S31.E05: I'm a Bird, I'm a Plane, I'm on The Amazing Race! / S31.E06: Who Wants a Rolex

[Whimsy]

Two episodes back-to-back

Quote

Teams take a leap of faith when choosing which detour challenge to take on, and a split-second decision may make or break one team’s life in the race.

and 

Quote

Teams must drum up strength for an intense head-to-head battle.

Original airdate 5/22/2019

[Whimsy]

Two episodes are airing in a row.  Do not enter here if you haven't watched both episodes, unless you don't mind being spoiled about the outcome from both. 

[mojoween]

Colin declaring that the big frame “is a frame!” made me laugh and remember when they were in Egypt and he found the scarab and magnanimously showed everyone as if no one else knew what a scarab was.

I still love him, even if he is very extra in his dotage.

Speaking of extra...Becca and Floyd.  But I can’t hate too much, because if I were running around in a hilarious T-Rex costume I would yell “RAWR” every second too.

Seriously, I laughed every time the camera showed someone running with their head flopping all over the place.

Elissa SLAYED me in the cab with Rachel.

Wait.  Didn’t Britney make Rachel’s life a living hell on BB?  Did Rachel not watch the season to see the heinous things Britney said about Brendan?

That was a risky move for Chris and Bret to switch during the head to head.  Also, I fricking hate the head to head.

It would have been awesome to send Britney and Rachel away and make a team of Elissa and Janelle.

[PaperTree]

Whatever.  (sigh)

[Browncoat]

DAMMIT!!!!!  We were so close to not having to hear Rachel whine any more!  But, like last time, I’m not sad about who was eliminated in the end.  Everyone, say it with me now, “Read the clue!”

I am glad that Tyler and Korey won the leg, and also that they had a positive experience in a place where things could so easily have gone pear-shaped for them.

Also glad that Team Fun didn’t falter with the bikes loaded with stuff.  Isn’t that what did Floyd in in Vietnam?

Good on Colin for keeping his cool, too, when their bike tipped over.

I hate head-to-heads.

[Eolivet]

Okay, I was willing to accept that fishing was a coincidence and boating was a coincidence, but this Amazing Race challenge actually ended with a Survivor-style puzzle as a head-to-head.

In order for equal show representation, I propose a challenge where a RAT named KCOLBDAOR asks teams to bring the order of the eliminated contestants, OTEV-style.

[PaperTree]

"I've wanted to go to Dubai my whole life!"

Sure Rachel.  It's tops on my list too.

[Pepper the Cat]

Frack. 

What will it take to get Cry Baby Rachel off of my race? 

Still loving Team Fun! And surprisingly Colin and Christina have grown on me

really loved that Tyler and Korey came in first on thr Uganda leg

[spanana]

1 minute ago, PaperTree said:

"I've wanted to go to Dubai my whole life!"

Sure Rachel.  It's tops on my list too.

Isn't Dubai a pretty big tourist spot these days? I doubt she wanted to go there her whole life, but I could see adult Rachel wanting to go there.  Isn't it all built up with lots of night life and etc.  

[PaperTree]

Poof!  We are now in crazy homophobic Uganda.  Zero airport drama.  Why go there race?

304 steps.  Never believe what you read on the internet. 🙂

[Lady Calypso]

So, I enjoyed the first part a lot. I remember now why I loved Elissa on BB. Her shutting down Rachel's whining and looking perpetually annoyed was great. And she totally saved Rachel's ass during the second episode H2H. Seriously, go Team Elissa. This is the down to earth snarky woman I loved on Big Brother. 

I did adore all the team bonding in the second episode. From several team members consoling Korey to Rachel/Elissa being supportive of Britney/Janelle when they were eliminated, it was a very nice episode.

That dinosaur task in the first episode was a dream. I would have chosen it anyway since I'm afraid of heights and probably wouldn't have chanced the other task, and I know I would have done well. I liked all of the tasks in the first episode. They would have fit me. I love that the beat for the headphones task was to the TAR theme. 

Colin/Christie are still great. I need to go watch season 5 now.

Vic/Nicole are doing way better than I thought they'd do, so I'm rooting for them. I also like Tyer/Korey and love that they got first on the Uganda leg. It seems like they both needed that win in that country.

[Maggie Mae]

Why didn't we see Rachel and Elissa finishing the salty fish task? Did I just miss it???

