S30.E09: The First Rule of Amazing Race Club (1) & S30.E10: The First Rule of Amazing Race Club (2)

[ProfCrash]

25 minutes ago, Charlesman said:

I'm really sick of Yale, in a race with indy car drivers and x games athletes, continuing to bring up "debate team" as the highest level of competition. Get over it. 

Debate is a different type of competition. Just because it is not glorified and people are not shown competing on TV does not mean that it is not competition. I am sure that they are asked about debate in their talking heads and are encouraged to mention it, the same way the Indy car racers are and the skiers and the other folks. Debate is very demanding and time consuming. It requires skill, dedication, and hard work. That it is academic competition does not decrease its value or its lessons on hard work and perseverance. If anything, those who participate in debate and then move into more normal jobs are better prepared for a career then someone training to be a formula one driver who do not make it to race professionally because debate teaches research, communication and other skills that are easily transferable to many professional careers.

[blackwing]

3 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

 Team Yale is very different then pretty much everyone on the race. They have proven themselves to be physically competitive as well as bright but their interests and their conversations have to be totally different then BB, Skiers and Indy. I am guessing that no one thinks they are awful people but that Yale's interests are so different that they never gelled with the other teams. I am glad to see that they are in the final four and would love to see them in the finals and even win the whole thing. They have their own dynamic but it works for them. They seem to respect each other and work well together. Evan is fine, she is a bit high strung but that is about it. She is confident, polite, and competitive. I value those traits.

I like smart people who show up and compete. Yale is not the stereotypical team for the Race and I am enjoying watching them succeed. They are a bit younger then the others but they are hard working, smart, and determined. I would rather see the smart, determined team win then the more brawny teams. I like when smarts wins out because I don't think we see it enough and I think that American society values brawn over brains and that bothers me. I like it when the nerds win in competitions that are a nice mix of events.

 

I agree that Henry and Evan have their own dynamic and it seems to work for them.  But I vehemently disagree that they respect each other.  It seems to me that she has very little respect for him.  She always believes she is right and that her course of action is correct.  When he dares to ask questions (who U turned us) or asks for confirmation (are you sure we are going the right way), her response is not that of a loving partner who respects him.  It is the response of a teacher scolding a 5 year old for asking stupid questions and daring to challenge her authority.  

He suggested that her math was wrong on the elephant and her response was "Why?"  Well, because the lady said the answer was wrong!  So why not double check it instead of automatically assuming it was right.  

You say she is confident, I say she is arrogant. It's a dynamic that is noticed by the other teams, one of them even said that it's obvious she wears the pants.  As I've said before, she has a strong personality, and if both people are strong personalities and unwilling to yield, things won't work.  I do hope in their personal lives that Henry stands up more for himself when things are not so high pressured.   Otherwise, run away.  This episode saw her saying something about how she treats animals the same way she treats Henry, and she was laughing about it.

I like seeing smart people do well on the Race too.  I just don't like this particular smart person.  There have been plenty of smart people who have done well on the race without being complete asses to their partners.  Rob and Brennan were lawyers, Nat and Kat were doctors.  Tammy and Victor, Victor was a lawyer.  There have also been smart people who weren't so kind... big bushy beard guy with the sleeve tattoos on the strangers season who claimed he had a 150 IQ and made his partner cry, etc.  Being smart doesn't make you a nice person.  I'd rather see any of the remaining teams (even Jessica and Cody because I think Cody deserves it) win instead of Evan.

[Brookside]

1 hour ago, chaifan said:

Team from a prior season, but also a former Big Brother team.  Incredibly obnoxious, in my opinion.  I had to mute the TV whenever Rachel was on.  She constantly would whine "I can't do this!" (pretty much every task, every episode) and put on this fake pout and fake cry to get attention, much like your average 4 year old.  I put her among the top of the worst TAR contestants ever. 

Thanks for the clarification.  (And for jogging my memory, I think.) Unfortunately I do remember them.

Edited February 15, 2018 by Brookside

[Charlesman]

9 hours ago, GaT said:

I would like to smack whoever thought that a two hour episode against the Olympics was a good idea.

 

Unfortunately, the person's reasoning was "Let's not start Survivor until after the Olympics", and TAR is the sacrificial lamb. 

 

But I'm grateful for it. I don't watch the Olympics, so I'm happy at least one channel has new shows on this week. 

[Vixenstud]

2 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

Oh, Jessica. I agreed with Conor when he said "wow, that's cold" when she made the karma comment with Team Ocean RescueSpray losing a passport. I mean, girl, that's not karma. You got U-Turned by them and...somehow, karma is them losing a passport and getting eliminated from the race? I get that Brittany U-Turned them for personal reasons, but show a tiny bit of compassion.

Right?!  I like Jess, but that was real cunty of her and for a second I wanted TeamBB to get eliminated.  That said, Cody is a muhfuckin’ beast!  From crawling in that disgusting mud to get the frogs to eating the scorpions/frog to everything else, he is in tune.  And it has been refreshing seeing him gell with the other couples, as he was a straight up robot in BB.

