S25: Spoilers

[SnideAsides]

If you haven't heard, CBS wants a crowd at the start line (Times Square) at 3am tomorrow morning. Admittedly this is speculative, but if we assume there are no connecting flights, then looking at departure schedules the first destination is almost certainly... London. Sigh.

[Lantern7]

I don't think I'll be able to make it tonight, so I'm hoping some folks reading this will go and report back. If we're getting returning teams, or if there's a new gimmick at work, we need to know about it right away.

[TheRabbi]

I have to think London would just be a connection point.  They literally just did the UK in the penultimate leg of 24.  I know they've often done countries in back to back seasons, but the first leg right after the penultimate leg?  I don't think so.  

 

I'm on board with the retro TAR vibe that they're going toi be echoing season 1 here, with possibly a trip to Africa right out of the gate since they haven't been there in a while.  London could be a connection point to Jo'burg, or there are some options out of NYC going there a bit later on.

 

I live about 3-4 hours from NYC, and was SO tempted to go, but couldn't justify it.  Can't wait to hear about it.

[theschnauzers]

There's a tweet and an instagram of Phil and Bertram Van Munster and a cameraman or two at Bethesda Fountain in Central Park taken earlier today.

 

For whatever that's worth, it should mean something.

[Rusun]

Bethesda Fountain went unused in lieu of the Unisphere at Flushing Meadows Park in Queens, a.k.a. TAR Classic's Finish Line.

 

• Teams ride taxis into Time Square and disembark one by one onto the Starting Line.
• The Save is introduced, which a team may use by the end of Leg 9, if facing elimination, to stay in the race.
• Upon Phil's go, they run up TKTS (a contraption of red steps) in order to pick up their backpacks.
• They then run back down, either hailing cabs immediately or stopping to ask spectators, "Where did Season 1 end?"
• After getting their clues at FMP, they race to JFK Airport en route to the Leg 1 site: St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.

 

The eleven teams comprise two M/Ms, four F/Fs, and five M/Fs (all very conveniently color-coded):

 

1. Purple, gay couple
2. Red, burly men
3. Pink, young blondes
4. Teal, middle-aged brunettes
5. Orange, African-American ladies
6. Burgundy, interracial women - Gabby Douglas look-alike and her Caucasian teammate
7. Cerulean, one-armed surfer Bethany Hamilton and her spouse Adam Dirks
8. Gray, Asian couple
9. Indigo, blonde couple
10. Green, brunette couple
11. Yellow, Survivor: South Pacific jurors Whitney Duncan and Keith Tollefson

Edited May 31, 2014 by Rusun

[Mrs. P.]

Wow - Whitney Duncan is sure making the reality show rounds recently. She was just featured on Say Yes to the Dress. She and Keith are planning to be married.

[Netfoot]

Very good report, Rusun.  Thank you. 

 

So, they're asking for the location of the season one finish line while practically standing upon it?  Curious.

 

Presumably, The Save (a.k.a. HII) replaces the Express Pass, and will go to the winners of leg one.

[Bella]

Excellent report, Rusun - thanks!

[Bella]

Cast info, courtesy of Reality Blurred: http://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/

[Lantern7]

Okay . . . so far, so weird. Just wish they could've done this in the actual morning, as opposed to the middle of the damn night. Dunno what to think of "The Save." Also don't know what to think about Survivor people in the game. But since I'm glass-half-full on this show, I'm sure things will work out.

[Maverick]

 I've watched every season of Survivor (admittedly many with much disinterest) but I have no recollection of the Survivor team at all.  Did they get very far into their season?

 

 Are the pro wrestlers particularly famous in their field?  I'm wondering if they're a "big name" gimmick couple of more like the pro wrestler couple they had on many moons ago (who I actually kinda liked).

 

 TeJay?  Really?  Ugh.

[Netfoot]

Almost as good as J'Tia, right?

 

I'm ducking out of here now, before real spoilers start to show up...

[Fukui San]

I've watched every season of Survivor (admittedly many with much disinterest) but I have no recollection of the Survivor team at all. Did they get very far into their season?

Are the pro wrestlers particularly famous in their field? I'm wondering if they're a "big name" gimmick couple of more like the pro wrestler couple they had on many moons ago (who I actually kinda liked).

TeJay? Really? Ugh.

Looked up the pro wrestlers. They aren't WWE but TNA, the distant 2nd place promotion. So I think more prominent than Lori and Bolo, but still not that prominent.

Funnily enough, there's a dynamic, high profile, currently on hiatus couple in wrestling in CM Punk and AJ Lee who both were recently WWE World Champs and who are on leave. Or retired. It's complicated. They're either engaged or newlyweds. If anyone made sense as a stunt cast it'd be them.