[PaperTree]

2 minutes ago, spanana said:

Isn't Dubai a pretty big tourist spot these days? I doubt she wanted to go there her whole life, but I could see adult Rachel wanting to go there.  Isn't it all built up with lots of night life and etc.  

Big time.   If you have a lot of money.  Playground for millionaires.

[chaifan]

So, apparently a few eps ago there was a head to head, but not only was it not shown, but now TAR pretends like it never even existed in the first place.  Why?  Because it didn't impact the order.  And they showed this one why?  The drummers were pretty cool, but the challenge itself wasn't exciting and everyone stayed in the same order. 

Never hated a non-elim leg announcement as much as this one.  grrrr.  Please get crybaby and Ms. vocal fry off my screen. 

Still loving Team Fun.  Colin & Christie have absolutely grown on me.  Sometimes they're a bit over the top with the zen, but for the most part I'm really enjoying them. 

ETA:  Also loved Korey & Tyler, and so glad they finished first in Uganda.  While they are right, it's the gov't, not the people, it's not like they were running around shouting "we're gay" and kissing each other.  No one had any reason to believe they were gay, so why would anyone be anything but nice? 

Edited May 23, 2019 by chaifan

[bmoore4026]

OK, I'm trying to figure out what I love more - half the racers running around in dinosaur costumes or Colin's dancing at the nightclub.

Oh, I just wanted to give Korey and Tyler big hugs for being so brave in Uganda! 

And I just want to hug the hell out of Chris and Bret because they look so huggable.

Fare thee well, Janella and Britney.  I'm going to miss your ditziness. 

I've just realized that I don't want Nicole and Victor to win.  It's not that they're bad people, far from it (so far), but they're just so bland.

Edited May 23, 2019 by bmoore4026

[LadyChatts]

After last week's disappointing Survivor finale, so glad to have this show back on my screen.  I'm not going to complain about two hour episodes, except that it's speeding up the season.  Just give me two hour eps every week with a normal run time, week wise.

I always love when they visit new countries, but my heart hurt for Tyler/Korey.  I wonder if Bret had anything to say?  I knew as soon as they said they read the number of steps on the internet, so they weren't going to bother counting, that they were going to be wrong.  They aren't my favorite team, but I'm happy they got a first place finish.

When Colin talked about his season 5 self, it made me realize how much I miss S5 Colin.  I mean, I'd love a little outburst just for old times sake.  Seeing him in the cab in Uganda reminded me of how his last taxi ride in Africa didn't end so well.  And I also loved his dancing in the club.   

I enjoyed the first episode a lot more.  Of all the times they visited the UAE, this was probably my favorite leg.  The RB was great, I loved the detour options, and Phil rapping on the mat with Becca/Floyd.  The only disappointment was Rachel not getting eliminated (I'm fine with Elissa-I could have taken a team of her and Brandon over her and Rachel).  Rachel made some bone headed decisions tonight.  And on that note, I'm not sorry Janelle/Britney went home.  It was going to be a matter of time for them.

My ideal final 3 at this point is Colin/Christie, Nicole/Victor, and either Becca/Floyd or Chris/Bret.  I'd really love to know where those two were hiding during their Survivor stint, because I am enjoying them so much on here.  

Edited May 23, 2019 by LadyChatts

[PaperTree]

1 minute ago, bmoore4026 said:

Oh, I just wanted to give Korey and Tyler big hugs for being so brave in Uganda! 

Fare thee well, Janella and Britney.  I'm going to miss your ditziness. 

I've just realized that I don't want Nicole and Victor to win.  It's not that they're bad people, far from it (so far), but they're just so bland.

All of this  🙂

[mojoween]

4 minutes ago, LadyChatts said:

I’d really love to know where those two were hiding during their Survivor stint, because I am enjoying them so much on here.  

My remembrances of them were that I loved Chris, although he had his dinkish moments and I just did not in any way like Bret.  His moment with Zeke was the only time I liked him.

But I love them both here and their friendship is so funny.  It still kills me that Chris is a lawyer.

[ByaNose]

12 minutes ago, Maggie Mae said:

Why didn't we see Rachel and Elissa finishing the salty fish task? Did I just miss it???

I thought it was just me. That was bad editing. They didn’t even show them doing the task at the same time to fool  people. 

[driver18]

Don't care, still love Rachel... was so afraid she was going home both legs, was so happy the first was a non-elim and that she (and Elyssa) made it through the second. YAY!

[Melina22]

27 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Seriously, I laughed every time the camera showed someone running with their head flopping all over the place.