I didn’t care for TeamOS but I felt that they shouldn’t have been eliminated for Lucas misplacing the passport….I really felt bad for both of them once they realized they didn’t make it; but then Brittany had to channel her inner Ms. Sophia again about that gotdamned wedding and I was like ‘DEUCES!’

TeamExtreme are just too cocky for me…I don’t like TeamIndy either but if I had to choose I’d rather they win than Kristi (who looks like Bindi Irwin’s big sister) and Jen.

I like TeamYale and don’t get the hate for them from the other teams….yes, Evan does de-ball Henry (dude, sac up and tell that heiffa to calm the fuck down, just once!) but they are just as good as the other teams.  I hope if they don’t win they come in second place.

[ProfCrash]

1 minute ago, blackwing said:

He suggested that her math was wrong on the elephant and her response was "Why?"  Well, because the lady said the answer was wrong!  So why not double check it instead of automatically assuming it was right.  

Their math could have been correct, but that didn't matter because their measurements were incorrect. So the use of the formula was correct but their inputs were wrong. She knew that the use of the formulas were correct, they were looking at the math so I am sure they were visually checking it. Why it took them so long to redo their measurements is the bigger question.

Why does it matter that she "wears the pants"? I hate that phrase. Henry is some how weak because Evan is the partner who is leading the couple? Most couples have some type of power dynamic with one partner leading at times and sometimes that partner leads the vast majority of the time. Sometimes the stronger personality is the woman. The whole idea that a woman is wearing the pants implicitly argues that the man should be wearing the pants and the woman should follow along and that is BS. There is nothing wrong with Henry following Evan. He is not lesser because he is following a woman but the idea that he is not wearing the pants seems to point to the other teams thinking it is strange that Evan is the stronger partner.

[amazingracefan]

I'm sure Jessica was fed questions about the u-turn and how she felt now, it feels the edit is always prompted to set them up as 'villains', the producers wanted to push the rivalry so that's what you got.  It was a stupid mistake to lose vital documents but it's not the first time it's happened on the race and it does get you eliminated.  It did mean there wasn't really any suspense, you could see team BB not running around knowing they were safe even if 4th.  And the next leg always looked like a non-elimination with 2 legs to go.  Self navigation in Bahrain which was good. 

[Whimsy]

17 minutes ago, ProfCrash said:

Why does it matter that she "wears the pants"? I hate that phrase. Henry is some how weak because Evan is the partner who is leading the couple? Most couples have some type of power dynamic with one partner leading at times and sometimes that partner leads the vast majority of the time. Sometimes the stronger personality is the woman. The whole idea that a woman is wearing the pants implicitly argues that the man should be wearing the pants and the woman should follow along and that is BS. There is nothing wrong with Henry following Evan. He is not lesser because he is following a woman but the idea that he is not wearing the pants seems to point to the other teams thinking it is strange that Evan is the stronger partner.

I agree.  My personal issue is that I don't like watching any couple where one treats the other like they are less than them, regardless of gender.  I personally hate the way that Evan treats Henry.  Maybe it's a race-specific thing, since this is so different than anything else they've done.  I don't know.  I can't say.  But, I don't like it as a viewer.  It makes me uncomfortable.  If Evan is normally the way she was around the elephant, maybe she's not all bad.  

[blackwing]

12 minutes ago, ProfCrash said:

Their math could have been correct, but that didn't matter because their measurements were incorrect. So the use of the formula was correct but their inputs were wrong. She knew that the use of the formulas were correct, they were looking at the math so I am sure they were visually checking it. Why it took them so long to redo their measurements is the bigger question.

Why does it matter that she "wears the pants"? I hate that phrase. Henry is some how weak because Evan is the partner who is leading the couple? Most couples have some type of power dynamic with one partner leading at times and sometimes that partner leads the vast majority of the time. Sometimes the stronger personality is the woman. The whole idea that a woman is wearing the pants implicitly argues that the man should be wearing the pants and the woman should follow along and that is BS. There is nothing wrong with Henry following Evan. He is not lesser because he is following a woman but the idea that he is not wearing the pants seems to point to the other teams thinking it is strange that Evan is the stronger partner.

I agree that there is nothing wrong with the stronger personality in a couple being the woman.  I agree that there is nothing wrong with the woman being the driving force.  I know plenty of couples like this and they are perfectly happy.  Just because the man is content to let the woman run the management of the couple/family doesn't mean the man is less of a man.  But as with all successful relationships, there is usually a bit of give and take.  The partners seek input from each other because they value each other's opinion.  Sometimes one of them doesn't care about certain things and lets the other make the decision on those things.  It doesn't have to mean they are weak, it just means they are content with the other person's decisions.

I'm not seeing any of that from Evan.  Pretty much every time Henry has tried to speak up, he has received nastiness in return.  Evan isn't a partner, she's more like a dictator.

[amazingracefan]

13 hours ago, BK1978 said:

I love it when Henry questioned their math and Evan gave him a look as if to say, "How dear you question my math!", and Henry was right it was because the math was screwed up. 

Henry said the maths was ok, but questioned whether the measurements were right.

I'm opposite to you in that I want team Yale or BB to win, the other two teams are ok but I won't remember them.

