S29.E09: I Thought We Were Playing It Nice / S29.E10: Riding a Bike Is Like Riding a Bike

[Brynnjk]

I was really happy to finally see a difficult day.  Lately so many of the tasks are so easy.  I look at the Canadian Amazing Race and the really difficult tasks they always have and that TAR had more of in the early days and have wished for days like this.  Still I was very sad to see Floyd's breakdown.  He was an absolute delight the entire race.  A really nice guy who tried so hard.  

My faves, Tara and Joey, had a bad leg and they were showing signs of killer fatigue with misreading the clue and getting all blamey on the other teams. I didn't like that but I still like them.  I don't think they're perfect but London didn't have a great leg either during the second ep.  I can't believe she asked Floyd for help when he was struggling so much.  I think the heat and humidity was just really draining on everyone.  

Scott - she's having twins!  I died.  Died.  If I had to put up with Brooke, I would snark nonstop too.   

That climb at the end was gorgeous.  Simply gorgeous.  

[Dominii]

16 hours ago, enlightenedbum said:

I think Becca is not really a nice person

I wonder about that, too. I think she's one of those people that has mean thoughts and a bit of a temper but has learned to (mostly) fake it on the outside. I kind of respect her for that, because it's hard to do.

16 hours ago, sinycalone said:

I have no problem with Tara and Joey uTurning TeanFun....it actually made sense.   Why Becca thought they were sneaky for doing it is what baffled me.

I agree. It's a race, and they want to win. It wasn't sneaky either, since their photo was posted on the board for everyone to see.

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I'd be happy to see London/Logan or Tara/Joey win this one. Not crazy about Matt & Redmond because of their arrogance and sense of omnipotence, although I kind of like Matt. I wonder what he'd be like with another partner. I must give kudos to Redmond for one thing, though. He has a great sense of humor and is very self-deprecating about his leg. That makes him almost likeable.

As for Brooke & Scott -- it has all been said by other forum participants. She actually annoys me more than Flo, and that's really saying something. And her VOICE! It's like nails on a freaking chalkboard! God!

[blackwing]

These two episodes were grueling.   Those tasks looked exhausting, especially in the heat.  

In the first leg, Brooke was absolutely wrong about the ladder.  She did see the ladder on the ground but the boys grabbed it first.  Then London pointed out the one above.  Even if Scott had held the ladder, London would have reached it first.  She was truly insufferable during this leg.  I knew she would have issues with carrying the mannequins.  I'm curious as to why she had three pieces while Scott only had two and the scarf bag of arms and legs.  Seems to me that maybe she would have had an easier time carrying two pieces and the bag and left three pieces to Scott?  I couldn't stand the number of times she screeched and whined and complained.

I wouldn't be unhappy to see Scott and Brooke win, because I really think Scott deserves it.  He is a good racer and a great partner.  He (mostly) puts up with her crap, which is all the more admirable considering the two of them were strangers.  At least Flo and Zack were friends.  I love his comments to the camera.  "She's giving birth again.  It's twins this time!"  When Phil greets them at the top of the mountain and Brooke is all smiley and happy and says "what is going on, it's almost like Brooke is Scott and Scott...." and then Scott cuts him off with a "uh uh" don't go there and say I am her.  Too funny.

I've never particularly cared for Tara and Joey, mostly because they seem to be robotically efficient and apart from the time Tara orgasmed over getting to speak Italian, it doesn't really seem like they are getting any joy out of the race.  This was all the more evident during these two legs.  Tara and Joey can both suck eggs for having the gall to complain about Scott and Brooke using the U Turn on Michael and Liz.  They themselves U Turned Seth and Olive, which wound up eliminating them.  And why on earth would Scott and Brooke be obligated to help them in any way in Hanoi?  There were three teams doing the ladder/birdcage task, which seemed to be the faster task.  Two teams are left to fight it out for last.  Why would one help the other?  When Joey almost passed out at the pit stop and Brooke asked if he was OK, Tara retorts "oh so now you care?  You knew there were no more ladders, you could have told us."  Suck it Tara.  There's a huge difference between caring about a person as a human being outside of race context, vs. helping others within the race which might get you eliminated.

I am liking Logan and London, although it is disconcerting that they always seem to bleed time.  Joey and Tara had a speed bump and still managed to overtake them.  I did not care for London whining for help from Floyd.  Why would he have to help her?  If her bike fell over she could just stand it up again.  I do think she was gracious when talking Scott at the start of the second leg where they hugged it out and she said they were good.

That was a rough leg for Floyd, although it appears that it was own fault because he didn't tie his traps on properly.  They were falling off almost from the start.  However, he also had trouble with the bike itself, it seems he had a hard time getting it to stay balanced.  He does seem small and physically weak, although London is small too and except for getting the thing started near the beginning, she did OK.

As to the tasks and leg design, I really enjoyed the city scenery in the first leg.  Loved seeing the traffic and the craziness.  Great camera work.  Gave us a much better appreciation of the city than, say, we got of Venice.  I was surprised the actual setup of the mannequin task once they got the parts to the window was so easy.  I was expecting them to have to arrange those hanging paper lanterns.  All they had to do was put on a few clothes and a few accessories.  For the birdcage task, I'm wondering if there was at least an indicator on the clue that only the first three teams would be able to do it.  If not, that stinks.

