S31.E10: Chugga Chugga Choo Choo!

[Whimsy]

Quote

The final 5 teams try not to crack while transporting eggs across town by bicycle in the Netherlands.

Original air date 6/19/2019.

[NYGirl]

Awwww I liked Floyd..but his partner...not so much.

So the Afghanimals reason for U-turning Nicole and Victor was because they "mentioned" their names in the other U-turn discussion a couple of episodes ago?  Ooooookaaaay! But then when talking to Phil they change their tune to... "we had to created a little bit of space between us and the teams behind us".   Whatever... and I'm not even a fan of Victor and Nicole...boy can she whine.  

[Browncoat]

Dammit, Becca!  First getting lost to the cow hoisting (well, to the place where they acquired the cow for hoisting), then breaking the damn eggs.  I totally blame her for having to listen to Nicole's whining again next week. 

But hooray for Colin and Christie! 

[spanana]

I spent much of this episode laughing at the ineptitude of Leo/Jamal.  I don't begrudge them using the u-turn and voting for Nicole/Victor.  It's F5, they voted for them previously and etc.  But maybe don't be such cocky bastards about it crowing about how you're going to win the leg only to royally screw up and almost get passed up by the u-turned teams.  Mind you I have no idea what the final times were and how far Leo/Jamal finished before Nicole/Victor.  I was going to laugh for days if they got passed up.  But I guess they proved they needed to u-turn teams cause if they hadn't they would have been in big trouble.

Other than that, I'm fine with it.  The Top 2 teams finished in the first two spots.  Leo/Jamal I would have been fine with going home, but I'm not too upset about Team Fun.  Could have done without Becca, even jokingly telling the local that she wanted to throw the eggs in their face.  I get she was frustrated and it was partially a joke, but still not cool.  

[Rachel RSL]

Ugh...I’m never going to be rid of Nicole. Good thing she’s paired with Victor because she’s approaching Flo levels of uselessness.  They’re gonna win this whole thing just to piss me off lol.

I love Colin and Christie so much! They’ve only gotten better with age and Mellow Colin seems like such a nice guy. Please reality tv Gods, get out of the tub and let them win!

The grumpy local at the canal asking Tyler and Korey if they were idiots was hilarious! Everyone was so nice and then there was Grumpy Gramps yelling at the dumb tourists. Hee!

Edited June 20, 2019 by Rachel RSL

[EllenB]

Aw, I'll miss Team Fun.  I guess I'm anyone but Afghanimals at this point.  I don't hate them, but they seem to have a vicious, vindictive streak that's not warranted.  If I could dump Tyler and Nicole, I'd really like Victor and Korey together.

But what lovely scenery and fun tasks!

[Haleth]

Omigosh, that was brutal trying to move boats through the congested canals. The locals were really annoyed. (Except for the singing grannies.)  I don’t remember any episode where the race so inconvenienced the locals. Calling the guys idiots?  Eek!

I remember when the did the vaulting over the canals before. 

It was pretty obvious from the start who was going home. Nic and Vic were upbeat in their confessionals and Fun were pretty dejected. 

[mojoween]

Becca declaring she wanted to smash the egg in the cute local’s face was the polar opposite of fun.  That was so rude and unnecessary. And then the beatboxing...BYE.

So glad Victor and Nicole made it even after their boneheaded mistakes.  Tighten up, kids!

Colin.  So fabulous.

[Lantern7]

*sigh* The streak is over. No, Nicole & Victor didn't take first, but Becca & Floyd got eliminated. And even with Becca getting pissy over a cracked egg, I feel bad for them. They do look like they have fun. Fuck, I wish TARCon was still a thing because I would like to see them up close. And maybe I could not have avoided Colin & Christie like I did at TARCon 5.

Nicole & Victor are probably nice and decent people . . . but they're still Big Brother. Big Brother is the antithesis of The Amazing Race . . . very little substance, crap host, but CBS treats it and the fanbase so much better. Nic & Vic winning wouldn't be as hard to stomach as Cody & Jessica last year . . . .but they would still be Big Brother. Fuck, CBS would probably end up with 4-5 people from the next BB to "suggest" to Elise & Bertram when another TAR gets cast. And that's even if Nic & Vic go out in the penultimate leg.

I'm guessing the Roadblock was edited out. Also, the U-Turn goes back to being stationed after the Detour task. Once again, I feel that it should be executed by a team AFTER they complete both tasks, but it's better than having a team learn they'd have to do both. Also, it's slightly more evil. "Damn, that was a brutal task! Let's see what we have to do nex-  . .. FUCK, we gotta do the other thing. Motherfucker!!!"

