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

[NutMeg]

11 hours ago, biakbiak said:

The only “markings” where a yellow and red stripe on the ground before the first step and after the last.

There may have been more if the actual number of steps was indeed above 300 but the number to count was 272.

[displayname]

4 hours ago, green said:

I too hate those Survivor style "challenges" right before the end.  I'm surprised we haven't had one yet involving untying lots of ropes to bags of puzzle pieces then assembling the puzzle while standing on a balance beam bare footed yet.

Spoiler

Is this the season with the "vote in u-turn"? Seems like they are trying to bring in elements from all three shows to reflect the theme.

[aemom]

On 5/24/2019 at 12:55 AM, millennium said:

Sure, Rachel's a little OTT, but so what if she cries in the cab?   The Afghanimals go from place to place beating their chests and bellowing and being perfectly obnoxious in public, in foreign countries where they are guests, but nobody calls them on that.   Why is a woman crying considered unacceptable but loutish, boorish behavior by men is expected and encouraged?

The Afghanimals are annoying and exhausting. When Rachel starts freaking out, her whiny voice is like nails on a chalkboard. I never FF when watching TAR, but I had to with her scenes in the cab.

18 hours ago, Netfoot said:

Pretty much everyone.

The prizes for TAR Canada are pretty nice. If I thought that I could physically hack the race, I would personally do it for the experience of going to various places and the prizes, not for the camera attention. 

[Netfoot]

7 minutes ago, aemom said:

I would personally do it for the experience of going to various places and the prizes, not for the camera attention. 

Unfortunately, these days, it seems most of the contestants take an opposite view.

[mertensia]

19 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

They've gone to mosques a few times, and on those occasions, the contestants were required to dress respectfully in local attire.  They've also gone to churches, cathedrals, synagogues and temples, some of which required specific kinds of clothing as well.  Which, quite frankly, is a good thing.

Exactly. When we were in Italy and visited the Duomo in Milan they were physically stopping women from entering with exposed shoulders and/or knees. One woman was busy arguing in what sounded like fluent Italian and the guards did not budge. Other women went about 50 feet to a souvenir stand and bought a cheap scarf to wrap around their shoulders.

[watch2much]

On 5/23/2019 at 8:06 PM, TVbitch said:

Colin is blowing my mind with his zen... and his righteous dance moves. At first, I was hoping for an Colin 1.0 outburst, but now I think that would be disappointing (and very upsetting for Christie). He obviously put in some massive effort to change his perspective and good on him.

totally agree.  and did you notice that at the top of the step counting challenge, Christie took the time to enjoy the view?  They really seem to be enjoying the entire experience this time.  I hope they win.  Also, I like how Britney put things in perspective when she said losing a race is not the worst day of her life--being told your child has cancer was.  having seen in my own family what that involves, she gets my admiration.

Edited May 25, 2019 by watch2much
add

[Concrtslt]

7 minutes ago, watch2much said:

totally agree.  and did you notice that at the top of the step counting challenge, Christie took the time to enjoy the view? 

This I noticed—I think she was the only one!  It’s a shame the race mentality does not always allow you to “stop and smell the roses” because I’m sure they miss out on a lot of really nice views and interactions with the local people.

[chitowngirl]

It would have been neat if flying into the pit stop was the last thing. Zooming in, over everyone cheering for $1,000,000!!

[Growsonwalls]

27 minutes ago, watch2much said:

Also, I like how Britney put things in perspective when she said losing a race is not the worst day of her life--being told your child has cancer was.  having seen in my own family what that involves, she gets my admiration.

It's kind of cool that I saw Britney grow up on reality TV before my eyes. On BB12 she was a bratty mean girl who was totally clueless about playing the game. On BB14 she was snarky and could go over the line when she got angry or frustrated with people, but was noticeably more mature. She took her blindside from Dan with good humor (and a lot of alcohol). Now she's just a regular soccer mom type, although still funny.

Same could be said about Janelle. In BB6 and BB7 she was a VIP cocktail waitress who had a great competitive spirit but could also be a real nasty piece of work. By BB14 she was basically a mellow, somewhat boring houseguest. By TAR she really comes across as even-keeled and boring. 

