S31.E09: Let's Split!

[raven]

Quote

Teams take a bumpy ride in Split, Croatia, and try not to get tongue-tied reciting poetry while in motion.

Air date 6/12/19

[Browncoat]

Whew!  Thank goodness Colin and Christie are still in it!  I was worried there for a while.

Switching to a new line as it opens is not cutting in line, Nicole.  You should have been quicker on the move if it bothered you so much.  I'm kinda sad it worked out so well for her and Victor.  I'm getting mighty tired of his man-bun.

That raft thing looked like fun!  Unless you had to try to memorize a poem while riding it, of course.

Puppies!!!!!!!!

Bye, Chris and Bret.  Ya done good, all things considered.

[raven]

Props to Floyd and Bret for completing the soldier task on their own.

Really good ep - gorgeous Croatia, difficult tasks, some flight drama and a rookie mistake from Colin and Christie.  

I laughed when Tyler and Korey got off the raft and were wobbling around.  Another good win for them!

Chris and Bret got stuck in their heads with the needle in a haystack task.   Colin looked like he started with the right method (using the container to scoop) which C&B didn't appear to do. 

Oh and Dalmatian puppies!!

[PaperTree]

OMFG!  I can't believe CC forgot their gnome.  And survived.  Wow

I love airport drama!  Sorry Nicole, you picked the wrong line.  Usually there is a queue, but not today.  Then the woman clocks out.  rofl.  Then they pull a stand-by out of their butts and arrive 3rd. 

Ay carumba!

My busboy experience would be useful to deliver those drinks.

Split is beautiful.

I'm not good at snorkeling, I tend to choke.  Good switch for TK.  The poem on the boat is not easy, but more controllable.

Not looking good for CB.  They need to focus.

It's such a strange feeling to not despise any of the last six standing.  I like some less than others, but would be OK with anybody winning.

Roadblock is hard.  Drum Major Floyd kills it.

The Korey - Nicole temporary alliance was beneficial to both of them.

Then Christie arriving saved the Afghanimals, and herself the same way.  The end was really rushed.

Friends had 2 dalmatians.  Challenging dogs.

eta:  The episode free of Reilly drama is like the fresh cool breeze tonight.

Edited June 13, 2019 by PaperTree

[dgpolo]

2 minutes ago, PaperTree said:

The Korey - Nicole temporary alliance was beneficial to both of them.

Then Christie arriving saved the Afghanimals, and herself the same way.  The end was really rushed.

Friends had 2 dalmatians.  Challenging dogs.

Didn't she talk him out of a correct answer?

It really was rushed, what was up with that?

So glad you spelled it right, Dalmatians as from Dalmatia, when Phil mentioned Dalmatia I was hoping for a dog sighting, the puppies were a bonus. Maybe they should have had a task with 101 of them.

[PaperTree]

1 minute ago, dgpolo said:

Didn't she talk him out of a correct answer?

Once, I think.  Spellcheck is my friend 🙂

Edited June 13, 2019 by PaperTree

[EllenB]

Aw, I'll miss Chris and Brett and their laid-back likability.  But at this point, I'll miss whichever team exits because I like them all.

[spanana]

I'm of two minds about airport gate but don't have a real opinion without knowing more details. I do agree Nicole is whiny so this isn't really me defending her exactly.

I don't think Team Fun cut exactly, but it also seemed like there was only meant to be one ticket line open at a time.  The new lady came in and opened just as the other lady was going off duty, so I don't necessarily think there was mean to be two windows.  Just that they slightly overlapped while helping one customer and then the second lady left after she finished her last sale.   

So is that two lines?  I'm not sure.  I do think if Nicole/Victor had a problem with it then they could have done more in the moment and the smart thing to do in the first place would hav been to split up and have one of them in each line so both lines were covered.  That said, I didn't really get the impression Victor cared much.  I mean, of course he cared in that he wanted to get on the flight but we weren't shown any footage of him complaining about Team Fun cutting.  He was mostly calming Nicole down away from where Team Fun is while they got their standby flight booked.