Lot of biking on the second leg.  I guess if you don't know how to bike, don't go on TAR.  I would have liked seeing more of the foot rowing task.  We saw teams having a hard time in the beginning.  But why couldn't we have actually seen them figuring it out and getting their stride?  For every single team it cut from something like "this is impossible" to a shot of them delivering the stuff.  I wanted to see teams actually travelling at a decent clip with foot rowing.

2 hours ago, meep.meep said:

Why did Scott *have* to do the bungy jump?  Hasn't he done enough of those?  Couldn't she do just one?

Because, as I believe he said, she had done 4 roadblocks and he had done 3, so no matter what was coming up, he was going to do it.  She did the shopping in Zanzibar, the ladle making, the Venetian mask painting, and the Greek changing of the guard.  He did the window washing in Brazil, the pallet ascent in Norway, and the meal train in Milan.  It was his turn.  However, I am not always sure if even split is a good strategy.  Especially if one team member is weaker than the other.  I think if they were approaching the canal and saw things set up for bungee (or saw others go off it) that they should have had her do it.  Not just because he is afraid of heights, but because there is no skill involved.  I think they'd be in a much better position going into the final legs with her at five roadblocks and he at four.  Now, they pretty much have to have her do the next one.

2 hours ago, backformore said:

I think the frustration of Tara, and some of the other teams, is that Brooke EXPECTS help, and gets it, but when the tables are turned, "It's a RACE!" 

I hate that I am defending her, but I don't think she always gets help.  I didn't see anyone helping her at the mask painting.  It seems that this is a season where many others expect help and get irritated when they don't get it.  London and Logan not telling others about the Italian street sweeper, for example. 

[Dominii]

14 hours ago, backformore said:

Well, if you missed the first half, you missed Brooke yelling at her partner non-stop, for something that wasn't really his fault.  She wouldn't stop yelling, and wouldn't collaborate on how to do the task, just kept blaming him.

So it was more of the same and you really didn't miss anything!

[Marvin]

Brooke never seems to do any of the work ! I was hoping she would have to do the tasks in the second half as there was no way she could have done them ! All she does is blame everyone but herself - i get the impression she is like this normally. I bet she manipulates people into doing everything for her !

Scott is a camera whore, but other than that he is ok.

I want team mom and dad or the boys to win as they seem the most genuine ! 

[sinycalone]

Quote

I hate that I am defending her, but I don't think she always gets help.  I didn't see anyone helping her at the mask painting.  It seems that this is a season where many others expect help and get irritated when they don't get it.  London and Logan not telling others about the Italian street sweeper, for example. 

Brooke didn't get help because everyone ignored her pleas for assistance.

[iMonrey]

Quote

I really hope there is another season for them to come back on... *sighs*

The show was renewed, but it's not on the fall schedule. Same as this season. Will probably show up around the same time this one did in 2018.

[weightyghost]

1 hour ago, blackwing said:

However, I am not always sure if even split is a good strategy.  Especially if one team member is weaker than the other.

It's not strategy, it's a rule of the race - by the end of the season each member has to do, I believe, at least 5. If she would have bungeed then he had to do the rest for the rest of the season. 

[biakbiak]

33 minutes ago, sinycalone said:

Brooke didn't get help because everyone ignored her pleas for assistance.

London gave her a few pointers.

[blackwing]

2 minutes ago, weightyghost said:

It's not strategy, it's a rule of the race - by the end of the season each member has to do, I believe, at least 5. If she would have bungeed then he had to do the rest for the rest of the season. 

Oh, I understand that.  This rule was put into place after Season 5, which saw the male half of Chip/Kim, Colon/ChrASStie, and Brandon/Nicole do almost all of the roadblocks.  But what I am saying is that if a team knows that one half of the team is physically weaker or has trouble with tasks, maybe they should have that person do the Roadblocks that look like softball tasks.  Although overcoming fear is a large part of bungee jumping, once you leap, there's no physical or mental skill involved.  This would have been an easy task for Brooke to do.  If I were Scott I would want to do every single Roadblock from here on out, they are near the end of the race and it's too important to risk having her freeze or fail on a Roadblock.

Imagine if the split had been 4 Scott and 3 Brooke and the next task was the shrimp traps.  They would have gone home.  I just think teams should actually think about who is best suited for each task (and I have to believe there are enough clues for them to figure out what they are doing... travel to bridge that is 1000 meters over a canal?  Pretty good chance there is something involving heights.  Or look to see if anyone else is doing the task before opening the envelope.)  Instead, many teams just seem to do the automatic alternating.

[Lady Calypso]

1 hour ago, blackwing said:

I hate that I am defending her, but I don't think she always gets help.  I didn't see anyone helping her at the mask painting.  It seems that this is a season where many others expect help and get irritated when they don't get it.  London and Logan not telling others about the Italian street sweeper, for example. 

The problem is even when she doesn't get help, she whines about not being able to do it and then somehow blames Scott! And the mask painting, she was whining about how she didn't know what to do (which is fair since the woman was in the middle of the demonstration, not at the beginning, and Brooke didn't know how to start) but then she started bugging the others to tell her what to do until London finally gave her some pointers, most likely to shut her up. For me, if I had to deal with a whiny racer, I might try to steer them in some direction, just to get them to go away and stop talking. It's not helpful to you if you're trying to do the task and you have another racer yapping about how they don't know what to do and they need help.