Which is why I kind of like Rachel. Time, age, kids, marriage have not dulled her hyper-competitive, intense personality. 

[lexington11]

On 5/24/2019 at 2:46 AM, SVNBob said:

Janelle and Britt were not sidelined by a bad cab driver.  The look on her face during that traffic snarl was also one of "what the fuck?".  She was just as incredulous as her passengers.  That was a situation outside her control. 

The cabbie in Dubai on the other hand....

That's true, because Brit & Janelle were on Vic & Nicole's podcast, and Brit mentioned how the Ugandan cabbie was constantly apologizing to them about the bad traffic jam and how she & Janelle felt bad for her. And with Dubai, Nicole mentioned that by law, females aren't allowed to drive as fast as men are, so all the teams that got to the tea roadblock first had male cabbies.

[biakbiak]

6 hours ago, NutMeg said:

There may have been more if the actual number of steps was indeed above 300 but the number to count was 272.

The number of steps in the mosque was a total of 304, but the clue only asked them to count the ones in the minaret.

[Booklady1017]

On 5/22/2019 at 10:04 PM, mojoween said:

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.

I couldn't believe how Janelle couldn't make sense of that clue after all that time. As much as I wanted Rachel and Elissa to leave, Janelle and Britney deserved to leave after that. 

On 5/22/2019 at 10:05 PM, Browncoat said:

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.

I was worried about Floyd too when I saw those bikes. I was happy for Tyler and Korey too. As much as I was happy for Colin for keeping his cool, I admit I kind wanted him to lose his cool then.

[Booklady1017]

On 5/22/2019 at 10:06 PM, Pepper the Cat said:

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

Team Fun and Colin and Christine are my favorites right now.

On 5/22/2019 at 10:11 PM, 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.

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.

The dinosaur task looked like so much fun. And I liked that this episode had more positivity. It was probably from all the negative energy from those two meanies from Survivor being gone now they are eliminated.

[Booklady1017]

On 5/22/2019 at 10:16 PM, bmoore4026 said:

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.

I like so many things from this post, LOL!

On 5/22/2019 at 10:14 PM, 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?  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? 

Wish Rachel and her sister were gone too and agree about the two teams you like and happy for what happened to Korey and Tyler.

[Booklady1017]

On 5/22/2019 at 10:17 PM, LadyChatts said:

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.  

I definitely want Colin and Christie and Team Fun in the final 3. Not sure if the third would be Nicole and Victor or Chris/Bret.

Colin dancing in the club was totally LOL! 

On 5/22/2019 at 10:52 PM, Rinaldo said:

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.

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.

The Dubai episode was great and the Uganda one had some great moments too.

[Booklady1017]

On 5/22/2019 at 11:46 PM, Richness said:

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.

I really don't like Rachel but she was right in the sense that it was smart to bring her sister and not Brendan because she didn't escalate Rachel's behavior but helped her calm down.

[spanana]

39 minutes ago, Booklady1017 said:

Team Fun and Colin and Christine are my favorites right now.

The dinosaur task looked like so much fun. And I liked that this episode had more positivity. It was probably from all the negative energy from those two meanies from Survivor being gone now they are eliminated.

I didn't get to finish the Nicole/Victor podcast to hear Janelle, but I did hear Brittany and at least amongst those two teams they seemed to reiterate that the dino task was one of the harder more frustrating tasks for them.  Supposedly the partners were supposed to stay together so they constantly had whoever was judging the task yelling at them because they were getting too far from their partners and neither Nicole nor Brittany could keep up with their respective partners.  So Victor would run ahead because he could, but then if Nicole found an egg, he was so far ahead that he couldn't hear her and etc.  Brittany said the same with her and Janelle that Janelle was so far ahead of her.  I think it general it just made communication hard, but it was entertaining as hell.

Also as someone mentioned above, does anyone know if it's true that women cab drivers in Dubai aren't allowed to drive as fast as men? I wouldn't be surprised and Vic/Nic said that is what happened to them in Dubai.  They asked their female cab driver to drive faster and I guess she told them she couldn't.  However they didn't sound too sure on the laws.  They seemed to be reacting to whatever their cabbie told them.

