S30.E03: It's Gonna Be a Fragrant Day

[Whimsy]

The race continues in Tangier, Morocco, where racers participate in a fishy challenge and scale buildings. 

[InDueTime]

Congrats on Henry and Evan for winning this leg.

Wow, with Extreme last week and Slam Dunk today, I hope we're not shown someone vomiting every episode. 

The tasks seemed more challenging this episode.

I liked the gnome Roadblock and the gnome outfits. However, it did look grueling. I was afraid that Cedric was about to pass out. That part about three heart attacks was concerning.

I looked away for a moment; did Jessica take Brittany's gnome to play dirty or so that she wouldn't drop it while on the phone? Never let that gnome out of your sight during the leg, people.

I'm glad it was a NEL and Team Slam Dunk was spared, for now.

Edited January 18, 2018 by InDueTime

[mtlchick]

For season 30, the item with the biggest upgrade is the Roaming Gnome: cape, hat, bag AND harness?  Fancy! 

[weightyghost]

1 minute ago, InDueTime said:

I looked away for a moment; did Jessica take Brittany's gnome to play dirty or so that she wouldn't drop it while on the phone?

Brittany looked like she was going to drop the gnome while trying to get the money into the phone so Jessica just took it so it wouldn't drop. I guess she put it down and then Brittany took off running. Should Jess have held onto it to give it back? In a perfect world, sure. But really? Barely her fault. 

I also don't like Brittany and her desperate need for a proposal so I could be biased. 

[Browncoat]

That was brutal!  I am so glad it was an NEL.  I'm not sure I realized how much I'm rooting for Slam Dunk until there was a very real chance they'd be eliminated.

2 minutes ago, InDueTime said:

did Jessica take Brittany's gnome to play dirty or so that she wouldn't drop it while on the phone?

I admit I wasn't paying close attention either, but in the flashback, it just looked like Jessica was trying to be helpful.  I didn't read any malicious intent.

[Lady Calypso]

I knew that preview was going to be misleading. Brittany, she didn't take your gnome. It was helpful that the editors showed Jessica's talking head about Brittany forgetting her gnome and wanting to tell her, but also not wanting to be in last. I'm just glad there are racers this season who are concerned about racing and not about playing high school games *cough last season players cough*

I might have cheered loudly for Evan/Henry. From almost last to first. It's good that they got some comps better suited for them, but that's because I'm a fan of these two. I absolutely adore them. 

I loved that both Evan and Cody could speak some Arabic and got to show it off. It's not a common language to know. 

The challenges here were ok, but not the best I've seen. It did look physically demanding for the ones doing the Roadblock, which seemed to suck. They all looked out of breath by the time they got back to their partners. 

I am glad it was an NEL. It would have been a sucky leg to go out on.

4 minutes ago, InDueTime said:

I looked away for a moment; did Jessica take Brittany's gnome to play dirty or so that she wouldn't drop it while on the phone? Never let that gnome out of your sight during the leg, people.

From what they showed, Jessica didn't intentionally put Brittany's gnome down so she'd forget, but she did deliberately keep silent when she noticed Brittany forgot her gnome. Brittany shouldn't have let it out of her hands, regardless. Jessica's TH about noticing Brittany left her gnome did not seem malicious and it sounded like she felt bad for not calling out to Brittany to let her know, but Jessica thought they were in dead last. 

[kris4n6]

Very misleading promo. Jessica didn't steal Brittany's gnome or IMHO do anything underhanded. It was Brittany's job to watch over her own items.

 

I think Cedric was the only one to keep his backpack with him while doing the roadblock, and I think that's partly why he was so exhausted. 

 

I thought for sure that Cedric and Shawn and the food competition guys were going to get penalties for calling out to their teammates when they were trying to find the start of the roadblock again.

 

I was surprised Cedric chose the detour to go through the city again. I though the dance one was much easier - although I guess the descriptions may have made the teams think they'd be graded on their dancing (which is what I thought at first) and chose the other because of that. 

 

Glad it was a non elimination round.

[TheRabbi]

Great episode. Language barriers, grueling physicality all day, fun challenges, and gnomes!! What else could you ask for. 