I guess I'll be pulling for Colin & Christie next week, which probably means they'll be the last team out because Mirna finally made an effective Colin voodoo doll. The Afghanimals come up short statstically, but I think they tie Rachel's record next week. Tyler & Korey seem nice, but "The Broken Ox Redemption" seems like a much better story than two guys from a stuntcast themed season winning. And Nicole & Victor are Big Brother. I'm not sorry if that makes me sound like a snob.

Wait, so do they hoist a cow up like that for real? DAMN. And I'm guessing the vaulting wasn't an unannounced Switchback, because all that ha to be done was to do it "the Dutch way." Otherwise, Nicole would still be out there.

[Lamb18]

Rats, I'm so disappointed Team Fun was eliminated. Between Victor and Nicole, and Team Fun, I wanted Team Fun to stay. I'm definitely cheering for Colin and Christie to win. Unfortunately I won't be able to watch next week because I'll be in Spain. Unless I can find a way to watch it. But two years in Germany I couldn't get CBS All Access.

[Archery]

Disappointed about Floyd and Becca. (I was muttering, check the eggs.) Floyd is lovely, but Becca kind of showed her ass. I get it, but it was tough to watch. 

Colin and Christie FTW.  

[Pepper the Cat]

My random thoughts:

Christie has such beautiful hair.

I want to ride a tandem bike.

I want to go down the canals in a boat.

I do not want to jump a canal.

I do want to eat that yummy looking cheese.

I do not want the Afgamanils to win. They are getting on my nerves.

I actually like Victor and Nicole.

[jabRI]

I thought some of the locals were a little crabby, I mean they must have known they'd be filming and racing

[spanana]

Nicole annoys me somewhat, but I don't have a problem with Victor.  I was going to be annoyed if she made him run up the steps after he pulled most of the weight both pedaling and hoisting that cow when he was clearly exhausted.  

Becca is okay I guess, but she shows her true colors here and there, but their big stupid mistake was not checking the eggs.  I can't imagine jumping with eggs of all things and not stopping to check they were all in one piece.

I also don't have this thing about only true Amazing Race teams can win, which seems to be a thing.  I'm not rooting for Nicole/Victor to win, but this whole only Race teams can make it to the end mentality is stupid.  If you outlast race teams, you deserve to be there.  I understand Big Brother isn't seen as a classy substantive show, and it isn't, but I still don't really understand people on one reality show acting like they are so much better or classier than people on another reality show.  At the end of the day it's still all reality tv where you're trying to win money.

[Rachel RSL]

8 minutes ago, spanana said:

I still don't really understand people on one reality show acting like they are so much better or classier than people on another reality show.  At the end of the day it's still all reality tv where you're trying to win money.

I haven’t gotten the impression at all that the TAR teams think they’re better or classier than anyone else. They’re just hoping one of them wins because they all come from the Amazing Race. Just like how the Big Brother teams formed an alliance because they all came from Big Brother.

[PaperTree]

Cracked egg kills Team Fun.  When Becca went over the ditch, I thought I saw that bag crunch a little, but with camera angles, etc. I didn't know.  Oops! Then not checking them.  Triple detoured themselves.  They thought smart to bring back 12 new good eggs, but not good enough.

Aaaaah, Amsterdam.  $88 Cool!  When did they last mention money for a leg?  Then it didn't matter.  Maybe next leg?

More OOH bunching (sigh)

Bicycles are not my friends.  At least it's pancake flat there.  Lazy/dumb Nicole can't pedal and makes Victor do all the work.

"Udderly ridiculous" lol  Good one, Phil!

Very cooperative cows 🙂   Tyler/Korey beat Colin/Christie's time.  Afghanimals beat them both.

I love Phil, but the UTurn isn't really a surprise when you give them a warning in the clue and after the cast has been obsessing over it for the last couple legs (sigh)

"Happy Birthday Nicole"  Karma, or just payback?  I see a fight brewing for the next leg.

The judge let whining Nicole off easy on that ditch jumping.  Then Victor does the rest all on his own.  That may have been the difference.  Please TAR gods, don't let her win.

 I love the additional challenge to get to the pitstop.  Not happy how it pissed off the locals.  My guess is production got punked by perfect weather bringing out a big crowd they weren't expecting.

A rule I have always lived by:  "Don't f**k with the locals".

Tyler/Korey got lost but recover.  "Boyz in boats!"  rofl.  I love how Phil toyed with them at the mat 🙂

Colin/Christie are tough, strong favorites for the win, but anything can happen on that final leg.

Two hour finale next Wednesday at 9 EDT, after a Big Brother.

[spanana]

20 minutes ago, Rachel RSL said:

I haven’t gotten the impression at all that the TAR teams think they’re better or classier than anyone else. They’re just hoping one of them wins because they all come from the Amazing Race. Just like how the Big Brother teams formed an alliance because they all came from Big Brother.