[aradia22]

 

 

Orange, African-American ladies

Gray, Asian couple

Well at least it wasn't brown and yellow.

 

All I want is a good season. People I don't hate and some fun, creative challenges. Fingers crossed that they've stacked the deck with the all female teams this time and we get another all female team winner. I wouldn't mind a couple as long as they aren't as punchable as some of the couples we've seen on this show.

[mtlchick]

 

There's a tweet and an instagram of Phil and Bertram Van Munster and a cameraman or two at Bethesda Fountain in Central Park taken earlier today.

 

My guess is filming his intro about this being a "racearoundtheworld."  With the first route marker being the globe, is it wrong to hope Rob and Brennan were the ones giving out the clue?

[ToniW]

Mine made this report about last night my last post at TWoP:

I had a really good time at the starting line. Hello to everyone who was there.

Today is Phil's Birthday. The crowd sang Happy Birthday to him.

I spoke to Luke who raced with his mother twice, and I was standing next to Frank from Season 1. We talked a little about TARCon until Phil told him that Tara was standing a little further down, and he went over to talk to her. I talked to Elise about the time that she took the Red Eye in just to come to TARCon, and then, flew right back home . She couldn't believe that I remembered that.

Is it really a spoiler if the producers feed you the information and ask you to repeat it back to them several times? I feel like they want us to post what happened:

Phil paces and memorizes his lines before he gets in front of the camera .

The famous lines "The world is waiting for you. Good luck. Travel safe. Go!" we're filmed before the racers got there. He said it again standing in front of the Racers.

There's a new element to the show called "The Save ". Phil told us what it was, then when the racers were standing at the starting line, he asked us to yell out the name of the new element. It's similar to Tyler Perry's special immunity idol from Survivor. If you find it, and you're about to be Philiminated, you can hand it to Phil after he says the words, and save yourself to race another leg. When Phil announced it, it was clear that the racers didn't know about it beforehand. They were all very excited. Good thing? Bad thing?

There's a young lady, racing with her boyfriend, who has only one arm. Mark's son Ian noticed her on the Times Square webcam all the way from Fort Hood in Texas. They got out of their taxi and stood and smooched right in front if me, but I didn't notice. She's the girl who lost her arm in a shark attack. There was a movie made about her.

The next clue was in Flushing Meadow Park. It wasn't spelled out to the racers when they opened their clue. The fans were telling them where to go.

The racers really do whoosh past Phil at the beginning. That sound is not faked.

Phil told the racers that they would be going somewhere "tropical with white sand beaches". They were leaving from JFK Airport. The was a 5:15 a.m. Flight leaving for Puerto Rico this morning, but I've seen reports of a later flight going to St. Thomas.

[Maverick]

 So from Rusun's description, it looks like the gay couple and African-American ladies aren't in this pic.  I can see it now.  "You 4 stand over there.  No, over a little farther.  No, over THERE.  What?  Don't worry about where the camera is.

 

 So was the color matched teams not a requirement?  Because if so the Asian couple didn't seem to get them memo.  And if not, it's a tad odd so many of the other teams went the twinsies route.  And if no one was coordinating this, imagine how mortifying to show up to the starting line wearing the same outfit as another team.  Quadruplets!

 

https://tv.yahoo.com/news/amazing-race-season-25-cast-174000524.html

[SnideAsides]

 I've watched every season of Survivor (admittedly many with much disinterest) but I have no recollection of the Survivor team at all.  Did they get very far into their season?

 

I want to say about 7th and 8th? They were on the Coach-and-Ozzy-and-Hantzspawn season, which is literally the one I always forget when trying to list Survivor seasons.

 

Okay . . . so far, so weird. Just wish they could've done this in the actual morning, as opposed to the middle of the damn night.

 

I'm going to guess it was done almost solely so Phil could make a "city that never sleeps" reference in his intro. Surely there are flights to St. Thomas later in the day.

[ChillEDog]

Was there at times square Friday night, have pics & video, including the actual start of the race. Is there a way to upload on this site?

[aradia22]

 

There's a young lady, racing with her boyfriend, who has only one arm.

Is it wrong that I really want them to win to stick it to Dave's achilles?

[TheRabbi]

 

I'm going to guess it was done almost solely so Phil could make a "city that never sleeps" reference in his intro. Surely there are flights to St. Thomas later in the day.

 

I think you are absolutely right that Phil will say that in the opening voicover, but it was also done so leg 1 could be run during the day.  Flights got into St. Thomas early afternoon so they had the first leg in daylight on Saturday.  