Elissa SLAYED me in the cab with Rachel.

These two things were hilarious, especially Rachel and Elissa. 

Dubai at night is spectacular. The zipline looked so wonderful I could almost see myself doing it despite my crippling fear of heights. It must have felt like flying. 

[Rinaldo]

40 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Also, I fricking hate the head to head.

So do I. Of all the downward-enhancements TAR has introduced after the first couple of races, the Head to Head annoys me most, because one can do everything else perfectly and still lose one's position (or even be eliminated) because of how a Head to Head falls.

That said, I found myself able to live with this one because it was based on brain power rather than chance or a particular athletic skill, and because in the end I don't think it changed any of the ordering -- certainly not the top and bottom.

38 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

Also glad that Team Fun didn’t falter with the bikes loaded with stuff.  Isn’t that what did Floyd in in Vietnam?

Yes. I now worry whenever I see them on a bike-related task (and this looked similar in description, wrangling a bike (over)loaded with cargo). Luckily it turned out that it was walked to the destination by both teammates together.

Colin is cracking me up. I can't see (I never did really) any prospect of a meltdown or reverting to his form from a decade ago. I like him like this.

I enjoyed these episodes. The dinosaurs, the double switcheroo with Jumping, the silent beat (several racers shone there, but especially Colin), the Rolex hilarity. Good fun.

[Squirrely]

Phil can freestyle! That was frickin' awesome. 

I just knew the first leg tonight was going to be a non-elim. Damn. 

All the tasks seemed really fun aside from that last detour. I want to zipline Superman style over Dubai! 

I hate the head-to-head nonsense. I would have loved for the sisters to go, but it worked out fairly in the end. 

[Lantern7]

I said it last year, I'll say it now: Head to head is the dumbest addition to TAR. It basically makes everything up to that moment null and void. I stand by this . . . but we did lose a Big Brother team. And HtH wasn't as bad as the clusterfuck that was the Survivor finale. BTW, I don't think CBS promoted TAR once last week, which shows where the series ranks with the fickle network.

I liked Victor's moment of clarity: "'Rolex' = 'Roll Eggs'!" Otherwise, you'd just be wandering through the market looking for designer watches. Janelle fucks that up. Can't say I'm too sad. Of course, the Reilly Sisters can go at any time now. Rachel getting a third shot irritates me . . .but not as much as the time she and Brendon were on Fear Factor, and she beamed that they were "Reality TV Royalty." That actually happened.

Dubai leg was fun. On Facebook, there were a few gripes about the skydiving task being in VR, but I'm guessing TAR could only be insured for the zipline at the end. Sad to see the Afghanimals hung up over that, especially after they celebrated getting so close to their homeland. Thinking about it, I'm just rooting against the Reillys at this point. TAR teams are fun, Nicole & Victor and "Bromance" (is that an official nickname?) aren't objectionable. And I'm pleased that TAR teams have won all six legs so far.

God help us all, Phil is now a member of Team Fun. He gets the button, and I'm thinking the t-shirt and decoder ring are in the mail. And he did some freestyle rap. Just when you think you know a guy after almost two decades.

[EllenB]

My only disappointment with this season is that the all-female teams have been such annoying Botox bimbo types.  But they're almost all gone, so the rest of the season will be most enjoyable.  I was so worried that Floyd would have a bad flashback - glad that didn't happen.  I was just a LITTLE irritated with Tyler and Korey being the show's spokesgays and totally ignoring Bret.  Maybe because he's kind of beefy and not fitting production's stereotypes?  It just seems like the show has "designated gays" and "incidental gays" and only the first are given time to discuss issues.  

[Rinaldo]

Or maybe Bret simply didn't consider it or wasn't verbal about it.

[hendersonrocks]

Colin is my favorite racer; he and Christie are my favorite team. What a time to be alive.

[displayname]

I like that only the amazing race teams have managed leg wins so far.

[Richness]

Double TAR. Yay!

Of the three thing that annoyed me tonight, two of them were related to Rachel. I really wish the BB sisters had been eliminated. We were also tortured with Rachel's big, mostly fake, overly dramatic sobs to the camera. Hated them in previous season's and I hate them now. And while Elissa's lips still scare me, I have to give her praise for trying to shut off Rachel 's waterworks.

The other thing that I hate is the Head to Head. It needs to die and never return. They really should have just eliminated it from the episode since it didn't affect the outcome at all.