It's a fan belief as well, which I've seen expressed here more than once.  How only Amazing  Race teams should win because the show is better than the other lowly reality shows.

Also in general, not directed at you, but once again I don't think Nicole is even remotely dumb.  Annoying, often.  Whiny, yes.  Can't keep up in some of the more physical tasks, sure.  But nothing about her not being able to pedal the bike or not doing it makes her dumb.

In general, one thing I think Nicole does well is read the clues thoroughly.  Stupid and obvious as it seems, Nicole seems fairly detail oriented and makes sure they read all the directions and hence they have not made a lot of stupid mistakes over misread clues or not following directions.  Mistakes that I've seen other teams make more than once.  Their issues tend to be more if 1) Nicole can't quite keep up at something or pull her own weight physically or 2) Navigational.

Edited June 20, 2019 by spanana

[ByaNose]

I knew Nicole & Victor survived within the first few minutes. They were laughing (especially Nicole) in their confessionals. You didn’t see Team Fun’s confessional till mid way through. They need to do a better job with the confessionals on TAR. At least, all the confessionals were done during the day for (some) drama. 

[Melina22]

I like all the teams, although I'm most impressed by Colin and Christie. They all seem to be able to keep going despite obstacles and Killer Fatigue, without giving up or screaming at locals or each other. 

I liked Nicole on BB, and I like her here, except for her unfortunate voice. She doesn't have a big personality, but she's usually kind, and you don't get to be an ER nurse without being intelligent and resourceful. Actually, it's not her voice that's annoying, but how she uses it, with a weird, whiny inflection, and an odd accent. I bet if she could get rid of that habit, viewers would like her way more. 

I felt bad for her at the canal vault. I think it takes more upper body strength than first appears. I'm shocked she got across at all. Being so light and small was a handicap again at the cow hoist,but they got through. I'm glad they gave them a generous amount of time, because I couldn't see the teams hauling that cow up too many times before crumpling to the ground. 

I want to see the boatload of singing Dutch grannies again! 

[ByaNose]

2 minutes ago, Melina22 said:

I like all the teams, although I'm most impressed by Colin and Christie. They all seem to be able to keep going despite obstacles and Killer Fatigue, without giving up or screaming at locals or each other. 

I liked Nicole on BB, and I like her here, except for her unfortunate voice. She doesn't have a big personality, but she's usually kind, and you don't get to be an ER nurse without being intelligent and resourceful. Actually, it's not her voice that's annoying, but how she uses it, with a weird, whiny inflection, and an odd accent. I bet if she could get rid of that habit, viewers would like her way more. 

I felt bad for her at the canal vault. I think it takes more upper body strength than first appears. I'm shocked she got across at all. Being so light and small was a handicap again at the cow hoist,but they got through. I'm glad they gave them a generous amount of time, because I couldn't see the teams hauling that cow up too many times before crumpling to the ground. 

I want to see the boatload of singing Dutch grannies again! 

BTW! The pole vaulting jump was so arbitrary. How was it that Nicole landed in the water and didn’t pass but then lands in the water & it was a thumbs up?!

[North of Eden]

Bless that denizen of the canals who called Team Camera Mug out for being idiots. I LOVED seeing Tyler's deflated look when he realized not everything thinks he is so charming. Also, Nicole had a reason not to peddle, but there were numerous shots of him just resting his feet while his partner did all the work. Not cool.

Ten episodes in and it was WELCOME back to the REAL-Becca who we haven't seen her mask slip since her partner lost the passports on their first season. She looked dead serious when she said she would like to hit the egg inspector with the cracked egg. Poser!! Also, you could tell they lost just by her demeanor in the confessionals.

I thought the pole vaulters should have been made to keep jumping until their feet were planted on dry ground...like on BREAKING BAD...no Half Measures!

Closing by saying the townsfolk/tourists at the canal maze simply made this episode with their reactions to the Racers creating mayhem. Especially the two blond ladies in the boat that looked pissed and the boat shuttle driver saying he couldn't move. That whole sequence felt like something out of TAR's spiritual ancestors IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD.

[Eolivet]

I had a feeling Team Fun wasn't going to win. Becca did a freestyle rap filmed at Hearts of Reality last year where she referenced how money and winning weren't really important, and while I know teams can lie, it always rang true to me. But I wanted them over Victor and Nicole.

Nothing against Victor and Nicole, but they're the same brand of dating couple we've seen on the Amazing Race since time immemorial. They just happen to be a little more "famous." Becca and Floyd had a unique dynamic, to me -- especially since they were strangers to start out with. So they didn't have a preexisting relationship, they formed one. I liked that about them. I'm glad they got a second chance, at least.