[chaifan]

35 minutes ago, spanana said:

Also as someone mentioned above, does anyone know if it's true that women cab drivers in Dubai aren't allowed to drive as fast as men? I wouldn't be surprised and Vic/Nic said that is what happened to them in Dubai.  They asked their female cab driver to drive faster and I guess she told them she couldn't.  However they didn't sound too sure on the laws.  They seemed to be reacting to whatever their cabbie told them.

I don't know the answer for certain, but my best guess would be is that it is not a law (ie men can drive 70 mph, women can only drive 60) but that women are held to higher/tighter standards than men.  If a man is speeding, the police probably won't do anything.  But if a woman is speeding she is much more likely to get a ticket.  Also, I did read in one article that the pink taxis all have GPS, so it is possible that the company could tell if a cab was speeding and the driver would get in trouble.  

[scowl]

9 hours ago, aemom said:

The prizes for TAR Canada are pretty nice. If I thought that I could physically hack the race, I would personally do it for the experience of going to various places and the prizes, not for the camera attention. 

In my younger days I would take wild travelling vacations hitting as many countries as possible to maximize my vacation time. I found that when I came home I couldn't remember half the places I had been so it felt like a waste. I stopped doing this and began enjoying vacations.

At the end of the season, TAR usually has teams put the order of the countries they visited and the contestants often struggle to remember where they had been. That's how I felt after my trips.

[Richness]

Also, I forgot to mention the other thing that caught my eye in this episode. In the previously on TAR at the begging of the first episode, it looked like Victor was throwing some glow sticks down in anger at the silent rave. Of course, it was very brief, and could have been something entirely different without any audio or surrounding context. However, it piqued my interest given that he's seems pretty chill.

7 hours ago, chitowngirl said:

It would have been neat if flying into the pit stop was the last thing. Zooming in, over everyone cheering for $1,000,000!!

No. Just no. It might be visually appealing, but it would completely ruin any sort of pretense of this being a race. It even killed the tension/suspense on this leg. In fact, any time racers are delayed having to wait to be strapped in safety harnesses is detrimental to the race. It's probably right behind Taxi and Plane drama as the one thing that takes the control out of the racers'  hands, and places it on someone else.

This would be similar to the Season 24 finale when where one team member parachuted onto the final mat, where their partner was waiting. I *hated* that ending with a passion. While visually stunning, it was no where near as thrilling as a literal foot race (Season 2). It's highly ironic though that that season also featured Rachel (and Brendon). I really hope this isn't portents of another horrible final leg.

Let's examine another scenario why a zipline would make for a horrible way to get to the final mat and determine a winner. If there's only one zipline, what happens if one of the racers freaks out and can't do it? If they were the first to arrive and get in the queue for the zipline, that would make them the winners of the race if it followed the same policy as this episode. But what do they do if they can't actually go through with it? It would make the Mika meltdown at the waterslide in Season 15 seem quaint in comparison. Do they still win the Race, or do they give it to the ones who got there next? If you think there's been controversy before over final leg shenanigans, you ain't seen nothing yet.

I also hate linear first-in/first-out tasks that don't allow for any shuffling of team positions due to their speed or cleverness. One of the reasons why I hated Season 24's finale so much was that in addition to the linear sky diving task, there was another horrible linear task earlier in the episode. The horrible David Copperfield magic task could only be done with one person/team at a time, and had more do with someone other than the racers themselves. This might be mitigated by having multiple ziplines. However, I'd really hate for the order to change because safety dweeb A was quicker at strapping someone into a zipline than safety dweeb B.

While a nighttime zipline might be visually interesting, I'd rather have a more exciting and racer based way to determine a TAR winner.

[Angeltoes]

On 5/23/2019 at 2:52 PM, Hera said:

So if your sibling is dismissive of you abilities, insensitive to your feelings, or whatever (and I'm specifically talking about behaviors that don't qualify as abusive here), you'll be annoyed and hurt, but you're still going to be siblings.

So you've met my sister and me?  We would never last on the Race.  We'd end up taking a swing at each other in front of Phil.