[Gregg247]

After the frog catching challenge, they all jumped into their cars and headed for that very nice restaurant for the scorpion meal.  All I could think about was, "Did these people get to bathe before walking in there?"  They MUST have had some place to clean up before going to eat, right?  The mud and the filthy water and the sweating---gross!

[ProfCrash]

19 minutes ago, blackwing said:

I'm not seeing any of that from Evan.  Pretty much every time Henry has tried to speak up, he has received nastiness in return.  Evan isn't a partner, she's more like a dictator.

I do see that from time to time but I wonder if she is sticking to a specific game plan that they had discussed before the race and Henry is more willing to deviate from. We have heard her mention that at least once. She is young and will learn to adjust her tone but Henry does not strike me as a person who is going to let someone run over him. Henry doesn't seem to be upset or flustered by her behavior. Either this is there norm and Henry is comfortable with it or Evan is someone more comfortable sticking to an established plan and Henry is more likely to deviate from that plan and we are seeing that play out. Or Evan is a dictator and needs to play nice with others. I tend to lean towards something closer to the first two explanations, actually the second is more where I wind up.

I do object to the other teams deriding Evan and Henry because she is the clear leader of the team and the idea that Henry needs to "sac up". I would hope that Henry would stand up for himself if he feels strongly about something but I am not sure we have hit an area which is a no go for Henry. I base that on his body language and his actual words. He does not appear angry or sad or diminished. He has been supportive of Evan and she has been supportive of him.

[HurricaneVal]

9 hours ago, RedheadZombie said:

It's always a good sign when a couple is supportive of each other rather than bickering during stress.

 

7 hours ago, sigmaforce86 said:

Loved Cody's reaction, "Yeah" (like he wasn't totally listening to her), them immediately "Wait, What?".  Then the continued confused face while she doubled down on testicles.

 

I did like it that when Jessica said that incredibly dumb thing, so dumb that Cody even gave her the side eye, that he didn't snark on her or make fun of her, though you could tell he was amused.  I mean, I think he has to put up with a lot of her calling him on his ignorance, so it was nice to see that he wasn't into playing a "tit for tat" game with her.  He probably just let it roll, knowing if he made a bigger deal out of it, it would certainly be on the broadcast show, and maybe if he let it go, maybe it wouldn't get in.

I see that Jessica's extensions--which were in pretty bad shape on BB--weren't fixed in the short period of time between the shows.  You can still clearly see the bald spots when she scrapes her hair back.  I think that's why she likes to wear the ballcap so often, it hides the patchy scalp.  It was just too damn hot in Bahrain and Thailand for a hat though.

 

 

6 hours ago, Haleth said:

When they first showed the frog pond and the cows in the water did anyone not think "My ox is broken!"?

Oh, I totally did!

[CaioF]

Well, good /ballanced legs, not the most thrilling tasks to watch tho.. Also, I dont like teams having to count on tax drivers on such a late point in the game, so I really hope they return to self drive like most of the legs for the last couple ones, because that seems more fair for me.

About the remaining teams, I dont have any of them, they all proved themselves to be here but still..:

The Nascar Racers, yes, they won both legs, and won another previous one (because of the Head to Head battle over Skiers tho) but I´m still unsure on how capable they are, because when they mess, its big time (like them getting behind at the threes task taking one by one while Skiers passed them) and it seems they got the best tax driver... They showed tho, that they are good on make quick decisions without arguing alot, with kinda putted the last two teams behind on the last leg.

I´m still rooting for Skiers, they are the most consistent, yes, for once they showed some trouble on choosing a detour and combined with seemed like a bad taxi drive, it slowed them down. But still, like always, they manage to put themselves ahead on tasks we wouldnt expect (like the math task against Yale being there before them) and as long hey can work as one mind and not have navegation problems, they should be walking with the tittle.

Big Brother is kinda lame watch this two legs and see how little Jessica could do on both legs and all the ´´Cody is a trooper, hes gonna rescue me`` I dont appreciate it.. Sure, you gonna have member better at some stuff than others but still, that was too much.

And Yale... Yes, Evan has a strong personality, opposite of Henry so that makes for some not so nice moments.. But still, nothing like ´´I can´t watch this couple, awfull people`` like we had in other seasons.

So, lets wait and see...

And props for Britanny deal so well with he loss of the passport. 

BTW: I know having scorpion in your body can freak you out but arent you glad you didnt choosed to do the task of eat the scorpions Jessica? Because I dont know if you guys would have passed that challenged if it was on you, specially because you wouldnt want to eart the scorpion big ´´penis`` behind his back.

Edited February 15, 2018 by CaioF

[sugarbaker design]

5 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

However, Henry seems to completely adore her, and he doesn't seem phased by her behaviour, aside from the map argument. However, they sucked it up and powered through. I also got a good chuckle out of Evan comparing the camel noises to Henry snoring. 

I also love their debate style arugments:

 

Henry:  I have concerns.

Evan:  What are your specific concerns?

[CaioF]

6 minutes ago, sugarbaker design said:

I also love their debate style arugments:

 

Henry:  I have concerns.

Evan:  What are your specific concerns?