[Netfoot]

Joey got right up my nose with his attitude.  People are supposed to help you beat them?  No. And by the way, your hair still looks like a rat's nest.

Brooke couldn't wipe her own ass without someone folding/holding the tissue for her.

Sorry for team #Funbeatable.  But honestly?  I think Floyd just threw it at the end.  

[CaioF]

Really sad elimination... I was really worried for team MomandDad after the first leg, so I was hopping either team insivible or team BrookeandScott would leave... Didnt expected that.... Really hard leg, very fair tho, unfortutanelly it took Floyd down (ohhh how I also wish that was Brooke doing that roadblock). Becca just prooved herself tho, for those that were left wondering if she really was a good sport player. That was really emotional to see her really worried about him and more upset to the circunstances only (yes, she had her frustation moment when every single team passed them, after they come first with a very good advantage. But on the minute she saw him returning she not only supported him but acknowledge that he wasnt feeling well).

Now, about the final four, my personal ranking:

Team MomAndDad: They are the ones that impressed me the most during the race and for most part they deal with the stress quite well... I see a little bit of fadig on this last two legs, specially from Joe that is showing moments of frustation. But nothing major/that I can´t understand, not yet, apart from them being mad for Brooke and Scott now warn them. But I´m having the feeling tho, that some people are more mad from this to come from Brooke, that keeps whining/asking from help everytime. Still, they shouldnt expect anything from other teams at this point, specially from her. So I hope they return to their best form and pull of the victory.

Team Boys: Is still hard to me to erase from my mind what they did in the past... On this two legs tho, they did really well and portrait themselves well for the most part (Redmond of course, had to tell how much he would enjoy to see Scott doing the bung jump task =_=). Hard also to judge their behavior since its being a while that they dont have to deal with the stress of be at the back of the pack..

Team Lolo: I actually would prefeer them to win over the boys cause they deal really well with the stress and on respect each other and the other racers. BUT, they still didnt managed to pass 4th place?!!!! There is a problem there and they need to figure it out now/step it up otherwise they will just be there as always, with underwhelming finishing.

Team Scott and Brooke: Jesus Christ... Whyyyyy, whyyyy shes still on this?????!!! That bitchy is veeeery lucky not only to have a partner that is holding her during the race (most couldnt). She avoid the hardest parts from this last two legs and we still heard more whining from her than anyone else! I feel sorry for Scott tho, cause he should get a prise for deal with it. But she can´t win this, it would be a huge upset.

Edited May 19, 2017 by CaioF

[Nalan]

On ‎5‎/‎19‎/‎2017 at 1:06 PM, Wandering Snark said:

I really hope there is another season for them to come back on... *sighs*

The show got renewed for a thirtieth season, and since every divisible-by-six season since TAR18 has typically been a season of returning teams, there's always the chance that they could come back.  They and Vanck & Ashton are about the only two teams from this season I'd want to see back.  Tara & Joey are another, but with Tara currently in Afghanistan, I don't think she'd be available for quite some time to come.

On ‎5‎/‎19‎/‎2017 at 3:50 PM, CaioF said:

I actually would prefeer them to win over the boys cause they deal really well with the stress and on respect each other and the other racers. BUT, they still didnt managed to pass 4th place?!!!!

Yes, they did.  They came in third on the first leg of this episode.

Edited May 20, 2017 by Nalan

[raven]

6 hours ago, absolutelyido said:

Becca said she biked every day so she thought she would have done better at the task.

I'm not a Becca fan but I agree with this.  Becca appears to be well conditioned overall - Floyd is muscular but I don't think he has as much endurance.  Mentally, Becca may have been sharper at this point too - it's probable that the heat was affecting Floyd right at the beginning, so if Becca were doing the task, she probably would have tied everything on securely. 

I was glad that Becca wasn't blaming Floyd and continued to encourage him; also, major props to her for carrying his pack on her bike when he was no longer able to to do it. 

I did feel badly for them - really tough day for Floyd.  As well as being dehydrated, he probably needed food as well.

I was mentally giving props to London for being the only woman to do the biking/shrimp cages and then she had trouble and was practically crying for Floyd.  Ugh!!

This whole group with their expectations of getting help from each other is really annoying.  Except for Matt/Redmond (that I can remember), at least one member of each team has acted entitled to some kind of help from an opposing team member and it's getting on my nerves. 

Scott has to put up with that harpy so he can roll his eyes as much as he wants; plus he makes me laugh.  He was also legit terrified on the bungee.  I enjoyed the instructors encouraging him there.  As awful, whiny and shrill as Brooke is, she has been encouraging to him when he's faced his fears on the height challenges.  It's every other challenge that she's been unbearable on.

I have feeling that there was a lot of forgiveness during "rowing with the feet".  When Matt & Redmond are approaching the boat to hand over their collection, we have a fairly long Matt VO but no shot of him rowing.  I think everyone was probably fairly terrible at it and were allowed a ton of leniency that we didn't see.

[Snickerdoodle]

16 hours ago, kris4n6 said:

I don't think teammates are allowed to assist the one doing the roadblock. They can yell out encouragement, but that's it.

I seriously thought that Tara and Joey realized they'd missed the third mannequin and just thought it would be easier to just go ahead and put everything together before running back for the third. I was shocked when they actually asked for a check from the judge! WTF

I was really hoping Brooke would do the shrimp trap roadblock. I think she'd still be doing it.

