S31.E10: Chugga Chugga Choo Choo!

[chaifan]

I'm sad that Team Fun were eliminated.  I was really hoping for an all TAR final 4. 

I see Becca as someone who wears her emotions on her sleeve.  Good or bad, she lets it all out.  Which is why when she's having fun, she's having FUN.  And when she's pissed, she's PISSED.  And I have no problem with that.  Also, you have to remember how she's getting edited.  Mellow Becca chilling out probably isn't that interesting, so we'd never see it.  We just get to see extremes, because that's her edit. 

When she made the first egg comment, I truly believe she was being sarcastic.  The market guy laughed, so he obviously didn't take her seriously.  And when they came back with the 2nd batch she said something like "I promise I'm not going to throw this at you" and he laughed again.  So she got that her first comment wasn't cool. 

So, if Nicole & Victor got lost for and hour and a half trying to find the "cow" field, then Becca & Floyd must have bled the same amount of time early on.  That's a lot of biking. 

When Nicole tied on the second vote the camera focused on the knot, which looked like it was a slip knot.  I thought there was a chance they would lose the second boat crossing the lake and Floyd & Becca would make it through.  But, no.  Wonder what the shot was for?

[Netfoot]

20 hours ago, NUguy514 said:

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.

Just because you are some wanna-be celebrity YouTube star asshole foreigner and you've got a camera crew following you around, doesn't mean you automatically get to behave as you like and screw with people's day with impunity.  If you do shit, you deserve to get called on it, by any Random Dutch Guy, who doesn't need anybody's permission to do so.  American tourists do not have any right to behave howsoever they please whenever and wherever they please and then demand that the residents of the rest of the world just grin and tolerate it. Every pair of lips in this world don't have to press themselves to American ass.

[NUguy514]

28 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

Just because you are some wanna-be celebrity YouTube star asshole foreigner and you've got a camera crew following you around, doesn't mean you automatically get to behave as you like and screw with people's day with impunity.  If you do shit, you deserve to get called on it, by any Random Dutch Guy, who doesn't need anybody's permission to do so.  American tourists do not have any right to behave howsoever they please whenever and wherever they please and then demand that the residents of the rest of the world just grin and tolerate it. Every pair of lips in this world don't have to press themselves to American ass.

Uhhh...O...K?  I didn't realize any of the Racers were deliberately screwing with people's days with impunity.  They were all doing something most of them didn't know how to do capably because the Race required them to do it, so maybe excoriate the producers for putting the Racers in a situation where they'd screw with everyone else's day instead.

And that Dutch guy was absolutely an unnecessary dick, just like plenty of Americans can be unnecessary dicks to tourists in the US and plenty of people in every country around the world can be unnecessary dicks to tourists in their countries.  More people, though, are perfectly kind to tourists, so it stuck out pretty starkly that this one guy really went out of his way to be a dick.  Thank you for your measured feedback on Americans, though.

[Netfoot]

2 minutes ago, NUguy514 said:

Thank you for your measured feedback on Americans, though.

You are more than welcome.

[greyhorse]

5 hours ago, spanana said:

But it sounds like somebody warned them they got u-turned when they passed them on the bikes and said team told them to u-turn Team Fun.  Which I couldn't understand who they were talking about, but I assumed it has to be Leo/Jamal because how would C/C or T/K know that Vic/Nicole got u-turned.  They would have assumed it was likely, but they didn't know for sure.   If somebody else listened to the podcast, maybe you can understand it better than I did.  But sounds like SOMEONE gave them the heads up to u-turn Team Fun, but Victor/Nicole didn't of course know 100% that Team Fun was behind them.  They just had to take someone's word for it.

Wouldn't they have assumed that Colin/Christie and Tyler/Korey were way ahead of them?  And they knew that the Afghans U-turned them.  So that would leave only Team Fun?

4 hours ago, iMonrey said:

God yes. If I never have to hear these two rapping again it will be too soon. So glad they're gone for that reason alone.