Interesting that despite the fact that everything was pretty close together, there was TONS of placement shuffling. Nearly every team was in both the front and back of the pack at various points this episode. I actually wish it was an elimination episode since it was a merit-based episode with no stupid stuff like u-turns. I hate when teams are eliminated due to that.

Edited January 18, 2018 by TheRabbi

[Browncoat]

1 minute ago, kris4n6 said:

I think Cedric was the only one to keep his backpack with him while doing the roadblock, and I think that's partly why he was so exhausted. 

That was not a very smart choice, keeping the backpack on.

[PaperTree]

That fish task was nasty.  I would have been hurling too.

Skiers did well to recover from their idiot cab driver.

Amazing all these people speak some Arabic.  The zip line gnome thing looked very frustrating.  

Why is Cedric dragging the backpack around with him?

The belly dancing looks much easier.  Smart of BB to switch.

Brittany needed to take care of her self.  They can go any time.

I was agreeing with Jessica.  Don't help the competition, especially when you're in the back of the pack.  Then she helps the eaters.  Oy!

Good on Henry and Evan coming in first.  Racers did surprisingly well.  No surprise the skiers were strong.

So glad it was a NEL.  Didn't want to see the ballplayers go.

I was in Morocco once for about seven hours.  That was more than enough.

[Haleth]

I'm exhausted after watching that. 

I hope Gnome-gate isn't going to cause a lot of drama. It looked like Brittney ran off without her gnome. Jessica was under no obligation to take it with her. 

The guys in the belly dancing outfits is something I never want to see again. 

The bunching on the plane from Antwerp elimated the time delays from the head to head frites race. It ended up having no effect on the race. 

[mtlchick]

1 minute ago, Browncoat said:

I think Cedric was the only one to keep his backpack with him while doing the roadblock, and I think that's partly why he was so exhausted. 

I really didn't understand why he did unless he was that paranoid that his partner would disappear all of a sudden which his belongings.  Granted he would still be tired because I was tired watching that but with that extra weight that could have been the end for them if it wasn't a NEL. 

[Lantern7]

Wild leg this week, which basically was LML: Last Mistake Loses. Cedric & Shawn made the last mistake and came in last, but got spared and lived to make more overt basketball references. If Phil had decided to drop the hammer anyway, I wouldn't have blamed him. Cedric had three heart attacks. And he ran the Roadblock with his backpack on. Why?!? If he's a fan, or if he really did see the other 29 seasons (whole or in part), wouldn't he have left the bag with Shawn? That shirt cannot be laundered. The only remedy for that is flame . . . and the sweat would just snuff it out.

Nobody really bugs right. I don't want Cody & Jessica to win because they're Big Brother, but now I find out Cody was in the military, and he might have been the first BB contestant to have killed people before showing up.  I have no faith in the Big Brother casting department. And it looks like one of the twins loves puns. Luckily, he's good at it. The only reason now to hate Eric & Daniel is because they sound a little too close to "Eric & Danielle," and that might lead to traumatic TAR11 flashbacks.

GnomeGate was nothing. Brittany was at fault, and she wound up realizing it. She got so pumped getting guided by the local ladies, and she didn't notice her arms were free.

Once again, no gnome got broken. Last week, I read somebody fantasizing about a team breaking one by accident and finding an Exemption from The Mole inside it. Hey, I'm happy one intelligent reality show has lasted this long.

[Lamb18]

Cool, they're going to Tangier!! Fun, a fish stacking contest! They'll being feeling fine and fragrant after that. (Morocco is French, you guys! Casablanca, anyone? Although people seem to understand Spanish pretty well.) It's nice to see some airport socializing. Remember when you used to see racers sitting together at a table in the airport having a bite to eat?

Aw, Cody looked so cute when he was younger!  Those cats are so cute during the fish challenge. I liked that little cat sitting by Jessica was when she was stacking fish. I think I could handle the smell and texture, but all those eyeballs staring at me! Good for Cody and Jessica for finishing first! Glad to see Henry and Evan doing well. Oh, those cats and their little meows as Cody and Jessica went by. Another cat shot - foreground, staring at the camera!