Chris/Bret really eliminated themselves here.  It just seemed like they gave up.

I don't hate anyone left but I think Colin/Christie are the only ones I really want to win.  Oh wait, I wouldn't be mad at Tyler/Korey.  Truly I wouldn't be mad at any of them but both Nicole and Becca annoy me and Leo/Jamal have run a fairly crappy race.  

I can't really point a finger at what about Becca annoys me.  I think it's partly because she tries to come off so laid back and "fun" and I do think she genuinely has fun a part of the time, but the rest she seems like she's dangerously close to losing her cool.  

Can I team Victor and Floyd up together?

Edited June 13, 2019 by spanana

[Haleth]

What a fun episode!  Croatia is absolutely gorgeous. I was really worried Colin and Christie blew it, thank goodness they teamed up with the Afghanimals to get through the soldier thing. 

Nicole needs to stop with the victim thing and start being more proactive.

Yikes for the Bros and their double bald snark.  Not being able to stick to a task usually dooms a team. 

Edited June 13, 2019 by Haleth

[Pepper the Cat]

I was really pulling for Chris and Bret so sorry to see them go. 

I din’t think I could have done either task for the detour. They were both really hard.

and I would have never gotten through the Road Block.

Over all, a very tough leg.

I like all teams left, so am not sure who to cheer for!

[Alice Mudgarden]

Leo and Jamal's cab driver was over their hyper enthusiasm from the moment they got in the cab and I loved it.

[Lantern7]

Well, Survivor has run out of teams. Does that mean TAR gets the Wednesday 8 p.m. slot in Winter 2020, and Survivor gets bumped back to that summer? Yeah, wishful thinking.

Chris & Bret ran a good race. I thought that they were toast after the third leg, when they opted for the dancing, and the soundtrack immediately  broke out into the Fail Cymbals. But they hung tough and raced well. Not bad for two guys I barely remembered.

Becca resorted to rap in order to memorize the poem? Oh, wow, no way. 😛

Colin & Christie came way too to the edge for my tastes. Seriously, what would be worse than losing out on $1 million to a schlub and his wife? Getting eliminated for failing to beat out two schlubs to the mat. Luckily, Bromance double (quadruple?) Bald Snarked the Detour, so they could retrieve their Sponsor Gnome.

Once again, a TAR team wins a leg. Once again, Tyler & Korey get a prize because another team couldn't get to the mat quickly enough. I hope Tyler's online presence is profitable, because he and Korey are gonna have to pay taxes on them. I'm good with them winning, even when Tyler goes for the easy joke way too hard.

Sweet Roadblock. Too much cooperation between Racers, though. And what better way to to playing a glorified shell game with gladiators? Dalmatians on the mat. And puppies!!! Not my go-to cute dog breed, but still a welcome presence. With puppies!!!!

Edited June 13, 2019 by Lantern7

[spanana]

I didn't mind the cooperation at the Roadblock, at least for the front of the pack racers.  For Korey and Nicole I don't think it was a big deal because they knew they were the first two teams and I think there knew there was some distance between them and the rest of the racers, so they just needed to get through it as quickly as they could to duke it out to the mat.

At the end of the leg it's a big riskier but at least if you leave the roadblock at the same time as the other team, you have a fighting chance.

I do bet the other teams are now somewhat regretting not u-turning Victor/Nicole since they bounced back to a 2nd place finish.  I know they caught a lucky break here, but they are the kind of racers who can do that sort of thing.

Edited June 13, 2019 by spanana

[North of Eden]

QUADRUPLE BALD SNARK...YAY!!! Ha, I was over the moon when it was just a Triple Bald Snark because anything that connects me to the classic episodes of yesteryear before all the gimmicks and stunt casting set in is always welcome.

There was no coming back from the 4th switch. So dumb to give up the first time when they had two coins left. Did anyone see the clue? Did it say to search by the buoys specifically? I almost have to believe no because no one else did. Frankly, it was shocking how quickly Colin gave up...that was so not like him.