The problem is that he's not more interesting as a result. Odd to think his rage was the only defining character trait he had. Now he's just sort of there. I've found him and Christie oddly uncompelling this season. I just don't care about them one way or another. But perhaps I am alone in that.

I think wearing a helmet while riding a bike is a uniquely American thing, although someone can correct me if I'm wrong. I grew up in an age where nobody wore helmets to ride their bikes. In fact to do so would have resulted in ridicule. 

Now get offa my lawn, you rotten kids.

Did Becca and Floyd both rap before they were paired up together?  I would imagine that Floyd being the drum major did some beatboxing in his youth.  But would Becca necessarily have done so?  Or did she just learn and go with it because of Floyd?

Disagree about Colin.  I find him even more fascinating that he is now so calm, so introspective, level headed.  That calmness has made them better racers.  They don't panic when things go wrong (lost gnome), they seem really focused, and I don't think we've seen a single fight from them this season.

[LittleIggy]

As soon as Team Fun didn’t check those eggs before leaving the canal, I knew they would regret it. 

Love how Leo notices cats. That would be me!

Edited June 23, 2019 by LittleIggy

[Shadow Wave]

The reactions of the locals reflected my experience in the Netherlands. Most people are very nice when you carelessly violate local etiquette (in my case, straying as a pedestrian on to bike paths) but some of them seem to be looking for an excuse to demonstrate their mastery of English four-letter words. On the whole, they averaged out as being much nicer than Northeasterners, maybe more like Southerners. 

And they all seemingly know English, and immediately know you're an American. I was never corrected in Dutch, French, or German!

[Guest]

13 hours ago, Halting Hex said:

And most people don't call themselves "Team Fun" and wear "Team Fun" shirts and have "Fun" props to reinforce the image.  If you're going to create an image for yourself, it's on you to be true to it.  At least, IMO.

And most people aren’t on a reality show determined to label and categorize people with catchy nicknames. 

I often find Becca annoying but I give them more leeway than most because they did not know each other before TAR. The show paired them together to be the fun team and they ran with it.  I give them a lot of credit for being able to run a race twice with less drama than teams that have pre-existing relationships. 

5 hours ago, chaifan said:

Also, you have to remember how she's getting edited.  Mellow Becca chilling out probably isn't that interesting, so we'd never see it.  We just get to see extremes, because that's her edit. 

Watching Colin this season has really highlighted this fact for me. We are only seeing brief and stressful moments in these people’s life. Most of the time bad race behavior is not indicative of who they really are. 

[eel21788]

3 hours ago, greyhorse said:

Disagree about Colin.  I find him even more fascinating that he is now so calm, so introspective, level headed.  That calmness has made them better racers.  They don't panic when things go wrong (lost gnome), they seem really focused, and I don't think we've seen a single fight from them this season.

I'm reasonably sure he had his lithium level checked immediately before starting the race.

[eel21788]

2 hours ago, Shadow Wave said:

And they all seemingly know English, and immediately know you're an American. I was never corrected in Dutch, French, or German!

I got a lot of mileage out of, "Ich sprek no Nederlands." Once, I wasn't immediately pegged as an American. He tried Italian and several other languages I didn't recognize on me before he got to English.

Edited June 21, 2019 by eel21788

[eel21788]

7 hours ago, biakbiak said:

It depends. If there is a contained area with entrances you can just post that they are filming there and by being in the area you consent to filming. In this case they probably just had all the boat rental places have people sign a waiver when they picked up a boat.

I walked into a Las Vegas casino that had a sign posted saying that something was being filmed there and anyone who stayed on the premises would fall under the category of "presumed consent." In other words, if you don't want to be on camera, then leave. I doubt this is what they did at the canals just because some people were blurred and others weren't. If there was a presumed consent statement in effect, it wouldn't have been necessary to redact anyone.

7 hours ago, green said:

I think anyone seen at a certain distance too they don't need a waiver for.  Otherwise every single person they passed on a street in some crowded market district would have to sign.  