Glad the gay guys won in Uganda. Also glad to see the other racers comforting Korey at the airport. Still pleased with calm Colin. Brett and Chris are doing surprisingly well. I thought for sure they'd would have been eliminated sooner rather than later.

I was also surprised by the number of times we saw the Amazing cameraman tonight. We saw one in the rolex challenge. Then we saw two in the bike/wood challenge. They usually do a much better job of not being seen. Even when they are seen, it's usually only a shadow or reflexion.

[blackwing]

I normally don’t mind Rachel, even when she’s at her whiniest, but she was working my last nerve when she was sobbing in the cab.  Just STFU already.  

I knew that Janelle and the other one were going to go home when they talked about being moms.  The reveal of new personal information by the editors is usually a death knell on a reality show. 

I despise Becca and her “fun” meter definitely only works when they are doing well.  When Floyd failed at his first drum race, she snapped at him something like “learn how to put the things on the pole next time!”

Ok so the Ugandan government apparently  doesn’t like gay people.  That said, I don’t get why Corey and Tyler were sobbing about it.  “The people were SO accepting and welcoming.”   I’m like, well, yeah, it’s not like they have “I AM GAY” stamped on their foreheads, so as long as they are friendly to people, of course people will smile back.  I’m sure the camera crews don’t hurt either.  

Also, if it’s so courageous for Tyler and Corey to be in horrible Uganda, how come neither Brett nor Floyd commented about being gay and in Uganda?  I have a hard time believing that their camera crews wouldn’t have tried to elicit some talk.

[BK1978]

1 hour ago, Lady Calypso said:

So, I enjoyed the first part a lot. I remember now why I loved Elissa on BB. Her shutting down Rachel's whining and looking perpetually annoyed was great. And she totally saved Rachel's ass during the second episode H2H. Seriously, go Team Elissa. This is the down to earth snarky woman I loved on Big Brother. 

I did adore all the team bonding in the second episode. From several team members consoling Korey to Rachel/Elissa being supportive of Britney/Janelle when they were eliminated, it was a very nice episode.

I noticed that as well, Elissa seems to be able to clam/shut Rachel drama down while Brendan (Was that how he spelled it?) was never able to do so and sort of fed into it.  I guess that is the difference between a sibling and a spouse.  A sibling has no problem telling you to shut up while a spouse has to dance around it.

It was so odd seeing Britney and Rachel being so nice to each other after the way they hated each other on Big Brother.  It just felt odd seeing them be supportive towards each other.  Granted people do grow and being a parent makes you grow-up even quicker (hopefully) but yeah it was such a bizarre thing for me to watch.

Floyd is gay as well?  To quote Johnny Carson, "I did not know that."  I never recalled him making mention of him being gay.  Not that it matters, I just do not know why I never read or saw him say he was.

[theschnauzers]

Re Tyler and Corey’s concern about being in Uganda. At the time this season was filmed, Uganda had taken an almost Sharia-like approach to the LGBTQ+ community in that country and there would be reason for concern in terms of safety, if teams were to have to self drive. The way the leg was structured, it seems to me TPTB surely planned out of camera range security presence and or made sure the tourism authorities got the memo about racers being protected.

As to these episodes, I have not been thrilled with the head to head as a concept since season 30, Because it did have an impact on one episode last season, didn’t change the fact that it had virtually no impact this season.

That being said, I liked the tasks on both legs. The fake out about the jump detour task was interesting given it actually introduces a virtual reality task, only to have the zip line to the pit stop later. One thing for sure, Rachel is not as cracked up a Racer as she thinks she is without Brendon with her.

After this number of legs, halfway through, if a team can’t making fourth place even once, they’re not long for the Race.

Colin and Christie continue to meet my expectations, and there hasn’t been even an hint of season 5 Colin!

Edited May 23, 2019 by theschnauzers
typos. Thanks Apple, do something about the autocorrect!

[ByaNose]

Nicole & Victor are doing really well. There is no drama with them and the work well together. Except for the Reilly sisters everyone is pretty calm with each other. Also, Chris & Bret seem to have a handle on the race. I’m not sure if they make the Final 3 but they could make it to the Top 4. 

[Miles]

Something unexpected, I love Rachel's sisiter now. How Rachel was just spiraling and spiraling and she just wasn't having it. Classic.

Also Phil freestyling with team fun. That was impressive.

[Miles]

Kinda brave and/or rash of Tyler and Correy to say "we are gay" in a country where you get the death penalty for that... and not that great of a place for the race to go in general, tbh.