I'm not sure why the editors chose to telegraph the ending in the first five minutes when the Bromance were predicting running a good leg and coming in first.

I have always wanted to see someone forget their gnome (hopefully not discovering it until the mat), but this was good enough.

That church was one of the coolest things I've ever seen on the race...I can't believe they didn't go inside! I wanted to see just how big it was built into the side of that cliff face!

Tyler and Becca continue to be the valedictorian and salutatorian of suck. How can there be two such annoying people in one race? When Tyler was looking for the treasure, I hoped he would pull up some unexploded World War II ordinance. Not to blow him up but just to scare him out of the characters he's playing if only briefly. It is a character, right? Because I refuse to believe a person could actually be that annoying 24/7

To end, I have to say I DO NOT like teams helping each other...it's against the spirit of a race!

Edited June 13, 2019 by North of Eden

[PaperTree]

22 minutes ago, spanana said:

 Truly I wouldn't be mad at any of them but both Nicole and Becca annoy me and Leo/Jamal have run a fairly crappy race.

Totally agree.

18 minutes ago, Haleth said:

Nicole needs to stop with the victim thing and start being more proactive.

The victim thing got her the BB win (over a truly vile abusive dude) so she's sticking with it as much as I hate it.

[Rinaldo]

One of the more stunning feats of strength (mental, in this case) ever seen on TAR was the sight of Floyd just smoking that Roadblock on the first try because of his expertise at keeping track of marchers in formation.

It's hard to know what Team Bromance should ideally have done. Having completed the snorkeling, all but 2 coins, it seems they could and should have gone all the way with it. But they were there experiencing it, and I wasn't. Surely the producers can't have planned for it to be that impossible; were they in the wrong spot, or not searching in a systematic enough way?

The Afghanimals' attempt at the, um, poem was hampered by habits of sloppy thinking, not even hearing themselves make word substitutions because it's "close enough." But they made it, and acknowledged the problem in the end.

This bit of Croatia is beautiful, and obviously geared to an international tourist industry. The country includes not only Dalmatia, but Illyria (as in Twelfth Night; if Viola had washed up on this touristy beach, her story might have been quite different).

39 minutes ago, North of Eden said:

Frankly, it was shocking how quickly Colin gave up...that was so not like him.

I thought so too at first, but Bromance's "not found anything in two hours" was his justification. He's a persevere-er, but also a pragmatist, and that was new and decisive information. And if you're really going to switch tasks, best not to shilly-shally but to do it right away and not lose more time.

Edited June 13, 2019 by Rinaldo

[Lamima]

Man, I love Becca. Not sure why all the hate. I don't mind Tyler either. 

The bros should have just kept at the coin search. But I do think they were the worst racers left (race wise and not likability wise). Next is Afganimals. Those guys just don't buckle down and take the race seriously. 

And the Dalmations...I used to want one. Many many yeas ago. But then I learned they are a bit temperamental, maybe nippy of little kids so we never got one. But they all looked stunning there at the mat. Maybe that helped the bros take losing on the chin.

Edited June 13, 2019 by Lamima

[Fukui San]

Well if Colin can't do the snorkeling task no one was going to.

What, they didn't make them perform a poem in Croatian?

An old school feeling episode with three tiers of flights.

It's cool when a task falls right into Floyd's very specific skillset like this and the nightclub task.

[srpturtle80]

Hella impressed with Floyd on that roadblock. He was awesome!

Nicole seemed extra whiny tonight. 

Any one else feeling a little nauseated watching them bounce around in those rafts? And trying to read at the same time? 🤢

Chris and Bret were driving me nuts with their switching back and forth. Just pick one and finish it!!! 

Watching the airport drama made me realize how much I miss watching them arrange flights and having the results like we did tonight with different teams arriving at different times. They’ve really gotten away from that and I definitely think that’s sad. 