As I said before, if you are far enough away that you aren't recognizable, then consent isn't required. The same is true for still photography. You can't sell/publish a picture of someone who is recognizable unless you have a signed model release. The exception is something that would fall into the category of "Photo Journalism." There is a huge controversy as to what actually qualifies as journalism which is the loophole paparazzi use to get away with selling photos of celebrities without consent.

Edited June 21, 2019 by eel21788

[SVNBob]

6 hours ago, biakbiak said:

It depends. If there is a contained area with entrances you can just post that they are filming there and by being in the area you consent to filming. In this case they probably just had all the boat rental places have people sign a waiver when they picked up a boat.

Can confirm.  I was once on a trip (I think TARCon related) where I had to change planes at O'Hare.  At the gate for my connection, there was a sign saying that they were filming one of those "people who behave badly at the airport" reality shows from the early 2000s, and that by simply walking past the sign, I was giving consent to be filmed for the program.  I didn't really have a choice in the matter, but I did try to minimize my time beyond the signage.

12 minutes ago, Dani said:

I often find Becca annoying but I give them more leeway than most because they did not know each other before TAR. The show paired them together to be the fun team and they ran with it.  I give them a lot of credit for being able to run a race twice with less drama than teams that have pre-existing relationships.

Per the premise and start of that season, they paired themselves together, not TPTB.  Specifically, Becca, who was wearing the fun-meter pin from the jump, chose Floyd for her partner because he looked like a "fun guy".  It was after that they found out about their similar attitudes, the Colorado connection, and that their skill sets seemed to complement each other surprisingly well.

[Guest]

32 minutes ago, SVNBob said:

Per the premise and start of that season, they paired themselves together, not TPTB.  Specifically, Becca, who was wearing the fun-meter pin from the jump, chose Floyd for her partner because he looked like a "fun guy".  It was after that they found out about their similar attitudes, the Colorado connection, and that their skill sets seemed to complement each other surprisingly well.

Thanks for reminding me of that. I completely forgot that season started with a competition and then they chose their own teammates. I think I mixed up the aspects of the stranger and blind date seasons. 

That makes me give them even more leeway for being Team Fun. I’m impressed with anyone that can go through this experience with a complete stranger and actually forge a legitimate partnership. 

[AZChristian]

Maybe when Nicole asked about a quicker way down, the lady should have tied the cow rope around her and let Victor lower her down on the same pulley the cow came up on.

[milner]

Is the take a time penalty option no longer available?  And how do we know Christie has extensions?

[Bryce Lynch]

13 hours ago, raven said:

So IMO the local people weren't suddenly surprised and inconvenienced by a bunch of inexperienced boaters being dropped into the midst of their local activities on a regular day.  It was an irregular day, carefully planned beforehand and probably with notices all around and again, my opinion that most of the people on the water were local people planted by production beforehand.  "Sign up as an extra, be on American TV, laugh at a bunch of boaters trying to win a contest".  That kind of thing.

So you really think a financially struggling show paid to bring boats and locals into the canals are a town where the canals are the only form of transportation?

I have looked at Youtube videos of Giethoorn and it seems like the amount of traffic in the canals during the TAR task was normal.   

[Jobiska]

When I was in Munich, I hauled my panting self up a bell tower's zillion stairs, and then was chagrined to find that one of the twin bell towers in a different church had had an elevator inserted.  And it of course was built before elevators were invented.  It was worth asking.  

In addition to the singing grannies and boating cat, there was a large boat seen a few times that looked like it was a dining boat, but everyone on it seemed to be in historical costume.  I was very curious.  

My husband got a kick out of "Gosh Damn."  He said "Nicole!  Such language, young lady!"  

[Archery]

I'm finding it slightly hilarious that, apparently, white people aren't allowed to rap or beat box.  What is this, 1983?  

I prefer less-intense Colin.  I think competent competitiveness is much more interesting than the various "characters" teams create for the show (and have to keep referencing so that we, the audience, don't forget).   

I may have missed, but was there anything in the egg/cheese clue that precluded the teams taking an extra egg?  I like to think about how I would go about the tasks differently if I were racing, and that's one strategy that occurred to me, at least asking the taskmaster.  I didn't consider the egg-toss option someone mentioned above, which makes a lot of sense to me.  