Edit: Interesting that they later talked about it in the context of Uganda, but not the arabic emirates.

I guess it might be a bit of deceptive editing, because it made a good story in Uganda, but not in Dubai, since they didn't win there.

Edited May 23, 2019 by Miles

[Halting Hex]

Wow.  That blew.  x2.

And here I thought that after a Survivor finale so bad that, my DVR having failed to record the final "reveal/reunion" hour, I still have no idea who won and no interest in seeking it out, any TAR would be good TAR.  Wrong again.

The first hour might as well have been flashing "THIS IS A NON-ELIMINATION LEG" throughout the second half.  I mean, it's possible that the producers would be so lame as to have an elimination leg where the order of finish was determined by the one-team-at-a-time zip line and thus there was no vestige of a "race" to the Mat at all, but I was pretty sure they'd learned their lesson after the fiasco that was the TAR 24 finale, and I was right, thankfully.  Waste of what otherwise had been a clever fakeout with the "jump from the Burj" detour.

I was also annoyed with Rachel's preemptive mourning in the cab.  I mean, if you're eliminated, they give you a talking head to say all this in, anyhow.  I understand she was blaming herself for the decision to switch Detours, and she wanted to make it clear she loves the Race (when she's most famous for having been driven to a breakdown by it), but I was definitely with Elissa on Team Put-A-Sock-In-It-Already, there.

I guess the good news is that the sisters apparently will end up winning the Race.  Dropping in Rachel's lamenting how she wanted to come back and win this time but now she won't wah-wah-wah was a bit too much of a clue, given how unsubtle the editing has become.  (When the start of the second episode was all talking up how close all the BB girls are and "Mom Squad!" and such, was there anyone who didn't know right then that the ep would come down to those two teams battling it out for elimination?  There's foreshadowing…and there's forespotlighting.  This was the latter.)  And all the talk about whether Vic/Nic (and the Reillys) are "Amazing Race teams" or "Big Brother teams" seems to indicate that it will be a Houseguest team winning, but after last season's Cody/Jessica triumph, TAR wants to claim the ex-BBers as their own.  Which, fair enough; this is Rachel's third Race and she only played BB twice.  But I honestly don't care, and wish the editors wouldn't likely spoil the result this way.

(NOTE:  this is nothing more than my speculation.  I loathe spoilers.  Part of the reason I prefer Big Brother to the other two shows is that the results are live, and can't be spoiled this way.  But I definitely am starting to see signs of hints, IMO.)

Team Hokey Garbage, I mean "Fun", continues to bore the crap out of me.  Of course they have more custom-designed props to pull out at the finish line.  Of course they do.  Just go away, already.  I'm almost starting to prefer the Afghanimals, honestly.  Almost.

Speaking of Leo/Jamal, it's nice that they continue to suck as Racers.  (Surprising, tbh.)  But…they're still here, so they're not sucking hard enough.  Sigh.

1 hour ago, blackwing said:

Ok so the Ugandan government apparently  doesn’t like gay people.

It's a bit more than that, given that they've been trying to enact a "Kill the Gays" bill since 2009.  The "good news" is that the latest version tones it down, being gay now "only" gets you life in prison rather than the death penalty.  Oh, yay! (OTOH, if they hear about you gaying it up elsewhere, you can now be extradited to Uganda to face "justice", anyway.  Uganda, stopping homosexuality wherever it rears [pardon the pun] its head.  It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it, I suppose.)

I was rather uncomfortable that, with the show having made the decision to go to Uganda, having had Tyler and Korey show their justified concern (maybe Bret thinks his "bear" demeanor is enough of a disguise? And Floyd's sexuality has never been confirmed, one way or the other)…the show then still IMO was soft-peddling the facts of the issue.  I wonder how much of the audience has no idea how far the government has gone to try and enforce its bigotry?  And I wasn't thrilled with Ty/Korey talking about how supportive all the people were (oh, so there's no "real" anti-gay hatred in Uganda?  It's just a few crazy politicians, is that it?  Yeah, try making out in the marketplace and see how that one flies, guys) and taking credit for putting out "positive energy" to feel so welcomed.  So…I guess the oppressed native gays just don't know the power of "positive energy", huh?  Forgive me if I'm skeptical about that one, Ty.  Maybe you're just heavily-protected (in multiple senses of the word), instead?