[Lamima]

And I miss the old tasks where they have to serve food to people but it's very hard (remember the one where the folks ordered in another language and they'd have to try and guess which dish)? I also remember another where they had to take food way far away (like to a wedding) and lots got dropped or spilled. This one with the serving drinks was too easy and then the gnome in the Monk basket...the racers didn't have to do anything. So those 2 tasks were un necessary. Not sure the purpose. But then those water ones were so hard and took forever. As did the soldiers with shields one. Then why have the beach drinks and the Monk thing?

[chaifan]

Thank You TAR!  This was probably the closest TAR has come to a classic first season episode in a very long time.  Actual airport strategy and shuffling, not just spoonfed flights.  Gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous scenery.  (Split is even more amazing in person - it's like a walk back through time.)  Truly challenging challenges.  Multiple opportunities to shake up the order of things.  And puppies!  Multiple puppies!  I loved this episode!

I'd love to hear from Phil on the coin dive challenge.  I know they test these things out, so I wonder how long it was supposed to take?  Two coins in two hours is ridiculous. 

I have no problem with the racers teaming up on the gladiator challenge.  I think that was smart of Nicole & Corey - yeah, it becomes a foot race (or row race) to the finish, but I'd rather deal with that than risk losing second place to teams that could pass me up if I can't get it on my own.  But wow!  Floyd just smoked that challenge!  How many times has his band experience come into play on TAR?  Same thing for Christy & Jamal - teaming up meant neither would be last, and that's all that matters at that point.  So, good game play.  (Also, I would have loved to be a fly on the wall in Rachel's living room when Christy so easily agreed to work with Jamal on this task.)

Sort of sorry to see Chris & Bret go.  I'd rather have Nicole & Victor out at this point.  C&B were finally getting into the TAR groove, and were really enjoying the race, too. 

Allover, way to go TAR!

[green]

26 minutes ago, North of Eden said:

To end, I have to say I DO NOT like teams helping each other...it's against the spirit of a race!
 

Well to start I have to say I LOVE when teams help each other.  They have been doing it since Season 1 where it was so sweet to see Kevin & Drew helping Nancy & Emily.  And it is always best to work together not to get eliminated then play alone and shoot yourself in the foot and come in last.

Also it makes it more of a great fellowship.  Too bad some fall by the wayside but help when you can and you may get help yourself too when you need it the most.  It isn't some stupid "RACE" ... it is the AMAZING race where friendships for life are formed during a magical journey.

Colin & Christie, you scared the hell out of me tonight.  Stop doing stuff like that.  Gnomes, don't leave home without them.

Yeah Brett & Chris really messed up.  Colin was doing it right.  You USE your scoop.  Not look at it blankly.  But good for Colin as soon as the other guys said they had been doing it for 2 hours to immediately realize the implications and bolt decisively instead of playing Hamlet like the other team.

Brett & Chris, really major bad choices this leg but you guys seemed nice enough and you outlasted the horror that was Rachel and even helped get her off my screen so a tip of the cap to you guys.  You made it further than I thought you would.

When are people going to realize that Tyler & Korey are running away with this race.  It is like they are invisible or something.

[green]

13 minutes ago, chaifan said:

I'd love to hear from Phil on the coin dive challenge.  I know they test these things out, so I wonder how long it was supposed to take?  Two coins in two hours is ridiculous.

What someone else mentioned and I repeated above.  They were doing it the wrong way.  They were suppose to use the scoop to dig down a little and then metal detect that scoop like how Colin was doing it.  Instead they just skimmed the surface.

[ByaNose]

Nicole is such a whiner. Jeez! It’s bad enough with her voice but add the whining it’s pure torture. They’ve been pretty consistent so it’s possible they make the Final 3. I’m not really crazy about any of the teams left except for Colin & Christie. I also still like Team Fun but if I hear one more time that Floyd was in the marching bad my head might explode. I really wanted Chris & Bret to get first today. They were doing so well. They should have stuck with coin task. I think they would have gotten it eventually. Also, Chris & Bret are huge guys. They don’t look like gym rats but are just huge in general. 