[spanana]

10 hours ago, greyhorse said:

Wouldn't they have assumed that Colin/Christie and Tyler/Korey were way ahead of them?  And they knew that the Afghans U-turned them.  So that would leave only Team Fun?

Yes, I think that was a good assumption and probably one they would have come to on their own anyway.  But somebody did tell them to u-turn Team Fun.  I'm just still not entirely clear on which team told them that.

They also admitted that while they survived of course, in hindsight it was very dumb to break away from the pack they were with to do the other detour.  Because obviously if they had stayed with the pack, they would have had an easier time finding the cow detour and it would have limited any possibility of getting lost and of course Victor probably could have hoisted the cow no issue if he wasn't already exhausted at the point they had to do that detour.  Plus they could have potentially made it to the u-turn board at the same time as Leo/Jamal.

I didn't get to listen to what Becca had to say yet, so am curious about that.  Floyd also said that Becca did check the eggs quickly before leaving, but clearly not quite carefully enough.

[mikewho]

8 minutes ago, Archery said:

I may have missed, but was there anything in the egg/cheese clue that precluded the teams taking an extra egg?

I think the clue saying 'Take a dozen eggs' pretty much says it. If you took an extra egg, the egg guy would probably say you didn't follow directions.

[Halting Hex]

5 hours ago, Dani said:

Becca, who was wearing the fun-meter pin from the jump

And nobody else had something like that, and I don't remember anybody else from that season doing that sort of self-branding.  Although maybe if Brooke had worn a yellow Star of David and branded herself as "Team Holocaust Survivor", she might not have gotten the biggest hatchet job in the history of editing, and we could have actually had a mention of why she was so psyched that the Race came close to Monastir.

(Okay, that's a bit of a tangent, and I don't really know when Brooke's particular branch of the Camhi family emigrated, whether it was during the bombardments of World War I or between the wars.  And technically, pretty much nobody of the Monastir Jews "survived" the Holocaust itself; all 3000 were shipped to Treblinka, with a grand total of six surviving that.)

My larger point is that Becca chose her label, to a far greater degree than anyone else in Race 29 or this.  So I personally don't have much sympathy when she is hoisted on her self-selected petard.  But JMO.

Edited June 21, 2019 by Halting Hex

[green]

7 hours ago, eel21788 said:

I walked into a Las Vegas casino that had a sign posted saying that something was being filmed there and anyone who stayed on the premises would fall under the category of "presumed consent." In other words, if you don't want to be on camera, then leave. I doubt this is what they did at the canals just because some people were blurred and others weren't. If there was a presumed consent statement in effect, it wouldn't have been necessary to redact anyone.

Thanks for that and also the airport consent sign story as well.

I think only Grumpy Guy got pixelated so if the "presumed consent" waivers thing was at the boat rental agencies as someone else speculated and he was on his own lawn and not in a boat he well may have needed to sign a separate waiver or he could just have demanded they not show him on TV since he didn't consent. 

Also some people in an area like that can get upset and ask or even demand not to be shown on TV and most production companies will honor their request or demand I think to avoid a scene and all.  After all production just wants not to have to spend hours filling out forms and they don't mind if someone has strong feelings and wants to opt out.  They aren't there on purpose to force every single person to accept the presumed consent.

[Etta Place]

7 hours ago, eel21788 said:

I got a lot of mileage out of, "Ich sprek no Nederlands." Once, I wasn't immediately pegged as an American. He tried Italian and several other languages I didn't recognize on me before he got to English.

Ik spreek geen Nederlands. 🙂

I lived in Flanders for a while (don't tell them, but they're essentially Dutch), and the people in this episode tracked pretty well with my experiences. They default to mostly ignoring you, but they are willing to be helpful, and also willing to be bluntly rude. 

I was also surprised that Nicole was allowed through the ditch-jumping task when she didn't clear the side, but I think the point was getting the technique down and not necessarily actually making it all the way across. Once she managed to do it where she actually hung onto the pole and made a leap instead of her hands just sliding down it uselessly, she was approved.