And after he express his concern she quickly: ´´thats incorrect``. She actually should be back as a task judge on a upcoming season.

Edited February 15, 2018 by CaioF

[seacliffsal]

I was surprised by how many racers wore black while in the hotter climates-and their clothes were pretty form fitting, especially as so many of the racers noted how hot it was.

[amazingracefan]

1 hour ago, CaioF said:

Well, good /ballanced legs, not the most thrilling tasks to watch tho.. Also, I dont like teams having to count on tax drivers on such a late point in the game, so I really hope they return to self drive like most of the legs for the last couple ones, because that seems more fair for me.

The last leg is never self drive, ostensibly for safety reasons.  Though that can lead to taxi drivers deciding the race, so I wish they would use more public transport.

[meep.meep]

4 hours ago, Charlesman said:

I'm really sick of Yale, in a race with indy car drivers and x games athletes, continuing to bring up "debate team" as the highest level of competition. Get over it. 

They bring it up (or it's on the soundtrack) because they were the world champions at debate.  Like Indy car is best in the world at driving Indy class cars, and the skiers were best in the world at whatever x games ski event they do.  

[BarneySays]

53 minutes ago, blackwing said:

He suggested that her math was wrong on the elephant and her response was "Why?"  Well, because the lady said the answer was wrong!  So why not double check it instead of automatically assuming it was right.  

You say she is confident, I say she is arrogant. It's a dynamic that is noticed by the other teams, one of them even said that it's obvious she wears the pants.  As I've said before, she has a strong personality, and if both people are strong personalities and unwilling to yield, things won't work.  I do hope in their personal lives that Henry stands up more for himself when things are not so high pressured.   Otherwise, run away.  This episode saw her saying something about how she treats animals the same way she treats Henry, and she was laughing about it.

I like seeing smart people do well on the Race too.  I just don't like this particular smart person.  There have been plenty of smart people who have done well on the race without being complete asses to their partners.  Rob and Brennan were lawyers, Nat and Kat were doctors.  Tammy and Victor, Victor was a lawyer.

The math looked extremely basic, which is probably why she responded with why?  Even from my couch I knew that the problem had to be the measurements, in particular that restless leg of their model (she should get something for that restless leg syndrome).  Which, in fact, it turned out to be.  I would have had the same reaction as she.  

I believe the only person who said she wears the pants was- surprise!- the retrograde "in everyone else's bbb woman.  Of course, she would view them from her very limited (testicles?  really, dumbasss?) prism.  I would think that henry is well aware of her personality and tendencies, since they were debate partners before dating.  I think their experience debating probably impacts a lot of their behavior on the race.  They clearly are focused on the competition aspect.  Sitting apart from your competition at a tournament is a common thing (until they are waiting for the final results).  It's probably done more so at the college level.   

The other smart people you mention were much older than 22 and just out of college.  Those first five years out of college make a big difference IMO.  If anything, they are probably overthinking a bit too much. 

For me, this was a frustrating episode(s).  The editing seemed particularly bad.  There were so many changes in position, but we saw little of the why and they didn't use these changes for dramatic effect.  The order just seemed so random.  The ocean spray story was boring.  The pots task did not play well on TV.  Milking as a roadblock has run its course.  The  log dragging was okay, but would have been better earlier in the race where using the scale would have required more strategy.  Even the scorpion eating was rather bland.  Perhaps the downside of the lack of drama in hte teams (except BB) is the lack of drama on the screen.   However, the elephants were, as always, spectacular.  Must. Do. Elephant.  Detour.  And to be rewarded with a ride!  

The editing seemed to turn against Yale.  BB continues to get a winner's edit (did we really need to see the idiot buying sneakers?).  This is one season where it does appear it could be anyone's game in the end. 

 

Hat Tip to the poster who identified Peri Gilpin as Jennifer's look-alike.  Now I can sleep again!  She remains one of my favorite racers of all time.  Above all else, she has great energy.

[chaifan]

38 minutes ago, BarneySays said:

The editing seemed to turn against Yale.  BB continues to get a winner's edit (did we really need to see the idiot buying sneakers?).  This is one season where it does appear it could be anyone's game in the end. 

 

Hat Tip to the poster who identified Peri Gilpin as Jennifer's look-alike.  Now I can sleep again!  She remains one of my favorite racers of all time.  Above all else, she has great energy.

Thumbs down to whoever in the editing room decided to include the "let's go to the mall" footage!  First - if you're going to include this at all, at least explain how/why she lost her sneakers in the first place.  But why did they even waste screen time on this?  It had nothing to do with anything.  I kept waiting for it to loop back - maybe Brittany stole her sneakers, or maybe having to go to the mall cost them time, or they then didn't have taxi money, or whatever - but nope, none of that.  It was a pointless distraction and those 3-4 minutes could have been used for something a bit more exciting and relevant to the Race.  Like elephants.  More elephants.  Or at least more shots of kids with frogs on their heads.  Maybe this is a harbinger of CBS giving Jessica her own shopping channel.  (no, just no...)

Jen:  I see how you see Peri Gilpin, but I see Celine Dion.  Someone upthread called Kristi Bindi Irwin's older sister, and I thought that was a good call. 