In other Tyler/Korey news, I really didn't like that talking head of theirs discussing the Head-to-Head as something they'd seen on the Race "last season".  As if they hadn't done a H2H just two legs ago. It's bad enough that the show fiddled with the editing to hide the Head-to-Head in Leg 4, but to blatantly fib as if this was the first H2H of the season really rubbed me the wrong way.

BTW, this is now four consecutive legs where being last to the Mat has essentially nothing to do with getting eliminated.  Non-elim, (hidden) H2H, non-elim, H2H.  At some point, this show will involve a race again, do you think? I mean, maybe?

You know, Janelle probably wouldn't have wasted all that time looking for the "Rolex" if she hadn't repeatedly specified that the Rolex was a "watch".  I guess she thought the Ugandans wouldn't know about expensive watches if the visiting Memsahib didn't spell it out for them, possibly real slowly so they'd be sure to understand?  I don't want to accuse Janey of straight-up colonialist racism there, but if she hadn't been so sure that a "Rolex" was something the locals needed "explained", perhaps they might have explained it to her rather sooner?  Ah, irony…

[Honeycocoa]

I enjoyed these episodes.

I did wonder if Tyler and Korey had said anything about  and being LGBT in Dubai is punishable by years in prison possibly death. Uganda is bad but Dubais 's bad too.  I understand their sadness, it's awful to think of people like you being harassed, jailed and killed  for who they love.  I wonder if it got edited out...?

I thought the tasks were interesting, - it's hard to make watching other people do VR or listen to head phones interesting, but they managed.

It did seem very obvious that it was a non-elimination leg in the first episode. I really can't wait till the Reilly sisters leave.

Colin and Christie are my solid favorites, here's hoping they take it all.

[Miles]

28 minutes ago, Halting Hex said:

I was rather uncomfortable that, with the show having made the decision to go to Uganda, having had Tyler and Korey show their justified concern (maybe Bret thinks his "bear" demeanor is enough of a disguise?

I'm sure big bear also said something about it, but it didn't make for a good story, since he didn't win the leg, so it went on the cutting room floor. Just like people probably said something about it last episode in Dubai, where you can also be put to death for having gay sexx, and it wasn't shown.

Quote

the show then still IMO was soft-peddling the facts of the issue.  I wonder how much of the audience has no idea how far the government has gone to try and enforce its bigotry?  And I wasn't thrilled with Ty/Korey talking about how supportive all the people were (oh, so there's no "real" anti-gay hatred in Uganda?  It's just a few crazy politicians, is that it?  Yeah, try making out in the marketplace and see how that one flies, guys) and taking credit for putting out "positive energy" to feel so welcomed.  So…I guess the oppressed native gays just don't know the power of "positive energy", huh?  Forgive me if I'm skeptical about that one, Ty.  Maybe you're just heavily-protected (in multiple senses of the word), instead?

Yeah, that was kinda, urgh...

34 minutes ago, Halting Hex said:

In other Tyler/Korey news, I really didn't like that talking head of theirs discussing the Head-to-Head as something they'd seen on the Race "last season".  As if they hadn't done a H2H just two legs ago. It's bad enough that the show fiddled with the editing to hide the Head-to-Head in Leg 4, but to blatantly fib as if this was the first H2H of the season really rubbed me the wrong way.

You know they were promted by producers to talk about it in very general terms and that's were Korey said, "yeah having seen them last season, bla bla bla". That confessional was recorded there, it wasn't dubbed over (like Phils introduction to the head to head clearly was) and there is no way they knew at that point that they were going to edit out the first one.

43 minutes ago, Halting Hex said:

BTW, this is now four consecutive legs where being last to the Mat has essentially nothing to do with getting eliminated.  Non-elim, (hidden) H2H, non-elim, H2H.  At some point, this show will involve a race again, do you think? I mean, maybe?

I usually hate the head to head for this, but at least this time it was one where you could learn and so coming in earlier gave you an advantage. And I guess the previous one also didn't change anything about who came in last.

Still, I'd rather losse them quick. They have the poteential to make the whole rest of the leg meaningless. I'd be okay with them in the beginning of legs, to unbunch the bunches a little.

47 minutes ago, Halting Hex said:

 And Floyd's sexuality has never been confirmed, one way or the other)

I thought I remembered that Flloyd had a girlfriend at some point. I could be wrong though... and sure, that doesn't have to mean he's straight.

I kinda think Becca might play for the same sex team, but then, these laws usually don't effect lesbians.