I will especially miss Floyd smoking the Detours and Roadblocks, thanks to his collegiate drum major skills. It was a joy to watch him "work."

[Rinaldo]

27 minutes ago, ByaNose said:

BTW! The pole vaulting jump was so arbitrary. How was it that Nicole landed in the water and didn’t pass but then lands in the water & it was a thumbs up?!

That was indeed a bit puzzling, but the difference seemed to be that the second time she made some contact with the other shore (got her arms on the grass), where the first time she hit nothing but water.

[EllenB]

I think Becca was frustrated with herself for not checking the eggs, which is very understandable.  And her crack (yeah, I went there!) to the egg & cheese guy struck me as deadpan and not serious at all.  

[Squirrely]

As an avid kayaker, my sympathies were completely with the locals. Idiots in canoe rentals sure can spoil a day on the local river. I couldn't tell you how many times we've been rammed, or hopped out to rescue boats, coolers, fishing poles, etc for those who lost them, when we just want a relaxing afternoon. 

Remember the old days, when teams would hustle for a flight because the clue didn't alert them to an HoO in the next country? *sigh*

Otherwise, this was such a fun leg!! I loved the bicycles and the tasks. The scenery was breathtaking! I do wish the vaulting judges had been tougher. Team Fun did themselves in, and I wasn't all that sorry for Becca after her behavior. 

I never thought I'd see the day I'd cheer for Colin and Christie. They were both awful people in S5, not just Colin. He was worse, but she was pretty nasty too. I guess I don't think they should have ever been invited back, zen or not. But with who's left, I'd like to see them or Tyler and Corey take it. 

Edited June 20, 2019 by Squirrely

[Rachel RSL]

47 minutes ago, Melina22 said:

I want to see the boatload of singing Dutch grannies again! 

Yes!! I wish there had been a camera crew following them instead.

42 minutes ago, North of Eden said:

Ten epidsodes in and it was WELCOME back to the REAL-Becca who we haven't seen her mask slip since her partner lost the passports on their first season. She looked dead serious when she said she would like to hit the egg inspector with the cracked egg. Poser!! Also, you could tell they lost just by her demeanor in the confessionals.

Any time something bad happens on the race and Becca isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, she gets called a poser. This makes no sense to me. If something bad happened and she was pretending to still be happy and having fun, wouldn’t that make her a poser? It’s not a mask, she’s human. A human who is usually happy and upbeat but, like every other human on the planet, gets bummed out when something sucky happens.

[Halting Hex]

1 hour ago, Lantern7 said:

Big Brother is the antithesis of The Amazing Race . . . very little substance

Over three times as long, more intense strategy, and without the tourism porn to spackle over the cracks.  Other than that, sure.

1 hour ago, Lantern7 said:

crap host

Julie does the majority of her work live.  I'd like to see Phil and Probst try that.

1 hour ago, Lantern7 said:

CBS treats it and the fanbase so much better.

Yeah, I totally remember how CBS brought Julie onto TAR to insult the Racers who'd also played BB.  Oh, wait, that's was Phil's "takeover" in BB17 where he showed embarrassing Race clips of Jordan and Rachel (both past BB champions), rather than any of their better moments.  Pissing on "our" contestants on our show.  I'm still not over that.

But OTOH we got to have privilege of spending more time with Jeff & Jackie, so…  (Okay, Jeff getting completely played and humiliated was fun, I'd say.  But still.)

1 hour ago, Lantern7 said:

I'm not sorry if that makes me sound like a snob.

No problem. I'll take being the unappreciated underdog.  (And the show that gets nothing but "wacky" promos from CBS, instead of the drama generated for the other two shows.  Eh, who needs respect, right?)

Back to this episode, lovely to C C&C finally get their first win.

Jamal (paraphrased):  "We know we're a strong team.  We've just had eight or nine bad Legs."  I can't decide whether that's funnier if he meant it with or without irony.  But either way, heh.

Liked Victor admitting that maybe letting Nicole cruise while he did All.The.Work wasn't the best strategy, after all.

Korey:  "We're making a train.  Would you like to come?"  Dude, I love a nice double-entendre as much as the next pervert, but this is supposed to be a "family" show.  I guess the good news is that the second meaning to that line probably went right over a lot of heads.

1 hour ago, Lantern7 said:

I'm guessing the Roadblock was edited out.

I'm not sure about that.  The teams seemed rather surprised when the Pit Stop clue told them to go to Phil.  I attributed that to their expecting a Roadblock that wasn't there.  But I could be wrong.

1 hour ago, spanana said:

I still don't really understand people on one reality show acting like they are so much better or classier than people on another reality show.