[amazingracefan]

Yale are actually being talked up as the underdog team that people are underestimating.  BB got the villain edit if anything.

[Cyranetta]

I very much enjoyed this double ep as a cornucopia of animals with attitude, with the additional bonus of the Thai kids being hugely entertained at the inept American frog catchers.

[dgpolo]

28 minutes ago, chaifan said:

Thumbs down to whoever in the editing room decided to include the "let's go to the mall" footage!  First - if you're going to include this at all, at least explain how/why she lost her sneakers in the first place.  But why did they even waste screen time on this?  It had nothing to do with anything.  I kept waiting for it to loop back -

I was thinking it might come into play in an up-coming episode, as in, we don't have $30 to pay a cab.

 

2 hours ago, CaioF said:

Big Brother is kinda lame watch this two legs and see own little Jessica could do on both legs and all the ´´Cody is a trooper, hes gonna rescue me`` I dont appreciate it.. Sure, you gonna have member better at some stuff than others but still, that was too much.

I think in an earlier episode Cody called Jessica 'fearless' "my girl is fearless' ? (am I remembering that right?) She has done a lot for her team, just not on these legs. And I don't particularly like this team.

 

I don't blame Yale for pushing Yale or Brittany for pushing the engagement or the racers for pushing racing or the eaters for pushing eating. It's their 'hook', they are prompted for it. Look how many times Phil brings up the 'hooks' on the mat to prompt for more of those sound bites.

[CaioF]

43 minutes ago, chaifan said:

Thumbs down to whoever in the editing room decided to include the "let's go to the mall" footage!  First - if you're going to include this at all, at least explain how/why she lost her sneakers in the first place.  But why did they even waste screen time on this?  It had nothing to do with anything. 

IKR? Once they showed that I was like ´´oh, maybe they are the team that will lose their passport, thats why they are showing Jessica losing random stuff``.. Lame, lame.. And I still dont buy that these teams comming from BB/Survivor always manage to go far. I dont buy the coincidence. They must get some insite about the legs from producers to make sure that they will at least make till the finale or close to it. I knew from day one we would have this two till the very end, they dont really try to hide it.

Edited February 15, 2018 by CaioF

[eel2178]

18 hours ago, Lamb18 said:

  I want to ride an elephant.

I rode one once. Their fur is very coarse, and it itches horribly.

[green]

18 minutes ago, CaioF said:

IKR? Once they showed that I was like ´´oh, maybe they are the team that will lose their passport, thats why they are showing Jessica losing random stuff``.. Lame, lame.. And I still dont buy that these teams comming from BB/Survivor always manage to go far. I dont buy the coincidence. They must get some insite about the legs from producers to make sure that they will at least make till the finale or close to it. I knew from day one we would have this two till the very end, they dont really try to hide it.

If so it certainly didn't help Allison in Season 5, hah.  (I don't like the BB teams either but there is no "fix" in).

[lexington11]

12 hours ago, RedheadZombie said:

 

Many people in the Big Brother threads stated that BB wasn't Cody's game, and he was a much better fit for Survivor and TAR.  Other than the melt down at the singing task, Cody is actually thriving.  And it's nice to see his humor.  It was pretty funny when he told Jessica she still had a scorpion on her shoulder.  It's always a good sign when a couple is supportive of each other rather than bickering during stress.

It probably helps that here they don't have a whole mob thinking up new ways to get Cody to snap and potentially get expelled from the game for physical violence. 

[anniebird]

3 hours ago, HurricaneVal said:

 

 

 

I see that Jessica's extensions--which were in pretty bad shape on BB--weren't fixed in the short period of time between the shows.  You can still clearly see the bald spots when she scrapes her hair back.  I think that's why she likes to wear the ballcap so often, it hides the patchy scalp.  It was just too damn hot in Bahrain and Thailand for a hat though.

 

 

 

I kept trying to figure out what was going on with her hair and the conclusion I reached was that it was a really bad weave.

[Bryce Lynch]

18 hours ago, BK1978 said:

I wish Yale had not been speared.  Oh well...

I love it when Henry questioned their math and Evan gave him a look as if to say, "How dear you question my math!", and Henry was right it was because the math was screwed up.  

Out of the final four I think I want either Indy or Team Extreme to take the win, I am leaning more Kristi and Jen because they have kicked ass all throughout the race and it would be cool to see them win.

Actually, I think it was the measurement of the foot that was off.  I think they used something like 34 centimeters instead of 134 centimeters.  Missed it by THAAAT much! :)

[chitowngirl]

I thought when Team Big Brother used their TAR money to buy sneakers, that would bite them in the ass as they would need the money for something else down the road.

[lexington11]

39 minutes ago, CaioF said:

IKR? Once they showed that I was like ´´oh, maybe they are the team that will lose their passport, thats why they are showing Jessica losing random stuff``.. Lame, lame.. And I still dont buy that these teams comming from BB/Survivor always manage to go far. I dont buy the coincidence. They must get some insite about the legs from producers to make sure that they will at least make till the finale or close to it. I knew from day one we would have this two till the very end, they dont really try to hide it.

