

[hatchetgirl]

I think the piling on Ashton and Vanck was stupid game play. They were weak, sure,  and they were not people they'd want to eat with... stupid.  This is a competition! U-turn a strong team.  A&V were never going to win.  I think Phil was a bit put off by it honestly. I wish everyone from now on he says something like "wow, maybe if you'd u-turned a strong team, you wouldn't be going home now" or "imagine if you had u-turned Matt and Redmond, you might have had a chance." Just put a little salt in that Philimination there please, Phil!  You know you wanna!