This Roadblock has me so confused. I haven't seen Jessica pick up her gnome zipline #2.  OK, here is Gnomegate. The lifeguard left her gnome behind and Jessica didn't tell her. Well, Jessica doesn't have to tell her. It's on the lifeguard to remember. It wasn't that big of a deal after all. I hope that basketball player doesn't have a(nother) heart attack. Drop it off is a bad choice for someone as winded as he is. The belly dancing detour is pretty lame, but a good one for the racers after that grueling roadblock.  Wow, the order has really been shaken up. I like that.

Gosh that Joey is a dimwit!. His partner is trying to figure out the clue but dimwit keeps on dancing with the babes.

The basketball player is younger than 50? I thought he was older than me. Three heart attacks! I hope he doesn't keel over. Firefighters are looking cuter now that their hair is growing out a little.

I knew it was a non-elimination leg when Phil said "You are the last team to arrive" but didn't say they were eliminated.

[Lady Calypso]

1 minute ago, Lantern7 said:

Wild leg this week, which basically was LML: Last Mistake Loses. Cedric & Shawn made the last mistake and came in last, but got spared and lived to make more overt basketball references. If Phil had decided to drop the hammer anyway, I wouldn't have blamed him. Cedric had three heart attacks. And he ran the Roadblock with his backpack on. Why?!? If he's a fan, or if he really did see the other 29 seasons (whole or in part), wouldn't he have left the bag with Shawn? That shirt cannot be laundered. The only remedy for that is flame . . . and the sweat would just snuff it out.

This is not even the first mistake this team has made, which makes me certain that they just haven't seen the show before. You're in a race. If you have the chance to leave your backpack and ensure its safety, you take it off and run! You aren't the Goat Yoga Moms, where you're at each other's throats and it's questionable if you're really actually friends and that your partner might actually steal your shit as retaliation for something.

You know, I was exactly like Jessica at the beginning when she was cooing at the cats and Cody had to keep telling her to concentrate. They're cats, man! Cute little cats! I'd be distracted too. 

[NeverLate]

Omg, I thought team basketball was going to keel over. Poor guy! The chicken looked gross. I thought one of them yelled his partners name, but it was a NEL anyway..Everyone looked super hot!
Ha! No penalty for Jess( misleading us)..impressed with Cody! 
Two hours next week.

[GenerationX]

I liked watching the 6'7" Cedric try to nonchalantly walk away so as not to be noticed by the four other teams during zip line #2.  There's gnome way that's going to work.

[Lantern7]

3 minutes ago, Lady Calypso said:

This is not even the first mistake this team has made, which makes me certain that they just haven't seen the show before. You're in a race. If you have the chance to leave your backpack and ensure its safety, you take it off and run! You aren't the Goat Yoga Moms, where you're at each other's throats and it's questionable if you're really actually friends and that your partner might actually steal your shit as retaliation for something.

Theory: Cedric is smuggling something, and Shawn does not know about that. That's the only things I can think of that remotely makes sense.

Watching teams greet the Gnomemaster reminded me of a scene from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders. Here's the original Japanese version and the English dub. It's the sheer enthusiasm of Joseph and how brutally he got shut down that's funny to me.

Three heart attacks. DAMN. I'm thinking there was a physical and Cedric probably passed it with room to spare, but has there ever been a Racer who came in after one heart attack?

[Artsda]

24 minutes ago, kris4n6 said:

Jessica didn't steal Brittany's gnome or IMHO do anything underhanded. It was Brittany's job to watch over her own items.

Yes, and it looked like Jess put it right by Brittany's feet.

[mojoween]

Oh my god Jessica stop with the victim noises already.  Are we going to have to hear her whine every week that the house was against her?  Which, again, was half her damn fault BTW.

I don’t know if fans of this show and of The Dan LeBatard show have a large circle on the Venn diagram, but I giggled every time someone said Tangier.  Welcome to Tangier indeed.