[PaperTree]

38 minutes ago, chaifan said:

(Also, I would have loved to be a fly on the wall in Rachel's living room when Christy so easily agreed to work with Jamal on this task.)

You would have to be quick to avoid the flying debris 🙂 

[SomeTameGazelle]

Most pleasant episode this season. Split looked beautiful. 

That poem didn't appear to have any standard metre which made it harder to memorize. Floyd and Becca and Colin and Christie seemed to have the strongest memorization techniques. 

I raised my eyebrows at Tyler Korey complaining about words like metropolitan. And has he always constantly brought the dad puns ("I gnome"; "'monk'eying around" etc)? 

Edited June 13, 2019 by SomeTameGazelle
Wrong racer?

[BusyOctober]

I missed the explanation of the snorkel challenge...why did the camera keep zooming in on Chris and Brett’s gnome??  was there a coin hidden on him?  I missed what they missed obviously!

I never watched Big Brother so I have no idea who any of those teams are.  I don’t know anything about Nicole, except that when she speaks I want to jab an ice pick in my ear.  The accent and the whimpering whine combined have convinced me that her boyfriend and all of her friends and family back home must be profoundly deaf.  

[Squirrely]

1 hour ago, Lamima said:

And the Dalmations...I used to want one. Many many yeas ago. But then I learned they are a bit temperamental, maybe nippy of little kids so we never got one. But they all looked stunning there at the mat. Maybe that helped the bros take losing on the chin.

Dalmatians aren't any worse than any other breed with kids. The problem is that they were over-bred and over-purchased when the movies came out, and they are a more difficult breed overall if you're not experienced and willing to put in the effort to train and care for them properly. They ended up with a bad reputation and were dumped in shelters or given away due to irresponsibility. Parents got the cute pups for their kids without doing any research. They can make wonderful family dogs in the right situations, but they are definitely not for everyone. 

This was such a fun, challenging leg! And airport drama! Yay! Who else thinks Nicole would still be there at the RB if she hadn't partnered with Korey?  

Chris and Bret will be missed, but I can't imagine a scenario where they would win, unless there was zero running required in the final leg...

[North of Eden]

12 hours ago, green said:

Also it makes it more of a great fellowship.  Too bad some fall by the wayside but help when you can and you may get help yourself too when you need it the most.  It isn't some stupid "RACE" ... it is the AMAZING race where friendships for life are formed during a magical journey.

The smartest people I see on any given reality shows are the ones that say "I/we are not here to make  friends (magical or otherwise) but to win a million dollars. They realize they've put their lives on hold for weeks for a shot to better their or the families lives which tops making friends with people who may live on the other side of the country and you'll never see again.

Edited June 13, 2019 by IPS Temp Admin

[spanana]

28 minutes ago, Squirrely said:

Who else thinks Nicole would still be there at the RB if she hadn't partnered with Korey?  

I don't.  Nicole may be whiny and she's quite naive at times, but she's not dumb.  She's done well enough with all the roadblocks she's done so far and even in this episode she memorized her part of the poem faster than Victor.  She also did well with that one where you had to find the one dancer at the silent disco, which was an observational task. Plus she had enough of a lead that I am 99% sure she would have managed to finish in enough time to not be last.  Especially with how much Chris/Bret were struggling.  Depending on how far Team Fun was behind them, I could have maybe seen her getting smoked by Floyd if they were close enough, but otherwise I think she would have been fine.

Whiny and complainy is far from the same thing as dumb.

For all Nicole's faults, we haven't seen her struggling on tasks outside of just the expected not being able to keep up in some physical aspects or beat other teams in a foot race.  She's been shown to be capable otherwise.  So I'm not sure why her failure was expected here.

Edited June 13, 2019 by spanana

[SnideAsides]

2 hours ago, PaperTree said:

OMFG!  I can't believe CC forgot their gnome.  And survived.  Wow

To be fair, the last time they raced this show was still sponsored by American Airlines Vacations.