Poor Floyd :( I'm so sad he and Becca went out like that.

I also thought that Tara and Joey realized they were missing a mannequin. They did say something about it, right?  When they started dressing the 2 mannequins I was confused. I was even more confused when T & J didn't understand what was wrong. They themselves said they didn't have the male mannequin!  

[Miles]

4 hours ago, Browncoat said:

Obviously, it's too late now, but I wonder if Floyd could have unloaded his bike just out of view of the judge (like where they made the turn off the main road), gone back to get what he needed, then re-loaded again just before turning into the judging area.

The judges don't actually judge the tasks. There is always a producer behind the camera who gives them a sign if it's okay or not. The producers certainly know what's going on, since they get told by the people who are with the team.

[J-Man]

Quote

Curious that there wasn't a detour on the second leg. Perhaps there was an alternative to the rowing task that nobody took?

The rowing task was the detour. Both team members had to participate, but Phil said that either one could choose to do the rowing.

[blackwing]

1 hour ago, J-Man said:

The rowing task was the detour. Both team members had to participate, but Phil said that either one could choose to do the rowing.

That's not a detour.  A Detour is a choice between two tasks.  There was no choice, so I guess this just qualifies as an additional task.  There didn't appear to be a Detour this leg.

It sounds to me that you are describing a Roadblock, which is a task performed by one team member.  This wasn't a Roadblock either.  The Roadblock on this leg was the shrimp traps on the bicycle that Floyd spectacularly failed on.

[Vantraveller]

10 hours ago, Boilergal said:

I thought in the first episode Scott and Brook were talking about how they had to split the rest of the tasks, so I was confused when Brook didn't do the trap task in the second episode.  

I think Scott said the tasks had to be even by the end of that leg (Leg 9 but there's only been 8 roadblocks). That meant that either of them could do the next one. I seem to remember Phil explaining something like that when Connor did more road blocks than his dad (second time around because  I think he may have been injured the first time?) and everyone thought it was set up for them to win.

[Xcptnl]

Joey when he dropped the mannequin 'we just broke up'.  Cracked me up. 

[liqidclark]

I only want to agree that Brooke is the worst person, in the hope that she might read this and wake the fuck up. YOU WHINE TOO FUCKING MUCH ABOUT FUCKING EVERYTHING! And it's not cute.

[Dobian]

Brooke and Scott with the mannequins, good God someone duct tape Brooke's mouth or something.  She is the worst.

I could feel what Floyd was going through because I know what it's like to try and do something physical in that heat an humidity, it's absolutely brutal.  I liked how Becca was really there for him though, knowing the race was lost.  I'm sorry it had to end that way for Team Fun.

Next week, anyone but Brooke and Scott, basically.

[etagloh]

To me, those were probably two of the best TAR legs in recent years, and definitely the best NEL/EL two-fer in a single country for a long long time. I don't think it's coincidental that they were mostly in Vietnam, a location that has always delivered for TPTB, and had a lot of callbacks to earlier seasons. (Brooke, of course, is a walking callback to TAR3.)

Obvious KF plus heat, plus big tough challenges, plus urban/rural split, plus subtle and non-spoodfeedy task design (like the number of marked ladders) plus teams having good and bad (and really bad) days, plus good editing in spectacular locations. Turns out that if you combine all of those things, especially towards the end where the remaining teams are fairly strong, you get something very close to old-school TAR. I also liked breaking up leg 9 with that huge flight -- though it eliminated any advantage gained from the last leg and the bungie RB, that was also something done in earlier seasons.

Should TPTB have come up with a less brutal failure mode for that shrimp-basket Road Block? Yes, but Floyd was the only one of the five to be sent back, which to me suggests that he repeatedly got the loading wrong. (The snippet of Joey explaining the hanging technique where "gravity takes over" seemed to be in there for a reason.) It's tricky to play-test in a way that factors in both the ground conditions and the impact of KF, and the problem with that task was that there was no way to make it progressively easier on repeat tries. I was glad to see hard challenges, but not ones that trigger a medical emergency.

The rowing task in leg 10 was probably set up to be a "the other team member must perform" Road Block in the event that Redmond didn't make it this far, but became a "you choose" task when he did. That's fine by me.

[sigmaforce86]

13 hours ago, Miles said:

Am I the only one here who is actually mad at the race designers for getting Floyd to that point? What dumb rule was it that you had to take all of that stuff back when you lost something, in that heat?! They must have seen it coming that somebody could very well get a bad case of heat exhaustion from this. It's not like this hasn't happened before, but until now there wasn't anything anybody could have done, here they could have.