 

Sunday was a travel day, and leg 2 took place today in London.  Kind of a quick turnaround to go right back to England after just being there in the penultimate leg last season, but it looks like it might be a good leg.

 

RFF says sisters Lisa and Michelle from Miami are the likely first boot, as all 10 other teams were spotted either in ATL airport or in London.  If CBS hadn't spoiled the cast list already, I wonder if they would have just let the sisters go right home to Miami from St. Thomas after their single day of competition.  But since the cast is already public, its likely off to Sequesterville for them.

 

I just hope they mix up the locales a bit.  PLEASE throw in a couple legs in Africa, Australia, or preferably both.  23 and 24 were entirely in Europe and Asia except for 2 legs in Chile. Time to mix it up.

Edited June 3, 2014 by TheRabbi

[Rusun]

You're welcome, Netfoot and Bella ~

 

So it looks like the UK is getting a double-leg treatment: London/Oxford for L2 and Aberdeen/Shetland for L3.

 

The latter will involve a train transfer at Edinburgh, where an RFF poster mentions seeing nine teams left except Isabelle and Dennis. (There has never been an NEL or TBC at either the end of the second leg or during the F10.)

 

Considering it's the fastest return to a country in TAR Original's/America's history, who else would rather they visit Ireland, for the first time in thirteen seasons?

Edited June 4, 2014 by Rusun

[Donny Ketchum]

Race appeared in Denmark for a time, as well as Morocco, Malta, and Singapore.

 

Suspected F4 is leaving Singapore and might be heading for the Philippines:

 

Adam & Bethany (surfer couple)
Misti & Jim (dentist couple)
Amy & Maya (white/black food scientists)
Brooke & Robbie (wrestlers)

 

Not surprised that both men's teams got booted before this point, as well as the mother/daughter team, Shelley & Nici.  I'm sad about them, though, because I was really rooting for another mother/daughter team since we haven't had one in eight seasons (or sixteen if you count TAR9's Wanda & Desiree as the last true mother/daughter team and not TAR17's Andie & Jenna).

 

Really surprised, though, that Keith & Whitney didn't make it this far.

Edited June 19, 2014 by Donny Ketchum

[aradia22]

Oh, the plus side, yay, it looks like an all female team is in the final four! I hope they're not annoying/that they deserve to be there unlike the completely useless Caroline and Jennifer.

[Rusun]

Race appeared in Denmark for a time, as well as Morocco, Malta, and Singapore.

 

You're neglecting Sweden and Italy.

 

Based on sightings, the elimination order seems to have gone like so:

 

9th: Michael and Scott (unseen since the start of Leg 3, Edinburgh's Haymarket Train Terminal)

8th: Shelley and Nici (unseen since the start of Leg 4, Copenhagen's Kastrup Airport)

7th: Keith and Whitney (unseen since the start of Leg 5, Marrakesh's Djema el-Fna, a.k.a. the site of Teri and Ian's carpet FF in S3)

6th: Tim and Te Jay (supposedly discussed by the F5 en route to Asia)

5th: Kym and Alli (unseen since the end of Leg 9, Singapore's Changi Point Ferry Terminal)

 

Oh, the plus side, yay, it looks like an all female team is in the final four! I hope they're not annoying/that they deserve to be there unlike the completely useless Caroline and Jennifer.

 

If they suffer from David and Connor's Roadblock "Amendment", then they will become the new Linda and Karen.

[Donny Ketchum]

Rusun, that's the boot order I'm thinking, too.

 

I'm hoping that Amy & Maya reach the F3 to rep it for the women's teams.  But a sighting for them in Manila with Maya apparently crying over being in last doesn't make things look good.  Granted, it was on the antepenultimate leg, which they didn't seem to know was an NEL (or maybe they did), but still, staying in the same city on the following leg usually means no bunching, so if they got a Speed Bump, I can't see them catching back up unless at least one of Misti & Jim, Adam & Bethany, or Brooke & Robbie really screws up.

[magenta]

Phil was on a plane headed to L. A.

[Donny Ketchum]

The F3 is looking like Adam & Bethany, Amy & Maya, and Misti & Jim.  Brooke & Robbie were more than likely the final team eliminated.

 

Huzzah!  A women's team made it to the end!  Now I hope they can pull off the win and give us our third winning women's team!

 

. . . Though true to typical TAR fashion, watch it be totally predictable and come down to the two couples, Adam & Bethany and Misti & Jim.

 

This makes the projected elimination order:

 

11th: Lisa & Michelle.
10th: Dennis & Isabelle.

9th: Michael & Scott.