[Ilovepie]

On 5/24/2019 at 11:56 AM, Rinaldo said:

The whole leg there seems clearly designed to be run at night; and for that I can forgive the spoonfeeding of flights this time, 

The spoon feeding of flights has become my obsession this season, and not in a good way. Did Colin and Christie actually have to get up a 1:30 in the morning and go to the airport just to twiddle their thumbs until everyone else showed up??? If that’s the case, then other than the prize for first place there is zero advantage to coming in anything but second to last! If this is the new norm for this show, I wish they would just transport them wherever they are going and then stagger the start times at that point. Like, whoever came in first leaves the airport immediately and they stagger the times out from there based on finish times. Or something. This is bugging me way too much, but it does. Oh, and I detest the HtH too - is there anybody watching who actually likes this???

Major boo that Rachel and her duck lipped sister survived again! Blech!

I loved that Floyd immediately figured out how to find someone listening to his song in the club, and I started sweating when I saw them pick the bike hauling task - at least he didn’t have to ride it this time! I’m way too invested in them, and it’s always bad for my enjoyment of this show when I’m rooting thus much for one team. It reminds me of how much I loved the cowboys. If they don’t make it to the end I’m going to be bummed! Ditto Colin and Christie- he really has changed! His dancing to zero music was everything!!!

 I’m not surprised that we’re down to one BB team, one survivor team, and the rest TAR veterans (I count Rachel as a racer even though Elissa hasn’t done it). Still hoping for an all TAR finish, or maybe Nicole and Victor. I just find them devoid of personality.....

[raven]

On 5/24/2019 at 10:06 PM, Quilt Fairy said:

(I certainly don't consider millionaires having tea and tail-gating in the desert in their Top Gear level supercars to be an example of local culture). 

That was such a "non-task" task that I wondered if it was originally supposed to be some other type of task that had to be substituted for at the last minute.

There's a lot to say about Uganda but I don't think anyone has said this - the gentleman handing out the clues at the top of the minaret was enjoying himself so much, it was a lot of fun to watch.

I like Chris and Bret, they have been having a good attitude so far.

[lexington11]

On 5/24/2019 at 2:00 PM, spanana said:

I guess I'm trying to figure out what is your definition of fame-whoring teams? Having appeared on a reality show besides Amazing Race?  Because obviously like whoever you want to like, but I wouldn't classify some of these people famewhores.  Like the Survivor guys who are fairly low key.  Are Vic/Nic famewhores? I guess people could make an argument for it, but not really in my book.  I don't see how Team Fun, having only ever appeared on this show are famewhores either.

I wouldn't classify Chris & Bret and Vic & Nic as famewhores, because neither duo seems interested in making a career out of reality TV, which is basically my definition of famewhore

[Haleth]

11 hours ago, Ilovepie said:

I wish they would just transport them wherever they are going and then stagger the start times at that point. Like, whoever came in first leaves the airport immediately and they stagger the times out from there based on finish times.

YES!

[Rinaldo]

12 hours ago, Ilovepie said:

The spoon feeding of flights has become my obsession this season, and not in a good way. Did Colin and Christie actually have to get up a 1:30 in the morning and go to the airport just to twiddle their thumbs until everyone else showed up??? If that’s the case, then other than the prize for first place there is zero advantage to coming in anything but second to last! If this is the new norm for this show...

It's nothing new. Bunching at airports has been happening (and complained about, by those who'd imagined teams strung out around the globe on the same day) since TAR1. It's the way long-distance travel works: If you arrive at an airport during the night, the next planes out won't leave till morning. What does seem to be changed is the complete lack of strategizing in terms of choosing rival flight options, to the extent that there's no point showing airport activity at all any more.

[ML89]

On 5/24/2019 at 10:06 PM, Quilt Fairy said:

nd this episode had nothing related to local culture (I certainly don't consider millionaires having tea and tail-gating in the desert in their Top Gear level supercars to be an example of local culture).

I thought it was funny, tho, because they just did the same thing about two months ago on Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles on Bravo. One of the high powered realtors went to Dubai to try and become the US rep for one of their big condo projects, and one of the things she did was go out to the desert for a meal like this. It must be the Dubai equivalent of one of those farm to table meals at the farm "experiences."