I wish the Afghanimals had gone home, but overall I'm not mad at this episode.

[lexington11]

21 hours ago, eel21788 said:

Yes. The back person's stride has to match the front person's exactly. It is a task I have never been able to master even if I was riding with someone of my own height.

And if even Colin & Christie, who seem to have not that noticeable of a height difference and are both relatively athletic people, had their struggles at first with the bike, I can only imagine how hard it must have been for Nicole & Victor, especially when it looked like Nicole could barely reach the pedals on the bike

[iMonrey]

Quote

 I didn't realize any of the Racers were deliberately screwing with people's days with impunity.  They were all doing something most of them didn't know how to do capably because the Race required them to do it, so maybe excoriate the producers for putting the Racers in a situation where they'd screw with everyone else's day instead.

You also didn't realize that people seem to hate Tyler so much he gets slammed just for doing the damn challenges. How dare he! Hell, he could just stand there in silence and people would still tear their hair and gnash their teeth. such is the level of animosity towards this poor kid for some odd reason.

Personally I thought it was adorable when the guy asked him if they were idiots and he said "We don't mean to be." 

[Cotypubby]

2 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

You also didn't realize that people seem to hate Tyler so much he gets slammed just for doing the damn challenges. How dare he! Hell, he could just stand there in silence and people would still tear their hair and gnash their teeth. such is the level of animosity towards this poor kid for some odd reason.

Personally I thought it was adorable when the guy asked him if they were idiots and he said "We don't mean to be." 

I agree, the hate I keep reading for them is just bizarre. I had never heard of them before TAR so if people hate them for whatever they did on YouTube then ok, but they’ve been great on the race and haven’t done anything I could see the create all this animosity. I think they are funny and are really enjoying themselves. 

I mean now it’s gotten to the hyperbole that they “almost decapitated a child” on the boats. Give me a friggin break!

[ByaNose]

9 minutes ago, Cotypubby said:

I agree, the hate I keep reading for them is just bizarre. I had never heard of them before TAR so if people hate them for whatever they did on YouTube then ok, but they’ve been great on the race and haven’t done anything I could see the create all this animosity. I think they are funny and are really enjoying themselves. 

I mean now it’s gotten to the hyperbole that they “almost decapitated a child” on the boats. Give me a friggin break!

I didn't know who Tyler was before the race. I only "hate" him since he's been on the race. I just find him so annoying whereas Kory doesn't bug me at all. Just like life. You don't like everyone.

[chaifan]

I thought Tyler's "we don't mean to be idiots" was adorable.  It was honest, self depreciating, not snarky, and I think very understanding that locals had every right to be annoyed with them, but there was nothing the racers could really do about that. 

Re: filming locals & waivers - racers have discussed this previously, and in some instances commented on how it slowed them down because production had to get waivers signed.  There is a competitive race company, Competitours, that had a film crew along when they were doing a documentary on their race.  One team (out of twelve, I think) refused to sign the releases and they had to be edited out of the whole film.  (TAR tie in- BJ & Tyler actually participated in one of the first Competitours races.)

[Netfoot]

3 minutes ago, Cotypubby said:

I agree, the hate I keep reading for them is just bizarre. I had never heard of them before TAR so if people hate them for whatever they did on YouTube then ok, but they’ve been great on the race and haven’t done anything I could see the create all this animosity. I think they are funny and are really enjoying themselves. 

Let me start by saying I don't particularly like Tyler.  But I have to grant that he is about 100 times less noxious than on his first appearance in TAR.  So it isn't like I particularly dislike him that much, either.

My recent post was nothing to do with him, or any other racer.  I was commenting on the attitude expressed by another poster - that a foreigner, especially a foreigner with a camera crew in tow, can go into a community in any part of the world and screw around as much as they like, and no local has any right to object.  Especially if they aren't directly asked for an opinion!

I thought the "I don't mean to be!" remark sorta funny and self-deprecating, but that doesn't mean that "Random Dutch Guy" isn't free to complain that their shenanigans are fouling up his day in his home town.