Word.  Again, part of this is due to my getting to spend extensive time watching Jeff "Masturbating Fool" Weldon in the BB House four years ago (and I don't even watch the live feeds! Big Brother After Dark alone gives me plenty of depth on the contestants), but I'd be hard pressed to claim that a show that thought Keith and Whitney were a big "get" from the ex-Survivor pool is somehow more "classy".  I know this is the show that's won all the Emmy™ Awards, but I really don't think it was "inherently superior" contestants (as opposed to, say, global scenery and months of time to do the editing) that made the difference.  But JMO.

I thought Phil was being a bit of a dick when he squelched Becca's hopeful "You're still racing!" attempt by "reminding" her that there were no more non-Elimination legs.  To my mind, a TBC Leg isn't a non-Elim, it's merely the first part of a plus-sized Elimination Leg.  I was mulling that possibility myself as Team (Not Having Much) Fun approached the Mat.  I think Phil could have been a bit kinder, there. 

Lucky she hadn't saved a spare egg for him, I suppose.

[Lantern7]

3 minutes ago, Halting Hex said:

Back to this episode, lovely to C C&C finally get their first win.

Second win. They won the leg in Ho Chi Minh City.

[PaperTree]

6 minutes ago, Halting Hex said:

Jamal (paraphrased):  "We know we're a strong team.  We've just had eight or nine bad Legs."  I can't decide whether that's funnier if he meant it with or without irony.  But either way, heh.

Liked Victor admitting that maybe letting Nicole cruise while he did All.The.Work wasn't the best strategy, after all.

🙂 

[Halting Hex]

Good Lorde, Ho Chi Minh City was so long ago I'd forgotten.  A moo-t point, then.  My apologies.  (And thanks for the correction.)

Edited June 20, 2019 by Halting Hex

[hendersonrocks]

This leg looked exhausting. Beautiful, but exhausting - the biking seemed to really gas people plus then whatever fake cow hauling and/or pole vaulting needed to be done on top of it. I would love to know what the roadblock was, assuming there was one we just didn't see, and if it was more of a mental challenge given everything else in the episode was purely physical.

Becca's got a little rage in her, but then again so do most of us. I will be profoundly disappointed next week if the winners are anyone but Colin & Christie (my first choice by a mile) or Tyler & Korey. 

[North of Eden]

20 minutes ago, Rachel RSL said:

Yes!! I wish there had been a camera crew following them instead.

Any time something bad happens on the race and Becca isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, she gets called a poser. This makes no sense to me. If something bad happened and she was pretending to still be happy and having fun, wouldn’t that make her a poser? It’s not a mask, she’s human. A human who is usually happy and upbeat but, like every other human on the planet, gets bummed out when something sucky happens.

You seriously cannot see she's playing a "character" posing as this non-stop sunshine and rainbows facsimile and that persona was dropped when the tides went against her? We must not be watching the same Becca.

[EllenB]

8 minutes ago, North of Eden said:

You seriously cannot see she's playing a "character" posing as this non-stop sunshine and rainbows facsimile and that persona was dropped when the tides went against her? We must not be watching the same Becca.

"Fun" does not mean "non-stop sunshine and rainbows." We must be using different dictionaries.

[Melina22]

39 minutes ago, Rachel RSL said:

It’s not a mask, she’s human. A human who is usually happy and upbeat but, like every other human on the planet, gets bummed out when something sucky happens.

I agree. She's been remarkably upbeat this season for someone so competitive. And after the debacle, she totally blamed Team Fun for the loss, nobody else, and then still managed some silly antics at the Pit Stop despite the crushing disappointment. 

21 minutes ago, hendersonrocks said:

This leg looked exhausting. Beautiful, but exhausting - the biking seemed to really gas people plus then whatever fake cow hauling and... 

To me, every leg this season has been brutal. Not every task has been exhausting, although many have been, but the legs go on forever, especially if you count time spent on transportation, which can be extremely tiring by itself. 

I feel like teams overall were less fit in past seasons. In fact, I remember some older and distinctly unfit teams. Older women, the guy with the bad knees, couples in their 60s, etc.

Are the legs in recent seasons getting tougher? Or are the teams way fitter than they used to be? Because only extremely healthy and athletic people could do the legs of the last few episodes, and so much running! The remaining teams don't just finish the legs, but they do it standing up and in their right minds, not imploding from exhaustion like you'd expect from normal humans. It's like Killer Fatigue is barely a factor any more. 

ETA I love any show that lets us use the phrase "fake cow hauling". 

Edited June 20, 2019 by Melina22

[anniebird]

Has there ever been a leg when it was this difficult to get to the pit stop?

[Cotypubby]

This is now the third time they’ve had to do the canal pole vault while in Amsterdam. Isn’t there any other task they can think of?