[doodlebug]

4 hours ago, Rinaldo said:

It's nothing new. Bunching at airports has been happening (and complained about, by those who'd imagined teams strung out around the globe on the same day) since TAR1. It's the way long-distance travel works: If you arrive at an airport during the night, the next planes out won't leave till morning. What does seem to be changed is the complete lack of strategizing in terms of choosing rival flight options, to the extent that there's no point showing airport activity at all any more.

And I think some of that is producer-driven and some of it is due to the post 911 travel changes.  Way back in Colin and Christie's first season, they managed to get an almost 24 hour jump on the rest of the pack; arriving at the next destination (I think it was Paris) before the previous leg was finished and before the race crew could get there.  The logistics of setting up the tasks including having cooperation from the locals in shutting down areas of town, opening and closing tourist attractions in order to allow filming and just making sure that there are enough race staff., camera operators, sound engineers, production personnel available to go around made it impossible to accommodate such a large spread between competitors.  Colin was an absolute genius at figuring out the travel options and, had they been allowed to do it their way, they could easily end up with an insurmountable lead over the 3 weeks or so that the race lasts.

Then, after 911, air travel changed a lot due to security.  Switching airlines mid trip in order to try to get an advantage became harder to do, especially with checked luggage which the film crew would need to have even if the competitors didn't.  Also, in many parts of the world, there are air carriers with poor safety records and, from what I understand, TPTB started providing the racers with a list of acceptable airlines for travel which excluded a lot of the smaller, less safe, carriers.  That really limited their ability to find flights with limited seating to try to get a jump on everyone.

I just don't think TPTB are willing to spend the time and money on the production costs involved if they let everyone travel at their own pace nor would the fans be excited about a finale with one team being a couple days ahead of the pack.  The airport drama really was fun, but I think times and travel have changed too much.

Edited May 27, 2019 by doodlebug

[SVNBob]

TAR5 was post-9/11.  Only TAR1 was before.

[doodlebug]

2 minutes ago, SVNBob said:

TAR5 was post-9/11.  Only TAR1 was before.

Yes, I know.  I believe it was Colin, in one of his only screw ups when it came to travel, who checked their backpacks during the finale and then, during a layover, found a better connection but couldn't take advantage because airlines don't allow passengers to leave checked bags when switching.  The post-911 security changes in overseas travel also evolved over time, and while, Tar 1 was the only pre 911 race, it took a while for all of the security changes to happen and evolve and it has now become far harder for travelers to adjust their itinerary.  Airlines also figured out that using hubs and funneling passengers through them was better economically and that drove a lot of small carriers out of business and limited options for better flights.

I've never done TAR, but I've traveled overseas multiple times in the past 20 years; the flight options are just not what they used to be.

[Rinaldo]

4 hours ago, doodlebug said:

Airlines also figured out that using hubs and funneling passengers through them was better economically and that drove a lot of small carriers out of business and limited options for better flights.

All of this (and other points mentioned hereabouts) is true, and also something that seems likely to me: TAR is not getting the lavish budget from CBS that it used to, even as travel costs have risen during the years it's been on. One way to economize and stay within a tighter budget is to pre-arrange flights when possible, with no leeway for alternatives. The mind reels at how much must have been spent on last-second plane tickets for multiple teams of four, back in the days of the first races.

[Ilovepie]

10 hours ago, Rinaldo said:

It's nothing new. Bunching at airports has been happening (and complained about, by those who'd imagined teams strung out around the globe on the same day) since TAR1. It's the way long-distance travel works: If you arrive at an airport during the night, the next planes out won't leave till morning. What does seem to be changed is the complete lack of strategizing in terms of choosing rival flight options, to the extent that there's no point showing airport activity at all any more.

I hear what you’re saying, and yes, bunching does happen, but it’s apparent they are being put on one flight together, so why stagger their start times if it’s just to go to the airport and wait for one flight? That is what’s bugging me. I miss everyone booking their own travel and trying to one up other teams by choosing different flights. I loved when people would get to another country and have no idea if they were ahead or behind. The travel aspect of the race (both driving and flying) has basically been removed as a component of the show and it’s just made the show more generic because really they are just transporting them to another location and restarting the race every time. It’s just not as exciting or interesting and it’s disappointing to me. 