I agree too - not in that heat - hopefully the planners will change that up for future tasks, they should have to try and take everything the first trip but if some is lost been allowed to off load what they had and go pick up the rest.  Even if he had to go back to the start with an empty bike then return it wouldn't have been as hard on Floyd as doing the back and forth with a fully loaded bike.  The tasks need to be hard but not harmful (thinking of Margie fainting because Luke couldn't pull the rickshaw)

Brooke continues to annoy - and the thing is I think I could like her a little more if her complaints were valid and spaced out not constant and immediate,  The minute she saw those stairs to the mat she stopped in her tracks and whined about how it was impossible.  Well that's where the mat is and teams ahead of you did it so suck it up, say it's hard as you go, say you're tired, but keep going and raaace.  I could see Floyd and Rebecca being invited back for another race.  I can see Scott running far and fast the minute this is over and I can see Brooke believing she should be invited back and believing she can do better because it's everyone elses fault.  If there's ever a solo version of the rest she'd be her own best partner

[ByaNose]

That's Brooke's biggest flaw among many. She complains, moans & gives up before even starting. The more she yelled at Scott (who I don't hate as much but he does annoy me) when he was trying to help her carry the mannequins better she wouldn't STFU! I wanted him to take the man, woman or child and hit her over the head. The constant crying is beyond belief. I just know in my heart they are going to win. She'll be all smiles and talking in a baby voice on the finish mat how she loves that Scott never gave up on her when she "sometimes" was a PIA. Then she'll blame the editing and lack of sleep for,her behavior and that's she really not like that. I swear they are going to win. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!

[HawaiiTVGuy]

13 hours ago, NYGirl said:

That was such a grueling episode.  It was in the mid 90's and very humid here in NYC last night and I  was hot along with them.  Poor Floyd.  I wanted to cry for him because I felt so bad.  He was definitely one of my favorite person in a season of annoying whiners.

God,..why do you punish us with Brooke.  I never forgot Flo and if it's quiet enough I can hear her in my head.  Brooke just gives me PTSD about it.

Scott was not too much better last night either.  

I'm rooting for Tara and Joey but I still hold a grudge because they u-turned Olive and her partner.  I also like the Logan/London team.  My luck Brooke and Scott win this whole thing.  

I didn't mind them U-Turning since it is part of the race, but for them to criticize Brooke and Scott for doing the same thing to Liz and Mike?  After Liz and Mike did it to Vanck and Ashton?  That is such BS.  Of course he could be talking about Brooke and Scott not keeping their word to Liz and Mike, but he said (paraphrasing) "It wasn't nice to U-Turn, only way they can win".

I am curious whether London and/or Joey saw the dropped trap.  If they did, it is kind of a bummer London especially didn't bring it to Floyd, or drop it off closer to the place so he could tie it on closer to the judging area.  I know it is a race, but Floyd had just helped London and seemed broken up over Floyd not passing.

[SuburbanHangSuite]

1 hour ago, Xcptnl said:

Joey when he dropped the mannequin 'we just broke up'.  Cracked me up. 

Heh.  There were a lot of comments throghout both esp that were pretty funny.  I think my favorite was Matt and Redmond's, "We finish each other's...sandwiches."  Who would ever think you'd get a Frozen reference from the two most jocky bros in the Race?

[HawaiiTVGuy]

3 hours ago, Nalan said:

The show got renewed for a thirtieth season, and since every divisible-by-six season since TAR18 has typically been a season of returning teams, there's always the chance that they could come back.  They and Vanck & Ashton are about the only two teams from this season I'd want to see back.

Yes, they did.  They came in third on the first leg of this episode.

That would be awesome if they have an All-Star edition.  Maybe they should have the teams come as couples, but then re-mix it up randomly when they get to the starting line.  That would be a hoot.

And not sure why anyone feels Becca was reacting badly this leg?  She just was getting anxious about falling behind and not being able to help.  She didn't snap at him at all when he dropped all of the baskets the first time, was encouraging the whole time and just bemoaned how she wishes she did the task instead.

[Miles]

39 minutes ago, etagloh said:

It's tricky to play-test in a way that factors in both the ground conditions and the impact of KF, and the problem with that task was that there was no way to make it progressively easier on repeat tries.

What? There was a very easy way to make it easier on repeat tries. Just let him unload his stuff. Having to go all the way back should be penalty enough. Making him push all of that stuff back in that heat is just cruel.

[Vantraveller]

11 hours ago, holly4755 said:

During the bicycle thing she was thinking how she should have done the bike task instead of  Floyd because she rode bikes more.  Seemed like she was trying to take the blame instead of blame it on Floyd. They had different tasks, and Becca was certainly more physically fit than Floyd, as she said he was going to take all the dancing challenges, they were even on the tasks, so she could have done this bicycle one and i think that was on her mind, she kept saying she should have done this one.  

So why didn't she take this one? They could see that it was a bike riding task. It's so annoying when one partner chooses not to do a task then bitches and moans about how much better they could have done it.

[blackwing]

Becca annoyed me because as each team passed Floyd, she grew visibly more anxious and despondent.  She sounded and looked depressed, and showed how her fun meter was all the way down to negative.   She kept saying she should have done it.  But then when Floyd finally shows up, she's instantly all cheery and "we can do this".   Makes her "fun" personality seem like an act.  If she was just being optimistic and trying to encourage her partner and making him feel better, where was the optimism when she was alone?

I feel like if the positions had been reversed, Floyd would still have been optimistic when it was just him and the camera.  He is true "fun" all the time.  Becca, not so much.

I don't need to see them invited back again.  They were a gimmick that got old.  If there is another All Star or Second Chances, the only teams from this edition I would want to see again are Seth/Olive, who got a raw deal from uber-hypocrites Joey and Tara, and

the dating couple Logan and Sara

.   Would be interesting to see how they race.

As for Joey and Tara's mannequin mistake, I thought maybe she read it as "choose a male and a female mannequin" and maybe they thought one for each person and you can just choose what you want to do.  At one point I heard her saying "male and female".  I am flabbergasted that they saw the picture of the completed arrangement, thought it was OK to not have one of the figures, and called for a judge, and were shocked/surprised when they got denied and kept wondering what they did wrong.