8th: Shelley & Nici.

7th: Keith & Whitney.

6th: Tim & Te Jay.

5th: Kym & Alli.

4th: Brooke & Robbie.

F3: Adam & Bethany, Amy & Maya, and Misti & Jim.

Edited June 22, 2014 by Donny Ketchum

[Donny Ketchum]

So according to RFF, it seems the show listened to some people's comments.  The final leg in L.A. was a self-driving leg.

[SnideAsides]

...Which means the winners will be getting a million bucks and a Brand New Ford Whatever.

[Rusun]

A pity that production saw fit to reuse TAR21's 7-6-4 pattern for the NELs/TBCs: considering that the USVI is technically domestic territory, there should've been another starting leg reprieve a la Tokyo in TAR15, Sydney in TAR18, and Taipei in TAR19.

 

(The same gripe extends to the current season of TARAUSvsNZ, where Aotearoa as the first destination still eliminated a team.)

 

P.S. Plus, forcing teams to fly back to the US to get to the UK? They ought to have been directed to another Caribbean island and made to connect through Paris/Madrid/Amsterdam/Lisbon/etc. towards London rather than backtracking to Atlanta.

Edited August 29, 2014 by Rusun

[cooksdelight]

Well, as someone who flies out of ATL a lot, it can be a tricky place to navigate if you are not used to the airport. It's easy to miss a flight if you are at the wrong gate because the train that takes you from T to F isn't the fastest thing. Sometimes not working at all. They might have sent them there on purpose to wear them out, or to save money on flights. Or to keep travel time to a minimum for production reasons.

[Donny Ketchum]

So apparently, the boot order above was shot down by Chateau d If on RFF.  Here's what it actually is, not just by position, but by leg:

 

Leg 1: United States (NYC) to Virgin Islands - Lisa & Michelle Eliminated.

Leg 2: Virgin Islands to England - Dennis & Isabelle Eliminated.

Leg 3: England to Scotland - Michael & Scott Eliminated.

Leg 4: Scotland to Denmark - Either Keith & Whitney Eliminated, NEL, or Save Used.

Leg 5: Denmark to Morocco - Either Keith & Whitney Eliminated, NEL, or Save Used.

Leg 6: Morocco - Shelley & Nici Eliminated.

Leg 7: Morocco to Malta - NEL or Save Used.

Leg 8: Malta - Tim & Te Jay Eliminated.

Leg 9: Malta to Singapore - Kym & Alli Eliminated.

Leg 10: Singapore to Philippines - NEL (likely Amy & Maya saved).

Leg 11: Philippines - Brooke & Robbie Eliminated.

Leg 12: Philippines to United States (LA) - F3 of Adam & Bethany, Amy & Maya, and Misti & Jim.

 

So the boot order remains basically intact, but Keith & Whitney and Shelley & Nici just swapped positions.  The former Survivors are out in eighth place, and the mother and daughter are out in seventh.

Edited September 18, 2014 by Donny Ketchum

[Rusun]

How blatant can CBS get? They divide teams into promos based on their placing:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCpkAsRKeNQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTiallb41t0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAs-3gMUtg0

[Donny Ketchum]

Well, this season's spoilers start out strongly with Lisa & Michelle indeed going out first.  If they keep holding up, then Dennis & Isabelle are indeed the doomed team next week.

[Fukui San]

Man, how do Brooke and Robbie last that long based on what we've seen so far?

[Donny Ketchum]

Man, how do Brooke and Robbie last that long based on what we've seen so far?

The editors actually keep showing us why.  They get stumped at "figure it out" tasks so easily, but can make up time with purely physical tasks.  That must be what keeps them in for so long.  Still, it is amazing that they make it that far.

 

Leg one, the compass task in the Virgin Islands was completely stumping Robbie.  He only got out as quickly as he did because Shelley stupidly helped him.

 

Leg two, they wasted a lot of time at the Changing of the Guard Detour in London and were only saved by the physical punting task in Oxford.

 

Leg three, they wasted a lot of time at the Light My Fire Detour in Scotland and were only saved by the physical sheep flocking task.

 

I'm betting more help from other teams or physical tasks will keep coming up at the right time to save them, right until the F4.

 

In any case, the boot order so far seems to be happening as said.  Lisa & Michelle went out first, Dennis & Isabelle went out second, and now, Michael & Scott have gone out third.  Now the next boot depends on whether Chateau's PM to me on RFF is accurate and Keith & Whitney do go out fourth, or he/she was mistaken and Shelley & Nici do instead.