[SomeTameGazelle]

On 5/26/2019 at 8:34 PM, Ilovepie said:

Oh, and I detest the HtH too - is there anybody watching who actually likes this???

I don't always like the execution, but I like the head-to-head as a way to potentially shuffle the order. 

[Honeycocoa]

On ‎5‎/‎23‎/‎2019 at 12:56 AM, Fake Jan Brady said:

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.

Fake Jan Brady, Yes the Travelocity editor should have caught that. I'm guessing you know that the actual prize is Travelocity Vouchers, and they can do what ever they want with them - Travel together or separately wherever they want.

[green]

On 5/27/2019 at 7:35 PM, Ilovepie said:

I hear what you’re saying, and yes, bunching does happen, but it’s apparent they are being put on one flight together, so why stagger their start times if it’s just to go to the airport and wait for one flight? That is what’s bugging me. I miss everyone booking their own travel and trying to one up other teams by choosing different flights. I loved when people would get to another country and have no idea if they were ahead or behind. The travel aspect of the race (both driving and flying) has basically been removed as a component of the show and it’s just made the show more generic because really they are just transporting them to another location and restarting the race every time. It’s just not as exciting or interesting and it’s disappointing to me. 

Yeah the airport drama was always some of my favorite most scenes. 

And now they seldom go more than a few miles away from the airport they fly both into and out of.  No more grand scramble of buses they had to figure out themselves for 12 to 24 hour awesome drives into rural areas and secondary cities.  The show has sadly lost it's mojo and is a shell of what it used to be. 

And seeing Colin & Christie again just brings those memories of Classic TAR back 10 fold this season.  Like I miss some of the landmark locations they used to go to.  C & C went to the Great Pyramid (and crawled around inside it too) and the Sphinx where the mat was and the Temple of Luxor in Egypt and the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. 

Now we get an inflated climb/slide in Tokyo and virtual reality in Dubai both of which could just as easily have happened on a Hollywood back lot.  And last time C & C were in Dubai they had the choice of sky diving or driving around in the desert getting stuck in the sand.  Now we have a 5 minute tea with multi-millionaires instead for their token desert stand-up.

Yes it is still a good entertainment show but it has just become one of many reality shows filled with artificial gimmicks when it used to be a cut above such stuff on the whole.  The feel of a grand journey of a lifetime and the "amazing" part of The Amazing Race are gone and have been for some time.

Edited May 29, 2019 by green

[bpsoup]

On 5/26/2019 at 10:02 PM, lexington11 said:

I wouldn't classify Chris & Bret and Vic & Nic as famewhores, because neither duo seems interested in making a career out of reality TV, which is basically my definition of famewhore 

Vic was also on The Challenge, so I would for sure put him in that grouping, since this is his 3rd different show.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

The main reason I hate the way the flights are handled now is that winning first in the previous leg (or even coming in second, third, or fourth) means nothing (aside from the prize for whoever came in first). Whatever time advantage you have is wiped away when the show dumps everyone on the same flight. It's especially bad at this point in the competition because they have flown somewhere for every leg so finishing the previous leg two hours before another team means nothing when you start the next leg. Maybe once they inevitably get to Europe and they can have the racers drive or take trains, the teams will retain a minimal advantage in the next leg but for now it sucks that they are all starting each leg at the same time.

[spanana]

4 hours ago, bpsoup said:

Vic was also on The Challenge, so I would for sure put him in that grouping, since this is his 3rd different show.

And he didn't like that show, caused zero drama on it, and went home as soon as he could only to never go back. 

[ML89]

2 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

The main reason I hate the way the flights are handled now is that winning first in the previous leg (or even coming in second, third, or fourth) means nothing (aside from the prize for whoever came in first). Whatever time advantage you have is wiped away when the show dumps everyone on the same flight.