[Netfoot]

39 minutes ago, blackwing said:

I am flabbergasted that they saw the picture of the completed arrangement, thought it was OK to not have one of the figures, and called for a judge, and were shocked/surprised when they got denied and kept wondering what they did wrong.

KF, manifest.

[Kenz]

I love this show, but I always worry that someone will be killed or injured badly, either in a taxi or especially when they walking and darting about in high traffic areas. I worry about the camera people too. How do they avoid not getting run over in a place like Hanoi, especially when everyone is hot and  super fatigued? (Maybe I worry too much.)

[holly4755]

1 hour ago, blackwing said:

Becca annoyed me because as each team passed Floyd, she grew visibly more anxious and despondent.  She sounded and looked depressed, and showed how her fun meter was all the way down to negative.   She kept saying she should have done it.  But then when Floyd finally shows up, she's instantly all cheery and "we can do this".   Makes her "fun" personality seem like an act.  If she was just being optimistic and trying to encourage her partner and making him feel better, where was the optimism when she was alone?

I feel like if the positions had been reversed, Floyd would still have been optimistic when it was just him and the camera.  He is true "fun" all the time.  Becca, not so much.

again, a little harsh.  you don't want people to be phony but then claim that Floyd would have been better at looking happy when the camera was on him. ??

People have real emotions and I don't think she was complaining as much as worrying where he was and regretting the choice. I don't think she refused to do the task, I don't think it was her decision alone. I really don't want to watch again, so before jumping to any conclusion I will wait until they explain in their video.  

I have seen plenty of people waiting at road blocks over every single show. many of them start wondering where their partner is after a while. Heck I go shopping with people and if they wander off I wonder where they have gone. doesn't mean I am evil. 

If they come on the show again I hope that Floyd either learns to drive a stick or learns to navigate. they would have been eliminated in Greece if both teams were not u turned.  he can keep his personality to love the race so much it is endearing 

Edited May 20, 2017 by holly4755

[Mumbles]

On 5/18/2017 at 11:05 PM, enlightenedbum said:

I think Becca is not really a nice person but at least she withheld her internal monologue about how she thinks Floyd sucks when Floyd was actually around. 

Yeah, while I liked Floyd a lot, I did NOT like Becca. Everything she did was shticky, down to the fun-meter button. When things got tough, the act went went away - lost passports, directions issue, and this. It's as if she knew she had to come up with a gimmick for future invites on reunion shows, all-stars etc. 

Brooke is the worst. I'd love to pair her up with the stupid nurse from the blind date season. But Scott doesn't deserve much better than Brooke. I don't know if Brooke still practices law, but these appearances can't be bringing in a lot of business for her.

[aradia22]

EPISODE 9

I don't get Scott/Brooke's strategy at all. It's not a rule, is it? Why are they splitting it up like this? Why not pick the best person for each detour? NO SENSE. IT MAKES NO SENSE. It felt bad watching Scott go through that. 

Something I noticed once they got to Vietnam was that if Team Fun has complained to the cameras or fought with Tara and Joey over the U-turn, it was cut out. I like to think they just didn't start any drama.

Generally I don't think Buddhist temples are as strict/don't have the moral hangups particularly about women's bodies as some Catholic churches, but I wonder if they had to clear it with the temple that the racers weren't going to be that appropriately dressed for a place of worship. I guess since the clue box was outside, it wasn't a problem.

Scott and Brooke were having the dumbest fight. You shouldn't have yelled out the street is... whatever. M/R probably would have seen it if they were ahead and if not, they would have probably run to beat them when they saw them turn. Yes, Scott is allowed to get a little mad. He's been coddling Brooke the whole race. And she yells at him ALL THE TIME. He gets one leg to shout a little if he wants to. No, he shouldn't have been holding your ladder, Brooke. What? I can't even... KF?

If those are the cheap plastic mannequins I think they are, they do not weigh 100 pounds.

I was really glad Becca and Floyd had the right building. For a while when the ladder was stuck I thought they were just bashing it around some random person's apartment. 

I feel like there was probably some conflict with London and Logan in the stairwell. There's a lot we don't see with them... probably because they're boring. I don't think she's nearly as flirty with him anymore but I get the sense that she's a little fake for the cameras. And probably he plays along when they're doing well but when they're not... I don't think they really fight because they'd show that to us for the drama. But maybe he's been annoyed in a boring way a few times off camera is what I'm saying. And the editors like them enough that they didn't show anything to counteract their TH later.

It's interesting that Brooke couches all her complaints in how "supportive" Scott is or isn't. I'm just going to let that sit there. 

It looked dreary (gray skies) but it must have been incredibly hot and humid. Even with the running around, teams were noticeably sweatier and redder than usual.

Oh, Tara and Joey. Never reading the clues. 

"I don't understand what he's saying, Scott. I need help." You know... the language neither of us speak? Translate it for me. Brooke is ridiculous.

With the 2 episodes I knew it was a NEL but still, that was a dramatic finish. I hope Joey's OK. Semi-collapsing is no joke.

[UncleChuck]

Quote

Why was he losing traps all along the way and others made it on one attempt?