Not every BB/Survivor team has managed to get far. Allison/her then BF and Jenna/Ethan were leg 2 eliminees, and Jordan/Jeff didn't make it too far either. In the other crossover cases, Rob & Amber got 2nd mainly because of Rob's willingness to do whatever it took to get the upper hand, and Rachel & Brendon, despite the drama and Rachel's over the top crying, are also two extremely competitive people, so that explains why they got to final 3 on both seasons. And Cody's also proven to be on the competitive side, and completely dominated this past episode, so that's why I see the logic in those two making it far. So in the end, even with the stunt casting teams, it comes more down to personality than to any CBS rigging.

[eel2178]

10 hours ago, sigmaforce86 said:

 I keep wondering if it means this is the end of the show.

People said the same thing when they moved it from Sunday to Friday nights.

[eel2178]

3 hours ago, BarneySays said:

  Even from my couch I knew that the problem had to be the measurements, in particular that restless leg of their model (she should get something for that restless leg syndrome)

 

I think they were tickling her foot.

[Netfoot]

Losing a passport isn't the best way to get eliminated... but to lose your passport isn't the mark of a good racer.  And at least we don't have to hear about the wedding and the ring any more, so, I'm not unhappy!

Thought FalconCam was cool, and laughed when the greeter's falcon responded to Evan's lengthy soliloquy. But still think I'd prefer Evan's company to Mr. Deehow or Ms. Testicles-Behind-the-Udder! (OMFG!)

Second half was great!  The elephant/frog challenge was pretty good.  Catching crapeaus was hard, but hanging on to them was harder.  Surprised nobody faceplanted in that paddy!  And for a moment, it looked like someone was going to dump their entire basket on the way to be checked!  The elephants were friendly, but not entirely cooperative.  There was plenty of sugar cane around for them to snack on, but E&H never coaxed them with any, and had trouble measuring that foot.  And of course, it was an incorrect foot measurement that put them at the back of the pack.  Who did I see kissing the elephant?  Probably better than kissing a toad... but not by much!

Scorpions!  I love to eat, but I'm fairly particular what I eat.  Not sure how well I'd have done with the scorpions, but probably better than the fricasseed frog.  I would have had been better standing there with the scorpions crawling on me, but I think I'd have closed my eyes and made like a statue.  (I was putting on a pair of shorts once, when a scorpion fell out onto the floor, and scuttled away!  Not my favourite critters.)  Those scorpions drew my attention to Jessica's, uh, décolletage.  Looked like she was wearing a whalebone corset or something.  An ill-fitting one  Or uʍop ǝpısdn.  At least I hope so, because if that is her natural shape...

Didn't see the NEL coming, funnily enough... usually do.  Anyway, glad Yale is still with us.  

[RedheadZombie]

11 hours ago, sigmaforce86 said:

Loved Cody's reaction, "Yeah" (like he wasn't totally listening to her), them immediately "Wait, What?".  Then the continued confused face while she doubled down on testicles.  

Conor was my favorite with the scorpions (close second was Henry who just stood there) - he figured out if he didn't move much neither did they but he wanted it done so it was a funny watching him stand so stiff muttering hurry up through clenched teeth.

Wonder what would have happened if Bahrain was the NEL?  Would it have been moved to Thailand because they were so far behind?  Or  would that be against the rules so the NEL would be left as even though there'd be no suspense and we and the racers would know that would still guarantee Ocean Rescues elimination since they'd never catch up next leg.  These are the things that make me waffle back and forth between accusing them of occasional game manipulation and believing they don't interfere at all because there must be rules and standards about that.

Never watched BB so all opinions about Jessica are from the race alone but I don't particularly like her and am sincerely hoping she doesn't win.  With my favorite teams already gone I think I have to root for Conor/Alex or Even/Henry.  There's a temptation to just go to spoilers and see who wins - with double episodes airing during Olympics they're really burning off the season quickly though, I keep wondering if it means this is the end of the show.

Connor was trying so hard not to giggle every time Jessica screamed.  Then they shot to Cody who's smiling as he's shoving scorpions in his mouth.  

[Whimsy]

1 hour ago, Bryce Lynch said:

Actually, I think it was the measurement of the foot that was off.  I think they used something like 34 centimeters instead of 134 centimeters.  Missed it by THAAAT much! :)

No, that was Jen and Kristi. I think Evan and Henry were only off by 3 cm?

[blackwing]

2 hours ago, chaifan said:

Thumbs down to whoever in the editing room decided to include the "let's go to the mall" footage!  First - if you're going to include this at all, at least explain how/why she lost her sneakers in the first place.  But why did they even waste screen time on this?  It had nothing to do with anything.  I kept waiting for it to loop back - maybe Brittany stole her sneakers, or maybe having to go to the mall cost them time, or they then didn't have taxi money, or whatever - but nope, none of that.  It was a pointless distraction and those 3-4 minutes could have been used for something a bit more exciting and relevant to the Race. 

I was puzzled by that too, it was so pointless.  We never see racers going to the 7-11 to buy water or snacks, so why include this?  I think it might just be for Phil's list of accomplishments at the start of next episode.  Just like how he talked about Scott overcoming his fear of heights while video clips of "I did it" are shown and Brooke overcoming everything with video clips of her saying "I can't".  