I was messing around on a streaming service and watched the first half of the TAR 2 ep where they go from Hong Kong to Sydney (featuring the Chas shopping trip) and wow what a difference. Everyone wondering where the Chas are as they aren't on the same flight, Phil describing Detours and Roadblocks...of course, I'd also forgotten the poisonous Will and Tara and Gary and Matt. 

[Ilovepie]

14 hours ago, green said:

Yeah the airport drama was always some of my favorite most scenes. 

And now they seldom go more than a few miles away from the airport they fly both into and out of.  No more grand scramble of buses they had to figure out themselves for 12 to 24 hour awesome drives into rural areas and secondary cities.  The show has sadly lost it's mojo and is a shell of what it used to be. 

And seeing Colin & Christie again just brings those memories of Classic TAR back 10 fold this season.  Like I miss some of the landmark locations they used to go to.  C & C went to the Great Pyramid (and crawled around inside it too) and the Sphinx where the mat was and the Temple of Luxor in Egypt and the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. 

Now we get an inflated climb/slide in Tokyo and virtual reality in Dubai both of which could just as easily have happened on a Hollywood back lot.  And last time C & C were in Dubai they had the choice of sky diving or driving around in the desert getting stuck in the sand.  Not we have a 5 minute tea with multi-millionaires instead for their token desert stand-up.

Yes it is still a good entertainment show but it has just become one of many reality shows filled with artificial gimmicks when it used to be a cut above such stuff on the whole.  The feel of a grand journey of a lifetime and the "amazing" part of The Amazing Race are gone and have been for some time.

@green, you expressed it better, but I think that’s really what’s bugging me. It’s turned into a game show with stupid stunt casting and not such a grand adventure. When you compare the old seasons to the newer ones, they feel so much different to me. I think the change has happened over time though and most people don’t notice or care, I guess. It’s just not the same show anymore for me. 

[meep.meep]

On 5/27/2019 at 9:52 AM, doodlebug said:

I've never done TAR, but I've traveled overseas multiple times in the past 20 years; the flight options are just not what they used to be.

Depends on where you are.  In Europe there are many more flight options than there used to be with the advent of the discount carriers (Ryan Air).  People fly now where they used to take the train.  Lots more options.  That's why Europe shut down when that Icelandic volcano erupted.

[lexington11]

On 5/28/2019 at 12:35 PM, bpsoup said:

Vic was also on The Challenge, so I would for sure put him in that grouping, since this is his 3rd different show.

Right...I forgot about that, since he wasn't on long, and never mentions his time on there

[Booklady1017]

On 5/28/2019 at 3:39 AM, green said:

Yeah the airport drama was always some of my favorite most scenes. 

And now they seldom go more than a few miles away from the airport they fly both into and out of.  No more grand scramble of buses they had to figure out themselves for 12 to 24 hour awesome drives into rural areas and secondary cities.  The show has sadly lost it's mojo and is a shell of what it used to be. 

And seeing Colin & Christie again just brings those memories of Classic TAR back 10 fold this season.  Like I miss some of the landmark locations they used to go to.  C & C went to the Great Pyramid (and crawled around inside it too) and the Sphinx where the mat was and the Temple of Luxor in Egypt and the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. 

Now we get an inflated climb/slide in Tokyo and virtual reality in Dubai both of which could just as easily have happened on a Hollywood back lot.  And last time C & C were in Dubai they had the choice of sky diving or driving around in the desert getting stuck in the sand.  Now we have a 5 minute tea with multi-millionaires instead for their token desert stand-up.

Yes it is still a good entertainment show but it has just become one of many reality shows filled with artificial gimmicks when it used to be a cut above such stuff on the whole.  The feel of a grand journey of a lifetime and the "amazing" part of The Amazing Race are gone and have been for some time.

I miss the flight drama too. I liked figuring out if the other teams stuck on other flights would have such a big disadvantage. I miss also some of the great landmarks and tasks they did in past seasons.