[greyhorse]

I'm surprised that Phil didn't mention that they had to pole vault in previous seasons, but I guess the video from previous seasons wouldn't be as exciting as a "My ox is broken!" clip.  Mainly because there was nothing challenging about the pole vaulting, especially when the judging was so arbitrary.

Smart of Floyd to just toss the cheese across the canal.  Floyd did seem to look at the eggs in the bag briefly but I guess he didn't know one was cracked.  So why did Becca take the blame?

Glad that Becca is gone.  I always found her annoying.  Thought the "Fun-ness" was fake, and we saw a little bit of her true colors with the smashing egg comment.

Surprised that some of the locals were so unfriendly.  "Are you guys idiots or something?"  You would think that would be edited out.

Tired of Korey's one hand to the chest and shocked expression on his face.

Pulling for Colin and Christie!

[SomeTameGazelle]

2 hours ago, North of Eden said:

Bless that denizen of the canals who called Team Camera Mug out for being idiots. I LOVED seeing Tyler's deflated look when he realized not everything thinks he is so charming. Also, Nicole had a reason not to peddle, but there were numerous shots of him just resting his feet while his partner did all the work. Not cool.

Korey mentioned that they had found it worked better when Tyler didn't pedal. 

[millennium]

2 hours ago, North of Eden said:

Bless that denizen of the canals who called Team Camera Mug out for being idiots. I LOVED seeing Tyler's deflated look when he realized not everything thinks he is so charming.

I watched on DVR, so relished the opportunity to rewatch that scene a few times.

1 hour ago, Halting Hex said:

Korey:  "We're making a train.  Would you like to come?"  Dude, I love a nice double-entendre as much as the next pervert, but this is supposed to be a "family" show.  I guess the good news is that the second meaning to that line probably went right over a lot of heads.

These two frequently go out of their way to make sure the audience knows they're gay and kinda lewd, especially Oakley. "Ooh, men!"   Yeah, Tyler, men.  Probably half the people you pass on the street on any given day will be men.  It's not an event to run into a group of them now and then.

I thought the two idiots came dangerously close to nailing that child with the pointed prow of the boat.

2 hours ago, North of Eden said:

Ten episodes in and it was WELCOME back to the REAL-Becca who we haven't seen her mask slip since her partner lost the passports on their first season. She looked dead serious when she said she would like to hit the egg inspector with the cracked egg. Poser!!

There was no fun or laughter in that face.   She was stone-cold serious.   All the years I've been watching this show, I can't recall another instance where I have seen a racer abuse the locals like that.

3 hours ago, Pepper the Cat said:

I do not want the Afgamanils to win. They are getting on my nerves.

Only now?

3 hours ago, Pepper the Cat said:

Christie has such beautiful hair.

I agree.  Christie's hair for the win!

Edited June 20, 2019 by millennium

[theschnauzers]

2 hours ago, PaperTree said:

Aaaaah, Amsterdam.  $88 Cool!  When did they last mention money for a leg?  Then it didn't matter.  Maybe next leg?

Money has been mentioned two or three other times this season. If the reasons for these mentions isn’t immediately apparent, then it usually does later on.

Can’t find the post at the moment, but with regard to the cow raising task, Tyler and Korey has a fifteen second or so head start over Colin and Christie. Notwithstanding that Colin and Christie made up time, and their cow was almost as high up as Tyler and Corey (notwithstanding some misleading editing that was going on at one point. The time difference was clearly less that when the teams started.

The vaulting. The key was lifting your legs up to a horizontal level during the jump. That was also the case when this task previously appeared in seasons 12 and 21.

The other point I would add is teams had to self navigate by foot, taxi, driving, biking, and boating in just this leg. And most of the teams had problems. I think the presence of self-navigation seemed to work in Colin and Christie’s favor and they passed Tyler and Korey a few times, but carefully got their boats in a row and clearly finished that season ask while the other teams all struggled.

[Quilt Fairy]

The editing had me really confused.  It looked like they were on 3 different flights to Amsterdam, yet they all arrived at the tandem bikes at the same time.  Later, Colin and Christie and Tyler and Corey arrive at the U-turn board at the same time - just those 2 teams - and yet in the next scene the Afghanimals were there with them at the cars.  The editing used to be so good on this show. *sigh*

3 minutes ago, millennium said:

These two frequently go out of their way to make sure the audience knows they're gay and kinda lewd, especially Oakley. "Ooh, men!"   Yeah, Tyler, men.  Probably half the people you pass on the street on any given day will be men.  It's not an event to pass by a group of them now and then.