[Lingo]

Cedric made a very simple, understandable mistake: he took the Roadblock clue and ran off, and just plain forgot that he still had his backpack on! Once he realized, I'm sure he thought, "Oh that's okay, I can manage" ... until he found out how long this roadblock was actually going to be, which no one knew at the beginning. Well it's a rookie mistake ... you can be sure he'll never make that one again.

Even so, I was amazed that he managed to come out first out of the 2nd zipline ... then crushed that he still managed to finish the RB last. Man that RB! The RB was like a mini-leg in itself, it was so long and had so many lead changes.

This whole leg was very similar: almost all the tasks were very physical, but they almost all demanded attention to detail too. It made for a great leg. And I'm thrilled the Yalies finished first despite the physicality. I do wish sometimes wish it wasn't so physical and that older teams like the BBall players could compete and stay in it more often. It'd be great to have another team like Ian and Teri make it to the end (well, Ian and Teri with better personalities).

Was really worried about the Skiers at the beginning ... thrilled they finished 3rd.

I laughed when I heard Phil describe the RB because I'd finally gotten around to watching that same Bourne movie a couple weeks ago!

[Rinaldo]

1 hour ago, Lady Calypso said:

I might have cheered loudly for Evan/Henry. From almost last to first. It's good that they got some comps better suited for them, but that's because I'm a fan of these two. I absolutely adore them. 

I do too. And while it may be a (pardonable) exaggeration for Henry to talk about their "brawn," this shows, as did the running last week, that they can do all right in physical situations -- not champions but we've seen lots worse over the years. Henry certainly seemed to have as much stamina running around those two zip lines as anybody else (and more than some).

1 hour ago, PaperTree said:

So glad it was a NEL.  Didn't want to see the ballplayers go.

I was rather sorry it was a NEL, because I was thinking it was their time to go.

1 hour ago, Haleth said:

The bunching on the plane from Antwerp elimated the time delays from the head to head frites race. It ended up having no effect on the race. 

Except that one of last week's teams is now eliminated. Anyway, this is how international travel works. There's rarely much choice for an international flight of that distance.

1 hour ago, Lady Calypso said:

You know, I was exactly like Jessica at the beginning when she was cooing at the cats and Cody had to keep telling her to concentrate. They're cats, man! Cute little cats! I'd be distracted too. 

I guess I'm as insensitive to this phenomenon as Cody was. I like cats well enough, but they're everywhere. If I want to look at one, I can do it at leisure in the US after the race is over.

[kaygeeret]

Full confession (and humble brag)........I returned from a 3 week tour of Morocco in October (and am kicking myself we didn't do this earlier)....

I had flashbacks to all the medinas we visited and the steep climbs and the stairs and the heat.  By week two I was exhausted all the time.  And I really thought I was in condition.  I think we walked one thousand miles uphill and one mile downhill - and the steps....oy, don't remind me of the steps!  A very physical trip.

There is no doubt this was a brutal leg - for everyone - but especially the b'ball player.

Morocco is a lovely country and the people are charming and helpful.  They are so  close to France and Spain that those languages are common as are Arabic and Berber.  There is a recent movement to encourage English and many folks I met spoke very good English.

They are trying very hard to attract business and modernize.

While the medinas are confusing, there is a method to the madness, and do not panic - someone will help.

[Silver Raven]

Whoever wondered if they speak French or Spanish in Morocco, I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt that they know Moroccans speak Arabic and French is the colonial language.

I'm impressed with the racers who could speak Arabic.

Kristi and Jen got screwed not only by the taxi driver, but by the Fern.

That whole Kasbah thing was really confusing.

I'm surprised anybody even thought of doing the food delivery task.

Congratulations on Henry and Evan.

This one was a tough one, tonight.

[Artsda]

I really like how close the races to the mat have been.

[hendersonrocks]

I have Killer Fatigue just from watching this episode on my couch (especially on behalf of the teams who chose to deliver groceries instead of bellydance). What an inexplicably unbalanced detour.

Glad it was a non-elimination as I’m fond of Cedric and Shawn, and this was a hard core leg. Love the Yalies coming in first - and showing the other teams what they’re capable of physically - and the skiers continuing to kick ass.

[bref]

I shall never tire of hearing Phil's pronunciation of "massaaage at the spaaa."