[Donny Ketchum]

The boot order indeed keeps going as stated, with an NEL on leg four, and now, Keith & Whitney's elimination on leg five.  If it holds true, Shelley & Nici are hot, buttered toast next week.

[MortysCleaningLady]

The boot order indeed keeps going as stated, with an NEL on leg four, and now, Keith & Whitney's elimination on leg five.  If it holds true, Shelley & Nici are hot, buttered toast next week.

Logged into see when they were out. Can't wait.  (And I was, in theory, on board team MotherDaughterFlightAttendants.)  So disappointed with their behavior.

[Donny Ketchum]

To be honest, I kinda had a feeling that they were out due to a tweet from Whitney last week.  It was one that basically wondered whom karma would strike this week.   I didn't think she'd say such a thing unless she meant Shelley & Nici.  And indeed, Shelley & Nici left us this week.

 

So next week is an NEL, most likely, and two weeks after that (because this weird new award show, not that we need any more of them, will preempt the show the week after next), Tim & Te Jay are gone.

[Donny Ketchum]

Well, the boot order continues to hold up, with Tim & Te Jay failing to overcome their Speed Bump and getting eliminated.

 

Sadly, that means that this week, Kym & Alli get tossed next.  And newly-released pictures on CBS.com are hinting at why.  Adam & Bethany are apparently going to fight them for the Fast Forward, hence Bethany saying they could be "committing race suicide."  Adam & Bethany must win out, forcing Kym & Alli to recover from losing all of that time.  But with the Double U-Turn coming up, either Misti & Jim or (more likely) Brooke & Robbie U-Turn them, sending them packing in fifth place.

 

Will hate to see them go, but it'll likely be partly their own fault for racing it out for a Fast Forward another team's going for.

[Donny Ketchum]

So the spoilers keep coming true.  Kym & Alli did indeed go home two weeks ago, though not quite in the way that was speculated.  They did lose that Fast Forward faceoff, but they were not U-Turned out of the race.  They just didn't make up the time quickly enough.

 

Also, leg ten was an NEL, just as everyone thought it'd be.  However, I'm a bit surprised that Brooke & Robbie were the team spared by it rather than Amy & Maya, as several RFF posters thought.  There were reports of a black girl being seen crying alone at a place where a Roadblock was supposed to have been taking place.  It was thought that she knew that they'd fallen into last place and was crying over possibly being eliminated or Speed Bumped.  But it looks like that was a false spoiler or a misidentification, because leg ten had no Roadblock.

 

Still, if the spoilers hold up, Brooke & Robbie will finally be eliminated.  And they have to head to the finish line knowing that Amy & Maya will be racing to the finsh instead of them!  Ha! :D

[Mrs. P.]

So it seems that RFF missed the twist of a Final Four. I wonder if its spoiler of the Wrestlers going out before the Final Three means that they are the team eliminated mid-leg by Phil.

[Donny Ketchum]

RFF has a picture of the teams applauding at the finish line that someone gave them.  Brooke & Robbie are seen lined up with the other teams there, applauding, so yeah, they're definitely out in fourth place.

 

There are also pictures of Adam & Bethany, Amy & Maya, and Misti & Jim each running up to the finish line, and speculations have abound based on shadows and how large their strides seem to be: http://forum.realityfanforum.com/index.php/topic,30032.msg1064752.html.

 

Based on how fast they look like they're running, it's being guessed that either Adam & Bethany or Amy & Maya won and the other came in second.

[Mreid]

Oh snap this is great information thanks Donny Ketchum!!! Is it Friday yet? I am really dying to know who won this race now!

[Lingo]

I can read this thread now!  I always wonder how accurate the spoilers are.  Pretty damn accurate.

[green]

I'm so glad I gave up spoilers long long ago.  Started maybe TAR7 and went through maybe TAR11 but spoilers were often not too accurate back then.  "Look a pic of two people wearing backpacks and running through a terminal in such-and-such has been posted."  Turned out they were just rushing to catch a connecting flight and it was a false alarm.  But it was more fun then just a list of accurate stuff.  Everyone got to play detective. 

 

But even so I found it was ruining my viewing pleasure even if sometimes off.  Couldn't take the cut and dry accurate spoilers these days period.  Would suck all the air out of the show for me.  So I'm very glad I have been unspoiled since and ESPECIALLY for this season.  I can't imagine how bad it would have been to have had this season spoiled for me.

 

Not putting you spoiler folks down.  I do understand it from my past.  But I find it is so much more enjoyable to be surprised and amazed.  To each their own though.  And a very good job as usual by the people at RFF and the other sites as well.  They seem like nice folks there.  Just not my cup of tea.

Edited December 20, 2014 by green