[Melina22]

2 hours ago, Haleth said:

Yikes for the Bros and their double bald snark.  Not being able to stick to a task usually dooms a team. 

Thank you! I could NOT remember what the name was for that. Oh yes, the old double bald snark. Good times, good times.

ETA Is it a double, triple or quadruple bald snark? We need to hear from the judges. 

ETA Dalmatians! Cruella deVille must be gritting her teeth in envy. 

Edited June 13, 2019 by Melina22

[millennium]

Chris and Brett,

The Reillys send their regards.

Karma, jerks.

[Shadow Wave]

Leo*: "If you get us on this flight, I'll name my daughter after you...I'll make my wife name herself for you."

Less of an incentive than he supposes.

*Or Jamal, who cares. They're the most interchangeable pair since Derek and Drew Riker.

[LittleIggy]

I want to go to Croatia! Beautiful! And those puppies! 😄

Floyd’s drum major experience has been a boon to Team Fun many times. Getting that soldier thing right the first time was impressive.

[Quilt Fairy]

3 hours ago, PaperTree said:

Roadblock is hard.  Drum Major Floyd kills it.

2 hours ago, Fukui San said:

It's cool when a task falls right into Floyd's very specific skillset like this and the nightclub task

Who would have thought being a drum major would be such an advantage on TAR?

[LittleIggy]

1 hour ago, Squirrely said:

Dalmatians aren't any worse than any other breed with kids. The problem is that they were over-bred and over-purchased when the movies came out, and they are a more difficult breed overall if you're not experienced and willing to put in the effort to train and care for them properly. They ended up with a bad reputation and were dumped in shelters or given away due to irresponsibility. Parents got the cute pups for their kids without doing any research. They can make wonderful family dogs in the right situations, but they are definitely not for everyone. 

I met a lady with a Dalmatian who responded to gestures since he was deaf. She said the breed was prone to deafness. Overbreeding no doubt. The dog was sweet.

[FoundTime]

I had to rewind the first-team-to-the-mat at least once due to Cuteness Overload. Having come to terms with Product Placement Gnome several seasons ago, I've come to actually enjoy how they use the little guy, so it was kinda fun to see him in his life vest, then Dalmatian puppies! then Phil seemed to be looking especially fine -- plus the beauty of Croatia -- it was almost more than I could process 😊

[GaT]

How many times did Chris & Brett switch tasks? They would have been better off just stopping, catching their breath & getting their minds right, then finishing the task instead of jumping back & forth.

[30 Helens]

Dammit, Chris and Brett! They were my favorite team, and they totally panicked. I can understand feeling like you need to switch tasks— although maybe not when you’re 2/3 done with the one you have—but once you switch, you need to commit to the new task! Why return to something you already decided was impossible? Aargh...so frustrating.

I see Nicole has fully committed to her new task: assuming the Drama Queen crown from Rachel. 

I, too, enjoyed the reprise of airport maneuvering. I don’t know why they did away with that. Sometimes, legs were won or lost based on booking strategy! I guess some people found that boring to watch, but not me.

Afghanimals “could” not have been more annoying this leg.

Colin in the taxi, wanting to throw a fit but visibly willing himself into a zen state, cracked me up.  I really have to admire his self control. 

Next leg, instead of keeping track of gnomes, they should all get to take a puppy along.

[NUguy514]

2 hours ago, millennium said:

Chris and Brett,

The Reillys send their regards.

Karma, jerks.

Tyler, honey, stop trying so hard.  It's not funny in the slightest and very embarrassing for all of us.

As she was deciding what to wear before leaving the Pit Stop in Switzerland, Nicole obviously decided to put on her blind-to-reality sunglasses and victim complex tunic.  So stunning, yet so fucking punchable.  I was rolling my eyes along with Becca when Nicole kept going on and fucking on about Team Fun cutting in line because they...didn't.  Shut your piehole, Nicole.