I also thought the detours were absurdly unequal. The "dancing" challenge didn't even involve learning any steps! Most of them seemed to attempt nothing more than a half-hearted shimmy--and why would they when all they had to do was find three words (and not even have to put them in order). Oh well.

I'm pretty much finding everyone tolerable or better, so that's fun. 

Shout out to those goodhearted ladies running with Brittany!  

Edited January 18, 2018 by bref

[sinycalone]

I think the detours were deliberately very unequal.  They were playing mind games with the teams...wording the clues ambiguously so that some teams would assume dancing skills would be involved.  Many times the detours involve a choice between a tough physical task that is very straightforward, or a challenge that will be subject to judging therefore could be very time consuming.  Not this time.

While the gnome zip-lining was confusing at times (especially for the viewers, lol) -- it was not difficult to "race" the gnomes.  The brutal racing up and down winding stair, and dashing around those twisting streets was a killer.  It did not take great strength....just endurance.  (I would have been crawling on my hand and knees by the end of that task.)

Good, fast-paced episode....yet we got to see more of the personalities of the racers this week.

[AfterwardsTV]

Cats. Belly dancing. Yale countering last week nicely and deservingly.

Cody's language skill of Arabic was probably nothing any of his judgers would think he had.

I don't know how CBS manages to make 4 double hour nights but still hand us a non-elimination week. Could've scheduled that around so we'd have two tonight.

Jessica vs. Brittany seems like it'll factor on later in the season, maybe in one of those head to heads. I get the impression we'll be having at least 4 of those.

[Subrookie]

Did they not show all the teams starting times? I may have missed it but I didn't recall seeing the Ivy League teams score. 

I wasn't a fan of last week's twist so I wonder if they were trying to cover up all the time they lost in that road block?

[GaT]

I wasn't counting on a NEL, but I guess maybe I should have with how obvious they made who came in last.

[scrb]

That was fun episode.  Contrast from the one in Belgium where it ended with the potato race, which was tough to watch.

But I'm guessing the racers didn't run those narrow streets in the most efficient way, just chasing the gnomes and other racers so they meandered more than they could have, leading to fatigue.

I've not been to Morocco but I've been to Granada, Spain, where they have a famous Arab quarter of Albacin built on a hill and it's narrow streets, up and down.  Hard on not only your heart and lungs but legs, feet, knees, hips, back as well.

[green]

5 hours ago, PaperTree said:

Skiers did well to recover from their idiot cab driver.

 

Weren't the skiers the idiots for selecting him at the airport and not finding out before they took off that they didn't share one single common language?

5 hours ago, Lamb18 said:

Cool, they're going to Tangier!! Fun, a fish stacking contest! They'll being feeling fine and fragrant after that. (Morocco is French, you guys! Casablanca, anyone? Although people seem to understand Spanish pretty well.)

 

3 hours ago, Silver Raven said:

Whoever wondered if they speak French or Spanish in Morocco, I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt that they know Moroccans speak Arabic and French is the colonial language.

 

Well Tangier is right across from Spain plus back in colonial times the French ceded two parts of Morocco to Spain to hold as a protectorates way back pre World War I.  The southern part was known as Spanish Sahara and the northern part, a small strip directly across from Spain, was called Spanish Morocco.  So the area Tangier was in was ruled by the Spanish up until the mid-50's, not the French, and is shown as Spanish Morocco on maps pre-1956.

After Spain left it was still the closest country to Tangier right across from the straights of Gibraltar and as we heard a lot of the people who live there were speaking Spanish in this episode.  That was how Brittany was communicating well with the ladies that were trying to help her for instance.  Well until she remembered she lost her gnome anyway.

Now I had to look up the timeline above just now but I did remember there was a Spanish Morocco and when I heard Spanish being spoken throughout the episode it dawned on me that Tangier had to have been in it and thus part of Spain's colonial empire, not France's.

Edited January 18, 2018 by green

[Quilt Fairy]

I enjoyed the episode, but there is something, something,  I'm not sure if it's the camera work or the editing (or both), that strikes me as odd and off-putting as I watch.  It just doesn't feel like the TAR I came to know and love.