It seems like TPTB used Joey's demonstration to show us how the traps should be fastened.  Hook the string on one side of the pole, flip the trap over so that gravity is pulling down but the trap cannot fall because the string is now pulling UP against the hook.  No matter how much you jiggle and jostle and crash the load, the traps will not fall off of the hooks because the force is pulling UP.  Unfortunately, Floyd did not flip the traps (I think).  He just hung them on the hooks and now gravity, aided by the shaking and jostling, easily pulls the traps off of the hooks.  I noticed that he did not just lose one or two traps but many, and even on his third trip, they were still falling off.  No one else lost even ONE trap, so they must have paid closer attention to HOW the traps were fastened when examining the sample bike/traps.

[jumper sage]

10 hours ago, Brynnjk said:

Scott - she's having twins!  I died.  Died.  If I had to put up with Brooke, I would snark nonstop too.   

That climb at the end was gorgeous.  Simply gorgeous.  

He was cracking me up!  She's giving birth, again!  My favorite line of his was when she was complaining AGAIN and he said, "It's the Amazing Race".

7 hours ago, raven said:

I did feel badly for them - really tough day for Floyd.  As well as being dehydrated, he probably needed food as well.

I kept yelling at the TV that he needed food.  Having had heat stroke myself I found that protein worked great.

3 hours ago, blackwing said:

Becca annoyed me because as each team passed Floyd, she grew visibly more anxious and despondent.  She sounded and looked depressed, and showed how her fun meter was all the way down to negative.   She kept saying she should have done it.  But then when Floyd finally shows up, she's instantly all cheery and "we can do this".   Makes her "fun" personality seem like an act.  If she was just being optimistic and trying to encourage her partner and making him feel better, where was the optimism when she was alone?

Well, she is human and at least she didn't let him see her like that.  She truly was scared for him personally and not just the race.

2 hours ago, Kenz said:

I love this show, but I always worry that someone will be killed or injured badly, either in a taxi or especially when they walking and darting about in high traffic areas. I worry about the camera people too. How do they avoid not getting run over in a place like Hanoi, especially when everyone is hot and  super fatigued? (Maybe I worry too much.)

Who can forget Brian and Greg in TAR 7 and the car accident in Africa(?).  Brian is the actor who plays Zach on the Big Bang Theory.

[shortsummers]

1. If TAR uses the same format it has utilized in recent seasons, the teams will have to equalize the Roadblocks in the next leg.  According to Wikipedia, Matt, Scott, Joey and London have used their 5 RB's.  That means that Redmond, Brooke, Logan and Tara will have to preform the RB in the next leg.  People keep comparing Brooke to Flo and express concern that, like Flo, Brooke will win TAR.  But, remember, Zach and Flo raced before the RB equalization rule.  Flo only did one RB and that was well before the end of the race.  Brooke will have to do the RB against three fairly strong teams with the final 3 on the line.  If I were Scott, this would scare the hell out of me.  Of course, if Brooke had done the bungee jumping instead of forcing Scott to do it, they wouldn't be in this predicament.
2. Since Redmond has to do the last RB, what if it's something he can't physically do because of his leg?  Since bungee jumping seems to involve strapping the chord around the ankles and Redmond had no ankle to strap, I assume he couldn't preform that RB.  What if the next RB is similar?
3. The recent format for TAR in the last leg is two RB'S that the teams have to split.  So even if Brooke makes it into the final 3, she will probably still have to do one more RB with the race on the line.  Also, Flo and Zach were up against one of the weakest final 4's in TAR history, while Brooke has to compete two very strong teams in mom&dad and the boys.  So I think there is very little chance she will win.

[aradia22]

EPISODE 10

Yay that Lolo and Scott/Brooke made up? Am I supposed to care? Better question... why were all the guys shirtless? THE RACE IS NOT ABOUT BUILDING ALLIANCES.

Dying. Scott is "for the most part more optimistic." Major understatement. He's learned he "has a lot of patience." These two dummies... 

The gnome is back!

The sun was out and the mountains looked gorgeous. 

OK, Becca finally said something about Tara/Joey U-turning them. But she wasn't too awful about it. She's right to want a strong team out. 

"I'm just making excuses. I can do this." Floyd is great. Imagine Brooke saying something like that. I wonder what the rules were for him dropping the traps like that. 

"You take a spin class every day. Oh my God, you're not giving birth." OK, I'm back to liking Scott.

Phil in a patterned shirt... what? That was almost paisley. 

I'm sure they hid a number of eggs for them to find but I wonder if there were any random eggs hiding in the reeds. What if there was like a goose egg or something. Could you just bring that? 

With the way Floyd seemed to be struggling more than the others, I think he just wasn't good on a bike in general. 

Why was London suddenly shrieking this episode? She's usually pretty capable. And she knows Floyd has been struggling for a while. 

Watching Floyd with the dropped trap the second time. That was brutal. God, producers. Have a heart. I know they all sign waivers but act like you care that they don't die. 

I know... TV "medics" but the best you can do is rub him with cold water like a beached whale?

Is Logan that much taller than Scott? If Scott could do it, I don't see why he couldn't because he's "too tall."

"Giving birth again. Hold on. It's twins this time." AMAZING. 

That was a sad out for Team Fun. I feel bad for Floyd. Becca was... eh, let's not get into it.

[backformore]

5 hours ago, Xcptnl said:

Joey when he dropped the mannequin 'we just broke up'.  Cracked me up. 