Cody and Jessica, overcame a U turn (clip), losing their shoes (clip) and scorpions (screaming clip) and proven that they can do anything (clip of Jess saying Cody is a superhero).  Just like how Kristi and Jen's near-yakking on the grain alcohol had better make it into their accomplishment reel, otherwise that was another pointless clip.

[RedheadZombie]

11 hours ago, Haleth said:

I missed the first hour but enjoyed the second.  I was pleased to not see Brittney and whatever her fiance's name is when I turned on the tv.  (Did you know they got engaged?  After 9 years together?)  Maybe I'll go back and watch today.

Frogs vs elephants?  Why would anyone not choose elephants?  When they first showed the frog pond and the cows in the water did anyone not think "My ox is broken!"?  (I would have swooned had anyone said "my frog is broken.")  I thought the easiest way to hang on to those suckers would be to wrap it in the front tail of your shirt.  The racers were all covered in mud and muck anyway, what's a little more?

Scorpion BBQ.  Oh, hell no.  I don't know what was worse-- eating them or wearing them.  Conor was hilarious during the whole episode.  And I have to hand it to Jen and Evan for chowing down without any fuss.

Pretty obvious it was going to be a NEL.

I hate all the double episodes.  It's so much better when the season is spread out with one hour weekly episodes.  

No.  I thought, "what the hell is that medieval torture device in that poor water buffalo's nose?".  That area is so sensitive and they not only had a metal bar through the nostrils, but some type of thick leather harness around the area.  I shudder wondering if they have to stab through the cartilage that separates one nostril from the other.  And this is why I don't like seeing animals in foreign countries.  At least the elephants didn't have a man standing by with a menacing bullhook, unlike the past challenge with elephants painting.

40 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

Losing a passport isn't the best way to get eliminated... but to lose your passport isn't the mark of a good racer.  And at least we don't have to hear about the wedding and the ring any more, so, I'm not unhappy!

Thought FalconCam was cool, and laughed when the greeter's falcon responded to Evan's lengthy soliloquy. But still think I'd prefer Evan's company to Mr. Deehow or Ms. Testicles-Behind-the-Udder! (OMFG!)

Second half was great!  The elephant/frog challenge was pretty good.  Catching crapeaus was hard, but hanging on to them was harder.  Surprised nobody faceplanted in that paddy!  And for a moment, it looked like someone was going to dump their entire basket on the way to be checked!  The elephants were friendly, but not entirely cooperative.  There was plenty of sugar cane around for them to snack on, but E&H never coaxed them with any, and had trouble measuring that foot.  And of course, it was an incorrect foot measurement that put them at the back of the pack.  Who did I see kissing the elephant?  Probably better than kissing a toad... but not by much!

Scorpions!  I love to eat, but I'm fairly particular what I eat.  Not sure how well I'd have done with the scorpions, but probably better than the fricasseed frog.  I would have had been better standing there with the scorpions crawling on me, but I think I'd have closed my eyes and made like a statue.  (I was putting on a pair of shorts once, when a scorpion fell out onto the floor, and scuttled away!  Not my favourite critters.)  Those scorpions drew my attention to Jessica's, uh, décolletage.  Looked like she was wearing a whalebone corset or something.  An ill-fitting one  Or uʍop ǝpısdn.  At least I hope so, because if that is her natural shape...

Didn't see the NEL coming, funnily enough... usually do.  Anyway, glad Yale is still with us.  

Jen kissed the trunk of the baby elephant who brought over his stick to show her.

[J-Man]

It was rather annoying that 15 minutes into the first episode, no one had even arrived at the first task. Or even the country the first task was located in. Too much time wasted on PassportGate. And what would've happened if they needed to go to the consulate on a day or at a time it was closed? If they'd had to stay in Dubai for another day or two, would Phil have come back to Philiminate them, or would we just get a voiceover about it?

Quote

Then the continued confused face while she doubled down on testicles.  

"Double down?" Well, to quote an old Woody Allen movie, "They usually travel in pairs."

[Happy Belly]

Loved the elephants! it was also nice to see Jessica all girlie like instead of the usual bad-ass she usually is (I mean that lovingly). I saw on Twitter tonight Cody proposed to Jessica today. The ring is gorgeous and she said YES!

[green]

2 hours ago, blackwing said:

I was puzzled by that too, it was so pointless.  We never see racers going to the 7-11 to buy water or snacks, so why include this?  I think it might just be for Phil's list of accomplishments at the start of next episode.  Just like how he talked about Scott overcoming his fear of heights while video clips of "I did it" are shown and Brooke overcoming everything with video clips of her saying "I can't".  

Cody and Jessica, overcame a U turn (clip), losing their shoes (clip) and scorpions (screaming clip) and proven that they can do anything (clip of Jess saying Cody is a superhero).  Just like how Kristi and Jen's near-yakking on the grain alcohol had better make it into their accomplishment reel, otherwise that was another pointless clip.