[ProfCrash]

I am enjoying this season. There are not any teams that annoy me. As in no one I am actively rooting against. The teams seem to be working well together. There is a fair amount of encouragement from the different team members. The tasks this week we were challenging and everyone is actively interested in racing. Very happy with the season.

Cody surprises folks again, this time with some language skills. And he listened to Jessica. And he totally knew Jessica would do fine with that Road Block. I wonder if BB decided to use Jessica for a fair number of early road blocks and save Cody for ones that are more clearly physical. So far Jessica has done all the road blocks that sound height based which require a certain amount of nerve and strength.

Loving Team Yale. They are clearly in good shape and doing a good job keeping up with the other teams. I love to see how well they recovered from the fry race stupidity. They are doing a nice job of showing fit nerds with good brains succeeding in the race, and probably life. I love how positive they are, there did not seem to be any residual bitterness over the fry race mess.

The skiers recovered nicely but never should have taken that cab. They speak at least three languages between the two of them and could not find one in common with the driver. Either immediately follow someone to translate for you or get a new cab. That said, they rocked the rest of the tasks and recovered nicely.

I don't have a problem with Team Rescue. Brittney messed up with the gnome but figured it out. I like how she was trying to figure out if what Jessica did was intentional or not and hoped it wasn't intentional. I don't think she was in full on blame mode. It looked to me like Jessica was helping Brittney and then put the gnome down by Brittney's feet. Jessica didn't try and hide the gnome or take off with the gnome. I also like Jessica's talking head were she admitted that the best course of action would be to tell Brittney but since Jessica knew she was in last place and it was a race, she wasn't telling Brittney. I thought both teams handled that well. Team Rescue is running a good race.

The Twins are fine but kind of bland, at least they strike me as bland. Not much to say about them. Surprisingly, I don't have much to say about Team Violin, they did not make a huge impression on me this week.

We are so losing team Indy, Slam Dunk, and Chomp soon. They are communicating well but clearly struggling. I am glad to see that the partners in each team are supportive of each other and not being bitchy but there are clearly some serious issues with each team. I am shocked that Cedric was allowed on the race given that he had three heart attacks recently. That is just a huge risk.

[Haleth]

Hopefully Brittney won't carry a grudge about the gnome.  It appears that after she got her clue she ran off without waiting for Jessica (which is fine), but in doing so cannot blame Jessica for not calling to her to pick up her gnome.  You are either helping each other or you are not.  

[Caseysgirl]

As much as I like Cedric (Shawn hasn't made much of an impression on me), I am so anxious for his health, that I was almost disappointed that they weren't eliminated. These challenges aren't going to get easier.

[sigmaforce86]

10 hours ago, kaygeeret said:

I had flashbacks to all the medinas we visited and the steep climbs and the stairs and the heat.  By week two I was exhausted all the time.  And I really thought I was in condition.  I think we walked one thousand miles uphill and one mile downhill - and the steps....oy, don't remind me of the steps!  A very physical trip.

The hills are bad but then you realize the steps will get you too!  When I toured the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona and wound up in one of the towers the only way down was a winding staircase, you'd think down would be easy but short twirling stairs that just go on and on......when I got to the bottom I had to walk back and forth on flat ground for about 5 minutes because my thighs just completely cramped.  And the racers had the heat to deal with besides!

I really worried for Cedric when he mentioned his past heart attacks.  But I figured he wouldn't have been allowed on the race if he wasn't cleared medically.  The backpack was a bad mistake though, although I don't think he'll do it again.  The girls made a rookie mistake too - never stay in the cab when your driver can't understand you and you're pretty sure he's not going in the right direction - switch cabs, make him stop and see if someone can give him directions, take some action but don't ride in the cab for a long time just saying over and over that you're not sure where the cab is going.

Suspected the ball players would be last by the number of talking heads we saw during the episode but nice that it was an NEL and that it was Harry and Evan that came in first (but was it weird that she kept kissing him on the cheek and he didn't even look at her?  maybe they just have different PDA styles).  Also realized that, for me, Brittany and Lucas are team invisible, other than gnome-gate they seem to make no good or bad impression, they're more like the team where you watch the leg for awhile you're looking for who's first and last on the leg then the camera shows one of them and you think oh yeah these guys are racing too (because you forgot they even exist). 