I'm surprised Colin didn't try to work the airport more; it seems like he might have discovered that flight via Düsseldorf (it may have had a few seats left the night before, when the teams seem to have arrived at Zürich's airport).  In any event, the return of airport drama was most welcome!

Speaking of C&C, no more rookie mistakes!  You're better than that!

Dalmatians...no.  One of my mom's best friends had a dalmatian when I was a kid, and it was the most neurotic creature.  Also, when I was fourteen, a neighbor brought her two dalmatians over to our house, and one of them, unprovoked, attacked one of our cats.  Our Australian shepherd immediately attacked said dalmatian since one of her sheep was in danger, which probably saved our cat; he recovered fine, but he was really traumatized for a while.  I've hated dalmatians ever since.

A triple (I think) bald snark?  Excellent, just like the good old days!  Ah, Bromance, you snarked yourself right out of the race.

The final few minutes were way too rushed and terribly edited.

Croatia is so beautiful.  I want to go to there.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Re: Nicole accusing Team Fun of cutting - here's what I saw, complete with screen caps.

Leo and Jamal were alone at the counter for a little while. We saw separate footage of Team Fun and Nic/Vic running through the airport (meaning we saw Team Fun with no other teams in frame and then we saw Nic/Vic with no other teams nearby). Then three teams converged on the Swiss Air counter at about the same time (C&C, Team Fun, and Nic/Vic):

Christie and Colin get to the counter first and book their tickets. Team Fun and Nic/Vic are behind them. It might just be the camera angle, but it looks like Team Fun is next in line at this point.

Team Fun and Nic/Vic then abandon the counter where C&C are getting tickets and walk over to the counter where Leo and Jamal are getting their tickets.

You can see that there are two ticket agents in this shot. The one on the right is helping Leo/Jamal and the one on the left is helping a non-TAR customer.

Floyd then walks over to stand in line for the other ticketing agent.

When Nicole sees this, she says to Becca, "If she opens up, then we were in line." Then she says to Victor, "If she opens up, we gotta go over there." Victor says, "There's nothing we can do. They're right there."

The non-TAR people finish so Becca steps up to the counter and says they want to buy tickets to Croatia. Meanwhile, Leo and Jamal finish buying their tickets. Their ticketing agent then puts up a white sign. We only see the back of it, but presumably it says her station is closed. Victor says, "We can't go through you?" and Nicole says, "Can we please go through you? One more, please?" The agent says no and then leaves.

Nicole then passive aggressively whines about people cutting:

I didn't see anything in any of these shots to indicate what the official line situation was supposed to be at this specific counter. There weren't any Disneyland style dividers to force people into one line or to form separate lines for each agent (although they are visible in the background at other counters, including the one where Colin and Christie got their tickets), so I could see the logic in assuming either was the case.

Despite the lack of evidence one way or the other as to what that particular counter intended for queuing, I don't think Team Fun did anything wrong. Nicole and Victor were clearly standing right behind Leo and Jamal so they intended to use the same agent (and probably just tell her to book the exact same flights since she already had that info on her screen). I don't think the second agent's presence even registered for Nicole and Victor until Floyd and Becca moved over there.

[displayname]

Classic, tough leg.

[mertensia]

Floyd was massively impressive in that Roadblock.

I liked Chris and Bret, so I'm sad to see them go.

Split looks beautiful.

I'm guessing the next leg starts off with everyone ignoring departure times to play with the puppies.

[Writing Wrongs]

9 hours ago, spanana said:

I can't really point a finger at what about Becca annoys me.  I think it's partly because she tries to come off so laid back and "fun" and I do think she genuinely has fun a part of the time, but the rest she seems like she's dangerously close to losing her cool.  

Yeah, she looks like she could cut a bitch at any moment and then do a "fun" dance afterwards.