[Booklady1017]

On 5/26/2019 at 8:34 PM, Ilovepie said:

The spoon feeding of flights has become my obsession this season, and not in a good way. Did Colin and Christie actually have to get up a 1:30 in the morning and go to the airport just to twiddle their thumbs until everyone else showed up??? If that’s the case, then other than the prize for first place there is zero advantage to coming in anything but second to last! If this is the new norm for this show, I wish they would just transport them wherever they are going and then stagger the start times at that point. Like, whoever came in first leaves the airport immediately and they stagger the times out from there based on finish times. Or something. This is bugging me way too much, but it does. Oh, and I detest the HtH too - is there anybody watching who actually likes this???

Major boo that Rachel and her duck lipped sister survived again! Blech!

I loved that Floyd immediately figured out how to find someone listening to his song in the club, and I started sweating when I saw them pick the bike hauling task - at least he didn’t have to ride it this time! I’m way too invested in them, and it’s always bad for my enjoyment of this show when I’m rooting thus much for one team. It reminds me of how much I loved the cowboys. If they don’t make it to the end I’m going to be bummed! Ditto Colin and Christie- he really has changed! His dancing to zero music was everything!!!

 I’m not surprised that we’re down to one BB team, one survivor team, and the rest TAR veterans (I count Rachel as a racer even though Elissa hasn’t done it). Still hoping for an all TAR finish, or maybe Nicole and Victor. I just find them devoid of personality.....

LOL about Elissa and I like your idea about staggering the start times.

[Ilovepie]

16 hours ago, Booklady1017 said:

LOL about Elissa and I like your idea about staggering the start times.

The more I think about it, the more I like this idea - for one thing, you could just place the clue box outside the front of the airport and show them pulling the tab and reading the clue with the start time underneath. It still keeps the integrity of the staggered start. For another thing, it might eliminate the mob of them running through the airport jockeying for postition. It's really rude and obnoxious.

[Bouquet]

On 5/23/2019 at 12:14 PM, chaifan said:

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? 

Unlike Brett, both Korey and Tyler do have the gay voice to some extent, which could mark them out. Is the gay voice a thing in Africa, widely recognized, and used to discriminate?

On 5/24/2019 at 7:02 AM, Marvin said:

Why were they all of a sudden concerned about gay rights in Uganda when nothing was said in Dubai where it is also illegal ?? Not to mention many of the other countries visited in the Amazing Race !! Also why was Bret not bothered ?

Uganda was probably singled-out because, while strong and enforced anti-gay laws are common in Muslim nations, they're rare in Christian nations, from which most viewers come.

[fishcakes]

58 minutes ago, Bouquet said:

Uganda was probably singled-out because, while strong and enforced anti-gay laws are common in Muslim nations, they're rare in Christian nations, from which most viewers come.

As @chaifan noted upthread, Uganda is a Christian nation.

On 5/23/2019 at 1:23 PM, chaifan said:

Uganda IS a Christian nation.  It is the fundamentalist Christians, spurred on by some fundamentalist US religious groups/persons, that have fueled the anti-gay hate and prompted the current gay=death legislation. 

According to Wikipedia, Uganda is 84% Christian, 14% Muslim.  

[Bouquet]

6 hours ago, fishcakes said:

As @chaifan noted upthread, Uganda is a Christian nation.

Yes, that's what I'm saying: Uganda was singled-out because it isn't a Muslim nation where harsh treatment is expected.

[spanana]

So Korey addressed their reaction to Uganda versus Dubai on Nic/Vic's podcast this week. He said part of how they reacted was in part due to the security briefings in both cities/countries.   

But generally before they go to any city or country, the racers are given security briefings.  I remember Brittany last week on the podcast also referenced how scary the security briefing they were given before going to Uganda.  I'm not sure in what way though or what security played up.  I remember she said something about how they were told to search their hotel rooms before they went inside and locked the door.

But point being, the security briefing for Uganda focused on the LGBTQ angle I think way more than the one for Dubai and it keyed them up in some way and brought everything much more to the forefront. They of course knew going to Uganda was likely to happen if they stayed in the race because their visas were already taken care of, but it also seems like the racers in some way react to the security briefings they are given in various places.

Edited May 31, 2019 by spanana

[fishcakes]

1 hour ago, Bouquet said:

Yes, that's what I'm saying: Uganda was singled-out because it isn't a Muslim nation where harsh treatment is expected.

Ah, got it. I misread your post. I see what you were saying now.