Edited January 18, 2018 by sigmaforce86
spelling!

[AZChristian]

10 hours ago, bref said:

I shall never tire of hearing Phil's pronunciation of "massaaage at the spaaa."

Every week, while he's describing the reward for winning that week, I say out loud to Mr. AZC:  "I hope they're getting a massaaage at the spaaa."  We occasionally treat ourselves to an hour at a foot reflexology place . . . and guess what I call it!!!!

[blackwing]

12 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Nobody really bugs right. I don't want Cody & Jessica to win because they're Big Brother, but now I find out Cody was in the military, and he might have been the first BB contestant to have killed people before showing up.  I have no faith in the Big Brother casting department.

I don't watch Big Brother so I have no pre-conceived ideas about them, and so far I like them.  They are competent and don't argue.  If you're going to criticise Cody for doing his job and being a marine, does that mean you have an objection to all military people on reality shows?  Ben from Survivor, the POW Ron on TAR, I think Dave of Rachel and Dave was a soldier, etc.  They probably all killed people too.

Brittany can leave anytime.  I don't think Jessica was necessarily offering to hold her gnome.  Jessica was waiting to use the phone and Brittany was struggling to hold it and use the phone so Jessica was trying to speed it up. Brittany simply forgot about her gnome and then blamed Jessica.  If she had remembered about it she could have asked for it right away.

I'm also not caring for Joey and Whatshisname.  Joey can't run or even carry his own bag.

I like the race car drivers.  They went from last at the fish to second.  Although I like Alex better   It's interesting to me that he is the more successful one and the other one has to slum on his couch, and then the other one was making him do the whole fish task because "you are more detail oriented".  This is why he's on a couch.   I liked Alex's rejoinder to Phil's "for a smart team they're pretty strong".

Evan gushing about being the whole package... yeah, that package saw them go from third to second to last in the previous leg.

[Lady Calypso]

7 minutes ago, blackwing said:

Evan gushing about being the whole package... yeah, that package saw them go from third to second to last in the previous leg.

True, but then this leg had them go from second to last to first once they had tasks that were more in their wheelhouse (incorporation of brains and brawn, rather than the Head to Head task being mostly about endurance). 

33 minutes ago, sigmaforce86 said:

 Also realized that, for me, Brittany and Lucas are team invisible, other than gnome-gate they seem to make no good or bad impression, they're more like the team where you watch the leg for awhile you're looking for who's first and last on the leg then the camera shows one of them and you think oh yeah these guys are racing too (because you forgot they even exist). 

For me, it's the Violinists/Team Well Strung that are the invisible ones. I keep seeing them pop up onscreen and going "who are they?" For me, I only remember the Lifeguards because of the premiere of Lucas talking about proposing to Brittany on the race, and their code word "pineapple". Violinists kind of blend together for me with the Competitive Eaters. I wouldn't be able to point out which team is which on first glance, despite the fact that they don't really look alike at all, but because I just haven't been paying attention.

[Fake Jan Brady]

30 minutes ago, Lady Calypso said:

For me, it's the Violinists/Team Well Strung that are the invisible ones. I keep seeing them pop up onscreen and going "who are they?"

I agree Team WellStrung are invisible and I'm looking out for them! 

Dis-appointed [shout-out to TAR1's Karyn] it  was a NEL; I wouldn't miss any of the three teams that were last to arrive.

[ProfCrash]

38 minutes ago, Lady Calypso said:

True, but then this leg had them go from second to last to first once they had tasks that were more in their wheelhouse (incorporation of brains and brawn, rather than the Head to Head task being mostly about endurance). 

For me, it's the Violinists/Team Well Strung that are the invisible ones. I keep seeing them pop up onscreen and going "who are they?" For me, I only remember the Lifeguards because of the premiere of Lucas talking about proposing to Brittany on the race, and their code word "pineapple". Violinists kind of blend together for me with the Competitive Eaters. I wouldn't be able to point out which team is which on first glance, despite the fact that they don't really look alike at all, but because I just haven't been paying attention.