I am so over this, not just on TAR but on other shows as well.  These days, if a straight guy consistently commented on his sexuality or made a lewd comment about a woman, it wouldn't make it on the air, or he wouldn't have made it on the show to begin with.  Being gay has nothing to do with success on the show.  It's not like Floyd being a drum major, which helped him with several specific tasks during the race.  Certainly the Afghanimals have proved that you can mug and be assholes on the show without making sexual comments. 

I thought the detour tasks were kind of stupid (although Christie was clearly glad it was a fake cow), but I loved the canal boats, especially the occasional map reveals showing who was where.  That was some serious old school TAR. 

[MVFrostsMyPie]

I don't know how Christie can leave her weave down like that and not have it drive her crazy during some of the more physical tasks. I'm one of those people who, second thing when I come home is put my hair up in a messy bun - off my neck and away from my face (first thing I do is chucking off the bra, of course). 

Still rooting for the Afghanimals, because 1) Leo likes cats and 2) I gotta root for my fellow brown people.  

Nic & Vic cannot win because I hate everything about Big Brother. 

Tyler & Korey.... meh. I'd rather they not win, but at least they're less obnoxious this time around.

Floyd feels genuinely and naturally fun and I'd love to shoot the breeze with him. Becca, I wouldn't be able to tolerate. Her fun feels very much INYOURFACE and if you don't like her brand of humor and HER FUN-NESS, she'd call you a wet blanket with no sense of humor. She'd probably "jokingly" threaten you with a knife if you pissed her off, but you'd still want to sleep with one eye open that night.

[fishcakes]

Kajeeple. LOL.

I was impressed with how calmly Tyler and Korey responded to the local asking them if they were idiots. As on edge as they must have been late in the leg and this late in the race as a whole, they stayed polite and didn't clap back at him, even though the guy could see the cameras, had to know that something out-of-the-ordinary was happening, and decided to be a jerk about it anyway.

But what a pretty little town that was. Goats in boats. Cats on laps in boats. Dogs looking at you in a vaguely disapproving way. I can't remember the last time I was so charmed by a TAR locale.

[GaT]

Damn it, I wanted Team Fun to win. I am pissed.

[NUguy514]

36 minutes ago, Quilt Fairy said:

58 minutes ago, millennium said:

These two frequently go out of their way to make sure the audience knows they're gay and kinda lewd, especially Oakley. "Ooh, men!"   Yeah, Tyler, men.  Probably half the people you pass on the street on any given day will be men.  It's not an event to run into a group of them now and then.

I am so over this, not just on TAR but on other shows as well.  These days, if a straight guy consistently commented on his sexuality or made a lewd comment about a woman, it wouldn't make it on the air, or he wouldn't have made it on the show to begin with.  Being gay has nothing to do with success on the show.  It's not like Floyd being a drum major, which helped him with several specific tasks during the race.  Certainly the Afghanimals have proved that you can mug and be assholes on the show without making sexual comments.

God, how awful that those two boys are so open about and comfortable with their gayness.  I must have missed the lewd comment they made; I'll have to go back and watch for that and make the necessary six leaps to lewdness to be very offended by it.

Seriously, though, I invite any non-LGBT viewers who are that offended by Tyler and Korey to live even a single day as an LGBT person; then, we can talk about having anyone's sexuality thrown in your face.  Let me tell you, I'm reminded multiple times every single day in overt and covert ways that I'm not straight; the only time non-LGBT folks are reminded that they're not LGBT is when they see overt displays of LGBT-ness, which they tend to blow out of proportion because it makes them uncomfortable.  Nothing Tyler and Korey did or said has been that bad, and I will come to their defense until they say or do something that is worthy of a reprimand.  And I don't even like Tyler that much!

That random Dutch guy was an unnecessary dick to Tyler and Korey, too.  Like, they're being followed by a camera crew and are clearly not locals (or even Dutch).  Also, no one asked him for his assy feedback to begin with.

Becca's comment to the Detour judge seemed 100% serious to me, and if she meant to be deadpan, her absolutely murderous look belied that.  I found it a very ugly moment and grossly out of line.  I really enjoyed Floyd, but I'm not sorry to see Becca go.  Similarly, while I'm exceedingly sorry Nicole is still around, I like Victor well enough.  It's too bad Victor can't trade Nicole for Floyd for the last few legs.

All I want for Christmas is for Colin and Christie to win.

(OK, that's a lie, but I do want them to win really, really badly!)

[sigmaforce86]

8 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

I'm guessing the Roadblock was edited out. Also, the U-Turn goes back to being stationed after the Detour task. Once again, I feel that it should be executed by a team AFTER they complete both tasks, but it's better than having a team learn they'd have to do both. Also, it's slightly more evil. "Damn, that was a brutal task! Let's see what we have to do nex-  . .. FUCK, we gotta do the other thing. Motherfucker!!!"