Well they showed it in the past.  The Soccer Moms going to the small food store in Mexico.  And while still in Bangkok waiting for a train to the same Chaing Mai in Season 2 the teams had hours to kill and four different teams went for an outing in the town to eat and buy a tour guide book (Mary) and new sunglasses for Blake because he had lost his.  But he decided they should save their money instead I think so maybe foreshadowing on the money this BB team had to spend making it harder to grab a taxi in the end maybe?  Or just a set-up to the lost passport and everyone is losing things theme?

I like these non-race moments myself and always loved the day in Bangkok one especially because everyone was all together having a good time without the pressure of the Race.  These are the moments that make TAR special for me.  The ones I remember.

Of course just one team going off to buy sneakers isn't the same but it could have been if the camera crew had caught the moment last leg Jessica managed to loose a freaking pair of sneakers.  And that item is darn hard to lose.  Yeah they can be off in a plane or a long car/taxi ride but I don't see how she forgot to put them back on and stuck on her flip-flops instead while exiting a car or plane.

[vousviou]

22 hours ago, Miss Chevious said:

Those couple contestant teams where the female is squeaky, squeamish and gets out of doing any of the heavy lifting is extremely annoying. It seems like there’s at least one of those every season. This season it’s Jessica. Did she manage to get even one frog? 

Team Big Brother needs to go home. 

 

It's not just the couples - Father and Son Dave and Connor had Dave not only constantly whining, he somehow got away with doing a bunch fewer Roadblocks than his son.

One thing I wish the Race did more often was Detours where each teammate had to do an equal amount of work as the other. For instance, in the Bahrain wood hauling, force each one to put 150 pounds of wood on the scale instead of 300 between them, or in the frog catching force each to put 10 frogs into the basket. Sometimes Detours are well designed to require true teamwork, such as the Zimbabwe song and dance, but too often they let teams get by with one teammate as a free rider, and often it would only take a minor adjustment to even things up.

[vousviou]

4 hours ago, chitowngirl said:

I thought when Team Big Brother used their TAR money to buy sneakers, that would bite them in the ass as they would need the money for something else down the road.

I wonder if it is foreshadowing of an upcoming problem, such as bad blisters or the shoes falling apart at a bad time.

[SomeTameGazelle]

15 minutes ago, green said:

Of course just one team going off to buy sneakers isn't the same but it could have been if the camera crew had caught the moment last leg Jessica managed to loose a freaking pair of sneakers.  And that item is darn hard to lose.  Yeah they can be off in a plane or a long car/taxi ride but I don't see how she forgot to put them back on and stuck on her flip-flops instead while exiting a car or plane.

I was surprised to see them shopping during the rest period because I thought I remembered that Dandrew (?) had to use race time to buy replacement shoes. And then I thought that maybe Jessica had lost her shoes during the rest period so it was OK for them to buy shoes in the rest period. Or else I misremembered.

[preeya]

Jessica is about as useless as the "testicles" on the {female} camel.

Should they win Cody should get $950,000. since he does 95% of the work.

Actually, my prior comment is moot as I just read they (Jessica & Cody) got engaged.

[Brookside]

3 hours ago, RedheadZombie said:

No.  I thought, "what the hell is that medieval torture device in that poor water buffalo's nose?".  That area is so sensitive and they not only had a metal bar through the nostrils, but some type of thick leather harness around the area.  I shudder wondering if they have to stab through the cartilage that separates one nostril from the other.  And this is why I don't like seeing animals in foreign countries.  At least the elephants didn't have a man standing by with a menacing bullhook, unlike the past challenge with elephants painting.

 

https://www.cnn.com/2014/03/14/opinion/velez-mitchell-animal-cruelty/index.html

[LittleIggy]

7 hours ago, Cyranetta said:

I very much enjoyed this double ep as a cornucopia of animals with attitude, with the additional bonus of the Thai kids being hugely entertained at the inept American frog catchers.

The kids were wearing gloves though. Much easier to hold onto the froggies ?  if you’re wearing gloves.

4 hours ago, RedheadZombie said:

 

Jen kissed the trunk of the baby elephant who brought over his stick to show her.

I’d kiss a baby elephant? !

[biakbiak]

15 hours ago, amazingracefan said:

I'm sure Jessica was fed questions about the u-turn and how she felt now, it feels the edit is always prompted to set them up as 'villains', the producers wanted to push the rivalry so that's what you got.  It was a stupid mistake to lose vital documents but it's not the first time it's happened on the race and it does get you eliminated.  

The karma comment wasnt producer driven and it tipped me over the edge to wanting Jessica to lose and her uselessness for the rest of the two eps pushed me into hatred. I dont think Cody is a beast at all, he just looks goid compared to his partner.

[ProfCrash]

2 hours ago, biakbiak said:

The karma comment wasnt producer driven and it tipped me over the edge to wanting Jessica to lose and her uselessness for the rest of the two eps pushed me into hatred. I dont think Cody is a beast at all, he just looks goid compared to his partner.

I considered Cody and Jessica's getting badly lost on the leg as karma for being awful during the passport mess. I understand not liking a team but there was no reason to be that bitchy. It was a bad situation for Ocean Rescue, it is likely going to knock them out of the race, don't be a bitch.