[dgpolo]

40 minutes ago, Cotypubby said:

I mean now it’s gotten to the hyperbole that they “almost decapitated a child” on the boats.

Especially since said child calmly reached up to push the boat away from him and his mother said nothing to reprimand them.

Edited June 21, 2019 by dgpolo
spelling, sorry

[preeya]

20 hours ago, fishcakes said:

(Postscript to my Eddie Murphy movie story: I saw the movie when it came out and after all time they spent there, my building was seen only in a couple of exterior shot that lasted about a minute. Heh. Show business!)

And that one minute shot probably cost the production company hundreds of thousands of dollars.

[mikewho]

13 minutes ago, dgpolo said:

36 minutes ago, Cotypubby said:

I mean now it’s gotten to the hyperbole that they “almost decapitated a child” on the boats.

Especially since said child calmly reached up to push the boar away from him and his mother said nothing to reprimand them.

Agreed. It's not as if a speed boat was racing towards them. I noticed that as the boat was approaching, the mother put her arm toward her kid to protect him. Isn't that just what (most) mothers do?

10 minutes ago, preeya said:

20 hours ago, fishcakes said:

(Postscript to my Eddie Murphy movie story: I saw the movie when it came out and after all time they spent there, my building was seen only in a couple of exterior shot that lasted about a minute. Heh. Show business!)

And that one minute shot probably cost the production company hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The Sopranos filmed for 2 days in the city I live in. Streets were blocked off, traffic was fucked up. There was ONE scene that I saw in the episode that lasted maybe one minute.

[NUguy514]

9 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

My recent post was nothing to do with him, or any other racer.  I was commenting on the attitude expressed by another poster - that a foreigner, especially a foreigner with a camera crew in tow, can go into a community in any part of the world and screw around as much as they like, and no local has any right to object.  Especially if they aren't directly asked for an opinion!

Yes, that is definitely what my attitude was and is and always will be.

[ree1778]

15 hours ago, Netfoot said:

Just because you are some wanna-be celebrity YouTube star asshole foreigner and you've got a camera crew following you around, doesn't mean you automatically get to behave as you like and screw with people's day with impunity.  If you do shit, you deserve to get called on it, by any Random Dutch Guy, who doesn't need anybody's permission to do so.  American tourists do not have any right to behave howsoever they please whenever and wherever they please and then demand that the residents of the rest of the world just grin and tolerate it. Every pair of lips in this world don't have to press themselves to American ass.

I rewatched the part on the water and I really didn't notice any "asshole Foreigner" behavior from any team. They had difficulty with the boats, but the race set this up, not the individuals that were racing. I felt like the teams all did their level best to be polite and handle the boats to the best of their ability. I was also impressed the way Tyler and Korey responded to the Dutch guy, no challenge, no return anger, not even a taste of snottiness.

[eel21788]

3 hours ago, Etta Place said:

Ik spreek geen Nederlands. 🙂

I may not have been saying it correctly; however, I was able to get my point across.

[green]

1 hour ago, chaifan said:

There is a competitive race company, Competitours, that had a film crew along when they were doing a documentary on their race.  One team (out of twelve, I think) refused to sign the releases and they had to be edited out of the whole film.  (TAR tie in- BJ & Tyler actually participated in one of the first Competitours races.)

I never heard of it and now don't want to either if BJ & Tyler were on it.  Weren't they the fake, pretend, "faux" next gen hippies on TAR9 that gave real hippies a bad name?  Between them and Eric and his frat pal on TAR9 it actually made TAR8 (Family Edition) seem not so bad.  I'd take Mama Paolo over the lot of TAR9 racers any day.

[iMonrey]

I'd be interested to know what the rules are for waivers because there must be a million exceptions. They can't possibly get waivers from every person in every public place they go. The amount of time it would consume would be enormous. 

There are lowered expectations of privacy when you are in a public place. I wonder if such rules apply to winding up on TV. For example, I once attended a taping of a TV show and was (very) briefly seen in the audience. I never signed anything agreeing to appear on TV, nor were there any tickets that forewarned you might be on TV.