[GaT]

So close & yet, Rachel is still in the race. If I was in the cab when she was doing her drama routine, I would have opened the door & pushed her out.

I was worried about Team Fun, they started out in first & immediately plummeted down towards the bottom. I really want them to win, & I'm going to be very unhappy if Rachel wins.

I thought the choice of countries was very strange. Not only does Uganda have the problem with the LGBTQ community, but Dubai is known for arresting women when they report they've been raped. Why would the show put the racers & crew in that kind of danger.

[Fake Jan Brady]

1 hour ago, Honeycocoa said:

I did wonder if Tyler and Korey had said anything about  and being LGBT in Dubai is punishable by years in prison possibly death. Uganda is bad but Dubais 's bad too.  I understand their sadness, it's awful to think of people like you being harassed, jailed and killed  for who they love.  I wonder if it got edited out...?

And after all that they won a trip to Singapore, where same-sex sexual activity is illegal (even if consensual and committed in private) and same-sex relationships are not recognised under the law. 

[mertensia]

That task actually being a VR task was a nice surprise - especially when they added in the quiz at the end! 

Okay, faster or not I could not have turned down running around dressed like a dinosaur. Just nope. I laughed a lot at Britney and Janelle's first choice of a nest.

Since they had to count stairs that were between lines I wonder if they did that so everyone couldn't just Google the number of steps.

I was pleasantly surprised that Rachel and Elissa were all "we helped dad during hunting season; this fish is no big deal." 

[biakbiak]

In all the many ways that Colin has changed the dancing and him hugging Corey when he was crying at the airport are my two favorites. It really annoys me because everyone I know who is currently watching saw their original season to enjoy the transformation with me.

[SomeTameGazelle]

8 hours ago, chaifan said:

So, apparently a few eps ago there was a head to head, but not only was it not shown, but now TAR pretends like it never even existed in the first place.  Why?  Because it didn't impact the order.  And they showed this one why? 

Because of the potential for drama thinking that it might be possible that Janelle and Britney could pass Rachel and Elissa. 

[Writing Wrongs]

No TAR for me due to weather coverage. Did anybody go home?

[sigmaforce86]

9 hours ago, spanana said:

Janelle is not an idiot, so not sure what happened there with the Rolex.  That said, it also felt like she was carrying the team and doing way more of the challenges.

She made some rookie mistakes there - She didn't fully read the clue, she didn't look at what the other racers were doing and most important she forgot that there is always some indicator of where to go.  If she really was supposed to get a rolex watch and clue from a certain vendor the clue would have said something like "find the marked stall" either by name or by amazing flag (making it a navigation through the market challenge).  And, worse, she let herself get flustered and she just kept going - she would have been far better off to realize she wasn't getting anywhere and do a sort of re-set; go back to the clue box and take just three minutes to read the clue again as though it was the first time.  

5 hours ago, Halting Hex said:

The first hour might as well have been flashing "THIS IS A NON-ELIMINATION LEG" throughout the second half.  I mean, it's possible that the producers would be so lame as to have an elimination leg where the order of finish was determined by the one-team-at-a-time zip line and thus there was no vestige of a "race" to the Mat at all,

Yup - it seemed pretty certain but they definitely gave it away the minute the did the zip line that can't change order.  I thought maybe the zip line was also to make up for the fake out at the first task with virtual reality instead of actual building jump.  Speaking of, the afghanimals sort of fell to the same thing that hung up Janelle in the market - they just kept doing the task and confirming the antenna's on the satellite over and over and never really talked about the question on the test to considered whether to look for something else.   

Hello Colin!  Some episodes back I commented on how I was waiting for him to blow and had trouble believing his transformation and someone else pointed out it's been years and years so of course he's changed.  True but we weren't there to see it so for me it was here's hot head, blow his stack at the drop of a hat angry Colin on my screen, blink, new season, here's zen, calm, takes his lumps with a smile and moves on calm happy Colin.  Just could not reconcile it but last night I think he proved whatever he's done to work on himself between then and now has worked.  If he could keep his cool and not flip out during that wood stacking and all that bicycle wrangling he really has changed for the better.  Have to say I'm sort of proud of him, that had to be difficult and now he's putting himself out there in a super stressful situation where if he fails and goes back to his old self it's for all the world to see.........that takes guts and he's keeping it together really well.  I think I'm routing for him now.  I don't know about routing for him to win but certainly, at the very least, to keep going in the race for awhile.