Yeah I'm not the only one.  I was coming here to say the same thing;  race wise I can't figure out if it would be an advantage, disadvantage or neutral to the team u-turned and to the teams behind them.  But I think wherever the u-turn sign is placed (and they could also consider placing it in random spots too) the rule should be that a team has to be eligible to actually PASS that spot before they can use the u-turn

7 hours ago, North of Eden said:

Bless that denizen of the canals who called Team Camera Mug out for being idiots. I LOVED seeing Tyler's deflated look when he realized not everything thinks he is so charming. Also, Nicole had a reason not to peddle, but there were numerous shots of him just resting his feet while his partner did all the work. Not cool.

Closing by saying the townsfolk/tourists at the canal maze simply made this episode with their reactions to the Racers creating mayhem. Especially the two blond ladies in the boat that looked pissed and the boat shuttle driver saying he couldn't move. That whole sequence felt like something out of TAR's spiritual ancestors IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD.

I loved the idiots remark.  But I strongly suspect based on the chaos that all the racers caused, blocking long lines of boats, going in the wrong direction and running into people and their boats that if the residents of that canal city have any say TAR will NOT be invited back for filming anytime soon.

I also loved Leo and Jamal's brief argument when they found the first boat; one said "Do we attach it to the back or the front?"  and the other snapped back something along the lines of how would they tow it if it's in front.  It continues to amaze me how they're still in the race, as a whole they are not that good, they miss obvious clues and keep making the same mistakes over and over (like in the VR and poem tasks), they regularly get lost and stumble along yet somehow they manage to not screw up just enough to keep them out of last place.  If they win it'll be like the Beekman boys, not the best racers, they mess up or lag behind multiple times but pull out one good performance on the final task that throws them to the front of the pack at the last minute.

5 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

The editing had me really confused.  It looked like they were on 3 different flights to Amsterdam, yet they all arrived at the tandem bikes at the same time.  Later, Colin and Christie and Tyler and Corey arrive at the U-turn board at the same time - just those 2 teams - and yet in the next scene the Afghanimals were there with them at the cars.  The editing used to be so good on this show. *sigh*

Not sure how the Afghanimals caught up so quickly unless it was luck but the tandem bike arrival was explained; they all left Croatia at night and it was stated in the clue that the bike rental didn't open until 9am so they all knew their flights would arrive before that and it would be a bunching start to the leg.

Edited June 20, 2019 by sigmaforce86
was and wise are NOT the same word!

[biakbiak]

6 hours ago, NYGirl said:

So the Afghanimals reason for U-turning Nicole and Victor was because they "mentioned" their names in the other U-turn discussion a couple of episodes ago?  Ooooookaaaay! B

Victor is the one who characterized it as mentioning their name but he didn’t just mention them he voted for them. They didn’t have as many votes as the other two but during the middle of the vote he did vote for them.

[Melina22]

1 hour ago, MVFrostsMyPie said:

I don't know how Christie can leave her weave down like that and not have it drive her crazy during some of the more physical tasks.

I thought exactly this! I'm not sure how she manages to wrangle all that hair during the more strenuous moments. Now I want to go back and rewatch just for that. Plus, it must be so hot. ( That said, I'm envious. I'd love to have hair like that for one day, so I could swan around feeling glamorous. Of course, having Christie's svelte and ultra athletic physique wouldn't hurt either.)

1 hour ago, fishcakes said:

Kajeeple. LOL.

I totally forgot this. That was adorable. 

Edited June 20, 2019 by Melina22

[Melina22]

1 hour ago, fishcakes said:

But what a pretty little town that was. Goats in boats. Cats on laps in boats. Dogs looking at you in a vaguely disapproving way. I can't remember the last time I was so charmed by a TAR locale.

The goats gave last week's Dalmatian puppies a run for their money in the cuteness department. And you're right, what a charming place. I love how everyone is all out either by or on the water socializing in little groups. Summer would be the best there. 

[millennium]

1 hour ago, NUguy514 said:

God, how awful that those two boys are so open about and comfortable with their gayness.  I must have missed the lewd comment they made; I'll have to go back and watch for that and make the necessary six leaps to lewdness to be very offended by it.

Seriously, though, I invite any non-LGBT viewers who are that offended by Tyler and Korey to live even a single day as an LGBT person; then, we can talk about having anyone's sexuality thrown in your face. 

Didn't realize credentials were required to make observations but I am an LGBT viewer.   A single day?   I've lived a lifetime.   TAR has had numerous LGBT racers but I don't recall any who behaved in the manner Tyler and Korey do.  If heterosexual racers engaged in shenanigans like that, they'd be called out for it.   I don't like double standards.

You wrote in last week's episode thread:

Quote

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

I would tend to agree with you.

Edited June 20, 2019 by millennium