I think there must be very specific circumstances where people have to sign waivers, like maybe if they interact with and speak with the racers. 

[AZChristian]

14 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

 For example, I once attended a taping of a TV show and was (very) briefly seen in the audience. I never signed anything agreeing to appear on TV, nor were there any tickets that forewarned you might be on TV.

They probably assumed that if you know you're going to the taping of the TV show, you know you might be on TV. I know that on Oak Island, they put signs out when they are taping, telling tourists that they might be on TV. And they inform them that if they don't want to be on TV, they should stop right there at the sign.

[Never Again]

18 hours ago, Netfoot said:

Just because you are some wanna-be celebrity YouTube star asshole foreigner and you've got a camera crew following you around, doesn't mean you automatically get to behave as you like and screw with people's day with impunity.  If you do shit, you deserve to get called on it, by any Random Dutch Guy, who doesn't need anybody's permission to do so.  American tourists do not have any right to behave howsoever they please whenever and wherever they please and then demand that the residents of the rest of the world just grin and tolerate it. Every pair of lips in this world don't have to press themselves to American ass.

Ouch!  Let me first say that I’m totally ok with yelling Dutch guy.  He’s allowed to be cranky.  He was pixilated so he clearly didn’t sign a waiver to be on the show.  Other than that, I can’t agree with this post at all.  First, they weren’t “behaving as they liked and screwing people’s days with impunity”.  They were performing tasks they were given to do. They don’t have a choice in the tasks.  It didn’t seem these canal tasks were too easy or graceful, especially for people who’ve never done this before.  And who don’t live there and don’t know that some canals are one way only.   Second they weren’t “American tourists”.  They weren’t “behaving howsoever they pleased”  They were performing on a show.  A show that absolutely had gotten permits and local approvals before filming there.   The tasks were prearranged.  On such a crowded day, what otherwise would be the odds of having so many empty boats for the racers to tie up? There is zero chance the locals weren’t notified.  Those that appeared on screen chose to allow it.  Yelling Man may have been on his own lawn, but was not in the public canal and really had nothing to do with it. He wasn’t getting bumped or splashed on nayrhing else.  It is his right to yell, though, people are allowed to get annoyed.   Third, they hardly “demanded that the residents of the rest of the world just grin and tolerate it”   I have no clue what you saw.   What I saw was that the people on screen were like people everywhere.  Some hated the intrusion, some ignored it, some loved it and haggled for camera time, some sang a song, some smiled, some scowled....

Nobody expected, demanded or wanted “everyone to press their lips to American ass”. As an American who has tourists around me quite often, oftentimes annoying, sometimes not, and as an American who likewise has often been a tourist, I find your statement really off-putting.   I’m guessing you had some unpleasant run-ins with Americans in the past, otherwise I don’t  get it 

[SomeTameGazelle]

2 hours ago, Netfoot said:

I thought the "I don't mean to be!" remark sorta funny and self-deprecating, but that doesn't mean that "Random Dutch Guy" isn't free to complain that their shenanigans are fouling up his day in his home town.

I tend to interpret that kind of comment less as "how dare you annoy me" and more "don't you realize you could cause an accident?"

4 hours ago, dgpolo said:

Especially since said child calmly reached up to push the boat away from him and his mother said nothing to reprimand them

I think she also assured them that everything was fine and no harm done, which surprised me but was also reassuring.

[Giuseppe]

On 6/20/2019 at 1:58 AM, 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.  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!)

I want to like this post 1000 times. Thank you.

[Never Again]

3 hours ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

I tend to interpret that kind of comment less as "how dare you annoy me" and more "don't you realize you could cause an accident?"

Exactly how I heard it, as well.  

[Booklady1017]

On 6/19/2019 at 9:06 PM, Browncoat said:

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! 

I'm sad Team Fun is leaving but they really messed up this week. Now C and C are my new favorite to win.

On 6/19/2019 at 9:06 PM, spanana said:

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.  