The Violinists are in great shape and total hotties, the competitive eaters are good guys but no where near in the type of shape that the Violinists and are nice looking but not hotties.

[Gummo]

That was fun! This is turning out to be a good season of TAR.

To everybody who didn't watch BB last summer, I doubt anyone hates Cody because he was military; people hate Cody and Jessica because they were utter vile shits. When they were on top, they used psychological torture tactics on anyone not in their alliance (ordered - yes, ordered- everyone in their alliance not to talk or communicate with non-alliance members in any way, and this in a sealed house where you have nowhere else to turn for company), turned on their own allies for no particular reason, bullied people and just generally behaved like the most privileged little snowflakes on the planet.

And of course when things turned against them, whined and whined

And that's only their on-air behavior, I understand on the feeds there were lots of ugly sexually bigoted comments from Cody (not Jess, though, who's decidedly more "worldly"). 

So no, not particularly nice people.

HOWEVER, I am trying to approach them on TAR with a clean slate and so far, they've been fine. (Cody's acceptable as long as he isn't interacting with other humans.)

[Vanderboom]

2 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

I am enjoying this season. There are not any teams that annoy me. As in no one I am actively rooting against. The teams seem to be working well together. There is a fair amount of encouragement from the different team members. The tasks this week we were challenging and everyone is actively interested in racing. Very happy with the season.

I agree. During the first episode, I was sure that they'd keep Goat Yoga around for the drama,  and I was pleasantly surprised that they were eliminated early. Now it's a pleasure to watch the teams compete.

I'm not sure how long Slam Dunk will be around, but I'm glad they weren't out this week. If anything, I kind of love their joking characterization of Phil as an evil mastermind ("You'll have to drag me out of here, Phil!").

[Writing Wrongs]

Was that the longest roadblock they've had? It went on foreveeerrrr. I kept waiting for the basketball guy to fall out. Did he say he'd had 3 heart attacks?

Cody is so mellow outside the BB house.

[mtlchick]

Quote

Was that the longest roadblock they've had? It went on foreveeerrrr. 

Pretty sure some of the eating challenges from the early seasons felt like days and took for hours were longer than this.  

[watch2much]

1 hour ago, Gummo said:

they used psychological torture tactics on anyone not in their alliance (ordered - yes, ordered- everyone in their alliance not to talk or communicate with non-alliance members in any way, and this in a sealed house where you have nowhere else to turn for company), turned on their own allies for no particular reason, bullied people and just generally behaved like the most privileged little snowflakes on the planet.

this was Paul's tactics, not Cody's and Jessica's.  Cody was belittled for his service, was taunted that he was lying about having a daughter, etc.  Plus, he and Jessica were hardly "on top" for very long. he tried to get Paul out the first week and failed and that was essentially the end of his reign.  and though Cody did say some inappropriate comments, they weren't as bad as contestants have said in the past.  Cody actually ended up with favorite houseguest as show of distaste for Paul and his crew.

I'm glad Cody and Jessica are doing well.

[ProfCrash]

1 hour ago, Gummo said:

HOWEVER, I am trying to approach them on TAR with a clean slate and so far, they've been fine. (Cody's acceptable as long as he isn't interacting with other humans.)

I would say Cody has done fine in his interactions with everyone on the show. He asked Evan and Henry about the fry race and how it went for them. He spoke to the cab driver in Arabic that didn't sound awful and was able to understand what the man said back to him. He seems to be getting along fine with the other racers, chatting with them at least, during the road block waits. He and Jessica are not fighting and seem to be working well them together.  Overall, they seem to be doing well and are working fine with each other, the other contestants, and the locals.

[sugarbaker design]

The personalities of the racers are shining through.  The indy 500 guys stock went up for me this week, as did Team Yale.  I felt bad for the NBA guys, but I did think it was their time to go.  It's only a matter of weeks before they're eliminated.  

The woman who was yelling "JESSICA, JESSICA" has become increasingly grating week after week.