I hate the head to head but am glad they showed it because I love doing that sort of puzzle, doing it live would have been so much fun.  It was a bit survivorish but for me it makes up for all the slide puzzles on survivor which I completely suck at, always have; and would lose the challenge every time if I were playing.  That said it was only the task I liked not the head to head - one reason I like Amazing Race that makes it different from Survivor is it's pretty much all up to the teams, you either navigate well or you don't, you either read the clues and complete the tasks or you don't.  There's no vote or tribal, you're pretty much responsible for being in or out of the game (not fully there are some outside factors but let's be conservative and say it's 80% you, 20% outside factors).  The head to head takes that away; sure it can be tense and interesting to watch but to me it doesn't feel like it's in the spirit of a race.

Edited May 23, 2019 by sigmaforce86

[Haleth]

There is something about those T Rex costumes that amuses me no end, so when I first saw them in the "this season" highlights I could not wait for the episode.  Such fun!  Even though the "sky diving" was only VR, I still would have gone with the dinosaurs in a heartbeat.

I'm not a big Tyler and Korey fan but their concerns moved me.  Heartbreaking.  Why in the world would the producers plan a leg in Uganda considering the abhorrent policies?

Floyd is gay?

Rachel is such a drama queen with her fake tears.  Elissa with her huge lips is annoying too, but I've got to hand it to her for telling Rachel to put a lid on the whining.

The blondes were pretty clueless.  (No pun intended.)  First just dumping the dino eggs in a random pot, then running around endlessly (and bothering merchants) looking for a Rolex.

The head to head was useless since they finished in the order they all arrived.  Phil's play by play voiceover was too much like Probst and the puzzle was definitely Survivoresque.  However, since the final two teams were the annoying BB teams, either one losing was fine.

I miss the days when racers had to find their own flights.

[SomeTameGazelle]

1 hour ago, sigmaforce86 said:

She made some rookie mistakes there - She didn't fully read the clue, she didn't look at what the other racers were doing

Were any other teams still there?

[milner]

So Rachel sobs on the mat that she wants to raise her daughter to be a strong independent woman and she does that by sobbing whining and complaining. Excellent role model. 

[green]

On 5/23/2019 at 3:10 AM, GaT said:

I thought the choice of countries was very strange. Not only does Uganda have the problem with the LGBTQ community, but Dubai is known for arresting women when they report they've been raped. Why would the show put the racers & crew in that kind of danger.

No one was in danger.  Please.  The production company arranges things with governments before going into countries.

The majority of countries have what most Americans would consider backwards laws regarding gays, minorities and even women.  This is a race around the world and not a "we only visit perfect countries" race.  You see the good, the bad and the ugly.  From poor townships in South Africa to women being treated badly in India (a country I love, btw) to countless countries with anti-gay laws including Russia say. 

Also already mentioned, Singapore and the UAE as well as tons of other countries.  And it wasn't too many decades ago you could include the US in that category and some states may still have anti-gay laws on the book.

What TAR did was showcase the problem in Uganda and showed gays winning the leg there.  And it is a TV series that is seen in most countries in Africa (and everywhere else) so it actually made a positive, helpful contribution, however minor, to the problem.  People there who never knowingly met a gay person before but only hear them demonized see something different on their screens now and it starts them thinking. You have to talk and even show to open channels and minds if you want change.  Not shun.

And I agree with Tyler & Whoever (never remember his name) that there are plenty of loving people everywhere.  I hate when everyone in a country -- or here in some states -- are labeled "bigoted" due to the powers in charge and the certain segment of the population that follow them.  That is also a bigot's prospective to judge by the over all perception of a group and not the individual.

Edited May 25, 2019 by green

[Fukui San]

Why didn't the teams have to alternate racers in the Head to Head? They did last season. Also it didn't seem to matter whether the drums were in order sizewise.  A stack could be Medium-Little-Big and it still counted.

I'm glad Floyd's drum major superpower served him well in the silent disco Roadblock.

Rachel's so weepy and overemotional and Elissa is relatively levelheaded. And yet Rachel is the one tasked with doing the must-have Head to Head? Odd.

Colin & Christie have morphed into S6 Kris and Jon over the years. Uncomplicated smiley positive people. It's fascinating.

Janelle could have been lost in the market for 10 hours, and yet would have had let's say a 30/70 chance at winning the Head to Head since previous experience was definitely an advantage. Nobody lost twice in a row, did they?