Leo and Jamal have play a really sloppy race this time around and don't deserve to win. I agree the ones in 1st and 2nd currently will be one of the ones who will win.

[Booklady1017]

On 6/19/2019 at 9:08 PM, Haleth said:

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. 

It was a task that proved more difficult than it orginally looked and was a big inconvenience for the locals. I felt bad for the teams because they didn't realize it was going to be like that.

[Booklady1017]

On 6/19/2019 at 9:13 PM, mojoween said:

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.

The way Becca sounded, it didn't sound like a joke.

On 6/19/2019 at 9:15 PM, Lamb18 said:

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.

Even though I was a little disappointed in Becca that day, I was sad they were knocked out too.

[biakbiak]

59 minutes ago, HeShallBMySquishy said:

Their ire towards Victor and Nicole was really uncalled for, considering they didn't even have to do the stupid U-turn! It was all just petty and vindictive, and really showed them in a bad light. The only time this episode I found them tolerable was Leo's continued adoration of cats, and his reaction to the various animals on the boats.

The UTurn is part of the game and probably save Leo and Jamal. If they hadn’t UTurned Nicole and victor there is a good chance that N/V wouldn’t have uturned Team Fun and given how badly they screwed up the boat task they probably would have been eliminated. When choosing between two teams to UTurn choosing the one who had no problem Uturning you over one who didn’t seems like as good a deciding factor as anything else.

[Ilovepie]

On 6/20/2019 at 7:59 AM, proserpina65 said:

Other than my favorite team getting eliminated, I loved this episode.  The tasks were great, the scenery was great, and even the U-Turn drama wasn't too bad.  Nicole was a little whiny but seemed to take getting U-turned in stride.

So now I guess I'm rooting for Colin & Christie, and I would never have imagined that in a million years.

You summed up my feelings exactly. Super bummed about Team Fun, but really hoping C&C can pull of the win.

[Miles]

I'm really sad Team Fun got eleminated. But it was their own fault for not checking the eggs. According to their exit interviews they arrived only 15 minutes after Nicole and Victor. So not having to go back for a new egg would probably have done it.

Although counting that little hairline fracture as "broken" was a little harsh.

What kinda grinds my gears is the hours of operation. Production doesn't even pretend like there is some reason behind it anymore. It's just "your bike locks will open at 9am". And it's like 90% of the legs have a bunch at the beginning now. I know it's hard on production an probably more expensive if teams get fragmented, but damn, this is no fun. At least give me 50/50. At this point this isn't "a race around the world" anymore, it's little races in different countries.

On 6/20/2019 at 9:35 AM, millennium said:

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.

No they wouldn't. Not if they were women ogling men. Objectifying men seems to still be allowed in western society.

It's basically one of the pillers of women-led comedies.

On 6/20/2019 at 4:26 PM, Special K said:

The best was when she whined to the lady at the top of the tower:  "is there an easier way down?!?"  

I was like, Yes.  It's called going down the stairs.  

You are a better person than me.

I was like "Yeah, it's called jumping. Come on, do it!"

Edited June 23, 2019 by Miles

[lexington11]

2 hours ago, HeShallBMySquishy said:

Also, wasn't it Floyd who asked if there was an easier way down?

That was Nicole who asked the question, and I don't blame her, because having to bike almost everywhere that leg must be seriously exhausting, especially when she seemed to be having the hardest time even reaching those pedals.

[lexington11]

1 hour ago, biakbiak said:

The UTurn is part of the game and probably save Leo and Jamal. If they hadn’t UTurned Nicole and victor there is a good chance that N/V wouldn’t have uturned Team Fun and given how badly they screwed up the boat task they probably would have been eliminated. When choosing between two teams to UTurn choosing the one who had no problem Uturning you over one who didn’t seems like as good a deciding factor as anything else.

I get that the U-Turn is part of the game, and I didn't mind them choosing to do that specifically. Like I said, it was more the general celebrating/gloating about Nicole having to do the U-Turn on her birthday that made me not an Afghanimals fan this leg.