Yeah, that was just after he realized he was carrying the mannequin by holding her by the breast. 

1 hour ago, aradia22 said:

I don't get Scott/Brooke's strategy at all. It's not a rule, is it? Why are they splitting it up like this? Why not pick the best person for each detour? NO SENSE. IT MAKES NO SENSE. It felt bad watching Scott go through that. 

But the task isn't completely explained before they have to chose who does it.  It's generally a question, like "who likes bridges?" then they have to decide who does it.  THEN they open up the rest of the clue to read.  It appears as though once they say who's going to do it, they can't switch when they find out what the task is.

The bike riding, then the foot-rowing, then climbing all those steps - what a leg workout! not the greatest designed leg, though.  There should have been something that wasn't so physically taxing in between the bike task and the steps.  I'm surprised more of them didn't collapse.

I felt bad for Floyd, and I wondered why they weren't giving him electrolytes (Gatorade) and a protein bar.  That combination can help a lot with heat exhaustion and dehydration. 

[aradia22]

Quote

But the task isn't completely explained before they have to chose who does it.  It's generally a question, like "who likes bridges?" then they have to decide who does it.  THEN they open up the rest of the clue to read.  It appears as though once they say who's going to do it, they can't switch when they find out what the task is.

Right, but these two dummies are stuck on their switching back and forth for some reason I can't fathom. While you can't always predict... I feel like for instance, Scott might have realized there would be a heights challenge a few of those times and opted out. 

It does make me wonder how much communication is allowed between teams. We often hear teams asking each other things like "is it hard"? I wonder how much they're allowed to talk before they choose who does a detour, etc. Like, maybe everyone knows one person can't swim or is afraid of snakes. Can they warn them off?

[aradia22]

Also... no one's going to get this reference but those final scenes with Floyd (even though I knew he hadn't died, obviously) reminded me of Tim the medic on season 1 of Burning Love. 

[LeighAnne]

Quote

It does make me wonder how much communication is allowed between teams. We often hear teams asking each other things like "is it hard"? I wonder how much they're allowed to talk before they choose who does a detour, etc. Like, maybe everyone knows one person can't swim or is afraid of snakes. Can they warn them off?

During the blind date season, after a dancing roadblock, one of the teams leaving the theater where the challenge happened warned some other approaching teams "It's a dance challenge" on their way to grab a taxi.

[blackwing]

6 hours ago, backformore said:

But the task isn't completely explained before they have to chose who does it.  It's generally a question, like "who likes bridges?" then they have to decide who does it.  THEN they open up the rest of the clue to read.  It appears as though once they say who's going to do it, they can't switch when they find out what the task is. 

Yes, but I think they didn't open the clue envelope until after they had already arrived on the bridge.  The bridge spanned a canal, and they could tell that they were high above it.  It's not that hard to infer that whatever was going to be done, it was going to be on the bridge and involved being high up.  I forget what the teaser clue was that they get to see before they decide who is doing it.  But even though it never tells you outright what it is, often there is a big hint.  For example, if it was "Who is ready to let go?" that would clearly indicate some type of height/falling/rappelling challenge to me.

[chaifan]

18 hours ago, Dominii said:

[re: Becca not being a "nice person"]: I think she's one of those people that has mean thoughts and a bit of a temper but has learned to (mostly) fake it on the outside.

 

I think you just described 99% of the human race.  We all have mean thoughts sometimes, we all have a bit of a temper (some more than others), and those of us who want to get along with others learn to keep those to ourselves whenever possible.  I don't know why this makes Becca a "not nice" person.  The vast majority of the the time she has been really positive and upbeat.  People are hanging this double standard on her - if you're "fun" 100% of the time, you're fake.  If you have a down moment, than that means you're faking it at all other times.  Huh? 

[etagloh]

12 hours ago, Miles said:

There was a very easy way to make it easier on repeat tries. Just let him unload his stuff. Having to go all the way back should be penalty enough.

It wasn't exactly a classic "deliver something from A to B" task; it was more "get a fully-laden bike from A to B". But you're right: being able to unload at the destination and re-load at the starting point would have been less gruelling -- and having to start from scratch and re-check the model would also have made it easier to grasp that you'd loaded things up incorrectly.

[peachmangosteen]

I think they should submit the second ep for the Emmys. It was perfection.

I am so over Joey and Tara. I was over Tara like 5 legs ago, but I was holding onto some Joey love because he's funny. But they're so self-righteous and entitled and I can't stand it.

I'm also over London/Logan. I was never a fan, but they seemed fine, I guess. Logan just gives me real creepy vibes and London was super annoying in this ep. Her constant "HELP!" like she was dying during the bike task was beyond irritating. And her whining about Brooke trying to get the ladder was ridiculous. I just can't stand her voice or face tbh.

I like Matt/Redmond more than I used to and I'm glad because they're totally going to win.

Edited May 20, 2017 by peachmangosteen

[gibasi]

Floyd asked if he could unload and go back. He was told no.  I know how to ride a bike but don't ride one daily or anything. I did a bike tour of Nw York City and I was very wobbly!

Heat exhaustion can get you even if it is not that hot outside. It is more the dehydration I think.  And someone mentioned food helping. Anyway I don't think it was a design flaw or we would have seen everyone keeling over. It was a physically demanding leg. The steps at the end after everything else would have done me in!