[Squirrely]

8 hours ago, spanana said:

I don't.  Nicole may be whiny and she's quite naive at times, but she's not dumb.  She's done well enough with all the roadblocks she's done so far and even in this episode she memorized her part of the poem faster than Victor.  She also did well with that one where you had to find the one dancer at the silent disco, which was an observational task. Plus she had enough of a lead that I am 99% sure she would have managed to finish in enough time to not be last.  Especially with how much Chris/Bret were struggling.  Depending on how far Team Fun was behind them, I could have maybe seen her getting smoked by Floyd if they were close enough, but otherwise I think she would have been fine.

Whiny and complainy is far from the same thing as dumb.

For all Nicole's faults, we haven't seen her struggling on tasks outside of just the expected not being able to keep up in some physical aspects or beat other teams in a foot race.  She's been shown to be capable otherwise.  So I'm not sure why her failure was expected here.

I've never called her dumb. That task simply didn't seem to play to her particular strengths. She screwed it up at least once while working with the Afganimal, making them have to do it again, and she seemed completely confused. It finally took him to point out they should split the board. They were both a little slow to come to that realization. When they did finally get it, most of the figures were on his side. Despite her performance at other tasks, she did not shine at this RB. I would have been miserable at that task myself without someone to work with. 

Edited June 13, 2019 by Squirrely

[greyhorse]

While I understand Nicole saying they were there first, which they were, there really wasn't a roped line where everybody has to wait and next available agent belongs to the person first in line.  It's sort of like at the grocery store, baseball concession stand, or movie theater line.  You see two lines - you send your wife to one line while you stand in the other.  Whichever moves first, then the other switches over.  Why didn't they think of that?

I need to look into zen/meditation/self-growth/etc., because Colin and Christie are as cool as a cucumber this time around.  Lost gnome?  No problem.  No drama, no blaming, no yelling - just turn around and get it done. And btw, Christie looks dang good in a bikini for a mom of two. 

[sigmaforce86]

Dalmatians are hard to train and own because they're smart.  It sounds backwards but "dumb" dogs are actually easier because they'll just follow our commands, very smart breeds can be smart enough to resist or find loopholes.  Once trained they can be really great at what they do but you have to be more stubborn than they are.  Dalmatians fall into this category.  Even so if I hit the mat and saw those puppies I'd immediately ignore Phil and my arrival position in the race to flop down on the ground and play with them!

Line cut gate:  Love them or hate them Team Fun didn't cut, with no clear "wait here" or "form one line" signs and no ropes or guides they did what normal people do, saw two agents and got in line behind one of them.  Nicole can CLAIM they're next if that agent is free before the other but that doesn't make it so anymore than it would work at my local store.  What I don't understand is why Nicole and Victor then thought that wandering away to another agent was better and faster than waiting the five minutes or less it would have taken for Becca and Floyd to buy their tickets.  That it worked in their favor in the end was more luck than anything else because it really wasn't the smartest decision or fastest way to get the tickets.

Team Bromance was doomed - they could have maybe done it with one switch to the poem, they could have possibly pulled an upset with the second switch back to the treasure hunt.  By the time they were thinking of switching to the poem yet again I wonder why they didn't just say screw it we'll take the penalty, they had to know how far behind they were by then.  I really thought Phil was going to have to go to the soldier counting task and give them a mercy elimination there.

Took me awhile to realize everyone's swimwear matched and the teams must have been given bathing suits, it just wasn't shown.  Anyone know what they were blurring out on Becca?  Couldn't tell if her suit was just baggy in the back and it was a butt crack blur or if they were trying to hide a tattoo. 

[North of Eden]

7 hours ago, Melina22 said:

Thank you! I could NOT remember what the name was for that. Oh yes, the old double bald snark. Good times, good times.

ETA Is it a double, triple or quadruple bald snark? We need to hear from the judges. 

ETA Dalmatians! Cruella deVille must be gritting her teeth in envy. 

I say Quadruple because that is so much more epic and the fact that it cost them the race to boot!

[Kelda Feegle]

I'll miss Bromance, they really enjoyed TAR.

IMO Team Fun did not cut

C/C still zen

Afganimals are not performing well at all.

Puppies were adorable but that poor greeter was burnt (which makes me wonder how hot it was for the dogs).